NOTES ON THE ERA OF THE SCOFFER: YESHUA’S FINAL SIFTING OF LIGHT FROM DARKNESS IN THE LAST DAYS Part II

PART II: “AN OPEN DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY.”

SCRIPTURE: “But Daniel determined in his heart that he would not defile himself by [eating his portion of] the king’s rich and dainty food or by [drinking] the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might [be allowed] not to defile himself. Now God made Daniel to find favor, compassion, and loving-kindness with the chief of the eunuchs.” – DANIEL 1:8-9, AMPC

QUOTATIONS

“No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life, wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to Him.” – DWIGHT LYMAN MOODY, Author of ‘Men of the Bible,’ 1900

“In all His acts God orders all things, whether good or evil, for the good of those who know Him and seek Him and who strive to bring their own freedom under obedience to His Divine Purpose. All that is done by the Will of God in secret is done for His glory and for the good of those whom He has chosen to share in His Glory.” – THOMAS MERTON, ‘No Man Is an Island,’ 1955; edited

“When God Opens Doors in our lives, don’t try to close it because of the trials, which is sometimes required. No one can close an open door that God has for you so have confidence in the Lord. If it’s God’s will, it will be done, remember He always has a Plan. Watch out as well for doors that God closes.” – FRITZ CHERRY, ‘Bible Reasons,’ July 20, 2021; edited

Selah.

FIRST THOUGHTS

On Thursday, October 22 last year, I was just finishing up some writing at a favorite hangout, Pikes Perk Coffee & Tea House in midtown, Colorado Springs. Though I have mentioned this story once before, it bears repeating for this New Series, since this is what inspired it.

As I packed my things, a stranger, a rather large man of about 40 years of age, plainly dressed, walks up, stands a few feet away, and began quietly staring at me as I did. Feeling a bit awkward, I asked him if I could help him. He said this, in reply:

“No thank you. I’m just waiting to open the door for you.”

I thought to myself, “Um, okay.” And I thanked him, finished packing and walked to the door – which he dutifully opened before me. I again thanked him, and began to make my way to my car, when he wheeled around and added this:

“A Door of Favor will soon open to you, so that you may flourish.”

The stranger then quietly walked away, someone I have never seen before, nor I expect to ever see again. At first, I didn’t think too much of it, but on reflection I now believe that was not only a Word for me, but for all of His Remnant for these Last Days.

Selah. Selah.

THE CONFIRMATION

Legend has it that the Chinese definition for “Crisis” is composed of two Chinese characters signifying “danger” (wēi, 危) and “opportunity” (jī, 机; 機). I say “Legend” since a proper linguist might shoot some holes in that rendering. But it fits this Narrative, so we’ll hold on to it for now.

A SCRIPTURE. Earlier on the morning of my Visitation from The Stranger, I had received a Scripture with which many of you are familiar, but that in hindsight seems to affirm my somewhat Strange Event.

“So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” – ISAIAH 55:11, AMPC

Clearly the key word here is “Prosper,” a very close approximation of the word, “Flourish.” So, let’s take a closer look.

SHALL PROSPER. Taken from the Hebrew term, ‘Tsalach’ [צָלַח], meaning: “To push forward; break out, come mightily forth; to be good and profitable; to advance [the Gospel]; bring to successful issue; go over [and above]; to have favor.”

GOD’S FAVOR. This is the fuller meaning of the ‘Word’ given to us, beloved, a very special Word indeed. MEL WALKER WRITES: “The ‘Favor of God’ can be described as a Divine Kindness, or an act of true compassion on the part of God Himself toward needy and undeserving human recipients … God’s Favor, or Grace, is God giving us the ability to do something which is humanly impossible for us to do.” – ‘Christianity.com,’ August 7, 2019; edited

CALL OF THE REMNANT. Okay, but ‘Favor’ to do What, exactly, in these Last Days? For me, after a 40-year stint as a Christian professor, political activist and all around old school Evangelical-Pentecostal guy, what is it NOW that the Lord is calling me, and us all, to in this Hour?

Here is a rather lovely Reply to that Question, taken from one of my more mysterious scribes, APPOLUS, writing for the Scottish Warriors for Christ webpage, ‘Call of the Remnant,’ March 2, 2011.

“EZEKIEL 9:4. ‘And Jehovah said to him, Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men who are groaning and are mourning because of all the abominations that are done in her midst.’

The people of God that were ‘marked’ were the Remnant. Judgment was coming but the Remnant were marked on their foreheads. They groaned and were in mourning for the condition of Jerusalem. Do you groan? Are you in mourning for the state of the Church? Does the condition of a sin sick world lay heavy upon your heart? Will you heart be satisfied with anything less than to walk in the presence of the Living God? Have you tasted of the heavenly food and drunk from the waters of life?”

Most of us, I know, can relate deeply to this Last Days Call, but I wanted it to become clearer in our minds and hearts as to just WHY we are here, and what the Lord desires for us to achieve for Him – Till He Comes.

REMNANT REDUX. To further define this unique Calling, consider this observation from H. T. SPENCE, writing for his online blog, ‘Straightway,’ Volume 40, Number 1, January-March, 2012; edited

“What is the Remnant for the End Time of these last days? They are initially those who abide in Truth within a decaying Christian identity. They are the Puritans who long to get back to what Judah is to be, to what Jerusalem is to be: A true Biblical Christian who longs and prays for what should be a true Biblical Church in a given generation? The Remnant are those people left still believing and living the Truth, or what remains for Truth when that, which at its beginning identified with Truth, finally Leaves Truth. The Remnant do all they can to stop the disease, the decay; they become the singular hinderer of the City of Christianity from getting further away from the Truth.”

THE QUESTION. By both writers, this will require us to address the Final Question for today: “On What Hill Will You Be Willing to Die?” – The Secular, though in many ways honorable Hill of Politics and the Constitution, or the Biblical Hill of the Gospel and the Law and the Prophets?

One seems right, the other IS Right.

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

USA! “The United States of America, from the notion that the Country provides the opportunity for success to anyone from any background. Sometimes spelled in lower case.” – ‘The Free Dictionary of Idioms,’ ret. January 11, 2021; edited

This was the Old America, a place where dreams could come true if one worked hard, ‘kept his nose clean’ as we used to say it, and said his prayers. A simpler time, a better time for most (but certainly not all), where the Old Virtues still held sway around town.

THE NEW OPPORTUNITY. But as we survey the Wreckage of a Post-DC Insurrection Nation, I was drawn back to an even Older Passage that never used to stoke my spiritual furnace much, to be honest. You will recognize it immediately.

“Do you not say, ‘It is still four months until the harvest comes?’ Look, I say to you, raise your eyes and look at the fields and see, they are white for harvest. Already the reaper is receiving his wages and he is gathering fruit for eternal life; so that he who plants and he who reaps may rejoice together.’” – JESUS OF NAZARETH, John 4:35-36, Amplified

As I reflected on these now much more poignant words, I wondered about just what makes the American Fields “white for harvest.” The answer, as most of you probably already recognized, is THE AMERICAN CRISIS, all the more insisting itself into our minds and souls since January 6, causing us to become deeply distraught.

Here is one thoughtful pondering that reaches down deep to where America now lives.

“Watching the shocking events that took place in our Nation’s Capitol on January 6, we found ourselves thinking over and again, ‘This is not America. This is not who we are.’

To see the Capitol building, the mother church of our democracy, overrun by thugs and fools and the proceedings of our government suspended by this intentional chaos left us shocked and angered. Many who visit that place feel a sense of awe, even reverence. The building itself represents the Spirit of Compromise and Unity that has produced a peaceful transfer of power for over two centuries. Until yesterday. Is this what we’ve become?

Or is it what we’ve always been?” – LAWRENCE W. WILSON, “Reflections on January 6, 2021,” January 7, 2021; edited

COVID, ANYONE? As I reviewed my daily scan of Drudge Report the morning of January 10, consisting of well over 250 hyperlinks to stories and columnists all over the world, I noted this day an astounding phenomenon:

Not one story on Covid-19 in the first 100 links. Not one.

Then it occurred to me: Donald Trump had ‘Trumped Coronavirus,’ having kicked it out of the news cycle for that 24 hours. Normally he’d have loved such a feat, but not this time. Not this time beloved, as his cabinet members and financial backers began fleeing the visibly sinking ship.

MY POINT. As the Chinese Proverb rightly instructs, then, Crisis produces Conditions of Desperation wherein people begin looking, as desperately for Answers. And that is precisely where The Remnant Church comes in.

Here is why and how, according to the old Jewish Prophet.

“Arise, my people! Let your light shine for all the nations to see! For the glory of the Lord is streaming from you. Darkness as black as night shall cover all the peoples of the earth, but the glory of the Lord will shine from you.” – ISAIAH 60:1-2, TLB

While this passage has several layers of meaning, including both historical and eschatological, I propose one Interpretation that strikes the mark I am attempting to underscore.

MATTHEW HENRY. “As far as we have the Knowledge of God in us, and the Favour of God towards us, our Light is come. And if God’s Glory is seen upon us to our honour, we ought, not only with our lips, but in our lives, to return its praise. We meet with nothing in the history of the Jews which can be deemed a fulfilment of the Prophecy in this chapter; we must conclude it relates principally to Future Events. It predicts the purity and enlargement of the Church. The conversion of souls is here described. They fly to Christ, to the Church, to the Word and Ordinances, as doves to their own home; thither they fly for refuge and shelter, thither they fly for rest. What a pleasant sight to see poor souls hastening to Christ!” – ‘Exposition of the Old and New Testaments,’ 6 vols., 1708-1711; edited

In Sum: When folks are trapped tight inside the belly of an unrelenting Catastrophe, they are in the very best condition to Listen to the Only One who can offer understanding, shelter and ultimate rescue.

Selah.

THE TEACHING

“But Daniel determined in his heart that he would not defile himself by [eating his portion of] the king’s rich and dainty food or by [drinking] the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might [be allowed] not to defile himself. Now God made Daniel to find favor, compassion, and loving-kindness with the chief of the eunuchs.” – DANIEL 1:8-9, AMPC

GOD’S FAVOR REDUX. The major thrust of this Lesson today is that we can enjoy God’s Favor in the difficult days to come, DEPENDING. There is always a conditional ‘If’ in God’s dealings with His people, and the Prophet Daniel is powerful illustration of that Divine Quid Pro Quo, if you will.

DANIEL DETERMINED. This crucial first requisite for Favor is defined indelibly by the Hebrew word, ‘Sum’ [שׂוּם]: “To set or fix in place (in order to bring some change); to designate or [resolutely] determine; to direct one’s mind toward, pay attention to; ordain (in association with a law or ordinance); to establish, erect or plant; appoint someone to a special purpose; to end; particularly, to end by the decision or conclusion of a cause, or of a doubtful or controverted point; applicable to the decisions of the mind, or to judicial decisions.”

WOULD NOT DEFILE. Here it is: After Daniel decided, I mean, ‘Decided’ the matter, he would under no conditions Compromise Yahweh’s Ordinances. From the Hebrew, ‘Gaal’ [גָּאַל]: “To profane, soil, stain or pollute; to repudiate or desecrate; to make unclean; to render foul or dirty; make impure; to render turbid; to corrupt chastity; to debauch; to violate; to tarnish the purity of character by lewdness; to taint, in a moral sense; to corrupt; to vitiate; to render impure with sin.”

FIND FAVOR. Here is the crux of today’s Teaching, then. From the Hebrew, ‘Checed’ [חֵסֵד]: “Goodness, kindness, mercy toward; favour and benefits; love or [special] affection; preservation of life from death; a quickening of spiritual life; redemption from sin; fidelity; also, abundance everlasting, promised in the Davidic Covenant; benevolence; grace, piety, unfailing love, beauty.”

THE CHOICE. On the evening of March 2, 1982, not one year after marrying Suzette, we were getting ready to leave our Stockton, California apartment to have dinner with a student of mine named Fahad Maleki, from Saudi Arabia. He was a wealthy son of an Arab leader of some sort, and was a Westernized Muslim, as he was living with his American girlfriend and drank alcohol.

As my wife was getting ready, I was fidgeting in my small study, as I sensed ‘something’ going on in my spirit. But I was new at all this Christian stuff, so I got to a point of pacing back and forth and finally blurter out: “Is there someone here?”

Then that still, small Voice: “Son, I have made it possible for you to never drink (alcohol) again. All you need to do is step of this line.”

For those of you who don’t know, I was saved, but addicted still to alcohol at the time. So as the story finishes, I said out loud: “Well Lord, if that’s really You, I will open my Bible, and if it opens to anything to do with booze, I’m done drinking.”

I plopped my Bible down on the couch, got down on my knees (I think) to read where it opened, and the Passage we are studying today roared from the page: “But Daniel determined in his heart that he would not defile himself by [eating his portion of] the king’s rich and dainty food or by [drinking] the wine which he drank.”

I remember shouting, yes, shouting: “Praise God! I don’t have to drink anymore! God did it!” Hearing this, Suzie came running out to ask if I was okay, and I told her what had happened. She was overcome with joy, since she and my Mom had been praying for this for the better part of a year.

“YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” You will forgive still another allusion to a wonderful movie depiction of J. R. R. TOLKIEN’s magnificent Trilogy. The scene this time opens in a great cavern, with Gandalf facing the menacing Balrog, a massive, fiery, Satan-like beast that was about to feast upon his entire company. In order to save his friends, he pivots toward the monster, and shouts at the top of his old lungs, driving his Moses-like staff hard into the ground:

“You cannot pass! I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!” – Gandalf the Grey, ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,’ 1954’ edited

THE POINT. I use this illustration to dramatically define the sort of DEFIANCE OF EVIL that we must all commit ourselves to in these Last Days and Hours. We simply cannot ride fences nor hedge any of our Eternal bets to follow the Lord, to face our own Spiritual Balrogs, if necessary.

For they shall surely come, beloved.

It is all about God’s Return of Integrity and Honor to His Church, which has been spat upon, defiled, desecrated, polluted and dragged through all the world’s darkest Trumpian places in the last four years.

And I tell you the Truth: God shall not be silent any longer concerning it.

COMMENTARY

As usual, I like to look beyond my own reckonings to help keep me honest. So here are a couple of wise interpretations of the Daniel Passage I hope you will find both instructive and encouraging as well.

CHARLES ELLICOTT. “‘Daniel purposed in his heart.’ — He was cautious from the first. He feared that he might eat something that had been consecrated to idols (See 1 Corinthians 8). ‘Into favour.’ — The close correspondence between Daniel and Joseph has been frequently remarked. Each finds Favour with his master, and afterwards with a foreign monarch. The Grace of God enables each to overcome the temptations into which his circumstances lead him. The acute natural faculties of each are miraculously increased by God; and, lastly, each is sent into a foreign land to comfort exiled Israel (See Genesis 39:21; 1Kings 8:50; Nehemiah 1:11; Psalm 106:46). No less striking is the resemblance of Nebuchadnezzar to Pharaoh.” – ‘A Bible Commentary for English Readers,’ 8 vols., 1905; edited

DK. Here we see that the Radical Faith of Daniel brings him into great Favor with those who would normally be his enemies. His ‘Light’ is so shining that others can see it, and indirectly glorify our Father by preferring Daniel – or us, if we wish to walk this way (cf. Isaiah 60:1-3; Matthew 5:6). Now not every royal will always prefer us; some will try to kill us, the final outcome of which is entirely in the hands of the Father. But as a rule, to walk close to Jesus is to walk in a supernaturally blessed, or ‘favored, light with many, or even most.

ALBERT BARNES. “‘Now God had brought Daniel into favor’ – Compare Genesis 39:21; Proverbs 16:7. By what means this had been done is not mentioned. It may be presumed, however, that it was by the attractiveness of his person and manners, and by the evidence of promising talent which he had evinced. Whatever were the means, however, TWO THINGS are worthy of notice: (1) The Effect of this on the subsequent fortunes of Daniel. It was to him a great advantage, that by the friendship of this man he was enabled to carry out the Purposes of temperance and religion which he had formed, without coming in conflict with those who were in power. (2) God was the Author of the Favor which was thus shown to Daniel. It was by a controlling influence which He exerted, that this result had been secured, and Daniel traced it directly to Him. We may hence learn that the favor of others toward us is to be traced to the hand of God, and if we are prospered in the world, and are permitted to enjoy the friendship of those who have it in their power to benefit us, though it may be on account of our personal qualifications, we should learn to attribute it all to God.”

DK. A couple of things are worth pointing out here. One, there were two ‘Attractions,’ if you will, that the king noticed in Daniel: (1) His honorable ways and manners. (2) The exceptional talents that he possessed – another gifting of God to his life and practice. When I drafted my course on the History of the Jews, I wondered about why the Jews were so hated over the millennia. The answer both shook me and yet made sense at the same time. Wherever they traveled after the Diaspora begun in 70 AD, after General Titus sacked and burned Jerusalem and the Temple, they invariably rose to excellence, no matter the trade of craft. At first this was welcomed, but it later generated jealousy and subsequent hatred. Finally, there is a ‘practical’ side of God: He bestows Favor on those worthy of His trust, in order to achieve His Divine Purpose – which is invariably the Rescue of His people.

IN SUM. Two Elements then are required for this sort of Favor and Success for the sincere follower of Christ: (1) Radical Obedience to the Lord, forsaking all to follow Him wherever He commands; (2) Making sure to never, ever take credit for one’s gifts, skills or favor – as a dear departed friend, Donnie Moore, used to say it: “All the gold belongs to God, Kippy” (my old early days nickname). He was, of course, right about that, and many other things.

THE OPEN DOOR

As we begin to close our Lesson today on “An Open Door of Opportunity” for the Days Ahead, I was reminded immediately of a another favorite passage of mine, on which I have taught before.

Listen to its vibrant hope and power for the faithful in Christ, straight from His own mouth to us all who are called to this Hour of Challenge.

PHILADELPHIA REDUX. “And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Philadelphia write: ‘These are the words of the Holy One, the True One, He Who has the key of David, Who opens and no one shall shut, Who shuts and no one shall open: I know your [record of] works and what you are doing. See! I have set before you A DOOR WIDE OPEN which no one is able to shut; I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept My Word and guarded My message and have not renounced or denied My name.’” – JESUS OF NAZARETH, Revelation 3:7-8, Amplified Classic Edition

“A Door wide open.” Translated from the Greek here, ‘Anoigó’ [ἀνοίγω], that literally renders as “A portal that is held open [by God Himself], through which one may move upward toward increase or renewal.”

MACDONALD WRITES: “The assembly at Philadelphia received only words of praise from the Lord. The saints had been faithful. They had been zealous for good works. In their own human weakness, they had trusted in the Lord. As a result, they had been able to PRESERVE THE TRUTH by living it out in their lives. They and not denied Christ’s name. Therefore, He would set before them AN OPEN DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY that no one would be able to shut.” – ‘Believer’s Bible Commentary, 1995, p. 2359; edited, emphasis my own

“A Door wide open … that no one would be able to shut.” No one. No one. Selah.

I think there are at least TWO MEANINGS buried here, that I would like to open up. First, it is the ‘Open Door for Rescue of the Lost,’ whether unsaved, or already ‘saved’ but with their Faith in danger. Second, even more wondrously, an ‘Open Door to Heaven’ from the fiery midst of God’s epochal Anger about to be spilled out on the whole earth.

VERSE 10. “Because you have guarded and kept My word of patient endurance [have held fast the lesson of My patience with the expectant endurance that I give you], I also will keep you [safe] FROM THE HOUR OF TRIAL (testing) which is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell upon the earth.”

Any way you approach this passage, this language, its context and phrasing, this Open Door is the Portal to the “Third Heaven” where God resides for all who would dare to Enter it through the True ‘Open Door,’ Yeshua ben David, the Son of the Living God, who reminds all of us:

“I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” – JOHN 14:6, AMPC

LAST THOUGHTS

As I began to ponder how to close this important Teaching on God’s Open Door of Opportunity for all willing to come to Him in order to enter into ‘Jesus the Ark’ for the time left to us, an old Psalm gives instruction of what He shall put inside of us as a very special Spiritual Gift.

“Sing to Him A NEW SONG; play skillfully [on the strings] with a loud and joyful sound.” – PSALM 33:3, AMPC emphasis my own

When I looked up the Hebrew definition of that New Song, it is from the Hebrew ‘Shiyr’ [שִׁיר]: “A song of great joy, whether secular of sacred, characterized as a ‘Song of songs,’ or the most excellent hymn of praise or victory possible; supremely excellent.”

Thus it is that no matter the Chaos surrounding us, no matter the dangers, no matter our final earthly station, we are ‘Kept in Him,’ to Sing this New Song of Victory for others to hear, and take shelter under it.

ISAIAH’S NIGHT SONG. As I reflected on the Call from Isaiah to “Arise and Shine!” (60:1), I am reminded that this is meant for ‘A Time of deepest darkness, as black as night” (60:2). In that context then for these Last Days, and Nights, consider that Christ shall be our Light in such conditions.

As John the Apostle records it:

“And this is the message [the message of promise] which we have heard from Him and now are reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [no, not in any way].” – JOHN 1:5, AMPC

A GRATEFUL HEART. I have learned from these sayings, and from the King more directly, that the one thing that will sustain all who are Called to this Open Door of Light and Life, is to become profoundly Grateful to have bestowed on us the Honor of being here, “for such a time as this.” – cf. Esther 4:14

Best of all, to be here for The Beginning of the Greatest New Thing that the world has ever known, or shall yet know. Even the Stunning Return of Jesus the Christ, and the Translation of each of us, to finally ‘Become like Him, and to see Him as He truly is.’ – cf. 1 John 3:2

This is our Blessed Hope, beloved, the contemplation of which shall ‘keep us pure’ (1 John 3:3). First, for the Battle for Souls right here, right now. And then, and then – the breathless Flight Home, which shall be forever and ever and then Forever. Selah. Selah.

Ever your servant, DK

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