Notes on Deuteronomy 14-20

Posted on by Alex

The Israelites are a “peculiar people” (Deut. 14:2), which is why it is silly for Christians and Americans today to think that all the laws of the Old Testament apply to us. It is why anti-Christians always want to point to the Pentateuch in order to lecture us on our hypocrisy. They are fools to believe that because modern American Christians do not follow laws meant for ancient Israelites, we are hypocrites.

Some of what is found in these books, however, does apply to us. The notion that one witness is not enough to put a man on death row (Deut. 17:6) is the same policy that our own justice system has today. Anyone who has studied memory and cognition knows that eye witness testimony is easily dismissed. The only time that a court takes it seriously is when there are two or more witnesses. God knew the fallibility of an eye witness a couple thousand years before our courts recognized it.

Chapter 17:14-20 gives a great picture of a great leader as well. A king (in our case, Congressman or President) should not use his office to multiply his wealth or sexual proclivities. A good leader reads the law every day and fears the LORD. He keeps this law (the Bible) in his heart and applies them to his life.

The problem with our leaders today is the same as those back in the Old Testament, they all abandon the teachings of God and use their power for personal gain. They are selfish; therefore, they are not good leaders. Not even Solomon and David met the standards put forth by this passage. In fact, Solomon became the poster child for doing the exact opposite of this, as he amassed the greatest fortune ever known and had 1000 wives and concubines. Yet, even Solomon came to realize that “all is vanity” (Eccl. 1:1).

Chapter 18 lists nine abominations: child sacrifice (to Molech aka Nimrod), divination, “observer of times” (astrology), enchanter, witch, charmer, consulters with familiar spirits (familiar spirits may appear as animal guides, historical figures, or family members — but they are none of these things), wizard, and necromancy. These are “spiritual gifts” in a manner of speaking, though they are not the same gifts as those given by God in the New Testament. These are dark gifts brought about by worshiping false gods, and consulting with demons and evil spirits. This is an explicit warning against messing around with psychics, Ouija boards, witchcraft, and opening yourself to the supernatural.

Deut. 18:15-18 predicts Jesus Christ, who is a Prophet who is like God (v. 15) AND like man (v. 18) who will speak the words of God and save people from the fire (v. 16). Those who pretend to be a prophet of God, but do not speak his words are doomed to die.

This is a warning against Mohammad, Antichrist, and all of the “Christian” ministers who wear the right label, but fail to preach the right words. We must be vigilant in our understanding of the Word of God, so that we may rightly divide the word of Truth (II Tim 3:15). We do not want to follow these wolves in sheep’s clothing into destruction.

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Notes on Deuteronomy 1-2

Posted on by Alex

Deuteronomy is the last of the five books of the Jewish Pentateuch, also known as the Law of Moses. The first two chapters are a quick rundown of some of the events that occurred in the book of Numbers. It takes place near the end of the 40 year wandering in the wilderness, and the time of entry into the Promised Land draws near.

Moses reviews the report of the 12 spies who brought back fruit from the Promised Land in Numbers 13.

He remembered the fear of the giant Anakims that led to a murmuring from the Israelites in Numbers 14 that brought out the curse of wandering that they were nearing the end of. Many of that generation were dead, but none would enter the Promised Land.

Deut. 1:39 says “your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither. . .” This verse is often used in the argument that a child who dies before the “age of accountability” that is, when they can understand good, evil, and salvation, will be taken to Heaven.

Further evidence comes from Romans 5:13, “For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law” and Romans 4:8 “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

In other words, if a person doesn’t know or understand the law, then he is blessed. This includes children and those who have not heard the laws of God. This is a controversial stance, but I believe that a person in the most remote locations that has never heard of Jesus Christ can still go to heaven. They cannot reject a gift if they never knew it was offered.

Chapter 2 begins with the time when the Edomites refused to let the children of Israel pass through their lands (Num. 20), then Moses discusses the various names for the races of giants.

We have the Anakims, Emims, Zamzummims, Avims, and Caphtorims.

Goliath was not one of these. He was a Hamitic Philistine (Gen. 10:6, 13-14) from Gath, one of the last refuges for the Anakims according to Joshua 11:22.

The idea that there were whole races of ten foot giants is incredible. We know from Genesis 6 that giants were created when the fallen angels mated with human females. Many people refer to this race as Nephilim. We can safely assume that most, if not all, were destroyed in the flood. However, Nimrod, the mighty hunter and father of the Babylonian mystery cults who was worshiped as a god on almost every continent may have had some supernatural fallen angel DNA in his blood.

There must be some explanation for why Nimrod was so revered that extends well beyond his leadership as a king. Perhaps Ham’s wife was part Nephilim, or maybe Cush or Nimrod were not biologically full Hamite. This is a mystery that I have yet to solve.

What we do know, is that giants roamed the earth before the flood, and giants were still around when the Israelites moved toward the Promised Land.

Notes on Numbers 31-32

Posted on by Alex

The children of Israel went to war against the Midianites and achieved near total destruction. The battle was so one sided that not one Israelite soldier was killed (Num. 31:49). Though they were commanded to slaughter everyone, the Israelites kept the women and children alive, and were punished with a plague (Num. 31:16).

What would certainly be a controversial order was then given by God. He wanted all the adult women and male children to be executed as well. The reason for this is given in Lev. 18:21-30. The Midianites, like their Moabite friends, were worshipers of Molech (Nimrod). They were people who threw babies into a fire as a tribute their wicked false god. No mercy was to be taken on such an evil people.

The tribes of Reuben and Gad decided that they did not want to go into the Promised Land with the rest of their brethren. They asked for land on the other side of the Jordan river. With some prodding from Moses, they agreed to fight with the rest of the Israelites and conquer the inhabitants of the Promised Land, so long as they could return to the land east of the Jordan. The LORD agreed to this arrangement.

Winston Churchill and T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) took this land of Gilead, also known as Transjordan, and gave it to the Muslims under the very controversial “Sykes-Picot Agreement” who occupy the region today.

Most of us are familiar with the famous “West Bank” territory that is currently occupied by Israel, but the United Nations believes the land should belong to the illegitimate Palestinians. God does not care what the U.N. wants, this territory was meant for the Israelites.

The Sykes Picot Agreement of 1916 that officially gave the region to the wrong people is a controversial arrangement that many people are unaware of. This agreement broke up the Ottoman Empire and created false borders of the Middle-Eastern countries we know today, under the ruse that the British and French would later agree to the instillation of a new caliphate called Greater Syria. We know that this did not happen.

What has happened, however, is that about 100 years later, a group called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) began to wage war in the area that should have become Greater Syria. One of their stated goals is to eradicate Sykes-Picot and form the Islamic caliphate that they were promised.

The reason why some say ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and some say ISIL, is because the “Levant” includes Israel. Those who oppose a caliphate usurping Israel say “ISIS.” Using “ISIL” legitimates the claims made by a terrorist group.

ISIS, the United Nations, the entire Middle-East, and the United States (at least over the past 25 years or so) are all attempting to shrink the Promised Land. There is a strong legal defense that Israel should be allowed to expand settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. There is also a decree from the LORD of all that the borders of Israel as it stands right now are too narrow.

Therefore, all negotiations to strip land away from Israel leads to disasters here in America (see my Notes on Numbers 23-25 for a list of natural disasters). The U.S. and U.N. constantly undermine the will of God Almighty. The West Bank, and additional territory currently known as the “Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan,” should belong to Israel.

Notes on Numbers 26-30

Posted on by Alex

Numbers 26 once again numbers the sons over the age of 20 for each tribe. Thousands have been killed due to their incessant complaining, so the need to tally the remaining Israelites was necessary. The largest decrease is from the tribe of Simeon, which dropped from 59,300 to 22,200.

An issue of inheritance arose in Numbers 27 when a man who died in the wilderness had only daughters to pass his possessions down to, although the law said that sons were to inherit. The LORD told his people that if a man dies, his possessions pass to his sons. If he has no sons, then his daughters. If no daughters, then his brothers. If no brothers, then the next of kin.

Beginning in Numbers 27:15-23, Moses’ successor was named. Because of the issue of smiting the rock twice rather than speaking to it (Numbers 20), Moses lost his opportunity to enter the promised land. Joshua (from the same root word as Jesus) was anointed the new leader who would bring the Israelites to the land of milk and honey.

Numbers 28 and 29 are instructions for sacrificing during the 7 major feasts (see Notes on Leviticus 22-23). This is a bit of a rehashing, but a couple things stood out. The first is how many feasts and holidays occur in the seventh month. The Hebrew calendar is little bit off from ours due to the way they calculate the days of the month. The Feast of Tabernacles, for instance, is supposed to begin on the 15th day of the seventh month, but in 2017 it is on October 4th. (I have always found it strange that our 7th month is July, given the root “sept” means seven, which shows that September should be the 7th month).

Another interesting tidbit is the number of bullocks to be sacrificed during the Feast of Tabernacles begins with 13 (a traditionally unlucky number) and decreases by 1 each day of the feast so that on the 7th feast day, 7 (the number of perfection) are sacrificed. We have 7 bullocks on the 7th day of a feast that occurs in the 7th month.

Chapter 30 is another “sexist” chapter of the Bible. Basically, if a man makes a vow, he responsible for fulfilling it. If a woman makes a vow, the man must sign off on it immediately. His silence is a form of consent. A father must consent for his daughter, and a husband for his wife (even if divorced or widowed). If a man does not give consent, then the vow need not be honored by the woman. She is forgiven. However, if a man waits to nullify the vow, he must bear the punishment for breaking the vow.

The point that should be taken is that the home, although the dominion of a woman, is the ultimate responsibility of the man. One of the great social factors in the breakdown of the family that we see around the world, but especially in the West is that men are afraid to be the leaders of their own homes.

This is no excuse to abuse or manipulate wives and daughters. In fact, the opposite is true. Men are supposed to lead and protect their wives and daughters. Too many American men abdicate their responsibilities. They ignore what happens in their own homes, or they literally run away from them. Single motherhood is at an all-time high in the United States. About 83% of single-parents are mothers.  In a supposedly Christian nation (over 70% identify as Christian), the divorce rate (over 50% now) and children born without fathers (25% overall, but 72% in the black community) are insanely high.

All the statistics on deviance and criminality show that having both a father and mother is one of the single greatest predictors of deviant behavior in a child. The median income for a single mom is $26,000 compared to $84,000 for married couples. The poverty rate for single mothers is over 36% compared to 7.5% for married couples. A two-parent home allows a child more access to income, education, and healthcare. More importantly, is that the child can spend more time with a parent, which is the key to stopping deviant behavior. When a child feels ignored, they lash out.

71 percent of teachers and 90 percent of law enforcement officials state that the lack of parental supervision at home is a major factor that contributes to the violence in schools. Sixty-one percent of elementary students and 76 percent of secondary children agree with this assessment (Maginnis 1997, “Single-Parent Families Cause Juvenile Crime).

You can say that passages like this one that are throughout the Bible are sexist. However, there is absolutely no denying the vital role that fathers play in the lives of their children. Real life statistics in 2017 validate what Moses wrote in 1450 BC. Men need to take responsibility in the home.

Notes on Numbers 23-25

Posted on by Alex

Once Balaam had a direct run in with the Angel of the LORD (Jesus Christ), he turned from his lying ways (Numbers 22) and began to tell Balak exactly what God told him to. These passages given as instruction to an outside nation about Israel ring true today, 3500 years later. These concepts should be learned by 21st century American Christians, but our government is becoming increasingly anti-Israel.

Observe Numbers 23:9 which tells us “the people [Israel] shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” Here we are, 3500 years later, and the United Nations constantly rules against Israel. There is only one country on the planet who has historically stood beside Israel, and the United States has spent the last couple of decades trying to give the West Bank to Palestine, stop the building of new homes, and refusing to acknowledge that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

With friends like these…right?

Israel dwells alone, just like this verse says. The nations will not reckon with Israel, just like this verse says.

Numbers 24:9 says of Israel, “Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.” This is a dire warning to the United Nations and United States of America.

Some of the worst disasters to ever hit the United States occurred within a few weeks of our nation going against Israel. Here are just a few examples:

  1. We refused to veto an anti-Israel resolution in the UN in 1979. Two days later, Three Mile Island become one of the worst nuclear power plant meltdowns.
  2. George H.W. Bush tried to convince Israel to give up territory to Palestine in 1991. The next day “The Perfect Storm” (so “perfect” that they made a movie out of it) actually slammed into the Bush home in Maine.
  3. The anti-Semitic Madrid Peace Conference moved to Washington D.C. in 1992. The next day Hurricane Andrew caused record setting damage in Florida.
  4. In 1994, Clinton met with Assad to try to leverage Israel into giving up the Golan Heights. The next day, the second worst disaster in American history, the Northridge earthquake, hit southern California.
  5. For almost two months in 1997, massive tornadoes ravaged Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Storms in the Dakotas cause the worst flooding of the century. Other storms rage through the Midwest. These disasters began the moment Yasser Arafat landed in the United States and stopped the moment he left.
  6. On January 21, 1998, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu arrived in the U.S. and Clinton and Sec. of State Albright refuse to have lunch with him. The same day, the Lewinski story broke.
  7. September 1998, Albright attempts to get Israel to give up 13% of its Yesha territory (Judea and Samaria). The same day Hurricane George hits the Gulf Coast and stays in one place.
  8. The next day, Arafat again leaves the U.S. and Georges dissipates after causing $1 billion in damage.
  9. When those same talks resume in October 1998, storms and tornadoes destroy 25% of Texas and do another $1 billion in damage. The talks lasted from Oct. 15-23, and the storms lasted from Oct. 17-22.
  10. The same day that Arafat was scheduled to declare an official Palestinian state with the backing of Clinton in 1999, the most powerful storm system in U.S. history devastated Kansas and Oklahoma setting the record for fastest wind speed at 316 mph.
  11. On April 30th (my birthday!), 2003, George W. Bush presented “the Road Map to Peace” to P.M. Sharon. The next week saw the largest tornado cluster ever recorded up to that time as 412 storms hit the U.S.
  12. In 2005, George W. Bush attempted to convince Israel to remove its settlements from Gaza and give the entire Gaza Strip to Palestine. As the last settlers were evacuated on August 23rd, Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas and almost one week later would become the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, flooding the entire city of New Orleans.
  13. Three days after Barack Obama told Israel to return to the smaller pre-1967 borders in 2011, a half-mile wide EF-5 multiple-vortex tornado destroyed Joplin, MO and became the single costliest tornado in U.S. history.
  14. Most recently was the Obama’s refusal to veto another anti-Israel resolution in the U.N. in late December 2016. In early January, the U.S. saw one of the largest ice storms in our nation’s history that affected 16 states (N. Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Colorado, and Oklahoma) causing power outages and fatalities. In mid-January ANOTHER major winter storm came and hit Oregon, California, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas.

I am sure these are all just coincidences, right? It is by pure chance that legendary storms, tornados, nuclear disasters, and record setting damages all happen to occur within a few days or weeks after the United States “curses” Israel.

“Cursed is he who curseth thee.”

Notes on Numbers 21-22

Posted on by Alex

As they march toward Canaan, the Israelites begin defeating army after army. Since they can’t go through Edom (Num. 20:18), they go around (Num. 21:4). Once again, they murmur against God. This is the tenth time that they whined about their situation, this time focusing on the quality of the free food they have been receiving.

We do this. We are blessed with so many things that we don’t have to work for, but those blessings are not quite what we want, therefore, we complain; at least I know that I do.

As a punishment, God sends “fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Num. 21:6). What follows is a perfect picture of Christian salvation written 1500 years before Christ died on the cross.

These serpents are killing people. Those who want to avoid death admit their sin (v. 7) and ask that the LORD take their sins away. “Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (v. 9).

The fiery serpents represent sin. The brass serpent represents Christ. He took the shape of the serpent, because he had to become sin in order to save us from our sins (2 Cor. 5:21). The brass serpent was placed on a pole, just as Christ was hung upon the cross. The Israelites had to look on the brass serpent to be saved, just as we gentiles need only to look upon Christ and accept his sacrifice to be saved.

Have you rested your eyes on Jesus Christ?

The Israelites who survived this encounter moved forward on their journey, continuing to conquer. They were so devastating that nation of Moab “was sore afraid of the people, because they were many” (Num. 22:3). Their king, Balak, asked his priest, Balaam, to speak to God on their behalf and get instruction.

God told Balaam three things in Numbers 22:12, 1) “thou shalt not go with them,” meaning that Balaam was not to go with the army; 2) “thou shalt not curse the people,” leave the Israelites alone; and 3) “they are blessed,” which is exactly why they should be left alone.

Balaam only relayed only one of these messages to his king; that he should not go with the army.

This is a picture of modern leaders in the Church. God gave us his Words in English in the King James Bible that we have used for 400 years. His entire message is in there. The Church has abandoned this perfect book for versions that are missing words. They contain part of the message, but not the whole thing.

Our Christian “scholars” (I use that term very loosely) and pastors are at the forefront of this abomination. “Scholars” believe that they are smart enough to correct God’s Word, and our pastors believe we are too stupid to understand it.

This concept is reiterated after Balaam’s donkey begins to literally speak to him once the “angel of the LORD” (who is Christ) confronts them on the road. “The angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the WORD THAT I SHALL SPEAK UNTO THEE [my emphasis], that thou shalt speak” (Num. 22:35).

Our pastors who do not speak the entire perfect Word of God to their congregations are not obeying God’s command and are doing us a disservice.

This chapter ends by giving us a picture of the “Satanic Trinity” (Num. 22:41). The imitation of God the Father here is Baal (who is Nimrod and represents Satan), the fake Messiah is king Balak (Antichrist), and Balaam is an imitation of the Holy Spirit (the False Prophet).

Notice again that the false prophet, Balaam, is the one who perverts the Word of God. Thus, those “Christian” leaders who today use corrupt versions of God’s Word are false prophets. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15).

Notes on Numbers 11-13

Posted on by Alex

One of the things that always astounds me is the frequency with which the children of Israel take God for granted. They walked across the dry land when the Red Sea parted for them. They literally see the presence of God as a massive cloud and pillar of fire that surrounds their tabernacle every day. They experienced their friends and family be killed by God after worshiping a false idol. Yet they find time to complain once again about their living arrangements in Numbers 11:1

This upset God so much that he sent a burning fire into their camp and burned those on the fringes. They cried and began begging for fish (v. 5). They had livestock with them, but they complained that they didn’t have the one meat that they lacked access to.

God was providing plenty of food in the form of manna. This meal fell from Heaven requiring no cultivation at all. The Israelites only had to pick it up. There was nothing to feed, nothing to kill, nothing to sow or reap, yet they were not satisfied.

Is this not what we do? The human condition is consumption. We are never satisfied, no matter how much wealth and success we have. We constantly tell ourselves that if we just get the newest tv, or the latest fashion, then we will be happy. All we have to do is get the hot new car and our lives will be complete. However, once we obtain these things, we want the next model.

Our needs can be completely met, but in our sick, twisted minds, we are suffering some sort of loss.

Moses started going a little insane with having to deal with all the crying. He asked God “have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?” (v. 11). He could not handle the burden, so he asked for help.

God decided that he would provide so much meat that the Israelites would get sick of eating it . He said they would eat “until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you:” (v. 20).

He sent dozens of quails to the children of Israel. The ones who lusted for meat and complained were given a plague from the quails and died.

Be careful what you wish for, Christian. When you go to God with a heart of lust and ask for something you desire, you may receive so much that you may lose your life.

The children of Israel finally arrived near Canaan in chapter 13. Spies were sent out into the land to investigate the situation. What they found was a fertile land filled with grapes, milk, and honey; and giants.

Remember the Law of First Mention. Giants in Genesis 6 were the half-human offspring of fallen angels, therefore, these giants were more than likely of the same ilk. These beings were, in my opinion, some of the descendants of Nimrod who were worshiped as gods in many ancient cultures.