Opus 2026-393: Uncharted Revelation: What Part of “All” Don’t You Understand?

When we get to 7:9 we have dealt with the 144,000 but now we have another group that seems to fit into the same category.

(Rev 7:9 KJV)  After 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;

I would assume this is a bigger group than the 144,000 and notice that they come from “all nations”.  This gets really mixed up for those who are into eschatology.  Here you have white robes just like the ones under the altar in the last chapter.  You have palm branches.  Later you have a throne, elders, beasts and falling on their faces.  The people I talk to would somehow want to make this Israel but it is clear it is not.  

As you keep reading you come across another favorite phrase, “the Great Tribulation” except for two problems.  It isn’t in the KJV and it involves people martyred during that tribulation.  What is the problem with that you say?

(Rev 7:14 KJV)  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

(Rev 7:14 NAS77) And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

First the NASB is correct.  The word “the” is in the Greek.  Why the KJV, loved by end times enthusiasts, does not have it is a mystery.  As far as I can tell this is the only place you find the “the”.  

Second, the eschatology lovers I have met tend to be pre-trib and like to say the Great Tribulation will not involve the church because the church will have been raptured.  It will involve Israel.  These people are Gentiles from all the earth.  They are martyred during the Great Tribulation.  That seems clear from the simple words of scripture.  I guess this is another lesson in which are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?

Verse 14 gives another example of the figurative nature of the narrative.  Logically you do not wash robes in blood and have them come out white.  Theologically it is a great picture but it is certainly not literal.

Read and enjoy.  Let your emotions take a deep dive.  Don’t try to make a chart for anyone who is paying attention.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-392: The IRS as God

In the past, I have speculated on how many people tend to think of God as the husband in I Love Lucy.  Ricky was easily fooled, temperamental, and forgiving.  Lucy could get away with anything.

It struck me this morning that many people look at God as they look at the IRS.  The IRS is a gigantic organization with powers that we can’t even understand.  They can freeze your bank accounts.  They can put a lien on your home.  They can even put you in jail.

The IRS has so many rules and regulations that nobody can totally understand them.  Many of those rules are either totally arbitrary or are designed to benefit a small group of special interests.  People walk in fear of them.  You don’t want to be on their radar.  The further way they are the better.

At the same time it’s amazing how many people think that they are smart enough to outfox the IRS.  They file deceptive paperwork or don’t file at all.  They come up with deductions that would not fool a two year-old.  They look deep into the inner workings to try and find gaps in the regulations.  When push comes to shop, they either hire a lawyer to negotiate them out or follow one of the Clickbait trails that claim to get your back taxes forgiven.

Somehow, I don’t think so.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-391: I Like That

One of the subterranean channels of thought that I always have going concerns the fate of the large part of the human population that seemed to have no opportunity to respond to the good news of Jesus and the hope that is in him.  I must confess that it doesn’t seem fair or just that people who never heard the gospel should be doomed.

The easy part of this is to answer for those who were raised in the biblical tradition before Jesus.  They did not know about the cross.  They did not know about the resurrection.  Their knowledge is very limited.  They do, however, know the God of the Bible, or at least have the opportunity to know the God of the Bible.  So I think it’s pretty easy to come up with some kind of rationale how people like Moses, Abraham and Ruth can know eternal life.

What about those who know nothing.

What becomes clear to me is that this is one of those areas where I must walk in faith.  God has not explained to me how a peasant raising rice in a remote Chinese province who has never heard of Jesus and has never heard any teaching about the afterlife other than vague, ancestral traditions is going to go to hell from a lack of knowledge.  I say I walk in faith because I believe that God has it all worked out, but hasn’t filled me in.  I can come up with all kinds of speculations.  My imagination can run wild.  I realize that that is just speculation and imagination.

There is an answer, I just don’t know what it is.  I expect that when I enter into eternity, it will either become abundantly clear to me, God will sit down and explain it to me in such a way that I nod my head and say that’s obvious, or I may just forget all about it in the glory at the moment.  I don’t like the idea of eternal damnation.  I don’t have to like it.  Last time I checked my emails God had not asked me for my approval or my recommendations.  I do believe that when I finally hear the details with my unencumbered mind, I will say, “I like that.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-390: On the Street: Intelligent Conversation

As I’m out walking on our neighborhood system of roads, I find myself talking to various dogs.

Why?

Do I really think they understand what I’m saying?  No.

I’m concerned about my own sanity.  Instead of having conversations with the dog I should just start making nonsense noises to reassure them that I am human and know what I’m doing.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-389: Beware of Romance

I love to watch Star Wars movies.  I like the exciting graphics and special effects.  Sometimes the story is interesting.  On occasion, I can even identify with characters.  The one thing that I never get sucked into is thinking that what I’m seeing could be even close to reality.

I often use Conan the barbarian as an example.  I watched about half of one of the movies and it got so romanticize that I couldn’t go on.  If there was a real Conan the barbarian, he would not be the romantic character of the movie.  To start with, and most obvious, he would probably smell like an old unwashed cow just returned from rolling in the fertilizer of the meadow.  He wouldn’t have the smooth flawless skin you see in a movie.  He would be covered with scars, and they would be scars which were not sowed up by a doctor, but revealed gapping tissue where they healed over time.  There’s a good chance that he would be missing a number of teeth and what he had left would be so rotten that you couldn’t stand his breath.  Maybe he would be one eyed.  If you were a real fighter, he would be missing a finger or two.  He might have big lumps on his head from being clubbed to the ground.  He would probably walk with a gross lamp from a leg which was broken and never healed properly.  He would also consider theft and rape as just a matter of course.

What brings this to mind are some of the memes I see and the way in which AI artists are being used to enhance how people look.  We get a steady diet of memes that feature Ayn Rand.  I have seen her in real life interviews.  She is a significant author and an intellectual.  I would never call her attractive.  Yet when I see the artistic expressions of what she looks like in these memes she is tall, slender, and very handsome.  It’s harmless, but it’s not real.

Another type of meme has to do with lifting up manhood.  One that I recently looked at showed a man from the back and the statement had to do with being made for a war.  The idea was that the man is there to protect his family and civilization.  That’s a good thought.  It’s something we need to consider.  However, as I looked at this warrior from the back, I ran into the same problem that I run into with Conan the barbarian.  You have a narrow waist and incredibly broad shoulders.  You have massive arms.  You have every muscle standing out and clearly delineated.  You have the kind of body that pretty much can only be developed by concentrated weightlifting and a gym.  You know the kind of thing I’m talking about, where they will focus on just one muscle and do 1000 reps.

Compare those pictures to photographs that you occasionally see of real genuine barbarian warriors.  Or look back at historical photographs of Apache Indians.  If you pass them in a crowd, you would not be impressed with their physical size and proportion.  They tend to have skinny arms and often sunken chests.  They certainly don’t have massive ridges of muscles connecting every bone in their body.

There is romance, and there is reality.  It really doesn’t hurt to enjoy the artificial products of literature and art.  The problem is that when we measure those against ourselves and start feeling insignificant because our tissue hangs and doesn’t flex.  Keep in mind that characters like Conan  the barbarian do not raise productive and responsible children.  They don’t produce large quantities of food to keep others alive.  They don’t build manufacturing plants that provide the daily needs of those around them.  All they can do is destroy and show how powerful they are.

Leave them in the movies and get on with life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-388: Should-a-Beens: Temple Anarchy

I recently looked into the events and declaration around the building of the temple.  I started in II Chronicles 6 and went all the way back to the building of the Tabernacle.  Part of the impetus of this was the declaration by a Bible teacher that God never told David or Solomon to build the temple. It was not His idea.

That seemed a strange statement, but as you look at the beginnings, you can see that the idea was born in the “heart of David”.  Solomon is speaking,

(2Ch 6:7 KJV)  Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

It did not come directly from God.

In one of the passages, God even declares that during all of the years of moving in and the wilderness, He never asked them to build him a house of Cedar. 

(2Sa 7:5 KJV)  Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
(2Sa 7:6 KJV)  Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.
(2Sa 7:7 KJV)  In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?

Notice the question marks.  The idea was that God was perfectly happy with the tabernacle.  I would say that God’s plan was for a mobile worship center.

We run into a similar issue in the monarchy.  What was God’s original plan for how His people were to be governed?  God wanted to be their king.  The people started to pout and we have this confession,

(1Sa 8:7 KJV)  And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

Did God always planned on Saul becoming king?  Was a monarchy always in the works?  That depends on whether you’re a Calvinist or not.  No matter what your theology, God is obviously unhappy about it.

Why would God be satisfied with the anarchy of the judges and the mobility of the Tabernacle?

Both the monarchy and the temple speak of a stationary location for the center of power.  The monarchy transfers the focus of power from God Almighty to a king.  The temple ties the presence of God to one location.  Neither one of these was God’s plan.  He conceded them because it seems that the people needed it, or at least wanted it.

Where would we be today in living out God’s plan for humanity if Israel had never had a king and had been content with the Tabernacle?  Interesting thought.  Maybe I will find it interesting again.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-287: Benefits of Diabetes

I have a friend who’s going through a lot of trauma because of a retina problem.  As far as I know diabetes is not part of his package.  It emerged suddenly and they got him in for surgery within two weeks, which gives you an indication of how bad it was.  And he spent a week on his belly and things still aren’t looking good.

I don’t know that I expect this to happen to me because I have diabetes, or at least at one time I had raging diabetes.  When I admitted that reality, it made me first of all change my lifestyle.  Many people with type two diabetes can beat it back or at least put it back in the garage if they will change the way they do things.  People being what they are we tend to want a pill instead of not eating so much.

I was blessed with a fear of the needle and so I managed to distance myself and lose the weight.  The problems went away.  I am still diabetic, but there are no side effects at this point.

Which brings me to the second benefit.  I get better health care than I would if I was not diabetic.  It’s amazing how many adjustments are made to things simply because you have a history of diabetes.  I can go in and have my feet examined on a regular basis.  When I go see the doctor for my eyes I pretty much get the whole treatment, including a new prescription, glaucoma checks, and a very careful examination of my retina.  All of that is covered by insurance.  Why?  Because I have been diabetic.

I am aware when I write things like this that everybody’s diabetes is different.  You can do everything right and it still doesn’t get better.  You can get the wrong doctors.  You can simply refuse to change anything.  And one of the things that surprise me was that many people with diabetes do not take the medication that is prescribed.

We’re all different.  Although it’s irritating to have to worry about my A1c, it is still a joy to know that there are benefits in my infirmities.

homo unius libri