Origins

Well it is now post-Hurricane Helene, with all the mess she created in Florida and to the East of me here in Tennessee, in the Carolina's and other states. We here in middle Tennessee are fine, but many others are not.

We are blessed to be delivered not only from the storm as it cartwheeled around the state of Tennessee, but our month-long summer drought was broken by the rain we have been given. I thank God for his deliverance and his provision.

I have found myself with a break in routine for winter prep, and some time to afford toward continuing a series of blog entries from conversations I have had with fellow believers, so as to share them with many others besides just those who had the conversation in private.

I have always felt and believed that Answers from the Word, Belong to Everyone.

The Origins of Evil and of Sin

So, with that, today's blog entry will, once again, be from my good friend Rohit in India.

Rohit had asked me for some assistance on a project of his, and these questions came up on these two topics that we thought should have expounded biblical answers to, from the word, and not just the opinion or stance of another person.

I will approach this as always, from the inerrant word, and rely very much on Root Word meanings, Context, Typology, and the Illustrative use of parable like language, to gain the deeper and more accurate meanings. We lose so much in English, be it the kings English or Modern.

The two questions are these, the origin of Sin, and the origin of Evil, with the desire for clarification of (who?) and (how?) for details.

They are presented as such:

1.) There is only ONE Creator.

    • Why did God create sin?

    • If God didn’t create sin, then we did?

    • Or Satan did?

2.) Why does the church say God did not create evil, when he himself claims that he did in:

              • (Isaiah 45:7)

              I form the light and create the darkness;
              I bring prosperity and create calamity [H7451 - ra - Bad, evil].

              I, the LORD, do all these things.

              • (Lamentations 3:38)

              Do not both adversity [H7451 - ra - Bad, evil] and good
              come from the mouth of the Most High?

              • (Amos 3:6)

              If a ram’s horn sounds in a city,
              do the people not tremble?

              If calamity [H7451 - ra - Bad, evil] comes to a city,
              has not the LORD caused it?

- - -

Now, before we answer these we need a correct and unilaterally accepted definition of each.

First, Sin, is defined as both a noun or a verb with:

1.) State of Being

   • A condition in which the heart is corrupted and inclined toward evil.

   • Disobedience or rebellion against God.

   • Independence from God.

   • Missing the mark of God's holy standard of righteousness.

2.) Descriptive of a Bad Act or Rebellious Choice or Thought

    • An immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law:

   • A failure to do what is right.

   • Offense against people, violence, and lovelessness.

   • Rebellion against God.

   • Transgression of God's law.

- - -

Next, Evil is defined in two ways both as an adjective and a verb:

1.) State of Being 

   • Deliberate choice to go against God’s will and indulge in sinful behaviors

   • Opposition to God and God’s goodness

   • Profoundly immoral and wicked

   • Lawlessness

   • Describing an immoral or wicked act

2.) Descriptive of a Bad or Desperate Crisis situation

   • Calamity or Adversity [in Hebrew H7451 - ra - Bad, evil]

   • Interpretation of bad situations of adversity or natural calamities as “evil”

     (IE: "In that evil day", "for the days are evil", "the lesser of two evils")

- - -

Now that we have all that standardized between us, I want to expand on "Sin" for a minute in the biblical perspective taking from the viewpoint of "missing the mark", which is an archery concept in the original languages, IE: missing the target.

God is absolute, and all righteous, and anything not reaching the standards He meets at all times is "Short of the Mark" and therefor sinful. Sin can be used as a term to describe an action or inaction against that standard. And we see from the word that any sin, however small, is missing the Mark (or the 100% standard). Scripture echoes this with "even one law broken means all law is broken" and "all have fallen short of the Glory".

No wonder then, that we can never be justified in our own strength and acts to what it takes to be 100%. And why God had to do it for us, and then apply it to us in the only way He could.

It is here that the realization of the tremendous gift we have been given by His Grace and Mercy shouts the loudest!

Allow me, for a moment, to rant a bit on this topic at hand. In my earlier years, I was always vexed heavily by the tyrannical preacher flinging out guilt bombs with the word "Sin or Sinner" with a dictatorial judgement of another in comparison. The often heard "scare them out of hell" with fear speech always made me cringe and stoked my ire.

If they are professing Christ out of fear of communal reproach, then they are not receiving the Christ of the true Gospel and are still going to hell with all their social approval deceiving them all along the way, while they work "works" to seemingly gain justification. Those who do this, will pay a special price in hell along side these lost souls because they had a higher standard they were held to as teacher or preacher.

God is Longsuffering, Forgiving, Gentle, desiring all to come to Him willingly. What an absolute atrocity it is to misrepresent God in such a way and be the cause of the Lost Soul.

Getting back to "sin" as a state of being, we now know the "how" of it coming into being, since sin is in opposition to God's Law and His Will.

Sin then, can be described as a lack of purity, a corruption of the full potential, and a diseased progress of deterioration. Science would call this "entropy", and indeed this "entropy" of the world is the result of this "sin" entering the world. The "corruption" of the perfect.

So then we must ask "How in the world can the perfect, be corrupted"?

The answer lies not in the "creation of sin" but in the allowance of its possibility.

You see, God did not create robots to do His will when He created man. He desires followers who CHOOSE to follow Him on their own. This includes the angels, or you would not have fallen angels, satan the devil, chiefly among them.

He created ALL things to be dependent on Him to remain pure, but also with freewill choice, otherwise, any failure could be attributed to Him as the creator of such. And Freewill choice requires the possibility of the WRONG choice, which also allows for the incursion of "sin" (or corruption).

This completely forces ALL who make choices, to be responsible for those choices, as well as the consequences of those choices. God sends no one to Hell. We send ourselves there in rejection of Him.

So, you see, that sin (or corruption of the pure) in not just a willful act, but is also a condition, that enters into the world given that free choice.

This is the "How" of sin's entrance into a being, and into the world. So, the answer to the first question about Sin, concerning who created it is:

God created the conditions for sin's possible existence, though He did not create it outright.

• Sin entered satan through pride and freewill choice to rebel against God. How that occurred will be the question of the ages answered when we are fully redeemed.

• Sin entered Eve through the disobeying of God's command and therefor rebellion via the deception of satan.

• Sin entered Adam when he chose Eve (because he loved her) over God and disobeyed and therefor rebelled via his choice.

• Sin entered into the world because of all 3 of them.

Sin was not created, but rather a possible condition that was allowed by freewill choice, and so here we are 6000 years later, waiting for God to complete the repair and the reinstatement of the pure.

As for the Second question about God not creating Evil.

He has not, nor does He create Evil in the state of being of an entity such as a man or angel, or he would be a partaker of that Evil and by nature made out to be a false and impure god. The condition of any given entity has directly resulted from that individual's choices.

In the three referenced scriptures (Isaiah 45:7, Lamentations 3:38, Amos 3:6), the word used in the original language for the Old English "Evil" is the Hebrew word [H7451 - ra - Bad, evil] meaning bad or evil in terms of Adversity or Calamity.

Indeed, Adversity is used in modern English for (Lamentations 3:38), and Calamity is used in both (Isaiah 45:7) and (Amos 3:6).

Additionally, both in the Old English and Modern English, in (Amos 5:13) we see the word "evil" [H7451 - ra - Bad, evil] used in a common idiom about days of calamity and adversity

     Amos 5:13

     Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times,

     for the days are evil [H7451 - ra - Bad, evil].

In the Greek New Testament for example Paul and other Apostles reference the same idiom of "In that evil day", or "the days are evil" as a term for days of crisis and deception and adversity and calamity.

This then settles why the Church and the WORD state that God did not, nor does He create "evil" in the sense of a state of being in rebellion. He may create calamity or adversity, but they are not sin, they are not rebellion, and He has every right to do as He wills.

- - -

I pray this brings clarity and a source for further study for all who may view it.

Grace and Peace to all of you in Christ Jesus our Lord, God in the Flesh!

In His love!

---

Don't be a grape. 🚫 🍇

🦊 Jack [ The Foxman on the Wall ]

(9/23/2017) - 7 years on...

Tomorrow is September 23, 2024.

It will be an even 7 years from the Revelation 12 sign, on September 23,2017.

- - - - -

Now, we all remember the story of Joseph in Egypt...

7 years fat, 7 years lean. Pharoah's dream, interpreted by God through Joseph.

7 years shows up a lot in the bible (known as a Heptad), as does 14 (2 sets of 7). I think 2 shows up a lot with 7 for the idea of Official Witness.

Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt and after 14 years of learning the ways and knowledge of the world (Egypt in that time), reached his pinnacle of service to God, for the next 14 years.

Jacob (later to become Israel) worked 7 years for Laban (again representative of the world in that time) to gain the hand of Rachel, and then another 7 after being deceived by Laban with Leah.

Many other examples, but simply to say biblical events and prophecy often relay and relate in periods of 7.

Starting with (Daniel 9:23), which the irony of 9/23/2017 of (Revelation 12:1-2) is not lost on me, Gabriel answers Daniel's prayer and petition of understanding with the prophecy of 70 weeks, which includes all that relates to it from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the cutting off of the Messiah for a total of 69 weeks of that 70 that God decrees for Israel (Daniel's people) through verse 25.

Verse 26, as we have learned over the millennia of history, is the great Age of Grace given us as a gift beyond measure. Most things are never understood until they are seen in hindsight and in fulfillment.

Verse 26 also begins the layout of the last period of 7, or the last week of the 70 weeks decreed (we know as Jacob's trouble and as the 7-year Tribulation), listing "the prince to come" (satan/antichrist) and contrasting him with "the Prince" (Jesus/God in the Flesh) in verse 25. This entity to come, this prince (who comes in his own name - John 5:43) "Confirms" a covenant with many (peoples).

I bring up (Daniel 9:20-27) because I believe we are close to the beginning of that last period of 7 literal years. And because also people often ask or take you to task on equating Jacob's Trouble, the Tribulation Period, and this last week of Daniel's prophecy.

Also, since the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation are "bookend" treatments of this same overall prophecy and its details, where one is closed up until the end times have arrived and then everyone starts to understand it, and the other (post messiah) is the one that opens up the prophecy and its details to the believing body who will read it.

If none of this rings true for you, in regard to the Tribulation period, Daniel etc., then there's not much we can have as a conversation about it. I sit firmly on its existence in reality.

From here on are my thoughts and speculations.

- I believe for example that (Revelation 12:1-2) and only those 2 verses, were fulfilled on the celestial event of 9/23/2017. I further see it as the starting gun of the period of Labor Pains, which is expressly contained in verse 2.

- As said before I believe in the 7-year Tribulation, and also believe in the FULL Pre-Tribulation rapture of the Body of Christ (in whatever state of sanctification). There is no earning or maintaining Salvation and HIS Justification, except by faith and belief in Him.

I could go into great depth about my position on the seals and the relationship to the Tribulation, but it is beyond the scope of this particular blog entry, so I will simply just say, and trust me on this, that I am very much Pre-Tribulation Rapture, Pre-millennial, Dispensational (within reason), etc.

- I also rely very much on Root Word meanings, Context, Typology, and the Illustrative use of parable like language to gain the deeper and more accurate meanings. We lose so much in English, be it the kings English or Modern.

With that said, I want to look at the case of the Typology of Joseph's interpretation of Pharoah's Dreams, and the resulting actions and playout of 14 years.

7 Fat Cornstalks, 7 Fat Cows, devoured by 7 Lean Cornstalks, 7 Lean Cows. We know from the word in the story that the interpretation was 7 Fat years, and then 7 extremely lean years. And only the preparation of storage of excess, kept all alive who lived through it.

Here I will state a disclaimer that I can only speak in terms of being in the United States.

In 2014-2015 I considered the Blood Moon Tetrad a forerunner of change to come for Israel. And there's no denying that Trump's first term in 2016-2020 saw Trump's treatment and progress with Israel as part of that change.

Not only that, but the biggest increase in quality of life seen in quite some time in the USA. Yet it took some time to reach that quality, at least a year.

2017 was a well-remembered year with some hope and some stability, but for me the high point had to be the 8/21/2017 Solar Eclipse and the 9/23/2017 celestial event above Jerusalem Israel, even though the naked eye could not see it.

And we have had the Aleph-Tav eclipses of October 14, 2023, and the 2nd Great American Eclipse of April 8, 2024, to close it pretty close to a seven-year cycle for the USA.

I'll admit here that I had high hopes for our exit back then, but I can honestly say that I never said it was a sure bet. No one ever really knows until it has already occurred.

I take a general approach now to it all as being "similar" in nature to the first seven years of a two-part cycle.

And why am I on this topic? Well, tomorrow of course is 9/23/2024, exactly 7 years later, and what do we see all around us?

Chaos closing in, Perilous Times, insane mental expressions of extreme ideology, polarized political stances, good being called evil and evil being called good, the love of many waxing cold, the inundation of Narcissism via media and social media and the Anonymous and unaccountable actor.

- We have seen the formation of (Ezekiel 38-39) alliance in these last 7 years without any shadow of a doubt.

- There's indication that (Psalm 83) is coming to its final conclusion in this last year since the October 7, 2023 attack.

- The (Zech 12) attempt at splitting Jerusalem and Israel into 2 states.

- The Abraham Accords which will lead into the coming false religion, and maybe even the covenant to be confirmed in the future.

- The 2020 Covid deception, the gender neutral war, border invasion, genetics, economics, etc.

With all of the foreshadowing of the Tribulation occurring and much of its technology already in place, I can't help but wonder if we are just about there at this point. How much longer can this continue without a threshold event causing the dominoes to fall?

These last few years have seen the decline of morals, integrity, character, common sense, and the rise of aggression against the former. And we have seen this occur at a faster and more extreme rate...

Like Labor Pains...

So, what comes next?

Birth obviously...

Now, a case can also be made for (Revelation 12:3-4) in our time now 7 years down the road. There have been several times that events in the sky, can be shown to seemingly be an answer to the conditions of the (Revelation 12:3) description.

Verse 4 furthermore aptly describes the progression of aggression towards Christians and Christianity. The attempt to devour the child at its birth, the persecution, the attempt at persuasion and the temptation to deny God (His Name and His Existence), to deny His word (His Authority and His Power).

When it comes to birth, we often limit it in biblical discussions to Spiritual Birth, but the whole Redemption relies on the completion of the Physical Body being redeemed as well. This translation from mortal to immortal, whether dead or still mortally alive is the resurrection of the saints, the Body of Christ, His church, of which He is the head.

Make no mistake, verse 5 of Revelation 12 is a Rapture verse, because the very word (G726 - harpazó) in the Greek is used here just as it is in Paul's (1 Thessalonians 4)... To be "caught up" (snatched, seized, plucked forcefully and quickly). The meaning of the word is likened to a Parent forcefully grabbing and yanking a child out of the way of oncoming traffic.

Now here some complain that it refers to Christ Jesus and His ascension, and that it is a historical reference to identify Israel as the woman. While partially true that it does indeed identify Israel as the woman, it excludes the other details like:

- Jesus ascended softly and slowly under His own power because he had resumed His glory now being Resurrected by the Father, and so He was carried up, (G399 - anapheró) and was not plucked up forcefully. (Luke 24:50-51)

- Jesus gave His authority and power to the Church (His body), and in the future we Rule and Reign with Him as well, so therefore the Man Child she births is not just Jesus (the Head), but includes His body (the church) as well. This places this event in the future, from the time of John's writing down the Revelation of Jesus Christ, at the Island of Patmos.

- It ignores her other children as well (Revelation 12:17), the saints of the Tribulation period. This is indicative of the difference between the Grace age saints who were just resurrected and Raptured, and those now in the 7-year Tribulation.

So, now we start with the Tribulation period in verse 6 onward. We see her fleeing to the wilderness due to the rage of the Dragon (satan) and his angels being cast down to earth. But let us not make the mistake that she flees immediately right after the events of verse 5. Verse 6 is a "forward" entry linked to later in (Revelation 12:13-17).

The book of Revelation is not entirely linear and chronological.

(Revelation 12) for example, is a parenthetical subset chapter that includes the whole Tribulation plus some time before in the way of the time of Labor Pains at the start. It is a summation, and its focus is only on a few characters, namely:

- The Woman (Israel and her disposition at the start and throughout the Tribulation)

- Her Child just birthed (Grace Age saints just Resurrected and Raptured)

- Her other children (Tribulation Saints who go through the Tribulation)

- The Dragon (satan) and his angels

- Michael the Arch Angel (Defender of Israel) and his angels

That's it...

So, coming back to Joseph and Pharoah's dreams, I feel we are seeing the setup for the Tribulation (Seven Extreme Lean Years) right at our Laodicean doorsteps, and so the Philadelphian child should be just about to be reborn and raptured in complete and eternal redemption, Body, Mind, and Spirit. Because, we will be as He IS...

No. I'm not setting a date. I am NOT saying it will be tomorrow sometime in Israeli time. But I certainly cannot say it won't either. :)

We can ask however, how much more time could be possibly left in the coming days, months, or remainder of the year? Or even into next year?

I have long felt that the Rapture is event oriented even though there is no specific sign for its arrival. We have events galore that border on Tribulation fulfillments. And in this way, deductively, we know desperately that we are oh so in the season for it.

I find myself so subdued in mood these days, making even the simplest and short-term plans seems an effort of hubris...

I fall back to (Luke 21:28, 34-36 / Revelation 3:8-11) to ground myself and standing firm in these days of evil. Looking up for that soon Redemption.

Grace and Peace to you in Christ Jesus our Lord, God in the flesh!

---

Don't be a grape. 🚫 🍇

🦊 Jack [ The Foxman on the Wall ]

Lying Latent...

There was a term I heard recently, "Lying Latent", that was used to describe the position of hidden geniuses due to lack of funding, connections, and of opportunity.

The term can be used in many situations beyond this application though as its basic premise is "Unrealized Potential".

Now this condition can be temporal and change in time, or it can be a sad statement about the lack of change ever, in the course of one's life. 

Therefor Lying Latent is neutral and its effect is judged based on the context of the environment it is in.

The statement was relayed in such a way that all Potential should be realized, just because it exists. And this is why I went to great lengths to think on this, because I did and still do reject this. It is such a worldly expectation in its singular polarity.

We can think of something in physics like "Potential Energy" where let's say we take a spring, compress it, tape it as it is compressed. and throw it in a drawer and forget about it. Unless that tape gets old and breaks, the spring will never do the job it was designed for.

On the other side of the coin, let's say we have a boy genius who gets discovered. He grows up, is educated, makes connections with other geniuses, and gets funding for projects. He invents nuclear weapons.

We would have been better off if he had remained Lying Latent.

So, this got me thinking about some biblical events as I often do when my mind is tickled by something like this, and it is always an enjoyable lesson digging into the word and the history presented in the Bible.

I thought about the story of Joseph, how for 14 years after being thrown in a well and sold to Egyptians into slavery his potential became fulfilled being used of God to effect change in a larger way than even in his own life.

Then I thought about the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, and how Lazarus was a large example of Lying Latent in his condition until he passed away. Yet, there was purpose and meaning in his story, he should have been the target for change by the Rich Man, who never stepped up to the plate to effect that change like he should have. As it turns out, the Rich Man was also Lying Latent.

The bible for all of its other meanings, is a book about "Change" and "Choice".

Free Will choice, and its blessings and its curse. Is what I choose to say or do, against God's ways, or is it in line with His will and command?

This is the issue with knowing Good and Evil, because now... You're on the hook!

Solomon said knowledge brings sadness and grief. And oh, how well we know it.

I moved on to the story of Elijah and the Priests of Ba'al. The fire from the sky testing. And I lingered on this one for good reason. There is a similarity between these times and our Perilous Times now.

And that is, that the people were silent in the face of the Corruption and Oppression.

Elijah was a passionate man (James 5:17), and a bit annoyed with the people in their silence. He also assumed that they all had turned from God because of their silence. But as we find out later when God tells him that He still has 7000 that have not kissed the statue or bent the knee to Ba'al in their silence.

Here I focus on (Amos 5:13) (Proverbs 22:3, 27:12), where the prudent (the wise), take cover and keep silent in the Evil Days. They effectively Lie Latent, waiting upon the Lord.

Now that is not a bad thing, is it?

They did not take up arms and fight an impossible overthrow of the government, they didn't try to effect change in a corrupt government by negotiation or compromise, they entreated the Lord in their silent prayers, and through Elijah change was affected by the hand of the Lord.

Change came for Elijah too. Clearly and rightfully so, Elijah could not continue on the way things were. He was exhausted and desiring to also Lie Latent in death. God wouldn't have it. God had something better for him. 😌

So now also, I come to the thoughts about those who criticize everyone else for "Not doing enough for God" from their haughty opinion and nebulous list of rules they have projected, onto God's simplicity for us of Faith alone.

This for me circles back to the assumption that all Potential should be Realized, just because it exists. The arrogance stands out to me.

Let no one play intercessor to the Father, but Christ alone.

He is in you, He loves you, and it is only His opinion of you that matters.

And that opinion is that He loved you enough to give His life for you, so why now would He withdraw from you in some sort of imagined disappointment?

His work in you, continues until Death or Rapture, and is ongoing in your Sanctification, and He will finish it (Philippians 1:5-6).

Here, when the accuser (in whatever form) comes along, (Romans 14:4) becomes a life verse!

Rest in His Grace (Lie Latent if you will), dear beloved of Christ!

For, YOU WILL STAND before Him, because HE is ABLE to make you STAND there by His finished work.

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm then ... (Ephesians 6:13-14a)

Grace and Peace to you all in Christ Jesus our Lord, God in the Flesh!

---

Don't be a grape. 🚫 🍇

🦊 Jack [ The Foxman on the Wall ]

In the thick of it...

I've said before that I do not have a set schedule for this blog but rather post as I am led...

With that said, I feel I should at least throw up a flare and let you all know I am alive but just busy at the moment.

It never fails to happen that when I plan for something, a whole bunch of other somethings come up to interfere.

I've said before also that I have medical issues which cause me to struggle with what others might consider normal easy things even at age 61.

For me, winter prep involves firewood chores and other things that are strenuous to my physical body, and at the whim of my body's willingness to engage in it. I have some scheduled visits this week and probably more from that appointment onward, besides my regular visits to specialists over the months to come.

Rest and sleep are vague goals that involve perpetual shimmying to find positions that don't hurt until I am exhausted enough to finally go under. I battle irritability every day, and it is the lesson I am learning in patience and quietness and gentleness.

I don't say this for sympathy's sake, only to let you know why I must postpone some of my intended work to come, here on this blog. I will take your prayers though if you feel inclined and they are appreciated.

All too soon winter will be here, and I won't have the luxury of movement I have in spring through autumn. I will balance this though, with praise and thanksgiving to God the Father and the Son Jesus for the provision and blessing my wife and I do have.

So, thank you in advance for your grace and for your prayers.

Grace and Peace to you all in Christ Jesus our Lord!

---

Don't be a grape. 🚫 🍇

🦊 Jack [ The Foxman on the Wall ]