Podcasts about Mount Zion

Welcome to Day 2873 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom. Day 2873 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 132:6-12 Daily Wisdom Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2873 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2873 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. The title for today's Wisdom-Trek is: The Song of Ascent – The Enthronement of the Ark on the Holy Mountain In our previous episode on this grand expedition, we stepped onto the thirteenth ridge of our fifteen-part pilgrim journey through the Songs of Ascents. We explored the opening section of Psalm One Hundred Thirty-Two, verses one through five. We witnessed the unyielding, sleepless passion of King David. Even though he had a quiet, weaned soul within himself, he refused to enjoy the private luxury of his cedar palace while the Ark of the Covenant remained neglected in a temporary tent. We examined his solemn vow to the Mighty One of Jacob, a vow of deliberate restlessness, where he refused to sleep until he found a permanent, sacred space—a cosmic embassy—where the True King of heaven and earth could establish His earthly footstool. Today, we take our next historic step forward, continuing directly from that narrative. We are entering into the second movement of this grand, processional anthem, exploring Psalm One Hundred Thirty-Two, verses six through twelve, in the New Living Translation. The psalmist shifts our focus from David's private, intense vow, to the corporate, joyful experience of the entire nation as they actually locate, recover, and march with the symbol of God's presence up the mountain. Let us step onto the rugged trail, join the ancient procession, and watch the Divine Warrior ascend His throne. The first segment is:The Discovery and the Procession to the Footstool Psalm One Hundred Thirty-Two: verses six and seven. We heard that the Ark was in Ephrathah; then we found it in the distant countryside of Jaar. Let us go to the sanctuary of the Lord; let us worship at the footstool of his throne. The narrative transitions from David's intense, singular obsession, to the collective voice of the Israelite community, singing together on the road to Jerusalem. “We heard that the Ark was in Ephrathah; then we found it in the distant countryside of Jaar.” To fully appreciate the deep, emotional relief embedded in these two names—Ephrathah and Jaar—we must recall the tragic, historical backstory. Decades earlier, during the chaotic days of Eli the priest, the Israelites had foolishly treated the Ark of the Covenant like a magical good-luck charm, dragging it onto the battlefield against the Philistines. The rebel spiritual forces operating behind the Philistine armies achieved a temporary, mocking victory; the Ark was captured, and the glory of God seemed to depart from Israel. Even after the Philistines returned the Ark due to divine plagues, it sat neglected, stashed away in the obscure, overgrown, and wooded fields of Kiriath-jearim—which the psalmist poetically calls the “distant countryside of Jaar.” It was hidden in the brush, largely forgotten by the general public, while the nation drifted spiritually. But David mobilized the nation. The pilgrims recount the great rally: “Let us go to the sanctuary of the Lord; let us worship at the footstool of his throne.” We must view this through the profound lens of the Ancient Israelite Divine Council worldview, as masterfully taught by Doctor Michael S. Heiser. In the ancient Near East, a supreme monarch sat on a high, elevated throne, and his feet rested upon a beautifully crafted footstool. The footstool was the critical point of contact where the heavenly, royal realm physically touched the lower, earthly domain. In cosmic geography, the Ark of the Covenant, positioned inside the Holy of Holies beneath the outstretched wings of the golden cherubim, was recognized as the literal footstool of Yahweh's heavenly throne room. When the pilgrims say, “let us worship at the footstool of his throne,” they are not merely engaging in formal temple rituals. They are entering the earthly embassy of the Supreme Commander of the cosmos. They are stepping into the direct presence of the High King, joining the heavenly assembly of loyal angels, and declaring that Yahweh's authority completely eclipses the claims of the rebel spiritual principalities who rule over the surrounding, disinherited nations. The second segment is: The Divine Warrior Takes His Seat Psalm One Hundred Thirty-Two: verses eight through ten. Arise, O Lord, and enter your resting place, along with the Ark, the symbol of your power. May your priests be clothed in godliness; may your loyal servants sing for joy. For the sake of your servant David, do not reject the king you have anointed. The procession reaches its absolute climax as the Ark is physically carried up the slopes of Mount Zion. The king and the priests raise a dramatic, liturgical shout to the heavens: “Arise, O Lord, and enter your resting place, along with the Ark, the symbol of your power.” This phrase, “Arise, O Lord,” is a direct, intentional echo of the ancient wilderness battle cry recorded in Numbers, chapter ten. Whenever the Ark of the Covenant set out from the camp to lead the tribes through the desert, Moses would stand and shout, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered!” It was the invocation of Yahweh Sabaoth—the Lord of Hosts, the Commander of the heavenly armies. But notice the fascinating, beautiful shift in Psalm One Hundred Thirty-Two. The Divine Warrior is no longer marching out to do battle in the wilderness; He is marching in to take His seat. He is entering His “resting place.” In the Deuteronomy Thirty-Two framework, the rebel gods claimed ownership over the nations, but Yahweh has chosen Zion as His permanent, centralized cosmic mountain. By placing the Ark—the symbol of His power—on Mount Zion, Yahweh is establishing an unshakeable, eternal fortress. The warfare is completed; the King is officially taking His seat on the throne. This supreme, cosmic installation requires an entirely transformed community to serve the King. Verse nine petitions: “May your priests be clothed in godliness; may your loyal servants sing for joy.” The priests, who act as the human mediators between the heavenly council and the earthly congregation, must not wear the corrupt, manipulative garments of the pagan fertility cults. They must be literally wrapped, clothed, and saturated in tsedeq—true, uncompromised godliness and righteousness. When the leadership is holy, the entire community flourishes. The "loyal servants"—the hasidim, the covenant-keeping exiles—break out into uninhibited, roaring songs of joy. Their worship becomes a defensive shield, keeping the chaos of the world outside the walls of the sanctuary. The processional prayer concludes with a crucial plea for the continuation of the dynasty: “For the sake of your servant David, do not reject the king you have anointed.” The human king, the Mashiach, the anointed one, serves a vital function in the Divine Council worldview. He is designated as Yahweh's earthly vice-regent. He is the human representative who executes the justice, and the cosmic order of the High King, within the physical realm. The pilgrims pray that God will look at the faithful, historical sacrifices of David, and refuse to reject the current, fragile human king who sits on David's throne. They need the line of the vice-regent to remain unbroken, so that the connection to the cosmic mountain remains secure. The third segment is: The Reciprocal Oath of Eternity Psalm One Hundred Thirty-Two: verses eleven and twelve. The Lord swore an oath to David with a promise he will never take back: “I will place one of your descendants on your throne. If your descendants obey the terms of my covenant and the laws that I teach them, then your royal line will continue forever and ever.” In the final section of today's trail, the direction of the song flips completely. The pilgrims have finished speaking to God, and now, Yahweh speaks back to the pilgrims. He responds to David's historic, restless vow with a massive, unyielding oath of His own. “The Lord swore an oath to David with a promise he will never take back: ‘I will place one of your descendants on your throne.'” This is the beautiful, reciprocal irony of the Davidic covenant. In the first five verses of this psalm, David...

Today's and tomorrow's chapters in Isaiah (24 & 25) contain a powerful message about the climax of human history, yet they are not very often quoted.   Chapter 24 ends with “for the LORD of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and Jerusalem and his glory will be before his elders.”  The next chapter begins with the reaction of the righteous, “O LORD, you are my God, I will exalt your name for you have done wonderful things …”  Humanly fortified cities have become ruins, never to be rebuilt (v.2) and the “cities of ruthless nations will fear you.” [v.3]  God has “been a stronghold to the poor … to the needy in his distress” [v.4]Then a glorious scene opens up, “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food … he will swallow up death forever and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces … Behold this is our God, we have waited for him … “ [v.6,8,9].    But go back, we jumped over nearly all of Ch. 24 – it speaks of what is to happen before this time of wonder and joy on the earth.  It is an extremely frightening picture!  Is it about to happen?  The chapter started, “Behold the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate …”The next verse indicates that all the buyers, sellers, lenders, borrowers, creditors and debtors will suffer.  Verse 3 says, “The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the LORD has spoken this word”.  Then we read “the earth lies defiled under its inhabitants” [v.5], “its inhabitants suffer for their guilt” [v.6] and then follows details of the ways in which they will suffer.Reading further – “The earth is utterly broken … is violently shaken … its transgression lies heavily upon it and it falls and will not rise again” [v.19,20].  This is symbolic language of the heavens and the earth (rulers and people) that now exist being destroyed.  But later in Isaiah we will come across a wonderful vision, for God says, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold I create Jerusalem to be a joy  … my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” [Ch.65 v.17,18,22]  Will you behold these things?

(5) James Tabor describes Mount Zion in Jerusalem as the world headquarters of the early movement. Archaeological evidence suggests the "Upper Room" sits atop a first-century foundation of a house-synagogue. In this space, Maryserved as a matriarch and hostess, greeting early pilgrims and figures like the Apostle Paul. This segment portrays a vibrant Jerusalem-based community where the "genius" of the early church thrived. Tabor envisions the household dynamics on Mount Zion, where Mary remained a central figure of authority, hospitality, and memory following the death of her son.1787 Death of Socraates

(6) James Tabor examines how, during the Jewish Revolt (66–70 CE), the movement fled Jerusalem for a "hideout" in Pella, Jordan. However, Mary disappears from the historical record before this event, likely dying on Mount Zion in the 50s or 60s. Tabor notes her absence in Paul's letters and the later chapters of Acts, despite her earlier presence at Pentecost. He discusses the tradition of the Dormition, suggesting she remained in Jerusalem until her death. This disappearance marks a transition where the historical Mary was gradually "written out" of the emerging Christiannarrative.1842 Masada

Welcome to Day 2872 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom. Day 2872 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 132:1-5 Daily Wisdom Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2872 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2872 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. The title for today's Wisdom-Trek is: The Song of Ascent – Securing the Cosmic Footstool Today, we are lacing up our boots, and setting our feet firmly onto the thirteenth step of our fifteen-part pilgrimage, through the beautiful, ancient collection known as the Songs of Ascents. We are entering into a magnificent, epic narrative found in Psalm One Hundred Thirty-Two, verses one through five, in the New Living Translation. In our previous episode, we rested on a quiet, sunlit ridge of this alphabetical mountain range, exploring the beautiful, intimate sanctuary of Psalm One Hundred Thirty-One. In that short, brilliant song, King David modeled the rare, supernatural art of a quiet, weaned soul. We witnessed him completely abdicate cosmic hubris, choosing to step out of the frantic, status-driven games of the surrounding pagan empires. We saw him rest peacefully upon the lap of Yahweh; content, quiet, and still, like a fully satisfied child content simply to be in its mother's loving presence. But today, as we transition into Psalm One Hundred Thirty-Two, we encounter a stunning, brilliant paradox in the life of King David. While he possessed a deeply quiet, fully content internal soul, his external life was driven by a fierce, restless, and completely unyielding passion for the glory of God. He was a man who absolutely refused to settle for comfortable, private spirituality, while the presence of the Creator remained neglected. This psalm takes us deep into the history of the kingdom, reminding the traveling pilgrims exactly why they are marching up this hill toward Jerusalem in the first place. It pulls back the cosmic curtain, exposing the intense spiritual warfare, and the grueling, historical sacrifices, required to secure the Holy City as the definitive center of the universe. Let us step onto the rugged trail, look back at the origins of our sanctuary, and explore the terms of David's historic vow. Let us listen closely to the opening lines of this powerful anthem. Lord, remember David and all that he suffered. He made a solemn promise to the Lord. He vowed to the Mighty One of Israel, The song begins with a direct, legally framed petition to the heavenly throne room: “Lord, remember David and all that he suffered.” Other translations render this as “all his afflictions,” or “all his humility.” This is a corporate plea from the community, reminding Yahweh of the heavy price David paid to establish the worship of God on earth. To fully understand the nature of David's suffering, we must look past our modern, shallow political histories, and look through the brilliant lens of the Ancient Israelite Divine Council worldview, as masterfully taught by Doctor Michael S. Heiser. In the Deuteronomy Thirty-Two worldview, when the Most High divided the nations at the Tower of Babel, He scattered humanity into seventy separate nations, placing them under the jurisdiction of lesser, rebel spiritual principalities—the fallen sons of God. But Yahweh set apart Israel as His own personal, treasured allotment. Because Israel was the direct beachhead of the true Kingdom of God on earth, the rebel gods held a deeply rooted, cosmic grudge against David. The surrounding pagan tribes—like the Jebusites who originally controlled the fortress of Jerusalem—were the earthly proxies of these dark, spiritual entities. When David fought to capture the stronghold of Zion, he wasn't just engaged in a secular military campaign; he was actively marching into the teeth of territorial, demonic principalities. He was violently reclaiming a physical piece of earth from cosmic rebels to establish a sanctuary where the True King could rule. His suffering included years of running from assassins, fighting brutal wars, and enduring the intense pressure of spiritual warfare, driven by a singular, burning vision. The text explains the exact engine that drove David through this multi-year gauntlet of affliction: “He made a solemn promise to the Lord. He vowed to the Mighty One of Israel,”. In the Hebrew text, this title for God is exceptionally powerful—Abir Ya'aqob, meaning the “Mighty One of Jacob.” This ancient, patriarchal title is full of heavy cosmic significance. By invoking the Mighty One of Israel, the psalmist makes an aggressive, polemical statement against the surrounding nations. While pagan cultures bragged about the raw power of their gods—like Baal or Chemosh—David directs his oath exclusively to the supreme, unrivaled Warrior of Jacob. He enters into a binding covenant with the only spiritual Being who possesses the ultimate authority to completely dispossess the rebel principalities and claim the earth for Himself. Let us now listen to the dramatic, radical terms of David's vow, as recorded in verses three through five. “I will not go home; I will not let myself rest. I will not let my eyes sleep nor close my eyelids in slumber, until I find a place to build a house for the Lord, a sanctuary for the Mighty One of Israel.” The words of David's vow ring out with an absolute, shocking lack of moderation. He declares, “I will not go home; I will not let myself rest. I will not let my eyes sleep nor close my eyelids in slumber,”. This is the language of holy, hyper-focused obsession. David had built himself a magnificent, luxurious palace made of expensive cedar wood. He had achieved political security, defeated his immediate military rivals, and secured an earthly throne. By all human standards, it was time for him to sit back, relax, and enjoy the sweet fruit of his labor. The world told him he had earned the right to sleep soundly in his comfortable bed. But David looked across his kingdom, and his heart was deeply grieved. While he slept in a palace of cedar, the Ark of the Covenant—the literal footstool of Yahweh's heavenly throne, the mobile cosmic mountain where the presence of the True King uniquely manifested on earth—was hidden away, neglected in a simple tent in the distant countryside. He refused to tolerate a reality where his own private comfort was superior to the public honor of his God. He viewed his luxurious palace not as a place of rest, but as a place of distraction, until a permanent, secure beachhead could be established for the Lord. He placed an intense, physical embargo upon his own body, denying himself the basic human comforts of home, rest, and sleep until his mission was accomplished. This is the absolute opposite of spiritual lethargy. The rebel spiritual forces want nothing more than for the leaders of God's people to become comfortable and complacent. If the enemy can lure the warrior into a deep, lazy sleep of private luxury, the territory remains un-reclaimed. But David weaponized his own insomnia. He chose restlessness, deliberately keeping his eyelids open, forcing his body to stay in a state of high-alert, active combat until a space could be secured for the presence of the Most High. Look at the ultimate goal of this sleepless pursuit in verse five: “until I find a place to build a house for the Lord, a sanctuary for the Mighty One of Israel.” The Hebrew word for “place” here is maqom, which carries a deep, sacred meaning. It doesn't just mean any random piece of real estate. In ancient Near Eastern literature, a maqom was a holy site, a specific, divinely appointed intersection where heaven and earth met. David was looking for the precise geographic spot where Yahweh desired to plant His feet, establishing a permanent, unshakeable embassy for the Divine Council right in the middle of human history. He calls it “a house for the Lord, a sanctuary for the Mighty One of Israel.” This house was not meant to trap the infinite, omnipresent Creator within stone walls. Rather, the sanctuary was designed to be a visible, physical monument of divine ownership over the earth. It was a proclamation to the seventy disinherited nations, and to the corrupt, territorial elohim ruling over them, that Yahweh had definitively returned to reclaim His property. Jerusalem, specifically Mount Zion, would serve as the centralized headquarters of cosmic order, truth, and restorative justice. David was willing to bleed, sweat, and completely sacrifice his own rest, simply to lay the first stones of that eternal, global empire. As we look at this text from the high vantage point of our Wisdom Trek today, we must integrate the profound lessons of Psalm One Hundred Thirty-One and Psalm One Hundred Thirty-Two. In the previous psalm, we learned to cultivate a weaned, quiet soul—completely free from the anxious striving of our own egos. But today, we learn that a quiet soul should never lead to a passive life. True biblical humility does not make a person indifferent to the spiritual condition of their culture. In fact,

The Tribulation: Hell on Earth   Our springboard text is Revelation 6:16-17: “And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”   These words, ripped from the throats of kings and great men, rich men and chief captains, mighty men and every bondman and every free man, echo across the shattered landscape of a world in collapse.    As the sixth seal bursts open, the sky rolls up like a scroll, mountains and islands are moved out of their places, and the sun turns black as sackcloth while the moon becomes as blood.  Men do not cry out for mercy; they scream for the rocks to crush them rather than face the wrath of the Lamb. This is the Tribulation—the seven-year period of divine judgment poured out upon a Christ-rejecting world. It is hell on earth, the time of Jacob's trouble, the great tribulation spoken of by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 24:21 as unparalleled in human history.    The book of Revelation, the unveiling of Jesus Christ, lays it bare in vivid, terrifying detail. We will walk through it in the exact prophetic timeline John received, seal by seal, trumpet by trumpet, bowl by bowl, pausing at the parenthetical texts the Holy Spirit inserts to show us the behind-the-scenes reality of salvation and conflict amid the judgments. After the messages to the seven churches in Revelation 1–3, John is caught up through an open door in heaven in chapter 4.        There he sees the throne of God, the four living creatures crying “Holy, holy, holy,” and the twenty-four elders casting their crowns. In chapter 5 the Lamb as it had been slain takes the seven-sealed scroll from the right hand of Him who sits on the throne. Heaven explodes in worship: “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” Then, in chapter 6, the Lamb begins to break the seals, and hell on earth is unleashed in perfect, ordered fury. The first seal: Revelation 6:1-2. “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”  A counterfeit Christ rides forth—the Antichrist—deceiving the nations with a false peace. No arrows yet, only a bow; he conquers through diplomacy and lies before the sword is unsheathed. The world cheers a man of peace who is in reality the man of sin. The second seal: Revelation 6:3-4. “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.”    Global war erupts. The red horse rider turns the planet into a slaughterhouse. Brother against brother, nation against nation—blood flows in rivers as the false peace shatters. The third seal: Revelation 6:5-6. “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”  Famine stalks the earth. A day's wages buys only a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley—bare survival. The rich may still afford luxuries, but the masses starve while inflation and scarcity crush the poor. The fourth seal: Revelation 6:7-8. “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”  One-quarter of the world's population—billions—die in a single stroke from war, famine, plague, and wild beasts turned savage. Death rides with hell at his heels, reaping a harvest so vast the imagination recoils. The fifth seal: Revelation 6:9-11. “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”      The martyrs cry from beneath the altar, their blood crying out for vengeance. More will join them—tribulation saints slaughtered for refusing the beast. Then comes the sixth seal, and the parenthetical pause is not yet. The cosmic cataclysm of Revelation 6:12-17: earthquake so violent every mountain and island moves, sun black, moon blood-red, stars falling like untimely figs, sky rolling up like a scroll. Men of every class hide in caves and beg the rocks to fall on them—“from the wrath of the Lamb.” This is only the beginning.   Now the first major parenthetical text breaks the chronological flow in Revelation 7. While the judgments continue on earth, heaven reveals two groups preserved and saved amid the horror.    First, the 144,000 Jewish evangelists: Revelation 7:4-8. “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”      Twelve thousand from each tribe—Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin—sealed on their foreheads with the seal of the living God.    These are not the church; they are literal Jews, protected supernaturally so they cannot be harmed by the coming trumpet and bowl judgments. They become the greatest missionary force in history, preaching the everlasting gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people while the world burns.   Because of their fearless proclamation—and the ministry of the two witnesses yet to come—an innumerable multitude is saved. Revelation 7:9-17: “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands… These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”      Millions upon millions—Gentiles from every corner of the globe—turn to Christ during this hellish time. They endure hunger, thirst, scorching heat, and persecution, yet they stand before the throne, palms waving, singing of salvation. The 144,000 Jewish evangelists and the two witnesses are the instruments God uses to reap this vast harvest even as wrath falls. The seventh seal brings silence in heaven for half an hour—Revelation 8:1—then the seven trumpets. The first four are ecological and cosmic disasters affecting one-third of the earth. First trumpet: Revelation 8:7. “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.” Burning hail and blood rain down; one-third of the planet's vegetation is incinerated.   Second trumpet: Revelation 8:8-9. A burning mountain—perhaps a meteor or volcano—plunges into the sea. One-third of the sea turns to blood, one-third of sea creatures die, one-third of ships are destroyed. Oceans become graveyards. Third trumpet: Revelation 8:10-11. A star named Wormwood falls on one-third of the rivers and springs. Waters turn bitter; “many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”   Fourth trumpet: Revelation 8:12. One-third of the sun, moon, and stars are struck. The day and night lose one-third of their light. Darkness deepens over the planet.   Then an angel flies through heaven crying, “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!” The three woes are announced.   The fifth trumpet—first woe—Revelation 9:1-12. A star falls, given the key to the bottomless pit. Smoke darkens the sun and air. Locusts pour out—demonic hordes with the power of scorpions. They do not touch grass or trees or those sealed by God, but only the unsealed men. “And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.”    Picture it: locusts shaped like battle horses, crowned like gold, faces of men, hair of women, teeth of lions, iron breastplates, wings roaring like chariots, tails with scorpion stings. For five long months men are stung again and again. The agony is unbearable—burning, electric torment that drives them mad. They claw at their flesh, beg for death, but death refuses to come. This is hell on earth, demonic torture let loose by divine permission. Their king is Abaddon—Apollyon—the destroyer. The sixth trumpet—second woe—Revelation 9:13-21. Four angels bound at the Euphrates are loosed for a precise hour, day, month, and year. An army of two hundred million horsemen is released. “And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed…” Fire, smoke, brimstone, and serpent-like tails with heads that wound. One-third of surviving mankind is slaughtered.  Yet the rest “repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood… Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.” Even after billions dead, hearts remain stone.   Now the second major parenthetical section: Revelation 10 and 11.  A mighty angel with a rainbow crown and feet like pillars of fire stands on sea and land, holding a little open book. John eats it—sweet as honey in the mouth, bitter in the belly.    He is told he must prophesy again. Then the temple is measured; the outer court is given to the Gentiles for forty-two months. And the two witnesses appear: Revelation 11:3-12. “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies.”      They shut heaven so no rain falls, turn waters to blood, and smite the earth with plagues as often as they will. For 1,260 days they torment the beast's kingdom. Then the beast from the bottomless pit kills them. Their bodies lie in the street of the great city for three and a half days while the world rejoices and sends gifts. But suddenly breath enters them; they stand on their feet. A voice from heaven calls, “Come up hither,” and they ascend in a cloud while their enemies watch. A great earthquake follows, killing seven thousand. The two witnesses—likely Enoch and Elijah or Moses and Elijah—preach, perform miracles, and add to the harvest of souls alongside the 144,000.   The seventh trumpet sounds: Revelation 11:15. “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Heaven rejoices, but the third woe is still to come in full force.   Revelation 12–14 forms the third great parenthetical block, filling in the cosmic and earthly drama. A woman clothed with the sun gives birth to a man child who is caught up to God's throne.    The red dragon—Satan—is cast out of heaven with his angels. “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”    He persecutes the woman (Israel) who flees to the wilderness for 1,260 days. Then the beast rises from the sea—Revelation 13—the Antichrist, empowered by the dragon, with a healed deadly wound that causes the world to worship him. He blasphemes God for forty-two months and makes war on the saints.    The second beast—the false prophet—rises from the earth, performs miracles, makes fire come down from heaven, and forces the world to worship the image of the beast. He causes all to receive a mark in the right hand or forehead—the mark of the beast, 666—without which no one can buy or sell. Those who refuse it are beheaded.   Yet amid this, the 144,000 stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion in Revelation 14:1-5, singing a new song no one else can learn—virgins, firstfruits, without guile.    Three angels fly through heaven: one preaches the everlasting gospel, another announces Babylon's fall, the third warns with the most terrifying words in Scripture: “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark… The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.”    Then the harvest of the earth—both the reaping of the saved and the grapes of wrath trodden outside the city until blood flows to the horse bridles for two hundred miles. Finally the seven bowls—the last plagues, in which the wrath of God is filled up—Revelation 15–16. These are poured out rapidly, one after another, more intense than anything before. First bowl: Revelation 16:2. Noisome and grievous sores break out on everyone who has the mark of the beast and worships his image.    Open, festering ulcers cover their bodies; they cannot sit, cannot lie down, cannot escape the burning pain.   Second bowl: Revelation 16:3. The sea becomes as the blood of a dead man; every living soul in the sea dies. The oceans are one vast, stinking cemetery of rotting flesh.   Third bowl: Revelation 16:4-7. Rivers and fountains turn to blood. The angel of the waters declares it just: “For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.” Fourth bowl: Revelation 16:8-9. The sun is given power to scorch men with fire. Men are burned with fierce heat. Instead of repenting, they blaspheme the name of God “and they repented not to give him glory.”   Fifth bowl: Revelation 16:10-11. The seat of the beast is plunged into darkness. Men gnaw their tongues for pain from the sores and the darkness, yet “they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”     Sixth bowl: Revelation 16:12-16. The great river Euphrates is dried up, preparing the way for the kings of the east. Unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouths of the dragon, beast, and false prophet—demonic miracle-workers gathering the armies of the world to Armageddon for the battle of the great day of God Almighty.   Seventh bowl: Revelation 16:17-21. “It is done.” Voices, thunders, lightnings, the greatest earthquake in history. Every island flees, mountains disappear. The great city is divided into three parts; the cities of the nations fall.    Babylon is remembered before God to receive the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. And “there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent”—one hundred pounds of ice falling from the sky. Men blaspheme God because the plague of the hail is exceeding great.   Revelation 17–18 details the fall of Babylon the great—the religious and commercial system that intoxicated the nations with her fornication and persecuted the saints.      She is made desolate, naked, eaten, and burned with fire by the ten kings who once supported her. The merchants of the earth weep over her in one hour her riches are destroyed.   All of this is the Tribulation—hell on earth. One-quarter of mankind dead at the fourth seal, another third at the sixth trumpet, billions more from famine, plague, hail, scorching, demonic torment, and war.        Yet through it all, the 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists and the two witnesses proclaim the gospel, and a great multitude no man can number is saved out of the great tribulation, washing their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Most harden their hearts, refusing to repent even as they gnaw their tongues and scream under the hailstones. The wrath of the Lamb is poured out without mixture—pure, undiluted, terrifying justice.   The Tribulation ends with the return of the King in Revelation 19. Heaven opens; the white horse rider—Faithful and True—comes with the armies of heaven to tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. The beast and false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire. Satan is bound. The thousand-year reign begins. But the question remains from our springboard text: “Who shall be able to stand?” Only those whose robes are washed in the blood of the Lamb. The Tribulation is coming. It is the time of God's wrath poured out on a world that has rejected His Son.    Yet even in the darkest hour, grace abounds for those who will call upon the name of the Lord. The 144,000 will preach, the two witnesses will testify, and multitudes will be saved. But for those who take the mark and worship the beast, there is only fire and brimstone forever.   This is the Tribulation. This is hell on earth. May we heed the warning and be found among those who stand before the throne, palms in hand, singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.

In this sermon from Revelation 14:1–5, we explore what it means for the church to hold the “high ground of heaven” with the Lamb atop Mount Zion. Against the backdrop of the dragon and his beasts in Revelation 12–13, this message unpacks how followers of Jesus live victoriously in a very real spiritual war.Key themes and scriptures:The Lamb on Mount Zion: Revelation 14:1; Psalm 2; Isaiah 2:1–4; Micah 4:1–3Jesus as the slain yet standing Lamb: Revelation 5:5–6, 9–10; John 1:29The 144,000 as the whole people of God: Revelation 7:1–9; Galatians 3:28–29; Ephesians 2:11–22Marks of allegiance: Revelation 13:16–17; 14:1; Ezekiel 9:4; Deuteronomy 6:4–9Spiritual warfare and standing firm: Ephesians 6:10–18; 2 Corinthians 10:3–5; 1 Peter 5:8–10Worship as warfare: Revelation 14:2–3; 5:9–14; Acts 16:25–34; Psalm 22:3; Psalm 149:5–9Singing a “new song” of victory: Psalm 96:1–3; Psalm 98:1–3; Revelation 14:3; Romans 8:28–39Discipleship: following the Lamb wherever He goes: Revelation 14:4; Luke 9:23–24; John 10:27; John 12:24–26Holiness and purity in a compromised world: Revelation 14:4–5; 1 Peter 1:14–16; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–8; 1 Corinthians 6:18–20Firstfruits and costly allegiance: Revelation 14:4; James 1:18; Romans 12:1–2; Malachi 3:10Truth over deception: Revelation 12:9–11; 14:5; John 8:31–32; John 14:6This message calls believers to:Lift their eyes from the chaos of the beast (Revelation 13) to the Lamb on the mountain (Revelation 14:1).Wage war through loud, confident worship (Revelation 14:2–3; Hebrews 10:24–25).Embrace discipleship, holiness, and uncompromised truth as visible allegiance to Jesus (Revelation 14:4–5; Titus 2:11–14).If you've felt pressure to compromise, blend in, or live in the “murky middle” between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world, this message invites you to ascend the mountain, plant your flag with the Lamb, and live as a worshiping disciple who holds the true high ground in Christ.

On Thursday's Mark Levin Show, the Iranian regime has no intention of honoring any deal. They view negotiations merely as opportunities to delay while pursuing their goal of conquering and converting others through violence, as they believe Allah commands. The regime exists not to govern but to expand its influence worldwide. Also, Mount Zion—the literal 4,000-year-old birthplace of Judaism in what critics call Israel's disputed or occupied territory—predates Islam, Christianity, and any notion of Palestinians. Jew-haters and Israel-haters use “Zionist” as a supposed distinction from “Jew,” yet there would be no Jews without Mount Zion. Under President Polk, when Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, and California were added 180 years ago despite Mexico's claims; no one today debates those states as “occupied territory,” nor questions that Americans live on land taken from Indian tribes 140 years ago. Yet Israel must endlessly defend its far older homeland against the same logic. Later, the birthright citizenship Supreme Court decision will demand courage to rule correctly - failure to do so would inflict severe, lasting damage on the nation. Some weaker Republican justices may uphold the status quo to avoid intense personal backlash from the left while the left operates a well-organized, networked, and well-funded militia that confronts ICE and local police across the country. Finally, with the election on Tuesday Rep Chip Roy calls in to update his run for Texas Attorney General. Roy also talks about the effort to Islamify Texas. Islam is primarily a political ideology masquerading behind the First Amendment to wage jihad against the West. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Day 2867 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom. Day 2867 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 129:1-8 Daily Wisdom Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2867 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2867 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. The title for Today's Wisdom-Trek is: The Song of Ascent – The Scars of Survival and the Broken Cords In our previous episode on this grand journey, we rested in the warm, beautiful, and deeply comforting sanctuary of the family hearth. We explored Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Eight, which painted a magnificent picture of domestic Shalom. We saw the profound blessing of a life that fears the Lord, where our daily labor is protected, our marriages flourish like fruitful grapevines, and our children grow like vigorous young olive trees around our tables. We celebrated the multi-generational peace that cascades directly down from the cosmic summit of Mount Zion, anchoring our families to the eternal timeline of God's grace. But as any seasoned traveler knows, the pilgrim trail does not stay in the safety of the cozy home forever. The road of faith is a rugged mountain pass, and it frequently cuts through dangerous, hostile territory. Today, we are stepping onto the next section of the trail, exploring the tenth song in this ancient collection: Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Nine, verses one through eight, in the New Living Translation. The psalmist abruptly shifts our focus away from the peaceful agricultural blessing of a fruitful home, and forces us to confront a shocking, highly painful agricultural metaphor. We are moving from the shade of the olive tree, directly onto the blood-soaked soil of a battlefield, learning what it means to carry the deep scars of survival, while trusting in the ultimate justice of the King. Let us step onto the path, and listen to the resilient song of the survivor. The first segment is: The History of Pain and the Plowman's Furrows Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Nine: verses one through three. From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me— let all Israel repeat this. From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never defeated me. My back is covered with furrows, as if a plowman had plowed long trenches. The song opens with a raw, collective cry that echoes down through the centuries. The psalmist demands that the entire gathered community join in a corporate chant of survival: "From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me—let all Israel repeat this." When the psalm speaks of "earliest youth," it is not referring to the childhood of an individual writer; it is describing the corporate infancy of the nation of Israel. The historical memory of this people is deeply saturated with trauma. From the moment they were born as a distinct community, down in the brick-making tyranny of Egypt, they were hunted. They were oppressed by the Amalekites in the wilderness, harassed by the Philistines during the era of the Judges, assaulted by the superpower of Assyria, and ultimately, violently dragged away into the crushing captivity of Babylon. Suffering is woven directly into the fabric of Israel's historical identity. To truly understand why this tiny nation has faced such a relentless, systemic, and multi-generational hatred, we must look through the lens of cosmic geography, and the Divine Council worldview, as taught by Dr. Michael S. Heiser. In the Deuteronomy Thirty-Two worldview, when the Most High divided the nations at the Tower of Babel, He allocated them to the oversight of lesser spiritual beings—the sons of God. These territorial elohim subsequently rebelled, becoming corrupt, and demanding worship for themselves. But Yahweh set apart Jacob—the people of Israel—as His own personal, treasured allotment. Israel was designed to be the beachhead of the true Kingdom of God on earth, the line through which the Messiah would eventually come to reclaim the entire planet. Therefore, the rebel spiritual principalities have a deeply rooted, cosmic grudge against Israel. The surrounding pagan nations are their earthly proxies, moving under their dark inspiration, constantly attempting to crush, assimilate, or entirely erase the people of Yahweh from the face of the earth. The persecution is not a series of random political misunderstandings; it is a calculated, supernatural conspiracy to thwart the redemptive plan of the Creator. The sheer brutality of this cosmic assault is revealed in the shocking, graphic metaphor of verse three: "My back is covered with furrows, as if a plowman had plowed long trenches." Imagine the horrifying visual. The back of the nation is treated like an open, empty field. The enemies of God do not just strike them; they drive a heavy, iron-tipped agricultural plow right across their flesh. The lash of the oppressor cuts deep, tearing open long, bloody trenches of pain, leaving permanent, raised scars of trauma across generations. It speaks of systemic, agonizing abuse. Yet, even with their backs plowed open, verse two contains a stunning, defiant pivot that shatters the power of the enemy: "...but they have never defeated me." The scars are real, the pain is undeniable, and the trenches are deep—but the survival is absolute. The rebel gods bared their fangs, and deployed their massive empires, but they could not finish the job. The covenant community still stands, stubbornly breathing, and singing on the trail to Jerusalem. The second segment is: The Righteous Deliverer and the Severed Harness Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Nine: verse four. But the Lord is good; he has cut the cords that bound me to the wicked. After staring directly into the graphic trauma of the plowman's trenches, the psalmist introduces the ultimate reason for Israel's miraculous survival. "But the Lord is good; he has cut the cords that bound me to the wicked." Other translations render the opening phrase as, "The Lord is righteous." This is a crucial theological distinction in the cosmic courtroom. Yahweh is not an indifferent spectator, watching the abuse from a safe distance. He is the perfectly just, Sovereign Commander. He looks down at the field of pain, sees the wicked driving their heavy plow across the backs of His people, and He decides that the legal boundaries of the covenant have been violated. To understand the imagery of cutting the cords, we must examine ancient agricultural technology. An ox was attached to the heavy wooden or iron plow by a complex system of thick leather cords, ropes, and harnesses. If those cords remained intact, the plowman could keep driving the beast forward, forcing the plowshare deeper into the dirt, tearing up the field indefinitely. The wicked, and the dark spiritual principalities behind them, intended to keep plowing Israel's back forever. They wanted permanent, eternal enslavement. But the Righteous Judge steps directly onto the field. With one swift, authoritative, and supernatural stroke, He slices the leather harnesses in half. He cuts the cords! The connection between the driving beast and the weapon of oppression is instantly severed. The plow stops dead in its tracks. The mechanism of slavery is completely shattered. This is a magnificent declaration of cosmic liberation. When God cuts the cords, the human oppressors lose their leverage, and the rebel spiritual forces lose their grip. Think about the Exodus from Egypt—God cut the cords of Pharaoh's chariots. Think about the return from Babylon—He snapped the iron chains of the empire. The survivor does not escape through their own cleverness, or their own military might; they walk free simply because the razor-sharp justice of Yahweh sliced through the ropes that bound them to the darkness. The third segment is: The Helpless Doom of the Haters of Zion Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Nine: verses five through eight. May all who hate Jerusalem be turned back in shameful defeat. May they be as helpless as grass growing on a roof, withering before it can grow. It can't be harvested by the reaper or bound into sheaves by the harvester. May those who pass by refuse to say to them, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you; we bless you in the name of the Lord.” Having celebrated the broken cords of the past, the psalmist turns his attention to the final destiny of those who continue to oppose the kingdom of light. He issues a prophetic, imprecatory prayer: "May all who hate...

(Part 3 of 3) In this episode, Jeff Shepherd unpacks Ezekiel's remarkable vision of a mountain-temple and positions it as the true divine blueprint that contrasts sharply with ancient human-made ascents like ziggurats and pyramids. Drawing from Ezekiel 40–48 and related passages (Exodus 25; Revelation 21–22), Jeff walks listeners through the temple's precise measurements, ascending design, and the heavenly measuring rod that marks it as God's authoritative pattern. He connects the stepped altar and tiered courts to ancient artificial mountains, explaining how Ezekiel's temple functions as a restored Mount Zion where God's glory returns through the east gate to dwell among His people. Key topics include temple architecture and symbolism, the continuity from Moses' mountain-sent tabernacle pattern to Ezekiel's mountain-temple and onward to John's New Jerusalem, and the theological contrast between God's ordained ascent by obedience and humanity's rebellious attempts to ascend by pride. Jeff emphasizes the temple's role as both an earthly preview and a prophetic bridge to the New Jerusalem—where the whole city ultimately becomes the temple in Revelation. Listeners will hear reflections on how ancient monuments echo the human longing for the sacred, why those counterfeits fall short, and how Ezekiel's vision points directly to Christ as the true temple and Mount Zion. The episode closes with an invitation to read Ezekiel 40–48, reflect on the End Times vision in light of this true mountain blueprint, and engage in community—liking, subscribing, and discussing the series' implications for understanding ancient structures and biblical prophecy. Want to Understand and Explain Everything Biblically? Click Here: Decoding the Power of Three: Understand and Explain Everything or go to www.rightonu.com and click learn more. Use coupon code MAY50 for $50. value savings until May 31st.. Thank you for Listening to Right on Radio. Prayerfully consider supporting Right on Radio. Click Here for all links, Right on Community ROC, Podcast web links, Freebies, Products (healing mushrooms, EMP Protection) Social media, courses and more...https://linktr.ee/RightonRadio Live Right in the Real World! We talk God and Politics, Faith Based Broadcast News, views, Opinions and Attitudes We are Your News Now. Keep the Faith

In this episode, Jennifer Barrett explores how the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on Mount Zion reveal God's unfolding plan of redemption and the biblical foundation for Spirit-filled apostolic worship.

Welcome to Day 2862 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom. Day 2862 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 126:1-6 – Daily Wisdom Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2862 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2862 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. The title for today's Wisdom-Trek is: The Song of Ascent – The Dream of Restoration and the Harvest of Joy In our previous episode on this grand expedition, we stood in the protective shadow of the cosmic center. We explored Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Five, where we learned a profound, stabilizing truth. We discovered that those who place their absolute trust in Yahweh take on the permanent, immovable qualities of Mount Zion itself. We marveled at the spiritual geography of the holy city, realizing that, just as the physical mountains surround Jerusalem, the Creator intimately and fiercely surrounds His people. We rested in the prophetic guarantee that the oppressive scepter of the wicked—the ruling power of the dark, rebellious principalities—has a strict expiration date. We anchored our souls in the unshakeable peace of God's protective perimeter. Today, we continue our upward climb on the ancient pilgrim trail, stepping into the seventh song of this magnificent collection. We are exploring Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Six, verses one through six, in the New Living Translation. As the weary travelers ascend the mountain pass, they raise their voices to sing a song of stunning contrasts. It is a song that looks backward with unbelievable, intoxicating joy, while simultaneously looking forward through the blurry lens of tears and sorrow. It is the ultimate anthem of the exile, beautifully capturing the tension of living in a world that has been saved, yet still waits for its final redemption. Let us step onto the trail, and listen to the song of the harvest. The first segment is: The Unbelievable Reality of the Cosmic Rescue Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Six: verses one through three. When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.” Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy! The stanza opens with a glorious, overwhelming memory of divine intervention. "When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!" To fully comprehend the sheer euphoria of this opening verse, we must remember the devastating reality of the Babylonian exile. The nation of Israel had been conquered, their holy city burned to ash, and the people violently dragged away into a foreign, pagan empire. In the context of the Divine Council worldview, this was not just a political defeat; it appeared to be a massive, cosmic victory for the kingdom of darkness. The rebel gods of Babylon seemed to have triumphed over the Creator. For seventy long, agonizing years, the Israelites wept by the rivers of Babylon, convinced that they would die in the suffocating grip of their captors. But then, the Sovereign of the universe moved His hand. He orchestrated the rise and fall of entire empires, moving the heart of the Persian king to release the captives. Yahweh reached into the dark, hostile territory of the disinherited nations, and He physically pulled His people out. The deliverance was so sudden, so massive, and so humanly impossible, that the returning exiles could hardly process reality. "It was like a dream!" Have you ever woken up from a nightmare, and felt that crushing wave of relief when you realized you were safe in your own bed? That is the exact emotion the psalmist is trying to capture. The rescue was so magnificent, it bypassed their logical comprehension. This supernatural deliverance produced an involuntary, physical reaction. "We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy." The heavy, suffocating silence of their captivity was shattered by the ringing, defiant sound of holy laughter. Their joy was a weapon, actively testifying to the faithfulness of their King. And the surrounding pagan world was forced to watch. "And the other nations said, ‘What amazing things the Lord has done for them.'" This is a staggering moment of cosmic vindication. The surrounding nations, who were governed by the rebel, lesser elohim, had to publicly confess the supreme, unrivaled power of Yahweh. The dark, spiritual principalities were humiliated on the global stage. The pagan cultures looked at the joyful, returning exiles, and they had to admit that the God of Israel had orchestrated a masterclass of redemption. The rescue was so undeniable, that even the enemies of the cosmic order had to acknowledge the majesty of the Creator. The pilgrims echo this confession, turning it into a roaring anthem: "Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!" They look backward at the great salvation of their past, and they allow that memory to fuel their present journey. The second segment is: The Desperate Plea for the Desert Streams Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Six: verse four. Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert. Suddenly, the tone of the psalm shifts dramatically. The intoxicating laughter of the past fades, and the stark, difficult reality of the present moment sets in. The psalmist cries out, "Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert." Why this sudden plea for restoration, if they had already been rescued from exile? Because the ancient believers understood the tension of the "already, but not yet." Yes, Yahweh had miraculously brought them back to the physical city of Jerusalem. The great, initial rescue had occurred. But the world was still broken. The land was still devastated, the enemies were still lurking outside the walls, and the exhausting, grueling work of rebuilding their civilization lay before them. They had been delivered from the nightmare, but they woke up to a harsh, demanding reality. They needed a second wave of divine grace. Therefore, they pray for a restoration that is "as streams renew the desert." Other translations use the term, "like the watercourses in the Negev." The Negev is the arid, unforgiving, southern desert region of Israel. Most of the year, its riverbeds, or wadis, are completely dry, baked hard by the relentless sun. The landscape looks entirely dead, incapable of sustaining life. But when the seasonal rains finally fall in the distant mountains, something miraculous happens. Without any warning, a sudden, violent flash flood comes roaring down the dry riverbeds. The rushing waters carve through the parched earth, instantly bringing explosive, vibrant life to the desert. Dormant seeds sprout, and the barren wasteland is transformed into a blooming oasis overnight. This is exactly what the psalmist is asking God to do in the spiritual realm. He is saying, "Lord, our current circumstances feel like a dry, scorched desert. Our souls are parched. The work of rebuilding is draining our strength. We need You to send a sudden, overwhelming flash flood of Your Holy Spirit. We need the rushing waters of Your grace to carve through our spiritual drought, and bring vibrant, unexpected life back to our community." He is asking the Creator to intervene with the same undeniable power He used to bring them out of Babylon. The third segment is: The Grueling Warfare of the Sower Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Six: verses five and six. Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest. To illustrate the agonizing process of waiting for that restoration, the psalmist turns to the powerful, ancient metaphor of agriculture. "Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy." To a modern reader who buys their food at a grocery store, planting a garden is often a relaxing, pleasant hobby. But in the ancient Near East, planting was an act of desperate survival, fraught with terror and physical pain. We must view this through the lens of the curse in Genesis Chapter Three. The ground had been cursed, heavily contested by the forces of chaos. The earth yielded thorns, thistles, and hard, unforgiving rock. Imagine a poor, ancient farmer. The winter has been long, and his family's food supply is almost entirely gone. He holds a small, precious sack of grain in his hands. He could feed that grain to his starving children today, and satisfy their...

Welcome to Day 2860 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom. Day 2860 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 125:1-5 – Daily Wisdom Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2860 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2860 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. The Title for today's Wisdom-Trek is: The Song of Ascent – Surrounded by the Unshakeable Mountain In our previous episode on this grand expedition, we looked back with a shuddering sense of gratitude. In Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Four, we confronted a terrifying, hypothetical question: what would have happened if the Maker of heaven and earth had not been on our side? We realized that without the intervention of Yahweh, the raging, chaotic waters of the rebel gods would have swallowed us alive. We celebrated the glorious truth that the Divine Warrior stepped in, snapped the fowler's snare in half, and set our souls free to fly. We anchored our survival entirely to the Name of the Lord. Today, we continue our upward climb on the ancient pilgrim trail. The traveler has survived the wilderness, and is now gazing at the magnificent, geographical reality of the Holy City. We are exploring the sixth song in this collection, which is Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Five, verses one through five, in the New Living Translation. The psalmist shifts our focus from the fleeting, fragile nature of our earthly struggles, to the massive, permanent, and unshakeable geology of God's cosmic headquarters. Let us step onto the trail, look at the mountains, and discover what it means to be eternally secure. The first segment is: The Cosmic Center and the Immovable Saint Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Five: verse one. Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever. The stanza opens with a profound, stabilizing comparison. The psalmist declares, "Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion." To fully appreciate the immense weight of this statement, we must understand the concept of cosmic geography in the Ancient Israelite worldview. In the ancient Near East, mountains were not just piles of rock and dirt; they were the meeting places of the divine. The pagan nations surrounding Israel believed that their gods ruled from towering, majestic peaks, like Mount Hermon or Mount Zaphon. The rebel spiritual principalities, the fallen members of the Divine Council, demanded worship on these high places. In stark contrast, Mount Zion, the hill upon which Jerusalem was built, is not a particularly tall or physically intimidating mountain. Compared to the snow-capped peaks of the north, Zion is relatively modest. Yet, Yahweh chose this specific, unremarkable hill to be the cosmic center of the universe. It is the earthly footprint of His heavenly throne room. Because the Most High God dwells there, Mount Zion cannot be moved. It is immune to the chaotic storms of the rebel gods. It stands firm, defying the spiritual gravity of a fallen world. The psalmist makes a breathtaking theological leap. He states that the human being who places their absolute, unyielding trust in Yahweh, actually takes on the geological characteristics of Mount Zion itself. When you anchor your soul to the Creator, you become immovable. You become a living, breathing extension of the cosmic mountain. He promises that those who trust "will not be defeated but will endure forever." In a world where human empires rise and fall in the blink of an eye, and where our personal circumstances constantly fluctuate, this is an anchor for the soul. The forces of darkness may swirl around you, and the culture may attempt to push you off balance, but if your trust is in the King, you are eternally secured to the bedrock of reality. The second segment is: The Divine Perimeter Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Five: verse two. Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever. As the pilgrim approaches Jerusalem, he observes the physical topography of the region. "Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people." Jerusalem is uniquely situated. It sits on a hill, but it is enveloped by a ring of slightly higher mountains, such as the Mount of Olives to the east. In ancient warfare, this natural terrain provided an incredible, strategic advantage. The surrounding mountains acted as a massive, geological shield, breaking the force of incoming winds, and forcing approaching armies to navigate treacherous, uphill bottlenecks before they could ever reach the city walls. The psalmist takes this physical reality, and transforms it into a stunning picture of spiritual protection. He is saying, "Look at the hills wrapping their arms around this city. That is exactly what Yahweh is doing for you." We are not left exposed on an open, spiritual plain. The Lord Himself forms a thick, impenetrable perimeter defense around the covenant community. When the chaotic, rebel forces of the unseen realm attempt to launch an attack against your soul, they cannot simply walk up to your front door. They must first go through the Sovereign Commander of the universe. He encompasses His people. He is the vanguard, the rearguard, and the towering, protective wall on every side. And notice the duration of this protection: "both now and forever." This is not a temporary, seasonal security contract. The mountains do not get tired, and they do not clock out at the end of a shift. In the same way, the protective, surrounding presence of Yahweh is a permanent, eternal reality, spanning across the ages, long after the current, earthly conflicts have faded into dust. The third segment is: The Expiration Date of Evil Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Five: verse three. The wicked will not rule the land of the godly, for then the godly might be tempted to do wrong. Suddenly, the psalmist addresses a deep, painful tension that exists within the hearts of the pilgrims. He says, "The wicked will not rule the land of the godly." Other translations render this phrase, "For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land allotted to the righteous." This language is deeply rooted in the Divine Council theology of Deuteronomy Chapter Thirty-Two. The world is currently contested territory. The rebel gods, and the wicked, human rulers who act as their avatars, hold scepters of power over the disinherited nations. They constantly try to extend their dark, chaotic jurisdiction into the land allotted to Yahweh's people. When the pilgrim looks around the world, it often seems like the wicked are winning. Corrupt politicians prosper, deceitful systems thrive, and the righteous are marginalized. But the psalmist steps in with a divine, prophetic guarantee. He declares that the scepter of the wicked has a strict, non-negotiable expiration date. Yahweh will not permit the forces of chaos to establish permanent, uncontested rule over His inheritance. The occupation is temporary. Why does God place this limit on the power of evil? The psalmist gives us a profound, psychological reason: "for then the godly might be tempted to do wrong." Literally, the Hebrew text suggests that if the oppression lasts too long, the righteous might reach out their hands to iniquity. The Creator intimately understands the fragility of the human frame. He knows that we are made of dust. If we are subjected to the crushing, unrelenting pressure of injustice, generation after generation, without any hope of relief, even the most faithful, devoted believer might eventually snap. The temptation to assimilate, to adopt the corrupt practices of the pagan culture just to survive, would simply become too great. Therefore, out of His fierce, Fatherly compassion, Yahweh intervenes. He breaks the scepter of the wicked, and limits the duration of the trial, ensuring that the burden never outweighs the grace He provides to endure it. He protects His people from the breaking point. The fourth segment is: The Fork in the Road and the Final Blessing Psalm One Hundred Twenty-Five: verses four and five. O Lord, do good to those who are good, whose hearts are in tune with you. But banish those who turn to crooked ways, O Lord. Take them away with those who do evil. May Israel have peace! In the final verses of the song, the psalmist offers a powerful, dual-sided prayer, clearly marking the division between the two paths of humanity. First, he...

(Part 2 of 2) In this episode host Jeff Shepherd walks listeners through Revelation 21 and argues that the New Jerusalem is not a floating cube but the true Mount Zion — a descending, mountain-shaped city where God's throne sits at the summit. He contrasts humanity's ancient attempts to climb to the divine (pyramids, ziggurats, Babel) with God's reversal: the city comes down from heaven and is given to us, fulfilling the longing those counterfeits expressed. Topics covered include the imagery and measurements of Revelation 21 (the 12,000 stadia, equal length, width, and height), Old Testament foreshadows (the tabernacle's mountain pattern in Exodus, Psalms' and Isaiah's portrayal of Zion, Daniel's stone that becomes a mountain), and New Testament interpretation (Hebrews 8 and 12). Jeff emphasizes theological points: the city-as-temple ("no temple in it" because the Lord and the Lamb are the temple), the completion of redemptive history, and the gospel's reversal of the prideful ascent — God builds and descends, we receive. Key passages and images discussed: Revelation 21–22, Exodus 25:40, Psalm 48, Isaiah 2, Micah 4, Daniel 2, Hebrews 8 and 12. The episode highlights how the tabernacle, temples, and even ancient pyramids functioned as shadows pointing to the heavenly mountain-city, and how Christ's work removes the veil and makes the mountain our dwelling by faith and ultimately in consummation. Takeaways: the New Jerusalem reframes how we read both ancient architecture and biblical temple imagery; the true mountain is gift not achievement; the Christian hope is participation in a descending, perfected kingdom. Jeff closes with pastoral exhortation to love God, neighbor, and community, and invites listeners to read Revelation 21 for themselves and reflect on how this mountain-shaped vision changes their faith. Want to Understand and Explain Everything Biblically? Click Here: Decoding the Power of Three: Understand and Explain Everything or go to www.rightonu.com and click learn more. Use coupon code MAY50 for $50. value savings until May 31st.. Thank you for Listening to Right on Radio. Prayerfully consider supporting Right on Radio. Click Here for all links, Right on Community ROC, Podcast web links, Freebies, Products (healing mushrooms, EMP Protection) Social media, courses and more...https://linktr.ee/RightonRadio Live Right in the Real World! We talk God and Politics, Faith Based Broadcast News, views, Opinions and Attitudes We are Your News Now. Keep the Faith

Thereis nothing more important than practicing the presence of the Lord and desiringto be in His presence on the holy hill. That is Mount Zion. That is where thetemple was. That is where God made known the glory of His presence among Hispeople. You dwelt in His presence there. Today, we can dwell in His presenceevery day. Asa matter of fact, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So what does“the fear of the Lord mean? It means being continuously aware of and consciousof the presence of the Lord in your life—24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Youknow He is there. As Brother Lawrence put it, you “practice His presence.” Thatis what David is asking here. Now,who can do that? Who has the right, the privilege, and the experience ofdwelling in the presence of the Lord? David begins to answer the question inverse 2: “He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks thetruth in his heart.” Three things are mentioned right off the bat. First, “walkinguprightly”. Second, “working righteousness”, and “speaking thetruth in his heart”.  Lookat what he says: “He who walks uprightly.” This speaks of integrity. Itmeans a life that is sincere, genuine, and consistent—not perfect, but real. Theword “walk” reminds us that this is a daily lifestyle. Remember, God toldAbraham in Genesis 17:1: “Walk before Me blamelessly.” That is walkinguprightly. That is walking in the right direction following Jesus every day! Youfind this same truth mentioned in Psalm 23:3 “He leads me in paths ofrighteousness for His name's sake.” Righteousness is doing that which isright. So first, we walk with the Lord uprightly. We are cleansed of our sin.We are enjoying fellowship with Him. We are listening to His voice, payingattention to His Holy Spirit, and walking in obedience by faith. We areenjoying a life of experiencing God. We walk uprightly, and it shows forth tothe world around us. That is so important. Thenwe “work righteousness”. Now this is interesting. Righteousness is doingwhat is right. I will never forget, as a young Christian, hearing someone say: “Doright. Do right. Do right. If the stars fall from heaven, do right.” People havecome to me asking for counseling or advice on how to handle a certain situation,and my answer—because of how I have been influenced—is simply this: “Be aChristian. Be a Christian.” “Just do right!” Thatmeans you do right according to God's Word. It means you follow Jesus. You dowhat Jesus would do in that situation, my friend. The only way you can do thatis by first walking uprightly. You walk in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Remember,our righteousness is as filthy rags. What we do on our own, without the HolySpirit helping us, guiding us, and directing us, “is as filthy rags”. Itmight impress people and make us feel good, but it actually stinks in the sightof God (Isaiah 64:6). Butmy friend, when we follow Jesus, when we are in love with Jesus, when we areenjoying His presence, when we have the fear of the Lord, and when we arewalking in a path that brings glory to His name, people can see the differencein our lives. That is a powerful thing. So our walk matches our profession whenwe walk uprightly. James 1:22 says: “But be doers of the word, and nothearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Abeliever who enjoys close fellowship with God seeks to obey the Lord. Oh, myfriend, that is not sinless perfection, but it is a heart that desiresholiness. May God help us to have that kind of heart. Let us continue over thenext few days looking at Psalm 15. I hope you will take time to memorize it tooand hide it in your heart, that you might not sin against the Lord.Godbless and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day!

Mount Zion – the People of God

“Around A Table”Psalm 1331 How good and pleasant it is    when God's people live together in unity!2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,    running down on the beard,running down on Aaron's beard,    down on the collar of his robe.3 It is as if the dew of Hermon    were falling on Mount Zion.For there the Lord bestows his blessing,    even life forevermore.CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

This episode is inspired by https://open.substack.com/pub/deadhidden/p/the-pyramids-were-not-tombs-they Host Jeff Shepherd walks listeners through a provocative Dead Hidden Substack piece that flips the conventional conversation about the pyramids: they weren't primarily tombs or alien runways but ‘counterfeit mountains' — human attempts to copy a remembered heavenly original. The episode contrasts archaeological facts (the Great Pyramid's astounding precision, empty king's chamber, and star shafts) with a theological reading that locates the pattern in Scripture. The show explores how a single sacred shape — mounds, ziggurats, pyramids, and stepped platforms across Egypt, Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, Sudan, Cambodia, and China — suggests a shared memory or obsession: man building artificial mountains to reach heaven. Shepard traces this idea through Genesis (Eden, the Flood, the Sons of God), Babel's tower, and the famous Mesopotamian ziggurat motif, arguing these are rebellious architectural responses to a heavenly pattern. Central to the episode is the contrast between two answers to humanity's longing for heaven: Babel's ascent (build higher) versus God's provision (tabernacle and sacrificial access). Shepard points to Exodus 25's command to make the tabernacle “after the pattern” and to Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28's descriptions of a pre-fall heavenly mountain — Mount Zion — that Lucifer once knew. The episode culminates with New Testament significance: Christ's descent, the torn temple veil at the crucifixion, and the claim that access to God comes by blood, not by climbing stone. Listeners can expect close readings of biblical texts (Genesis 3, 6, 11; Exodus 25; Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28; Matthew 27), historical observations about ancient monuments, and a theological argument that archaeology measures technique while Scripture explains motive. The episode features commentary on the Dead Hidden article and Jeff Shepard's reflections rather than an outside guest interview. Key takeaways: the pyramids as symbolic, rebellious imitations of a heavenly mountain; the Bible as a map to understand ancient motivations; the shift from human ascent to divine descent in Christ; and an invitation to rethink how we ask questions about ancient monuments. The host closes by inviting listener feedback and encouraging readers to follow the Dead Hidden piece for the full argument. Want to Understand and Explain Everything Biblically? Click Here: Decoding the Power of Three: Understand and Explain Everything or go to www.rightonu.com and click learn more. Use coupon code MAY50 for $50. value savings until May 31st.. Thank you for Listening to Right on Radio. Prayerfully consider supporting Right on Radio. Click Here for all links, Right on Community ROC, Podcast web links, Freebies, Products (healing mushrooms, EMP Protection) Social media, courses and more...https://linktr.ee/RightonRadio Live Right in the Real World! We talk God and Politics, Faith Based Broadcast News, views, Opinions and Attitudes We are Your News Now. Keep the Faith

Honoring Leadership Authority (2) (audio) David Eells, 5/6/26 Precious Father, we thank You so much for opening our understanding so that we can cooperate with You in these days to come. Lord, put a sense of Your sovereignty in us that we might know that You are in control of all these things, and that history repeats because there's only One mind in control, and that is Yours, and that we can put our trust totally in You. You are teaching us not to lean upon the arm of the flesh, or the strength of man, but to lean on You in faith, to trust in You as our Savior in all things. And we thank You, Father. Lord, this teaching of honoring leadership authority certainly puts us in a position of weakness, where we need to trust in You to be our defender. And we thank You, Lord, that You are omnipotent, You are all-powerful to take care of Your people, to defend them, and provide for them. And we thank You, Lord. We can trust You. We thank You, Lord. Hallelujah! Amen.  In thinking on Revelation 13, how in verse 7 that the beast is making war on the saints, He commands the saints that if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. The Lord has put us in a position of weakness. Here, the beast is making a physical war on the saints, but they can't do any physical warfare. They need to fight using the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and trust God as Savior.  And it wasn't any different with Jesus. He said to Peter and the disciples, Mat.26:52 Then saith Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into its place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. In the next verse, He said He could call down twelve legions of angels, if he really wanted to fight. He trusted Himself to God as Savior. We just looked at quite a few promises to the people who will not go out and fight with the beast. And on the other hand, God made quite a few very ominous threats to those who do. There's a revelation in Ezekiel 17, which I'll just touch on. Here's a parable that the Lord gave to me through the word of knowledge, which helped me to understand what was being said. Israel in this story was between two great eagles. One of them was Babylon, and the other was Egypt. Except that the Father pointed out to me that these two eagles represented the same country. And that Egypt here represents a bondage that God's people were to forsake. He forbade them from ever going back to Egypt. And what He meant was Egypt represented the old man in their baptism in the Red Sea. The old man died, and He never wanted them to go back to being in bondage to the old man, or to trust in the strength of Egypt, as He said in Isaiah 30. So you can understand that the beast kingdom, the Great Eagle that was ruling over the nations, at that time was literally Babylon. It was the head of the nations, just like America is today, as the Great Eagle. The Lord showed me in Ezekiel 17 that a civil war would come in which the Great Eagle would be pitted against the Great Eagle. And that's the story here in Ezekiel 17, and many people have never actually seen that, but once it's pointed out to you, it's very clear. Babylon was bringing God's people under dominion. It was taking authority over them, taking their freedom from them. They had their own country, they were free, but now they were coming under the dominion of Babylon. Much like Christianity has been in freedom. But increasingly, we see that it has come under the dominion of the beast, and many laws are taking away Christian freedoms. And that's the parable here. So when He speaks about making a covenant with Israel, He's talking about the end time covenant. Ezekiel represented the Man-child of Revelation 12. Ezekiel was caught up to the throne of God. He saw God. He was ordained of the Lord there, and he received an anointing there in Ezekiel 2, verse 1. When this happened, he immediately began to be called the Son of Man, like Jesus, Who was also the Man-child. Throughout the whole Book of Ezekiel, he's called the Son of Man. The ministry of the Man-child is going to be opposed by the apostate church. The Jews wanted Jesus to fight with Rome, but He would have nothing of it. His battle was always with the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He didn't want any battle with Rome whatsoever. Rome had been given authority over Israel because Israel was rebellious, and Jesus wasn't going to go against His Father. It's the same situation with Ezekiel. He was trying to tell them not to fight with the king of Babylon. Like Jesus and Jeremiah, his battle was with the apostate leadership of God's people.    Let's start in Eze.17:11 Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, (he's warning the people) saying, 12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and brought them to him to Babylon. (Well, this literally was Jehoiachin, who was the king when Babylon came, and took him, took the princes, and thousands of God's people away to Babylon. But then he did something else.) 13 And he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;  So here's the word ‘covenant', and the Lord showed me in previous revelations that this person was Zedekiah. His administration was the one that the king of Babylon set up. He took of the seed royal, and he made him a ruler over Israel, and He made a covenant with him. Now, I believe that this first part of Jeconiah and that whole leadership being taken into bondage has already happened. I believe where we're headed now is the covenant, and the covenant was made with the Zedekiah administration.  A bondage of the world beast of seven heads and ten horns is coming. I'm going to share a portion of what this ‘taking into bondage' represents, which will be a time in our day. The name of the article is Baiting the False Prophet. Ecc.3:15 That which is hath been long ago; and that which is to be hath long ago been: and God seeketh again that which is passed away. Our modern-day revival of the Roman Empire, the U.S. over the Alliance of Nations, is doing exactly what Constantine did to unite the earth. Those false prophets sat at Constantine's table, and a modern-day false prophet leadership will sit over the Alliance of Nations. A modern equivalent or type has happened. The Reverend Sun Myung Moon, was the leader of the Unification Church. And he claimed that Christ failed in His mission, that he himself was the new Messiah who had come to finish the job and to unite the world through uniting religious forces. Almost all of the well-known evangelical Christian leaders and their organizations were beholden to this man. It was not by accident, it's was by design. He took his work very seriously. As a billionaire, he targeted these influential leaders with the hook and bait of bailouts and grants and political power and prestige, and so on. I couldn't believe how these men showered admiration for this lost man. He brought them what they lusted for while unifying them through his related organizations: the Council of National Policy, the Coalition for Religious Freedom, the Council of 56 of the Religious Roundtable, and others. It is here that he associates them with the leadership of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Council of Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, Freemasonry, all closely tied to the Bilderbergers. Do you think this couldn't happen again on a larger scale?This shadow government was joining the leaders of apostate religions together as a false prophet of unity to the masses of Christians who don't know that they, as a harlot, were being sold into bondage to the beast. History repeats as the apostate leaders were set at Constantine's Round Table to build an end-time Catholic or Universal Church. In like manner, Babylon took the leadership of God's people captive and made a covenant with them. I give these verses Eze.17:12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and brought them to him to Babylon. (and that was Jehoiachin or Jeconiah; His name has been used in those two different ways. That's just a different version of the same name.) But then, in verse 13, where we just read, he raised up one of the royal lineages and made a covenant with him. Before I read that, I want to read this. An assortment of other ecumenical movements has worked on the whole religious world to bring this unity to pass. In other words, we see in the United States that this has been an effort for many years but not only that, it's happened around the world. The United Religions Initiative was putting together a UN of all religions worldwide called United Religions in their hope of bringing peace And Dominion. Like Constantine formed to make peace between the religions to bring peace to the world. George Bush, along with influential people like billionaire George Soros, the Dalai Lama, and Reverend Moon, threw their weight behind the UR. And all of this was in preparation for a US/UN/UR type Roman Empire. So they are lusting for a one-world religion, and they are capturing, through devious means, these people who have found themselves in trouble, money-wise. As we have seen “the things that have been shall be.  Reverend Moon, who's actually acting for this shadow religious beast government, under the tutelage of the CIA got the leaders out of trouble. So that makes them beholden unto him. All of these historic examples and more have come as a type for the future. Thank God their efforts failed for the time was not yet. This second part is yet to come, and that is verse 13 And he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him (that was Zedekiah); he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land. And so, when I reached this point, the Lord asked me a question when I got to verse 13, and He said, “In how many verses is the word covenant mentioned?” So I started in verse 13, and as I read, I counted and discovered that it was seven verses. And He pointed out to me that that represented the seven years of the covenant. The word covenant is used in seven verses here. And then He asked me, “How many verses until the covenant is broken?” And I counted, and it was about three and a half, in the middle of the sixteenth verse, where he says, Covenant he brake. And then He asked me, “How many times ‘covenant' is spoken in those seven verses?” And it was spoken six times, the number six is the number of the beast and the number of the covenant. Well, I think it's pretty neat. Reading on, He speaks about the covenant, and also about this puppet of the seed royal that the king of Babylon made the covenant with, that he's the one who broke the covenant and rebelled to fight against the great eagle king of Babylon. And not only that, he went to the great eagle of Egypt to seek help, strength, horses, and so on, to fight with the king of Babylon. Well, that was a very bad thing to do, because Babylon was already conquering Egypt at the time. So there really wasn't going to be any help from Egypt. They put themselves in a very bad position, because now the king of Babylon was making war upon them. And he tells them that they won't escape. You can read it for yourself when you get time.  But he also said in Eze.17:19 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, I will even bring it upon his own head. The Lord is saying that these people who fought against the king of Babylon were breaking His covenant. Now, He wasn't talking about the beast covenant being His covenant. He's talking about this being His covenant, the Word of God, and His commands. They had been commanded to submit to the king of Babylon (for chastening) and not to fight with him, and they broke their covenant with God.  And he went on to say that these people who fight against the king of Babylon are just like those who will fight against America, in verse 20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me. 21 And all his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it. Meaning that those who fight against Babylon, this is the promise that God makes to them. This is a type and a shadow. “That which hath been is that which shall be” … (Ecc.1:9) This is a type and a shadow for our day and the seven-year covenant and what's about to happen when God's people rise up to fight, trusting in the arm of the flesh, because of the mark of the beast. Many other “Christians” will just take the mark to hold on to their standard of living. As we saw, submit does not mean to take the mark. This will cause a civil war in the midst of the Great Eagle kingdom and the Christians will lose as our text proves. The mark is to separate the wheat from the tares for the end approaches. Those without faith in God will take the mark. But a new leadership is being raised up to give last minute understanding to many rebels. 22 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain: That's talking about the Man-child ministry; it was Jesus in His day, and then Jesus in the Man-child ministry in our day as history repeats on a larger scale. The mountain is spiritual Mount Zion. Rev 14:1  And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand (man-child), having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. (the mark of God)… 4  These are they that were not defiled with women (False sects of Christianity.); for they are virgins (Having not received the seed or word of man). These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, to be the first fruits unto God and unto the Lamb.  So, going back to this Jehoiachin administration and the administration that was taken out of that, the Zedekiah administration, and we go to 2 Kings chapter 24, we can see the whole story. And it shows there are two different people: those who rebel and those who don't. He makes promises to those who don't, and He makes judgments upon those who rebel. This is a type and a shadow for our day and what's about to happen. 2Ki.24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And verse 14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. (This was in the time of Jehoiakim, when they were taken captive, and when Babylon invaded.) 15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's father's brother, king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. (which means, ‘Yah is might'. This guy felt like he needed to exercise his might against the king of Babylon. They were the people of God, and they thought they didn't deserve this. But Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the writer of Kings here believed that they did deserve what was happening because it was because of their rebellion. This caused God to deliver them over to the king of Babylon. They felt like they should fight to deliver themselves. In other words, to trust in the arm of the flesh, to go back down to the eagle of Egypt, and let the old man rule.) 18 Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem… And verse 20 For through the anger of Jehovah did it come to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. So this is the same place we were in Ezekiel when the covenant was made. He made a covenant with Zedekiah and the people of Israel. They broke it, and rebelled, and they fought. And Jeconiah or Jehoiachin (the same king), and his followers were taken into bondage.  And I want to tell you that the leadership of Christianity will repeat history. They will be taken into bondage except for the righteous. And we're coming to the time of this covenant and this civil war that's about to happen during the time of the Great Eagles. And Zedekiah here represents that apostate ministry. It was said of both Jehoiachin and Zedekiah that they did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. These were evil kings who rebelled against the Lord. And it's the same today. The leadership of God's people is evil as it was in Jesus' time. They have departed from the word of the Lord and done their own thing. And 2Ki.25:2 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. In their rebellion, God did not defend them, He wasn't preserving them, or feeding them, and He wasn't taking care of them because they had rebelled. He had given them the order to submit, which they hadn't done.  And it reminded me of the apostates who had rebelled against him in Isa.65:12 I will destine you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not. (Listen to this now.) 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be put to shame; 14 behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for vexation of spirit. See, this is the exact same thing he says about those who rebel against the king of Babylon and those who don't. He threatens those who rebel with starvation, hunger, and so on. And they eventually flee their land into the nations, and they don't escape even then. This war is going to be totally lost by those who call themselves Christians who stand up to fight will lose this war badly. They're going to be scattered among the nations. And verse 4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city round about); (the Babylonians, the Great Eagle.) and the king went by the way of the Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. 7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon. Now, the ultimate end of this situation was that these people were the harlot. I'm sure they considered themselves the people of God, but you remember in Revelation 17, at the end of the tribulation, the beast burned the harlot with fire. And it is the same thing here. 8 Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem. (apostate Jerusalem) 9 And he burnt the house of Jehovah, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burnt he with fire. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. We see the same story in Jeremiah 24. First, a couple of verses in chapter 23, he said, Jer.23:39 … and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave unto you and to your fathers, away from my presence: Now, why is it in some of the beast attack types, like Assyria, do the people of God escape? Let me read this to you: 2Ch.32:22 Thus Jehovah saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side. 23 And many brought gifts unto Jehovah to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah; so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from thenceforth. Now, there's the seven-headed beast. Well, Assyria was one of the heads, and Babylon was one of the heads. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, Rome, and revived Rome. It's a seven-headed beast. So all of those kingdoms were types and shadows of this end time corporate beast. So how come we see that the time of the Assyrian beast, Jerusalem, and their king were righteous, and they're the only ones that are preserved. Whereas in the time of the Babylonian beast Jerusalem and their king were taken captive? Because we're talking about two different leaderships. God is saying that the backslidden leadership of apostate Jerusalem is going into judgment. And everybody who follows them will follow them into judgment. At the same time, there is a good leadership over the people of God. There is a real Jerusalem, which is the heavenly Jerusalem. So, these people are going to be defended by God; the others are not. That's the difference. There's one unregenerate Jerusalem, as the leadership of God's people, and there's a regenerate. Each one of those beast empires has a type and a shadow for the end time that fits into it. So in Jeremiah chapter 23, He says he's going to cast those apostates off, out of His presence. And Jeremiah, here, represents the Man-child ministry; he's speaking against the rebels, like Ezekiel was doing. What was Jesus doing? Speaking against the rebels like Barabas. Resist not him that is evil, love your enemy, do good to those who despitefully use you, etc. Now, Jer.24:1 Jehovah showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of Jehovah, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2 One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3 Then said Jehovah unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. 4 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 5 Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good. The whole government of America is going to take more authority over Christianity in general. Have you seen that the Christians have lost their rights in the UK while the invaders have rights while Starmer kisses Muslim leaders? The rights that Christians have had to speak to other people, and to raise their children the way they want, and on and on. The rapists are set free. Some are going to fight and try to take the country back but prayer, faith, and spiritual warfare, is the method. Some are not going to fight. But He said that this bondage is coming for good to the good figs, but not so for the bad figs.  He said in verse, 6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: (He's talking about New Jerusalem Paul said we were to come to. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed apostate Jerusalem? So what land and what city were they coming back to? The New Jerusalem and the new land.) … I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.  Now these are the people who do not rebel against the king of Babylon. And then He starts to speak about Zedekiah and the people who do rebel. 8 And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus saith Jehovah, So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: (who trust in Egypt for strength). 9 I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; (That's a terrible threat! I think a large portion of Christianity in America will rise up and fight. The more liberal, the more authority used over them, and when their rights have been taken away, the more the corrupt UN demands its rights, the more treaties are made that give the UN authority in the United States. Very leftist treaties  are just waiting for more liberal leadership to come in and loose them or agree with them. But God says that these people who rebel are going to be tossed to and fro among the kingdoms of the earth for evil. They're going to be scattered all over the world, and they're not going to be free there  …to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. And why? Because they are rebelling against the word of the Lord. God says, ‘Go to your cross,' and they say, ‘I'm not going.' Jesus went to His cross. The Lord is not necessarily demanding a physical death for His people in this cross. But the ones who rebel will definitely find a physical death. That's what He's saying here. They will repent or be destroyed from the face of the Earth. And the next chapter is all about Babylon conquering the nations of the Middle East. The first one is Israel, which represents the church spiritually. Jeremiah the prophet was the one speaking this judgment upon not only the church but the rest of the world. He was the one speaking this judgment and releasing it through the words that he spoke in verse 2 and all of it was because he said, from verses 4 - 6, that they had not hearkened unto the Lord; they were paying no attention whatsoever to what God said in His word. That's why He said this was coming. Listen, there's a judgment coming very fast upon the people of God. The whole world is going to turn, and the head of the United States, too, is going to turn against Christianity for the sake of peace. You're going to see  judgment upon what we loosely call Christianity.  Now go to Jer.27:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (some of your Bibles say Zedekiah there; it's supposed to be Zedekiah, not Jehoiakim, because he'd already spoken about Jehoiakim back in verse 26. Now he was coming down to Zedekiah. My Bible says properly, Zedekiah. The Amplified version used Zedekiah here instead of Jehoiakim, because Jehoiakim doesn't fit here at all; somebody made a mistake here.) Jer.27:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, 2 Thus saith Jehovah to me: Make thee bonds and bars, and put them upon thy neck; 3 and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers that come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; 4 and give them a charge unto their masters, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your masters: 5 I have made the earth, the men and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it unto whom it seemeth right unto me. (We know through reading scriptures that God has given the Earth over into the hand of beast kingdoms that persecuted God's people unto repentance. In every case, they had been rebellious, they had ignored His word, it was not important to them to obey, and so He had given them over into the hand of these beast kingdoms, and now it was Nebuchadnezzar's turn.) 6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon (The Great Eagle in Ezekiel 17. In this case, Jeremiah is the one speaking the word against the people of God, as Jesus did and Ezekiel did, and Jeremiah here represents the Man-child. He preached against the rebels, the bad figs.), my servant (That doesn't mean he was a Christian. But he was serving God in the creation of His people. And since they were rebelling, He was going to bring them a necessary chastening.); and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him. The beasts of the field or the beasts of the world. The field is the world, and the beasts here represent the other kingdoms of the world. Babylon was the head of the nations. It was the head of the U.N. in its day. That's exactly like America is today. Jer.27:7 And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondman. 8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith Jehovah, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. He's talking here about the bad figs, because that's the exact same wording he used about the bad figs, who were the people who rebelled against the king of Babylon. See, when God sends you a chastening, you don't want to rebel against Him. You want to humbly submit to your cross. And that's what's going on here; these people were rebels, and self-willed and wanted it their way. They had taken control over the kingdom of God, and God was sending a chastening, and He said, ‘Submit.' 9 But as for you, hearken ye not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:(Let me tell you something, we've been hearing from them for some time, that the church is not going under the authority of the beast. “We're out of here. We're flying away.” But that's not going to happen. This is exactly what they were prophesying then.) And even after it happened that the beast, at the end of chapter 28, it says, Jer.28:11 And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. (So he said, “Okay, okay, so we did come under the bondage of the kingdom, but we're out of here in two years.” And Jeremiah says, “No, you're not. You're going to be here 70 years. You're not going to be out of here until the Lord visits you.”) For instance, in Jer.29:8 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither hearken ye to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith Jehovah. 10 For thus saith Jehovah, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, (That's the coming of the Lord. Babylon, in the Book of Revelation, was seven years after this happened. God said He was going to shorten the time. And this is how he shortened it. Seventy years was the type, and it was shortened to seven.) …After seventy (seven) years are accomplished for Babylon, (In other words, your bondage in Babylon, after seven years.) I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. Notice, he only said that about the good figs, who were going to return to that place. We just read that. The rebels were not returning. Now, there will be people who are going to rebel, and they're going to repent, and switch sides because they will gain understanding and submit to God. God's going to be with them; He will be their Savior. He's going to forgive them. But there are going to be people who will not repent, and they're going to be what the Bible calls, “the bad figs, very bad they can't be eaten.” He said in Jer.27:10 for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. 11 But the nation that shall bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, that nation will I let remain in their own land, saith Jehovah; and they shall till it, and dwell therein. 12 And I spake to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. 13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Jehovah hath spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, (We're going to hear a rash of this stuff, how this is not going to continue, that it's all going to be turned around. We've already heard these false prosperity prophets speaking lies about the things that are coming. All the peace and the prosperity and the blessings. I believe the blessings will be gone after NESARA provides to get the Gospel out. And yet, these are the same people who will rebel.) saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. 15 For I have not sent them, saith Jehovah, but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that ye may perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you. Those who rebel are going to receive this judgment. But God said that He was going to bless and preserve, and He was going to give a heart to the people who did not rebel to know Him - the good figs. He called Hezekiah, his leadership, and Zedekiah's people the bad figs. They were going to be swept from nation to nation under the judgment of God until they perished from off the face of the earth. When God's people get stubborn and rebellious against His Word, He raises up a beast to chasten them, to bring them to humility, to turn them back to the Lord, and when He's through doing His sanctifying work on them, then He turns on that beast and destroys it. God separates the harlot from the true church through persecution. When He's through doing that, then He destroys the harlot by the beast. They think, “We're God's people. God's on our side. We'll fly away.” Well, no, He wasn't, because they were rebelling. How many apostate religious people do you know who sincerely believe that they're the people of God, but ignore the Word of God to trust a preacher who doesn't agree with the full Gospel? You can share the Word of God with them, and they will still ignore it, because they're self-willed. God knows what He's doing. If He tells us to submit, and to turn the other cheek, to love your enemy, to do good to them that spitefully use you, then we have to obey Him. That's what our cross is all about. Some people are not willing to give up their carnal life to gain their Godly life, which Jesus commanded us.

While irremediable judgment will finally fall on arrogant Moab for their proud refusal of God's remedy against condemnation, the day of judgment will usher in a communion banquet and the removal of the veil of death and sorrow for all who belong to Mount Zion.

“Around A Table”Psalm 1331 How good and pleasant it is    when God's people live together in unity!2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,    running down on the beard,running down on Aaron's beard,    down on the collar of his robe.3 It is as if the dew of Hermon    were falling on Mount Zion.For there the Lord bestows his blessing,    even life forevermore.CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

Exploring the Connection Between Matthew 18, the Book of Job, and Isaiah 18 For Bible in Ten – By DH – 18th April 2026 Welcome back to Bible in Ten. Today we completed Matthew 18.   And this leads us naturally to Book 18 of the Old Testament: Job.   And as an added supporting witness, we can also look to Isaiah 18.   In the previous companion study, Matthew 17 was connected to Esther. That gave us a picture of the kingdom approaching.  The Lord was present in Esther, though hidden. Israel was preserved. And the law, pictured through Haman, was shown to be the enemy, while the saving authority belonged to the Christ-picture in Mordecai. Now in Matthew 18, the scene seems to move forward.The kingdom is not only being anticipated.  It is now being morally explained. The question is no longer simply,  “How does the kingdom come into view?” The question now is, “What kind of spirit belongs in that kingdom?” “What kind of teaching belongs in it?” “How are the weak to be treated?” And what happens when men speak wrongly about God? That is where Job becomes such a powerful companion to Matthew 18.  And Isaiah 18 helps as well, because it gives the sense of the Lord watching from above, pruning before harvest, and then receiving an offering in Zion. So together, Matthew 18, Job, and Isaiah 18 form a very striking set. 1) Greatness in the kingdom begins with humility Matthew 18 opens with the disciples asking, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus answers by calling a little child. And He says that unless they turn and become as little children, they will not even enter the kingdom. Then He says that the one who humbles himself as this little child is the greatest. So the chapter begins with a complete overturning of human ideas of greatness. Greatness is not rank.  It is not force. It is not self-assurance. It is not religious confidence. Greatness is humility. And that is exactly why Job is such a fitting companion book. Because Eliphaz comes in the opposite spirit. He sounds wise. He sounds settled. He sounds experienced. He sounds spiritual. But he is not humble. He speaks as though he understands God's ways. He speaks as though he can explain suffering. He speaks as though he can interpret Job's condition with confidence.  And yet at the end of the book, God says that Eliphaz and his friends have not spoken rightly concerning Him. So right away, Job helps expose something Matthew 18 warns us about. A man can sound authoritative, and still be wrong about God. 2) The little ones matter to God Jesus then warns against despising one of the little ones (a picture of the believer who inherits the kingdom).   The preciousness of new life is discernable when Job in his despair calls against the night when his life was conceived and thus declared in Heaven.    And that is exactly where Eliphaz becomes so important in this picture.  Job is afflicted. He is broken.He is grieving. He is confused. He is suffering deeply. He is the very kind of man who should be handled with care.  But Eliphaz does not treat him that way. He does not protect the suffering brother. He does not gently restore him. He does not wait on the Lord. Instead, he imposes a theory onto him. He assumes Job must be guilty. He assumes suffering must prove wickedness. He assumes that if Job is crushed, then Job must deserve it. That is not shepherding. That is not humility. That is not kingdom thinking. That is bad teaching. And this is why Eliphaz can be seen as a picture of a wolf in shepherd's clothing. He does not look dangerous at first. He looks sober. He looks religious. He looks thoughtful. But he is speaking wrongly about God. And he is using those wrong ideas against a wounded man. 3) Causing stumbling through false teaching In Matthew 18 Jesus speaks about causing one of the little ones to stumble.  And Job shows how this can happen. It is not only open evil that harms people. Religious error harms people too. Eliphaz presents a God who is reduced to a hard system of immediate retribution. In that system: if you suffer, you must have done evil. If you prosper, you must be upright. If you are crushed, you must deserve it. That sounds tidy. It sounds moral. It sounds explainable. But it is false.  And because it is false, it is dangerous. It can crush the weak. It can burden the suffering. It can push people toward despair instead of trust. That makes Eliphaz a very powerful picture of bad teaching. And just as was described in CG profound summary in the previous episode, this also helps picture the kind of spirit that reimposes bondage upon men. Eliphaz may not be a Judaizer in the historical sense, (the Law of Moses had not been given at the time of Job and it does not apply now either),  but he certainly shares the same kind of principle. He burdens instead of freeing. He accuses instead of restoring. He puts man under a crushing religious reading, instead of bringing him into rest. That is always the spirit of false religion. 4) The shepherd seeks the lost sheep Matthew 18 then gives the parable of the one lost sheep. The shepherd goes after the wandering one. The Father does not will that one of these little ones should perish. This is one of the tenderest parts of the chapter.  And again, Job helps by contrast.  Because Job's friends do not act like shepherds seeking a lost sheep.  They do not pursue restoration. They do not move toward healing.  They move toward explanation. Toward accusation. Toward pressure. Toward conclusion. Perhaps they care more about defending their system than about helping the man. The true shepherd seeks the sheep. 5) Brotherly restoration versus religious prosecution Later in Matthew 18, Jesus gives instruction for how to deal with a brother who sins. The aim is restoration. “If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” That is kingdom conduct.  Careful, measured. patient and restorative. But Eliphaz does not move in that spirit. He does not proceed carefully. He does not begin with gentleness but with assumption.  Then he piles interpretation upon suffering.  Then he pushes Job under accusation. So Job gives us a picture of what happens when men try to lead others without truly knowing God.  It is religious prosecution instead of brotherly restoration. 6) The unforgiving servant and the spirit of bondage Matthew 18 closes with the parable of the unforgiving servant.  On the surface, the lesson is mercy. But as we saw, there is also something deeper in the background:  the danger of bringing men back under debt, burden, and bondage. And that is another place where Eliphaz fits the picture. Eliphaz reads Job through a moral ledger. A debt system. A burden system. A retribution system. He has no room for a righteous sufferer who must simply trust God. He has no room for grace. He has no room for divine purpose beyond punishment. So he becomes a useful picture of the same religious spirit that burdens men with wrong ideas about God. That spirit is always near wherever grace is obscured. 7) Isaiah 18 — pruning before blessing Now let us bring in Isaiah 18.    That chapter has a remarkable flow. The Lord is watching.  The nations are in view. Then before the harvest, there is pruning. Sprigs are cut off. Branches are taken away. And only after that does the chapter move toward an offering being brought to the Lord at Mount Zion. That fits Matthew 18 very well.  Because Matthew 18 is also a pruning chapter. If the hand offends, cut it off.  If the foot offends, cut it off.  If the eye offends, pluck it out. The point is not mutilation.  The point is moral seriousness.  What causes stumbling must go. What destroys must be removed. What corrupts kingdom life cannot be allowed to remain. And Job fits this same pattern too. The speeches of the friends are exposed. Human wisdom is cut down. Proud religious certainty is pruned away.  Job himself is humbled before God. Then, after all of that, restoration comes. So Isaiah 18 gives the prophetic shape.  Matthew 18 gives the kingdom teaching. And Job gives the lived moral drama.  All three reveal more of the rich tapestry of Scripture. 8) From Esther to Job — a beautiful sequence If you recall, we described how Matthew 17 with Esther gave a picture of kingdom approach. The King was present, though hidden. Israel was preserved. The death-word of law was overcome by the saving authority of the Christ-picture. Now Matthew 18 with Job seems to move into kingdom instruction. The kingdom is not only coming.  Its moral atmosphere is being revealed.The lowly are honored. The little ones are protected. False shepherds are exposed.  Pride is cut down. Bad teaching is rebuked. And forgiveness from the heart becomes necessary. And in that sense, Job becomes a beautiful kingdom book because it shows the wisdom of God overruling the wisdom of men. 9) The end of Job and the heart of Matthew 18 Finally, one of the strongest connections comes at the end of Job. God rebukes Eliphaz and the others.  But Job must pray for them.  That is a wonderful ending.  The righteous sufferer is vindicated.  But he is not vindicated merely to stand above them.  He becomes the intercessor for those who wronged him. And that is profoundly in the spirit of Matthew 18.  Forgiveness is not merely a legal thought.  It is from the heart. So Job ends not only with exposure of false teaching, but with mercy flowing through the one who suffered.  That is kingdom grace. Life Application We can consider how Matthew 18, Job, and Isaiah 18 work together very beautifully.   Matthew 18 gives the moral order of the kingdom: humility, care for the little ones, restoration, mercy, and forgiveness. Job shows how false religion harms people, especially through Eliphaz, who pictures bad teaching, false shepherding, and the dangerous confidence of men who speak wrongly about God. Isaiah 18 adds the prophetic shape: the Lord watches, pruning comes before blessing, and the end is Zion. So as Matthew 17 with Esther pictured the kingdom beginning to come into view, so then Matthew 18 with Job pictures the kingdom's moral instruction under the reign and direct fellowship with Christ revealing the majesty of the Lord.  False religion is exposed. And grace triumphs in the end.   This provides a strong evidence as God being the author of all Scripture.   Let us be careful in our reading an appreciation of Scripture. Praise the Lord. Lord help us to grasp the power and beauty of your Word and share the beauty of the Gospel and the beauty of your Word while we have this opportunity to do so.  For your glory!  Amen

Scripture: Obadiah 19-21Title: Thy Kingdom ComeSHOW NOTES: For encouragement on your spiritual journey, we invite you to visit our ministry website, Discover God's Truth, where you can access additional resources to enrich your Walk with God. NEW! Watch us ONLINE! Click here!The short book of Obadiah addresses the pride and sin of the Edomites. Yet in the prophet's vision, God extends His hope and promise to those who follow Him. Israel will ultimately defeat Edom, and the Lord will restore the Promised Land. The day is coming when every knee will bow. Those who have been rescued will go up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem to rule over the mountains of Edom.And the Lord Himself will be king! Obadiah 1:21 Head to HeartFriends, we must remember that even in the bleakest times, God is at work, preparing His people for the greatest victory. Trust Him. All honor and praise to His Holy Name—King of kings! For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.Psalm 47:2Song: Holy is Your Name - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJtCgkx9SFI&list=RDJJtCgkx9SFI&index=1

The Easter Vigil The Story of Creation Old Testament Genesis 1:1-2:4a In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, "Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. And God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth." And it was so. God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky." So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. The Psalm Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26 Page 789, BCP   The Flood Old Testament Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18, 9:8-13 The Lord said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate; and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth. For in seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground." And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah with his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons entered the ark, they and every wild animal of every kind, and all domestic animals of every kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every bird of every kind-- every bird, every winged creature. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in. The flood continued forty days on the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth; and the ark floated on the face of the waters. At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent out the dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark; and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return to him any more. In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and saw that the face of the ground was drying. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God said to Noah, "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh-- birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth-- so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth."   The Psalm Psalm 46 Page 649, BCP Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac Old Testament Genesis 22:1-18 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you." So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you." Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, "Father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place "The Lord will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided." The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, "By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice." The Psalm Psalm 16 Page 599, BCP   Israel's deliverance at the Red Sea Old Testament Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, 'Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." But Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers." The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers." So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them: "Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea." The Response Canticle 8, The Song of Moses Page 85, BCP   Salvation offered freely to all Old Testament Isaiah 55:1-11 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.   The Response Canticle 9, The First Song of Isaiah Page 86, BCP Learn wisdom and live The Reading Baruch 3:9-15, 3:32-4:4 Hear the commandments of life, O Israel; give ear, and learn wisdom! Why is it, O Israel, why is it that you are in the land of your enemies, that you are growing old in a foreign country, that you are defiled with the dead, that you are counted among those in Hades? You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom. If you had walked in the way of God, you would be living in peace for ever. Learn where there is wisdom, where there is strength, where there is understanding, so that you may at the same time discern where there is length of days, and life, where there is light for the eyes, and peace. Who has found her place? And who has entered her storehouses? But the one who knows all things knows her, he found her by his understanding. The one who prepared the earth for all time filled it with four-footed creatures; the one who sends forth the light, and it goes; he called it, and it obeyed him, trembling; the stars shone in their watches, and were glad; he called them, and they said, "Here we are!" They shone with gladness for him who made them. This is our God; no other can be compared to him. He found the whole way to knowledge, and gave her to his servant Jacob and to Israel, whom he loved. Afterwards she appeared on earth and lived with humankind. She is the book of the commandments of God, the law that endures for ever. All who hold her fast will live, and those who forsake her will die. Turn, O Jacob, and take her; walk towards the shining of her light. Do not give your glory to another, or your advantages to an alien people. Happy are we, O Israel, for we know what is pleasing to God. or Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21; 9:4b-6 Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out: "To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live. O simple ones, learn prudence; acquire intelligence, you who lack it. Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right; for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. "My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, endowing with wealth those who love me, and filling their treasuries." To those without sense she says, "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight." The Psalm Psalm 19 Page 606, BCP   A new heart and a new spirit Old Testament Ezekiel 36:24-28 Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. The Psalm Psalms 42 and 43 Page 643-645, BCP The valley of dry bones Old Testament Ezekiel 37:1-14 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord God, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord." So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then he said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act," says the Lord. The Psalm Psalm 143 Page 798, BCP The gathering of God's people Old Testament Zephaniah 3:14-20 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord. The Psalm   Psalm 98 Page 727, BCP God's Presence in a renewed Israel Old Testament Isaiah 4:2-6 On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. Whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, once the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed over all the glory there will be a canopy. It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain. The Psalm   Psalm 122 Page 779, BCP   At the Eucharist The Collect Almighty God, who for our redemption gave your only- begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. or this O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord's resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. The Epistle Romans 6:3-11 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. The Psalm   Psalm 114 Page 756, BCP The Gospel Matthew 28:1-10 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for you." So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Faith Takes Back What the Devil Stole • Friday Service To Give: www.ToddCoconato.com/give Website: www.PastorTodd.org 1. John 10:10 (NKJV) “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” 2. Proverbs 6:30–31 (NKJV) “People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; he may have to give up all the substance of his house.” 3. 1 John 5:4 (NKJV) “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 4. Joel 2:25 (NKJV) “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.” 5. Mark 11:23 (NKJV) “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” 6. Obadiah 1:17 (NKJV) “But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.” 7. Ecclesiastes 8:4 (NKJV) “Where the word of a king is, there is power; And who may say to him, ‘What are you doing?'” 8. Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV) “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”

A mother. A bathtub. A death ruled suspicious.In 2012, Lisa Cutler was found drowned in her Mount Zion, Illinois home while her children slept upstairs.At first, it looked like an accident.But more than 20 bruises… a failing marriage… and over a million dollars in life insurance told a different story.Was it a tragic fall— or something far more deliberate?Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows.Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859New Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/troytaylorodditiesCheck out our updated website and sign up for our newsletter at AmericanHauntingsPodcast.comWant an episode every week, plus other awesome perks and discounts? Check out our Patreon pageOur Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/hauntings* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code HAUNTINGS for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lamentations March 22, 2026 Teacher: Pastor Leanne Benton Summary of “Your Kingdom Come: From Lament to Participation” (Based on “Lamentations March 22 2026 Final.docx” by Leanne Benton) The sermon reflects on Lamentations 5 as the closing message in a series on lament, showing how honest grief becomes a pathway to restoration and renewed participation in God's kingdom. 1. Context of Lamentations Jeremiah writes after Jerusalem's destruction in 586 BC. The temple is burned, leaders killed, families exiled, and the monarchy ended. The chapter outlines a progression of losses—inheritance, leadership, dignity, joy, and spiritual strength. 2. Honest Grief Is the Beginning of Restoration Israel begins their prayer with raw honesty: “Remember, Lord, what has happened to us.” They recount their losses: land, family security, dignity, joy, and the desolation of Mount Zion. Lament is described as an act of faith—standing between painful reality and God's promises. 3. God Still Reigns In the center of the complaint rises a theological anchor:“You, Lord, reign forever.” Empires fall and temples crumble, but God's throne is immovable. This echoes Psalm 48 and shifts the focus from devastation to divine sovereignty—lament begins turning into hope when we move our eyes from what we see to who God is. 4. Participating in God's Restoration The people pray:“Restore us to yourself… renew our days as of old.” The sermon emphasizes that restoration starts with returning to God—not rebuilding walls. Lament leads to acknowledgment of sin, repentance, and a desire for renewal. A proverb captures the shift from lament to participation: “Pray… and move your feet.” Believers become agents of justice, hope, and worship as they join God's restoring work. 5. Surrendered Suffering Softens the Heart Suffering can either harden or soften a heart. When surrendered to God, suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5), and matures faith (James 1). Jesus reminds His followers that trouble is inevitable, but peace is found in Him (John 16). The sermon underscores that how a person responds to pain determines whether they become bitter or grow deeper in faith. 6. Hope Grows in the Soil of Lament The sermon highlights the spiritual mystery that when someone grieves without becoming cynical or closed-hearted, hope takes root. A heart that stays open in seasons of loss becomes softer, more compassionate, and more spacious. This becomes the very place where hope grows and where a transformative “pivot” in one's story often occurs. 7. The Larger Biblical Arc Lamentations ends without closure, offering instead a plea for restoration. But Israel's story continues—decades later, the exiles return under Cyrus, the temple is rebuilt, and hope rises again. The sermon emphasizes that lament is not the end but a doorway through which God's kingdom enters. 8. Final Invitation The message ends with a reflective invitation: Some listeners are in seasons of loss and are reminded that God welcomes their lament. Others have come through seasons of pain and now carry softer, more compassionate hearts; they are encouraged to move toward others in need. A closing prayer asks God to meet His people “on the pile of rubble,” helping them grieve honestly, surrender fully, trust deeply, and step into renewed hope and participation in His kingdom.

We slow the pace of our Revelation study so it stays clear, focused, and easy to absorb in a single sitting. Revelation 14 shifts the scene from the beast's mark to the Lamb on Mount Zion, reminding us that faithful believers suffer now but ultimately stand with Jesus in triumph. • why we are returning to a shorter episode format for deeper Bible study focus • a simple three-part outline for Revelation 14 and how we plan to cover it • the Lamb on Mount Zion as a contrast to the Antichrist and the dragon • the main views of the 144,000 and why “redeemed from the earth” matters • Mount Zion in Scripture and why it likely points to the heavenly Zion • the new song as worship that belongs uniquely to the redeemed • “not defiled with women” as spiritual faithfulness rather than mere biology • idolatry as covenant betrayal and spiritual adultery across the Old Testament • why “no lie” is central in Revelation and how lies connect to idolatry • blameless vs sinless and why redemption is the dividing line • the overlooked theme of the other mark: the name of God on the forehead Intro - Toby MacOutro - NightlySupport the show

This is the ninth lesson in Dr. Lane G. Tipton's Reformed Academy course, The Theology of Heaven in the Book of Hebrews. This lesson covers the following topics: 00:00 Heavenly Mount Zion, the Convergence of God's Self-Revelation and Permanent Dwellin 07:15 The Verticalizing Movement in Hebrews 12:22–24 18:43 A Biblical Theology of the Mountains of God: Eden 23:05 A Biblical Theology of the Mountains of God: Ararat 29:18 A Biblical Theology of the Mountains of God: Moriah Register for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to dozens of additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedacademy.org/course/th... Your donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/ #heaven #hebrews #reformedtheology #biblestudy

Infinitely More than We can Ask or Imagine Ephesians 3:14-21 by William Klock Eugene Peterson, one of my seminary professors, used to tell the story of a little Haitian girl named Addie.  She was an orphan.  When she was five, she was adopted by an American family.  This man and woman travelled to Haiti to pick her up.  As they walked toward the plane to go home, little Addie reach up and slipped her hands into the hands of these two strangers she'd never met before. In that moment, they became Mom and Dad.  In that moment, this scared little girl put her fearless trust in these loving strangers. That evening, back home, they all sat down to dinner.  There were heaps of pork chops and mashed potatoes and Addie watched, wide-eyed, as everyone dug in—and particularly as her two teenaged brothers dug in and dug in and dug in—until there was nothing left.  She'd never seen so much food before and she'd never seen people eat so much.  And when it was gone, Addie became very quiet.  Mom and Dad realized something was wrong.  And it occurred to Mom that it was the disappearing food.  This little girl had lived her whole life hungry.  When food was gone, it was gone and it might be a day or more before there was more.  And so she took Addie to the kitchen and she showed her the bread drawer, which was full of bread; and she showed her the refrigerator, which was full of milk and eggs and vegetables and meat; and she took her to the pantry and showed her bins full of potatoes and onion and shelves of canned goods.  She showed Addie that no matter how much her hungry teenage brothers ate, there would always be plenty of food and she would never go hungry again.  And notice, that Mother didn't just tell Addie she'd never have to worry about going hungry again.  She showed her.  She named the meats in the fridge and the ice cream in the freezer; she let her handle the potatoes and the cans of soup.  She gave Addie confidence and reason to trust.[1] Or as Paul has said to us in Ephesians 3, “confidence and access” (v. 12) to the “Messiah's riches, riches no one could begin to count” (v. 8).  None of it was ours—or the Ephesians'—by birth.  We—and they—are gentiles.  The promises of God, the Messiah, those things belonged to Israel.  And yet, Paul has stressed over and over, the great mystery revealed in Jesus the Messiah is that through him, God has welcomed everyone—Jew and gentile alike—whoever believes—into the inheritance of Israel and into the vast riches of Israel's God: forgiveness of sins and a promise of life, both for us, but also for the whole creation, one day to be renewed, made new, resurrected as Jesus has been, to be what God created it, created us to be in the beginning.  The world set to rights and us, living forever in fellowship with God. That is good news.  And those gentile believers in Ephesus—and we—we're captivated by that good news, by the promise, and we slip our grubby, sinful, idolatrous little hands into the hands of the Messiah and he washes us clean, he introduces us to his—now our—Father, and he begins to lead us home.  Not on an airplane for a short little hop across the Caribbean, but a lot more like Israel being led through the wilderness for forty years—only this time the promised land is God's future, his new creation.  And maybe it's because we didn't see for ourselves the army of Pharaoh drowned in the sea, maybe it's because we never experienced the manna in the wilderness, but when the journey gets difficult—Paul knew that times of persecution were coming—but when the journey gets difficult, it's easy to worry whether God will come through—whether there will be enough.  It's easy to hedge our bets and to compromise—trusting in the things of this world to see us through the hard times rather than trusting God and letting him lead us.  It's even easy to let go of his hand altogether.  To just go back to Egypt—or in our case, to paganism, to the rule of the principalities and powers of the old wicked age.  Things are familiar there.  It might have been bad, but at least there was food.  Paul knew these Christians would one day face uncertainty, he knew they'd be tempted to compromise their faith and their allegiance to the King, and he knew that if they did that, they'd fail to be the church Jesus and the Spirit had made them.  They'd become just like the shabby and drab world around them instead of shining forth the Technicolor glory of the God who indwelt them and the wonders of his new creation.  So knowing that, what does Paul do?  Brothers and Sisters, he prays for them.  Look at Ephesians 3:14: “Because of this,” he writes, “I am kneeling down before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.  My prayer is this: that through the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power, through his Spirit, in your inner being; that the Messiah may make his home in your hearts through faith; that you may be rooted and firmly founded in love; and that you may be fully able to grasp, with all the saints, the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the surpassing love of the Messiah, so that God may fill you with all his fullness.” Maybe we should start at the end of the prayer—with the thing that Paul wants most for the Ephesians and for us—the thing that he's praying all the other things will lead us to.  He prays that God will fill us with all his fullness.  Remember, that language of filling is temple language.  That's what Paul's been talking about all this time.  We are God's temple.  The blood of Jesus has purified us from our idolatry and from the stain of sin and death so that God can come and dwell in us through his Spirit.  And just as God's glory shone from the old temple on Mount Zion, revealing his presence with his people, just so God wants his glory to shine forth from us, from the church.  We don't just proclaim the good news about renewal and new life and new creation and resurrection in Jesus.  Brother and Sisters, we're to live it. We're to be the beginning of God's new creation in the midst of the old. And Paul knows this won't be easy.  It wasn't easy for Israel on her journey and neither will it be easy for us.  So,, ack to verse 14: He gets on his knees and he prays.  We'd do well to do the same, probably even the kneeling part. You can pray sitting or standing or walking or riding a bike, but this got me to thinking about kneeling. It's not mandatory, but I wonder if it would do us well to kneel more often.  Our tradition is to kneel when we pray in church and I know we don't do that here because we don't have kneelers and, even if we did, God bless the Presbyterians who made our pews a hundred and fifty years ago, but they made them so that only a child's feet can fit underneath them without major contortions.  But maybe we need to kneel—at least in our private prayers—more often.  I don't often read Eugene Peterson.  I'm just not on his wavelength.  To quote Eugene Peterson again: “While on my knees I cannot run away.  I cannot assert myself.  I place myself in a position of willed submission…On my knees I am no longer in a position to flex my muscles, strut or cower, hide in the shadows or show off on stage…I set my agenda aside for a time and become still, present to God.”[2] Prayer is the place where we come to the Father as adopted sons and daughters, reach up, and trustingly place our hands in his.  And maybe it would do us good, when we pray, to put ourselves in a posture where that's all we can do, knowing just how prone we are to running away or cowering in fear or showing off.  As we kneel, we empty ourselves, and with Paul, we pray that God will fill us up.  Again, the point of our being filled is to shine forth God's glory, but what we're filled with to make that happen is God's love.  In verse 15 Paul starts out appealing to God as Father—the one in whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.  In verse 17, it's the love that fills our hearts, that is the root of the great tree, and the foundation of the temple itself.  I expect, if he wanted to, Paul could just keep piling metaphor on metaphor to describe the riches of God's love, because he wants us to know that it's in knowing God's love that the church will find the power to be what God has called us to be.  Would that we would remember that.  How often have we put something else in the place of love?  There are all sorts of things that are important to our being the church.  There are all sorts of things that are even essential to being the church.  But without love at the centre, without love as our taproot, without love as our foundation, we will never be the church that Jesus and the Spirit want us to be.  Think of Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians.  They were a church full of spiritual gifts.  The people were doing amazing and astounding things in the name of Jesus.  But Paul writes to them and says, “Without love, it's nothing.  Without love, you might as well be a clanging cymbal, a bashing gong.”  You Canadians might say that the church in Corinth was a “gong show”, because it wasn't built on love.  Without love as the root and foundation, it's all for nought.  Without love, there is no glory. This is what Paul's getting at when he prays: “that through the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power, through his Spirit, in your inner being.”  Paul wants us to see the riches of God's glory laid out for us.  Like little Addie going to the kitchen to look in the refrigerator and the pantry, to see the bacon, to see the ice cream, to see that big bag of potatoes, to handle the cans of soup.  To know those riches and to know that she has no reason to be afraid anymore.  To know not just that she's been adopted into this family, but to know that its riches are now and fully her riches.  This is what Paul wants for us.  To see the riches of God's love, to experience the riches of God's Spirit, and to know that we belong to him.  We are his people, his family, his sons and daughters—and to know it in our inner being, deep down, where it shapes who we know ourselves to be.  Brothers and Sisters, to know that new creation is our inheritance. And somehow, it's in this community called the church, this community that brings together everyone, people who are different, Jews and gentiles, men and women, rich and poor, slave and free—Canadian and American, native and immigrant, Conservative and New Democrat, young and old, homebody and adventurer, Star Wars and Star Trek, Coke and Pepsi, Ford and Chevy, introvert and extrovert—somehow in this community in which we're brought together, so different, and yet united in the Messiah, made one body, and our life together is dependent on these people so many of whom are so, so different from us, it's here that we begin to plumb the unplumbable height and depths of God's love. Plumbing the heights and depths is an image that weaves its way from the Prophets all the way through to the end of the story in Revelation.  Think of the Prophet Zechariah, who exhorted the people of Judah to rebuild the temple after they returned to Jerusalem from their Babylonian exile.  But there was more to it than the earthly temple.  Zechariah had a vision in which a man was measuring the whole city and his measuring became a promise—a promise of a temple and a city even greater, one that no wall could contain, one in which the Lord would dwell with his people and become the wall himself.  Ezekiel has a similar—and much longer—vision in which he measures the new temple—a new temple larger and greater and more awesome than anything that had ever stood on Mount Zion and that image from Ezekiel is then picked up by John in Revelation.  To plumb the height and depth and width of God's love is to know, to grow to understand God's purposes for us as his new temple. It's interesting, because Paul has already written about this new temple as being full of the wisdom of God—like a storehouse for the nations, for new creation.  And that's something Job talks about: the wisdom of God, longer than the earth and broader than the sea.  In Sirach, in the Apocrypha, the great sage envisions Wisdom herself, coming to live in the temple.  He knew the world is not as it should be; he knew his people, Israel, were not as they should be; they needed God's wisdom to set them to rights—and it would start, it would flow forth from the temple as a show of God's glory.  This is who God wants us to be, through the Messiah: people who know God's wisdom, people who embody his new creation in the midst of the old.  A people full of light and life in the midst of darkness and death.  A people who will challenge the principalities and powers of the old age by our very existence.  A people who will proclaim God's glory to the ends of the earth. Think again of Paul's line of thought so far.  One of the difficulties of peaching just a little piece or half a chapter of a letter like this week by week is that we lose sight of the bigger picture or bigger argument.  But remember back to Chapter 1.  I said last week, if we want to understand Ephesians, just look at the “tens”.  Chapter 1, verse 10, Paul stressed that it is—and always has been—God's plan to unite heaven and earth.  That's how he created the cosmos to be in the first place: heaven and earth overlapping; he and humans living together; he, sharing his love and his life with us.  And ever since we sinned and drove a wedge between ourselves and God, he's been working to make us fit again for his presence.  And so he's sent, he's given his Messiah—to bring it all back together, to embody new creation himself: God and man, heaven and earth united in one person.  And then, in 1:23, Paul wrote that the church is the Messiah's body and—it still amazes me to read it—the church is the fullness of the one who fills all in all.  Remember, that language of filling and being full of God's presence, that's temple language.  And then in 2:23, Paul told us that it's through the gift of God's Spirit who lives in us that God has begun to fulfil his promises to dwell with his people.  The church as God's temple is the signpost that points forward to God's future when that wedge will be completely withdrawn and heaven and earth, God and man restored to each other. And this is why Paul stresses, why he says it's so essential the church be filled with God's fullness.  Our being the temple, our being filled with the presence and love and glory of God, is the witness to his promise to one day flood all of creation with the knowledge of his glory.  I think Paul wants us to hear Isaiah 11 echoing in his words here.  Remember we looked at Isaiah 11 back when we looked at Ephesians 1.  That was Isaiah's prophecy of the coming King.  Under his wise rule the wolf and the lamb will lie down together at peace and the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  And so Paul prays that in our prayer, in our worship, in our life as the church, we may already know the reality of all this so that we might live, not just in hope of God's future, but as people actively pulling God's future into the here and now. Now, think again of little Addie.  She'd never seen a refrigerator or a freezer or a pantry full of food.  That kind of plenty was beyond her imagination.  And that's how God's riches were for those gentile Ephesian believers.  They knew that the world is not as it should be.  We all know that in our bones.  Like Addie surely knew that it's not good to be hungry.  But what's the solution?  And, if God is going to set things to rights, what will that even look like?  We've had a glimpse.  We've known the gift that God has given us in his son, who has given his life to purify us from our sins.  We've known the gift of his Spirit, whom he's poured into us to give us a taste of renewal and new creation and life together with him.  And if we've listened to the story of God and his people we've heard of the garden, heard of the temple in which his presence once dwelled, we've heard of the exodus and Pharaoh's water-logged chariots, and the manna in the wilderness.  We've read John's Revelation and had a glimpse of the end of the story, even if only in symbols and its full glory veiled.  We've seen the kitchen and the pantry stocked with food.  And yet that's only the beginning.  It's only a hint of what's to come.  And so Paul prays again in verses 20 and 21: “To the one who is capable of doing far more than we can ask or imagine, granted the power which is working in us, to him be glory, in the church and in Messiah Jesus, to all generations, and to the ages of ages!  Amen.” Brothers and Sisters, God's glory isn't just to be revealed in the future.  It's here and it's now and he means for it to be revealed in us, his church, in the same way he's revealed it in Jesus.  Whatever vision we have of the church, Brothers and Sisters, God's vision for us is bigger and wider and deeper and higher and greater than we can ever ask or imagine.  C. S. Lewis once preached a now famous sermon on the “weight of glory”.  That's where he rebukes us saying that we are far too easily pleased.  We're like children, happily making mud pies in a slum, when we've been offered a grand holiday at the sea.  “We are half-hearted creatures,” he says, “fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us.”  And maybe we've progressed a bit in the church, but we're all too often still obsessed with politics or denominational divisions or even otherwise good things like theology.  But not love.  It's funny how we can centre ourselves even on all the good things that revolve around the love God, but somehow miss the need ourselves to be centred on that gospel love. We need to be captivated by the gospel, by Jesus, by his cross and by his resurrection and by his ascension.  We need to be captivated by the life of the Spirit into which we've been plunged.  We need to be captivated by the promise of new creation, even though we'll forever struggle to envision it this side of eternity.  We need to be captivated by God's glory, because he doesn't just call us to be spectators to it.  No. He's called us into the story.  He's led us in our own exodus, from slavery to sin and death so that we—as fickle and confused and anxious as we often are—should live in the here and now, learning to be plumb the heights and depths of his love so that we might make his glory known in the earth.  As inadequate as we may feel, we are his poiema, his workmanship, his grand and glorious piece of art, painted with the blood of his son and shining forth the glory of his Spirit. This what he's saved us for.  To be the vanguard of new creation, making known his glory.  And if that's scary or overwhelming, Paul reminds us that the very one who has saved us is capable of doing infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.  In other words, the fridge and the pantry are full of more food than we can ever imagine.  This is our God.  So come to the Lord's Table this morning and as you join with your brothers and sisters to eat the bread and drink the wine, be reminded of the infinite riches of love in our Father's house.  Look back to the cross and look forward to his promises, know the life of his Spirit, and in faith slip your hands into his and now that you are his son, you are his daughter, redeemed and renewed that you might know his love and shine forth his glory. Let's pray: Gracious Father, in our Collect today we acknowledged our sins and thanked you for the grace and mercy by which you have redeemed us and made us your own. Remind us always, we ask, of your great riches, that we might know the great height and depths and width of your unending love.  And not just know your love, but as we know it, that we might live it—to love you and to love each other and in doing so, to shine forth your glory and to make you known in the world. Through Jesus our Lord we pray.  Amen. [1] Practice Resurrection (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010, 159-60. [2] Ibid., 154.

Psalm 125:1 promises that those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion, undefeated and enduring forever. True trust in God means having confident reliance on His character, ability, and truth - not the casual relationship many settle for. In our digital age, we often seek direction through technology rather than trusting God's navigation for our lives. Just as ancient Jerusalem was protected by massive defensive walls called bulwarks, believers need spiritual defenses including prayer, worship, Scripture, community, gratitude, obedience, and surrender. When the enemy attacks with lies, we need our spiritual buckler - God's truth - to counter his deceptions with Scripture.

Hebrews 12:18-29 18For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest19and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.20For they could not endure the order that was given, If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.21Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear.22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,23and to the assembly[a]of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.27This phrase, Yet once more, indicates the removal of things that are shakenthat is, things that have been madein order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.28Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,29for our God is a consuming fire.

Sunday Service (3/1/26) // Revelation 14:1-5 (ESV) // The Lamb and the 144,000 // 14 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.#Revelation #BookofRevelation #BibleStudy #BibleExplained #BiblicalStudies #BibleTeacher #WordOfGod #BiblicalLessons #BibleJournal #BibleReading #BibleStudyCommunity #BibleVerse #prophecy #prophetic #jerusalemWebsite: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mbchicago.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW US Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  / mbc.chicago  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  / mbc.chicago  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  / mbc.chicago  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcasts: Listen on Apple, Spotify & others TO SUPPORT USZelle to: info@mbchicago.orgWebsite: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mbchicago.org/give⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Venmo: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://venmo.com/mbchurch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ DAF Donations: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://every.org/mbc.chicago⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PayPal: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://paypal.com/donate/?hosted_but...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Knowing that devastating judgment is descending on Israel, the prophet affirms that God is his strength. To appreciate the depth of Habakkuk's hope we must understanding the Hebrew language used in its contexts (plural), including the species of deer in Israel. Dr. Oliver Hersey, who has been on this podcast before, is the 11th president of Jerusalem University College. This college, located on the southwestern corner of Mount Zion, Israel, equips for ministry by providing immersive study of the ancient and modern contexts of Israel and the surrounding regions for a deepened understanding of God and his word. Check out related programs at Wheaton College: B.A. in Classical Languages (Greek, Latin, Hebrew): https://bit.ly/46qmYsc  M.A. in Biblical Exegesis: https://bit.ly/4qYJdgj     

The author of Hebrews continues to reference Old Testament Scripture to make a defense for the superiority of Christ over all things. The earthly tabernacle is but a shadow of the heavens, where Christ serves as great high priest. He has made a superior sacrifice, shedding His own blood rather than that of goats, bulls, or rams. He oversees a new covenant, where the law is written on the hearts and minds of those who trust in Him. Men and women of faith who came before Him were waiting for the promise of His coming. In Him, we haven't come to Mt Sinai, but Mount Zion, where Christ intercedes on our behalf. Hebrews 10 - 1:15 .  Hebrews 11 - 8:02 .  Hebrews 12 - 16:13 .  Hebrews 13 - 21:58 .  Psalm 28 - 26:18 .  Psalm 29 - 27:51 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by Bobby Brown, Katelyn Pridgen, Eric Williamson & the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Don't Bow to the Beast (1) (audio) David Eells 3/4/26  I want to talk to you about refusing to bow to the Beast, but we will first go over a little background.  Many Christians are deceived about the Bride and the leadership of the church. We know God is raising up a new leadership, a Man-child ministry in these days that's going to be the first fruits of those to walk in the steps of Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 16 that He was going to come again as a baby, a Man-child, born to a woman. We read in Revelation 12 that the Man-child is born at the beginning of the Tribulation Period and that the Man-child leads the woman through the wilderness. In studying the Book of Esther, we've learned that “Mordecai” in Hebrew means “little man” and in Persian means “little boy.” Persia was the Beast kingdom that he was under at the time. Both of those mean “Manchild.” In Esther 2:5, it says that Mordecai was in Shushan, the palace. He wasn't just a commoner; he was a ruler, somebody under the king who probably had to do with ruling over God's people. In Esther 2:19-20, it says that he also sat in the “king's gate,” which was the place of government, where the rulers of the conquered nations gathered before the king. Mordecai raised up Esther as the Bride and he “nourished her,” the original word says. He prepared her for this time and he continued to guide her steps all the way through the Book of Esther, all the way through their tribulation. Also, Hegai, the king's chamberlain, was very pleased with Esther, and she required nothing but what Hegai provided. And we need nothing but what the Holy Spirit provides us with. (Rom.8:14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. This Bride and Man-child are the “sons of God” for whom the creation has been awaiting, the fullness of the sonship of Jesus Christ manifested in His people. In fact, the Shulamite in the Song of Solomon, the Bride who was chosen from among all the fair virgins of the kingdom, was called his “perfect one” (Song of Solomon 5:2). God is going to perfect, to mature His people. Esther was chosen out of all the fair virgins of the kingdom “because the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her Queen” (Est.2:17). But even then she was under the guidance of Mordecai and in verse (20) … Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him. So we see that the job of the Man-child is to raise up the Bride and guide her. The Man-child is the head of the Bride, much like the False Prophet is the head of the Harlot. There is a corporate body of apostate people, called the Harlot, and the head of that body is its so-called Christian leadership, which is leading it astray. The Bride is Jerusalem and David was the head of Jerusalem. When Jesus came, He sat upon the throne of David and He was the head of the Bride. John the Baptist said, He that hath the bride is the bridegroom (Joh.3:29), as he saw Jesus leading the disciples. That's a short background, somewhat, and there's much more to the Book of Esther. (Est.3:1) After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. These princes were the people who ruled over the kingdoms over which Ahasuerus ruled, and among those princes was Mordecai, who was over the people of God. Now we see that Mordecai and Esther are two entities whom God uses to save the rest of the people of God from destruction by the Beast. The Beast that was to destroy them is represented here by Haman, who is a corporate body, just as Mordecai represents a corporate body of people. Why would God advance Haman above the other princes? Because throughout history, God has raised up a Beast kingdom over His people in times when His people were in apostasy. Why is God calling His people out of the Harlot? (Rev.18:4) … Come forth, my people, out of her…. It's because there is such an apostasy in the Church, and they've turned away from the Word; they've gone after religions. They are in apostasy and God is calling His people out of that.  This is what the Tribulation is for. Every time God's people have become a harlot, He raised up a Beast to come against them: from Egypt, to Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and now the end-time Rome. We're seeing a worldwide revived Roman Empire being raised up again for the purpose of sanctifying His people and bringing them to repentance. The raising up of Haman, with his authority to destroy the people of God, is what brings God's people to repentance. (Est.3:2) And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate (That's the place where government was, where all the representatives of the nations saw the face of the King.), bowed down, and did reverence to Haman (the Beast); for the king had so commanded concerning him. In Rom 13 we are told to submit to the powers that be. He had given Haman authority over God's people. People don't think that the Lord gives authority to evil in the earth, but He does, and it's for the purpose of bringing repentance. (Job2:10) … What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil… God does bring evil against His people as a chastening and a method to bring them to repentance.  So all the King's servants who were in the King's gate bowed down to the Beast, But Mordecai bowed not down, nor did him reverence (Est.3:2). I would say bowing down with reverence should be given nly to God. However, submitting to man's kingdoms is necessary to obey the Lord.  This is something we find all through the Scriptures. Mordecai, as a type of the man-child, refused to bow down to the Beast. We see the example of Joseph, who was sold into bondage by the Harlot, Potiphar's wife, and came to the position of authority like Mordecai. We see the example of Jesus, who didn't bow down to the Beast; and Moses, who didn't bow down; and Daniel – all these are types of the Man-child, who refused to bow down to the Beast.  (3) Then the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment? (4) Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew. Who is this accusing Mordecai to the Beast? You remember throughout history how the apostate brethren of Joseph persecuted and came against him and sold him into the hand of the Beast; and the apostate brethren of Jesus, the leadership of apostate Israel, accused Him to the Beast. We're seeing the same thing here; history keeps on repeating. We're not talking about rebellion against Constitutional, political authority here. We're talking about rebellion in terms of not bowing down religiously, of not worshipping the Beast as God. Today, there is a spirit of worship of the Beast by Christians, and there has been for many centuries. Patriotism, pledging allegiance, all these things that saints in past days would never have thought of doing, God's people today think nothing of. They don't understand that there's only one Kingdom – the Kingdom of God – which we should be representing. (5) And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not down, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. (6) But he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. Notice that the head over all God's true people is represented here by Mordecai.  In the rest of the story, Mordecai and Esther save all of these Jews from the Beast. Does that mean that all of what we loosely call Christians are going to be saved from the Beast? No, but the true Jews, those who are circumcised in heart, not in flesh, are all going to be saved. All Israel (Romans 11:26) is going to be saved – everybody who is grafted into the olive tree called “all Israel.” They'll be saved from the Beast in one form or another. We see here that Mordecai is one of the princes who sat in the king's gate to represent his people. He was among the other princes who were accusing him. In Ezekiel 17, I've shared a revelation the Lord gave me concerning the Beast of D.S. Babylon, who has brought God's people into bondage. We know that when Babylon conquered the nations, it not only brought apostate Israel into bondage, but they brought people like Daniel and the Hebrews, who were appointed people of God in their time, under the thumb of the Beast kingdom. When we talk about Mordecai, we're talking about the good leadership, but what about the bad leadership that accused him? (Eze.17:2) Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; (3) and say, Thus saith the Lord God: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar: (4) he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof, and carried it unto a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants. This represents the Great Eagle of America which is the head of D.S. Babylon, bringing the leadership of God's people into bondage. In the natural, it's happening; natural Israel is more and more under Kazarian D.S. dominion. Something else is also happening, and that is, that spiritual new testament Israel said to be circumcised in heart is being brought more and more under the dominion of the latest Beast government. Media-Persia of Cyrus/Trump is conquering Babylon, thank God. In fact, as we keep reading, it says (11) Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, (12) Say now to the rebellious house…. Why is it that God is permitting  Beast governments to bring under their authority the spiritual people of God and the “letter” people of God, the natural Jews? It is because they are rebellious houses. The letter Israel is a type and shadow for spiritual Israel. They've rebelled against the covenant that God has given. (12) Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and brought them to him to Babylon. So the king and the princes of both spiritual and natural Israel have been under the dominion of Babylon. What makes a beast a beast? The flesh is in control over the spiritual. The Alliance of nations under Cyrus/Trump is about to be a GESARA covenant. Although we will benefit from this covenant to rebuild the Kingdom of God, it will not last. The next seven verses go on to talk about a covenant that was broken in the middle, exactly as we would expect if it were Daniel's 70th-week covenant of the end-time broken in the middle. God also rebukes them for breaking His covenant and then He talks about another leadership that He's raising up. We just saw the apostate leadership, the king and the princes, brought under the dominion of Babylon, but He talks about a new leadership here. (22) Thus saith the Lord God: I will also take of the l7ofty top of the cedar (An evergreen type of eternal life), and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain. That's referring to the mountain representing the Kingdom of God, spiritual Mount Zion. This was the same description (cropping off the topmost twigs) that God gave in verse four here, referring to the apostate leadership of Israel/Church, but now the Lord speaks of a type of the Israel/Church's new leadership. So, once again, He is talking about a new leadership, “the topmost twig.” (23) In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of the branches thereof shall they dwell. (24) And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it. God is bringing down a false leadership over the true people of God, and He's raising up a new leadership. This is just as it was in the days of Jesus and Moses, when the apostate leadership persecuted the Man-child Jesus and then His disciples. In the same way, in the end-time, God is going to bring down the high and the lofty and raise up the lowly to take that position who will walk in the steps of the Lord Jesus, the Man-child of Revelation 12. He came as a Lamb but now as a Lion. We just had a prophecy of the coming Lion, who come manifested in His Man-child body.  So we see here two groups in captivity. In the time of Esther, there were two groups in captivity, and the one persecuted the other, just as the False Prophet in Israel, the Sanhedrin, persecuted the Man-child ministry of Jesus. We see the same thing with Mordecai and these servants of the king who accused him to the Beast. Jesus was accused to the Beast by the corporate False Prophet of Israel. Also, we can go to Daniel and see that when Babylon took God's people into captivity, there was the good thrown in with the bad. (Dan.1:1) In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (the “Great Eagle” in Eze 17.) unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. (2) And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god: and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god. (3) And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in [certain] of the children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the nobles; (4) youths in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and endued with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king's palace…. There it is! These are people whom God is raising up who are spotless and blemishless, and they're not equated with the Jewish king and his princes, who were also taken captive. That's the way it was with Daniel. (6) Now among these were, of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. (7) And the prince of the eunuchs gave names unto them: unto Daniel he gave [the name of] Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, [of] Shadrach; and to Mishael, [of] Meshach; and to Azariah, [of] Abednego. Next, these four had to be proven because they wouldn't be defiled by eating the king's food. They wouldn't partake of the Babylonish king's dainties and, since they wouldn't be defiled, they also didn't bow down to the image of the Beast. It's important to know that what we eat is what we are, and if we partake of a beastly doctrine that enables our flesh to rule, we will become a member of the Beast. Our flesh is a member of the Beast kingdom – it is an enemy of God; it's at enmity with your spirit. Partaking of fleshly doctrines is partaking of the Beast's dainties. Anyway, there was nothing but good said about these four Hebrews. (17) Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. … (20) And in every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his realm. (21) And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus. What we see in the Book of Daniel – twice, in chapters 3 and 6 – is exactly what we see concerning the accusations against Mordecai, the Man-child, by the other leaders. What happened in Jesus' day, when He was accused by the other rabbis, the apostates (and accused to the Roman Beast, too, by the way), we see also in Daniel. The three Hebrews represented the people who would not bow down. Daniel was obviously in leadership, but the three Hebrews refused to bow down to the image of the Beast in Daniel chapter three. It was the image of the Beast because it had the number of the Beast. (Dan.3:1) Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore (60 - there's “6”) cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits (there's “6-6”): he set it up in the plain of Dura…. “Dura” means “a circle,” which reminds us of the earth, and the Gematria for “the earth” or “the world” is 600. So there you have a representation of the world adding up to 666. We're talking about the image of the Beast, and it's made up of, if we look carefully in chapter two, all the peoples and all the kingdoms, one right after another.  Now notice who was commanding the people to bow down to this image: (4) Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages…. The word “herald” is the only Greek word in this text, and it's the New Testament word for “preacher.” So we have apostate preachers over the people of God, commanding them to bow down to the image of the Beast. This is like pledging allegiance. Not everybody bowed down, just as we saw with Mordecai. The other servants of the king who stood in the king's gate bowed down. This was the leadership of the apostate people of God, or the False Prophet. They bowed down to Haman, but Mordecai, the Man-child, refused. We see that they commanded them to bow down, and the people all bowed down, except for the three Hebrews. (8) Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and brought accusation against the Jews. They were accused because they refused to bow down to the image of the Beast. Now, God saved them and brought a witness through them of His power to save, even in the fiery furnace that was heated seven times hotter, as in the seven years of the Tribulation Period. “Times” is used in Revelation 12:14, for instance, as in “a time, times, and half a time,” speaking of years. So “seven times” in this text speaks of the Tribulation Period. The three Hebrews refused to bow down. They served the king, obeyed and submitted to the government of the king, but when it came to bowing down, they refused. The world is going to demand this; they're going to make their generic god, and everyone is going to have to serve it and be at peace with others and not witness to others and so on. We have another witness of Daniel himself, who was a type of the Man-child. Daniel refused to bow down, and the same situation happened. There were others with him, who were leaders, who accused him before the Beast: (Dan.6:1) It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, who should be throughout the whole kingdom; (2) and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one (“Throughout the whole kingdom” could be an application of what we loosely call “the Kingdom of God.”); that these satraps might give account unto them, and that the king should have no damage. (3) Then this Daniel was distinguished above the presidents and the satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. (4) Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault, forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Praise God! Those were the false prophets who corresponded to the false prophets in Jesus' day, who sought occasion for false witness against Jesus, and since He had committed no sin, they had to falsely accuse Him. It was the same with Daniel here. The head of the Harlot was the false prophets and false leaders who were accusing Jesus, How is the faithful city become a harlot! … (Isa.1:21). God's people had become a harlot because they had apostatized and were committing fornication with the world. They were receiving the seed of the world, the seed of the Beast kingdom. (Dan.6:5) Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. (6) Then these presidents and satraps assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. (7) All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the satraps, the counsellors and the governors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a strong interdict, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Daniel only bowed down to his God; he only asked of his God; he wasn't going to treat the king or the Beast as a god. (8) Now, O king, establish the interdict, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. (9) Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the interdict. (10) And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem;) and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. So he only knelt down to the God of Israel. He refused to bow down to the image of the Beast.  (11) Then these men assembled together, and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God. (12) Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's interdict: Hast thou not signed an interdict, that every man that shall make petition unto any god or man within thirty days, save unto thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. (13) Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the interdict that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. (14) Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to rescue him. Notice that it wasn't the Beast that wanted to destroy the Man-child; it was his own brothers. Joseph's brothers were the ones who sold him into bondage to the Gentiles. And, accordingly, Pilate wanted nothing to do with crucifying what he called Jesus, this righteous man (Mat.27:24).  The apostates twisted his arm, exactly as they are doing here. We are headed to the exact same time, when the false leadership over God's people is going to be used to persecute the true leadership. Although all of them are going to be under the same Beast government rule, the leadership of the apostate people of God, just as we saw with Mordecai, is going to bow down to the Beast. Amazingly, people whom you and I have called Christians and thought were Christians will be part of a great falling away. The 10 northern tribes worshipped the image of the beast and were part of a great falling away. They bowed down to the golden calf, or the image of a beast. Now the same thing is happening to what we loosely call Christianity; they have built and bowed down to their golden calf. It's a work of man's hands. It has nothing to do with God or His Word that He created in the very beginning, as far as Christianity is concerned. It's something that they have made themselves, and because it's their own, they're going to want to protect it and defend it and their livelihood along with it. The Man-child ministry is going to be a threat to that because of the truths that will come forth, just as they came out of Jesus. The Bible spoke about Jesus, how He opened His mouth, and things that were hidden from the foundation of the world were revealed. Things that have been hidden are going to be revealed, but also, things that have been hidden in God's people are going to be revealed by this great falling away and by the apostates' siding with the Beast against their brethren. They are Judases, sons of perdition, false prophets. The point here in Daniel is that he still refused to do anything but bow down only to the real, true God, not to just any ruler or generic god, not even to any god that they might call “Jesus.” Many religious images of Jesus are not Him at all. When we read the Bible, we see the true Jesus and His crucified life. That contrasts with what we see now in Christianity. Will the current leadership continue to bring a reproach on Christianity by living so lavishly and fleecing so many people? That's not walking in the steps of Jesus; that's not the crucified life. These people defend that lifestyle as spiritual, and it's a shame. How many airplanes can a person use? God is sending the Beast not only because of the leadership, but also because of the people who don't understand that they should not support people who do such things. The crucified life that Jesus and His disciples walked was a simple life without all the accoutrements of Babylon. They didn't have the fancy temple and the big synagogues, but they had the truth. That was part of the trial. There is a great apostasy, a rebellion, in the church. They're in love with the world, and the things of the world, and the Bible says, If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1Jn.2:15). God is proving just who it is who loves Him. The Bride, in the Song of Solomon, ran fanatically after the Bridegroom, so much so that she surprised the other queens, virgins, and concubines. They thought that one Jesus was just as good as another. But the other Jesus' are made by man. They give Jesus a character that's contrary to Scripture, a contrary doctrine, and so on.  Well, Daniel wouldn't bow down, so he had to be thrown into the lion's den and, as you know, God preserved him. God sent His angel. (Dan.6:18) Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep fled from him. (19) Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. (20) And when he came near unto the den to Daniel, he cried with a lamentable voice; the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? (21) Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. (22) My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. (23) Then was the king exceeding glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he had trusted in his God. (24) And the king commanded, and they brought those men that had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den. That's very similar to Revelation 17:16, where the Beast devours the Harlot.  The apostate leaders who accused Jesus were then destroyed, and as we know, there's a great and terrible Day of the Lord coming, when that's exactly what's going to happen. The Beast is going to devour and destroy the Harlot and burn her flesh with fire. So the Beast was basically made a believer in the God of Daniel, just as in the time of Nebuchadnezzar; and, by the way, Daniel chapter seven speaks of the end-time. We know the timing of Daniel's Tribulation because he gets a revelation of the four Beasts, and from his time, which was the time of Babylon onward, is when his revelation started. His vision didn't start with the Egyptian and Assyrian Beasts, which were two that came before Babylon. The Beasts of Revelation, however, start with those two that came before Babylon. Daniel mentions the four Beasts that lead up to the end-time Beast. There was the lion with eagle's wings (Babylon) that was conquered by the Media-Persian bear, then by Greece, then Rome. He was prophesying again of the image of the Beast.  In today's end-times, these entities are still with us. The Lion with Eagle's wings is the British Empire, and the Eagle's wings are the present head of the British Empire and America. This is the Great Eagle, which was then and will be today conquered by the Medo-Persian Bear. So not only were these historic, from Daniel's day on, but they're also an end-time revelation of what's going to happen. We find that this last Beast that he talks about, which was Rome, devours the whole earth. The last Beast, he tells us, was headed up by 10 horns, exactly like Revelation 17. The 10 horns are the ten kings that rule over the Beast kingdom. Among those 10 horns comes up a little horn (Daniel 7:8) that's different, it says, from the rest of the horns. That little horn is a ruler among rulers that will be diverse from all of the 10, and it is the corporate False Prophet. (Dan.7:21) … The same horn made war with the saints…. There it is again! They'll make war on the Man-child and the saints, which is exactly what we see in the rest of the Book of Esther. (Dan.7:23) Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth…. We have had the United Nations, whose place is being taken by the Alliance of nations. The whole earth is inside the body of the last Beast. GESARA Law was signed unanimously by all 209 countries in 2015. Remember that in Daniel's vision of the legs of the image of the beast, Rome lasted from the thighs all the way down to the toes – the iron that was mixed with the clay. It is different in these days because now it has covered; it has devoured, the whole earth. And among those 10 kings is the little horn that comes up to make war on the saints. (Dan.7:20) ... Before which three fell, even that [horn] that had eyes, and a mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows. (21) I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; (22) until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.  So we see the Beast has been given authority to crucify Christ once more. It says that he “prevailed against them.” This False Prophet and the Harlot beneath the False Prophet have been given authority to crucify the flesh of the saints. It doesn't necessarily mean that all will die; that's not the point here. The point is the crucifixion of the flesh of the saints. The Church is in rebellion because the flesh rules. The Beast, in a spiritual way, is ruling over them already because their flesh rules over them already. There has to be a crucifixion for us to bear fruit and come into the Kingdom; therefore, God is raising up this whole worldwide kingdom to come against His people. The little horn represents a religious entity because it's different from the other horns. They are corporate bodies of secular rulers, but the little horn is a corporate body of religious rulers who will bring God's people to their cross, much like they did to Jesus in His day. This is the seed of that same Sanhedrin that's being raised up in our day, no different from the earlier one. The Sanhedrin in natural Israel has been raised up again, and the Sanhedrin in spiritual Israel has been raised up again, too, to crucify the body of Christ again. God just repeats history in larger and larger ways. The spiritual man is not going to be conquered, and the quicker we learn to submit, the more we will be like Daniel, in that the lions' mouths will be closed. The Beast will not be able to devour Daniel. The fire of the fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter, will not be able to devour the three Hebrews because they have refused to eat the king's dainties and they refused to bow down to the image of the Beast, just like Daniel. What we see in Esther is clearly a prophecy of the end-time. The persecution that was raised up against Mordecai, who was over all God's people of the kingdom, will be repeated in our day. Remember, the Beast decided to kill the people of Mordecai. The people of Mordecai, of whom we are speaking, include the Bride, but just as Jerusalem is only part of the Kingdom, the Bride is only part of the people of Mordecai. Not everybody in the Church is going to follow the Man-child. All the righteous Jews in the rest of the kingdom will be delivered from the Beast through the righteous leadership of Mordecai, the Man-child, and Esther, the Bride – a leadership that refused to bow down and a people that refused to bow down, respectively. The true people of God will not bow down. The rest will worship the image of the Beast; they will bow down. God is sending a separation in the form of this image of the Beast. The people who have no faith in their God, no commitment to their God, will find it easier to justify themselves and bow down to the image of the Beast, even change their doctrines, if necessary, and submit to the Beast kingdom. The true people of God are represented by the people of Mordecai, who discover that this leadership is truly the right leadership, like the people who followed Jesus in His day. This represented a people from among natural Israel who were a first fruits to follow Jesus diligently, just as it will be in our day. (Joh.3:29) He that hath the bride is the bridegroom…. Even if a person didn't come up to the standard of the Bride which Jesus raised up, He sent them forth unto every place He was about to go to fulfill the Great Commission. The apostles raised up the five-fold ministry as the leadership for the rest of spiritual Israel, just as the latter-day apostles will for the Church. We have some great days coming, some wondrous days. In Esther 3:7-8, it is also revealed that God's people had been rebellious, and that's the reason this is coming today. The best thing we can do is learn to serve the true and living God. Don't bow down to the Beast.

Revelation Week 7 – Revelation 12–14 | Dragons, Beasts, and the Unveiled Lamb Dragons. Beasts. Marks. 666. These are the chapters in Revelation that make people nervous. But what if Revelation 12–14 isn't meant to confuse us… but to clarify something essential? This week at The Porch Community Church, we step into some of the most symbolic and intense imagery in Scripture — the woman and the dragon, the beasts from the sea and the earth, the mark of 666, and the 144,000 standing with the Lamb. And at the center of it all, we find Jesus — Unveiled. From a Wesleyan perspective, we explore: How Revelation 12 reveals the spiritual battle behind the Christmas story Why Satan is described as defeated — yet still raging What the 42 months really means (evil is limited and on a leash) Why 666 represents humanity's failed attempt to replace God How the real issue in these chapters isn't speculation — it's worship The call of Revelation isn't fear. It's faithful endurance. It's conscious allegiance. It's undivided loyalty to Jesus. The dragon rages. The beasts demand worship. Babylon seduces. But the Lamb stands victorious on Mount Zion. The question Revelation asks isn't “Can you decode this?” It's “Who gets your loyalty?” We remain faithful. We worship Jesus — and Jesus alone.

Once David was made king of all Israel, his first plan of business was taking Mount Zion. On today's podcast, Pastor Cameron encourages us to never settle in our lives but to seek God for victory in every area of our lives!

“M” is for Mount Zion College. Established in 1777 the institution started in a small log building as an all grades public school in Winnsboro.

Guest: Patrick K. O'Donnell. Confederate General Jubal Early threatens Washington, D.C., where Lincoln witnesses the battle at Fort Stevens. Meanwhile, partisan leader John Mosby operates independently, capturing Union forces at Mount Zion Church. O'Donnell notes that better coordination between Early and Mosby could have endangered the capital.1908 GAR TOLEDO OHIO

Genesis 12:1-3The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you.“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.I will bless those who bless you,and whoever curses you I will curse;and all peoples on earthwill be blessed through you.”Isaiah 37:30-32“This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:“This year you will eat what grows by itself,and the second year what springs from that.But in the third year sow and reap,plant vineyards and eat their fruit.Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judahwill take root below and bear fruit above.For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.The zeal of the Lord Almightywill accomplish this."

Revelation 7:1–8The 144,000 of Israel Sealed[1] After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. [2] Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, [3] saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” [4] And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:[5] 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,12,000 from the tribe of Gad,[6] 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,[7] 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,12,000 from the tribe of Levi,12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,[8] 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed. (ESV)Revelation 14:1–5The Lamb and the 144,000[1] Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. [2] And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, [3] and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. [4] It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, [5] and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. (ESV)

Revelation 14 ESV The Lamb and the 144,00014 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.The Messages of the Three Angels6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”The Harvest of the Earth14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia. For more information about Redeemer Church Lubbock visit our website at redeemerlubbock.org.

By Robin S Webber - This message was given on President's Day holiday weekend in America which is dedicated to reflection on our national leaders. The message focuses on the famous four presidential figures on Mt. Rushmore in contrast to The One "whose name is above all names" - Phil. 2:9. While the four are men of

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!Link to the Watchman Nee book.emersonk78@me.comExcel Still More Journal - AmazonNew GENESIS Daily Bible Devotional!Daily Bible Devotional Series - AmazonSponsors:  Spiritbuilding Publishers Website:  www.spiritbuilding.comTyler Cain, Senior Loan Officer, Statewide MortgageWebsites: https://statewidemortgage.com/https://tylercain.floify.com/Phone: 813-380-8487The believer rests in Christ. Not just one day, but today. We are seated with Him in a place of protection, help, and assurance. He is with us always, even right now, and with Him comes omnipotence and glory. We are saved, secured, and safe.It is only from this seat that we can truly walk. And I don't mean just get up and start walking. I mean that what is true spiritually remains true: you are seated with Christ, even as you walk. The walk reflects the relationship. It is not an effort to validate what Christ did or to pay Him back. It is not a debt owed. It is a life of hope in Him.The devil will attack. He will try to ruin our confidence. But he is a loser. He has lost. We are on Mount Zion; he is in the valley of despair. We have the high ground in Jesus Christ, and the power of Christ to hold that ground.Sequence is crucial. You cannot stand if you are not seated, nor walk. Begin with Christ, pray about what is true, find joy in who you are in Him and who He is for you. And walk with life and stand with strength—His strength. 

THE HEADQUARTERS ON MOUNT ZION Colleague James Tabor. Tabor describes excavations on Mount Zion, identifying a first-century house foundation as the "upper room" and headquarters of the early movement. He visualizes Mary as the matriarch in this courtyard, welcoming pilgrims and apostles like Paul, and establishes James as the leader of this house synagogue. NUMBER 5

SHOW 12-25-25 THE SHOW BEGINS WITH DOUBTS ABOUT THE MODERN STORY OF MARY AND HER FAMILY. 1868 NAZARETH SEPPHORIS AND THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF MARY'S LIFE Colleague James Tabor. Tabor identifies Sepphoris, a Roman capital near Nazareth, as Mary's birthplace. He reimagines Jesus and Joseph as "tektons" (builders) working in this urban center rather than simple carpenters. This proximity meant Mary witnessed Romanbrutality and the city's destruction, influencing her family's spiritual views on the Kingdom of God. NUMBER 1 INVESTIGATING THE NAME PANTERA Colleague James Tabor. Tabor explores the name "Pantera," found in rabbinic texts and on a Roman soldier's tombstone. He suggests this might be a family name rather than a slur, investigating the possibility that Jesus's father was a relative or soldier, which challenges the theological narrative of a virgin birth. NUMBER 2 RECLAIMING THE HISTORICAL JEWISH FAMILY Colleague James Tabor. Highlighting the Protoevangelium of James, Tabor contrasts its depiction of a perpetual virgin Mary with historical evidence of a large Jewish family. He argues Mary had numerous children and that her parents were likely wealthy property owners in Sepphoris, integrating Jesus into a close-knit extended family. NUMBER 3 JAMES THE JUST AS TRUE SUCCESSOR Colleague James Tabor. Tabor asserts James, Jesus's brother, was the movement's true successor, not Peter. Citing Acts and the Gospel of Thomas, he notes James led the Jerusalem council and stood at the cross. Tabor argues the "beloved disciple" entrusted with Mary's care was this blood brother, not Johnthe fisherman. NUMBER 4 THE HEADQUARTERS ON MOUNT ZION Colleague James Tabor. Tabor describes excavations on Mount Zion, identifying a first-century house foundation as the "upper room" and headquarters of the early movement. He visualizes Mary as the matriarch in this courtyard, welcoming pilgrims and apostles like Paul, and establishes James as the leader of this house synagogue. NUMBER 5 THE FLIGHT TO PELLA AND MARY'S DEATH Colleague James Tabor. Tabor discusses the Christian flight to Pella during the Roman revolt. He speculates Mary died before this event, likely around 49–63 CE, and was buried on Mount Zion. Consequently, she disappears from the New Testament record, which shifts focus to Peter and Paul after the Jerusalem church's dispersal. NUMBER 6 THE TALPIOT TOMB AND DNA EVIDENCE Colleague James Tabor. Discussing the Talpiot tomb, Tabor details ossuaries bearing names like "Jesus son of Joseph" and "Mariamne." He argues statistical clusters and potential DNA evidence suggest this is the Jesus family tomb, positing that physical remains support historical existence without necessarily negating the concept of spiritual resurrection. NUMBER 7 THE Q SOURCE AND MARY'S TEACHINGS Colleague James Tabor. Tabor identifies the "Q" source as a collection of ethical teachings shared by Matthew and Luke. He attributes these core values—such as charity and humility—to a family tradition taught by Mary to Jesus, James, and John the Baptizer, aiming to restore Mary'shistorical influence as a teacher. NUMBER 8 VIRGIL'S RURAL ORIGINS AND AUGUSTAN CONNECTION Colleagues Scott McGill and Susanna Wright. The guests discuss Virgil's birth in 70 BCE near Mantua and his rural upbringing, which influenced his poetry. They trace his move to Rome during civil war and his eventual connection to Augustus, noting that Virgil promised a grand epic for the emperor in his earlier work, the Georgics. NUMBER 9 TRANSLATING THE SOUND AND METER OF VIRGIL Colleagues Scott McGill and Susanna Wright. The translators explain choosing iambic pentameter over dactylic hexameter to provide an English cultural equivalent to the original's epic feel. They describe their efforts to replicate Virgil's auditory effects, such as alliteration and assonance, and preserve specific line repetitions that connect characters like Turnus and Camilla. NUMBER 10 THE AENEID'S PLOT AND HOMERIC INFLUENCES Colleagues Scott McGill and Susanna Wright. McGill and Wright summarize the plot, from Troy's destruction to the war in Italy. They analyze Virgil's dialogue with Homer, noting how the poem's opening words invoke both the Iliad's warfare and the Odyssey's wanderings. They also highlight the terrifying, visual nature of Virgil's depiction of the underworld. NUMBER 11 ROMAN EXCEPTIONALISM VS. HUMAN TRAGEDY Colleagues Scott McGill and Susanna Wright. They discuss whether the Aeneid justifies Roman empire or tells a human story. McGill argues the poem survives because it creates sympathy for antagonists like Dido and Turnus. They explore how Virgil portrays the costs of empire and Aeneas's rage, complicating the narrative of Augustan propaganda. NUMBER 12 CLODIA'S PRIVILEGE AND CICERO'S AMBITION Colleague Douglas Boin. Boin introduces Clodia, a privileged woman from an ancient Roman family on Palatine Hill. He contrasts her aristocratic, independent nature—manifested in her name spelling—with the rise of Cicero, a talented outsider. Boin frames their eventual conflict as a clash between established power and ambitious newcomers. NUMBER 13 THE POLITICS OF TRIBUNES AND REFORM Colleague Douglas Boin. Boin details the divide between the Optimates and Populares. He explains how Clodia and her brother Clodius used the office of Tribune—the "people's protector" with veto power—to enact reforms. This strategy allowed them to challenge the Senate's authority and set the stage for Clodius's political dominance. NUMBER 14 THE TRIAL OF RUFUS AND CICERO'S MISOGYNY Colleague Douglas Boin. Boin describes a trial where Clodia accused her ex-lover Rufus of poisoning. Cicero defended Rufus by launching misogynistic attacks on Clodia, calling her "cow-eyed" and alleging incest. Boin argues this famous speech unfairly solidified Clodia's negative historical reputation while obscuring the political power she wielded. NUMBER 15 THE DEATH OF CLODIUS AND THE REPUBLIC'S END Colleague Douglas Boin. Boin recounts the violent death of Clodius by rival gangs, marking a turning point toward the Republic's collapse. He views Clodia's subsequent disappearance from history as a symbol of the loss of women's influence and civic rights, framing her story as a cautionary tale about political violence. NUMBER 16

THE FLIGHT TO PELLA AND MARY'S DEATH Colleague James Tabor. Tabor discusses the Christian flight to Pella during the Roman revolt. He speculates Mary died before this event, likely around 49–63 CE, and was buried on Mount Zion. Consequently, she disappears from the New Testament record, which shifts focus to Peter and Paul after the Jerusalem church's dispersal. NUMBER 6