On June 12, 2024

NOTES ON THE IMMERSION OF THE SOUL INTO THE GODHEAD: FINAL PREPARATION FOR BATTLE – (WITH VIDEO)

THE TEACHING

SCRIPTURE. “[Roaring] deep calls to [roaring] deep at the thunder of Your waterspouts; all Your breakers and Your rolling waves have gone over me.” – PSALM 42:7, AMPC

KEY TERM: “ROARING DEEP.” ‘Tehome’ [תְּהוֹם]: “From a root word meaning, ‘An abyss;’ as with a surging, overwhelming mass of water; the main sea, or subterranean depths of an ocean; a primeval torrent; extending or being far below the surface; descending far downward; a bottomless gulf; used also for a deep mass of waters, supposed by some to have encompassed the earth before the flood; ‘that which is immeasurable.’”

QUOTATION. “‘The Problem is that contemporary people think life is all about finding happiness.’ We decide what conditions will make us happy and then we work to bring those conditions about. To live for happiness means that you are trying to get something out of life. But when suffering comes along, it takes the conditions for happiness away, and so suffering destroys all your reason to keep living. But to ‘live for meaning’ means not that you try to get something out of life but rather that life expects something from us. In other words, you have meaning only when there is something in life more important than your own personal freedom and happiness, something for which you are glad to sacrifice your happiness.” ― TIMOTHY KELLER, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, 2015; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of the water spouts.’ – By which are meant afflictions, comparable to the deep waters of the sea, for their multitude and overwhelming nature; see Psalm 69:1. These came pouring down, one after another, upon the Psalmist: As soon as one affliction is over, another came, as in the case of Job; which is signified by one calling to another, and were clamorous, troublesome, and very grievous and distressing.

‘All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.’ – With which he seemed to be covered and overwhelmed, as a ship is at sea. It may be observed, that the Psalmist calls afflictions ‘God’s water spouts,’and ‘His’ waves and ‘His’ billows; because they are appointed, sent, ordered, and overruled by Him, and ‘made to work for the good of His people.’ And now, though these might seem to be a just cause of dejection, yet they were not.” – JOHN GILL, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, 9 vols., 1746-1763; edited

DK. As I ponder what I have just written above, I still remain somewhat at a loss for words to describe what I am attempting to define for us all here. Recently, I have been given to a ‘Sense of Being Overwhelmed by the Lord.’ In the parlance of German theologian RUDOLF OTTO’S classic, The Idea of the Holy (1917), partly terrifyingly (‘Mysterium Tremendum’) and partly wonderfully (‘Mysterium Fascinans).

Further, it very much feels like ‘Dying and being Made Alive as never before, both at the same time somehow.’ And the more I ponder its Great Depths, I am convinced that it is a kind of FINAL BAPTISM from the Lord for our service to Him in the Dark Days ahead.

Indeed, ‘A Final Preparation for Battle,’ as in the subtitle of my Commentary. A Completing of our training, if you will, a Divine Armoring Up for what lies before us.

II. THE GREAT COMMISSIONING

Beginning in 2017 after being fired from the faculty at Liberty University’s by then president, JERRY FALWELL JR. for refusing to follow his political idol, DONALD TRUMP, my ‘Great Immersion’ necessarily began. During those frankly agonizing years I was either going to grow closer to God or abandon Him altogether, given my dire circumstances as a virtually unhireable septuagenarian.

By the grace and power of a faithful God, I was led to spend several morning hours every day in ‘my desperate search for meaning’ as a Christian professor in the midst of a radically changing, MAGA-obsessed America and Church. All of that has in its turn led me to this teaching borne out of a Desert Experience unique in all my decades as a Christian professional.

A TEMPLATE FOR IMMERSION. For those of us who are likewise convinced that America is facing her Last Days, I am convinced that God is vigorously shaping His true, Remnant Church for what lies ahead.

Three passages at the Center of this Maturation are rendered in the Amplified Classic Edition for richness of interpretation.

THE PRIEST. “Then [the guiding angel] showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at Joshua’s right hand to be his adversary and to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! Even the Lord, Who [now and habitually] chooses Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this [returned captive Joshua] a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the Angel [of the Lord]. And He spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And He said to [Joshua], Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel. And I [Zechariah] said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with [rich] garments. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.” – ZECHARIAH 3:1-5

THE PROPHET. “Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone and ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! Then flew one of the seraphim [heavenly beings] to me, having a live coal in his hand which he had taken with tongs from off the altar; And with it he touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity and guilt are taken away, and your sin is completely atoned for and forgiven. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And He said, Go and tell this people, Hear and hear continually, but understand not; and see and see continually, but do not apprehend with your mind. Make the heart of this people fat; and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn again and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until cities lie waste without inhabitant and houses without man, and the land is utterly desolate, And the Lord removes [His] people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth [of the people] remain in the land, it will be for their destruction [eaten up and burned] like a terebinth tree or like an oak whose stump and substance remain when they are felled or have cast their leaves. The holy seed [the elect remnant] is the stump and substance [of Israel].” – ISAIAH 6:5-13

THE WARRIOR. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” – EPHESIANS 6:10-20

I cannot possibly add a single thought to these vastly greater ones from our King. Thus I turn to some Concluding Reflections to help aim us in the right direction for our increasingly clarified Mission for these last of the Last Days.

III. THINGS TO COME

These Preparations, or “The Great Commissioning” as I have taken to call it, are only for the true Remnant Church, what I recently referred to as: THE COALITION OF THE WILLING. It is not for “all” who claim Christ as their Sovereign, but only those, as Jesus Himself has said it in the following Commandment to His disciples.

“And I will do [I Myself will grant] whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I Am], so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son. [Yes] I will grant [I Myself will do for you] whatever you shall ask in My Name [as presenting all that I Am]. If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands.” – JOHN 15:13-15, AMPC

DR. RUSSELL MOORE’S PROPHECY. One of the few Christian leaders who has been willing to criticize the American Church for its reckless, ribald support of Donald Trump is Dr. Russell Moore. You will recall that Dr. Moore was forced from his position as President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention in 2016 for criticizing Trump.

I can relate. and warn soberly that this sort of persecution of true followers of Christ will be front and center in a Second Trump Administration. This is precisely what the Lord is prepping us to face, and it shall not be for the timid, the partially committed nor faint of heart. Be thinking very carefully about this in the days immediately ahead.

Today, more happily, Dr. Moore is Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today, one of the precious few Christian publications that refuse to bow at the Altar of Trump’s Christian Nationalism. I will close our discussion with a review of his prescient remarks in his CT ESSAY titled, “Trump Won’t Divide the Church This Time (And That’s Not Necessarily Good News),”published on November 17, 2022 (edited).

INTRODUCTION. “After Donald Trump announced this week that he’s running for president in 2024, many of my fellow Evangelical Christians started bracing for more upheaval in their congregations and denominations. The situation is especially troubling because many of us haven’t yet recovered from the first Trump era. ‘But what if this time around, we don’t see the same levels of contention and division?’ And what if the potential quiet isn’t actually good news?”

SIFTING. “This time, there will probably be less internal fighting in local churches over Trump because no one really expects the other side to be convinced. Many churches have ‘sorted’ themselves out over political issues (and related questions about COVID-19 precautions, Black Lives Matter, and #MeToo). ‘Some of the multiethnic churches I saw most divided over these matters aren’t multiethnic anymore. Some of the multigenerational churches I saw wrenched over these issues aren’t multigenerational anymore.’”

ACCOMMODATION. “In those situations, the 2024 presidential election might seem much less divisive than the last two elections because those who disagree are now gone from the church. The divisions are already formed, and for many people, they seem intractably permanent. ‘What’s more significant, though, is how the Trump Era has already changed all of us.’”

OVERTON. “‘The Overton Window [range of policy acceptability] has shifted’ to the point where some Evangelicals can embrace White Nationalist viewpoints like the ‘Great Replacement Theory.’ Their overtly segregationist ideas now result in discipline not for themselves but for those calling out the bad ideas. Several years ago, during all the world-shaking, an older Christian leader pulled me aside with this advice: ‘Make sure you deal with your anger.’ I responded that I wasn’t angry at all and that I really felt no ill will toward any of the people who had hurt me. He said, ‘What if you’re just numb?’ ‘What if we’re just numb?’”

SURRENDER. “Many are bracing for more political tumult. But what if it doesn’t happen? What if our churches are more tranquil than ever? ‘And what if that’s not so much because we’ve made peace with Donald Trump but because we’ve become like him?’ In the recent midterm elections, Millennials and Generation Z defied historic precedent and showed up to vote. In overwhelming numbers, they rejected election deniers in key battleground states. If we don’t see these same voters in our churches or hear their pushback in our faith communities, it likely means they’re already gone or they’ve already given up.”

CONCLUSION. “Perhaps I’m wrong. Maybe 2024 will be just as church-dividing and family-splitting as 2016 and 2020. Or maybe I’m wrong because we’ve reached a new level of maturity and wisdom in sorting through our divisions. ‘But what if we’ve just adapted? What if all of us—no matter what we think of Donald Trump—are too exhausted and cynical to even be divided?’”

THE GERMAN TEMPLATE. A policy emerged in World War II Nazi Germany largely concocted by chief propagandist JOSEPH GOEBBELS, referred to as, “THE BIG LIE”(or ‘Große Lüge‘). It is essentially a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth repeated endlessly, wearing down a culture into its acceptability as ‘truth.’ It’s primarily used as a political propaganda technique. The German expression was first used by Adolf Hitler in his book Mein Kampf (1925) to describe how people could be induced to believe so Colossal a Lie because they would not believe that someone ‘could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously’ (adapted from “Big Lie,” Wikipedia, June 8, 2024; edited).

“And he shall speak great words against the Most High, ‘and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,’ and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” – DANIEL 7:25, KJV

The term for the key phrase here is taken from the Hebrew, ‘Bela’ [יְבַלֵּ֑א], used only once in all the Scriptures. Taken from a root word [בָּלָה], It means, “‘To cause to fail by being worn out;’ decayed, spent, consumed; wasted; to continually, mentally afflict or harass so as to wear down [exhaust].”

GOEBBELS’ THESIS. “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, ‘the Truth is the greatest enemy of the State.’”

So has Donald Trump deployed this Fascist Propaganda Strategy to astonishing success, seducing the vast majority of the White Evangelicals, the Commercial Centers, the blue collar workers, farmers, the media and, to complete his march toward a Constitutional Coup d’ Etat this coming November 5, 2024. This to complete what he began on January 6, 2021. Selah.

IV. LAST THOUGHTS

So, beloved, if you have the stomach for it, the Holy Spirit has been dispatched in these Last Hours before Yeshua’s Return to PREPARE FOR BATTLE. And the first step toward inviting such drastically needed Resilience for the Coming Days is to indeed, ‘become Immersed in His Word and Spirit,’ permitting Him, indeed, begging Him to ‘Call you from Deep unto roaring deep,’ in order to bathe you in His wisdom, power and courage.

As with Bonhoeffer and Niemöller and Barth and thousands of other valorous members of the First Confessing Church of German Resistance, we are commissioned to stand for Christ’s Truth against Trump’s Big Lie – unto life, or if necessary, unto death, beloved.

Our King has said it plain: “For you have been called for this purpose, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so ‘that you would follow in His steps’” (1 Peter 2:21).

SELAH.

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/oUfDliOmL70