NOTES ON THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT COMING TO AMERICA: GOD’S FINAL WARNING TO A REBELLIOUS HOUSE – PART III

PART III: “THE NINE PROMISES”

SCRIPTURE. “Now it shall be, if you diligently listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all of His commandments which I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.  All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you pay attention to the voice of the Lord your God.” – DEUTERONOMY 28:1-2, AMP

Selah.

QUOTATIONS

“In our Abandonment we give ourselves over to God just as God gave Himself for us, without any calculations. The consequences of [Reckless] Abandonment never enter into our outlook because our life is taken up in Him.” – OSWALD CHAMBERS, ‘My Utmost for His Highest,’ 1927; edited

“There is something magical and transformational about saying ‘Yes’ to God. When you take His hand, step out of that boat (your ordinary, comfortable life), and be brave. Instead of spending your lifetime living in fear and playing it safe, you boldly walk in Obedience. God makes you brave.” – DANA ARCURI, ‘Reinventing You: Simple Steps to Transform Your Body, Mind & Spirit,’ 2015; edited

“Radical Obedience to Christ is not easy…It’s not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this World. Radical Obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And He is more than enough for us.” – DAVID PLATT, ‘Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream,’ 2010; edited

COURAGE: “Noun [Latin, ‘the heart’]. Bravery; intrepidity; that quality of mind which enables men to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, or without fear or depression of spirits; valor; boldness; resolution. It is a constituent part of fortitude; but fortitude implies patience to bear continued suffering.” – NOAH WEBSTER, ‘American Dictionary of the English Language,’ 1828; edited

Selah.

1. FIRST THOUGHTS

One of the most difficult tasks assigned to a believer in Jesus Christ in 2020, is to Choose Well in an Age when Christians are at each other’s throats over Politics. In this historic regard, President Donald Trump has, inarguably, become a SPIRITUAL WATERSHED for the Church:

“An event or period marking a Turning Point in a course of action or state of affairs.”

CHOOSING WELL. Whether we are considering Politics and Statecraft, or Religion, or the Economy,  matters of Science and Technology or Social Relations, I remain convinced that the Choices we make This Year – and there’s not much left of it – will largely Determine the course of the Nation, and the Trajectory of our Spiritual Life.

To that Point: Here is Powerful Testimony to illustrate and affirm what I am proposing about the crucial importance of the Year 2020.

THE WATERSHED. “It is universally recognized that 1968 was the Peak Year — the climactic year, a singular year, a year of events and sensations that cascaded with an intensity that was sometimes unbearable, sometimes ecstatic. In a modest way, 1968 was the sort of year that pushes history in some unforeseen, astonishing direction — a gentler little brother to 1492, 1776, 1848, 1914, 1945, and 2001…

[Yet Princeton historian Julian Zelizer] argued that 2020 is worse than 1968: 

Covid-19 has killed [four times] as many Americans compared to the 58,000 who died in very nearly a decade of fighting in Vietnam…It has imperiled core civic institutions, like schools and houses of worship, and forced us to call home apart from relatives and buddies…We have a President who, unlike either Lyndon Johnson or Richard Nixon, doesn’t appear to care about governance…As some cities burn up, his response is to throw fuel on the fire…We now live in a Partisan World where our institutions perpetuate constant Red-Blue Divisions over almost every issue, no matter what size or small they might be.” – JACKSON DELING, “What Matters: 2020 is Watershed Year — For Better or Worse,” ‘Reporter AM,’ June 13, 2020; edited

FOUNDERS’ WARNINGS. Here I am reminded too of the severe Cautions of the Founders about Political Parties, more generally. Here is the outgoing President, George Washington’s sharp perspective.

 “Let me warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of the Party. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetuated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful Despotism.” – ‘Farwell Address,’ September 19, 1796

In light of today’s American Church going nearly wholesale for Republican Politics as over against (and overwhelming) Sound Doctrine, we are become, for lack of a better term: Twice Cursed.

2. THE CHARLES COLSON STORY

Therefore after considerable thoughtful, prayerful reflection and study over a period of no less than 40 years, I further propose that the Nation, the Church and the entire World have simultaneously arrived what the late Charles Colson considers that HISTORIC ‘TURNING POINT,’ which name he gave to his Christian Worldview Ministry later in his career during the 1990s.

Some brief background followed by a stunning observation he would make about the Joining of Christianity and Politics.

“Charles Wendell Colson (October 16, 1931 – April 21, 2012), generally referred to as Chuck Colson, was an American attorney and political advisor who served as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1970. Once known as President Nixon‘s “hatchet man”, Colson gained notoriety at the height of the Watergate scandal, for being named as one of the Watergate Seven, and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for attempting to defame Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg. In 1974 he served seven months in the federal Maxwell Prison in Alabama, as the first member of the Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate-related charges. 

Colson became an evangelical Christian in 1973. His mid-life religious conversion sparked a Radical life change that led to the founding of his non-profit ministry Prison Fellowship and, three years later, Prison Fellowship International, to a focus on Christian worldview teaching and training around the world. Colson was also a public speaker and the author of more than 30 books.” – ‘Wikipedia,’ September 29, 2020; edited

COLSON’S WARNING. Now listen to this, from the Wisdom of both history and the Scriptures.

“Christians should never have a Political Party [i.e., become wedded to a particular political column]. It is a huge mistake to become married to an Ideology, because the greatest enemy of the Gospel is Ideology. Ideology is a man-made Format of how the World ought to work, and Christians instead believe in the Revealing Truth of Scripture.” – Author of ‘Born Again,’ 1976; and ‘Against the Night: Living in the New Dark Ages,’ 1989

Notice he did not say to avoid ‘participating’ in Politics, but not to align one’s Faith with an Ideology – precisely the Sin of the American Church in 2020. Precisely! As I have observed before, this is an illustration of the Venal Error of something called ‘SYNCRETISM:’

“The reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief’…’Religious Syncretism’ often takes place when foreign beliefs are introduced to an indigenous belief system and the teachings are blended. The new, heterogeneous religion then takes a shape of its own.”

This moves us rapidly down a very Slippery Slope to even more Danger:

‘HERESY:’ Belief or opinion contrary to Orthodox Christian Doctrine; i.e. that which is profoundly at odds with what is generally accepted as Church Canon.

What I now call a ‘STORM OF CONSEQUENCES’ is thus beginning to Envelop the Republic. You do the Doctrinal Math; it is unassailable in my view. The American Church has ‘Replaced’ Christian Doctrine with Political Expediency. And the Result: Spiritual Calamity on a scale never experienced in the American Church before. Ever.

THE AMERICAN SIN. Joining the sacred name of Jesus the Christ with the demon-inspired wickedness of Donald Trump, constituting an ‘Historic Blasphemy’ against the Messiah that is Without Remedy – unless there is immediate, wholesale and likely Public Repentance.

Jesus Christ made it existentially clear:

“You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them].” – 1 CORINTHIANS 10:21, AMP

Selah. Selah.

3. ON OBEDIENCE

I don’t even know where to start on this, beloved, for its terrible importance to our King. It is pretty much the Entirety of the matter before us. The Key Issue: REJECTION of God’s Word, Way and Wisdom.

Perhaps the best-known Biblical Illustration is found in the agonizing Story of King Saul.

“So Samuel said, ‘Has the Lord as great a 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. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim (household good luck images). Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.’” – 1 SAMUEL 15:22-23, AMPC

MATTHEW HENRY COMMENTS. “God is more glorified and Self more denied, by Obedience than by Sacrifice. It is much easier to bring a bullock or lamb to be burned upon the altar, than to bring every high thought into Obedience to God, and to make our will subject to His Will. Those are unfit and unworthy to rule over men, who are not willing that God should rule over them.” – ‘Exposition of the Old and New Testaments,’ 6 Volumes, 1708-1710; edited

As pithy New Testament affirmation on how strongly impressed God is with Obedience over frothy prayers and ebullient praise in the Sanctuary each Sunday and Wednesday (that we have nearly made an Idol of, in my view – as over against the harder task of Obedience), here again the Story of the Two Sons.

PARABLE OF ‘THE BOYS.’ Jesus Himself tells us of this important Super Story to drive these points down deep into our souls.

“But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work on the farm today.’ ‘I won’t,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.  Then the father told the youngest, ‘You go!’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t.  Which of the two was obeying his father?”

They replied, ‘The first, of course.’

Then Jesus explained his meaning: ‘Surely evil men and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom before you do.  For John the Baptist told you to repent and turn to God, and you wouldn’t, while very evil men and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to repent, and so you couldn’t believe.’” – MATTHEW 21:28-32, NLB

IN SUM. Obedience is a big, big deal to God, all the theological debates about it over the centuries notwithstanding. It is, as they say, the very ‘Proof’ of the spiritual pudding. 

Or as our Lord put it so Prophetically:

“Beware of the false prophets, [teachers] who come to you dressed as sheep [appearing gentle and innocent], but inwardly are ravenous wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus]. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the unhealthy tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruit you will recognize them [as false prophets].” – MATTHEW 7:15-20, AMP

One Word comes to mind as I read the Messiah’s Teaching here.

INTEGRITY. The ancient Hebrew rendering of this crucial word is, ‘Tummah’ [תֻּמָּה], meaning: “Soundness, completeness, innocence, character; uprightness.” Noah Webster (1828) adds: “The entire, unimpaired state of any thing, particularly of the mind; moral soundness or purity; incorruptness; uprightness; honesty. integrity comprehends the whole moral character, but has a special reference to uprightness in mutual dealings, transfers of property, and agencies for others.”

So while Salvation is by ‘Faith alone,’ Integrity is a Matter of ‘Daily Choosing,’ since the Strength of our Witness of who Jesus Christ is depends on what people see and hear us doing and saying on a day to day basis. 

JESUS IN 2020. In effect, the World ‘sees’ Christ through us, and what terrifies and appalls me is just who they Increasingly See: Donald Trump.

Selah. Selah.

4. THE TEACHING: BLESSINGS

“Now it shall be, if you diligently listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all of His commandments which I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.  All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you pay attention to the voice of the Lord your God.” – DEUTERONOMY 28:1-2, AMP

As I begin to offer this Teaching of the Text, let’s look at some KEY TERMS that set the stage and context for a clearer grasp of its powerful content.

THREE REQUIREMENTS. Notice in this iconic (I use that word far too much, but it fits nicely here) passage, the Three Things followers of God must do to inherit ‘The Blessings’ – i.e., from ‘Berakah’ [בְּרָכָה]: “Benevolence, favor, benediction, invocation of good; implication – Answered Prayer.”

• DILIGENTLY LISTEN. Taken from the Hebrew, ‘Shama’ [שָׁמַע], meaning: “To hear intelligently (with rapt attention or obedience); to give undivided listening attention in order to fully understand what one has heard; to listen with the greatest of interest [bearing in mind Who is speaking].”

• OBEY THE VOICE. From the word, ‘Shamar’ [שָׁמַר]: “To keep, watch, preserve or protect’ [God’s statutes]; to hedge around as in keeping guard; to watch as a watchman of cattle or sheep; to keep safe; to abstain oneself [from anything that would hinder your duty]; to carefully observe; to promise; to have charge of a garden.”

• DO ALL HE ASKS. Finally, the term used here is, ‘Asah’ [עָשָׂה], or: “To accomplish; to work, labor or toil for, in order to create, make, build, construct; to acquire, offer, sacrifice or appoint [on the Sovereign’s behalf]; to obey all that He commands as an ethical obligation (or witness of the One who sent you); to be prepared, to handle, or squeeze [i.e., ‘suffer,’ if necessary].” 

COMMENTARY. “‘And [all these Blessings] overtake thee.’—A beautiful expression, i.e., ‘shall come home to thee,’ and impress the heart with the thought of God’s love and of His promises, even when it is least expected. Compare Zechariah 1:6. ‘My words and my statutes, did they not take hold of’ (i.e., overtake) your fathers? And they returned and said, “Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us…” So hath he dealt with us.’ The opposite is true also of The Curses (Deuteronomy 28:15).” – CHARLES ELLICOTT, ‘An Old Testament Commentary for English Readers,’ 1897 (Editor); edited

From this do I derive the very happy task of Summarizing ‘The Promises of God’ to all the OBEDIENT. But only, only to those who obey. A vital point and crucial Correction to the American Pulpits today, who have vouchsafed virtually ANY conduct deserving of God’s otherwise unmitigated Grace and Favor.

Unless He has changed His Mind, beloved, here they are.

PSALM 91:3-13. With only a little theological license here, this is where I was led to Summarize the Promises of the Deuteronomy Passage above (28:1-14). It is especially pertinent to the Perilous Age we are now entering.

Let me start with this Magnificent Picture from the Mosaic Text: “[T]he Lord your God will SET YOU HIGH ABOVE” all the Storms and Chaos of Life (Deuteronomy 28:1). For an entire Nation, or an obedient, individual Servant. The Choice (there’s that Word again) remains our own. 

• DELIVERANCE FROM HIDDEN DANGERS. The snare of the bird-trapper speaks of the Enemy’s evil plot to trap the unwary, so often distracted by his efforts.

• IMMUNITY FROM FATAL DISEASE. In our Lord’s case, there is no reason to believe he was ever sick at all. And in ours, Divine Cover from pestilence, either in the form of Complete Immunity to it, or Effective Recovery from it. – God’s Will mitigating all, nothwithstanding.

• SHELTER AND REFUGE. We are completely free to run to the Almighty God’s tender, personal care. It is likened to that of a Mother bird with her young in this passage; it is the same with Yahweh and us.

• PROTECTION IN GOD’S FAITHFULNESS. Here we have the absolute certainty and sureness in His Promises to us in a Crisis. What He has said, He will do, period. This constitutes the believer’s Shield and Buckler.

• FREEDOM FROM FEAR. In the Psalmist’s rendering, perhaps our greatest threat in times of danger is Fear, that occur from any number of Destructions including, in 2020: Disease; Financial Losses; Severed Relationships; Physical Assaults (as the Crisis intensifies); Supply Shortages; Depression and Despair. – Obedience to God Attenuates (reduces the force of) each.

• SAFETY IN THE MIDST OF MASSACRE. Even where there is Slaughter on a wholesale basis, the beloved of God is safe. When the wicked are punished (as they are beginning to be already), he will be a spectator free from the possibility of that harm.

• INSURANCE AGAINST CALAMITY. Because our Lord becomes our Refuge from the storm and a Dwelling Place from disaster, none of it would effectively strike him, no calamity dare come near – though it threaten to do so, and both often and loud. – The Will of God, again, mitigating all.

• GUARDED BY ANGELIC ESCORT. This is the passage which Satan quoted to the Lord Jesus when tempting Him to throw Himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple (Luke 4:10-11). As we are likewise ‘Tempted to tempt God’ in foolish exercise of His Providence of Angelic cover over us at all times. – Not wearing a mask.

• VICTORY OVER THE LION AND THE COBRA. Finally, we have the Promise of Authority over Satan’s province. “Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you” (Luke 10:19, Amplified Classic Edition). – Analysis adapted from WILLIAM MACDONALD, “Psalm 91: My Psalm,” ‘Believer’s Bible Commentary,’ 1995, pp. 690-691

THE KEY: CHRIST’S AUTHORITY. Might want to think of this idea from Luke 10:19 as having an ‘Ordination of Super-Powers,’ if you will. Dead serious, boys and girls, and here’s why: It is vital for believers facing a Satanic Era to understand that through Obedience, we are been Divinely Bestowed with:

• ‘EXOUSIA’ [ἐξουσία]: “Executive authority to effectively act against evil powers that oppose Christ; permission or liberty to do anything required to overcome the Enemy; superordinated power and might (exceeding human ability); from an ancient Jewish practice of ‘covering on the head’ to indicate priestly authority; an index of dominion or divine government over earthy matters.”

• A MOTHER’S MILITANCE. I recall my Mom so many times exercising this Authority over Satan when we’d hit a hard place: “Devil! You have no authority here! This is God’s house and God’s family! Leave, now, in the name of Jesus Christ!” She handed down this Militance to my wife who used the same prayer when a would-be brute who threatened to assault me in our first apartment, pointed at him and Declared: “You’re gone!” Three days after the prayer, he was never heard from again. True story. 

So it is that we must walk in Prayerful Militance against the ever-proliferating Forces of Antichrist in the very air these days. I shall Close on tis idea, since it will become an irreplaceable Spiritual Weapon in the Days to Come.

5. LAST THOUGHTS

This Idea of Protection is not, of course, perfect in this Fallen World. But our potential for Divine Cover is Enhanced exponentially through our Trust in and Faithfulness to God. But few of us either know very much about such Authority.

MATTHEW POOLE SUMMARIZES. “This Promise was more specially verified for some years in God’s Protection of [the] first ministers of the Gospel, until they had done their work; [but] shall be Fulfilled in a sense to the End of the World, according to the Promise in PSALM 91:13. Nothing shall hurt their souls, as to the Favour of God and their eternal happiness, nor their bodies, so far forth as, or so long as, God in His Wisdom shall judge fit. They have a further Power also given them more common to all the ministers of the Gospel sent by Christ, yea, and to all Christians. They have a Power over all the power of the Enemy; God will not be wanting to them in a Power to resist the Devil, and they have a Promise that, being resisted, he shall flee from them.” – ‘English Annotations on the Holy Bible,’ 1685; edited

And yet, into this steamy, wicked roil of Rebellion against Him and His Ways, He still may well hold out what I consider to be His ‘LAST OLIVE BRANCH,’ captured in the sharp lines penned by Asaph the Psalmist.

“The wrath of God came upon them and slew the strongest and sturdiest of them and smote down Israel’s chosen youth. In spite of all this, they sinned still more, for they believed not in (relied not on and adhered not to Him for) His wondrous works. Therefore their days He consumed like a breath [in emptiness, falsity, and futility] and their years in terror and sudden haste…But He, full of [merciful] compassion, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not; yes, many a time He turned His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath and indignation.” – PSALM 78:31-33, 38, AMPC

COME AS BEGGARS. So can it be with and for America, beloved. But only IF we desire it and will now, right now, fervently ‘Beg’ for it. And yes, that’s the Word at this late point: ‘Beg,’ which Noah Webster (1828) again defines for us so poignantly.

“To ask earnestly; to beseech; to entreat or supplicate with humility. It implies more urgency than ask or petition.”

CODA: THE AMERICAN MOMENT. We Teeter on The Brink, my friends, even as I type these sayings to you. Thus, I don’t believe that America, the Church nor all ‘fallen’ disciples have any more time to waste, if we wish for God to once again ‘Hedge us in’ midst His Divine Cover and Blessing. 

He is very nearly Done with us, beloved, and some believe, has already written ‘Ichabod’ on our soiled walls. – “The glory of the Lord has left Israel, for the Ark of God has been taken.” – 1 SAMUEL 4:22, AMP

Since none of us knows that for certain, I offer this THREE-PART SERIES on the breathtaking Contrasts between the Future of the Wicked, versus the Future of the Obedient. EITHER ‘The Ten Plagues of Egypt’ to a Rebellious House; or the ‘Nine Favors of the Lord’ to a Contrite Nation or individual. 

BOTTOM LINE. One last time, my beloved Psalmist sums it all up succinctly and elegantly. Whether for a Nation, or a Church, or a penitent searcher, ‘Es precisamente el mismo principio.’

“Blessed [happy and sheltered by God’s favor] is everyone who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience], who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments.” – PSALM 128:1, AMP

It is such an exquisitely Simple matter, but so mysteriously, powerfully Evasive in these Last Hours. I pray many shall all find The Way, the Truth, and the Only Life there is in this mad, lost World of ours. He’s Waiting, beloved, but not for long. Not for long at all.

Ever your servant, DK

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NEXT SERIES: “NOTES ON SURVIVING AND SUCCEEDING IN THE LAST DAYS: CAPTAIN SULLY, LINDA FORD AND THE NEED TO STAY SOBER.” 

PART I: “Knowing the Times.” – Wed October 7

PART II: “Resisting the Times.” – Sat October 10

PART III: “Mastering the Times.” – Wed October14

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Dr. Cliff “DK” Kelly

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