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The Bible portrays death as the consequence of human sin. Death was the sanction that God tied to the Garden of Eden stipulation: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17). And God’s expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden on account of their covenant breach and treason demonstrated that His threats were not empty. Death became the lot of Adam and his posterity. To borrow the apostle Paul’s language in Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin [became] death.” What did God have in view when He issued His death-threat to Adam? What is the meaning of “death”? How would Adam, Eve, and their offspring come to experience this consequence for human sin? What purpose does death serve in God’s sovereign plan for humankind? These are the questions that we’ll attempt to answer in the article below.
The common Hebrew terminology used for death is related to the verb used in God’s death-threat. The phrase “you shall surely die” combines the infinite absolute (מוֹת) and the finite verbal form (תָּמוּת) of the Hebrew מוּת (mût). From this verbal root comes the cognate noun מָוֶת (mäwet). The common Greek verb for death, ἀποθνῄσκω (apothnêskõ), and its related noun, θάνατος (thanatos), share a similar semantic range with the Hebrew counterparts. The terminology for “death” is often used in antithetical parallelism with the Hebrew and Greek terms for “life” (Deut. 30:19; 2 Sam. 15:21; Prov. 18:21: Jer. 21:8). Therefore, at the most basic level, “death” denotes the opposite of “life.” In a certain sense, we may define death as the cessation or deprivation of life. However, we mustn’t construe the meaning of death in purely naturalistic terms. Death isn’t merely the functional cessation of our vital bodily organs, such as the heart, lungs, and/or brain. On the contrary, the Scriptures accord “death” a larger theological significance. Consequently, we cannot properly understand human death apart from man’s relationship with God. With this theological perspective in view, we will examine the biblical meaning of “death” under three headings: spiritual death, physical death, and eternal death.1
The first dimension of death experienced by Adam, Eve, and their offspring by ordinary generation may be termed “spiritual death.” By spiritual death, we are referring to the cessation of covenant fellowship between man and God. This rupture in communion between man and God has both a human and also a divine component. In other words, the alienation is two-sided.
The first thing Adam and Eve experienced when they ate the forbidden fruit was the opening of their eyes and an immediate urge to cover their nakedness (3:7). These metaphors are indicative of the presence of a bad conscience and a consequent feeling of shame.2 Moreover, in addition to a bad conscience and feeling of guilt, Adam and Eve experienced a dread and aversion to God’s special presence (3:8, 10). As a result, they not only attempt to hide from God (Gen. 3:8b, 10b), but they also try to mitigate their guilt through blame-shifting (3:12-13). Furthermore, Adam and Eve’s fall into sin consisted of disaffection toward their heavenly Father. God alludes to this disaffection when He promises to reverse it in His curse upon the Serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed” (Gen. 3:15). To summarize, Adam and Eve’s initial estrangement from God consisted in a bad conscience, as well as the feelings of shame, fear, and disaffection toward God.
The rest of Scripture confirms that this spiritual deadness or moral estrangement has been inherited by Adam’s offspring. One of the key texts that highlights the continuance of “spiritual death” is found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where he asserts,
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.Ephesians 2:1–3, ESV
Here, Paul describes men before conversion as “dead in trespasses and sins.” This spiritual deadness does not just refer to our moral corruption and inability. It also refers to the fact that our allegiance and affections were aligned with Satan rather than God. We did not merely carry out our own lusts, but we followed “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Thus, death, in this context, conveys the idea of estrangement from God.
Jesus also alludes to this spiritual death when He declares to a Jewish audience, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24). Conversion, Jesus argues, results in a transition “from death into life.” The “life” Jesus has in view does not merely consist in the prospect of existence after death. The tenses of the verbs indicate that Christ is speaking of realities experienced in this life. The moment a person believes in Christ, he “has passed from death into life.” And what kind of life does Jesus have in view? Listen to his answer in John 17:3: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Eternal life experienced in this life is equivalent to communion with God. Conversely, spiritual death experienced in this life is equivalent to estrangement from God.
It’s also important for us to note that there are degrees of spiritual death or estrangement. All men are born with a conscience that testifies of their estrangement from God (Rom. 1:18-21, 32; 2:14-15). It is possible, however, for men to harden their conscience and to intensify their enmity toward God. Think, for example, of Pharaoh’s response to Yahweh. Ten times God commanded Pharaoh to release the people of Israel from bondage; and ten times Pharaoh hardened his heart against God’s command (Exod. 7:13-14, 16, 23; 8:15, 19, 22; 9:7, 12, 34, 35; 10:1; 11:10; 14:8). Consequently, when men harden their conscience against God, God in turn gives them over to a reprobate mind (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28), that is, a heart that is more deeply estranged from God.
We mustn’t limit the alienation between man and God merely to a human estrangement from God. The Scriptures also teach that God himself is estranged from man. It wasn’t Adam and Eve who left the Garden because they no longer enjoyed God’s fellowship. God himself expelled them from the Garden (Gen. 3:22-24) as act of judgment and expression of divine wrath. As the sin of Adam’s offspring increased (Gen. 6:5), so God’s grief and righteous indignation grew in proportion (Gen. 6:6-7) until he executed the judgment of the Flood (Gen. 6:13ff.).
Perhaps one of the greatest indications of God’s estrangement from man is the fact that of all the divine emotions portrayed in Scripture, God’s anger, wrath, and displeasure occur most frequently. In his study of the divine emotions, Greg Nichols counts at least 459 explicit references to God’s anger in the Old and New Testaments. Then he concludes, “No other divine affection even begins to approach this massive testimony.”3 David writes in Psalm 7:11, “God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” As we noted earlier in Ephesians, spiritual death does not merely constitute us as the followers of Satan (Eph. 2:2) but also as “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3).
Ironically, the most poignant display of God’s estrangement towards humankind is seen in God’s abandonment of Christ upon the cross. Recall the words of Jesus as he cried out under darkened sky, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). No more eloquent testimony to the alienation God felt towards man was ever heard!
In summary, the first consequence of sin is “spiritual death.” This kind of death consists in what might be called “covenant-estrangement.” The sinner is alienated from God (Eph. 2:12; 4:18; Col. 1:21), and God is alienated from the sinner (John 3:36; Eph. 2:3). Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring about the reconciliation (Rom. 5:11; 11:15; 2 Cor. 5:18-19).
Not only did God’s curse upon humanity entail a spiritual death; it also resulted in physical death or the dissolution of the body. You may recall God’s judicial pronouncement on Adam:
Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it”: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”Genesis 3:17-19, ESV
So in accordance with God’s curse, Adam’s body would eventually succumb decay and dissolution. He was created to rule over the earth, but as a result of his sin, the very earth from which he was taken would eventually “rule over him”!
Under this heading of “physical death,” we need to include the processes and factors that lead up to death: harmful environmental threats and disasters, genetic defects and deformities, injuries and diseases, and the general aging process that eventuates in the failure of the body’s vital organs and results in physical death.4 So we will consider physical death both as a process and as a discrete event.
Some theologians have attempted to find an explicit reference to the process of dying in God’s death-threat given to Adam in the Garden of Eden. The final phrase in Genesis 2:17 can be literally rendered, “In the day you eat from it, dying you shall die [מוֹת תָּמוּת].” The inference drawn from this literal rendering of the passage is that God was actually threatening the beginning of a process rather than a discrete event. “In the day that you eat from it, you will begin the process of dying,” is how some read it. However, the Hebrew construction of an infinitive absolute followed immediately by the cognate finite verb affirms the certainty of the verbal idea rather than its beginning or duration.5 Accordingly, most translations are correct when they render the passage, “In the day that you eat from it, you shall surely die.”6 So the passage is not explicitly underscoring the process of death but rather the inevitability of death. The certainty of Adam’s death would be predicated upon the irreversible factuality of his eating the fruit.7
But we don’t depend on a dubious reading of Genesis 2:17 in order to establish the reality of a process of physical death. God seems to allude to this process in his judgment upon Adam and Eve. To the woman God threatens an increase in physical and emotional pain connected with her role as child-bearer (Gen. 3:16). To the man God portends hardship, toil and pain, which would eventuate the physical dissolution of his body (Gen. 3:17-19). By banishing the couple from the protective environment of the Garden (Gen. 3:22-24), God would expose them to a harsher environment that would contribute to the mortal injury or eventual aging and death of their bodies (Gen. 4:8, 23; 5:5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, 31; 6:11-13).
Not surprisingly, soon after the Flood we find a fast and significant decline in human longevity. Noah, like most of the other antediluvians identified in Genesis 5 lives to be over years 900 years old. However, by the time we reach the patriarchal narratives, the lifespans of the patriarchs average 153 years8 and that of the Israelites in Moses’ day 70 to 80 years (Ps. 90:10). Moreover, we also find scattered references throughout the Old and New Testaments to physical deformities, genetic defects, injuries and diseases.9 Furthermore, a number of passages describe individuals who are sick and in the process of dying from their illness.10
The Scriptures also describe physical death as a discrete event. In Genesis 5, we hear the repeated refrain, “and he died” (vv. 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, 31). Breathing one’s last breath is one of the most common biblical expressions used to depict the actual moment of death (Gen. 28:8, 17; 35:29; 49:33; Mark 15:37, 39; Luke 23:46; Acts 5:5, 10).
The Bible attributes to God the power and prerogative to determine the precise time of one’s death. Through Moses, God declares, “Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand (Deut. 32:39).11 The Psalmist writes, “You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust” (Ps. 104:29). In the language of Job, “[Man’s] days are determined; the number of his months is with [God]; [God has] appointed [man’s] limits, so that he cannot pass.” And true to God’s judgment upon Adam (Gen. 3:19), man’s body begins to decompose and return to the dust once his physical life expires (Job 17:14; 24:20; Pss. 16:10; 90:3; 104:29; Eccl. 3:20; 12:7; Isa. 66:24; Dan. 12:2; John 11:39; Acts 2:27-31; 13:36; 1 Cor. 15:42, 50).
There is one more dimension of death that we must consider before we move on to address the nature and purpose of human death in the Bible. This is what theologians often refer to as “eternal death,” or to use the phrase employed by the apostle John in the book of Revelation, “the Second Death [ὁ δεύτερος θάνατος]” (2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8). This is the ultimate form of death—eternal separation from God and His blessings.
The OT does not provide us with a lot of explicit and detailed teaching concerning this dimension of death. Of course, we cannot conclude from this fact that the OT redemptive community was completely unaware of its reality. According to Jude, Enoch, the seventh from Adam, preached a final judgment (Jude 14, 15). According to Peter, the universal flood provided the people of the ancient world a foretaste of this final judgment (2 Pet. 3:5-7).
Not surprisingly, David alludes to this day in the Psalms (Pss. 9:17-20; 37:37-38; 49:12-15). King Solomon also spoke of this day when he concludes Ecclesiastes with the famous words, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (12:13-14). Solomon cannot be referring to a temporal judgment in this life since he has already concluded that such a universal and complete judgment does not happen in this life (Eccl. 3:16; 8:14; 9:1-3). Hence, he must be alluding to a final assize.
Daniel provides the most complete OT description of this great Day of Judgment in a vision:
I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.Daniel 7:9, 10, ESV
Later, Daniel speaks of a general resurrection in which “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2). So there seems to have been a general belief among the OT community in a final judgment and an eternal separation from God that would follow physical death.12
In the NT, however, we find clearer and more explicit teaching. Jesus, for example, distinguishes between mere physical death and eternal death when He cautions His disciples, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul [i.e., mere physical death]. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [i.e., eternal death]” (Matt. 10:28). This eternal destruction of “soul and body in hell” will commence after a Final Judgment to which all mankind will be summoned (Matt. 7:22; 11:22; 13:40-43; 25:31-46; John 5:27; Acts 10:42; Rom. 2:5, 16; 14:9; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:10; 2 Tim. 1:12; 4:1; 2 Pet. 3:7).
Not only will this death entail unending pain and torment (Matt. 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28; 16:23, 28; Rev. 14:11; 18:10, 15). Most frightening will be the reality of eternal banishment from God’s presence and any possibility of hope (Matt. 7:23; 25:41; Luke 13:25, 27; Thess. 1:9; Rev. 22:15). The phrase “second death” serves to highlight the ideas of ultimacy and finality.13
In addressing the nature of death in its three dimensions, we are simply highlighting the fact that human death is not just a natural process or a mere product of chance. On the contrary, the Scriptures clearly portray human death as an expression of God’s righteous wrath and judgment (Rom. 1:18-3:20; 2:5, 8; 5:9; 9:22; Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:6; 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 6:16-17; 11:18; 14:10, 19; 15:1, 7; 16:1, 19; 19:15).
In general, the purpose of human death, in all three of its dimensions is the satisfaction of God’s justice and pacification of God’s wrath. When God warned Adam not to eat of the forbidden tree upon the pain of death (Gen. 2:17), he bound himself to act in accordance with his just and holy nature. So when Adam sinned, God had no other recourse but to punish sin. The soul that sins must die (Ezek. 18:4, 20). The “wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). This need for the satisfaction of justice and pacification of wrath does not change under the dispensation of grace. The soul that sins must still die. But thanks be to God that he has provided a substitute! Jesus Christ has taken our sins and propitiated God’s wrath so that God can remain just and also the justifier of the one who believes in Jesus (Rom. 3:24-26; 5:9-10; Gal. 3:13).14
If Jesus Christ has suffered God’s wrath in our stead delivering us from eternal death, and if the Holy Spirit has regenerated our hearts delivering us from spiritual death, why must we still experience physical death? Why must Christians experience suffering and physical death?
The Bible identifies several positive purposes for God granting his children “thorns in the flesh.” First, God uses suffering to sanctify his children. “It is good for me that I have been afflicted,” says the Psalmist, “that I may learn Your statutes” (Ps. 119:71; cf. Ps. 119:67; 2 Cor. 1:9; Phil. 3:10; Heb. 12:10-11; Rom. 8:28). Second, suffering serves to highlight our Christian graces. Consider, for example, how Job’s faith in the midst of severe trial served to accentuate his piety (Job 1:20-21; 2:3, 10; 42:1-8; James 5:11). Third, suffering provides an occasion for God to demonstrate his power and grace. Sometimes God afflicts us in order to prompt us to cry for deliverance and to answer our prayer (Ps. 18:2-19). In other cases, God afflicts us and provides us the grace we need to live with that affliction so that his grace is magnified in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:7-9). Fourth, suffering teaches God’s children to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 4:16-17; 5:7; Heb. 11:1ff.). Fifth, God allows us to suffer in order to equip us to minister to others in need (2 Cor. 1:3-4). Sixth, God sometimes uses suffering to keep us from falling away from the faith. “But when we are judged,” says Paul, “we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32). Finally, God allows us to suffer in this if in order to create within us a greater longing for the glory to come (Rom. 8:18, 23; 1 Pet. 5:10).
The writer to the Hebrews informs us, “It is appointed for men to die” (Heb. 9:27). Don’t we wish that we could be an exception to that general rule, like Enoch (Gen. 5:24; Heb. 11:5), Elijah (2 Kings 2:1, 11), or those living when Christ returns (1 Thess. 4:17)? Why does God allow the Christian to experience physical death? In addition to some of the same benefits listed under suffering, let me suggest two reasons why God allows us to experience physical death.
First, anticipating and experiencing physical death serves to conform the Christian to the pattern of Christ. Before Jesus could enter into glory, He had to suffer and die (Luke 24:26, 46; 1 Pet. 1:11). So too, believers are called to follow in his steps (1 Pet. 2:21). Suffering first, then glory (1 Pet. 4:12-13; 5:8-10). Thus, the apostle could aspire to “know [Christ] and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10).
Secondly, God has chosen to use the penalty for sin as very event by which He completely frees His children from the power and presence of sin forever. As Gregory Nichols remarks, “Ironically, God turns death, the gateway to hell, into the gateway to glory. He turns death, the instrument of a sinner’s destruction, into the instrument of the destruction of indwelling sin.”15 Just as God’s curse-oracle against the Serpent contains an implicit blessing of redemption, so the experience of physical death for the Christian becomes a vehicle of ultimate blessing and unending joy. Not surprisingly, the apostle Paul can declare, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
B.G.
Source: https://bobgonzal.es/index.php/2023/10/05/the-last-enemy-a-brief-theology-of-death/
Cloud surfing? Harp strumming? Singing in an everlasting worship service? Melting into nothing in the celestial light of God? Is this how we will be enjoying eternity?
Some guesses about our eternal activities are nebulous, and others cross the border into the ridiculous. None of these pictures inspires me to anticipate eternity with joy. George Orwell observed, “The Christian Heaven, as usually portrayed, would attract nobody. Almost all Christian writers dealing with Heaven either say frankly that it is indescribable or conjure up a vague picture of gold, precious stones, and the endless singing of hymns.”1 If you are not excited about the prospect of eternity with God, maybe you’ve got the wrong picture in your mind. What will God’s people be doing in eternity?
We are going to eat in eternity. At the very least, we will eat from the tree of life. God promises believers: “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7). The tree of life grows in the New Jerusalem in the new earth where believers will live forever (Revelation 21:2).
In His glorified body, Jesus ate and drank (Luke 24:42–43). Since our glorified bodies are like His, we too will be able to eat and drink in eternity. Furthermore, just before the Second Coming of Christ, we will sit and eat with Him at the marriage supper of the Lamb as He foretold at the Last Supper (Revelation 19:6–9; Luke 22:15–18). We will not enter a tasteless eternity. Fruit and feasts await us in the new earth.
According to Matthew 19:28–30, Jesus promises that those who give up houses and lands in this life will inherit them in eternity. If you like having a garden or growing your own food, you can do it in the new earth.2 With the curse removed, think of how easy and fruitful your efforts will be!
Also, in Matthew 19:28–30, Jesus promises close family relationships in eternity. We will see our saved relatives again (1 Thessalonians 4:13–14). Those without saved relatives or who in this life lacked healthy family relationships will experience them in eternity. Biblical accounts indicate that we will recognize those we knew from this life just as Jesus’ friends recognized Him after His resurrection. The new earth will include perfect community and society as God originally intended.
Surprisingly, in the new earth, God will not abolish ethnic and national differences (Revelation 21:24, 26; 22:3). Yes, in Jesus Christ, we are all equal regardless of ethnicity, gender, or social status (Galatians 3:28). However, both the prophets of old as well as the book of Revelation speak of the nations in eternity. Revelation 21:24 describes “the nations of those who are saved” and “the kings of the earth” existing in the new earth and offering gifts to Jesus Christ in the New Jerusalem. Scholars, like Michael Vlach, argue that the “glory and the honor of the nations” that these international rulers bring to the New Jerusalem refer to the cultural contributions of distinct people groups.3 These differences enrich the society of the new earth rather than create the conflict and competition that we see in the fallen world today.
So, can we look forward to a glorified Chinese buffet without MSG? Mexican bean burritos without discomfort? Japanese sushi without fear of cross-contamination? Maybe we won’t be eating meat since there is no death, but whatever replaces it will be so much better than an impossible burger. Furthermore, the creativity of the different cultures will continue, not disappear. We do not lose what is truly good in the new earth. Instead, we experience it at its best, as God meant it to be.
Revelation 21–22 describes the new earth in very concrete terms with cities, gates, and a street of gold. Genuine physical light from Jesus replaces the need for a sun and moon, and His people walk in this light (Revelation 21:23; 22:5). Yet, a spiritual aspect of light also applies (1 John 1:5). The new earth contains no impurity or blemish of any kind (Revelation 21:8, 27). All relationships, speech, and actions are genuinely pure as God’s people walk with Him in His light (Revelation 21:24).
God made humans to have dominion over His creation (Genesis 1:26). Sin only delayed God’s design. In the new earth, humankind will rule under the King of Kings (Revelation 22:5). God has work for us to do as we serve Him by ruling over His creation.
In Eden, this rule did not just involve people but also agriculture and animals. We know that the new earth includes plants like the tree of life. Could the new earth also involve animals? It would seem likely. Maybe we would even live in harmony alongside extinct species like dinosaurs, saber-tooth tigers, and dodo birds.
Beyond all the blessings mentioned thus far, God’s people will enjoy the presence of God forever (Revelation 21:3). God Himself will live among us. Psalm 16:11 emphasizes this joy: “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” We will walk with God in an Eden-like, “very good” environment as God intended (Genesis 1:31).
Are you longing for eternity now? The Bible’s revelation of the new earth provides enough concrete details to excite our imaginations.4 What God describes far exceeds pictures of floating cherubs, feathery wings, or encompassing light.
Eternal life is truly life—overflowing with new experiences, inner fulfillment, and guiltless enjoyment. We do not lose anything good that we have now: we gain so much more. We will not look back wishing for what we once had. No, in eternity, we will launch forward into a new existence beyond anything we have experienced before.
C. S. Lewis illustrated this truth well in the final paragraph of his Chronicles of Narnia: “And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”5
Photo Credit: Christophe Van der waals on unsplash
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One of the most important aspects of the Christian life I learned about in seminary has to do with our freedom in Christ to love and obey God. I’m always thankful to my professor R. Scott Clark for emphasizing the following point, and it’s something I wish I had learned as a new Christian.
The point Dr. Clark made to his students is that as Christians we need to distinguish between contingent and consequent duties. When it comes to our salvation in Christ, a contingent duty would be something we need to do to be saved and/or remain saved, whereas a consequent duty is something we need to do because we are saved.
Since Adam’s fall in the garden of Eden, there is no path via performing contingent duties to earn eternal life because we “all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory” (Rom. 3:23). Thus, when it comes to our salvation there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. We are dead in our sins and trespasses, and only God can give us new life in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus and Paul make the following points:
“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:7-8)
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. (Eph. 2:1-2)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)
Even one sin prevents us from having a righteous status before our holy God (Rom. 3:23). God sent his Son to be born in the flesh because there was no other way we could be saved. Christ Jesus did all the work to keep God’s law, so that we could have peace with God and eternal life (Rom. 5:1).
Jesus, the God-man, obeyed God perfectly and was the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf, and his completed work on our behalf means that his righteousness is counted to us and his atoning death has paid for our sins in full. Nothing can change our status as God’s children, co-heirs with Christ:
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (Col. 2:13-14)
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:38-39)
Once slaves to sin (Rom. 6:20), believers are now free to live to God’s glory and love him wholeheartedly in all things. God has given his children new hearts that desire to do God’s will and bring glory to him.
Christians show gratitude to and love for God by keeping his commandments (John 14:15; Heb. 13:15; 1 John 2:3; 5:3), and this obedience is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving the believer offers up freely to God. Our obedience is never a means to earn—or keep—God’s grace; rather, it is an outworking of our love for God and all he has done, and continues to do, for us in Christ:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2:10)
Just as sometimes children disobey their parents and are disciplined for their own good, God disciplines us because we are his beloved children in Christ, and he will use our failures to teach us through the work of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Earthly children don’t stop belonging to their parents when they are disobedient, and likewise God’s children are never forsaken by their Father in heaven.
In his sanctifying work the Spirit lovingly convicts believers of their sin and leads them to repentance (John 16:8; Rom. 8:14). Believers will experience true sorrow over their sin because they have been bought with a price and have the Spirit living in them (Rom. 7:14–25).
Dear saint, remember the difference between contingent and consequent duties and don’t let the devil rob you of experiencing true joy as you rest in Christ’s finished work on your behalf. In your freedom in Christ continue to strive to love your Savior with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and look forward to eternity in his presence.
This article is adapted from “Freedom to Love and Obey” in the BCL July 2023 newsletter “Freedom in Christ.”
The Fruit of the Spirit Is… by J. V. Fesko
https://www.beautifulchristianlife.com/blog/freedom-in-christ-to-love-and-obey
Genuine Saving Faith | WRETCHED TV Episode 3078
How do we know what genuine saved faith looks like? Are you ACTUALLY saved? Let’s look at the seven signs of salvation that should be in the life of a Christian.
GENUINE SAVING FAITH
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24 In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3 And utter a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD:
“Set on the pot, set it on;
pour in water also;
4 put in it the pieces of meat,
all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder;
fill it with choice bones.
5 Take the choicest one of the flock;
pile the logs1 under it;
boil it well;
seethe also its bones in it.
6 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.2 7 For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. 8 To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. 9 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. 10 Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices,3 and let the bones be burned up. 11 Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. 12 She has wearied herself with toil;4 its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! 13 On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. 14 I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord GOD.”
15 The word of the LORD came to me: 16 “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17 Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.
19 And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” 20 Then I said to them, “The word of the LORD came to me: 21 ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. 22 And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. 23 Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another. 24 Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’
25 “As for you, son of man, surely on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul’s desire, and also their sons and daughters, 26 on that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news. 27 On that day your mouth will be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.”
25 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Because you said, ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, 4 therefore behold, I am handing you over to the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon5 a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 6 For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within your soul against the land of Israel, 7 therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against you, and will hand you over as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
8 “Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Moab and Seir6 said, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,’ 9 therefore I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim. 10 I will give it along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, that the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, 11 and I will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
12 “Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them, 13 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord GOD.
15 “Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, 16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. 17 I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”
26 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,’ 3 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 4 They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock. 5 She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. And she shall become plunder for the nations, 6 and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
7 “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar7 king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers. 8 He will kill with the sword your daughters on the mainland. He will set up a siege wall against you and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you. 9 He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. 10 His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as men enter a city that has been breached. 11 With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder your riches and loot your merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. Your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters. 13 And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock. You shall be a place for the spreading of nets. You shall never be rebuilt, for I am the LORD; I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.
15 “Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: Will not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter is made in your midst? 16 Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones and remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground and tremble every moment and be appalled at you. 17 And they will raise a lamentation over you and say to you,
“‘How you have perished,
you who were inhabited from the seas,
O city renowned,
who was mighty on the sea;
she and her inhabitants imposed their terror
on all her inhabitants!
18 Now the coastlands tremble
on the day of your fall,
and the coastlands that are on the sea
are dismayed at your passing.’
19 “For thus says the Lord GOD: When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, 20 then I will make you go down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the world below, among ruins from of old, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set beauty in the land of the living. 21 I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. Though you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord GOD.”
[1] 24:5
[2] 24:6
[3] 24:10
[4] 24:12
[5] 25:5
[6] 25:8
[7] 26:7
(ESV)
3 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,1 and set on fire by hell.2 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,3 these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
(ESV)
The Nature of God
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. (1:17)
Finally, James declares that God is not responsible for our temptations to sin because, as he has already made clear (v. 13), His own nature is incompatible with the nature of sin. Because God is wholly righteous and just, by definition He can have no part in sin, in any way or to any degree.
What comes from God is not sin, but only every good thing given and every perfect gift. The perfect, flawless, holy goodness of God results in His doing and giving only what reflects His perfect holiness and truth. His works reflect His character. Negatively, James is saying that, from temptation to execution, God has absolutely no responsibility for sin. Positively, he is saying that God has complete responsibility for every good thing, and that every perfect gift that exists has come down from above.
The Father of lights was an ancient Jewish title for God, referring to Him as Creator, as the great Giver of light, in the form of the sun, moon, and stars (cf. Gen. 1:14–19). Unlike those sources of light, which, magnificent as they are, can nevertheless vary and will eventually fade, God’s character, power, wisdom, and love have no variation or shifting shadow. Through Malachi the Lord declares, “I, the Lord, do not change” (Mal. 3:6); through John, we are told that “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5); and through the writer of Hebrews we are assured that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever” (Heb. 13:8). The celestial bodies God created have various phases of movement and rotation, changing from hour to hour and varying in intensity and shadow. God, however, is changeless.
Our Lord promises:
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! (Matt. 7:7–11)
Even more than those things—infinitely more than those things—He promises that our heavenly Father will give us His own Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13).
The implication of this passage is this: When we, as God’s children, are so abundantly and continually showered with the most gracious, valuable, and satisfying blessings our heavenly Father can bestow, why should anything evil have the slightest attraction to us?[1]
1:17 “every good thing given, and every perfect gift” This is the contrast to vv. 13–16. Two different words are used here which appear to be used as parallels. If they are not synonymous, then the first emphasizes the act of giving and the second the thing given. God wants to give us good things. He is not reluctant but often believers are not ready to receive and use God’s gifts in healthy ways. The Bible does list some of the things God has given us: (1) Jesus (John 3:16; 2 Cor. 9:15); (2) the Spirit (Luke 11:13); (3) the Kingdom (Luke 12:32); (4) salvation (John 1:12; Eph. 2:8); (5) eternal life (1 John 5:11); (6) peace (John 14:27); and (7) wisdom (James 1:5).
© “coming down from” Phrases like this imply that heaven is above the earth. Often this is used to discredit the Bible. The Bible is written in phenomenological language, the language of description using the five senses. It is earth-centered or focused. This language is a literary way of expressing the priority of God’s ultimate creation, mankind. The Bible is not a science book, but a theology book. It is not anti-scientific, but pre-scientific. In this way it relates to all cultures through time.
© “the Father of lights” Light is a biblical metaphor of good, of health, of insight or truth, of purity. The first mention of light is in Genesis 1 where YHWH creates light (cf. v. 3). He also names darkness (cf. Gen. 1:4–5) which shows His control over both. This does not refer to the sun, which is not brought into being until day four (cf. Gen. 1:14–19; Ps. 136:7). Light is often associated with God (cf. Ps. 104:2; 1 Tim. 6:16; 1 John 1:5) or Christ (cf. John 1:4–5; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46).
Mankind’s destiny is not controlled by angelic or demonic influences depicted in the movement or eclipse of heavenly lights. God is the creator (cf. Gen. 1:14–18) and controller of the heavenly bodies (cf. Ps. 147:4; Isa. 40:26). He always gives good things to His children; even trials have a positive, purposeful, intended outcome—our maturity (i.e. Christlikeness cf. Rom. 8:28–29) and trust in Him.
| © | |
| NASB | “with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” |
| NKJV | “with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” |
| NRSV | “with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” |
| TEV | “who does not change or cause darkness by turning” |
| NJB | “with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow caused by change” |
These terms reflect the waxing and waning of the heavenly bodies of light. God is not like them. He is unchanging (cf. Ps. 102:26–27; Mal. 3:6; Heb. 1:11–12; 13:8). This is not meant to imply that He is rigid or unsympathetic to human need (cf. Exod. 32:12, 14; Ps. 106:44–45; Jer. 18:6–10), but that His nature, His character of love and compassion towards humankind does not change. Believers can depend on His promises because His character is unchanging, immutable.
The ambiguity of this phrase caused scribes to alter the text in several ways. For a full discussion see Bruce Metzger’s A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament pp. 679–680.[2]
17 The contrast between the insidious nature of evil desire and the picture James now paints of God’s nature could not be more stark. As in 1:5, James portrays God as a generous giver—a giver of “every good and perfect gift” (NIV). The author crafts the sentence in Greek poetically (pasa dosis agathē … pan dōrēma teleion), and the NASB maintains the balance of the wording better than the NIV with “every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift.” Commentators point out that James may have adapted a common proverb, something along the lines of “every gift is good and every present perfect,” roughly equivalent in meaning to “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” (Davids, 86). Whether the wording is his own or not, James’s confession is clear: God’s gifts are good, not evil. Whereas temptation—an evil force that leads to sin and death—has its source in human lust, good gifts have God as their source.
These good and perfect gifts “come down from the Father of lights.” James has in mind here the heavenly bodies—sun, moon, and stars—and they are seen as part of God’s good creation (Ge 1:14–18). Further, he tells us that, unlike these heavenly bodies he has created, God’s character does not involve “variation or shifting shadow” (NASB). These words are used only here in the NT, but in the literature of the period they could be used in astrological discussions. The first word means “change,” or, as the NASB presents it, “variation.” The second was used as a technical term in astronomy for the movement, or change of position, of the heavenly bodies and can be translated “turning.” So the “shadow” is caused by the movement, or turning, of the heavenly lights. In both Greek and Jewish literature the heavenly bodies represent the always changing nature of existence. Yet God’s nature is different. He does not shift and move with reference to issues of good or evil; rather, he is immovable in that sense (Dibelius, 102; Johnson 196–97).[3]
1:17 For moral formation to take place in this situation, James now states, the messianic community must know that God is altogether good. James makes three basic points. In making these points, he assumes that God is good and does not even begin to attempt to prove it. First, James contends that everything good is from God (1:17a); second, that God does not change in his dispensing of good gifts, that is, in his faithfulness (1:17b); and third, that this same good God has formed the readers into a community by the new birth (1:18). This third part reuses apokyei (“gives birth”) from 1:15, and shows what God is actually doing. The contrast could not be clearer: as desire leads to sin and sin gives birth to death, so God “gives birth” to “us” through his Word (1:18). The metaphorical children are death or the community, depending on whether a person chooses “desire” or the goodness of God. We turn now to the assertion that all gifts from God are good because God is constant.
James 1:17 seems to operate with some form of dualistic thinking: some things are attributable to God (good things like wisdom), and some things are not (bad things). The latter would be either the persecutions the readers are experiencing or (more likely) their turning tests into temptations. James begins with this: “every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift” comes from God. There is a neat parallelism here, perhaps stemming from some poetic fragment, which suggests to many that the interpreter should not make fine distinctions between these terms but instead should synthesize what is intended to be a double statement of one thing:
| every | giving | good |
| every | gift | perfect |
One therefore need not distinguish “giving” (dosis) and “gift” (dōrēma) as one need not distinguish “good” (agathē) from “perfect” (teleion). But it is interesting that James begins this line by speaking of “gifts.” The notion of gifts has not been on the table, and it suddenly enters here. What I am suggesting is that James wants to begin with this snippet of (what may be) poetry so that he can let this language carry the assumption that God is good and then suggest that the messianic community has experienced and continues to experience God’s goodness in a variety of gifts. That James begins with gifts is a possible window into both his mind and the messianic community itself.
The word “good” with “gift” is often understood as “beneficial” or “generous” rather than just morally good. This permits a connection from 1:17 back to 1:5, where haplōs was understood as God’s simple or generous giving of wisdom to those who ask. When agathos is connected to haplōs in the sense of “beneficial” or “generous,” it permits also an important connection to Matthew 6:22–23 and 7:7–11, where “evil/bad” is understood as stingy and “good” as generous. A similar more economic sense can possibly be found in the root telei- (“mature” or “perfect”) in James 1:4 and 17. If the “perfect” person of 1:4 is one who responds properly to economic stress, then the “perfect” gift of 1:17 might be that which prods the poor to see these (economic non-)gifts as from the hand of a good God who is at work for their redemption and moral formation. At any rate, the connections of 1:17a to 1:2–8 are suggestive.
Most commentators observe that the singular “gift” the readers need is “wisdom” (sophia, 1:5), and 3:15, 17 uses nearly identical language as is found here. Thus,
1:17: Every good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down.…
3:15: Such wisdom does not come down from above.
3:17: But the wisdom from above.…
Wisdom may be seen in James as an antidote to persecution—in that it can protect from persecution, grant the readers wisdom through persecution, or help them endure persecution (as in 4 Maccabees). And, since they are experiencing tests of all sorts (1:2) and need wisdom for each test (1:5), it is appropriate to speak of “gifts” in the plural (1:17). It is also possible, and rarely observed, that James is thinking of economic gifts, namely, Paul’s “gifts” from Diaspora Christians for the poor saints in Jerusalem, for, that is, the messianic community to which James is writing (Phil 4:15; Gal 2:10; Acts 11:27–30). The implications of this view for reading James 1:2–18 are significant, since then, once again, what James has in mind throughout this section is the economic stresses on the messianic community. James, if this view be accepted, may understand these gifts as a token of the eschatological nature of the messianic community (cf. 1:18: “first fruits”).
James believes God is always good and that it is God’s grace that makes these “gifts” good; in fact, everything from God is good. These gifts, however they might be understood, are “from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (1:17b). James uses “from above” (anōthen) three times (1:17; 3:15, 17), and it describes what is “heavenly” or “from God” in contrast to what is “earthly” and “demonic” (3:15).
If the general image is clear—all good things come from God in heaven—the specifics are not. Trouble confronts the interpreter of “the Father of lights.” In general, there are three options: that “lights” refers to (1) “stars” and planets, (2) human rulers,302 or (3) angels. Few consider the second option viable, and closer scrutiny reveals that the first and third are more similar than they might first appear. The ancients considered the stars to be angels (cf. Judg 5:20; Job 38:7). In fact, as Dale Allison observes, “in antiquity stars were widely thought to be alive.” As stars fall from the sky out of the heavens, so do angels and demons (Genesis 28; Isa 14:12; 3 Macc 6:16–29; Joseph and Aseneth 14:1–7; Revelation 12:4; 18:1; 20:1). James then affirms that God is good/faithful and that every good thing comes down from the Father306 of the angelic lights. Of course, there is inherent to this a reflection on God/Father as creator, and one thinks of the series of similar expressions in Psalm 136 (LXX 135).
The issue for James is not that we can now discern his cosmology. Rather, the stars represent a dramatic exhibition either of the routine, consistent, and constant or of the constantly changing and shifting pattern of the angelic bodies in the skies. With the first, God is like the faithfulness of these fixed bodies in the heavenlies, his goodness can therefore be counted on, and the temptations the community faces are not from God. Or God is unlike the astral bodies with their constant change and is not both a testing and a tempting God. Either way, “the Father of lights” is one “with whom309 there is no variation or shadow due to change,” and the temptations do not derive from God. The logical flow seems to favor the view that James sees God and the stars alike in their constancy, for it would be hard to know why he would bring up the stars if only to say God is not like them. The vocabulary, however, favors the more common view that James has brought up the stars in their changes only to deny their similarity to God. Thus, James sees God as does John in 1 John 1:5: “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.”
So both “variation” and “shadow due to change” probably (though not certainly) come from language used to describe stars and heavenly bodies in their various sorts of changes and shifts across the sky. Thus Sirach 27:11: “The conversation of the godly is always wise, but the fool changes like the moon.” And, since wisdom from James 1:5 may still be in view, observe that James could be connected to Wisdom 7:29–30:
She [wisdom] is more beautiful than the sun,
and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the light she is found to be superior,
for it is succeeded by the night,
but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
James is saying either that humans can be like the planets and stars in their motion and change by doubting God and accusing him of tempting them (cf. 1:5–8, 13), or that God creates and controls the changes of the stars but does not himself change in his faithfulness), or that God creates and controls the changes of the stars but does not himself change in his faithfulness and so is constantly good and therefore not the one causing these temptations. Or, and there is no reason to choose between the two, James could be saying both: the messianic community can either trust God’s goodness, which never changes in its faithfulness, or be like the stars in their constant fluctuations. A verse like Malachi 3:6 is behind all this: “For I the Lord do not change.”[4]
[1] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1998). James (pp. 54–55). Moody Press.
[2] Utley, R. J. D. (2000). Jesus’ Half-Brothers Speak: James and Jude: Vol. Volume 11 (pp. 20–21). Bible Lessons International.
[3] Guthrie, G. H. (2006). James. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 223–224). Zondervan.
[4] McKnight, S. (2011). The Letter of James (pp. 123–128). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
Ezekiel 42:1-43:27
James 5:1-20
Psalm 119:1-16
Proverbs 28:6-7
Ezekiel 43:2 — The Glory of the God of Israel! This is the same glory that departed from the temple (Ezekiel 10:18), from Jerusalem, to the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 11:23). It’s returning from the Mount of Olives, back into the Temple, into the inner court of the Ezekiel Temple!
Ezekiel 43:7 — Who is the glory? From Jimmy DeYoung:
This passage of the prophecy written by the ancient Jewish Prophet Ezekiel is the foretelling of the day that Jesus will return to Jerusalem with the Jews that He has retrieved from the safety of the unique city of Petra. This is the climax of the seven years of terrible judgment on the Earth.
Jesus will have returned to the Earth just days earlier and after building His Temple in Jerusalem, Zechariah 6:12, He will go to the Jezreel Valley for the Battle of Armageddon. Then Jesus will make His way to Petra, Isaiah 63:1-6, to gather the Jews that will have been protected in a “place prepared by God”, Revelation 12:6, for the last half of the seven year Tribulation Period.
They will make their way from Petra, verse 2, across the Jordan Valley, up the back side of the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley and then enter through the “Eastern Gate”, verse 4, and up onto the Temple Mount.
In this passage the word “glory”, used four times, is referring to the person of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. In the record found in the Old Testament of when the “ark of the covenant” was brought into the Temple, 1 Kings 8, the “glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.” This is what happens as this prophecy is fulfilled.
http://devotional.prophecytoday.com/2018/01/ezekiel-437.html
Ezekiel 43:10 — These passages are the greatest proof that God isn’t done with Israel yet. From EnduringWord.com:
“Again, the very detail of the description was assurance to Israel that this was real. Their restoration would be real. This made it important for Ezekiel to write it down in their sight.”
Ezekiel 43:19 — Why in the eschatological future do we have sin offerings? As the Old Testament sin offerings looked forward to the sin offering of Jesus, the Ezekiel Temple offerings look back to His sin offering.
James 5:1 — On days that the stock market goes down, there are billions lost by the tech titans. Be glad your treasure is not in this world (Matthew 6:21).
James 5:12 — Tell the truth, till the day you die!
James 5:16 — Why are there so many sick in churches? In addition to the biological causes, are we seeing people suffering from spiritual maladies? Unconfessed sin breeds bitterness which has many physiological symptoms.
Psalm 119:1 — Welcome back to Psalm 119! We’ve read in Romans that the Law has dominion over us (Romans 7:1). Perhaps you’re a little unhappy with the fact that the Law has dominion. We should be because we can’t keep the Law. But with the Spirit (Romans 8:4) we can have life. Our struggle is not keeping the Law because the Holy Spirit enables us to live the life the Law commanded but could not give us. We can now live the blessings of Psalm 119!
Psalm 119:11-12 — Memorize with Earl Martin!
Proverbs 28:7 — Keeping the Law is the path of wisdom. Of course, it’s impossible without the Spirit’s help, but with the Spirit and the Word (Psalm 119:9), the son can gain wisdom on his way!
Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.
“Therefore encourage one another with these words.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:18
Scripture reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Paul was not telling the Thessalonians anything new when he said, “We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” That’s precisely what they expected and had been waiting for. They longed to “greet Him in the air”. They longed to prepare a “joyous entry” into the new earth under a new heaven. Every day they had been listening for the voice of the archangel signalling Christ’s return and the end of time as they knew it.
Then something happened for which they were totally unprepared: death entered their midst and took some of their members away. Death is always painful for those who remain behind, but those deaths in the Thessalonian congregation were exceptionally painful and confusing for the church. They had believed that Christ would come soon, and would find them all alive, waiting for Him. Then death entered the picture. They had not expected that and were confused. What was most painful for them was the question: what would happen to those who died before Christ returned? They did not know where the dead would be when Jesus returned.
Paul sets their mind at ease. Paul declared that “we who are alive, we who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep”. The dead will not be left behind. They will be awakened and then the living and the dead will be taken up in the clouds together. Comfort one another with those words.
Suggestions for prayer
Thank God for that glorious prospect of joining Him for all eternity. When death approaches a loved one or even yourself, give thanks to God that death is not death, but is your entrance into eternal glory.
Rev. Mark Zylstra is an emeritus minister of the United Reformed Churches in North America. He and his wife Corrie, live in Smithville ON and their home church is Wellandport, ON URC. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.
“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked … Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
Revelation 3:15-17, Revelation 3:20
Laodicea was a financial center, and it had all the confidence and opulence that goes with wealth. It also was famous for its sheep and their soft, black wool, which was woven into expensive garments. Not only that but the city was known for its medical school, which had developed a salve that was useful for treating certain forms of eye conditions.
It was in this environment that the Laodicean church lived: in a financially prosperous city, skillful in its business practices and known for its medical facility. God had placed His people in the heart of that to reflect His light in the diversity of Laodicean life. But the church had been absorbed by the culture. They had lost their cutting edge and were compromised and self-deceived. Instead of reflecting their Savior, they reflected their society.
It is unsurprising, then, that when the Son of Man looked at the church in Laodicea, He found little to His liking. They were stagnant. Wealth had bred in them a sense of self-sufficiency. They wore nice clothes but were oblivious to their spiritual nakedness. While their city’s physicians could help restore physical sight, the members of its church were spiritually blind.
Yet was Christ about to abandon them? Not yet. His assessment was not good, the prognosis was poor, and the warning was real. But He didn’t send them away. Instead, He invited them to dinner: “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” The word used here for “eat” is deipnēsō, which refers not to a meal eaten on the fly but to a full dining experience, where you sit for a long time as an expression of companionship, enjoyment, friendship, and fellowship.
Do you ever congratulate yourself on your prosperity? Do you think about your material possessions more than your Lord’s appraisal of your life? Be careful! A lukewarm faith that goes through the motions while embracing materialism and holding Christ at arm’s length is, in fact, no faith at all. But be encouraged, too: the Lord is knocking, and He is inviting you into a deeper fellowship with Him, a closeness that will fire your heart once more so that you will sing again:
Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise
Thou mine inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only first in my heart
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.[1]
Going Deeper: Revelation 3:14-22
Footnotes:
[1] Trans. Mary Elizabeth Byrne, “Be Thou My Vision” (1905).
Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.
Source: The Danger of Being Lukewarm
TV Israel News War update from Jerusalem — Day Fourty-Five.
Source: TV7 Israel News – Sword of Iron, Israel at War – Day 45
On today’s Watchman Newscast Livestream, host Erick Stakelbeck is joined by Pastor Jack Hibbs to discuss the significance of the Israel-Hamas war and Bible prophecy.
Source: Israel-Hamas War & Bible Prophecy — Erick Stakelbeck & Jack Hibbs
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leading a country with the only military — to Mark Levin’s knowledge — that is trained not to kill civilians.
But the “corrupt, pathetic American media” isn’t going to tell you that. Which is why Levin is sitting down with Netanyahu himself.
“How is the war progressing, and is Israel winning?” Levin asks Netanyahu.
“The war is progressing well, and we’re going to win. We have no other choice,” he tells Levin. “Coincidentally,” he adds, “there are fewer civilian casualties because we called on the civilian population in Gaza to leave.”
While Netanyahu is trying to save the civilians of Gaza, Hamas has attempted to stop them from leaving at gunpoint.
According to Netanyahu, Hamas is “actually using gunfire to prevent them from leaving the zones of battle.”
Despite Hamas’ best efforts, those civilians still left.
“And so the number of civilians is actually, those that are killed, is going down. The number of terrorists is going up,” Netanyahu explains.
“This is a battle of the forces of civilization against the forces of barbarism, and if barbarism wins in our part of the world, Europe will be next and America will be next,” he warns.
Netanyahu calls this barbaric force “the axis of terror,” which includes Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and “other minions.”
“Israel is fighting our war, but it’s also fighting America’s war. It’s fighting your war, and our victory will be your victory,” he continues.
Netanyahu notes that if the people of America had been concerned about civilian casualties in areas where Allies were fighting Nazis during World War II, we wouldn’t have seen the victory we did.
“History would have been catastrophic if we didn’t keep our eye focused on who’s to blame,” he says. “We have to get the simple things straight. While Israel is doing everything in its power to keep civilians out of harm’s way, Hamas is doing everything in its power to keep civilians in harm’s way.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following the release of additional January 6 security footage, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced that the bureau would record 44,000 hours of live commentary for a special extended edition release on DVD.
“People want commentary from the experts, and no one knows January 6 better than the people who orchestrated the entire show,” said Wray. “Which is us. We did January 6.”
“In case you weren’t aware.”
Commentary is expected to feature insight from the actual federal agents who infiltrated the Trump rally and directly instigated entering the Capitol building. Agents will reportedly share a mix of political commentary, their thoughts on the overarching themes of the Jan 6 event, and fun behind-the-scenes trivia.
Additional special features for the home release of The January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol: Special Extended Insurrection Edition also include:
According to sources, the FBI is busy working on a sequel to the explosive production to be used if Trump gets elected again.
Their culture is not your costume. DO NOT appropriate ghost, zombie, or vampire culture this Halloween.
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The belief in election integrity has gone out the window, it seems. The majority of Americans no longer believe in an honest election system in our nation.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey verified this horrific reality.
In a poll whose results were announced in a news release on Friday, 1,029 likely U.S. voters were asked, “How likely is it that the outcome of the 2024 presidential election will be affected by cheating?”
Fifty-six percent responded that it is likely, including 31 percent who said it is very likely.
To that same end, 51 percent of respondents said they believe mail-in ballots make it easier to cheat.
The survey was conducted Nov. 13-15 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95 percent confidence level.
Many who said voter fraud is likely in 2024 are surely among those who believe former President Donald Trump actually won the 2020 presidential election.
Their ranks seem to be growing amid numerous arrests and convictions for voter fraud.
The Heritage Foundation’s Election Fraud Database lists nearly 1,500 proven instances of voter fraud with more than 1,200 criminal convictions.
Questions around Republican Kari Lake’s defeat in the Arizona gubernatorial election last year as well as the recent reports of compromised elections in Pennsylvania and Connecticut have fueled the distrust among voters.
Stealing Americans’ voices and votes through dishonest elections is an act of aggression and terror. That is how many American citizens would define it.
Cries of injustice have moved beyond names like Trump, Lake and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
More and more Americans are convinced that the very instrument of our republic’s perpetuation — free and fair elections — has been corrupted.
To restore confidence in our elections, we need to enact a single day of voting, require voter identification, adopt paper ballots only and require that hand-tabulated results are announced with 24 hours. Acceptable exceptions for military personnel and the disabled are assumed.
Calls for anything else are calls for allowing cheating to take place.
The time to demand change is now. Fifty-six percent of us agree that it’s sorely needed.
A Note from Our Deputy Managing Editor:
What if you woke up one morning and half of the people you count on had just vanished overnight?
That happened to me recently. I got up, came to work here at The Western Journal, and when I got to my office, literally half of our readers had vanished. They were just gone. We had been nuked by Facebook, and it had happened almost instantly.
But it was even worse. Facebook hit us at the same time 90 percent of advertisers had essentially boycotted us. “Brutal” is a word I’ve used a lot lately.
The fight for the truth is brutal. The fight for America’s soul is brutal. What the government is doing to Jan. 6 detainees is brutal. What surgeons are doing to confused children is brutal.
It’s a fight we must win. But we can’t win without you.
A membership to The Western Journal will go much farther than you think. It costs less than a cup of Starbucks coffee, and for that small price you get access to ALL of our content — news, commentary, and premium articles — you’ll experience a radically reduced number of ads, and most importantly you will be vitally supporting the fight against leftism.
Can I count on you to join today? We need your help. Benjamin Franklin summed up the situation we’re all facing when he said, “We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”
We plan to hang in and fight. Please help us. Please become a member today.
Sincerely,
Josh Manning
Deputy Managing Editor
The Western Journal
The post Election Integrity Takes Major Blow: 56% of Likely Voters Predict Cheating in 2024, Poll Shows appeared first on The Western Journal.
It’s been quite a rollercoaster the last few years. Everywhere you turn, you find more reasons to distrust the authorities that oversee our lives. At least we can trust the big pharmaceutical companies that work so hard to keep us alive and well, right? Right?!
Not so fast! The Babylon Bee is here to enlighten you about some lies from Big Pharma you might still believe:
Let this be a sobering lesson that not even the ones who claim to have your best interests at heart are always telling you the truth. It’s a wild and dangerous world out there, folks — stay safe and don’t trust anyone…except for The Babylon Bee.
NOT SATIRE: The Government has finally acknowledged IVERMECTIN as the silver bullet to combat COVID-19.
If you or a loved one is suffering from COVID or need protection against it — talk to our licensed doctors and get Ivermectin delivered to your doorstep today.
Completely made in America — Nothing from China or India!
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https://babylonbee.com/news/10-big-pharma-lies-you-might-still-believe/
Americans are finally catching on that the oppressor-oppressed narrative being taught in our schools and universities is not a conspiracy theory disseminated by conservatives. It’s real. Jewish students having to barricade themselves in a college to escape a mob in Manhattan, of all places, has opened people’s eyes to the threat woke ideology represents to civilization.
Too bad it took a grotesque massacre and mass rapes in the Holy Land to do it. But now that we have people’s attention, let’s connect the dots.
The oppressor-oppressed worldview that paints democratic Israel as the “oppressor” and Palestinian terrorists as the “oppressed,” so prevalent on college campuses, is pure Marxism.
In the first page of “The Communist Manifesto” of 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels explain that “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” They add:
Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.
Capitalism and democracy are based on competition, but competition requires compromise and that gives each side something.
In the economic sphere, buyer and seller haggle over a price (or in most cases, millions of buyers and sellers known abstractly as “the market” do) to come up with a “market-clearing price” that allows buyer and seller to walk away with some measure of satisfaction.
In a democracy, one party or side seldom gets all it wants. And if the system is correctly structured, as the founders strived to do with the American system of government, there are checks and balances. The legislature, the executive, and the judiciary check each other’s powers (and the legislature itself is divided into two chambers).
Not so in Marx’s “oppressor and oppressed” view. There you end up with a “revolutionary reconstitution,” which Marx himself promised would be ruthless. “This cannot be effected except by means of despotic inroads,” he averred in the manifesto.
A few months later, Marx wrote, more ominously, “There is only one way in which the murderous death agonies of the old society and the bloody birth throes of the new society can be shortened, simplified and concentrated, and that way is revolutionary terror.”
Blood will run—it’s a feature, not a bug, of Marxism.
What we are seeing right now is no longer economic Marxism, but cultural Marxism. In 1888, Engels added a footnote to the Manifesto’s first page that explained the two classes that were contending.
By bourgeoisie is meant the class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage labour. By proletariat, the class of modern wage labourers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labour power in order to live.
The problem was that, as Marxists from the end of World War I in 1918 to the 1960s were able to document, the actual proletariat had very little interest in “revolutionary reconstitution of society at large.” In the 1920s in Europe, and in the 1960s here in America, they wanted better working conditions, and maybe a week or two at the beach every year.
But they didn’t want to “abolish” the family, the nation state, property, or God, as Marx had called for. In fact, they wanted to become richer and move up a class. It turned out that Marx had never spent much time with actual workers, and didn’t understand them. He was the original limousine Marxist.
In the 1960s, the Marxist theorist Herbert Marcuse derided the workers for being such bad revolutionaries. “They find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment,” wrote the despairing Marcuse.
But then Marcuse witnessed the riots of the 1960s, and wrote that—in his words—the revolution would come from the “ghetto population.” The vanguard of the revolution, he added, would therefore have to come from “the substratum of the outcasts and outsiders, the exploited and the persecuted of other races and other colors.”
Since then, the revolutionary locus has been placed not in economic classes, but in cultural identities.
Marx had written in 1859 that revolutions would inevitably come when “the material forces of production in society come into conflict with the existing relations of production.” But Antonio Gramsci, one of Marcuse’s cultural Marxist precursors, added in 1930s that “popular beliefs and similar ideas are themselves material forces.”
Eric Mann, the former Weatherman terrorist who recruited Black Lives Matter founder Patrisse Cullors at the age of 17 to train her into Marxism, later added: “Given the social formation of the U.S. as a settler state based on virulent white supremacy, the racialization of all aspects of political life operates as a material force in itself.”
That’s how we get from economic Marxism to the mess we have today on U.S. campuses. “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” for example, the Marxist tract penned by Paulo Freire, has “achieved near-iconic status in America’s teacher-training programs,” according to Sol Stern.
Many of us have been explaining for years, in books, papers, op-eds, media interviews, and speeches, that what we are seeing is “cultural Marxism.” That, too, has been dismissed. Google “cultural Marxism” and the very first entry is a Wikipedia page that informs the reader that “The term ‘Cultural Marxism’ refers to a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory.”
They’ll have a harder time hiding the truth now.
Originally published by Fox News
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The post The Root Cause of the Insanity on College Campuses Is Older Than You May Think appeared first on The Daily Signal.
19 months in a row! The Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators has now fallen for 19 months in a row. When something happens for 19 consecutive months, that is definitely a trend. The economy is clearly in big trouble, and conditions are getting worse with each passing day. But the mainstream media continues to insist that the economy is doing just great. They tell us that inflation is low, but if it was still measured the way that it was back in 1980, the official rate of inflation would be well into double digit territory. And they tell us that the unemployment rate is low, but if honest numbers were being used the official rate of unemployment would be about 25 percent right now. There are highly qualified people that can’t even get an interview even though they are sending out hundreds and hundreds of resumes. What are they doing wrong?
Of course the truth is that they aren’t doing anything wrong. The employment market is far tighter than we are being led to believe, and that isn’t going to change any time soon.
When a working age American is not working, the government puts that individual into one of two categories.
Right now, there are only 6.5 million U.S. adults that are officially considered to be “unemployed”.
But another 99.9 million U.S. adults are considered to be “not in the labor force”. So they don’t count as being “unemployed”.
When you add those two numbers together, you get a grand total of 106.4 million U.S. adults that do not have a job right now.
At no point during the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009 did that number even reach 90 million.
So don’t let anyone convince you that unemployment is low.
The elite are trying to do their best to convince us that everything is just fine, but meanwhile the Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators has now fallen for 19 months in a row…
A key measure of the direction of the U.S. economy fell for the 19th straight month and once again indicated that a recession is looming.
The leading economic index fell 0.8 percent in October, the Conference Board said Monday. The LEI is based on 10 indicators that tend to forecast the direction of the economy.
Economists had expected a milder decline of 0.8 percent.
The last time the index declined for 19 months in a row was during the Great Recession when it fell from the end of 2007 through 2009.
The last streak of this magnitude started in 2007.
But we didn’t have a recession in 2007.
And things still seemed relatively fine in early 2008 too.
Of course then we got to the end of 2008 and everything fell to pieces.
That is why they are called “leading” economic indicators.
They tell us what is coming.
And what is coming in our time is not going to be fun.
Needless to say, most of the population is not prepared at all for a major economic storm.
Survey after survey has shown that most of the U.S. population is currently living paycheck to paycheck…
The majority of U.S. adults are living paycheck to paycheck heading into this holiday season, a report shows.
LendingClub’s latest report shows that as of October, 60 percent of adults said they are living paycheck to paycheck. Around 40 percent of consumers consider themselves to be worse off now than in 2022.
Even higher earners are struggling to get by, with 42 percent of those making six figures also living check-to-check under President Joe Biden.
According to a separate CNBC survey, the number of adults struggling to save between checks is up from 58 percent in March.
As long as those paychecks keep coming in, they can keep scraping by from month to month.
But now layoffs are starting to surge again all over the nation.
Young Americans are in particularly dire straits.
Millions upon millions of young Americans have low paying jobs and are deeply struggling with student loan debt, and this is one of the reasons why the average age of a U.S. homebuyer just keeps going higher and higher…
The average American homebuyer is now 49-years-old – 18 years older than in 1981 – as inflation, college costs and house prices make it harder for young people to get a foot on the ladder.
Research by the National Association of Realtors has revealed that the median age of all homebuyers has steadily crept up over the past forty years.
The most shocking contrast is for first time buyers where the median age is now 35, up from 31 in 2013 and 29 in 1981.
The American Dream is now out of reach for most of the nation, and that is especially true among those that are under the age of 40.
But the mainstream media absolutely refuses to acknowledge the truth.
They just keep telling us that things look great for the U.S. economy in 2024 and beyond. The following comes from a Yahoo Finance article entitled “The election year economy looks good for Biden”…
The much-predicted recession still hasn’t arrived. Will it materialize in 2024, at the worst possible moment for President Joe Biden, as he’s trying to convince voters to give him a second term?
It’s not looking that way. As economists roll out their forecasts for 2024, the prevailing theme is moderation: slowing but still-positive economic growth, a declining rate of inflation, and continued low unemployment.
Seriously?
Come on man.
Do they actually expect us to consume that pablum?
We are already in an economic crisis right now, and things are going to get so much worse during the years ahead.
You can stick your head in the sand and pretend that everything is okay if you want.
But nothing is going to change the fact that the “endgame” has arrived.
Decades of very foolish decisions have brought us to this stage, and now we are truly going to reap what we have sown.
Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.
About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends. Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible. I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.
The post 106.4 Million U.S. Adults Do Not Have A Job Right Now appeared first on The Economic Collapse.
Rumors that the war in the Middle East is about to go to the next level are flying all over social media right now. The Iranians and the terror organizations that they support absolutely hate what is going on in Gaza, and they have been preparing to take action. So will we see a major move soon? That is hard to say, because there is so much that goes into such a decision. But the former commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards is publicly telling us that “in the coming days” we will see “additional fronts join the conflict in Gaza”…
Amid threats from Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels to block Israeli ships in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, former commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rezaee, cautioned that “In the coming days, we’ll see additional fronts join the conflict in Gaza.”
Rezaee told Lebanese news outlet Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with Hezbollah, that “if the pressure on Gaza’s residents continues, the war will receive greater support. Hamas is not alone; it has the support of resistance forces in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.”
So precisely what does he mean by “additional fronts”?
I wish that I could ask him that question.
Iran’s foreign minister also seems to have confirmed that this war is about to heat up. He recently stated that “the first stage of the war’s escalation has begun”…
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian echoed his statements, saying that “the first stage of the war’s escalation has begun via resistance factions making their own decisions. If all attempts to stop these crimes fail, all options are on the table, and the regional situation could shift.”
By using the term “the first stage”, he is seemingly implying that more stages are coming.
Without a doubt, I think that the mainstream media will be using the word “escalation” quite a bit during the dark days that are ahead.
In fact, when the Houthis decided to hijack a cargo ship in the Red Sea, that was definitely an “escalation”…
A cargo ship has been hijacked in the Red Sea by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen, with up to 22 crew members believed to have been taken hostage.
The Bahaman-flagged ‘Galaxy Leader’ is reported to have been boarded by armed men as it travelled south past the Arabian peninsula on its way to India this weekend.
The vehicle carrier is registered under a British company which is partially owned by an Israeli tycoon, and is currently leased out to a Japanese company, according to reports.
The Houthis are so proud of what they have done.
In fact, they even released a video on social media that documented the hijacking…
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on Monday released a video showing Sunday’s helicopter-borne raid on the Galaxy Leader, a Bahamian-flagged vehicle carrier transiting the Red Sea. The Houthis still hold the ship and its 25 crew members. A U.S. military official told The War Zone it is believed to be the first Houthi helicopter attack on a ship.
The video opens with a view of a Houthi Mi-171Sh variant transport helicopter with what appear to be UB-32 rocket pods and a PKM light machine gun at the door flying toward the vessel. The helicopter – bearing the black, red, white and green Palestinian flag and the red, white and black Houthi flag – flies low over the ship stern to bow and then lands just long enough for at least seven armed Houthi fighters to jump out and board the Galaxy Leader before the helicopter flies off.
The Houthis are a bunch of crazed Shiite lunatics, but they are only going to be minor players in this conflict.
The real concern is what Hezbollah in Lebanon will choose to do next, and on Monday they reportedly caused “extensive damage” at a military base in northern Israel…
A rocket attack from Lebanon has hit the IDF’s Biranit base in northern Israel, the IDF confirmed on Monday.
Footage posted to social media shows extensive damage and fire caused by the devastating shelling.
The IDF confirmed that rockets were fired at the base.
Times of Israel correspondent Emmanuel Fabian reported on social media that Hezbollah is responsible.
As long as Hezbollah limits their attacks to military targets, things won’t escalate too much.
But once Hezbollah starts launching missiles at Israeli cities, we will definitely enter very dangerous territory.
Once thousands of Hezbollah missiles start raining down on Israeli cities, the U.S. military will get involved, and the IDF will start hitting Beirut and other cities in Lebanon.
On the southern front, the Israelis have been talking about expanding their operations into southern Gaza, and for now the Biden administration is publicly supporting such a move…
A high-ranking White House official reacted on Sunday, telling CBS News’s “Face the Nation” that Israel has the “right” to expand its operations; however, he said the Biden administration still hopes such a plan is delayed while additional safeguards are put in place to avoid harming more civilians.
US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said, “In the event that we believe that Israel is likely to embark on combat operations, including in the south, we believe both that they have the right to do that, but that there is a real concern, because hundreds of thousands of residents of Gaza have fled now from the north to the south at Israel’s request.”
The further that the IDF goes into Gaza, the more enraged the Iranians and the terror organizations that they support are going to become.
It appears to be just a matter of time before this war spirals completely out of control.
What we have witnessed so far is just the beginning. In my new book entitled “Chaos”, I have an entire chapter entitled “The 3 Wars Of The Apocalypse”. We really have reached a point of no return, and all of humanity will be absolutely shocked by the incredible death and destruction that we will soon see.
Deep hatred has been percolating in the Middle East for decades, and now it has reached a boiling point.
If the Iranians were smart, they would stop now while they still can.
But they aren’t going to do that, and as a result a nightmare scenario is about to unfold in the Middle East right in front of our eyes.
Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.
About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends. Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible. I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.
The post The Iranians Seem To Believe That The War In The Middle East Is Going To Get Much More Violent appeared first on End Of The American Dream.
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