Will You Be Among Those Destroyed For The Lack Of Knowledge?

Christians often feel a pernicious desire to be informed about the world — both about our present times and the history leading up to them — but in doing so we often ignore the Scriptures which unequivocally state that being informed according to the ordinances of God will be the exception.

This condition — on the one hand wanting to feel informed but at the same time being desperately ignorant — is what we would call “haughtiness”.  To compound the matter, those of us who come upon some knowledge believe that we have discovered all knowledge — or the most important knowledge — not realizing that we don’t know what we don’t know.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:2,

If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know…

Not knowing what we don’t know — yet presuming we know enough — is a particularly damning condition because we become closed to that which does not suit us.  We are closed to anything which might make us feel like we were possibly less informed than what we thought we were.

The people of God are accused of rejecting knowledge, as it says in Hosea 4:6,

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Since you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest.  Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Paul says it slightly differently in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12,

10 …with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

We can conclude then that not having a love of truth — while at the same time not having the knowledge which is according to God — are grounds for rejection and separation from Him.

This is not to suggest that our knowledge can bring about our salvation — something that the gnostics are wont to believe — but rather that knowledge is merely a means to the end, but not an end in itself.  Peter specifically states true knowledge as a step on the path to godliness and love in 2 Peter 1:5-9,

5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they do not make you useless nor unproductive in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For the one who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

Then true knowledge is something which must necessarily result in righteousness — and according to 1 Corinthians 13:6, love does not rejoice in unrighteousness either.  Conversely, but using the same logic, Paul gives us the causal link that a lack of knowledge leads to wickedness.

In 2 Thessalonians 2 quoted above, Paul says that those who did not love the truth take pleasure in wickedness.  It is our own wicked actions which are the result of delusion upon us — a delusion which arises from rejecting knowledge and rejecting truth.
Therefore, by Paul’s words, if we believe we do not have to have the knowledge of God, then we have rejected knowledge.  This is further witnessed numerous times in the Scriptures.  Proverbs 5:23 says,

[The wicked] will die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray.

Proverbs 10:21 says,

…fools die for lack of understanding.

Wise Elihu says in Job 36:10-12,

10 He opens their ears to instruction, and commands that they return from injustice. 11 If they listen and serve Him, they will end their days in prosperity, and their years in happiness. 12 But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword, and die without knowledge.

Of course, most people would say, “I would never reject the truth of God” — only other “less informed people” would do that.
According to prophecy, we are told that keeping the truth of God will not be the norm, so what makes any of us think our particular knowledge is so special that only we — and those who think as we do — have the truth?

If we believe something which is widely held by society, then we should certainly — at the very least — scrutinize that belief.  Yet at what point do we stop scrutinizing what we believe?  Where do we draw the line?

Even a knowledge of the Lord Jesus is clearly not enough as He said in Matthew 7:21-23,

21 ‘Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

If we believe that merely knowing the Lord Jesus automatically makes us law abiding, then we are actually rejecting knowledge — that very same knowledge which the Lord Himself provides plainly.

Often when asked tough theological questions, some might haughtily reply, “It’s okay, because we have accepted Jesus, so we will be saved regardless” — or “It’s okay, because I’m an Israelite, and I’ll be saved regardless” — but such is a rejection of knowledge — because the Scripture says otherwise.

Yet there are many of us — even among the true Israel of Scripture — who engage in this kind of self-justifying “logic”.  What could make us reject His words except for haughtiness?  The Lord says in Matthew 7:14,

13 Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Again, if we believe that the knowledge and truth of Christ are so common that many would enter, then we are rejecting the knowledge of Christ Himself.  A true knowledge of Christ necessarily gives us an understanding of the truth — that only a few indeed would find the way which leads to life.

The Lord says of the time of His return in Matthew 24:39,

…and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Only eight people were saved by the ark, and if the Lord’s return is anything similar — and if His prior words hold true — then there will also be few saved by His coming.  He specifically says they did not understand (another possible translation being “know”, as the Greek puts it).  Amos 5:18-20 even warns those who long for the coming of the Lord,

18 Woe to you who are longing for the day of the Lord, For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?  It will be darkness and not light; 19 as when a man flees from a lion And a bear confronts him, or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him. 20 Will the day of the Lord not be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it?

The book of Joel connects the “Day of the Lord” with the coming of the Lord in Joel 2:10-11,

10 Before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon become dark, and the stars lose their brightness. 11 The Lord utters His voice before His army; His camp is indeed very great, for mighty is one who carries out His word.  The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, and who can endure it?

This event of the sun, moon and stars becoming dark is the primary prophetic sign of the imminent return of the Lord, which the Lord Himself says in Matthew 24: 29-30,

29 …the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky

Do we truly long for the day of the Lord?  We have a clear message in the book of Amos that many would seek the coming of the Lord when, in fact, they should not — because for them it will be “darkness instead of light.”

And there are many Identity Christians, for example, who may think they “know” that when the Lord says, “I never knew you,” He is referring only to non-whites or non-Israelites.  As we will see, Scripture clearly states otherwise.

Joel says of His coming, “who can endure it?”  Malachi 3:2-3 and 4:1 say something similar,

2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap. 3 And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness…

1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of armies, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branches.’

The Lord also says of His return in Luke 19:27,

But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.

Clearly, His return will be a frightening and deadly event — not just for many of us but for most of us — because most of us will have rejected true knowledge and not received a love of truth — and most will be like chaff at His return, Israelite or not.

At this point, there are probably many who may even agree with what has been said here so far — but let’s then delve a little deeper into the nature of the state of the world and see how it has affected us.

We find more and more that the so-called “wisdom” of this present age seems to contradict the wisdom of the Scriptures — to the point where we hybridize our religion with science and politics — mainstream or alternative — imagining that this makes us wise — or self-righteously wiser than most.

On the contrary, modern religion is simply a decay of selfish religious sentiment into a political morass of self-justification — even amongst those of us who imagine ourselves to be resisting the wisdom of the world — in the broadest sense, at all levels of the spectrum of resistance.

Ivor Benson in Truth Out of Africa poses the following question:

What is religion? What is it – in essence?  Is it a set of ethics designed to make any particular political organisation “work”?  Is it a science of human relations for an imagined kind of society, a science fortified with religious sentiment?

Regardless of where we find ourselves on the political spectrum, our religion — especially our particular version of “Christianity” — often becomes exactly that — nothing more than a “science of human relations for an imagined kind of society fortified with religious sentiment.”

Those of us who see ourselves as oppressed by modern trends fall into the same morass of political self-justification — working toward our own imagined kind of society, fueled by our own particular religious sentiment.

In these final days — by the providence of God — the true Israel is awakening to its identity — that only the true children of Adam could possibly even be Israelites in the first place — and that only these people are even eligible for eternal life.  And indeed many white people are taking steps forward in faith with this new knowledge of their true identity.

Yet despite that new understanding, we still do not know as we ought to know — we are still rejecting the knowledge of the Lord Jesus.  Instead of this faith producing hope and godliness — the likes of which could survive the coming of our Lord — it has produced the bitterest of ironies.

We may think we know the evil of Marxism, but we often do not realize the extent to which we remain unwittingly under its spell. Marxism — especially in its modern incarnation — is not just the brainchild of some bearded Jew.  Marxism is satanic — which many of us are happy to admit — but we fail to consider that something which is satanic – directly from Satan – is likely to be something designed by a divine intelligence far beyond our own.

That intellect — knowing full well the vulnerabilities of the flesh of men — has exploited us to devastating effect — and the only possible resistance to this direct spiritual assault is the indwelling of the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit of God.

We may see Marxism as a “bogeyman” that is out to ruin our lives, but the truth is that in order to see Marxism as this “bogeyman,” we must necessarily already have a fundamentally Marxist mindset to begin with.

One of the fundamental principles of Marxism is to view the world in a purely material way — the antithesis of Deuteronomy 8:3,

…man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord.

Marxism threatens our material existence — and when we become fearful over material things, we unwittingly become Marxist in our outlook.  Truly, what are we even fearful over?  Consumerism has thrown oil on the already rampant inferno, which is that materialism of our flesh, making the effects of this Marxism all the more catastrophic on our people.  In contradiction to these modern sentiments, Paul says rather plainly in 1 Timothy 6:8,

If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

Some of us may even worry about these simple things, with which we are to be content.  Although this condition within our flesh is not new — Lord Jesus, in His transcendent wisdom, preached against this material mindset millennia ago, and took it even further than Paul when He said in Luke 12:30-32,

29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For all these things are what the nations of the world eagerly seek; and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided to you. 32 Do not be afraid, little flock, because your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom.

Our glorious Father has created for us a heavenly kingdom, the likes of which will cause the desires of our corruptible flesh pale into insignificance.  Yet why do we so fiercely cling to things which moths eat and which rust away when our Lord has given us such enormous promises?  Why are we so worried over our continued survival, when the Lord said that we should not love our lives even unto death?

With all this in mind, let us pose Ivor Benson’s question once again:

What is religion? What is it – in essence? Is it a set of ethics designed to make any particular political organisation “work”?  Is it a science of human relations for an imagined kind of society, a science fortified with religious sentiment?

Reflecting on our own motives and religious sentiments — what is it that we are really trying to work toward — given that the Scripture speaks plainly against a materially focused mind?  By contrast, James 1:27 says the following,

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

It begs the question for each Christian Israelite: Am I striving to be unstained by the world, or am I striving for an imagined kind of material society?

We emphasize here a “material society” because we cannot simultaneously strive for the heavenly society while striving for the material society.  The Lord says emphatically in Luke 16:13,

No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and wealth [Mammon].

There might not even need to be a material striving, but simply to have the critical and material view of society in the passive or resisting sense.

Say, for example, we are watching the news — and become angry and frustrated in fear of the government ruining our livelihoods.  We may have no intention of revolution, but our fear over material things is ruining our lives and our access to the Kingdom of God.  When this happens, the purposes of Satan have been achieved.

Whether we are active or passive in the manifestation of our fear, what matters ultimately is the condition of our hearts — as an evil heart cannot do good.  The Lord says in Luke 6:45,

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil person out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

What is in our hearts?  Is it a revolutionary mindset filled with anger at those who would diminish the material state of our lives? Do we each imagine that our views and actions are justified?  If so, then we are no different from anyone else, as Proverbs 21:2 says,

Every person’s way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord examines the hearts.

How is it that each person can be right in their own eyes?

Jeremiah 17:9 says,

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

Our hearts are deceitful things — even more deceitful than anything else — yet we merely presume that the intention of our own hearts is noble without giving it a second thought.

Some of us even imagine ourselves to be aloof from material desires because we think that God will maintain our material standard of living — or even enrich us — if only we will trust that He will do so.  When we do this, we have subverted ourselves — again imagining this all to be about that which is material.

Some of us may claim that it is through a love of our people – the white, Adamic people – that we worry over these material things.  However, if this “love” of our people has not produced righteousness in our own lives, then it is not true love because true love does not accept unrighteousness.

When we do these things, we reject the knowledge of Scripture — without even examining ourselves, or even worse — imagining that our self-examination is completed.  We think that the quality of our intention is good enough to guarantee the expected result.  On the contrary!

The unfortunate truth is that for many white Christians, because our religion has completely failed to produce people unspotted by the world, our religion has failed us.

Our religion has piggybacked off of this material sentiment — even taking diverse moral high grounds as the examples above — in order to convince ourselves that our intention is somehow less materialistic than it actually is.

Our foolish hearts will come up with all manner of lies, if only to convince ourselves that our focus on the flesh — on the world and on that which is material — can be reconciled with our own misbegotten self-righteousness.

We can even do this by giving up certain material things in order to curry favor with God — imagining Him to be a personal provider of material things.  Some of us, for example, may try to keep the laws of Moses so that we might incur the promised blessings — but in so doing, we attain only to the meager righteousness of the law, missing out on the far greater righteousness of faith.  Paul says of such in Romans 10:2-4,

2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

We become like a house built on sand — that when the flood comes, we are washed away.  We have come to expect adoration from men — and material gain — so that when we are deprived of these things, we are quick to extract it from our kindred with violence, as we have seen many times in all forms of Christianity.

Thus, paraphrasing Paul in 2 Timothy 3:5, in doing so we “hold a form of godliness, but deny its power.”  What power have we denied though?  What ought this pure religion and the salvation of our Lord produce in us?  Paul states it wonderfully in Titus 2:11-15,

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and in a godly manner in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds. 15 These things speak and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. No one is to disregard you.

What power has this revolutionary motivation brought to us in our religion?  All we see are bitter, angry Christians who see our identity as the true Israel of Scripture – itself a truth – as a ticket — perhaps even a guarantee — to some kind of wonderful society.

We keenly look for the falling of Babylon so that we can experience our own imagined kind of society — free from the machinations of the Jew and the beast which we so critically view.  Yes, we should view them critically — but only in the context of what pure religion ought to produce in us — and not in the context of our material good.

Especially in the so-called “Christian Identity” or “Kingdom Identity” circles, we have seen a plethora of such disagreeable individuals — backbiters, full of wrath, jealous, drunkards, merciless, selfish, bullies, greedy, partial, and implacable.

We have no pure religion because our own religion is just a sentiment used to justify our own dark and debased motivations.  Our religion has failed to produce in us the fruits of the Spirit — and our lives are contrary in all ways to the Spirit of God because our motivations are fleshly, not spiritual.

If you find yourself railing at this observation, where will you find yourself at the coming of the Lord Jesus?  Will you also reject knowledge — seeking His coming — but find yourself having leaned on the wall only to be bitten by a serpent?  What good has your religion produced in you?  Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5,

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

The religious sentiment of the day — especially those among us who presume ourselves to have “special” knowledge such as Identity Christians — has given itself over often unwittingly — in many ways to the traditions of men.

It has become just another modern day Phariseeism — except even more destructive and vile than before.  It is just such a case where the Lord in Matthew 15:8-9 quotes Isaiah saying,

8 This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.  9 And in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

When we give up the knowledge stated by the Scripture for the sake of politics by our fundamentally Marxist revolutionary worldview, we are succumbing to the commandments of men — and to the “wisdom” of the world.

Christian men often come together and discuss how the unrighteousness of the world has affected our material lives, nodding sagely to one another as if this makes us wise.  Yet the Lord rebukes us for it in Luke 16:15,

You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of people, but God knows your hearts; because that which is highly esteemed among people is detestable in the sight of God.

Do any of us imagine ourselves to be righteous?  By what standard of righteousness have we judged ourselves — and who has approved that righteousness except for other like-minded, self-justified men of whom we approve?

It is not men but God who justifies, as Paul says plainly in Romans 8:33.  So why do any of us bother to justify ourselves when we could instead rely on the perfect justice of God?  Be like the tax collector, therefore, in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:13-14,

13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

See then, do you exalt and justify yourself?  Then wait for the humbling of God.  If we would only humble ourselves instead, we could wait for the exaltation and justification of God.  Do not revel in your sin either, as it says in Hebrews 10:26,

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins…

Take care then — for the wisdom of the world is bearing down more and more on our people of this age, as it says in Daniel 12:4 of the end times,

…many will roam about, and knowledge will increase.

Similarly, it says the following in Amos 8:11-12,

11 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord.  12 People will stagger from sea to sea and from the north even to the east; they will roam about to seek the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.

It is a matter of prophetic fulfillment that as the wisdom and knowledge in the world increases, our wisdom of the knowledge of God would decrease — which fits exactly into everything which has been said here thus far.

These prophecies are especially applicable to the proverbial “end times” — and the second coming of the Lord.  And while many Christians currently believe us to be in the end times, we have failed to consider the severe prophecies concerning this time.

We can see how knowledge has increased exponentially in recent history, showing that this prophecy is indeed being fulfilled but contrary to the knowledge of God — and against all reason — this increase of knowledge makes us merely imagine ourselves to be wise.

Many Israelites in the past have had more reason to believe than we have — yet a whole generation of them died in the wilderness after witnessing the miracles of God.  The purpose of that wilderness is lain out clearly in Deuteronomy 8:2-3,

2 And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, in order to humble you, putting you to the test, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord.

The author of Hebrews uses the wilderness and taking of the promised land by Joshua as an allegory for eternal life when he says in Hebrews 4:11-12,

11 Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest [of eternal life], so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience [of the generation that died]. 12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Do we judge the thoughts and intentions of our own hearts?  We have been born into a sinful and corruptible flesh, having seen only our own hearts — and even so, only in pieces and shadows.  We can see only what we allow ourselves to see through the lies with which we have lied to ourselves.

How will our judgement hold up to the One who has seen every heart which ever existed, and to whom all is laid bare, who penetrates the soul and spirit?  If we continue to reject knowledge, we are doomed to a judgement of death.

David says in Psalm 15:2,

One who walks with integrity, practices righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart.

Similarly, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:18-20,

18 Take care that no one deceives himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: “He is the one who catches the wise by their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are useless.”

Notice how Paul prefaces this statement, “Take care that no one deceives himself”— knowing what the prophets have said — that there would be mass self-deception and the gnawing feeling that not conforming to the wisdom of the world would make one foolish.

Paul knew not only that our hearts are wicked, but also the cure for a wicked heart, which David wrote of in Psalm 51.  Referring to this self-deception, many know how the Lord quoted Isaiah 6 in Matthew 13:14-15,

14 …‘You shall keep on listening, but shall not understand; and you shall keep on looking, but shall not perceive; 15 For the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and return, and I would heal them.’

We read and imagine that we understand all the parables, and that it only applied to those to whom the Lord was talking; however, when Isaiah receives this prophecy, he says in Isaiah 6:11,

Lord, how long?

He specifically asks how long this curse of not understanding will last — and he receives the reply in Isaiah 6:11-13,

11 … Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, houses are without people and the land is utterly desolate, 12 The Lord has completely removed people, and there are many forsaken places in the midst of the land. 13 Yet there will still be a tenth portion in it, and it will again be subject to burning, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is cut down.  The holy seed is its stump.

The reply states that much calamity would happen to Israel, until there is nothing but a stump of Israel left.  Until that stump — the holy seed — comes about, this curse of delusion will continue.  “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,” refers to the four seven times punishments of Leviticus 26, where it says in verses 31-33,

31 I will turn your cities into ruins as well and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your soothing aromas. 32 And I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled at it. 33 You, however, I will scatter among the nations, and I will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become ruins.

Note that same wording in the bolded text as in Isaiah 6:11.  The seven times punishments of Leviticus 26 are famine (v20, v26, v29), plague (v21, v25), sword/war (v25, v33) and beasts (v22).  The very purpose of the seven times punishments are to bring about a pure remnant of Israel – the recipients of Leviticus 26:40-45.  We can see this in Ezekiel 14:21-22 as well,

21 For this is what the Lord God says: “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, vicious animals, and plague to eliminate human and animal life from it! 22 Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come out to you, and you will see their conduct and actions; then you will be comforted for the disaster which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it.

We can see the seven times punishments in the fourth seal of the Revelation as well, where it says in Revelation 6:8,

…Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, and famine, and plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.

With the fifth seal being a homage to martyrs – thus not taking up much time – the sixth seal then brings about the remnant of Israel – the 144,000 – in chapter 7.  This fits the same pattern of Ezekiel 14 and Leviticus 26. Isaiah 1:7-9 refers to that same remnant,

7 Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; as for your fields, strangers are devouring them in front of you; it is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. 8 The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a city under watch.  9 If the Lord of armies had not left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom, we would be like Gomorrah.

Incidentally, Paul quotes Isaiah 1:9 in Romans 9:29.  This is his discourse on why not all Israel – Paul’s descendants according to the flesh (v3) – are Israel (v6).  Paul also quotes Isaiah 10:22 in Romans 9:27,

Though the number of the sons of Israel may be like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.

The Lord again confirms this, and He refers to all these prophecies as being in Israel’s future when He says in Luke 21:22 & 24,

22 because these are days of punishment, so that all things which have been written will be fulfilled… 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the nations until the times of the nations are fulfilled.

Paul confirms this in his discourse on the remnant of Israel when He says in Romans 11:25-26,

25 … a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the nations has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.’

Is Paul’s influence over the gospel of Luke not obvious?

At the end of Romans 9:26 Paul quotes Isaiah 59, which is about an evil Israel who ultimately becomes purified by the Lord, confirming the very same pattern once again.  It confirms that he says, “just as it is written.”  Read Isaiah 59, and after having done so, if this has not sunk in yet, consider Deuteronomy 32:24-28 & 32,

24 They will be wasted by famine, and emaciated by plague and a bitter epidemic; and the teeth of beasts I will send against them, with the venom of crawling things of the dust.  25 Outside the sword will make them childless, and inside, terror— both young man and virgin, the nursing child with the man of gray hair. 26 I would have said, ‘I will wipe them out, I will remove the mention of their name from humanity,’ 27 Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy, that their adversaries would misjudge, that they would say, ‘Our hand is triumphant, and the Lord has not performed all this.’

28 For they are a nation destitute of counsel, and there is no understanding in them…32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and from the fields of Gomorrah;

We can see very clearly the same pattern in Deuteronomy 32, tying everything neatly together.  Would it then surprise you that Paul even quotes the prophecy of Deuteronomy 32 in the same discourse in Romans 10:19?

The point ultimately is that the delusion quoted by the Lord in Matthew 13:14-15 will continue until the final remnant of Israel arises, which has not yet come about.  Therefore, Israel is still under the delusion of Isaiah 6.

Thus, if we see the Lord’s parables — and if we automatically assume we understand — then we are seeing without seeing, and hearing without hearing.  We are rejecting the knowledge of the Scriptures and falling under that same delusion.

Then let us stop thinking this ignorance is about everyone else — let us stop justifying ourselves and rejecting the knowledge of Scripture lest we die in our own ignorance.  Instead let us follow Paul’s words in Ephesians 6:11-18,

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints…

If we do not put on this armor, we will not be able to withstand the schemes of the devil.  We are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of wickedness.  This is not a material fight for your home and your job, but rather a fight for your very mind, as the Lord says in Matthew 10:28,

And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Why are we so worried about the body?  We have our minds on the things above — the heavenly city, the eternal family who are the heirs of the Kingdom of God and co-heirs with the Lord Jesus.  Therefore, seek truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, the Spirit of God and salvation unto eternal life.

Paul says to pray at all times — even for all the saints. Samuel even considered it a sin for himself not to cease praying for the people of Israel in 1 Samuel 12:23.  Paul twice says that he prayed night and day in 1 Thessalonians 3:10 and 2 Timothy 1:3.  The Lord says in Luke 18:1 to pray always and to not lose heart.  Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17,

…pray without ceasing…

Hebrews 4:16, after having laid out the perfect judgement with which the Lord judges the heart, advises us,

Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.

In light of these words, why have so many of us again rejected knowledge and ceased to pray?  It is time for us to get on our knees before our God — to bear fruit worthy of repentance, and let us accept knowledge and consider the words of Jeremiah in Lamentations 3:39-41,

39 Of what can any living mortal, or any man, complain in view of his sins? 40 Let’s examine and search out our ways, and let’s return to the Lord.  41 We raise our heart and hands toward God in heaven.

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