Seven steps of prayer:
1. Confession of your faults or sins.
2. Supplication means formally request
3. Adoration means love
4. Intimacy means building a close relationship
5. Intercession being a mediator and standing in the gap for another
6. Thanksgiving means praising the Father for all He has done.
7. Praise means giving the Father all the praise!
Eight things that will stop prayer:
1. (Ps. 66:18) Secret sins
2. (Matt. 21:22) No faith
3. (James 4:2-3) Selfishness
4. (Prov. 21:13) No Compassion
5. (1 Pet. 3:7) No understanding
6. (Job 35:12-13) Full of pride
7. (1 Jn. 5:14) Contrary to G-d’s Word
8. (1 Jn. 3:22) Lack of obedience
Nine types of prayer:
1. Petition (asking for something)
2. Intercession (standing in the gap)
3. Supplication (urgency)
4. Confession (acknowledging of sin)
5. Thanksgiving (praising the L-rd)
6. Meditation (speaking the word out loud)
7. Agreement (uniting your faith as one)
8. Faith (for one who can’t believe for themselves)
9. Adoration (stand in awe)
Three answered prayers:
1. (Jer. 33:3) Believe it
2. (Matt. 7:7; John 15:7) Desire it
3. (Phil. 4:6; Heb. 4:16) Declare it
Pray unceasingly means in everything you do and anywhere you are during the day.
Voice Of G-d
Who will G-d talk to?
Gen. 3:8 And they heard the voice of the L-RD G-d walking in the garden in the cool of the day:
G-d talked to male and female alike.
Deut. 4:33, 35 Did ever people hear the voice of G-d speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
V. 35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the L-RD he is
G-d; there is none else beside him.
G-d choose to speak to everyone:
5:24-26 And ye said, Behold, the L-RD our G-d hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that G-d doth talk with man, and he liveth.
V. 25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the L-RD our G-d any more, then we shall die.
V. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living
G-d speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
Due to fear, people choose not to hear from G-d directly themselves:
Deut. 18:16 According to all that thou desiredst of the L-RD thy G-d in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the L-RD my G-d, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
People wanted a mediator to speak for G-d:
Deut. 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
A prophet is to only speak what G-d tells him, not add his own:
V. 19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
V. 20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
True or false prophets?
V. 21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the
L-RD hath not spoken?
V. 22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the L-RD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the L-RD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Does G-d hear when we talk to Him?
26:7 And when we cried unto the L-RD G-d of our fathers, the L-RD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:
Ps. 18:6 In my distress I called upon the L-RD, and cried unto my G-d: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
66:19 But verily G-d hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Where can you hear G-d talk?
29:3 The voice of the L-RD is upon the waters: the G-d of glory thundereth: the L-RD is upon many waters.
V. 4 The voice of the L-RD is powerful; the voice of the L-RD is full of majesty.
V. 5 The voice of the L-RD breaketh the cedars;
V. 7 The voice of the L-RD divideth the flames of fire.
V. 8 The voice of the L-RD shaketh the wilderness;
V. 9 The voice of the L-RD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
When hearing G-d speaks to us it should do what for us?
V. 11 The L-RD will give strength unto his people; the L-RD will bless his people with peace.
Who is build us up?
42:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in G-d: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
V. 11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in G-d: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my G-d.
Bottom line:
Ps. 95:7 For he is our G-d; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice
The Bible was given to us in nine ways:
1. Ex. 19: 9 In a auditable voice.
2. Acts 7: 38 and Heb. 2:2; through angels.
3. Heb. 1:1; and Rev. 1:1 through Y’Shua.
4. Acts 3:21 through Prophets.
5. Acts 1:2; and Eph. 4 through Apostles.
6. Isa. 6; and Dan. 7 through visions.
7. Dan. 2; and Matt. 1:20 through dreams.
8. Gal. 2:2 through revelation.
9. 2 Tim. 3:16 through inspiration.
Gen. 3:8 And they heard the voice of the L-RD G-d walking in the garden in the cool of the day:
G-d talked to male and female alike.
Deut. 4:33, 35 Did ever people hear the voice of G-d speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
V. 35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the L-RD he is
G-d; there is none else beside him.
G-d choose to speak to everyone:
5:24-26 And ye said, Behold, the L-RD our G-d hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that G-d doth talk with man, and he liveth.
V. 25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the L-RD our G-d any more, then we shall die.
V. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living
G-d speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
Due to fear, people choose not to hear from G-d directly themselves:
Deut. 18:16 According to all that thou desiredst of the L-RD thy G-d in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the L-RD my G-d, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
People wanted a mediator to speak for G-d:
Deut. 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
A prophet is to only speak what G-d tells him, not add his own:
V. 19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
V. 20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
True or false prophets?
V. 21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the
L-RD hath not spoken?
V. 22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the L-RD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the L-RD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Does G-d hear when we talk to Him?
26:7 And when we cried unto the L-RD G-d of our fathers, the L-RD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:
Ps. 18:6 In my distress I called upon the L-RD, and cried unto my G-d: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
66:19 But verily G-d hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Where can you hear G-d talk?
29:3 The voice of the L-RD is upon the waters: the G-d of glory thundereth: the L-RD is upon many waters.
V. 4 The voice of the L-RD is powerful; the voice of the L-RD is full of majesty.
V. 5 The voice of the L-RD breaketh the cedars;
V. 7 The voice of the L-RD divideth the flames of fire.
V. 8 The voice of the L-RD shaketh the wilderness;
V. 9 The voice of the L-RD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
When hearing G-d speaks to us it should do what for us?
V. 11 The L-RD will give strength unto his people; the L-RD will bless his people with peace.
Who is build us up?
42:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in G-d: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
V. 11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in G-d: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my G-d.
Bottom line:
Ps. 95:7 For he is our G-d; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice
The Bible was given to us in nine ways:
1. Ex. 19: 9 In a auditable voice.
2. Acts 7: 38 and Heb. 2:2; through angels.
3. Heb. 1:1; and Rev. 1:1 through Y’Shua.
4. Acts 3:21 through Prophets.
5. Acts 1:2; and Eph. 4 through Apostles.
6. Isa. 6; and Dan. 7 through visions.
7. Dan. 2; and Matt. 1:20 through dreams.
8. Gal. 2:2 through revelation.
9. 2 Tim. 3:16 through inspiration.
Willingly Ignorant
[3 Peter 3:4-5] Where is the promise of his coming? For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of G-d….
Many of the most important doctrines respecting the kingdom of the Messiah are stated as clearly in the Old Testament as in the New, (comp. Isaiah 53.) The prophecies therefore deserve to be studied as an important part of Divine revelation, the canon of the New Testament was not then completed, and he could not make his appeal to that. The ignorance has usually more to do in the denial and rejection of the doctrines of the Bible than the understanding has.
That there were no signs or indications that those events were to take place; that there were no natural causes in operation which could lead to such results; and that the fact of the stability of the earth since the time of the creation, demonstrated that the predicted destruction of the world could not occur.
By which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word are reserved for fire until the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men. The Bible clearly teaches that the active agent in creation was G-d's Word - He spoke, and creation came into being.
The scoffers presume upon the mercy and longsuffering of G-d, insisting that because they have never seen a widespread judgment of G-d, that there will never be one. But they willfully forget G-d's creation and the judgment G-d poured out on the earth in the days of Noah. With just as much plausibility, it might have been urged then that-the earth had stood for thousands of years, and that there were no natural causes at work to produce that change.
Every objection which could be urged to the destruction of the world by fire, could have been urged to its destruction by water; and as, in fact, those objections, as the event showed, would have had no real force, so they should be regarded as having no real force now.
No argument against this predicted event can be derived from the fact that hundreds and thousands of years are suffered to elapse before the fulfillment of the predictions. What seems long to men is not long to G-d. A thousand years with Him, in reference to this point, are as one day. He does not measure time as men do.
The L-rd is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the L-rd will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
The day of the L-rd is, the day in which He will be manifested. It is called His day, because He will then be the grand and prominent object as the Judge of all.
Heavens pass away - as things appear to us; and the fair interpretation of the passage would demand only such a change as would occur by the destruction of this world by fire. If a conflagration should take place, embracing the earth and its surrounding atmosphere, all the phenomena would occur which are here described; and, if this would be so, then this is all that can be proved to be meant by the passage. Such a destruction of the elements could not occur without "a great noise."
Burn up - science has shown that all are capable of combustion. Water, in its component parts, is inflammable in a high degree; and even the diamond has been shown to be combustible. The idea contained in the word "dissolved," is, properly, only the change which heat produces. Heat changes the forms of things; dissolves them into their elements; dissipates those which were solid by driving them off into gases, and produces new compounds, but it annihilates nothing. It could not be demonstrated from this phrase that the world would be annihilated by fire; it could be proved only that it will undergo important changes. So far as the action of fire is concerned, the form of the earth may pass away, and its aspect be changed; but unless the direct power which created it interposes to annihilate it, the matter which now composes it will still be in existence.
Because of which the heavens will be dissolved: Peter tells us that the very elements of this world order will be dissolved.
The true Believer does not dread the coming of that day. He looks forward to it as the period of his redemption, and would welcome, at any time, the return of his L-rd and Savior.
A new earth in which righteousness dwells: The most glorious characteristic of this new heaven and new earth is that it is a place in which righteousness dwells. In G-d's plan of the ages, this happens after the millennial earth ruled by Y’Shua HaMashiach. It is the re-creation of this world order as described in Revelation 21:1: Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
The effect of such hopes and prospects should be to lead us to an earnest inquiry whether we are prepared to dwell in a holy world, and to make us diligent in performing the duties, and patient in bearing the trials of life. He who is so soon to come to an end of all weary toil, should be willing to labor diligently and faithfully while life lasts. He who is so soon to be relieved from all temptation and trial, should be willing to bear a little longer the sorrows of the present world. What are all these compared with the glory that awaits us?
It should be an object of earnest effort with us to have the last stain of sin and pollution removed from our souls. A deep feeling that we are soon to stand in the presence of a holy G-d, our final Judge, cannot but have a happy influence in making us pure.
Sadly, today it is many Believers who willfully ignorant of these things, putting themselves in the place of scoffers.
Men should read the Bible with the feeling that it is possible that they may fall into error, and be deceived at last. This apprehension will do much to make them diligent, and candid, and prayerful, in studying the word of G-d.
We should feel that there is nothing permanent on the earth; that this is not our abiding home; and that our great interests are in another world.
Many of the most important doctrines respecting the kingdom of the Messiah are stated as clearly in the Old Testament as in the New, (comp. Isaiah 53.) The prophecies therefore deserve to be studied as an important part of Divine revelation, the canon of the New Testament was not then completed, and he could not make his appeal to that. The ignorance has usually more to do in the denial and rejection of the doctrines of the Bible than the understanding has.
That there were no signs or indications that those events were to take place; that there were no natural causes in operation which could lead to such results; and that the fact of the stability of the earth since the time of the creation, demonstrated that the predicted destruction of the world could not occur.
By which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word are reserved for fire until the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men. The Bible clearly teaches that the active agent in creation was G-d's Word - He spoke, and creation came into being.
The scoffers presume upon the mercy and longsuffering of G-d, insisting that because they have never seen a widespread judgment of G-d, that there will never be one. But they willfully forget G-d's creation and the judgment G-d poured out on the earth in the days of Noah. With just as much plausibility, it might have been urged then that-the earth had stood for thousands of years, and that there were no natural causes at work to produce that change.
Every objection which could be urged to the destruction of the world by fire, could have been urged to its destruction by water; and as, in fact, those objections, as the event showed, would have had no real force, so they should be regarded as having no real force now.
No argument against this predicted event can be derived from the fact that hundreds and thousands of years are suffered to elapse before the fulfillment of the predictions. What seems long to men is not long to G-d. A thousand years with Him, in reference to this point, are as one day. He does not measure time as men do.
The L-rd is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the L-rd will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
The day of the L-rd is, the day in which He will be manifested. It is called His day, because He will then be the grand and prominent object as the Judge of all.
Heavens pass away - as things appear to us; and the fair interpretation of the passage would demand only such a change as would occur by the destruction of this world by fire. If a conflagration should take place, embracing the earth and its surrounding atmosphere, all the phenomena would occur which are here described; and, if this would be so, then this is all that can be proved to be meant by the passage. Such a destruction of the elements could not occur without "a great noise."
Burn up - science has shown that all are capable of combustion. Water, in its component parts, is inflammable in a high degree; and even the diamond has been shown to be combustible. The idea contained in the word "dissolved," is, properly, only the change which heat produces. Heat changes the forms of things; dissolves them into their elements; dissipates those which were solid by driving them off into gases, and produces new compounds, but it annihilates nothing. It could not be demonstrated from this phrase that the world would be annihilated by fire; it could be proved only that it will undergo important changes. So far as the action of fire is concerned, the form of the earth may pass away, and its aspect be changed; but unless the direct power which created it interposes to annihilate it, the matter which now composes it will still be in existence.
Because of which the heavens will be dissolved: Peter tells us that the very elements of this world order will be dissolved.
The true Believer does not dread the coming of that day. He looks forward to it as the period of his redemption, and would welcome, at any time, the return of his L-rd and Savior.
A new earth in which righteousness dwells: The most glorious characteristic of this new heaven and new earth is that it is a place in which righteousness dwells. In G-d's plan of the ages, this happens after the millennial earth ruled by Y’Shua HaMashiach. It is the re-creation of this world order as described in Revelation 21:1: Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
The effect of such hopes and prospects should be to lead us to an earnest inquiry whether we are prepared to dwell in a holy world, and to make us diligent in performing the duties, and patient in bearing the trials of life. He who is so soon to come to an end of all weary toil, should be willing to labor diligently and faithfully while life lasts. He who is so soon to be relieved from all temptation and trial, should be willing to bear a little longer the sorrows of the present world. What are all these compared with the glory that awaits us?
It should be an object of earnest effort with us to have the last stain of sin and pollution removed from our souls. A deep feeling that we are soon to stand in the presence of a holy G-d, our final Judge, cannot but have a happy influence in making us pure.
Sadly, today it is many Believers who willfully ignorant of these things, putting themselves in the place of scoffers.
Men should read the Bible with the feeling that it is possible that they may fall into error, and be deceived at last. This apprehension will do much to make them diligent, and candid, and prayerful, in studying the word of G-d.
We should feel that there is nothing permanent on the earth; that this is not our abiding home; and that our great interests are in another world.
Beguiling Unstable Souls
2 Peter 13-22
These ungodly false teachers are a dangerous and corrupting presence in the body of the Messiah, not only deceiving others but deceiving themselves. Their heart is set on the flesh, and their eyes on adultery, both spiritual and sexual. They prey on the unstable to join them in their ways (enticing unstable souls).
They have a heart trained in covetous practices: They are equipped, but not for ministry, only for selfish gain - they are truly accursed, skilled in the arts which covetous men adopt in order to cheat others out of their property. A leading purpose which influenced these men was to obtain money. One of the most certain ways for dishonest men to do this is to make use of the religious principle; to corrupt and control the conscience; to make others believe that they are eminently holy, or that they are the special favorites of heaven; and when they can do this, they have the purses of others at command. For the religious principle is the most powerful of all principles; and he who can control that, can control all that a man possesses. The idea here is that these persons had made this their study, and had learned the ways in which men could be induced to part with their money under religious pretences. We should always be on our guard when professedly religious teachers propose to have much to do with money matters. While we should always be ready to aid every good cause, yet we should remember that unprincipled and laid-back men often assume the mask of religion that they may practice their arts on the credulity of others, and that their real aim is to obtain their property, not to save their souls.
We all train our hearts in something, training them either in covetousness and lust, or in godliness.
Does this explain why so many ministers fall? I have personally been to places were they drum up the offering for one and a half hours, until the people were ready to give all they had. No wonder G-d has called us sheep, willing to follow an enticing pastor using religious principles on giving.
They have forsaken the right way, the straight path of honesty and integrity for religion is often represented as a straight path, and to do wrong is to go out of that path in a crooked way.
The particular point to which Peter refers in which they imitated Balaam, seems to have been the love of gain, or covetousness, in being professed religious teachers, or the servants of G-d in inducing others to sin, referring to the same kind of sins in both cases.
These are wells without water: These ungodly false teachers are empty - useless as wells without water - and like clouds that bring only darkness, and no nourishing rain. It only aggravated the trials of the thirsty and weary traveler, they would only grievously disappoint the expectations of all those who were seeking for the refreshing influences of the truths of the gospel. There are many such teachers in the world.
When they make pretensions to wisdom and learning, or seem to attach great importance to what they say, and urge it in a pompous and positive manner. Truth is simple, and delights in simple statements. It expects to make its way by its own inherent force, and is willing to pass for what it is worth. Error is noisy and theatrical, and hopes to succeed by substituting sound for sense, and by such tones and arts as shall induce men to believe that what is said is true, when it is known by the speaker to be false. They allure through the lusts of the flesh - This has been quite a common method in the world, of inducing men to embrace false doctrines. Their allure is to the lusts of the flesh in their audience - just as the crowds who wanted bread from Y’Shua, but didn't want Y’Shua Himself (John 6:25-27, 47-66).
Through much wantonness - The meaning here is, that they made use of every variety of lascivious arts to beguile others under religious pretences. This has been often done in the world; for religion has been abused to give seducers access to the confidence of the innocent, only that they might betray and ruin them.
Those that were clean escaped from them who live in error - In the case referred to here it was by professedly religious teachers--and is this never done now? Are there none, for example, who have been addicted to habits of overindulgence, who had been almost reformed, but who are led back again by the influence of religious teachers? Not directly and openly, indeed, would they lead them into habits of intemperance. But, when their reformation is begun, its success and its completion depend on total abstinence from all that intoxicates. In this condition, nothing more is necessary to secure their entire reformation and safety than mere abstinence and nothing more may be necessary to lead them into their former practices than the example of others who indulge moderately.
They are themselves the slaves of appetite, or of the rules of fashionable life, or of the laws of honor, or of vicious indulgences.
Under all the appearances of reformation, still their evil nature remained, as really as that of the dog or the swine, and that nature finally prevailed. There was no thorough internal change, any more than there is in the swine when it is washed, or in the dog, This passage, therefore, would seem to demonstrate that there never had been any real change of heart, and of course there had been no falling away from true religion. It should not, therefore, be quoted to prove that true Believers may fall from grace and perish. The dog and the swine had never been anything else than the dog and the swine, and these persons had never been anything else than sinners.
And the sow that was washed - This proverb is not found in the Old Testament, but it was common in the Rabbinical writings, and is found in the Greek classics. Its meaning is plain, and of the truth of what is affirmed no one can have any doubt. No matter how clean the swine is made by washing, thin would not prevent it, in the slightest degree, from rolling in filth again. It will act out its real nature. So it is with the sinner. No external reformation will certainly prevent his returning to his former habits; and when he does return, we can only say that he is acting according to his real nature--a nature which has never been changed, any more than the nature of the dog or the swine.
The true point of this passage is to show that the persons referred to never were changed; that whatever external reformation might have occurred, their nature remained the same; and that when they apostatized from their outward profession, they merely acted out their nature, and showed that in fact there had been no real change. It will also prove that we should rely on no mere external reformation, no outward cleansing, as certain evidence of piety. G-d looks upon the heart; and it is only the religion that has its seat there, that can secure our final salvation.
These ungodly false teachers are a dangerous and corrupting presence in the body of the Messiah, not only deceiving others but deceiving themselves. Their heart is set on the flesh, and their eyes on adultery, both spiritual and sexual. They prey on the unstable to join them in their ways (enticing unstable souls).
They have a heart trained in covetous practices: They are equipped, but not for ministry, only for selfish gain - they are truly accursed, skilled in the arts which covetous men adopt in order to cheat others out of their property. A leading purpose which influenced these men was to obtain money. One of the most certain ways for dishonest men to do this is to make use of the religious principle; to corrupt and control the conscience; to make others believe that they are eminently holy, or that they are the special favorites of heaven; and when they can do this, they have the purses of others at command. For the religious principle is the most powerful of all principles; and he who can control that, can control all that a man possesses. The idea here is that these persons had made this their study, and had learned the ways in which men could be induced to part with their money under religious pretences. We should always be on our guard when professedly religious teachers propose to have much to do with money matters. While we should always be ready to aid every good cause, yet we should remember that unprincipled and laid-back men often assume the mask of religion that they may practice their arts on the credulity of others, and that their real aim is to obtain their property, not to save their souls.
We all train our hearts in something, training them either in covetousness and lust, or in godliness.
Does this explain why so many ministers fall? I have personally been to places were they drum up the offering for one and a half hours, until the people were ready to give all they had. No wonder G-d has called us sheep, willing to follow an enticing pastor using religious principles on giving.
They have forsaken the right way, the straight path of honesty and integrity for religion is often represented as a straight path, and to do wrong is to go out of that path in a crooked way.
The particular point to which Peter refers in which they imitated Balaam, seems to have been the love of gain, or covetousness, in being professed religious teachers, or the servants of G-d in inducing others to sin, referring to the same kind of sins in both cases.
These are wells without water: These ungodly false teachers are empty - useless as wells without water - and like clouds that bring only darkness, and no nourishing rain. It only aggravated the trials of the thirsty and weary traveler, they would only grievously disappoint the expectations of all those who were seeking for the refreshing influences of the truths of the gospel. There are many such teachers in the world.
When they make pretensions to wisdom and learning, or seem to attach great importance to what they say, and urge it in a pompous and positive manner. Truth is simple, and delights in simple statements. It expects to make its way by its own inherent force, and is willing to pass for what it is worth. Error is noisy and theatrical, and hopes to succeed by substituting sound for sense, and by such tones and arts as shall induce men to believe that what is said is true, when it is known by the speaker to be false. They allure through the lusts of the flesh - This has been quite a common method in the world, of inducing men to embrace false doctrines. Their allure is to the lusts of the flesh in their audience - just as the crowds who wanted bread from Y’Shua, but didn't want Y’Shua Himself (John 6:25-27, 47-66).
Through much wantonness - The meaning here is, that they made use of every variety of lascivious arts to beguile others under religious pretences. This has been often done in the world; for religion has been abused to give seducers access to the confidence of the innocent, only that they might betray and ruin them.
Those that were clean escaped from them who live in error - In the case referred to here it was by professedly religious teachers--and is this never done now? Are there none, for example, who have been addicted to habits of overindulgence, who had been almost reformed, but who are led back again by the influence of religious teachers? Not directly and openly, indeed, would they lead them into habits of intemperance. But, when their reformation is begun, its success and its completion depend on total abstinence from all that intoxicates. In this condition, nothing more is necessary to secure their entire reformation and safety than mere abstinence and nothing more may be necessary to lead them into their former practices than the example of others who indulge moderately.
They are themselves the slaves of appetite, or of the rules of fashionable life, or of the laws of honor, or of vicious indulgences.
Under all the appearances of reformation, still their evil nature remained, as really as that of the dog or the swine, and that nature finally prevailed. There was no thorough internal change, any more than there is in the swine when it is washed, or in the dog, This passage, therefore, would seem to demonstrate that there never had been any real change of heart, and of course there had been no falling away from true religion. It should not, therefore, be quoted to prove that true Believers may fall from grace and perish. The dog and the swine had never been anything else than the dog and the swine, and these persons had never been anything else than sinners.
And the sow that was washed - This proverb is not found in the Old Testament, but it was common in the Rabbinical writings, and is found in the Greek classics. Its meaning is plain, and of the truth of what is affirmed no one can have any doubt. No matter how clean the swine is made by washing, thin would not prevent it, in the slightest degree, from rolling in filth again. It will act out its real nature. So it is with the sinner. No external reformation will certainly prevent his returning to his former habits; and when he does return, we can only say that he is acting according to his real nature--a nature which has never been changed, any more than the nature of the dog or the swine.
The true point of this passage is to show that the persons referred to never were changed; that whatever external reformation might have occurred, their nature remained the same; and that when they apostatized from their outward profession, they merely acted out their nature, and showed that in fact there had been no real change. It will also prove that we should rely on no mere external reformation, no outward cleansing, as certain evidence of piety. G-d looks upon the heart; and it is only the religion that has its seat there, that can secure our final salvation.
Jephthah’s Daughter
Judges 11:30-31, 34-35, 39-40
This rendering and this interpretation is warranted by the Levitical Law about vows consisted of two parts.
1. That what person soever met him should be the L-rd's or be dedicated to His service;
2. That what beast soever met him, if clean, should be offered up for a burnt-offering unto the L-rd.
G-d did NOT accept human sacrifice. Jephthah makes a rash vow, I will offer it for a burnt offering; that is, if it is what according to the Law may be offered up, as an ox, sheep, ram, or lamb; some read the words disjunctively. "Or I will offer it"… it shall either be devoted to the L-rd in the manner that persons or things, according to the Law, are directed to be. (Human sacrifice was strictly forbidden by the Mosaic Law in Leviticus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 12:31.) Human sacrifices were ever an abomination to the L-rd; and this was one of the grand reasons why G-d drove out the Canaanites. “I will consecrate it to the L-rd, or I will offer it for a burnt-offering; that is, "If it be a thing fit for a burnt-offering, it shall be made one, if fit for the service of G-d, it shall be consecrated to him."
From Judges 11:39 appears evident that Jephthah's daughter was not SACRIFICED to
G-d, Jephthah set his daughter aside for the Tabernacle service according to the principle of Leviticus 27:2-4, Exodus 38:8; 1 Samuel 2:22 where persons set apart to G-d in a vow are not required to be sacrificed (as animals were), but were "given" to the Tabernacle in monetary value.
His daughters, and her friends, are rightly sorrowful that she would be given to the Tabernacle service before she was ever married; probably, most the women who assembled at the door of the Tabernacle were older widows (however, there would have been much more to bewail if she was killed!)
By sending his unmarried, only daughter to the service of the Tabernacle for the rest of her life, it shows how seriously both Jephthah and his daughter took his promise to G-d.
Her father's extreme grief on the occasion and her requisition of a respite for two months to bewail her virginity, are both perfectly natural. Having no other issue, he could only look forward to the extinction of his name or family. A state of celibacy, which is reproachful among women everywhere, was peculiarly so among the Israelites, and was therefore no ordinary sacrifice on her part, who, though she generously gave up, could not but regret the loss of, becoming ‘the mother of the promised Messiah’ or at least a mother in Israel. And he did with her according to his vow which he had vowed, and she knew no man, or remained a virgin, all her life.
Those who assert that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter, attempt to justify the opinion from the barbarous usages of those times: but in answer to this it may be justly observed, that Jephthah was now under the influence of the Spirit of G-d, Judges 11:29. That Spirit could not permit him to imbrue his hands in the blood of his own child; and especially under the pretence of offering a pleasing sacrifice to that G-d who is the Father of mankind, and the Fountain of love, mercy, and compassion.
Vows were in common practice also among the Israelites. They were encouraged by the divine approval as emanating from a spirit of piety and gratitude; and rules were laid down in the Law for regulating the performance. But it is difficult to bring Jephthah's vow within the legitimate range (Lev. 27:28).
Whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me-- contemplated a human sacrifice? Bred up as he had been, beyond the Jordan, where the Israelitish tribes, far from the Tabernacle, were looser in their religious sentiments. With him living latterly on the borders of a heathen country where such sacrifices were common, it is not unlikely that he may have been so ignorant as to imagine that a similar immolation would be acceptable to G-d. His mind, engrossed with the prospect of a contest, on the issue of which the fate of his country depended, might, through the influence of superstition, consider the dedication of the object dearest to him the most likely to ensure success.
Shall surely be the L-rd's; and or I will offer it up for a burnt offering-- introduces the important alternative, that if it were a person, the dedication would be made to the service of the Sanctuary; if a proper animal or thing, it would be offered on the altar.
Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances--The return of the victors was hailed, as usual, by the joyous acclaim of a female band (1 Sam. 18:6), the leader of whom was Jephthah's daughter. The vow was full in his mind, and it is evident that it had not been communicated to anyone; otherwise, precautions would doubtless have been taken to place another object at his door. The scream, and other accompaniments of irrepressible grief, seems to indicate that her life was to be forfeited as a sacrifice; the nature of the sacrifice (which was abhorrent to the character of G-d) and distance from the Tabernacle does not suffice to overturn this view, which the language and whole strain of the narrative plainly support. The lapse of two months might be supposed to have afforded time for reflection, and a better sense of his duty, there is but too much reason to conclude that he was driven to the fulfillment by the dictates of a pious but unenlightened conscience.
The Targumist refers here to the Law, Leviticus 27:1-5, where the L-rd prescribes the price at which either males or females, who had been vowed to the L-rd, might be redeemed. "When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the L-rd at thy judgment. the male from twenty years old even unto sixty, shall be fifty shekels of silver; and if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels; and from five years old unto twenty years, the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten." This also is an argument that the daughter of Jephthah was not sacrificed; as the father had it in his power, at a very moderate price, to have redeemed her: and surely, the blood of his daughter must have been of more value in his sight than thirty shekels of silver.
And she said unto him--what a pattern of filial piety and obedience! She was at once obedient, pious, and patriotic. A woman to have no offspring was considered to be in a state of the utmost degradation among the Hebrews; but she is regardless of all this, seeing her father is in safety, and her country delivered. And her going up and down upon the mountains may signify no more than her paying each of them a visit at their own houses, previously to her being shut up at the Tabernacle; and this visiting of each at their own home might require the space of two months.
To lament the daughter of Jephthah--but this custom prevailed in Israel that the virgins of Israel went at different times, four days in the year, to the daughter of Jephthah, that they might comfort her. This verse also gives evidence that the daughter of Jephthah was not sacrificed: nor does it appear that the custom or statute referred to here lasted after the death of Jephthah's daughter.
The neder, or vow, in general, included either persons, beasts, or things dedicated to the L-rd for pious uses; which, if it was a simple vow, was redeemable at certain prices. If the person repented of his vow, and wished to commute it for money, according to the age or sex of the person, Leviticus 27:1-8: this was a wise regulation to remedy rash vows. But if the vow was accompanied with cherem, devotement, it was irredeemable, as in the following case, Leviticus 27:28.
"Notwithstanding, no devotement which a man shall devote unto the L-rd, (either) of man, or beast, or of land of his own property, shall be sold or redeemed. Every thing devoted is most holy to the L-rd.”
The Mischna, or traditional Law of the Jews is pointedly against it; 'If a Jew should devote his son or daughter, his man or maid servant, who are Hebrews, the devotement would be void, because no man can devote what is not his own, or whose life he has not the absolute disposal of.' These arguments appear to be decisive against the sacrifice. Jephthah could not have devoted his daughter to celibacy against her will is evident from the history and from the high estimation in which she was always held by the daughters of Israel for her filial duty and her hapless fate, which they celebrated by a regular anniversary commemoration four days in the year.
Several of the rabbis, and many very learned Christian expositors, believe that Jephthah's daughter was not really sacrificed, but that her virginity was consecrated to G-d, and that she separated from all connection with the world, she knew no man. This was a kind of mysterious death, because it caused her to lose all hope of the glory of a posterity from which the Messiah might descend. From this originated the custom, observed afterwards in Israel, that on a certain season in the year the virgins assembled themselves on the mountains to bewail the daughter of Jephthah for the space of four days.
Yet, we can't deny that this vow is foolish nonetheless; the important thing is to be in the will of G-d yourself, not to make vows to try to get G-d "on your side."
This rendering and this interpretation is warranted by the Levitical Law about vows consisted of two parts.
1. That what person soever met him should be the L-rd's or be dedicated to His service;
2. That what beast soever met him, if clean, should be offered up for a burnt-offering unto the L-rd.
G-d did NOT accept human sacrifice. Jephthah makes a rash vow, I will offer it for a burnt offering; that is, if it is what according to the Law may be offered up, as an ox, sheep, ram, or lamb; some read the words disjunctively. "Or I will offer it"… it shall either be devoted to the L-rd in the manner that persons or things, according to the Law, are directed to be. (Human sacrifice was strictly forbidden by the Mosaic Law in Leviticus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 12:31.) Human sacrifices were ever an abomination to the L-rd; and this was one of the grand reasons why G-d drove out the Canaanites. “I will consecrate it to the L-rd, or I will offer it for a burnt-offering; that is, "If it be a thing fit for a burnt-offering, it shall be made one, if fit for the service of G-d, it shall be consecrated to him."
From Judges 11:39 appears evident that Jephthah's daughter was not SACRIFICED to
G-d, Jephthah set his daughter aside for the Tabernacle service according to the principle of Leviticus 27:2-4, Exodus 38:8; 1 Samuel 2:22 where persons set apart to G-d in a vow are not required to be sacrificed (as animals were), but were "given" to the Tabernacle in monetary value.
His daughters, and her friends, are rightly sorrowful that she would be given to the Tabernacle service before she was ever married; probably, most the women who assembled at the door of the Tabernacle were older widows (however, there would have been much more to bewail if she was killed!)
By sending his unmarried, only daughter to the service of the Tabernacle for the rest of her life, it shows how seriously both Jephthah and his daughter took his promise to G-d.
Her father's extreme grief on the occasion and her requisition of a respite for two months to bewail her virginity, are both perfectly natural. Having no other issue, he could only look forward to the extinction of his name or family. A state of celibacy, which is reproachful among women everywhere, was peculiarly so among the Israelites, and was therefore no ordinary sacrifice on her part, who, though she generously gave up, could not but regret the loss of, becoming ‘the mother of the promised Messiah’ or at least a mother in Israel. And he did with her according to his vow which he had vowed, and she knew no man, or remained a virgin, all her life.
Those who assert that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter, attempt to justify the opinion from the barbarous usages of those times: but in answer to this it may be justly observed, that Jephthah was now under the influence of the Spirit of G-d, Judges 11:29. That Spirit could not permit him to imbrue his hands in the blood of his own child; and especially under the pretence of offering a pleasing sacrifice to that G-d who is the Father of mankind, and the Fountain of love, mercy, and compassion.
Vows were in common practice also among the Israelites. They were encouraged by the divine approval as emanating from a spirit of piety and gratitude; and rules were laid down in the Law for regulating the performance. But it is difficult to bring Jephthah's vow within the legitimate range (Lev. 27:28).
Whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me-- contemplated a human sacrifice? Bred up as he had been, beyond the Jordan, where the Israelitish tribes, far from the Tabernacle, were looser in their religious sentiments. With him living latterly on the borders of a heathen country where such sacrifices were common, it is not unlikely that he may have been so ignorant as to imagine that a similar immolation would be acceptable to G-d. His mind, engrossed with the prospect of a contest, on the issue of which the fate of his country depended, might, through the influence of superstition, consider the dedication of the object dearest to him the most likely to ensure success.
Shall surely be the L-rd's; and or I will offer it up for a burnt offering-- introduces the important alternative, that if it were a person, the dedication would be made to the service of the Sanctuary; if a proper animal or thing, it would be offered on the altar.
Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances--The return of the victors was hailed, as usual, by the joyous acclaim of a female band (1 Sam. 18:6), the leader of whom was Jephthah's daughter. The vow was full in his mind, and it is evident that it had not been communicated to anyone; otherwise, precautions would doubtless have been taken to place another object at his door. The scream, and other accompaniments of irrepressible grief, seems to indicate that her life was to be forfeited as a sacrifice; the nature of the sacrifice (which was abhorrent to the character of G-d) and distance from the Tabernacle does not suffice to overturn this view, which the language and whole strain of the narrative plainly support. The lapse of two months might be supposed to have afforded time for reflection, and a better sense of his duty, there is but too much reason to conclude that he was driven to the fulfillment by the dictates of a pious but unenlightened conscience.
The Targumist refers here to the Law, Leviticus 27:1-5, where the L-rd prescribes the price at which either males or females, who had been vowed to the L-rd, might be redeemed. "When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the L-rd at thy judgment. the male from twenty years old even unto sixty, shall be fifty shekels of silver; and if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels; and from five years old unto twenty years, the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten." This also is an argument that the daughter of Jephthah was not sacrificed; as the father had it in his power, at a very moderate price, to have redeemed her: and surely, the blood of his daughter must have been of more value in his sight than thirty shekels of silver.
And she said unto him--what a pattern of filial piety and obedience! She was at once obedient, pious, and patriotic. A woman to have no offspring was considered to be in a state of the utmost degradation among the Hebrews; but she is regardless of all this, seeing her father is in safety, and her country delivered. And her going up and down upon the mountains may signify no more than her paying each of them a visit at their own houses, previously to her being shut up at the Tabernacle; and this visiting of each at their own home might require the space of two months.
To lament the daughter of Jephthah--but this custom prevailed in Israel that the virgins of Israel went at different times, four days in the year, to the daughter of Jephthah, that they might comfort her. This verse also gives evidence that the daughter of Jephthah was not sacrificed: nor does it appear that the custom or statute referred to here lasted after the death of Jephthah's daughter.
The neder, or vow, in general, included either persons, beasts, or things dedicated to the L-rd for pious uses; which, if it was a simple vow, was redeemable at certain prices. If the person repented of his vow, and wished to commute it for money, according to the age or sex of the person, Leviticus 27:1-8: this was a wise regulation to remedy rash vows. But if the vow was accompanied with cherem, devotement, it was irredeemable, as in the following case, Leviticus 27:28.
"Notwithstanding, no devotement which a man shall devote unto the L-rd, (either) of man, or beast, or of land of his own property, shall be sold or redeemed. Every thing devoted is most holy to the L-rd.”
The Mischna, or traditional Law of the Jews is pointedly against it; 'If a Jew should devote his son or daughter, his man or maid servant, who are Hebrews, the devotement would be void, because no man can devote what is not his own, or whose life he has not the absolute disposal of.' These arguments appear to be decisive against the sacrifice. Jephthah could not have devoted his daughter to celibacy against her will is evident from the history and from the high estimation in which she was always held by the daughters of Israel for her filial duty and her hapless fate, which they celebrated by a regular anniversary commemoration four days in the year.
Several of the rabbis, and many very learned Christian expositors, believe that Jephthah's daughter was not really sacrificed, but that her virginity was consecrated to G-d, and that she separated from all connection with the world, she knew no man. This was a kind of mysterious death, because it caused her to lose all hope of the glory of a posterity from which the Messiah might descend. From this originated the custom, observed afterwards in Israel, that on a certain season in the year the virgins assembled themselves on the mountains to bewail the daughter of Jephthah for the space of four days.
Yet, we can't deny that this vow is foolish nonetheless; the important thing is to be in the will of G-d yourself, not to make vows to try to get G-d "on your side."
Economy Laundry Soap
Slash your laundry supply bills and extend the life of your clothes by making your own laundry soap. One starter supply includes everything you need to make several batches - enough to wash more than 800 loads at less than 6¢ per load. Soap can be used in HE washing machines, gel-like soap. Use approx. 1/2 cup per load.
2 Gallon Bucket
Cost of making the laundry soap was .71 cents and from the 2 gallon size you can do 64 laundry loads. That translates to about .01 cent per load.
1/3 bar Fels Naptha grated and put it in a sauce pan.
Add 6 c. H20 and heat it until the soap melts.
Add: ½ c. washing soda power and ½ c. borax powder stir until it dissolved.
Remove from heat.
Pour 4 cups hot H20 into a 2 gallon plastic bucket.
Now add your soap mixture and stir.
Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of H20 and stir.
Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will liquid gel.
If it does not gel up for you, you can still use it. Next time add a little more soap (like half the bar of Fels Naptha) and see if that helps.
If you want, your soap to have some sort of scent you can add ½ to 1 oz. of essential oil or fragrance oil of your choice. My favorite scent is orange essential oil.
5 Gallon Bucket
One bar of Fels Naptha bar soap, shredded with a grater (small pieces) to melt down.
In a separate dish, 1 cup of Arms & Hammer Powder washing soda and one cup of borax, set aside.
6 qt. pan, put in 6 cups of H20 and the shredded bar soap, to melt down
Add Soda and Borax to the melted bar soap; simmer until it all dissolves.
5 gal. Plastic bucket, 4 cups hot H20.
Add the 6 qt. pan of soap mixture into the bucket and mix up good.
Add 2 gallons plus 6 cups H20 (looks like curdled milk)
Let it all sit for 24 hours, then mix up with a pant stick and pour into containers you want, leaving space at the top so you can shake it up before you use it. (It will separate)
Or you can leave it in the 5 gal. bucket, but then you stir the whole bucket before using each time.
Does not suds up much, but softens and cleans the clothes.
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap2.htm
2 Gallon Bucket
Cost of making the laundry soap was .71 cents and from the 2 gallon size you can do 64 laundry loads. That translates to about .01 cent per load.
1/3 bar Fels Naptha grated and put it in a sauce pan.
Add 6 c. H20 and heat it until the soap melts.
Add: ½ c. washing soda power and ½ c. borax powder stir until it dissolved.
Remove from heat.
Pour 4 cups hot H20 into a 2 gallon plastic bucket.
Now add your soap mixture and stir.
Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of H20 and stir.
Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will liquid gel.
If it does not gel up for you, you can still use it. Next time add a little more soap (like half the bar of Fels Naptha) and see if that helps.
If you want, your soap to have some sort of scent you can add ½ to 1 oz. of essential oil or fragrance oil of your choice. My favorite scent is orange essential oil.
5 Gallon Bucket
One bar of Fels Naptha bar soap, shredded with a grater (small pieces) to melt down.
In a separate dish, 1 cup of Arms & Hammer Powder washing soda and one cup of borax, set aside.
6 qt. pan, put in 6 cups of H20 and the shredded bar soap, to melt down
Add Soda and Borax to the melted bar soap; simmer until it all dissolves.
5 gal. Plastic bucket, 4 cups hot H20.
Add the 6 qt. pan of soap mixture into the bucket and mix up good.
Add 2 gallons plus 6 cups H20 (looks like curdled milk)
Let it all sit for 24 hours, then mix up with a pant stick and pour into containers you want, leaving space at the top so you can shake it up before you use it. (It will separate)
Or you can leave it in the 5 gal. bucket, but then you stir the whole bucket before using each time.
Does not suds up much, but softens and cleans the clothes.
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap2.htm
H2O
Water - Who Knew?
Did you ever wonder why people urinate so much at night time?
Here is one answer from a Cardiac Doctor.
Gravity holds water in the lower part of your body when you are upright.
When you lie down and the lower body (legs and other things) seeks level
with the kidneys, it is then the kidneys remove the water because it is
easier. This then ties in with the last statement!
You need your minimum water to help flush the toxins out of your body, but
the above was new news.
Correct time to drink water:
(Very Important ... from A Cardiac Specialist!)
Drinking water at a certain time maximizes its effectiveness on the body:
2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs
1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion
1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure
1 glass of water before going to bed - avoids stroke or heart attack
One last note:
Water at bed time will also help prevent night time leg cramps.
Your leg muscles are seeking hydration when they cramp and wake you up
with a Charlie Horse.
Did you ever wonder why people urinate so much at night time?
Here is one answer from a Cardiac Doctor.
Gravity holds water in the lower part of your body when you are upright.
When you lie down and the lower body (legs and other things) seeks level
with the kidneys, it is then the kidneys remove the water because it is
easier. This then ties in with the last statement!
You need your minimum water to help flush the toxins out of your body, but
the above was new news.
Correct time to drink water:
(Very Important ... from A Cardiac Specialist!)
Drinking water at a certain time maximizes its effectiveness on the body:
2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs
1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion
1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure
1 glass of water before going to bed - avoids stroke or heart attack
One last note:
Water at bed time will also help prevent night time leg cramps.
Your leg muscles are seeking hydration when they cramp and wake you up
with a Charlie Horse.
False Prophets and Teachers
[2 Peter 2:1] But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privacy shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the L-d that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
Peter notices some of their characteristics, or some of the doctrines which they would hold.
They would deny the L-rd that bought them.
They would be influenced by covetousness, and their object in their attempting to seduce others from the faith, and to induce them to become followers of themselves, would be to make money.
They would be corrupt, beastly, and licentious in their conduct. It would be one design of their teaching to show that the indulgence of gross passions was not inconsistent with religion. That walks after the flesh, in the lust of uncleanness; as natural brute beasts; shall perish in their own corruption; having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; the dog has returned to his own vomit again.
They would be proud, arrogant, and self-willed; men who would despise all proper government, and who would be thoroughly radical in their views; and despise government; presumptuous are they and self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities; and they speak great swelling words of vanity.
They were persons who had been formerly of corrupt lives, but who had become professing Believers. But as having turned again to their former corrupt practices and lusts; it has happened to them according to the true proverb, etc. There were various classes of persons in primitive times, coming under the general appellation of the term Gnostic, to whom this description would apply, and it is probable that they had begun to broach their doctrines in the times of the apostles. Among those persons were the Ebionites, Corinthians, Nicolaitanes, etc. We have such teaching still existing today.
They would certainly be punished. A large part of the chapter is taken up in proving this point and especially in showing from the examples of others who had erred in a similar manner, that they could not escape destruction.
1. The case of the angels that sinned, and that were cast down to hell. If G-d brought such dreadful punishment on those who were once before His throne, wicked men could have no hope of escape.
2. The case of the wicked in the time of Noah, who were cut off by the flood.
3. The case of Sodom and Gomorrah.
4. The character of the persons referred to was such that they could have no hope of escape.
a. They were corrupt, sensual, presumptuous, and self-willed, and were even worse than the rebel angels had been--men that seemed to be made to be taken and destroyed.
(b.) They were spots, blemishes, sensual, and adulterers, emulating the example of Balaam, who was rebuked by even a dumb ass for his iniquity.
(c.) They allured others to sin under the specious promise of liberty, while they were themselves the slaves of debased appetites, and gross and sensual passions. From the entire description in this chapter, it is clear that the persons referred to, though once professors of religion, had become eminently abandoned, and corrupt.
This chapter, therefore, possesses great value as containing important warnings against the arts of false teachers, and the danger of being seduced by them from the truth. The fact that false teachers would arise in the body is often adverted to in the New Testament. Matthew 24:5, 24; Acts 20:29, 30.
Beware whom you study under or listen too!
Peter notices some of their characteristics, or some of the doctrines which they would hold.
They would deny the L-rd that bought them.
They would be influenced by covetousness, and their object in their attempting to seduce others from the faith, and to induce them to become followers of themselves, would be to make money.
They would be corrupt, beastly, and licentious in their conduct. It would be one design of their teaching to show that the indulgence of gross passions was not inconsistent with religion. That walks after the flesh, in the lust of uncleanness; as natural brute beasts; shall perish in their own corruption; having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; the dog has returned to his own vomit again.
They would be proud, arrogant, and self-willed; men who would despise all proper government, and who would be thoroughly radical in their views; and despise government; presumptuous are they and self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities; and they speak great swelling words of vanity.
They were persons who had been formerly of corrupt lives, but who had become professing Believers. But as having turned again to their former corrupt practices and lusts; it has happened to them according to the true proverb, etc. There were various classes of persons in primitive times, coming under the general appellation of the term Gnostic, to whom this description would apply, and it is probable that they had begun to broach their doctrines in the times of the apostles. Among those persons were the Ebionites, Corinthians, Nicolaitanes, etc. We have such teaching still existing today.
They would certainly be punished. A large part of the chapter is taken up in proving this point and especially in showing from the examples of others who had erred in a similar manner, that they could not escape destruction.
1. The case of the angels that sinned, and that were cast down to hell. If G-d brought such dreadful punishment on those who were once before His throne, wicked men could have no hope of escape.
2. The case of the wicked in the time of Noah, who were cut off by the flood.
3. The case of Sodom and Gomorrah.
4. The character of the persons referred to was such that they could have no hope of escape.
a. They were corrupt, sensual, presumptuous, and self-willed, and were even worse than the rebel angels had been--men that seemed to be made to be taken and destroyed.
(b.) They were spots, blemishes, sensual, and adulterers, emulating the example of Balaam, who was rebuked by even a dumb ass for his iniquity.
(c.) They allured others to sin under the specious promise of liberty, while they were themselves the slaves of debased appetites, and gross and sensual passions. From the entire description in this chapter, it is clear that the persons referred to, though once professors of religion, had become eminently abandoned, and corrupt.
This chapter, therefore, possesses great value as containing important warnings against the arts of false teachers, and the danger of being seduced by them from the truth. The fact that false teachers would arise in the body is often adverted to in the New Testament. Matthew 24:5, 24; Acts 20:29, 30.
Beware whom you study under or listen too!
Daily Morning Blessing
Speak into your life:
I am blessed in the city and I am blessed in the field.
I am blessed in my coming in and in my going out.
I am blessed socially, physically, mentally and spiritually.
I am blessed in all my relationships.
I am blessed that my body functions per Your design.
I am blessed in every part of my life!
I speak to my day and I down load prosperity and success into it.
I speak over those I love, and call prosperity, and success into their lives.
I speak to my government to come into Divine alignment.
I speak that they will lead morally and ethically.
I speak into my affairs to be successful to increase and show no decrease.
I speak into my home, that it is a haven of peace.
I speak into my loved ones that their lives will be in alignment with G-d.
I declare and decree that wealth and riches are in our homes.
I speak to my mind to have peace, and courage.
I speak to my hair, to grow, for it is my glorious covering.
I speak to my mouth, to speak only Your Oracles.
I speak to my tongue, to speak only in alignment with Your Word.
I speak to my heart, to shine forth Your love.
I speak to my hands, to be productive.
I speak to my feet, that they follow the paths You have ordained.
I speak to my spirit, to align with Your Spirit.
I speak to my soul, that I can overcome every obstacle and habit.
No weapon formed against me will prosper.
I will be a lender not a borrower.
I am the head and not the tail.
I am first and not last.
I am above and not beneath.
I declare and decree I will come into the full maturity of my calling.
I am loved by G-d,
I am chosen by G-d,
I am protected by G-d.
All my days will come into alignment with the plans and purpose of G-d.
Every good and every perfect gift comes from G-d!
Today is a gift; therefore, it will end well, in alignment with Your will.
In Y’Shua’s name, I speak and stand on Your Word, Father.
I am blessed in the city and I am blessed in the field.
I am blessed in my coming in and in my going out.
I am blessed socially, physically, mentally and spiritually.
I am blessed in all my relationships.
I am blessed that my body functions per Your design.
I am blessed in every part of my life!
I speak to my day and I down load prosperity and success into it.
I speak over those I love, and call prosperity, and success into their lives.
I speak to my government to come into Divine alignment.
I speak that they will lead morally and ethically.
I speak into my affairs to be successful to increase and show no decrease.
I speak into my home, that it is a haven of peace.
I speak into my loved ones that their lives will be in alignment with G-d.
I declare and decree that wealth and riches are in our homes.
I speak to my mind to have peace, and courage.
I speak to my hair, to grow, for it is my glorious covering.
I speak to my mouth, to speak only Your Oracles.
I speak to my tongue, to speak only in alignment with Your Word.
I speak to my heart, to shine forth Your love.
I speak to my hands, to be productive.
I speak to my feet, that they follow the paths You have ordained.
I speak to my spirit, to align with Your Spirit.
I speak to my soul, that I can overcome every obstacle and habit.
No weapon formed against me will prosper.
I will be a lender not a borrower.
I am the head and not the tail.
I am first and not last.
I am above and not beneath.
I declare and decree I will come into the full maturity of my calling.
I am loved by G-d,
I am chosen by G-d,
I am protected by G-d.
All my days will come into alignment with the plans and purpose of G-d.
Every good and every perfect gift comes from G-d!
Today is a gift; therefore, it will end well, in alignment with Your will.
In Y’Shua’s name, I speak and stand on Your Word, Father.
Private Interpretation
[2 Peter 1:20] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of G-d spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation: Even in Peter's day, enemies of Y’Shua were twisting the prophecies, giving them personal and bizarre meanings so as to exclude Y’Shua from their fulfillment. But Peter says that prophecy is not of any private interpretation, but its meaning is evident and can be confirmed by others.
The same principle is true for the gift of prophecy today; there must be sober confirmation of any prophetic word, and that not through another prophetic word, but through the Scriptures. In the gift of prophecy, G-d never speaks to only one person, and always provides confirmation.
Prophecy never came by the will of man: It is wrong and invalid to twist prophecy to our own personal meaning, because prophecy does not come from man, but from G-d, though it comes through holy men of G-d - but only as they are moved by the Holy Spirit.
The ancient prophets did not even know the meaning of what themselves wrote. They were carried beyond themselves by the influence of the Divine Spirit, and after ages were alone to discover the object of the prophecy. The fulfillment was to be the absolute proof that the prediction was of G-d, and that it was of no private invention-no discovery made by human sagacity and wisdom, but by the especial revelation of the all-wise G-d. This is sufficiently evident in all the prophecies which have been already fulfilled, and will be equally so in those yet to be fulfilled: the events will point out the prophecy, and the prophecy will be seen to be fulfilled in that event.
All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all: yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation are so clearly propounded, and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.
We all bring a certain amount of baggage to the text. But that does not mean that biblical interpretation is doomed to reader response bias. No interpretation of Scripture will ever exhaust the meaning of the text. But it is possible for the believer to achieve a grasp of the Bible's teaching that is sufficient to equip him to live the Believers life for the glory of G-d, 2 Tim. 3:16-17.
2 Tim. 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto G-d, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. That means to study yourself, not lesson to the preachers, but you yourself. With the aid of a good commentary, you can draw out the meaning and find the golden nuggets.
[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of G-d spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation: Even in Peter's day, enemies of Y’Shua were twisting the prophecies, giving them personal and bizarre meanings so as to exclude Y’Shua from their fulfillment. But Peter says that prophecy is not of any private interpretation, but its meaning is evident and can be confirmed by others.
The same principle is true for the gift of prophecy today; there must be sober confirmation of any prophetic word, and that not through another prophetic word, but through the Scriptures. In the gift of prophecy, G-d never speaks to only one person, and always provides confirmation.
Prophecy never came by the will of man: It is wrong and invalid to twist prophecy to our own personal meaning, because prophecy does not come from man, but from G-d, though it comes through holy men of G-d - but only as they are moved by the Holy Spirit.
The ancient prophets did not even know the meaning of what themselves wrote. They were carried beyond themselves by the influence of the Divine Spirit, and after ages were alone to discover the object of the prophecy. The fulfillment was to be the absolute proof that the prediction was of G-d, and that it was of no private invention-no discovery made by human sagacity and wisdom, but by the especial revelation of the all-wise G-d. This is sufficiently evident in all the prophecies which have been already fulfilled, and will be equally so in those yet to be fulfilled: the events will point out the prophecy, and the prophecy will be seen to be fulfilled in that event.
All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all: yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation are so clearly propounded, and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.
We all bring a certain amount of baggage to the text. But that does not mean that biblical interpretation is doomed to reader response bias. No interpretation of Scripture will ever exhaust the meaning of the text. But it is possible for the believer to achieve a grasp of the Bible's teaching that is sufficient to equip him to live the Believers life for the glory of G-d, 2 Tim. 3:16-17.
2 Tim. 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto G-d, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. That means to study yourself, not lesson to the preachers, but you yourself. With the aid of a good commentary, you can draw out the meaning and find the golden nuggets.
Mutiplied Unto You
[2 Peter 1:2] Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of G-d, and of Y’Shua our L-d,
[5] And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
[6] And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience
godliness;
[7] And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of G-d and of Y’Shua our L-rd, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises. Through these, you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world.
Why are we are willing to try almost anything except the knowledge of Him. We will trust in the schemes and plans of men instead of the knowledge of Him. We will try knowing ourselves instead of the knowledge of Him.
The Greek word knowledge doesn't refer to a casual acquaintance. It means an exact, complete, and thorough knowledge. How do we come to knowledge of Him? It comes as we learn of Him through His Word, through prayer, G-d does not meet us only in our "aloneness" but also in the fellowship of people of like mind. It is knowledge, but it is not mere intellectual understanding or perception. It is the knowledge that comes by experience - the experience G-d's people have of G-d Himself, as they communicate with Him in their own words, building intimacy.
For those who acknowledge Him in all their ways, He will direct their steps, His power, which no power can resist, because it is Divine-that which properly belongs to the infinite Godhead.
G-d by His own power hath bestowed on us every thing necessary for a happy life and godliness, having called us to the knowledge of Himself, by His own infinite goodness.
We are partakers of the divine nature, but once we are made spiritual sons and daughters, growth in the Believer’s life doesn't just happen to us. We are supposed to give all diligence to our walk with the L-rd and grow daily.
Each grace being assumed becomes the stepping-stone to the succeeding grace: and the latter in turn qualifies and completes the former. Faith leads the band; love brings up the rear and the fruits of faith specified are seven, the perfect number. The scope of the list demonstrates that G-d wants us to have a well-rounded Believers life, complete in every fashion. We can't be content with an incomplete Believers life.
Temperance - A proper and limited use of all earthly enjoyments, keeping every sense under proper restraints, and never permitting the animal part to subjugate the rational.
Patience - Bearing all trials and difficulties with an even mind, enduring in all, and persevering through all.
Godliness - Piety towards G-d; a deep, reverential, religious fear; not only worshipping G-d with every becoming outward act, but adoring, loving, and magnifying Him in the heart: a disposition indispensably necessary to salvation, but exceedingly rare among professors.
[Love of the brotherhood-the strongest attachment to Messiah's flock; accepting each one during the process of their growth. Religion is neither selfish nor insulated; where the love of G-d is, bigotry cannot exist. Narrow, selfish people, and people of a party, who scarcely have any hope of the salvation of those who do not believe as they believe, and who do not follow with them, have scarcely any religion; though in their own apprehension none is so truly orthodox or religious as themselves.
So charity completes the choir of graces in Col 3:14. In a traditional order, he who has love will exercise brotherly kindness; he who has brotherly kindness will feel godliness needful; the godly will mix nothing uncomplaining with his patience; to the patient, temperance is easy; the temperate weighs things well, and so has knowledge; knowledge guards against sudden impulse carrying away its virtue.
These beautiful qualities are not things that the L-rd simply pours into us as we passively receive. Instead, we are called to give all diligence to these things, working in partnership with G-d to add them.
[10] Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
[5] And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
[6] And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience
godliness;
[7] And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of G-d and of Y’Shua our L-rd, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises. Through these, you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world.
Why are we are willing to try almost anything except the knowledge of Him. We will trust in the schemes and plans of men instead of the knowledge of Him. We will try knowing ourselves instead of the knowledge of Him.
The Greek word knowledge doesn't refer to a casual acquaintance. It means an exact, complete, and thorough knowledge. How do we come to knowledge of Him? It comes as we learn of Him through His Word, through prayer, G-d does not meet us only in our "aloneness" but also in the fellowship of people of like mind. It is knowledge, but it is not mere intellectual understanding or perception. It is the knowledge that comes by experience - the experience G-d's people have of G-d Himself, as they communicate with Him in their own words, building intimacy.
For those who acknowledge Him in all their ways, He will direct their steps, His power, which no power can resist, because it is Divine-that which properly belongs to the infinite Godhead.
G-d by His own power hath bestowed on us every thing necessary for a happy life and godliness, having called us to the knowledge of Himself, by His own infinite goodness.
We are partakers of the divine nature, but once we are made spiritual sons and daughters, growth in the Believer’s life doesn't just happen to us. We are supposed to give all diligence to our walk with the L-rd and grow daily.
Each grace being assumed becomes the stepping-stone to the succeeding grace: and the latter in turn qualifies and completes the former. Faith leads the band; love brings up the rear and the fruits of faith specified are seven, the perfect number. The scope of the list demonstrates that G-d wants us to have a well-rounded Believers life, complete in every fashion. We can't be content with an incomplete Believers life.
Temperance - A proper and limited use of all earthly enjoyments, keeping every sense under proper restraints, and never permitting the animal part to subjugate the rational.
Patience - Bearing all trials and difficulties with an even mind, enduring in all, and persevering through all.
Godliness - Piety towards G-d; a deep, reverential, religious fear; not only worshipping G-d with every becoming outward act, but adoring, loving, and magnifying Him in the heart: a disposition indispensably necessary to salvation, but exceedingly rare among professors.
[Love of the brotherhood-the strongest attachment to Messiah's flock; accepting each one during the process of their growth. Religion is neither selfish nor insulated; where the love of G-d is, bigotry cannot exist. Narrow, selfish people, and people of a party, who scarcely have any hope of the salvation of those who do not believe as they believe, and who do not follow with them, have scarcely any religion; though in their own apprehension none is so truly orthodox or religious as themselves.
So charity completes the choir of graces in Col 3:14. In a traditional order, he who has love will exercise brotherly kindness; he who has brotherly kindness will feel godliness needful; the godly will mix nothing uncomplaining with his patience; to the patient, temperance is easy; the temperate weighs things well, and so has knowledge; knowledge guards against sudden impulse carrying away its virtue.
These beautiful qualities are not things that the L-rd simply pours into us as we passively receive. Instead, we are called to give all diligence to these things, working in partnership with G-d to add them.
[10] Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
Blessings of the Obedient
Deut. 28
[1] And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
[2] And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
[3] Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
[4] Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
[5] Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
[6] Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
[7] The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
[Flee before thee seven ways - that is, in various directions, as always happens in a rout.]
[8] The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
[9] The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. (611 oral Law)
[10] And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
[11] And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
[12] The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
[13] And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be
above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
[14] And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
G-d shall pour out His blessing from heaven upon you. If you run in the way of
G-d's testimonies, you shall have an abundance of blessing. Blessings shall come upon you, and blessings shall overtake you-in every part of your march through life. You shall continue to receive the fulfillment of the various promises of G-d which relate to all circumstances, vicissitudes, trials, stages of life, overtaking you in the time and place where most needed.
1. In all civil employments, in the field-in all agricultural pursuits.
2. All your children, increase of your kine, every animal employed in domestic and agricultural purposes shall be under the especial protection of Divine Providence.
3. Your vintage, as the basket was employed to collect those fruits, all that is laid up for future use, as well as what is prepared for present consumption.
4. Personal safety in your going out and in your return from your employment, you shall find that no evil has happened to the family or dwelling in your absence. You way shall be made prosperous before you, and you shall have the Divine blessing in all your labors.
5. A promise of security from foreign invasion, or total discomfiture of the invaders, should they enter the land. They shall come against you one-way-in the firmest and most united manner. And flee seven ways-shall be utterly broken, confounded, and finally routed.
6. Every thing that you have shall come by Divine appointment; you shall have nothing casually, but every thing, both spiritual and temporal, shall come by the immediate command of G-d.
7. This is the sum of all blessings, to be made holy, and be preserved in holiness. Here is the solemn condition; if you did not keep G-d's testimonies, taking them for the regulators of your life, and according to their direction walking in His ways, under the influence and aids of His grace, then the curses, and not the blessings, must be your portion.
The way of obedience is a straight way; it goes right forward; if you step either to right or left from this path you will not miss heaven!
[1] And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
[2] And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
[3] Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
[4] Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
[5] Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
[6] Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
[7] The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
[Flee before thee seven ways - that is, in various directions, as always happens in a rout.]
[8] The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
[9] The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. (611 oral Law)
[10] And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
[11] And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
[12] The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
[13] And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be
above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
[14] And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
G-d shall pour out His blessing from heaven upon you. If you run in the way of
G-d's testimonies, you shall have an abundance of blessing. Blessings shall come upon you, and blessings shall overtake you-in every part of your march through life. You shall continue to receive the fulfillment of the various promises of G-d which relate to all circumstances, vicissitudes, trials, stages of life, overtaking you in the time and place where most needed.
1. In all civil employments, in the field-in all agricultural pursuits.
2. All your children, increase of your kine, every animal employed in domestic and agricultural purposes shall be under the especial protection of Divine Providence.
3. Your vintage, as the basket was employed to collect those fruits, all that is laid up for future use, as well as what is prepared for present consumption.
4. Personal safety in your going out and in your return from your employment, you shall find that no evil has happened to the family or dwelling in your absence. You way shall be made prosperous before you, and you shall have the Divine blessing in all your labors.
5. A promise of security from foreign invasion, or total discomfiture of the invaders, should they enter the land. They shall come against you one-way-in the firmest and most united manner. And flee seven ways-shall be utterly broken, confounded, and finally routed.
6. Every thing that you have shall come by Divine appointment; you shall have nothing casually, but every thing, both spiritual and temporal, shall come by the immediate command of G-d.
7. This is the sum of all blessings, to be made holy, and be preserved in holiness. Here is the solemn condition; if you did not keep G-d's testimonies, taking them for the regulators of your life, and according to their direction walking in His ways, under the influence and aids of His grace, then the curses, and not the blessings, must be your portion.
The way of obedience is a straight way; it goes right forward; if you step either to right or left from this path you will not miss heaven!
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