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Copyright © 1996-2006 Mel West. All rights reserved.
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Bounds of Wisdom (continued)
by Mel West
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Dummelow's interpretation of this:
Dummelow p. 784 [John 5.28] The literal resurrection at the last day is meant. 29. Damnation--i.e. condemnation, literally 'judgment'.
When we began this letter with statements of judgment, relevant to the opening of the books, or Book of Life, it is clear that there are two judgments for the Gentile. The first judgment has to do with measuring those who have had a hand in persecuting the Jews and who have fallen away from the LORD's commandments [re: John 6.66] – which leads to identification of those who destroy the earth per Revelation 11.18, the verse which begins:
Rev. 11.18 And the nations were angry..
Now coupled with the anger and rage of the nations (see Psalm 2) is confusion and the fact that they are simply mad because they were warned but did not listen to the warning, and because they did not listen all hell broke loose as it were. Now Revelation 11 begins with the testimony of God's Two Witnesses . Their point of view is as listed above and they are like the Two Angels who visited Sodom.
Pertaining to those who persecuted the Jews, we showed in On the Breakage of the Holy Catholic Church that the Pauline Church led the persecution; and thus it is judged, because it tempted God and endeavored to force the Jews away from their Law. Here, then, in plain words, is the condemnation:
Isaiah 5.24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Woe unto them, then, who cause(d) the Children of Israel to stray from their law! As noted in our Mehl Commentary , pages 22 and 23, it was the judgment of the apostolic court that the Jews (including Paul who was a Jew) should continue to obey the Law, but that the Law need not be a burden to the Gentile Church. This sentence still stands. Those who continue to read those passages in Paul's Epistles which condemn the Law and the Jews (whom he calls the Circumcised) fall under the same judgment thrown upon Israel noted above.
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When we said that contempt for the Holy Scriptures brings death, it is further verified by:
Zechariah 7.11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
7.12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets; therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.
Because to whom much is given much is required, the wrath thrown upon Israel because of the above complaint, will be seen as merciful compared to the wrath this nation's pastors have sown upon their own heads. Have they not heard?:
I Samuel 15.22 ..Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
As concerning the interpretation of Zechariah above, Dummelow says:
Dummelow p. 606 The prophet wishes to emphasize the truth, that to obey God's word is the supreme demand of religious life: compare 1 Sam. 15.22. The rejection of God's message in days gone by brought desolation and exile. The true fast is to abstain from sin, and to listen to the voice of God.
We saw that the Word of God is Reason, and that His reason has foundations of Scripture, where one precept is built upon another, as illustrated through this text. Neither Jesus nor his apostles, Saints Peter and James, their leaders, would have dared tempt the following as it applies to the Jews:
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Deut. 26.18 ..the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;
26.19 And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.
Deut. 27.26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
This scripture records the day of the Covenant made by the Children of Israel and YHVH, about the 15th of May 1491/1492 B.C. This was an eternal covenant made with the Jews, and this covenant was honored by Jesus and Saints Peter and James. In contrast to Paul's assertions in his epistles, there are those like Dummelow's Commentary which recognized that the Gospel of Christ [New Testament] does not replace the Old Testament. He says:
Dummelow p 615. [referring to Malachi 4.5] ..Whenever 'the old order changes, giving place to new,' God sends the world an Elijah. The Old Testament is not made obsolete by the New, for the gospel is the continuation and the interpretation of prophecy.
Turn to page 24 of our Mehl Commentary. When I said that the LORD signed with the words, I AM, I AM, I AM, in my private writings it was the same as the signature, Holy, Holy, Holy. This comes from:
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Leviticus 19.1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
19.2 Speak unto all the congregation of the Children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.
This was the moment the Ten Commandments and the Tabernacle were delivered to the Children of Israel. This is also the cry of the Seraphim beings [meaning burning or great brightness ] who reside around the throne of God:
Isaiah 6.1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
6.2 Above it stood the seraphim: each had six wings; with twain covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
6.3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory...
6.9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Now John in Revelation saw these Seraphim as the Four Cherubim whom Ezekiel saw in the Great Infolding Wind in the desert near the river Chebar. They each had the face of a lion, a calf, a man, and an eagle in Ezekiel's vision, but in John's vision each Cherub showed but one face at a time, whether it was a lion, calf, man, or eagle. In Ezekiel's vision the calf was transformed into a Cherub [meaning terrible ]. Among the group the calf is allowed for sacrifice. Thus:
Rev. 4.8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him ; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
4.9 And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
4.10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
4.11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
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This is what Dummelow's Commentary says concerning the above:
Dummelow p 417. ..Isaiah's vision foreshadows such leading elements of his thought as, (1) the majesty of God, (2) the uncleanness of the people, (3) his conviction that he had a divine message for them, (4) their stubbornness and heedlessness, (5) the necessity of judgment, (6) the idea of the remnant...
3. Holy, Holy, Holy--the threefold repetition denotes emphasis or intensity (Jer. 7.4) [see as follows; ed. note]:
Jer. 7.3 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
7.4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
7.5 For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly executed judgment between a man and his neighbor;
7.6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
7.7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever.
7.8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
7.9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
7.10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
7.11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
7.12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
7.13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
7.14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
7.15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
[Dummelow cont.] It is significant that the title of Jehovah most characteristic of Isaiah's prophecies is 'the Holy One of Israel.' In the light of later revelation Christians have not unnaturally seen here a foreshadowing of The Holy Trinity : compare Rev. 4.8.
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In Hidden Pavilions we discuss the three persons mentioned in Isaiah: The LORD, creator, The Holy One of Israel , and His Redeemer , the Son ; and how the Holy One of Israel and the Son are the same Spirit, being manifestations of the Holy Spirit of the LORD.
Reaching for perfection
When the LORD said be holy because I am holy , it is the same as saying be ye perfect because I am perfect . Thus we have Jesus saying:
Matt. 5.48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.
We have seen above through the process of reason [the LOGOS] the perfection of God is Truth, that He cannot lie; neither does He gather to Himself liars; and it is His intention to remove liars from His Sight. In ordering this He set up a standard of Truthfulness among His Chosen People, the Children of Israel, and covenanted with them to be separated unto Him [His Truth]. His Truth was delivered initially in the Law of Moses to which the prophets and my work are appended. In all this Word of God there are blessings and curses first to Israel and then to the Nations (Gentile). We have seen above that it is in the interest of the LORD that all men repent and come to Him and His House of Glory. Whilst He is not disposed to repent of His Blessings given to both Jew and Gentile alike, once a Curse has been pronounced against a people, unless they change their ways as noted above, then the Curse will be poured out (see Revelation 15.5-17.1). One can view this in many ways, as being forced to drink from a cup of bitters, passing under a rod raised above one's head, or having vials of destruction poured out from above.
The Holy One of Israel and the Son are often referred to as God's Rod. There is a conversation between the Holy One of Israel in Isaiah which reflects Him before His Creator and his mouth is a sword (see Isaiah 49.1-11; 51.16; 42), which is a conversation we present in Hidden Pavilions . The Son, who is the Son of Truth, or the Word of God, out of whose mouth cometh a fiery sword, is mentioned in Revelation 19 and 20 and 4 Ezra (Hidden Pavilions pp. 125-127). He doesn't mince words, as it were. Compare Him now with your pastors whom I have seen, who are good at mincing words, telling you what you want to hear.
Well, the Son of Truth is one in Spirit with the LORD, isn't He? as is true with the prophets. He, the LORD and the prophets, become We .
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As we mentioned on page 24 of our Mehl Commentary, being Holy to God also means wholly separated in Truthfulness unto Him. Thus:
I Peter 5. 2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
5.3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.
This comes from:
Micah 7.14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
7.15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.
7.16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
7.17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.
7.18 Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy.
7.19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
7.20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
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Now this is Dummelow's interpretation of solitarily dwelling with the LORD mentioned above:
Dummelow p. 584 [on Micah 7.14] The prophet passes abruptly to prayer. Solitarily--Israel was always separated from the nations as the flock of God: compare Numbers 23.9: [Nu. 23.9--For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations].
This confirms what we mentioned, that the chief crime against the LORD by the Jews would be to contaminate their separateness. We see this restated concerning the Last Days, when God takes out his vengeance against the Gentile for having persecuted His People and His Law. Witness:
Zephaniah 1.7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, He hath bid his guests.
1.8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel...
1.16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
1.17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung [see Ezekiel 38; Rev. 20.8; ed. note].
1.18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land [see Isaiah 2.15-21].
Let's see what Dummelow's Commentary says about the above:
Dummelow p. 594 [on Zephaniah 1.7,8] Jehovah's Day is here conceived of as a day of judgment, as in Amos 5.18
[Am. 5.18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! To what end is it for you? The day of the LORD is darkness, and not light];
and is likened to a great sacrificial feast: compare 1 Samuel 9.13:
[1 Sam. 9.11..Is the seer here?
9.12 And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you: make haste now, for he came to day to the city, for there is a sacrifice of the people today in the high place:
9.13 As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that be bidden];
and the guests are Judah's enemies. Compare for the same figure of speech Isaiah
13.3.
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[Is. 13.3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness...
13.11 I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible...
13.13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the Day of his fierce anger..they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land]
[Zeph. 8] The chief crime of the princes in the prophet's eyes is the introduction of foreign customs; see Isaiah 2.6-8:
[Is. 2.6-8..they please themselves in the children of strangers..they worship the work of their own hands..
2.11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
2.12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up..
2.15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall..
2.19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth..
So that the pastors understand perfectly what is meant by separating thyself , let us hear more of what Dummelow has to say about it:
Dummelow p 606 [on Zechariah 7.3] Separating myself--The word is the root whence the term 'Nazarite' is derived. The fast involved abstinence from other things besides food and drink: see Leviticus 16.29,31.
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The context of the passage, built from Numbers 6, is as follows:
Zechariah 7.3 And speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
7.5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?...
7.9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother:
7.10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
7.11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
7.12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.
7.13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear..
7.14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.
You are our witness, that because the Jews did not keep themselves separated unto the LORD, they were scattered as described above. Remember the passage earlier described, where He complained that the Jews had turned His House of Prayer into a den of robbers? Jesus used the same expression when He turned over the tables of the money lenders in the Temple:
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Matthew 21.11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
21.12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
21.13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the House of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
This is the verse to which Jesus referred:
Isaiah 56.6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
56.7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an House of prayer for all people.
This passage refers to the restoration of the Temple at the time the Children of Israel are restored to the Promised Land. For it is the Branch who must then restore the Temple, as noted in our several writings. Recall, therefore, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and recall the verse in 1 Samuel above which requires at the time of the sacrifice, one awaits the seer [prophet of God] before the sacrifice begins. Recall also that the Sacrifice will be Leviathan and that we have identified in Against Leviathan the principal head of that creature as this nation, and we have called this nation's pastors thieves for the reasons mentioned in the Quest and listed above, that what applies to the Jews also applies to the Gentile. Recall also the passages we listed concerning the Watchmen, how they are blind and ignorant. This comment (Is. 56.10) follows the passage concerning the LORD's House of prayer for all people. We complained in Hidden Pavilions and our other works that the houses of prayer we have seen in this nation (and elsewhere) are not for all people. Who among them has ever answered me when I knocked on their door? In On the Breakage of the Holy Catholic Church and in particular Philistia Triumph thou because of me , we point out how important it is to build that promised House of prayer for all people and how it will differ from your houses of prayer. Ours will not have any priests or pastors to beguile the flock after their own whims. Ours' will be a House of prayer for all people. Take this to heart:
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Isaiah 57.13..but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain.
And:
Isaiah 26.2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
We spoke of the Golden Gate in Jerusalem which has been sealed. There is also a seal against building the temple which was imposed by the Pauline Church who in their ignorance are the stumbling block prophesied as follows
Isaiah 57.14 And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.
7.15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones...
7.20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
7.21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
The Quest is an indictment of these people who block the way of completing the LORD's Holy Word. As noted in our complaint, we have not seen a contrite heart or a humble spirit, which are the sacrifices required in our House of Prayer for all people mentioned in Philistia Triumph thou because of me.
In order to appreciate this judgment now turn to page 26 of our Mehl Commentary, concerning the Second Coming.
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The Second Coming is the judgment
Jesus's mind follows Daniel 7 and 12, where Jesus says the Son of Man shall come in judgment in the clouds of heaven:
Mark 13.26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
13.27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
Matthew 13.41 The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
13.42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
13.43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father.
And the righteous shall shine forth as the sun. This comes from:
Daniel 12.3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
This follows:
Eccl. 7.11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.
7.12 For Wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it...
7.25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness.
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One at the Gate of Righteousness at the top of the stairs of heaven is given Wisdom, that is to say, God's Truth. The prophets and rabbis saw the Christ conversing with man after this manner. Witness:
Psalm 118.19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
118.20 This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
118.21 I will praise thee: for thou has heard me, and art become my salvation.
118.22 The stone which the builder refused is become the head stone of the corner.
118.23 This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
118.24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
118.25 Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
118.26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
Now this particular string of pearls you should know quite well. In the Mehl Commentary we showed in brief how the substance of Christ includes one who calls and no one answers. He, as the Light of the Gentile, works alone and this is particularly seen in Isaiah 42 and 49.
Coupled with this in the above Psalm is the idea that the stone which the builders refused is become the foundation stone. This is often quoted as a foundation of Christianity. The Second Coming, then, must involve these characteristics, one who is rejected of men and who suddenly becomes recognized by everyone as the cornerstone of God's religion. This is the day the Lord Hath made refers to that event of the Second Coming which is the Judgment and foundation of the Kingdom.
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Save now is the word, Hosanna, in Hebrew, which is how Christ was hailed as He rode into Jerusalem, followed by his disciples singing the refrain of Psalm 118.26 above [see Matt. 21.9].
All of these verses go together. That Jesus recognized them as applying to the Judgment is demonstrated as follows:
Luke 13.35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Now the portion of His Wisdom cannot be appreciated by you until you realize that He said it in the following context, as recorded by Matthew:
Matthew 23.33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
23.34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
23.35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Bar-achias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
23.36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
23.37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
23.38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
23.39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
There are three points of interest in the above: (1) Israel, which has killed God's prophets, will kill Christ and (2) Israel shall be scattered and their house shall be left desolate [re: Isaiah 7.14-23] and (3) their restoration will involve a recognition of Christ. This latter item is confirmed in Revelation, which presents the Christ, Light of the Gentile (mentioned in Isaiah 42 and 49 as coming out of Edom to enter Jerusalem and bring forth the Judgment of the Gentile) following the criteria that first the servants of God are marked so that the wrath would pass over them:
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Rev. 7.2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
7.3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
7.4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Then, after bringing forth the Jews into the LORD's army, come the multitude of nations who suffered because of Christ:
Rev. 7.9 And this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
7.10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb.
Thus, in the Second Coming we see an army formed out of the angels of heaven, the prophets, the scribes, the wise men, the Jews, and those who suffered for the sake of Christ. They are set to enter the Gate of Righteousness which is in Jerusalem, to fulfill Psalm 118 above. Now the rabbis always connected the restoration of the Tabernacle with the opening of the Gate of Righteousness. This follows [see pp. 639-643 of Hidden Pavilions]:
Zohar: The opening of the Tent is the opening of Righteousness as the Psalmist says: Open for me the gates of righteousness (Psalms 118.9)
Why is the opening of the Tent (Tabernacle of Moses) an opening to righteousness? Because it was promised as part of Israel's restoration, together with the Temple:
Isaiah 33.20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
Ezekiel 37.27 My Tabernacle also shall be with them..
Amos 9.11 In that day will I raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof: and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
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The reason for this promise follows the promise that God will reside again with Israel in Jerusalem. His residence was always called the Mercy Seat which sat upon the Ark of the Covenant which was placed in the Sanctuary of the Tabernacle. The restoration of Israel and the Judgment of the Gentile is a Day of great Mercy. In fact, Jesus said that lest those days be cut short no flesh would be saved [Mark 13.20].
Now God's Glory was seen upon the Mercy Seat as a Cloud by Day and a Fire by night. This Cloud was called the Shechinah, and it is this thing which is identified as a manifestation of God's Wisdom or prophetic power. It is from the Shechinah, which Moses saw originally atop Mt. Sinai, that the Law of Moses and the Tabernacle and its Mercy Seat came. Thus, the rabbis concluded:
Zohar: The Shechinah is the opening to the divine.
Thus:
Matt. 16.27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
24.30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Thus, if you can understand how the Glory of God and God's Cloud , the Shechinah , reflect the presence of God's Wisdom and Might, then you should be able to see Christ coming with the Tabernacle in his hands.
Remember chapter 15 of Revelation which releases the seven angels out of the temple with their seven vials full of the wrath of God. Before they appear the following is seen:
Rev. 15.5 And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.
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The Tabernacle contained the Ark of the Covenant which is the [initial] Testimony of Heaven. All of the prophets and their Christ are appended to that Testimony. Now this is the same as saying that with the opening of the Tabernacle comes the opening of the Books, which we discussed earlier. Thus:
Enoch 52.15 For all these things will be laid bare in the weighing-scales and in the books, on the day of the great judgment [see page 165 of Hidden Pavilions for context]
The essence of the Wisdom, as you have seen it here, becomes brighter the closer you come to the Glory of God. On the stairs of Heaven one is closer to the sun, as it were, which is an allegory of The Word , whose illumination is brilliant as the sun. That illumination comes through as righteousness which always distills to honoring the contrite and humble spirit.
The judgment of God has been compared to a threshingfloor and a Winepress. The Stairs of Heaven are a High Place where the view is good, and a High Place was also known as a Threshingfloor . Often altars were built on Threshingfloors. For instance, to stay off a plague King David made an altar on the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite [2 Samuel 24.22].
One of my paintings in Paris is of a Turkish woman threshing wheat. In this picture she sits on her knees throwing the wheat and chaff into the air before her. She sits on a high place so that the chaff is blown by the wind down the slope, away from the seed, which falls before her lap. This is pretty much how the threshingfloor of Araunah was used.
Judgment in the Bible is often described as threshing the chaff from the wheat, as a winepress, and as pulling up weeds. As in the example earlier mentioned, cited by Jesus, where the tares, or weeds, are gathered at harvest with the wheat, we have one allegory of burning judgment of sin; but on the threshingfloor we deal with separating the chaff from the wheat, which is a process of Wisdom relying upon the Spirit of God, following the idea that the Spirit of God is as a Great Wind. Thus when we suggested you watch the Wind, we were referring also to your watching for Great Wisdom. To perform that kind of watch you must be open: hearing and understanding. If you hear and do not understand then in the eyes of heaven you fall with the chaff.
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The threshing kind of judgment follows also after the manner of a wine-press which is too complex to describe here. It is suffice to say that both threshingfloors and winepresses serve to refine a thing, whether in the first instance the chaff from the wheat, or the latter the meat of the grape from the juice. In both cases the dregs are destroyed. For whether it be seed or grape, the fruit of Heaven comes through Wisdom and understanding. The Glory of God is to search the hearts of men for this, as one sifting upon a threshingfloor. The great blasphemer in Rev. 13 is not aware of this and is seen as follows:
Rev. 13.6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Now before the Seven Angles pour out their vials, when the Tabernacle of the Testimony in Heaven is opened, those who had gotten the victory over this blasphemer are seen; and:
Rev. 15.3 .. they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the Song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints...
15.4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
The Song of Moses [sic. How I will praise the LORD] is in Exodus 15.1-19. The Song of the Lamb is a function of the Psalms (which follow the Song of Moses) but most noteworthy among them is:
Psalm 139. 11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
139.12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
139.13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
139.14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
139.15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
139.16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
27.4 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His Pavilion: in the secret of his Tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock.
111.6 He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that He may give them the heritage of the heathen.
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Now working with the prophets in hand is like sifting wheat or refining the fruit of the LORD's watchmen. According to Dummelow p. 535, the watcher mentioned in Daniel 4.13, is a holy one or an angel and is common among later apocalyptic books. After a manner of speaking, then, one given an apocalyptic book sifts and resifts them individually and together, the vision of the angels and prophets, the Word of God, to get at the wheat. This is what I have been doing, and in my letters to Buckley I complained that it is as if I am being pressed through a wine-press, as is the occasion now. In my case there is something in me which is being pressed out of me; and in another allegory it is as if the word which is in me is being thrown up into the wind. I am, as it were, seated on the threshingfloor of God.
The higher one climbs the Stairs of Heaven the more one absorbs the light. In this parable, as I sit on the threshingfloor, a high place, I am being pressed to release light....
Micah describes the day of Judgment as the day of the Watchmen:
Micah 7.1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
7.2 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is no one upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
7.3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
7.4 The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now will be their perplexity.
7.5 Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
7.6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house...
7.8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
7.9..He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
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This is what Dummelow says concerning the day of the Watchmen:
Dummelow p. 584 [on Micah 7.4] The day of thy Watchmen and thy visitation--the day of God's visitation foretold by the prophets: compare Isaiah 21.6:
[Isa. 21.6--For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.]
It will confound such men, since its principles are the opposite of theirs.
Ezekiel 33 describes the responsibilities of a watchman in the eyes of God. The most important thought to keep in mind here is Ezekiel 33.8, concerning a Watchman who does not pass on the vision God has given to him. That unfaithful watchman shall bear the blood which comes as a result of his failure to report what he has seen. This is the opening argument of Against Leviathan , that when you see something endangering the people of God you must report it and what God has remedied thereof. Included in our remedy for these times, is, of course, the Tabernacle as explained in Hidden Pavilions and Philistia Triumph Thou because of me . This now brings us to page 28 of the Mehl Commentary , where we quote Revelation 11.18. This reflects the vision of Isaiah, as follows:
Isaiah 24.4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
24.5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
24.6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
24.7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted sigh...
24.10 The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in...
24.18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
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Compare this with:
Ezekiel 28.25 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.
28.26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.
It is easy to see from the above that the Judgment of the Gentile includes judgements against those who despised Israel and their Law. We began that judgment with Paul, as summed in our Mehl Commentary, in On the Breakage of the Holy Catholic Church. This follows:
Habakkuk 3.13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.
Now an allegory of the pit, which is the depth of hell, is a burning pit, following the example of the continuously burning garbage dump burning outside the walls of Jerusalem, called Gehenna, which was a place of eternal torment and the basis of the Bottomless pit in Rev. 20.1 with its lake of fire. The pit in Revelation builds from the prophesy which says I will be a wall of fire round about Jerusalem [Zech. 2.5] and this ties into the fiery pit by which Nebuchadnezzar threatened Daniel [Daniel l3.6] to which Dummelow's commentary here applies:
Dummelow p. 535 [on Daniel 3.6] Burning fiery furnace--a form of death penalty mentioned in Jeremiah 29.22 as inflicted by Nebuchadnezzar.
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This is relative, since the prophesy of Daniel said that Nebuchadnezzar would be resurrected in the last days and Saddam Hussein thinks he is that Nebuchadnezzar who, as we have already seen, seems to be fascinated with fire and columns of smoke. So you should watch Saddam Hussein and what comes out of him. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar, he was used by God to judge the Jews in the second captivity. It may be that he will be again used, but this time to judge the nations.
When three men were thrown into Nebuchadnezzar's furnace [Daniel 3.25] four were seen, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
In like manner, keeping in mind that Christ's kingdom is set up with a wall of fire around Jerusalem we have:
Rev. 1.13 And in the midst of the candlesticks, One like unto the Son of Man..
1.15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace..
19.17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
19.18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men both free and bond, both small and great.
19.20..And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet..These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone..
At the moment the leaders among those who are outwardly persecuting Israel are the Iranians and Saddam. Those who are inwardly persecuting them are the pastors who preach the portions of Paul's epistles which have to do with condemnation of the Law and the Jews.
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This brings us to page 30 of the Mehl Commentary. Keeping in mind the idea that the wicked are caught in the very same snare they set for others, and the idea of Isaiah 50.11 [re: ibid. p. 36], that you shall walk in the light of your own sparks that ye have kindled, it is easy to see that the builder of the lake of fire is the same one who is thrown into it. This follows:
Hosea 12.2 The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.
This is the thesis upon which Dante's Inferno is based, where he sees various people whom he knew in Florence who are suffering in hell according to the sins they had shown Dante on earth.
The perspective of Christ is from Jacob's Ladder and from the point of view that he can see what is going on in hell. In our allegory we approached Buckley from the gate at the top of the stairs, following the idea:
John 1.51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
We can compare this to this:
Micah 1.9..he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
About this Dummelow says:
Dummelow p. 580 [on Micah 1.9] he is come--'it' (i.e. the wound) 'reacheth'. The gate was the seat of the old men, the scene of justice. Jerusalem is called the gate of the people, as the center of its wisdom and Justice.
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Thus we have the idea:
Zech. 8.3..I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the Holy Mountain.
And thus we have the idea that Christ standing before the Golden Gate of Jerusalem (which is still sealed, blocking His Way) is the same as Christ standing with all the Wisdom of God at the top of Jacob's Ladder , with the Gate in Jerusalem being the same as the Gate before the throne of the LORD. His perception is the same.
Dummelow clarifies this, relative to Christ's statement of the angels ascending and descending upon him:
Dummelow p. 777 [on John 1.49] The Son of God--a title of the Messiah even in the Old Testament..51. See Genesis 28.12. As Jacob saw in his dream a vision of angels ascending and descending the ladder, so the disciples would see in Christ the link and connection between heaven and earth. Through Christ the locked-up heavens were again to be opened, and communion between heaven and earth restored..
The main link has to do with a connection of the wisdom of Heaven with man. Thus:
Zohar: Then human beings will perceive wondrous, precious Wisdom never known by them before; all these are destined to alight on King Messiah so that he may judge the world.
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From the view from the stairs, judgment begins first with the capitals of sin. This follows:
Micah 1.5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
This is what Dummelow says about the above:
Dummelow p. 579 [on Micah 1]..Micah summons the nations to witness the event ( vv. 2-4). The scourge will fall most heavily on the capitals, because the sin of the people has centered there (v-5).
Thus, America is she who desolates the earth foremost among the nations (as against Rev. 11.18), her pastors have been leading her to this end, which is darkness, and this leads us to conclude that her capital invites the LORD's rod upon it as a central theme of the judgment of the nations, and her punishment will be like unto that evil which she has thrown upon the world. What is that evil? First the ability to destroy the world with fire, plagues, and chemicals; and her lead in desolating the world with those things; secondly we can see by measure of her indifference to suffering (because of the multitudes of homeless she ignores on her streets) and her cold enchantment with violence of all kinds; thirdly that she lost the ability in the frigidness of her wasteland to cry--these show a Nimrod type character who is mighty but caught in his own filth. Now we saw this character bound at the absolute bottom of the pit and described it in our Quest. So it is from our point of view that the pastors of this nation are not clean.
On page 32 of the Mehl Commentary we agree that the way to remedy a misdirected people is to first draw them aside quietly, explaining how it is they have come to muddying our tapestry as it were. This comes from:
Hosea 11.3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
11.4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
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Dummelow says of this:
Dummelow p. 554 [on Hosea 11.3,4] 3. Taking ..arms-- 'He took them,' etc. The prophet sometimes speaks as the mouthpiece of God in the first person; less frequently he speaks of God in the third. 4. Cords..man--not with cords used in drawing a beast which is being broken in but something more gentle, the kindly discipline needful for winning a man's allegiance.
Feed with meat
One cannot live on bread alone; Christ is the manna come down from heaven. Thus:
Deut. 8.3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.This is what Jesus said, which you should know:
Matt. 4.4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Like Hosea, Jesus often spoke God's Word using the first person.
Our troop mentioned on page 33 of our Mehl Commentary are that bread of life. To see Christ your pastors must come to this:
Hosea 6.5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
6.6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
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Remember:
Hosea 12.5 Even the LORD God of hosts [ADONAY ELOHIM TZVAOT; ed. note]; the LORD is his memorial.
Which Dummelow says:
Dummelow p 555 [on Hosea 12.5] Lit. 'And Jehovah is the God of armies. Jehovah is His memorial.' The thoughts emphasized are, (1) the protective power of God; (2) His faithfulness. Hosea has probably in his mind Ex. 3.15. Jehovah was the God of the Patriarchs, who would keep the promises which he had made to them.
Now God anticipated that the nations would be preoccupied with other things besides feasting on His Word, so He contrived a plan by which He would plead with His Word before He struck them with the rod of His Wrath to get their attention. Witness:
Micah 1.2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
Dummelow says of this:
Dummelow p. 579 [on Micah 1.2] 2. All ye people--'ye peoples, all of you.' His holy temple--i.e., heaven, as in Hab. 2.20, Isa. 63.15. Israel's ruin is to be an object lesson to the nations.
This, then, is the nature of our lesson. That America--whom we have listed as the Target of God's Wrath-- is about to see the same lesson Israel learned. Again our thoughts are confirmed by:
Obadiah 15. For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
16. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
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Of this Dummelow says:
Dummelow p. 574 [on Obadiah 15,16]..The Jews are addressed 'who have drunk of the cup of the wrath of Jehovah,' and they are told that all the heathen shall be forced to drink the cup that they have drunk of. Instead of swallow down, a slight textual emendation will give 'stagger,' which is more consistent with the context.
This is what we are talking about on page 34 of our Mehl Commentary . Pastors tend to over-look the criteria leading up to the cup this nation is about to swallow down.
On page 35 of our Mehl Commentary we speak of standing on the wall. Now this is the wall where we are standing:
Amos 7.8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:
Dummelow says:
Dummelow p. 570 [on Amos 7,8] Upon a wall--'beside a wall.' The testing of the wall is a symbol of the searching investigation into the people's conduct, which would be followed by a strictly just recompense (2 S. 8.2, 2 K 21.13, Isa. 34.11, Jer. 11,12, Lam. 2.8).
So our Quest is an investigation of a people who are judged after the perceptions of the prophets. The problem is that as with Israel before, there is no one who will hear us, as complained on page 35 of the Mehl Commentary --as it is said:
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Zech. 7.11 But they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
Which Dummelow says:
Dummelow p. 606 [on Zech. 7.11] Pulled away the shoulder. Like an obstinate man refusing to listen to good advice, turning away quickly when a hand is laid upon his shoulder: compare 'to give the cold shoulder.'
Bringing a sword upon a land
On page 35 of our Mehl Commentary we speak of the sword. Again we can refer to Ezekiel 33:
Ezekiel 33.2..When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
33.3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people...
Well, the pastors of this land seem to have little understanding that the first sword they ought to be looking for is that sword in the mouth of Christ [Rev. 19.15]. Consider now another matter how the sword is presented:
Ezekiel 14.13 Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof..
14.14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
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Dummelow, referring to these says:
Dummelow p. 513 [on Ezekiel 33.2] The Sword--usually a symbol of impending calamity (see 14.17,) but here it is simply a detail in the figure of the watchman.
Now from this we have:
Micah 6.9 The LORD's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it.
About which Dummelow says:
Dummelow p. 584 [on Micah 6.9] The text is uncertain but the sense is clear. ' God speaks in warning, it is the part of a wise man to fear and to seek to discover the reason why God uplifts His rod'.
Thus we have our Quest for Watchmen . But all the pastors are blind, as it is said:
Zech. 12.4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness
Dummelow says:
Dummelow p. 610 [on Zech. 12.3,4].. Those nations that take in hand to capture and rule Jerusalem will find it difficult. Probably the idea is that of raising and carrying a boulder that is too heavy for a man's strength. 4. every horse of the people--'peoples,' i.e. nations attacking Jerusalem. The eyes of the Lord will be opened to look favorably upon His people, but their enemies will be blinded.
In this sense you can see how Saddam and others are acting blindly and how Americans are being blindly brought into the struggle. These words are light, that they will apply the scriptures for life and avoid death, which is our point on page 37 of our Mehl Commentary .
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Isaiah 7.14-24 is introduced by the prophet by asking, Ye weary me, but will you weary my God also?. Today we say to the pastors:
Malachi 2.17 Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
There are those who worry over the prosperity of the ungodly. Few understand that it is for the lack of knowledge that the people perish. So we ask you to come and reason with us (see Isaiah 1.17,18; Hosea 6.7, Zech. 7.9, Micah 6.8,9, Jer. 5.21). Thus this can happen to America:
Isaiah 5.13 ..my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge..
But the righteous shall see the lesson:
Psalm 107.41 Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.
107.42 The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.
107.43 Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.
But woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! [Is. 5.20]. This is what is behind my comment on page 39 of the Mehl Commentary . It is time for the pastors to answer to our Great Troop .
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We search for someone who has the wisdom to understand. If you wish to understand my despair it is this.
The Bible you honor in your Church is a wonderful device through which wise men over the ages have come and gone to rectify the wrongs of man. To them, the first priority is to find wise men to receive them as it was in the days of Lot.
If your pastors bathe in the light of the Bible seriously, you admire them; and if I have been clothed in its light and they yet cannot see me, what is my reward?
Love M
10/23/94
Appendix A
Letter Log
Mr. Buckley's answer to Quest for Human Dignity:
October 26, 1994
It's only later on that the sun won't be our light by day, nor the moon give us brightness: later on, when they don't go down any more. Meanwhile Babel's awfully instructive on the subject of people who try to make it to the gates by their own efforts. (Pentecost, of course, is the opposite of Babel.)
Yours cordially,
Wm. F. Buckley Jr.
(right after this letter there was a major eclipse of the sun; ed. note)
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Our answer:
November 1, 1994
Dear Mr. Buckley,
The sight of your letter of October 26, 1994 lifted me, as it pricks at the central issue of the enclosed work, The Mehl Commentary, in two parts, which I recently sent in answer to my brother.
What you described, that the sun won't be our light by day, nor the moon give us brightness , is a moment and feature of the Last Day: Judgment Day. Of course a Day to the LORD is as a thousand years. Maybe two thousand. The Apocalypse you listed is oleaginous and not without its New Year Chorus (see enclosure). A new day is born. Songs of Wisdom can mitigate its birth pains.
By the criteria shown in the enclosed, that day has arrived. The principal gauge here is the fact that Israel has been restored from its two thousand year aeon of exile; and the prophets are clear in their vision that they could not see the restored Israel without the LORD Himself being returned to Jerusalem with mercies and having engaged the nations with Judgment (see page 40,41 Part 2 of The Mehl Commentary , in particular). That day, the Day of the Watchman, comes sooner than you may have perceived.
We are agreed, of course, on the issue of Babel. I trust that you have ascertained in my work, by measure of the troop that is within me, that I would never have passed either way through the Gates of Righteousness alone. While God only knows what was said at Pentecost among the disciples mourning Christ's crucifixion, the first Day of Pentecost was truly a day opposite to Babel. For that is the day when the Torah and its Tabernacle were delivered and covenanted with the Children of Israel. According to the scripture, all of the Covenant offered by YHVH was agreed to by the Children of Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Note that they understood Him perfectly.
We believe that covenant is as clear today as then. To wit: the Jews agreed to be separate unto the LORD and obey His Commandments. Christ honored this, as can be seen in His Teachings and also how Saint Peter and Saint James understood them: that all Jews should obey the Law.
The LORD's Day is, of course, as a day when God Himself is as the sun in our lives [re: Psalm 19.4; Isaiah 30.26; Rev. 22.5]. Everyone will understand Him perfectly [re: Zeph. 3.9].
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I think you said it yourself some time ago, how on that day the Righteous shall shine forth as the sun. This is a day of the Kingdom of God when all nations embrace Him in marriage. Since His day is a day of the knowledge of Him, as the waters that fill the sea, the righteous joined to Him are bathed in that knowledge; and with Him, being as the Sun in a Dark and Cloudy Day, it follows that the righteous joined to Him are as the Sun in the Dark and Cloudy Day [re: Dan. 12.3].
Were it not for His preconceived plan of putting watchmen upon the walls, who would see eye to eye with Him in that Dark and Cloudy Day, all flesh would be lost.
I must apologize to you, as I wrote in the enclosed as if you were finished, seeing neither in you nor your bishop any movement; and I am elated that we have not lost you!
Of course – and I know I speak for our entire troop--we would never abandon one to climb the stairs of righteousness alone. One is always with you, as it is said:
Micah 7.8 ..when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me [re: John 12.13, 14.18];
7.9..He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness [ re: 1 John 2.29];
Isaiah. 26.2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in [re: 1 Kings 8.56-57; 1 John 3.18; John 3.21, 17.17].
I was dismayed yesterday when I went into a bookstore and saw the Pope's book as number two on the best seller's list, with the O. J. Simpson book being number one. A numbing situation it was for me; but being attracted to light I browsed through Pope John-Paul's book, and saw perhaps that it would be a good thing if he could yet write another, addressing the righteous nation who keepeth the truth mentioned above.
A nation showing us by example how to keep the truth would be a great light and lead those who would otherwise be condemned away from the inferno, I think.
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Truth shines as the light of the sun
Those who come to the light are never alone [re: Psalm 119.105], but here is where we differ: each must come to the light on his own effort (see Ezek. 14.14, p. 47 of Part 2). For example, if you open yourself to the Truth about something, not I nor others are able to accept the truth for you. Likewise, one is called to make an effort to support Truth once he has seen it.
As long as one pursues righteousness Truth prevails and the towers of Babel are thrown down.
At issue in the Tower of Babel (reflected in my Quest) is the idea that Nimrod's attempt to build a tower reaching to heaven left God with the realization that now nothing would be restrained from them. So He leveled the tower, confused their tongues, and scattered the people. In the Quest we noted how the prophets anticipated a Dark and Cloudy Day where not just one city and its tower had been set up equal to God but many. We compared America to that tower of Nimrod mentioned in Dante's Inferno. You, being a high person in that tower, reached down to me and I answered, that I think I found a righteous man (which should stay True in spite of some doubts).
Of Jacob's Ladder there is a vision of people going up and down it. And these are the righteous whose passing through the Gates of Righteousness is continuous for your sake. I gathered from your letter that you do not think you can climb those stairs by your own effort. I think we can clarify the view to make it a bit easier for you here: the stairs of the tower of Babel were hewn by man and had a speedy fall, because of those drunk with pride who built it; in contrast Jacob's Ladder is hewn by the LORD GOD, is well lit, and eternal.
To join with the eternal takes a small effort, to begin a walk with Truth up the stairs of righteousness. To this end the prophet asked,
Amos 3.3 Can two walk together except they be agreed?
Now agreeing with the Word of God is seen as walking with God. The Word of God has been sent down from Heaven in the form of a great troop with Christ at their head. When you walk with God you are, therefore, in the company of this Great Troop. They, of course, are not only with you but light the way. Thus, it is said:
Psalm 112.4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
I can't think of anyone having risen to Jacob's Ladder who doesn't meet this criteria. Nor are there any who would attempt it with the lie Paul hung around his neck, as described in On the Breakage of the Holy Catholic Church et al.
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I saw Paul's lie is a stumbling block in the way of my people [p. 33 of Part 2] and hindering the route of knowledge. We need to talk about that stumbling block and remove it so the righteous may enter. I say, we, because only Sisyphus is fool enough to bear that burden alone.
Being against that stumbling block to truth which is keeping closed the gate of righteousness; and trusting you can channel more of my prolix to help flood away the refuge of lies, I remain,
Sincerely yours,
M
Encl. The Mehl Commentary, Parts 1 and 2
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