The Chastisement of Sons - Part Three

Joseph Herrin (03-30-2012)

This present look at the chastisement of sons has provoked a lot of response, and it has been quite mixed. Numerous saints have written to share their own experiences of Yahweh disciplining them, while others have written to object to the idea that God would inflict injury or suffering upon His children. Following is one testimony from a brother who wrote to share of a time when he knew with a certainty that Yahweh had afflicted him.

Hi Joseph,


I want to through my two cents worth into the mix on broken legs, I too had an experience some twenty years ago when I was sure Yahovah broke my leg to get my attention back to Him and His will for me, I fell off the roof at home trying to fix a leak from the rain, I knew when I hit the ground it was My God who was responsible for my accident, He put me in hospital for it to be pinned and my wife bought in some books for me to read whilst I was in there, one of them was on discipline of His disciples, and the moment I began to read it I knew for sure it was HIM who put me on my back to shut up and listen too his message. To make a long story short the break healed perfectly, according to my doctor you wouldn’t know it was ever broken.


Michael

Then there is the testimony of a Christian sister who recognized Yahweh’s chastisement when it occurred, but was later talked out of it.

Greetings brother,


I thank the Lord for his faithfulness to perfect you! Your situation here reminds me of a sister's situation, except her outcome is different, [being an example of the type of arguments you are receiving from people who object to what you have shared]. This sister before being saved, did cocaine. Awhile after being saved she was angry at her husband for still using the drug. She thought, "Fine. I will show him. If he wants to do it, I will too!" So she went in the house and did a line. She testified to me, that she walked out the door right afterward and slipped and broke her leg. She said she knew right away it was the Lord chastening her for doing that and she repented right away and was moved at his love for her!


However, she then began going to a church that teaches that God does not do that!... That was many years ago and her testimony is no longer told to my knowledge of the broken leg, and repentance. It has been replaced with how God would not do that now and He just desires us to be rich. Hopefully your testimony will make some consider their own testimony and what they have been taught since.


God bless brother

Glen Pickren, a brother in Christ who resides in California, wrote to me regarding the illustration of the shepherd breaking the sheep’s leg to keep it from straying. I had mentioned in a previous post that I had heard this before, but had not confirmed the validity of the illustration. Glen sent me this succinct reply.

Psalms 51:8
Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

David being a shepherd is speaking of the common practice to discipline a wayward sheep who kept going astray. Knowing that the sheep's life is at stake the shepherd would break the sheep's leg, then bind it up, and then carry the sheep on his shoulders until the leg healed. Once healed, the sheep would closely follow the shepherd wherever he went.


Bedouin shepherds in Israel do this to this day. Bill Cooper (an elderly minister this brother knows and respects) saw it on a trip there.

David was the writer of this Psalm. The occasion was his reflecting upon the discipline Yahweh had brought after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and deceitfully had her husband killed in an attempt to hide his sin.

Yahweh disciplined David severely for his transgressions. The child born of the act of adultery died. Yahweh declared to David that his own wives would be sexually violated publicly, even as he had sexually violated his neighbor’s wife privately. In addition to this, Yahweh said the sword would never depart from David’s house. The discipline of Yahweh was severe, but it was needful in order to teach David to hate this sin that had led him to act in such an ungodly manner.

Yahweh’s corrective path for David was excruciating. David’s eldest son Amnon began to lust after Tamar, a beautiful virgin daughter of David by another wife. His lust was so intense that he made himself sick pining away for his half-sister. Amnon ended up using deception to get his sister to come wait upon him in his bedchamber. He then raped her, and having done this vile deed, his hatred of his sister became more intense than the lust he had for her formerly. He sent her away in shame, and the news came to David.

What do you suppose David thought when he heard of this? David was surely grieved at heart that this beautiful virgin daughter had been violated. Her virginity had been taken from her. Her opportunity to be given as a bride to some noble in a holy union was wrested from her. David, however, must have been truly conflicted. We are told that he heard about Amnon’s transgression, but said nothing about it. Surely David’s own sin was before his eyes and he saw his transgression as worse than his son’s. How could he chasten his son when his own sins were far worse? A sense of shame hindered David from taking that action which was demanded.

When David failed to act, Tamar’s brother Absalom rose up. He formed a plot to take vengeance on his half-brother. He waited patiently, and when the matter dseemed forgotten, he arranged for all of David’s sons to come to a feast at his house. When the signal was given, Absalom and his servants rose up and slew Amnon. Absalom then fled and went to live in a foreign country.

David loved Absalom. Like his sister Tamar, he was beautiful. There was not a defect on him from the top of his head to the sole of his foot. After some time had passed, Absalom petitioned his father to allow him to return to Jerusalem. David permitted him to do so, but did not give Absalom an invitation to see his face. The murder of David’s firstborn son was a great transgression, though David had also murdered an innocent man. David was learning by these tragic and painful events to hate the sin that he had formerly embraced.

With the aid of David’s general Joab, Absalom eventually won an audience with his father, but the relationship was strained. David loved Absalom dearly, but he held himself aloof from him due to the murder of Amnon. Absalom became bitter and plotted a revolt. He gathered the hearts of all of the people to himself, forcing David and those loyal to him to flee Jerusalem. A battle ensued and David’s hardened forces routed the much larger army of Absalom. In the melee Absalom was slain.

David’s sorrow was complete. Though he had won the battle and the kingdom was restored to him, David had no joy in it. He mourned grievously for his fallen son. David recognized that this entire series of tragic events began with his own unbridled lust. Now David had two dead sons, and a daughter who had been sexually violated. In addition, Absalom had fulfilled the word of the prophet and lain publicly with a number of David’s wives that had been left in Jerusalem when he fled the city.

People of God, is there any man among you who would not choose for God to break their leg rather than to undergo the experience of chastisement that David received from the hand of Yahweh? David was truly scourged. Yahweh inflicted great suffering and injury to this man and his family. Yet, in the process, He taught David to hate the sin that had precipitated it all. I am confident that David learned the lesson well. He came to loathe sexual lust, so that the very thought of it turned his stomach. I do not mean sex itself became detestable, but rather the inordinate desire for it, the twisting and distorting of sexual desire that is manifested in fornication, adultery, and other ruinous behaviors.

It was many years back that Yahweh revealed to me this pattern of sin and divine correction in the life of King David. At the time I was struggling with many lustful thoughts and had an addiction to pornography. My children were mere babes at the time, and I considered what evil would result in my home if I did not rule over this area of fleshly passion and desire. An image flashed into my mind of my lust giving birth to adulterous action and it being exposed openly where everyone knew about it. I saw in my mind’s eye for a moment the hurt in my wife’s heart, and my shame before the eyes of my children. I considered the reproach that would be brought against the God I served, and I was  left trembling. It was an exceptionally vivid, and realistic image that God placed in my mind. I could perceive these things as if they were actually taking place. In great fear I cried out fervently to Yahweh to deliver me from this sin and to keep me from bringing open shame to Him, my family, and myself.

The Father heard my prayer that day. Shortly afterwards He set me free from pornography. He did so by teaching me the fear of Him. People of God, apart from a real fear of the holy discipline of Yahweh in our lives, we will not arrive at that condition of personal holiness in our thoughts and actions that Yahweh demands of His sons and daughters.

II Corinthians 7:1
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Sin is intransigent. It is stubbornly bound to the flesh in which we dwell. It is never going to depart as long as we abide in sinful flesh. For this reason we must stir ourselves up in our spirit man to buffet our bodies and keep them under subjection. Yahweh knows that we need strong encouragement in this matter. While our love of God is yet imperfect, we must be induced to rule over the passions and desires of the flesh as we are trained by the rod of correction. Until the heart of Christ is fully formed in us, we need help in restraining our flesh. Yahweh is both just and loving to scourge His sons, thereby directing them to share in his righteousness.

Hebrews 12:11
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

A sixteen year old sister in Christ who lives in Alabama wrote me the following words which greatly encouraged my heart.

Hey Mr. Herrin,


It's Zoe. We received your blog about your leg injury, due to your disobedience to the Lord ... So, I just wanted to encourage you and say that we’ll all fall, but as the Proverb says, "A righteous man may fall seven times but he rises again."


Zoe

I wrote back to Glen Pickren, asking him if he could provide me with further details of the eye-witness account of the brother who saw the Bedouin shepherds practicing this form of behavior modification with their sheep. He sent me back the following:

Hi Joseph,


I talked to Bill and got more details. He had related the practice David alludes to then mentioned his encounter with the young Bedouin shepherd. Bill was riding in a tour bus going from Jerusalem to Jericho when a young man carrying a sheep came running toward the bus and flagged it down. The bus stopped for him and he boarded.  Then, the bus turned around and went back to Jerusalem and let the boy off at a veterinarian's office. The tour guide was an Arab who spoke Arabic as did the shepherd. When the passengers inquired what was going on he explained that he had broken the sheep's leg intending to just fracture it, but he had instead caused a compound fracture, hence the need for the vet to set the leg...


I had forwarded to Glen a link to a site that suggested that the practice of shepherd’s breaking the legs of lambs that strayed was a myth. The site also expressed the view that corporal punishment of children by parents is an ungodly practice. Glen added the following in his reply to me.


It is abundantly clear from scripture what God thinks of child discipline not only in specific verses such as:


Pro 13:1
A wise son accepts his father's discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.


Pro 22:15
Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.


Pro 23:13-14
Do not hold back discipline from the child. Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die. You shall strike him with the rod and rescue his soul from Sheol.


Pro 3:11-12
My son, do not reject the discipline of Yahweh or loathe His reproof, for whom Yahweh loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.


Which passage is applied to the Christian as follows:


Heb 12:5-11
And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.


And the entire Bible is filled with examples of the Lord's discipline of His people. It is the notion of the Lord's practice of discipline these professing Christians seem to object to, not just the sheep story.

Brothers and sisters, we live in that hour described by the apostle Paul.

II Timothy 4:2-3
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will heap up for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires...

The church has truly “heaped up” ministers who proclaim a sensual message that is enticing to the flesh of man. The image of a holy God who chastens His sons has been removed from the pulpit. It has been replaced with proclamations of a tolerant, appeasing deity who panders to the desires of the flesh and wants all His children to be sated with material possessions and entertained with endless pleasures. The church of today is more akin to a cruise ship than a crucible in which holy men and women are formed. The message of Yahweh’s discipline of His people is cast away as an undesirable relic of unenlightened forefathers whose thinking was primitive, cruel, and authoritarian.

I believe it is the last word of the preceding paragraph that is especially offensive to Christians today. The word “authoritarian” has developed very negative associations. The Adamic nature is rebellious. We live in the midst of a rebellious nation (I speak as one dwelling in America). The nation began with an act of rebellion and a declaration of man’s natural right to pursue “happiness.” Happiness has come to include whatever deviant behavior that brings pleasure to a man or woman. Fornication is promoted as healthy and desirable.

http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/selling-pornography-to-kids-as-science/

To remain a virgin until married will result in someone being stigmatized as being sexually repressed. Homosexuality is championed from the highest political office in the land. Abortion, which is always the fruit of sexual union, most often illicit sexual behavior in Yahweh’s eyes, is guarded zealously as a basic human right. No thought at all is given to the fact that babies are being murdered in the wombs of their mothers.

Those who would speak out against this profligate pursuit of the hedonistic desires of the flesh are castigated as “haters” and “despots” who want to impose their morality upon others. Such ones are not even permitted to speak in the churches of this hour. The message of holiness is offensive to the sensual masses with whom the churches have filled their pews.

The morality of Yahweh is in conflict with the immorality of man. As the church decries the government’s actions in removing the Ten Commandments from courthouses and public venues, they have themselves banned the voice of truth and conviction from being heard in their midst. Yahweh will chasten His sons and daughters that they might not walk in the same selfish, sinful path as the world. Though they refuse to abide a message of divine correction, His hand will not be stayed. Judgment is at the door.

I Peter 4:17-18
For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

Christ did not proclaim the message of easy belief that is heard throughout Christendom today. His message of an afflicted path that leads to life, and few there be that find it, has been replaced with the broad path of prosperity and blessing, crowded with multitudes of sensual believers. Is it any wonder that many are offended at the suggestion that Yahweh would break the leg of one of His sons as an act of discipline? Those with understanding are not offended. They perceive the glorious inheritance of the overcomers. They perceive the preeminence of the firstborn sons of God who will attain to the first resurrection. They realize that most Christians will fall short. They will be shut out from access to the inner chamber of God. They will forfeit things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the mind of man, those things which are prepared for the sons of glory.

Recognize the truth in the words that “Yahweh is not a respecter of persons.” Yahweh will not be mocked. Each person will reap what they sow. If they sow to the flesh they will reap destruction. If they sow to the Spirit they will reap life to the ages. Christ is coming quickly. His reward is with Him to render unto every man according as his work shall be.

Romans 2:5-11
But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who "will render to each one according to his deeds": aeonian life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness - indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.

Let us take these words to heart and tremble. Yahweh is not some mush God who will wink at sin, nor One who rewards careless and sensual Christians with eternal blessing. Let us have the attitude of the apostle Paul who said:

II Corinthians 5:10-11
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.

I pray that you might be persuaded by these words.


Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

The Chastisement of Sons - Part Two

Joseph Herrin (03-27-2012)

Beans, Glorious Beans!


As anticipated, the response to the last post where I spoke of Yahweh breaking my leg was mixed. There exists a remnant who have embraced a message of divine correction and the fear of God. However, the majority in the church reject the notion that Yahweh would inflict injury or suffering upon His children. The very suggestion offends those who have been influenced by the prosperity preachers who teach that God is all love and mercy and kindness while ignoring His holiness and severity.

Tragically, the majority in the church have become conformed to the image of the lost and apostate masses of mankind whom the Psalmist describes, and the apostle Paul quotes, in the following words:

Romans 3:18
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."

The reason there is so little holiness in the church today is that the church does not fear Yahweh. The apostles feared Him, and they urged the church to do the same.

II Corinthians 7:1
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Acts 9:31
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

The church today wants “the comfort of the Holy Spirit,” but they reject “the fear of the Lord.” One lady wrote in response to the previous post declaring that we are not under the Law, but under grace. She has been inculcated with the doctrine of cheap grace which gives a person liberty to sin with impunity. In her mindset, which is quite common today, the fear of God is an Old Testament matter. Her admonition to me was that Yahweh is not to be feared today, for He is a God of love.

Please, if this is your thinking, carefully consider the following passage which is New Testament. Not only does the apostle state that Yahweh is to be feared today, but that Christians should have even greater fear than those who had only the Old Testament. This is brought out in the phrase “Of how much worse punishment...” Look for these words in the passage below and see how they are used.

Hebrews 10:26-31
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The Lord will judge His people."  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

I confess that I was continuing in sinful behavior that the Father had previously given me instruction and correction in. It was not only just that He should inflict this discipline upon my physical body, but it was a merciful act, one in which He showed much restraint. He could have brought a more severe correction and would have been justified in doing so. My heart cries out, “Thank you Father for your patient correction of your son. I want to share your holiness. I do not want to be disqualified to inherit those good things You have planned for my life. Help me to stand, and to be an example to others of an overcoming son who is ruling over the passions and desires of the flesh.”

The Father is already giving such help. I will share an experience that occurred the same day I posted the blog regarding my re-breaking my leg. I was sitting with my leg propped on a pillow and my computer in front of me. The thought came to me that “nothing changes unless something changes.” I had heard this saying previously, and there is wisdom in it. I pondered that if I wanted to have victory over the appetites of my flesh, and get down to that weight the Father had prescribed for me and remain there, I would have to take definite steps to do so. The change would not come without some alteration to my previous habits.

As I thought on what I could change practically, the thought arose in my mind that I should look into recipes for rice and beans. I knew beans to be a very nutritious food source, and they come in great variety. They are low fat (actually no fat unless it is added in the cooking process), and are quite hearty and satisfying. Many consider beans a humble food. I remember an uncle telling me that, growing up very poor, his family ate so many beans that when he became an adult he never wanted to eat another one. Beans have been a staple for the poor. This is why they are associated with “soul food,” that humble fare that was eaten by the African slaves brought to America. Humility is the order of the day, so eating this humble food appeared to me to be in keeping with the Father’s will.

(I have already removed most meats from my diet at the Father’s instruction. This was a personal word to me, and I do not share it as an universal instruction for the body of Christ. Having become diabetic for a short period in 1998, and having a heart attack about 5 years ago, the Father has dealt with me strictly regarding my diet.)

After thinking about rice and beans for a moment I went on to other matters, but the Father brought me back to the subject of beans when a sister in Christ sent me an e-mail about thirty minutes after the thought had first popped into my head. This sister shared the following:

I too struggle with the same area of my flesh Joseph.  Awhile back I discovered beans as a wonderful food and I believe a godly one.  I'm sending you a story about beans that I have shared with many from Daniel that I love to tell.

The first word in the follow-up e-mail, in capital letters was “BEANS.” There was then a little story of Daniel and his three friends in Babylon eating beans. The e-mail ended with a recipe for black beans.

This sister’s correspondence bore witness to what the Spirit had spoken to me just a short while earlier. I was confident that the Father was giving me direction for making alterations to my diet. Without a plan I would surely make spontaneous eating decisions that would be driven by my natural appetites. I needed to take action to make changes to my diet. The Father was directing me to make beans a key part of my diet.

Now, some might be thinking, “Beans sound so boring. Surely God would not make you eat beans as a major portion of your diet.” I believe He would. Yahweh has been speaking much about a wilderness experience for His saints. As a pattern, Yahweh gave the Israelites manna to eat in the wilderness. Diet was a very integral part of that which the Father used to humble His people. Manna was good, tasting like wafers with honey, but the flesh craves variety. The flesh is not content with eating to meet the body’s need for nutrients. It wants entertainment.

Bear with me a moment as I explain this matter. I am not saying that it is wrong to eat foods that taste good. Nor am I advocating that Christians adopt a bland diet to become more spiritual and less carnal. What I have shared consistently in my ministry is that as a disciple of Christ we need to be content with whatever the Father chooses for us. He does not always give us “the bread of affliction.” At times He provides milk and honey, grapes figs and much variety.

In the wilderness Yahweh had a specific work to accomplish among His people. During the centuries they dwelt as slaves in Egypt, the children of Israel had been slaves to their fleshly appetites. Yahweh wanted to set them free. He wanted them to find their satisfaction in doing His will rather than in sating the flesh. He therefore tested them by depriving them of the variety of foods they had known in Egypt to see if they would be content with what He provided for them. We know the outcome. The people complained bitterly as if they were suffering some great adversity.

Numbers 11:1
Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of Yahweh; and when Yahweh heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of Yahweh burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

What was the people’s complaint?

Numbers 11:4-6
The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat? "We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna."

This was not adversity. The people were not suffering. God gave them all they needed for their bodies’ nutritional needs to be met. Their complaint was purely carnal. The flesh clamored for satisfaction through excitement and stimulation. God wanted His people to find their satisfaction in doing His will. Yahweh will deal similarly with His people today. The Israelites are set forth as an example to the church.

I Corinthians 10:1-6
For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.

What was the evil spoken of here? It was being dissatisfied with Yahweh’s provision. It was murmuring and complaining against God because He was not pandering to the people’s flesh. As Yahweh brings a remnant of His people through a wilderness experience in these days they too will be tested in similar ways. We are urged to not fail as the Israelites did.

I Corinthians 10:7-11
And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."  Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

Yahweh has not told me to eat only beans and rice. I am to make these items a staple of my diet, however. In truth, I like beans very much. Yahweh is gracious. Will I still like them as much  a year from now? I trust that I will be content with whatever the Father chooses for me. The grace of God will certainly be sufficient for me to walk without murmuring or complaint.

I Thessalonians 5:18
In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Yahshua.

After receiving this instruction from the Father I put some black beans on to cook in my crock pot and I went shopping for a rice cooker. Whole grain and brown rice is much healthier to eat than the highly refined instant white rice that is so popular. They also take a lot longer to cook. I did not want to use my propane to cook rice for an hour and a half on the stove, so I purchased an electric rice cooker that also steams vegetables. George and I had a very good meal that evening, and quite satisfying.

My point in sharing this is that if you too are sensing the Father’s hand of discipline in your life, if you are sensing the need to break free of old habits and to establish new ones, then you may need to take definite steps in order for these changes to be effected. “Nothing changes unless something changes.” Ask the Father to show you how to bring forth the changes in your life that will be pleasing to Him.


Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

The Chastisement of Sons

Joseph Herrin (03-24-2012)

Two days ago I broke my leg again; the same leg that I had just spent six months healing. I knew the purpose of this experience the moment it occurred. I would share it with you that you might walk in the fear of the Lord.

In the book of James we read:

James 5:16
Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart].
[Amplified Bible]

I entreat your prayers for a quick healing as I have much to accomplish at this season. Yet, my foremost desire is that I would walk in victory over an area of besetting sin in which I have often stumbled and have not yet been perfected in the sight of my Father in heaven. Would you pray for me?

Things had been going very well for me lately. I had been relishing the mobility of being able to walk and ride my bicycle again. The Father had sent a brother to fix the brakes on my bus that had been locked up, and I was able to drive the bus and travel in it. In other ways I had also been blessed, and had a sense of liberty and freedom, but in my liberty I grew careless. I am more prone to walk carelessly before God when things are going well than when I am in times of struggle, poverty, and affliction. A perfected son will walk faithfully in whatever circumstances he finds himself. He will be just as faithful to seek God when he is abounding, as when he is abased; when he is fully satisfied, as when he is in need.

Yahweh is seeking to bring forth perfected sons in this hour. The goal for which the church has been aiming is far lower than that which Yahweh has set forth as His desire. Christians are content to attain a little victory, while there are still many strongholds of the adversary and many enemies in the land of their flesh. Like the children of Israel, the church today has fallen short of driving out and subduing every enemy in the land. Is it not clear from history that this failure led to terrible loss among the nation of Israel? What God had given to them was consumed by their enemies. A free people were sold into bondage, showing forth a parable of that which occurs in our lives when we grow content with a little victory and no longer press in fervently to establish within us the kingdom of God in peace and righteousness.

As a teacher to the body of Christ, I am held to a stricter judgment.

James 3:1-2
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways.

I had always thought that the “stricter judgment” would be at the judgment seat of Christ. I am learning that this stricter judgment is also for this present moment. If we are careless in our walk, God will discipline us, and those who are teachers will be held to a tighter accountability. The apostle Paul understood this. Despite his many victories, his great suffering for Christ, and his unflinching obedience, he knew that if he were to let down his guard and become careless he could quickly lose the good things Yahweh had appointed for him.

I Corinthians 9:26-27
Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary. But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit].
[Amplified Bible]

There is no place to become complacent, nor to let down our guard, as we walk with Christ. We have an adversary who roams about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Our flesh will also rise up at every opportunity should the spirit man become lazy. Yahweh has promised us that we need never fall to temptation and sin. His grace is always sufficient to enable us to walk victoriously as overcomers, keeping the flesh under subjection.

I had become complacent in this area of late. During my convalescence I had put on weight. Being confined and largely immobile I should have reduced my food intake, yet I reasoned that I could lose the weight when I regained mobility and could walk and ride my bicycle again. After I regained mobility I continued to eat more than was good for me. The Father had disciplined me before in this area, quite severely. I knew the will of the Father, and I was not walking in it.

Ephesians 5:15
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise...

On Thursday I had gone to a neighboring town to take care of some errands. I love Chinese food, and there is a Chinese mega buffet restaurant there. I was right next door to this restaurant and I thought how wonderful it would be to eat there. For a brief moment I considered that there was another restaurant down the street that had much healthier food, and it came in measured portions instead of the endless helpings of a buffet. I quickly dismissed the thought, choosing to sate my flesh’s appetite for Oriental food.

I got a plate and went to the buffet. I began by getting some salmon, and some of the crispy long green beans that are served on these buffets. These are items I enjoy and they are healthy. Then I proceeded to put some fried rice on my plate and garnish it with several different dishes mainly consisting of chicken, broccoli and mushrooms. This was not as good, but still not terribly unhealthy. I did not stop there, however, I added a spring roll and an eggroll to my plate (both fried) and a couple of stuffed mushrooms which I am sure have a fairly high fat content.

With my plate heaping with food, I returned to my table. I was standing on carpet while wearing tennis shoes, and I swivelled my body to swing into the bench when I felt a sharp snap in my lower left leg (the tibia). I immediately thought, “I think my leg just snapped.” As I sat down in the booth I found that my appetite had fled and I was suddenly very meditative and focused on the Father. (Discipline should have this effect upon us.)

I considered that I was acting in disobedience by choosing to eat as I was. The Father had twice helped me to get down to 165 pounds, but I had failed to maintain that weight. I knew He had set that as a goal for me. Some years back I had experienced a heart attack. This also occurred after eating Chinese food, for I tended to sate myself on it, eating more than was needed for my body to function. I immediately saw a connection and knew Yahweh was disciplining me.

As I looked at the table in front of me my attention was drawn to the napkin dispenser. It was not sitting straight, but was leaning over. It was made to rest on four rubber feet, but one of the feet was missing. The words of the apostle Paul came to mind.

Hebrews 12:11-13
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

“Straight paths for your feet...” I was in the process of turning when I felt the bone snap. I was not walking the straight and narrow that Yahweh had instructed me to walk. I had become careless once more in ruling over the appetites of my flesh. Yahweh would have His sons to be perfect. As a teacher I must practice what I preach or the Father will discipline me.

I am reminded of a sermon I heard many years ago. The minister said that if a shepherd had a sheep that continually strayed he would break the lamb’s leg. He would then carry the lamb on his shoulders when traveling, and he would set it down when they arrived at their destination. Because of the broken leg, the lamb could not go far and would stay close to the shepherd. When the lamb’s leg was healed, this behavior was now habit and the sheep would not stray anymore.

I do not know how accurate this account is, but it seems to be a fitting description for the way our Father deals with His sons. It is because Yahweh loves us that He injures us. He is seeking to teach us righteousness, and to incite us to rise up in spirit and rule over the flesh. I have no complaint for what Yahweh has done. The discipline was deserved. I want to share His holiness and I do not want to incur grievous loss on the day when we must all give an account.

I have been a very wayward and fleshly son, and my Father has been patient and proactive in bringing discipline to me. I know His heart is not one of a wrathful judge looking for someone to smite. Rather, His heart is that of a loving Father who wants His children to be qualified to share an inheritance with His firstborn Son. We will all receive reward according to what we have done. God will not be mocked. We will reap what we sow. It is the overcomers who will receive the reward of an overcomer.

Because my Father does not want me to suffer loss, He has continued to deal with me as a son. He has scourged me, and will do so again. He has made my leg lame for a season to teach me to walk more carefully. I want to learn the lesson. I want to be approved by Him, and to be a vessel of honor in His house.

I share these things sensing a need to confess my faults, being transparent with the body of Christ regarding my struggles and failures. At the same time, I share these things that you also might walk in the fear of God. In this hour the Father must bring sons forth to perfection. He must accelerate the pace of our maturity. If we are careless, or complacent, He must stir us up by whatever means necessary to urge us to be fervent in spirit. “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion.”

There is grace in this chastisement. I am able to walk on the leg, but I cannot do so very far. I incurred a hairline fracture. The bone was not displaced. It will heal quickly if I take care of it and do not try to do too much too soon. I was far too active the past two days as there is much I want to do. I am experiencing the consequences today as the leg is swollen and quite sore. I still have the crutches and walking boot from my previous injury. Also, George, the brother in Christ who is staying with me was a truck driver for many years and he is able to drive my bus for me. All these things are measures of grace given to me by the Father.

The Father reveals His will perfectly. I was pondering today that the Father did not discipline me as I walked into the Chinese restaurant. He did not do so when I had put the salmon and vegetables on my plate. He waited until I had loaded it up with foods I knew I did not need to eat, and more than was necessary to meet my physical requirements. Only when I was fully committed to this act of disobedience and was about to sit down to gorge myself and sate my flesh did the stroke fall. He is perfect in all His ways. I was not left to wonder why this happened. My heart immediately convicted me.

Let us encourage one another to walk in the fear of Yahweh.

Hebrews 12:28-29
Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.

The flesh must be presented on the altar for the flames to consume it. Our Father wants us to present to Him a freewill offering, willing keeping the flesh under subjection. May we all avail ourselves of the grace of God.

Thank you for your prayers.

Addendum: I often receive comments from people after posting some writing on Yahweh’s discipline. Some are offended at the suggestion that God would inflict injury or suffering on one of His children. I offer here an excerpt from the writing titled The Necessary Fear of God.

---

Why has the church of our day fallen to the depths in which it is mired? Why does it fit the description that Paul and Yahshua and others gave of it? I am convinced that one of the greatest reasons is that there is no longer any fear of God before the eyes of man. The church has rewritten the image of God in a manner that allows for sin to be tolerated and for evil to be winked at. They have taught a grace that is cheap, and they have embraced fables and myths about heaven, judgment, and the following ages that leads to careless living. They have embraced the kindness of God, and rejected the severity of His character.

In the early days of the church God brought swift judgment on sin and it caused the body of believers to walk carefully for a season, knowing the fear of God. We read the following from the book of Acts.

Acts 5:4-5, 9-11
4     Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God."
5     And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came upon all who heard of it...
9     Then Peter said to her, "Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they shall carry you out as well "
10     And she fell immediately at his feet, and breathed her last; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
11     And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all who heard of these things.
(NAS)

The effect of the great fear that came upon the church was that the church walked very carefully before God. The result of this holy walk was that the reputation of the church was very great, verse thirteen of this same chapter states that “the people held them in high esteem.” This is quite the opposite of the church today. Today the church is a laughingstock, a derision, and its reputation and esteem in the eyes of the world is very low. This is not because they fail to preach Christ. Rather it is because they hold to a form of godliness, but deny the power of true godliness...

I can state without equivocation that there is no holiness apart from a fear of God. I can say this not only from my own experience, but from the scriptures. It may be the kindness of God that leads men to repentance, but it is the fear of God that makes them holy. The fear of God is just what it says, it is FEAR of God. It is not just a reverent respect as some teach. A reverent respect will not cause men to turn away from sin, but a real holy terror of the awesome and righteous nature of God will lead men to holiness. Does such a feeling of fear and terror have a place in the church of the New Testament? Examine the following verses.

II Corinthians 7:1
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
(NAS)

II Corinthians 5:10-11
10     For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
11     Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men...
(KJV)

Romans 11:20-22
20     Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;
21     for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.
22     Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
(NAS)

Hebrews 10:26-31
26     For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27     but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
28     Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29     How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
30     For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge His people."
31     It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
(NAS)

These things were written to the church, not the lost. Some may ask, “Why then does John say that perfect love casts out all fear?” The answer should be plain. If we walk in obedience we have no reason to fear, but if we walk in disobedience we have much to fear. John said this was his meaning when he stated,

I John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment...
(NAS)

If you are perfected in love then you will not sin and you will have no reason to fear any punishment. If you develop a mindset that says, “It is no big deal if I sin. I can just confess my sin and receive forgiveness”, then you have made a provision for the flesh. You have made a way for the flesh to do what it desires without any repercussions. This is simply delusion, no matter how many pastors are preaching it.

Did you note the scriptures above that said, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries?” Where is this preached today?

Who has a part in the first resurrection, over whom the second death (the lake of fire) has no power? It is those who are blessed and holy. Who are the blessed? A reading of the sermon of the mount will reveal many of those who are blessed. It is those who suffer for the name of Christ. It is those who are persecuted for His name. It is those who are poor and hungry and who suffer shame for His name. It also says “holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection.” Need we ask who the holy are? They are those who are holy. They have separated themselves from the world and the pursuit of it. They have taken up the cross, dying to the desires of the soul. They are the ones who have crucified the flesh with its lusts and desires. Is this all Christians? Absolutely not.

Matthew 8:11-12
11     "And I say to you, that many shall come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven;
12     but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
(NAS)

Matthew 22:13-14
13     "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
14     "For many are called, but few are chosen."
(NAS)

Matthew 25:30
"And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
(NAS)

Who are the servants and slaves of God and Christ? They are not the lost, but those of God’s own household. Paul identified himself as a bond servant of Yahshua. It is these who are here being spoken of, not the lost. There are many of God’s own children who will be found to be lacking in the hour that God inspects His servants and asks for an accounting of them. Many will experience weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Do not think that because you have been born again and you name the name of Christ that this alone is sufficient and you can live any way you please. God will not be mocked. We will all reap according to what we have sown. Yahshua said, “Behold, I come quickly and My reward is with Me to render to every man according to what he has done.”

There will be no universal reward. Each man will receive according to what HE has done. Our reward will not even be based upon what Christ has done. It is based upon what we have done. Paul tells us that each man’s work will be tested by fire to see if he has built with gold, silver, and precious stones, or if he has built with wood, hay, and stubble. The fire will test the quality of each man’s work. Many will suffer great loss.

I Corinthians 3:15-17
15     If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.
16     Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17     If any man defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
(NAS)

Does any saint desire to be saved in this manner, suffering the loss of all reward? Does any saint want to experience what is spoken of here as a just reward for defiling the temple of God? These words should make the saint of God pause and take note. Paul said that “knowing the terror of God, we persuade men.” Where is this preached today? Because this severe side of God is not preached, the church has become corrupt and full of defilement. The saints of God lead unholy and sensual lives without regard for the consequences. But the scriptures state that there will be consequences, and they will be severe.

In the gospels we see that the greatest emotion and anger that Christ displayed was when He entered the Temple and found it defiled. It was spoken of Him, “Zeal for My Father’s house will consume Me.” Was Yahshua concerned about a physical building? Absolutely not. He was concerned for what it represented. We are the true temple of God. We are the temple in which the Spirit of God dwells. Yahshua is consumed with a zeal for these temples of our bodies and He will act with great zeal to cleanse them. If any man has defiled the temple, he will be destroyed.

Yahshua said, "It is written, 'And My house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a robbers' den" (Luke 19:46). It is the temples of our bodies that are to be houses of prayer. Our bodies are to be places of communion with God. The anger of God is unleashed against those who treat the temple of God as an unholy thing.

What was to be a place of worship and prayer became full of the commerce of the world. Even so, our bodies are the temples of God and they are to be places of prayer and communion with the Father. However, the majority of the saints of God have profaned and defiled their sanctuaries. Their lives are lives of traffic and trading as they pursue the things the world has to offer.

Many of the saints of God are anticipating Yahshua coming back to take them from the pursuit of the pleasures here on Earth and to transplant them into the realm of heaven where they will know uninterrupted pleasure forevermore. When Yahshua came the first time He was anticipated to appear in a manner altogether different from the way in which He came. For this reason we are told that “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). I am convinced that His second appearing will be no different.

The saints of God are anxiously awaiting the appearing of Christ, but they have not discerned that His appearing will be to the sorrow of many.

Amos 5:18-23
18     Alas, you who are longing for the day of [Yahweh], for what purpose will the day of [Yahweh] be to you? It will be darkness and not light;
19     As when a man flees from a lion, and a bear meets him, or goes home, leans his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him.
20     Will not the day of [Yahweh] be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it?
21     "I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies...
23     "Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.”
(NAS)

Joel 1:15-16
15     Alas for the day! For the day of [Yahweh] is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
16     Has not food been cut off before our eyes, gladness and joy from the house of our God?
(NAS)

Joel 2:1-2
1     Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of [Yahweh] is coming; surely it is near,
2     A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.
(NAS)

Many today are saying that they long for the Lord’s appearing, but they do not understand that He will come as a thresher of wheat to separate out the chaff; to make a distinction between the holy and the vile. Yahshua will come back and He will steal away those who have made themselves ready, those who have allowed Him to purify and refine them and clothe them in garments of righteousness. Those who were sleeping and who were pursuing the things of the world, those who have allowed the traffic of the world to defile and profane their sanctuaries will receive the scourging of the Lord. They will be left behind and endure the day of the Lord’s wrath as He cleanses the temple once again. As it was in the days of Noah and the days of Lot, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. He who has ears to hear, let him hear...

What the world needs in this hour is to see the sons of God walking in righteousness and holiness. I am convinced that there is no more pleasing request that a son or daughter can make in this hour than to ask for God to teach them His fear, and to ask for God to establish their walk in holiness. What a delight it is to our Father’s ears to receive such a request from His children.

The fear of God is necessary in our lives. It is not enough to love God, even if you love Him passionately. You must also learn to fear Him that you might turn away from sin. It is in the fear of God that we are perfected in holiness.

Selah


Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Babylon Rising - Part Five - Legal Tender Not Much Longer

Joseph Herrin (03-21-2012)

THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

Revelation 13:11, 16-17
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon... And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

In the book The Mark of the Beast I wrote of the spiritual substance of this subject. The church has almost universally focused on a physical fulfillment, while ignoring the more important spiritual understanding of what it is to bear the mark of the beast. I encourage those who are unfamiliar with the spiritual meaning to read the book.

I do want to spend a little space speaking of a physical fulfillment of the words of Revelation that are quoted above. I do believe an hour is coming soon when a worldwide monetary system will be in place. All transactions will be electronic. There will be a global cashless society. All transactions will be recorded on computers. These transactions will be tracked, and by this means society will be strictly controlled.

The Scriptures speak of a time when no one will be able to buy or sell without having received the mark of the beast. It matters not whether you are rich or poor, slave or free, this system will be all encompassing. If one does not embrace Babylon and its rulers they will be prevented from buying and selling. It would surprise many Christians to know how near the world is to having a global, electronic, cashless, financial system in place. The following article caught my attention yesterday.

Sweden moving towards cashless economy
(AP) STOCKHOLM - Sweden was the first European country to introduce bank notes in 1661. Now it's come farther than most on the path toward getting rid of them.


"I can't see why we should be printing bank notes at all anymore," says Bjoern Ulvaeus, former member of 1970's pop group ABBA, and a vocal proponent for a world without cash.


The contours of such a society are starting to take shape in this high-tech nation, frustrating those who prefer coins and bills over digital money.


In most Swedish cities, public buses don't accept cash; tickets are prepaid or purchased with a cell phone text message. A small but growing number of businesses only take cards, and some bank offices — which make money on electronic transactions — have stopped handling cash altogether.


"There are towns where it isn't at all possible anymore to enter a bank and use cash," complains Curt Persson, chairman of Sweden's National Pensioners' Organization.


He says that's a problem for elderly people in rural areas who don't have credit cards or don't know how to use them to withdraw cash.


The decline of cash is noticeable even in houses of worship, like the Carl Gustaf Church in Karlshamn, southern Sweden, where Vicar Johan Tyrberg recently installed a card reader to make it easier for worshipers to make offerings.


"People came up to me several times and said they didn't have cash but would still like to donate money," Tyrberg says.


Bills and coins represent only 3 percent of Sweden's economy, compared to an average of 9 percent in the eurozone and 7 percent in the U.S., according to the Bank for International Settlements, an umbrella organization for the world's central banks...


The Swedish Bankers' Association says the shrinkage of the cash economy is already making an impact in crime statistics.


The number of bank robberies in Sweden plunged from 110 in 2008 to 16 in 2011 — the lowest level since it started keeping records 30 years ago. It says robberies of security transports are also down...


The prevalence of electronic transactions — and the digital trail they generate — also helps explain why Sweden has less of a problem with graft than countries with a stronger cash culture, such as Italy or Greece, says economics professor Friedrich Schneider of the Johannes Kepler University in Austria.


"If people use more cards, they are less involved in shadow economy activities," says Schneider, an expert on underground economies...
[Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57399610/sweden-moving-towards-cashless-economy/?tag=pop;stories]

The banks, and those who control them, also control the governments of this world system. The world has become one large global marketplace. It is the goal of the ruler of this fallen world system to control all commerce, and thereby to control all people.

What is considered the “shadow economy” today will be expanded to include any transaction that is not processed by the global financial system. If it cannot be tracked, taxed, and controlled, a transaction will be declared illegal. Already in America we are seeing great progress in establishing a controlled marketplace. The stated impetus behind such moves is most often declared to be benevolent. Untracked cash transactions are being cast into a unfavorable light. The association is continually made between crime and cash transactions. Pretty soon all who seek to avoid electronic sales and purchases will be considered criminals. Recently Louisiana passed a law limiting the use of cash in second hand and junk sales.

(NaturalNews)
If you buy or sell secondhand goods and live in the state of Louisiana, you can no longer use legal tender to complete such transactions. Ackel & Associates LLC (A&A), a professional law firm, explains that House Bill 195 of the 2011 Regular Session (Act 389), which was recently passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal, prohibits anyone who "buys, sells, trades or otherwise acquires or disposes of junk or used or secondhand property [from entering] into any cash transactions in payment for the purchase of [such items]."


Besides prohibiting the use of cash, the law also requires such "dealers" to collect personal information like name, address, driver's license number, and license plate number from every single customer, and submit it to authorities. And the only acceptable form of payment in such situations is a personal check, money order, or electronic transfer, all of which must be carefully documented...
[Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/033882_Louisiana_cash.html]

As far back as 2006 National Public Radio ran a story about a restaurant in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C. that has stopped accepting cash.

Plastic Only: Cafe Refuses to Accept Cash
by Nazanin Rafsanjani

These days, you can buy almost anything with a credit or debit card. But Snap, a cafe in Washington, D.C.,'s Georgetown neighborhood is taking it one step further. Snap's owner has decided to stop accepting cash.
[Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6246139]
(To read whole story click on link.)

No Cash

The policy of accepting no cash has since spread to many more businesses. Some readers may wonder whether it is legal for a business to refuse to accept cash for transactions. In most cases a business has the right to accept, or refuse, whatever form of payment they choose. You can read the legalese on this subject at the following link.


http://legallad.quickanddirtytips.com/legal-tender.aspx

You may also find the comments at the above link interesting. One reader posted the following.

Comment
In Maryland there is a new toll road called the Intercounty Connector (ICC). Cash is not accepted. in fact, there are no toll booths. The only way to pay is through the E-ZPass system. If you travel the road without an E-ZPass transponder, it will cost you the amount of the toll, plus a $3.00 "Notice of Toll Due" service charge. In order to use a transponder, you must "buy" it for $25.00 and Maryland charges a $1.50 per month account maintenance fee. So... If I use the ICC 4 times a year, it will cost me $25 for the transponder, plus $18.00 per year, plus the toll charges. To avoid paying the $18,00, it would cost me $12.00 a year in penalties, plus the cost of the toll...

In my travels across the nation the past few years I saw many toll roads that utilize the EZ Pass system. It is not difficult to imagine the control the government would have over people through a wider implementation of a digital toll system. Vehicles would be tracked and passage down roads could be restricted to government approved traffic.

EZ Pass
Civil liberties and privacy rights advocates have expressed concern about how the position data gathered through E-ZPass is used. As of August 2007, several states that employ E-ZPass have provided electronic toll information in response to court orders in civil cases, including divorces and other non-criminal matters.
Position data is collected by antennas at locations in addition to fee collection locations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ez_pass

A generation or two ago these developments would have been viewed as science fiction. The world is rapidly changing, and it is morphing into a form that is amenable to strict control over all financial transactions and movement of people. Over four years ago Apple Computer began refusing cash for iPhone purchases. This pattern is growing and will continue until no cash will be accepted at all.

Apple Will No Longer Accept Cash for iPhones
By Julie Kent. Published on 10/27/2007

Apple has decided to tighten up the requirements to purchase an iPhone following the news that 250,000 of the 1.4 million iPhones sold in Q4 were never activated and likely went to unlockers. Apple has decided that they will "no longer accept cash for iPhone purchases", and individuals will only be allowed to buy two, paid for with a credit or debit card. Supposedly this is in an effort to "stop people from reselling them."


Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple, said that they are "requiring a credit or debit card for payment to discourage unauthorized resellers..."


Furthermore, one has to wonder what kind of company would refuse cold, hard cash. And, it also begs the question, how exactly are they going to be tracking the purchases? Will they be keeping credit card numbers on file, along with it a tally of iPhones purchased? Would one be able to buy two on one credit card, and then come back another day and buy two more on another card? Or, do they have technology that will pull you up by a Social Security number and reject you based on that and your purchase history?


You've been warned: Steve Jobs and Big Brother Apple are watching you.
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/3390

As Christians see this trend toward a cashless, strictly controlled society, they should spend time considering the direction of their own lives. Are you becoming more enmeshed with this global system? Are you acquiring more of this world’s goods, with associated demands for insurance, taxes, licenses, etc.? Or are you coming out of Babylon according to the leading of the Spirit? Are you trying to serve God and mammon?

A look at the life of Christ revealed that He owned nothing more than the clothes on His back. The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of God had nowhere to lay His head. A meal for Christ and the disciples often came from God the Father multiplying a few fish and loaves of bread to feed multitudes, or threshing grain in their hands as they walked through a wheat field. Undoubtedly, Christians will be led to accept a much humbler existence in coming days, but Yahweh will have a provision for those who trust and obey.

I have found the Father to be simplifying my life for years. I have had no debt since 1999. I do not own a home, other than the bus/RV the Father provided. There are no bills for water, electric, trash, or the myriad of things that go along with home ownership. There is a simplicity in surrendering to follow in the footsteps of the Lord.

I Corinthians 7:29-31
But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none..., those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.

The form of this world is certainly changing. Christians will have to choose to let go of this world and its possessions in order to take hold of the kingdom of God. It is the will of the Father that an hour should come when only those who bear the mark of the beast should be able to traffic in the things of this world. This will purify the church of Christ. Only those who put Christ before the love of the world and the things in it will continue to walk by the Spirit in that hour. A great separation will occur between the carnal Christians and those who are true disciples. The end result will be a purified Bride ready for the Bridegroom’s return.

Come Quickly Lord Yahshua!

 Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Rapid Transition

Joseph Herrin (03-18-2012)

Some have asked about my status since I did not post anything this past week. I am doing well. I have been keeping very busy, and very productive.

On March 13th I had my last doctor’s appointment related to my motorcycle accident. The doctor said everything was looking fine. In fact, the physician’s assistant remarked more than once that my progress was much better than anticipated. He was amazed at how mobile and active I was already. I have been walking a good bit, and have returned to riding my bicycle almost every day. I can easily do a ten mile bike ride and not feel any worse for wear afterwards, though there is some swelling still occurring which the doctor said will continue to diminish. The weather here in Georgia has been most accommodating. It has been in the 70s and 80s during the daytime, almost too warm at times. Today the high was forecast to hit 88 degrees which is quite a bit above average for this time of year.

A few days ago I packed up all my winter clothes and got out my summer clothes to hang in my closet in The Dreamer. The change of season has been very abrupt. I very literally went from running a heater at night, to running the air conditioner just a day or two later. This seems symbolic of those things the Spirit is indicating are coming to God’s people. Abrupt changes are at hand. There will be no gradual transition from one experience to another. Things will happen quite suddenly in days ahead.

This same week (March 11th) we experienced Daylight Savings Time. Our clocks had to be set ahead. (Spring Forward/Fall Back). Although this occurs as an annual rite of passage, there seems to be a spiritual significance to it this year. An hour is lost. At 2:00 A.M. the clocks are set ahead to 3:00 A.M.. An entire hour disappears from our lives as if it were simply skipped over. We find ourselves suddenly at a later hour. The regular passage of time is interrupted and things are accelerated. This acceleration is seen by those who had to set their analog watches and clocks. As the clock is adjusted one can observe the minute hand moving ahead with a rapidity that is not normally seen. An entire hour of time is condensed into a few seconds as the hands are rapidly moved forward.

My life seems to parallel this acceleration of events. Even as the Physician’s Assistant remarked on the quick progression in my healing from this injury, I have experienced a rapid progress in other areas as well.

I mentioned that at the beginning of this month the Father indicated I was to leave the RV park I had been staying at for the preceding 14 months. The number 14 is used in the Bible to signify transition from one experience to another. Since relocating the Father has been rapidly accomplishing some things that I had on my to-do-list for a long time. I had shared how my brakes had been locked up on my bus for nearly a year. Then I was involved in a motorcycle accident and was forced to sit for a season. Now that both my bus and I are mobile again, there is much being done.

The Father provided the means for me to get my front tires replaced on The Dreamer. The front tires did not match the tires on the rear of the bus. The rear tires were newer and in much better shape. The front tires were severely dry rotted. As you might expect, I was observing the details of this matter closely, for Yahweh has spoken many symbolic things through this bus. To refresh you on a few details, the bus was built by Carpenter Body Works. It doesn’t take much imagination to see a spiritual parable in this fact. Christ is often referred to as a Jewish Carpenter and He does have a Body that He is working on. The bus is 40 years old, being built in 1972. Forty signifies wilderness journeys, trials, and probation throughout the Scriptures. The bus was formerly used as a Church bus, but was then sold to an individual who used it for entertainment purposes as he drove it to NASCAR races. The church has also sold herself to entertainments and vain pursuits (driving around in circles is symbolic of vain pursuits.)

The tires I replaced were manufactured by Goodyear. Goodyear no longer makes this tire, as there are fewer and fewer vehicles that still use this size and type of tire (it has an inner tube on a split rim). Goodyear goes where the profit is, and they make their money where large numbers of tires can be manufactured en masse. With dwindling numbers of vehicles using these tires, Goodyear abandoned this particular model. This seems a parable of the years of prosperity dwindling away. Those who have been accustomed to “good years” are finding that they are fading fast. (Dry rot is caused by the sunlight drying out the rubber, leaving it cracked and brittle.)

An affirming testimony was observed last year when a Goodyear blimp in Germany caught fire and crashed to the ground killing the pilot.

Goodyear Blimp Crash

The image above from the crash reminds me of another image I posted on a blog that spoke of the demise of America’s monetary system.

You can read about the Goodyear blimp crash here:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/06/13/blimp-crash-in-germany-claims-pilots-life/

Very symbolic was the message painted on the blimp that crashed.

Goodyear - Safety Together

I am reminded of the following words of the Lord through the apostle Paul.

I Thessalonians 5:3
While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.

As I think of America, Europe, and the church in particular, I see this mindset among them that everything will be alright. No one else seems concerned about any impending and sudden end to the years of prosperity. It is like being surrounded by more than a thousand partying, entertainment sated, passengers on the Costa Concordia. What could possibly go wrong with such a fabulous ship? It had been sailing the same trek for years and had done so safely. There had been no interruption to the festive atmosphere before, no reason even for concern.

http://parablesblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/affirmations-to-costa-concordia-parable.html

What are Christians to do when the world is experiencing birth pangs? When the gravy train has ended, and prosperity has dried up leaving only a barren wilderness, where are they to look to for their provision and needs? The tires the Father gave me to replace the Goodyears are Power King tires.

When the local dealer told me this was the brand he carried I was confident that they were the one’s the Father had chosen for the bus. The four tires on the rear were also Power King, so now the bus rides on a complete set of Power King tires.

Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
[KJV]

Vehicles represent ministries. Those who serve as ministers of Christ are to look to their Lord and King who has “all power” to provide them the wherewithal to accomplish every task. They are not to lean upon the arm of the flesh, nor look to carnal methods to accomplish spiritual assignments. Even as the front tires are used for guiding a vehicle in the direction it is to go, the disciples of Christ must have all confidence that the One who has chosen them and appointed them to serve, will provide both guidance and power to accomplish all things.

While I was getting the tires put on, one of the managers of the facility told me of a nearby mechanic who could take care of some other needs. The main seal on the rear axle needed to be replaced as it was leaking gear case oil across the brakes on the driver’s side. I also needed to get the exhaust pipe routed out behind the rear tires. I had to cut it off under the middle of the bus when I installed the waste holding tanks in the rear of the bus. A mechanic came down, looked it over, and scheduled me to come in the next morning and have the work done. They also adjusted out all the brakes for me as one on the rear was too loose, and one up front was too tight, and they changed the oil (fresh anointing). These are things I had been wanting to get done for some time, and they were accomplished suddenly.

This represents only a portion of the things I have been doing this week. I hope to share further in upcoming posts. I sense that there are great changes ahead. Things are beginning to move quickly. I have an anticipation of things to come. If others are also experiencing changes, or are sensing themselves to be entering into a time of transition, I would like to hear from you on these things. Let me know what the Spirit is doing in your life, and what He is speaking to you.

Habakkuk 3:17-19
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls — 
Yet I will rejoice in Yahweh,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer's feet,
And He will make me walk on my high places.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.


Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

What’s In a Name? - Part Two - Types and Anti-types

Joseph Herrin (03-09-2012)

In the previous post I listed some examples of people in the Bible who bore the same name while sharing remarkable similarities to one another. The life of Joseph, the son of Jacob, was compared to Joseph of Arimathea and Joseph the husband of Mary. Although nearly 2,000 years separated these individuals’ lives, they shared an unusual closeness of spirit and purpose. As we saw, both Jacob’s son and the husband of Mary were given divine guidance and insight through dreams. Additionally, Joseph prepared his father Jacob’s body for burial and Joseph of Arimathea prepared the body of Christ for burial.

These parallels are not random, undirected events. Such “coincidences” are predestined by Yahweh. They serve to reveal a divine presence in the creation and a divine ordering of the lives of men.

Not all such parallels between people of the same name are obvious. Many of these connections are obscured due to inconsistencies in translating names in the Bible. Although our English translators have rendered the name Joseph fairly consistently (the KJV at times renders the name as Joses), they have been very inconsistent in the rendering of other names. For example, Simon Peter’s Hebrew name was Simeon, the same name borne by the second son of Jacob. Judas Iscariot shared the same name as Judah, another of Jacob’s sons. The author of the book of James had the same name as Jacob, the patriarch of the Old Testament, and the Son of God bore the same name as Joshua, the Israelite leader who led the people of God to take possession of their inheritance.

Most Christians today are unaware of these shared names. In every instance there are powerful and profound parallels to be discerned between the Old Testament and New Testament characters. Let us look at each of the men named above.

Simeon

Simeon was the second son of Jacob by his wife Leah. The name Simeon means “he hears.”

Genesis 29:33
Then [Leah] conceived again and bore a son and said, "Because Yahweh has heard (Hebrew shama) that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also." So she named him Simeon (Hebrew shimown).

The characteristic of hearing was prominent in the life of Simeon Peter as well. In the following gospel account we see that Christ makes much of the fact that Simeon has heard the voice of God the Father.

Matthew 16:13-17
Now when Yahshua came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simeon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Yahshua said to him, “Blessed are you, Simeon Barjona (son of Jonah), because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

At this very moment Yahshua could truly have said of Simeon Peter, “He hears!” This was the actual meaning of Simeon’s name. There is also a correlation to what was heard. When Leah named her son Simeon she said, “Yahweh has heard that I am unloved.” There is an intentional parallel between this statement and Christ’s questioning of Simeon Peter after His resurrection. Three times Yahshua asked Simeon, “Do you love Me?” Why did Christ ask him this question three times? Was it not because the Savior wanted Simeon to truly HEAR Him? Simeon was led to deeply consider what it means to love Christ. If Simeon loved Him, he would be willing to lay down his life in service to others and to Christ. Yahshua wanted Simeon to understand that when His disciples refuse to suffer for Him that He is unloved.

John 15:13
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

Simeon did hear Yahshua, and he became a faithful shepherd of the people of God. In the end Simeon was crucified for his love and faithfulness to Christ. He fulfilled the pattern set by his Master.

John 10:11-13
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.”

Three times Yahshua gave Simeon the command to “feed My lambs (or sheep).” Simeon heard Yahshua, and he proved his love for his Lord and Savior by laying down his life to fulfill the command of Christ.

Simeon Peter shared another less noble attribute of the son of Jacob. Of that earlier Simeon we read that he was involved in a scheme with his brother Levi to punish the Hivites for defiling their sister. Shechem, the son of the ruler of this Canaanite people, had lain with Dinah and then requested that he might marry her. This greatly displeased Simeon and a plot was formed to exact revenge. Simeon and Levi told Shechem and his father that their families could only intermarry with the Canaanites if they agreed to be circumcised. The men of the land consented, and when they lay disabled due to the pain of the circumcision, Simeon and Levi took up the sword and slew all the men.

Genesis 34:25-26
Now it came about on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword and came upon the city unawares, and killed every male. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem's house, and went forth.

Simeon is named first, indicating his leadership role in this matter. Jacob was sorely displeased with this action of his sons. When it came time to prophesy over his sons prior to his death, Jacob remembered the fierce anger of these two men.

Genesis 49:5-7
“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence. Let my soul not enter into their council; Let not my glory be united with their assembly; Because in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they lamed oxen.  Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”

Which of the twelve disciples of Christ do you suppose was quick to pick up the sword and use it against others? It was Simeon Peter. At Christ’s arrest we are given the following account.

John 18:10-11
Simeon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave's name was Malchus. So Yahshua said to Peter, "Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?"

Another parallel between these two men’s lives is that both were placed in prison and later delivered from it.

Genesis 42:24
When [Joseph] returned to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

When Joseph’s brothers returned a year later to buy more grain Joseph released Simeon  and restored him to his brothers.

Genesis 43:23
He said, “Be at ease, do not be afraid...” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

In the New Testament we read of Simeon Peter being bound in prison alone. The church mourned for Peter’s imprisonment, praying for his release. Surely Jacob and his family prayed likewise for Simeon. Jacob spoke of being bereft of his son, and it was no doubt a trial to the entire family. I suspect Joseph chose Simeon to be his captive in part because he seemed well favored by his brothers, and was a leader among them. Simeon had led the campaign to slay the Hivites, and his brothers had followed behind, looting their treasures and taking their flocks and herds. No doubt Simeon continued to act as a leader among his brothers, for he was the second born and Reuben, the firstborn, had disgraced himself. Simeon Peter was likewise a leader among the twelve disciples. Where he went, they were prone to follow (John 21:3).

In the 12th chapter of Acts we read of Simeon Peter being imprisoned and then set free without any harm coming to him. An angel appeared to Peter in the prison and loosed him from his chains, opened the prison doors, and led him out to freedom. For those who care to study the lives of these two men, I am sure that many more parallels can be discovered.

Judah

There are few Christians today who realize that Judas, the betrayer of Christ, had the Hebrew name Yehudah (Judah). When one compares the life of Christ’s betrayer with the son of Jacob of the same name, the connections between their lives become clear. Judas is infamous for acting in the most treacherous manner due to an inordinate love of money. Judas was the treasurer, the holder of the money bag for Christ and the disciples. We are told that he used to pilfer money from the bag, for his heart was not right.

John 12:4-6
But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?" Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.

Because Judas did not master this impure love of money in his heart, he eventually acted in the most abominable fashion. He betrayed One whom he had lived with, ate with, and had fellowship with for several years. It seemed a small thing to him to sell an intimate acquaintance for monetary gain.

Matthew 26:14-15
Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?" And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.

In a remarkable parallel, it was Judah who suggested to his brothers that they sell Joseph and make a profit off of his suffering.

Genesis 37:26-28
Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers listened to him. Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver.

Judah sold Joseph for 20 shekels of silver, and the disciple of Christ who bore the same name sold Yahshua for 30 pieces of silver. Such Biblical parallels are not happenstance. They reveal types and anti-types, shadow and substance, between the Old Testament and the New.

Jacob

Another remarkable parallel between the Testaments that is obscured due to an inconsistency in the rendering of names is that between Jacob and the author of the book of James. The actual Hebrew name is Ya’aqov. This name passed into Greek as Iakobos, and into Latin as Iacobus. Later a variant of this Latin name appeared as Iacomus. Most languages today render these two Latin names identically, recognizing that they come from a single source. English, however, is the odd man out as it renders one of these Latin names as Jacob and the other as James.

It is regrettable that the translators of our English Bibles did not perceive the value of rendering names consistently to preserve the connection between the bearers. No doubt Satan has had a hand in this obfuscation. He is the adversary of the saints and actively opposes truth and spiritual understanding. Yahweh permits this that men might prove their love of the truth by searching for it as for hidden treasure. It is the will of God that those with only a casual interest in truth and understanding should find it difficult to perceive those things that are of value in His kingdom. The Bible remains a veiled book to the majority of Christians today.

Understanding that the author of the book of James bore the same name as that man we commonly call Jacob opens up new insights. Jacob was the father of twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. The author of the book of James begins his epistle with the following words (Note that I have rendered James more faithfully as Jacob):

Jacob 1:1
Jacob, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Yahshua Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.

What is more natural than for a man named Jacob to be sending a letter to the twelve tribes of Israel (his sons)? One can imagine Jacob, the son of Isaac, saying some of the same things that this man states in his epistle.

Jacob 2:21
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

Even as Jacob of old perceived bitter jealousy and selfish ambition among his sons, so too does the author of this book grieve over the same among his brethren.

James 3:14-18
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

We read of Jacob’s sons that they could not speak civilly to Joseph, for they were jealous of him. There were dissensions and envying among them, for they came from four different mothers, two of whom were wives and two who were concubines. One wife (Rachel) was loved more than the others, and her sons were shown favor by Jacob. The entire family was full of petty jealousies and quarrels, at times leading to major transgressions such as the betrayal of Joseph by his brothers. The author of the book of James is addressing similar behavior among the body of Christ.

Jacob 4:1-2
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel.

The connection between these two men named Jacob could not be clearer.

Yahshua

What could be more obscure than to call two men that had the same Hebrew name Joshua and Jesus? These names sound nothing alike. One has three syllables and the other two. The vowels are different. One name ends with a vowel and the other a consonant. It is easy to see why most Christians have failed to comprehend that Christ’s Hebrew name was the same as the Israelite leader whom Yahweh appointed to take His people into their inheritance. Yet it was by God’s design that these two men should bear the same name. One serves as a type of the other. First the natural, then the spiritual.

In the Hebrew language both these men were called Yahshua. This name has been Anglicized as Joshua. In Old English the letter J was pronounced as a Y. We can still see this in words such as “Hallelujah.” In fact, the “jah” in hallelujah is derived from the same Hebrew word that forms the beginning of the name Yahshua. Yah (Jah) was the name of the God of Israel. This name occurs 49 times in this form in the Old Testament, as in the following verse.

Psalms 68:4
Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.
KJV

In most instances the translators of our English Bibles have not rendered the name of God faithfully. It was the tradition of the Jews to refuse to pronounce the name of Yah, or the longer form Yahweh, considering the name to be too holy to be spoken. Yet the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the Old Testament to pen the name Yah 49 times, and the longer form Yahweh 6,828 times. The translators of the most popular English Bibles have continued the tradition of the Jews and have obscured God’s name. It has been totally removed from many English Bible translations and has been replaced by titular substitutes such as “Lord” and “Lord God.”

There has been a great attack launched by Satan against the rendering of names faithfully in the Bible. Satan is a great deceiver and the enemy of truth. He does not want Yahweh’s people to become intimately acquainted with their God. This is leading to gross error and deception in this hour when many Christians who have never learned the name of Yahweh are being deceived by ministers who are declaring that Christians serve the same God as Muslims. This claim is often followed by a pronouncement of Jews, Christians, and Muslims all tracing their faith back to Abraham. Abraham, however, was a worshiper of Yahweh, and the Muslim’s follow Allah (this is also a title, not a name). The holy book of Islam, the Koran, denies that Yahshua is the Son of God. It says He was only a prophet, and Mohammed is a greater prophet. The Koran denies that Yahshua was born of a virgin, or that He was crucified and resurrected. The Koran teaches that Allah is only one, while the Bible declares that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a triune God consisting of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Such confusion would be easily allayed if Christians knew that the name of the God of the Bible is Yahweh. However, this name is not to be found in the most popularly used translations today such as the KJV, NAS, NIV, and others. One has to purchase a divine names Bible to have a text that does not employ titular substitutes for these names and many of the divine name Bibles have errors of their own.

*Note that “Lord” and “God” are not names. They are titles. There are many lords, and many gods (I Corinthians 8:5). Each one has a name. Tragically, most Christians do not know the name of their God. Perhaps this is itself a parable, for knowing another’s name is a token of intimacy. Is Yahweh declaring that His people today do not know Him?

Yahweh gave no prohibition against speaking or writing His name. He openly declared it. He had it recorded thousands of times by men who were inspired of the Holy Spirit to pen the scriptures. There are a vast number of other names in the Bible that incorporate God’s name “Yah.” Consider the many names that end with “ah” in the Old Testament. Most of these names were a testimony of Yah. Following are some examples. I will give first the English rendering, then the Hebrew form, concluding with the name’s meaning.

Jeremiah (Yirmeyahu): Yah has uplifted.
Hezekiah (Hizqiyahu): Yah strengthens.
Adonijah (Adoniyah):My Lord is Yah.
Obadiah (Obadyah): Servant of Yah.
Zechariah (Zekaryah): Yah remembers.
Zephaniah (Tsephanyah): Yah has hidden.
Nehemiah (Nehemyah): Comforted by Yah.

Note: Hebrew spellings are from The Scriptures divine name Bible. Meanings of names are from the website www.behindthename.com.

These are just a few of the myriad of names that incorporate within themselves the name of Yah. At times the name Yah appears at the beginning of a person’s name as in the following examples.

Jehoiachim (Yehoyaqim): Yah uplifts, or establishes.
Jehoshaphat (Yehoshaphat): Yah has judged.
Joshua (Yehoshua): Yah’s salvation, or Yah is salvation.

There is no concrete rule on to how to render Hebrew names into English. I have seen the name of the Savior translated as Jesus, Yahshua, Yeshua, Yehoshua, etc.. I have chosen to write the name as Yahshua as it preserves the connection to the name Yah, the name of God the Father. It is immediately apparent that “Yah’s salvation” is an appropriate title for the Son of God, for He is the Savior of the world. It was understood at the giving of this name to the son of God that this connection was intended.

Matthew 1:21
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Yahshua, for He will save His people from their sins."

The translators of our English Bibles have done a grave disservice to the church by rendering the name of the Hebrew leader Joshua and the name of the Savior differently. In the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament from which the translators were working, both of these names are identical. For example:

Acts 7:44-45
“Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David.”

The name Joshua here is a translation of the Greek “Iesous.” Strong’s Concordance lists the following entry on this name.

NT:2424
Iesous (ee-ay-sooce'); of Hebrew origin [OT:3091]; Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua), the name of our Lord and two (three) other Israelites:

It states that the origin of this name is from the Old Testament name designated number 3091. Following is that entry.

OT:3091
Yehowshuwa` (yeh-ho-shoo'-ah); or Yehowshu`a (yeh-ho-shoo'-ah); from OT:3068 and OT:3467; Jehovah-saved; Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua), the Jewish leader: -Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Joshua.

James Strong wrote his concordance at a time when many Bible scholars believed Jehovah was the correct rendering of the four Hebrew letters Yod Hay Vav Hay, which is commonly called “the tetragrammaton.” These four Hebrew letters spell the name Yahweh. Bible scholars have since learned that Jehovah is not an accurate rendering of the name of God, and most have ceased using it.

Why did the translators of the NAS, NKJV, NIV, and numerous other Bibles render Iesous as Joshua in Acts 7:45, but translate it as Jesus in nearly every other instance? Such inconsistency reveals a profound lack of understanding of the ways in which Yahweh speaks to men through types and anti-types.

The two entries above from Strong’s Concordance reveal that the name of the Israelite leader known as Joshua, and the name of the Son of God, are one and the same. They also show that this name is connected to the idea of salvation which is provided by Yahweh.

Joshua was intended to serve as a type and shadow of the Savior who would make a way for the people of God to enter into their inheritance. Joshua’s leadership began at the crossing of the Jordan River. Standing before the people of God was an impassable body of water. The Jordan was in flood stage and could not be crossed. Yahweh divided the waters and allowed the Israelites to cross over on dry land with water on either side.

Similarly, the Son of God who bore the same name began His ministry at the Jordan River. Yahshua presented Himself to John to be baptized in the waters of the Jordan. Standing before mankind was an impassable barrier called death. It prevented mankind from entering into their spiritual inheritance. Christ came to make a way for mankind to get past this barrier.

When Joshua led the Israelites through the Jordan, a baptism was being signified. Moses had forty years earlier “baptized” the people at the crossing of the Red Sea.

I Corinthians 10:1-2
For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea...

Moses, however, could not lead the Israelites into the promised land. In Yahweh’s foresight and predestination it was given to one bearing the Hebrew name Yahshua to lead the people through the Jordan, for this symbolized that work of salvation provided by the Son of God.

Romans 6:3-4
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Yahshua have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Moses as the Law giver could not provide new life to the people of God (Galatians 3:21). Only the Son of God, Yahshua, can give divine life to mankind. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes unto the Father but by Him (John 14:6). To signify that salvation Yahshua would provide to mankind 1,500 years later, Yahweh appointed another man named Yahshua to lead His people through the Jordan and into their inheritance.

In addition to both of these men beginning their ministries at the Jordan, there are many more profound parallels between their lives. They are too numerous to cite, and I consider myself to have comprehended only a small portion of the ways in which these men’s lives correspond. Nevertheless, following are a limited number of examples.

Joshua and Yahshua: Both Leaders of God’s People
Joshua: [Moses said] Yahweh was angry with me also on your account, saying, "Not even you shall enter there. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there; encourage him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it.” (Deuteronomy 1:37-38)

Yahshua: “And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Ruler, Who will shepherd My people Israel.” (Matthew 2:6)

Joshua and Yahshua: Both Called out of Egypt
Joshua: “None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land... except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed Yahweh fully.” (Numbers 32:11-12)

Yahshua: “Joseph arose and took the Child and His mother by night, and departed for Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod, that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, ‘Out of Egypt did I call My Son.’” (Matthew 2:14-15)

Joshua and Jesus: Both Filled with the Spirit
Joshua: So Yahweh said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.” (Numbers 27:18)

Yahshua: “You know of Yahshua of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit...” (Acts 10:38)

Joshua and Yahshua: Appoint Twelve Men
Joshua: "So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe.” (Joshua 4:4).

Yahshua: “And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach...” (Mark 3:13-14)

Joshua and Yahshua both Circumcise the People
Joshua: “At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, ‘Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.’ So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.” (Joshua 5:2-3)

Yahshua: “And in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.” (Colossians 2:11 )

Joshua and Yahshua Deliver a Harlot from Death
Joshua: “However, Rahab the harlot and her father's household and all she had, Joshua spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day.” (Joshua 6:25)

Yahshua: “The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?..." When they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her..." When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Yahshua said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Yahshua said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."(John 8:3-11)

Joshua and Yahshua Conquer a Great City
Joshua: The conquest of Canaan began with the overthrow of that great city Jericho with its massive walls. The plan of battle was most unusual, and Yahweh definitely is revealing something through the extraordinary details. For six days Joshua led the people in marching around Jericho. On the seventh day they marched around seven times. They then blew the trumpets and shouted and the walls of the city fell down. The inhabitants were slain and this territory fell into Israel’s hands. The remainder of the Canaanites, hearing about this, trembled in fear for their lives.

Yahshua: Christ has come to destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8). Satan’s works are symbolized by the great city Babylon. The book of Revelation reveals the destruction of Babylon by Christ, and there are great similarities to Joshua’s conquest of Jericho. Christ’s judgment of the world begins with seven trumpets being blown. In a parallel to the conquest of Jericho, the seventh act of God is further divided into seven individual actions. Pertaining to Jericho, on the seventh day the Israelites were instructed to march around the city seven times. On the preceding days it was only one time. In a parallel, when each of the first six trumpets are blown in Revelation there is a single event that occurs. However, when the seventh trumpet is blown there are seven vials poured out. Thus, as with Jericho, the seventh act itself has seven parts. When the last of the seven vials is poured out, there is a great earthquake, the city falls and is destroyed.

Revelation 16:17-19
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, "It is done." And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

Each of these parallels between the characters of the Old and New Testaments could make a study in itself. Many, many, more examples could be cited. This token sampling of types and anti-types should be sufficient, however, to demonstrate that Yahweh has with great purpose and design raised up individuals who bore the same names to show forth patterns and testimonies to His holy people.

Great mysteries are waiting to be plumbed in the word of God. It is my desire that your eyes might be opened to seek out and understand these treasures of truth; things hidden in darkness that Yahweh will reveal to those who love the truth.

Isaiah 45:3
“I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that it is I, Yahweh, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.”

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