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The Shadow of Dawn

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In the plain reading of Isaiah 14:12 in the KJV and NKJV, we are informed about how it was “Lucifer” who was fallen from heaven. Where the Hebrew term Helel ben Shahar translates as “morning star” or “day star” “son of Dawn” as a shining celestial body from heaven (the sky) in view just before the morning sunrise. The Latin translation, by which the KJV etymological translation originates, means lux / luc- (light) and -fer (bearing). So, many would surmise that Luc-fer is the literal presence of the planet Venus in the morning sky. Conversely, where the name “Lucifer” is rendered in the King James Version as the “star” of the morning. An object other than the sun observable in the dawn sky that bears light. As such the name Lucifer per se is not attached to Satan, the Evil one, to refer to an individual identity.

Some view Isaiah 14:1-23 as the fall of Satan from reference passages Luke 10:18 and Revelation 12:8-10. Where it is concluded that Jesus uses Isaiah 14:12 to describe Satan’s fall. While numerous others share the view that the theologically parallel passage of Ezekiel 28:1-19 correlates to Satan’s rebellion, the prophetic context is in reference to the Prince of Tyre and his evil behavior. As it is argued that the surface reference context is a prophetic taunt or mockery against the kings of Babylon (Isaiah 14:1-23) and Tyre (Ezekiel 28:1-19), some hold a view that both pericopes point back to the ancient account of the divine rebellion. Specifically, where both in meaning are simultaneously and synergistically true as a shadow of the divine revelation given within Scripture. Quite a number of scholars, teachers, pastors, and students believe that Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:1-19, & Genesis 3 all draw from the same theological and divinely inspired literary well.

On the surface, by the plain reading of the Isaiah text, the “morning star, son of Dawn” is in figurative reference to a hypothetical god that echoes back to the ancient Near East view of a deity. Isaiah writes in the form of mockery that the king of Babylon is a pagan god in the pantheon who some would view as a “shining one.” As if this king held a god’s stature, the prophetic taunt in Isaiah is written to express the king’s epic absurdity. It is written as a comparison without truthful credibility or any weight whatsoever to punctuate the text’s meaning. In an ancient Near East context, a “shining one” in the heavens was recognized as a minor god. This “morning star” term was a pagan reference to a subordinate deity in rebellion against the Most-High in the pagan pantheon of false gods.

In the broader context and support of Isaiah 13:1 – 14:23, Babylon was the first among about a dozen surrounding nations subject to judgment and destruction. Beginning with Israel and Judah, empire after empire would fall by the word of Yahweh and the indignant proclamations of His prophet Isaiah. Along with their gods appointed over them, the people of many nationalities were given to certain and inevitable destruction. Having a theological meta-narrative that is unmistakable, chief among them were their kings, officials, and the Evil one who would continue to oppose and seduce humanity. To draw masses of people into idolatry, injustice, and meaningless religious rituals to profane and defile the imago-Dei and Yahweh’s purpose for His people and the nations.

Consecrating Fire

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The appearance of Isaiah before God at His seat of power is an astonishing scene of awe and wonder. As recorded and narrated in chapter six of the book of Isaiah (6:1-13), this encounter was a God-appointed theophany that would inspire and inform myriads of people for generations. The witness and testimony of Isaiah concerning his vision echo among everyone who seeks to know and experience the glory and mysteries of Yahweh. Isaiah experienced God’s presence, as revealed in a glimpse of His identity, place, position, glory, and power. Among these, Isaiah perceived in limited view what the seraphim called out in the temple. That Yahweh is most holy as it was cried out to another in a magnificent way. Holy! Holy! Holy! These were their words. The angelic seraphim were in resonance with just how God’s holiness is distinct and utterly more unique and beautiful than anything or anyone. The glory of the incomparable Elohim was throughout the whole Earth as it filled the whole of His creation.

Isaiah’s encounter before Yahweh ruins him. He experienced a crisis of self-aware defilement before God. He witnessed God Most High’s being and presence. It was there that Isaiah understood the true condition of himself among people that he dwelt with and charged warnings against in the previous five chapters of his book. He was so stricken with a self-aware state of impurity and corruption that he cried out, “Woe is me! I am ruined!” He was guilty of defiled thoughts, words, and actions among his people all to separate Him from God. His God, who he honored, worshiped and served. The gravity of his conviction kept him from His God and his ability to withstand or bear God’s presence.

During this encounter, the smoke that filled the temple was probably a barrier for Isaiah to keep him safe from the effect of God’s unyielding glory. A vapor that became a veil for his spirit until he was purified and cleansed by a seraph. While amid the gathering smoke, the angelic seraph creature flew to Isaiah with a lump of burning coal taken from an altar to touch his mouth with it. To burn away the defilement and atone for his sin so he would no longer carry his guilt before God. His offenses now removed, to be of consecrated service before Yahweh as a prophet before His people.

With Isaiah in a desperate situation throughout his vision, the Lord spoke out His invitation to go to His people on behalf of Most High Elohim. “Who will go for Us?” was the call, and without any reservation, Isaiah said Him, hinneh-‘ani! slh-‘ani. Or, as we read in Scripture, “Here am I! Send Me.” — Made possible by an encounter and redemption made complete through the underlying relationship between Isaiah and his God. With the acceptance of Isaiah’s call, he was instructed to “Go, and tell these people…” to hear and to see the truth and to repent. Yet while the people were warned and persistently urged to forsake their sin and return to Yahweh, the message will bear on them to further harden their hearts and reject their God. They would become given over to judgment to include all the disasters that would become their demise.

Overview of Jeremiah

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Jeremiah was both a priest and a prophet who lived during the final decades of Judah’s Southern kingdom. He is more clearly know in Scripture as a prophet who warned Jerusalem of judgment due to their rebellion, corruption, and the rejection of their covenant with God. As a matter of certainty, Jerusalem will be given over to Babylon and remain there in captivity for 70-years. As the reader of Jeremiah’s book will find stories, sermons, poems, and essays of Jeremiah’s life work, a full corpus of role and meaning becomes clear. The total of his work is assembled as an anthology and not a sequential narrative to tell a linear story concerning the prophetic warnings and events that would occur in Jerusalem. Jeremiah was a messenger of God’s justice and grace.

Throughout Jeremiah’s book, the prophet is called to pronounce judgment upon Jerusalem and even the surrounding nations. He was God’s appointed prophet to Israel and the nations to pluck up and break down and plant and build up (1:10). Israel’s indictment rests within three offenses. First, they have broken their covenant with God. Second, they were worshipping false gods. A problem that was written about as idolatry, which is spiritual adultery. Third, their leaders were guilty of widespread social injustice stemming from their abandonment of the covenant, or God’s Word. With God’s condemnation through Jeremiah, Israel was subject to judgment from Babylon. While on the one hand, Israel was offering sacrifices according to Jewish ceremonies and religious traditions inside Jerusalem. They were also making child sacrifices to Moloch just outside Jerusalem in the valley of Hinnom (valley of slaughter).

The remainder of the book of Jeremiah concerns the wrath of God upon Israel. They were to drink the cup of His anger by becoming enslaved or put to violence while subjected to famine, disease, and disaster. The anthology of Jeremiah then proceeds to describe how Jerusalem is led off to Babylon. Amid Jerusalem’s destruction and while Yahweh’s people were placed in Babylon, hope was pronounced where He referred to a new covenant that would become healed through a messiah. The remainder of Jeremiah’s book concerns the judgment and destruction of surrounding nations to include Babylon itself eventually. The book ends with a glimmer of hope for Israel to indicate God’s everlasting faithfulness.

Overview of Isaiah

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The opening chapters of Isaiah (1 -12) concern messages of judgment and hope. Centered squarely upon Jerusalem, and more broadly, the Northern and Southern kingdoms. As Jerusalem remained in a state of disobedience, rebellion, and idolatry, Yahweh’s anger and decrees made sure the eventual demise of His people and surrounding nations. Babylon, a hostile and foreign country, would attack Jerusalem and be eventually burned to purify it of corruption. Even though His people have gone too far, their hearts were hardened, and they were committed to destruction. After the devastation of Israel from Assyria, Yahweh’s people would not end without hope as there would emerge a holy seed. A seed that produces a tiny shoot from a stump of a tree that was symbolic of Israel would bring a messianic king to rule over a new Jerusalem in peace, justice, and righteousness

As the course of history and the decree of impending judgment unfolds, a comparison between two cities is made in chapters 13-27. On the one hand, the nations in the Ancient Near East were cast as a city high and lofty yet only destined for ruin because of its total rebellion against their Creator. While on the other hand, there is a promise of a new Jerusalem, another city, where God reigns over all nations, and there is no more suffering, injustice, or death.

The prophet Isaiah further condemns Jerusalem’s interests in saving itself through an alliance its leaders formed with Egypt. Isaiah makes it clear that the only way to be saved from judgment is repentance and trust in Yahweh. Not by relying upon neighboring nations for protection. To demonstrate this as an effective route of safety, King Hezekiah had humbled himself and prayed for Yahweh’s deliverance from Assyria, another enemy but from the North. Yahweh rescued Jerusalem through Hezekiah’s appeal. Yet even after Yahweh comes through a dramatic way to save Jerusalem from the Assyrians, Hezekiah, this time, allies Babylon. While the prophet Isaiah informs Hezekiah that Babylon will eventually betray and destroy them. Hezekiah had sought to impress and earn Babylon’s favor for security and status, while that should have been solely through Yahweh alone.

The final section of Isaiah involves messages of hope. As the inhabitants of Jerusalem in Babylonian captivity were to be released, they were to take up residence in Judah again. The prophet Isaiah wrote future instructions concerning the renewal of God’s people. And they were to abide by the covenant they accepted long ago. God delivered His people from Babylon through raising an army in Persia to defeat their foes. So, the people of Jerusalem were expected to return and rebuild their relationship with Yahweh and each other. Isaiah’s message to those rescued from Babylon was prophesied and recorded onto a scroll for their hope and instruction. The future hope we read about in chapters 40-66 has come, and God’s people get about the business of daily life in Jerusalem.

Chapters 40-48 open up with an announcement of hope through service to the nations. However, God’s people become contentious with Him and claim that He ignored them. When in reality, He was at work among them to purify them of corruption and to rescue them from permanent and final harm. It was their God all along who judged them and, after a while, rose Persia to conquer Babylon their captors and set them free. This judgment was to get them all to recognize that Yahweh is their God, and they are His people. Not the idols of their idolatry. Their obligation was to return to Him and repent while trusting His word going forward into the future.

As Israel’s people were restored to Jerusalem, they were contentious, and they lost faith in their God Yahweh. So, God would form a new kingdom with a new messianic servant who would restore Israel and become a light to the nations. The servants to follow this messianic figure (Christ) are recognized as “the seed” (Is 6:13), who are humble and repent. They are not among the wicked who reject God’s servant and His way of restoration. The wicked will face God’s justice and will be removed from the “new Jerusalem” forever. While the servants will humble themselves, repent, and own their evil to obtain forgiveness to inherit the new kingdom. In comparison, the “new Jerusalem” or the new kingdom is figurative imagery for a new creation where death and suffering are gone forever. It is where all nations of God’s new covenant family are brought together in perfect fellowship with each other and with their God as intended.

Eschatological Systems of Thought

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Both amillennialism and premillennialism are eschatological systems of interpreting prophetic and apocalyptic thought. The prediction of near and far-term future events is expressed in written or verbal form to describe forthcoming fulfillment. All the way back to the Edenic garden to the Apostle John’s revelation on the island of Patmos, the biblical reader finds prophecy throughout Scripture. Whether concerning the messianic promise, impending judgment, or eschatological prophecies, many future events were declared with many now fulfilled. As time continues to move forward, all of Creation draws closer to complete fulfillment while reaching toward end-time events.

Centered around Revelation 20:1-6, attempts are made to describe when and where Christ will reign. People who hold to amillennialist views believe that there is no reign of Christ on the Earth after His second coming. Instead, the amillennialist view believes His reign is in Heaven with believers as they pass away and go to be with Him. To the amillennialist, the kingdom reign written about in Revelation 20:1-6 is symbolic and not literal. Whereas this reign written about is in the kingdom of Heaven, and not a kingdom on the Earth as premillennial interpreters believe. The second coming of Christ to Earth is after this period in Heaven. Premillennialists hold to the view that the second coming of Christ occurs before a 1000-year (millennial) reign on Earth.

So, the two systems’ differences appear to rest on where Christ will reign and when. He either reigns in Heaven for 1000 years symbolically or on Earth literally, and the second coming of Christ occurs either after His reign in Heaven or before His reign on Earth. The former is the amillennialist interpretation, and the latter is the premillennialist view. Both systems are categories of how people recognize and conclude what is to occur in the future, as interpreted from Revelation 20:1-6.

Further within the premillennial view of prophecy, there is classic dispensational premillennialism, progressive dispensational millennialism, and historical premillennialism. Each of these bears out distinctions from the other and the entirely separate millennial systems of thought. Dispensational premillennialists believe that the rapture written about in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 will occur before a 7-year great tribulation as prophesied as the 70th week in the book of Daniel. Once the tribulation is concluded, the second coming of Christ occurs, and He begins His millennial reign with His church. In contrast to dispensational premillennialists, historical premillennialists hold that the rapture occurs after the 7-year tribulation (also known as the post-tribulation view).

Both systems recognize the 1000-year reign, whereas one views the period as symbolic and the other literal. So to reiterate, Amillennialists view the 1000-year reign symbolically in Heaven and Premillennialists view the 1000-year reign literally on Earth. Amillennialists view the return of Jesus to Earth after this period in Heaven. Premillennialists of all types view the return of Jesus before His 1000-year reign on Earth.

Artifacts of Prophetic Reason

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To see if there is anything of more value from Scripture in terms of the overall prophetic message of those before us, we have many examples as offered by the historical records. Specifically, to get a look into the character of God, by what He says and does. From His judgment, and his mercy, we have historical accounts of what happened to Israel and Judah while they were in open rebellion against Him. So, to see further how God thinks and acts while people reject Him, here is the basic three-part message of His prophets and their indictments.

You have broken the covenant, and you had better repent

The people of Yahweh (Israel and Judah) were guilty of violating their covenant oath with Him. Their egregious behaviors specifically were concerning idolatry, social injustice, and religious ritualism. Therefore, the pre-exilic prophets were highly active in confronting the people for these offenses with explicit and specific details about where they were in rebellion and error. Their continued and stored up sin before Yahweh was at the root of their objection, and they were pressed upon the people to name names, specific conditions and incidents, and the depravity they were engaged in.

The three indictments of God through the prophets were as follows:

Idolatry

They were actively worshiping the idols of Baal and Asherah. The people were desecrating the temple, defiling themselves, and serving pagan false gods that were forbidden according to the Mosaic covenant with Yahweh.

Biblical Injustice

There were people oppressed, neglected, abused, and mistreated among the people of Yahweh. In violation of covenant stipulations given in Deuteronomy, the people were not abiding by the terms of their agreement with God. To care for the needy, support those in poverty, feed the hungry, care for the orphan, and plead the widow’s cause.

Religious Ritualism

The people exchanged their relationship with Yahweh for rote religious practices that included sacrifices and going through the motions of ceremonies, offerings, and fasting.

If you do not repent, you and other nations will be judged

The prophet’s direct and clear message was to inform offenders that their impending doom is certain unless they turn back and return to Yahweh. If they do not, they will be destroyed by violence, enslavement, disease, hunger, and disaster.

There is hope beyond judgment

For Israel, Judah, and the nations, there is hope for restoration in the future beyond judgment. Relationships will overshadow ritual and legalism. A new exodus will occur through a new covenant, and the Lord will dwell in the hearts of His people.

The Poetic Riddles of Time

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There are numerous types of poetic and literary expressions read among the prophetic writings to articulate what Yahweh both directly and indirectly says. He is either actively in direct discourse with His people or He speaks solely through His prophets to convey His messages in a way He deems suitable.

It is sometimes recognized that with rhyme, there is the ease of recall. So, for memory retention and recollection, people can bring back to mind what they hear and learn. Through the various forms of verbal and written expression, people can internalize and repeat what messages they hear from Yahweh or His prophets in terms of what they read or hear. Structurally, words and meanings become assembled to support comprehension and reinforce sense where there is a lasting effect. At times messages are phonetically repeatable to drive home a point expressed. Easier shared and brought back to mind with others as instructions and lessons are learned.

A certain cause and effect occur with the verbal and literary language that unfold through the prophets. This cause and effect bring about a certain impact to effectively reach people where a more passive expression may not entirely be retained or sink in. For example, if Yahweh intends to bring fear and distress among people, He can choose to use language in any form He sees fit to convey an unmistakable meaning. It is a type of speech-act that corresponds to the circumstances which require attention, correction, or a new direction because of an offense of error.

At times Yahweh has used language to deliver theological messaging about the hardness of heart concerning people who reject Him. Given over to an inability to hear, see, or perceive what Yahweh would say through His prophets or in His word, people cannot receive what is communicated for their recovery and benefit. They eventually become their undoing and destruction without a possibility of reconciliation.

The prophets and poetry go hand-in-hand. While at times there is prose to narrate events or story, the use of poetry is often applied to prophetic messages in figures of speech and literary morphology of various types that comprise of an anthology, or a body of overall work. It is not for philosophical purposes, but to dispense truth in a way that reaches people’s literal realities. Through figurative language, analogies, metaphors, anthropomorphism, hyperbole, and other figures of speech, poetry is the currency by which Biblical prophets transmit and receive messages to correct, form, or cultivate relationships. Namely between Yahweh and His people and between themselves and their listeners.

Doubt & Resonance

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Back from Adam through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David, there were covenants that were formed between Yahweh and His chosen people. None of which contradicted another, but in some respects superseded or reiterated the promises of Yahweh’s blessings in exchange for the continued love and honor of His people. He would dwell among them, guide them, protect them, and prosper them as a kingdom that would bring His people and humanity a path to reconciliation and restoration.

Over the centuries, God’s people forgot about Him, rejected Him, disobeyed Him, and sought other gods through their idolatry. Over time, His people broke their covenant with Him and continued their rebellion apart from God as His chosen people. This is the brief backstory and the conditions by which the prophets operated under during their own time. The Lord’s people were in open rebellion against Him, and they betrayed their covenant oath again and again. Ultimately, they were to become again enslaved to the Assyrians and Babylonians just as they were to the Egyptians many years before.

The history of the prophetic era became interwoven throughout the historical circumstances of the Hebrews, God’s people. He called specific individuals across time to deliver His warnings and messages concerning the betrayal of their covenant. They violated the Mosaic law taken with them as they entered their inherited land. So, the people, its tribes, and its leadership went about their daily lives, they intermingled with existing populations and were influenced by surrounding nations. To corrupt their desires, actions, and interest, they progressively separated themselves from God. Without the intervention of God through His prophets, His people would have been forever lost. A people of promise would have been otherwise given over to the oblivion of evil indistinct from the surrounding nations.

The prophets were situated according to their purpose. How they operated, where they went, who they were, what they did, and why they existed surrounds a biblically coherent rationale to make sure the fulfillment of God’s promises to His chosen people—beginning with the patriarchal fathers. The latter went before the people under judgment. The prophet’s function and message were intended to make right the course of history for Yahweh’s people to repent and return to Him. While they catastrophically failed repeatedly, the horrific consequences were borne out with plenty of warning and clarity for corrective action. Moreover, people warned through the prophets had the full perspective of historical events that took place among their ancestors. The people of Israel and Judah had the religious and traditional hindsight that gave them the certainty needed to understand what fate would befall them. Yet they chose not to return to Yahweh as He desired of them.

The Poetry of Inversion

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As a theological principle, those who hold themselves out as a “prophet” or “seer” today really eventually run in contradiction to God and what is in His word. This post concerns the reasons false prophets are a problem.

Within the Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern historical context of Canaan, Israel and Judah’s kings established for themselves “court prophets” who served the interests of their royal leadership. A leadership that was disloyal and disobedient to Yahweh sought to install for themselves prophets of Yahweh and foreign gods to offset the pressures from true prophets of Yahweh who spoke God’s Word. The ancient Biblical kings of Judah and Israel appointed prophets beholden to them and served their interests as a priority and not according to the truth of what Yahweh revealed in His word through the Deuterocanonical covenant and His prophets that would appear before them.

These were prophets selected and put into position as the Kings of Israel and Judah observed what the kings of other nations did to organize and put their prophets of false gods before them, and their people. As the people of Yahweh sought to put a King before them to be like other nations, the kings of Israel and Judah put false prophets before them to be like other nations. In essence, this was yet another rejection of the God, His Word, and the covenant that was formed between Him and them as His people. The kings of Israel and Judah knew that the false prophets and priests would bring pagan gods to them and their people to worship and serve. Still, their rejection of God in this way was not fully complete in the absence of outright contradiction and opposition to what the prophets of Yahweh advised, instructed, or decreed on His behalf.

The historical and biblical case of Jeremiah 28:5-11 illustrates this matter clearly. The confusion and uncertainty caused by Hananiah eventually brought confrontation between him and Jeremiah. Moreover, the false prophet Hananiah caused people to trust a lie and not the truth of God’s message through Jeremiah. While it appeared that Yahweh’s message through Jeremiah was temporarily thwarted, He used adverse circumstances to make a clear theological point about obstruction and dishonest behavior as an agent of God’s interests and His message.

As false prophets place their loyalties and obligations across competing interests, people of all levels within their Ancient Near Eastern context commit idolatry. Before Yahweh, a grievous sin facilitated by the kings, priests, prophets, and others to live an idolatrous lifestyle and live a lie that would eventually contribute to their demise. Judah, who was in Babylon’s captivity, were there because of their outright rejection of God, which included idolatry. Those who remained in Israel and Judah were still steeped in the practice of rebellion while learning nothing about the circumstances that befell their people according to God’s warnings and judgment.

The leadership that sets in place people, systems, and processes that cause God’s people to sin against Him and each other is condemned with severe repudiation, judgment, and punishment. From a Biblical perspective, passage after passage, there is no uncertainty about it or a shortage of stories to articulate the harshest of condemnation.

Voice of the Nevi’im

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Introduction to the Prophets

The Age of Prophecy: Approximately 900 – 400 BCE

Samuel (150 years before 900 BC) is considered the first prophet. Credited with starting the various schools of the prophets.

The prophetic voice fell silent with Malachi at about 400 BC.

There are both writing prophets and non-writing prophets and prophetesses. The writing prophets are those who are read within Scripture.

There are three parts to the Hebrew Bible:

1.) The Law, Books of Moses, Pentateuch (Torah)

Means more instruction rather than law. Includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

2.) The Prophets (Nevi’im)

a.) The former or early prophets: Joshua, Judges, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings
b.) The latter prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Scroll of the Twelve (Amos, Hosea, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi)

3.) The Writings (Ketuvim)

a.) Psalms, Job, Proverbs
b.) Ruth, Song of Songs (Song of Solomon), Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther
c.) Daniel*, Ezra-Nehemiah, 1-2 Chronicles

* Daniel was unique as a prophet in that he did not experience a call (compared to the Nevi’im).

The Jewish or Hebrew Bible is referred to as the Tanakh.

T – Torah
a
N – Nevi’im
a
K – Ketuvim
h

Protestant Old Testament

Pentateuch	Historical Books	Poetry and Wisdom	Prophetic Books
Genesis	Joshua	Job	Isaiah
Exodus	Judges	Psalms	Jeremiah
Leviticus	Ruth	Proverbs	Lamentations
Numbers	1 Samuel	Ecclesiastes	Ezekiel
Deuteronomy	2 Samuel	Song of Solomon	Daniel*
	1 Kings		Hosea
	2 Kings		Joel
	1 Chronicles		Amos
	1 Chronicles		Obadiah
	Ezra		Jonah
	Nehemiah		Micah
	Esther		Nahum
			Habakkuk
			Zephaniah
			Haggai
			Zechariah
			Malachi

Definition of a Prophet

Hebrew: navi (plural nevi’im), or “one who is called” / “one who announces”

Prophets are a link between the people and God. As compared to a priest. Priests represent humanity to God whereas a Prophet represents God to humanity. See Deuteronomy 18:15-22 for details concerning initial conditions for a prophet in general as designated to assigned people.

Scriptural gives a sense of prophet functions as both deliveries of prediction and preaching. Prediction to the future generation(s) and preaching to the current generation(s). Their role was to first know and proclaim God’s will under immediate circumstances. Specifically, in a coherent fashion as understood by an appointed audience where they can respond.

Generally, the purpose of a prophet is to return people to obedience to God’s word, the Torah. Without people’s obedience, the prophet specifies punishment.

Female prophets throughout Scripture include Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Noadiah, and non-writing (spoken) prophetesses.

Prophetic Patterns

Yahweh requires exclusive worship. There is only one God.
Yahweh can not be illustrated, carved, or sculpted as a likeness. To attempt a constructed likeness is to become guilty of idolatry.
Yahweh demands justice. He requires care for the poor, powerless, and vulnerable.
The intensity of anger among prophets was commensurate with the disobedience of people.
Prophets prior to exile into Babylon emphasized doom and gloom, while subsequent prophets delivered messages of comfort, hope, and restoration.

Prophetic Illustration

Isaiah: Wore loin cloth attire over his nudity to illustrate the shame, humiliation, and ruin of God’s people.
Jeremiah: Wore yokes of wood and iron to symbolically express coming Babylonian oppression and enslavement.
Ezekiel: Cooked meals over human dung to symbolically express the types of food God’s people will eat while in exile. Ezekiel lay bound and tied on one side for 190-days to communicate the 190 years of Israel’s exile. The 40-days on the other side show how long in years that Judah would remain in captivity.

Instructions to draw the attention of Yahweh’s people came from extreme physical illustration, demonstration, and role-play.

Prophetic Literary Forms

Poetic & Narrative
Written and oral poetic expression by meter and prose
Parallelism categories include synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic types
Simile, metaphorical, and allegorical
King James Version does not present an English translation layout in poetic format or structure
Later translations, or versions, including poems written in separate lines, bring into view parallelism. With para-graphical spaces between separate oracles

Prophets to the Kings after Solomon

BCE	Prophets	Kings of Judah (South)	Kings of Israel (North)
	N/A	1. Rehoboam	1. Jeroboam
900	N/A	2. Abijah	2. Nadab
	N/A	3. Asa	3. Baasha
	N/A		4. Elah
	N/A		5. Zimri
	N/A	4. Jehoshaphat	6. Omri
	Elijah to Israel		7. Ahab (worst)
850	Elisha to Israel	5. Jehoram	8. Ahaziah
	Joel to Judah	6. Ahaziah	9. Joram
	Jonah to Nineveh	7. Queen Athaliah
800	Amos to Israel	8. Joash	10. Jehu (ok)
	Hosea to Israel		11. Jehoahaz
	Isaiah to Judah (until Hezekiah)	9. Amaziah	12. Jehoash
		10. Uzziah (Azariah)	13. Jeroboam II
750	Micah to Judah (until Hezekiah)	11. Jotham	14. Zechariah
		12. Ahaz	15. Shallum
			16. Menahem
			17. Pekahiah
			18. Pekah
			19. Hoshea
725		13. Hezekiah (best)	722 BCE – Fall of Samaria to the Assyrians
	Nahum to Nineveh	14. Manasseh
650	Jeremiah, Zephaniah	15. Amon
		16. Josiah (best)
	Habakkuk	17. Jehoahaz
600	Ezekiel, Daniel	18. Jehoiakim
	Obadiah to Edom	19. Jehoiachin
	Haggai, Zechariah	20. Zedekiah
	Malachi	587 BCE – Fall of Jerusalem to Babylonians	Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah

The Woes of Immortal Larvae

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This is an open-ended posting. It will become edited and further developed over time as more research is carried out through the course of personal theological studies.

Purpose & Background

Notes, observations, and a working cumulative draft of the topic. These notes constitute the thoughts, conversations, articles, and books surrounding the subject. To include Reformed (covenant or dispensational), Catholic, and Orthodox perspectives. No consideration is given to deconstructionist (progressive) perspectives for various reasons concerning their denial of the supremacy and authority of Scripture and the original meaning intended by its authors.

There are no conclusions drawn from these notes. Only posted here is material from self-discovery that corresponds to what is roughly interpreted from Scripture and speculated by tradition, historical/literary records, teachings, and books or texts with reference to primary and secondary sources. These notes and observations are simply here to assemble a coherent set of personal reflections concerning what exists in the Spirit realm and the bearing they may have upon people. There is no claim to full credibility assumed or accepted here. This is a dangerous subject matter.

Context & Attestation

“The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons (daimonia; supernatural being hostile to God and anyone allied to Him) are subject to us in Your name. And He said to them:”

“I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits (pneuma; a supernatural self-aware entity with powers) are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

Christ Jesus, Luke 10:17-20

Points of Concern

Associative Thoughts

Creation of a demonic entry point where there becomes a connection between an individual and an evil spirit. A manifestation doesn’t always take place to indicate its presence as inhabitation persists.

There is no such thing as “ghosts.” A visual experience of a presence that someone has is with an evil spirit 99% of occurrences (Lampert)¹.

All true magic at its core is inherently evil. Material consumed that is not consistent with the Christian faith should be filtered out (music, movies, literature).

If a person dies when possessed, the spiritual connection ends and the soul that is a free agent of its own begins disembodied eternity as such. Minors under the age of 7 (age of reason) are unable to bring about demonic possession on their own.

Demons that have nothing to gain from individuals who are already in disbelief likely would not commonly inhabit those who dismiss their existence. Evil spirits attack where they stand to gain something. Demons are understood as “happy” or content apart from where disbelief resides.

Demons can become instruments of an individual’s sanctification.

They only detract from sanctification when an individual gives in to them.

To those affected, building virtue, through prayer, the Word, fellowship, and worship work contrary to their interests.

The weakness comes from vicious persistence (vices) where they are the cause or root. They can also become contributing participants in addition to a person’s own predilections, mental health, or circumstances.

Excellence in grace (abundant sanctifying grace) is the indwelling Spirit of God in the soul of your being. This is the adornment of the soul of all of the virtues.

Building virtue and perfection in the process of sanctification can come from diabolical influences in a person’s life.

As there are differences in the genetic makeup of an individual, there are different degrees of virtue that God permits or develops. God delights in variety.

We should be working harder at those areas we’ve fallen to attain perfection.

God allows demonic activity and possession for purposes of sanctification.

Believers, those who are authentically in Christ on a path of sanctification, can become an instrument of humiliation and justice among demons. The humiliation is decreed as constant (Gen 3:14). The sin of pride brings the just punishment of the adversary in a continued and intentional way. “You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.”

Gen 3:19 – memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris. “Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return.” Also, see Isaiah 26:19.

As with the dispersal of nations at Babel when the population’s languages were divided, the rulership of evil spirits (Eph 6:12) was appointed over them.⁴ So it is with the fall of humanity. Both the fallen and the adversary were to join together in suffering. Whereas, the adversary eventually becomes the object of humiliation and suffering through the redemption, justification, sanctification, and glorification of the elect (those who trust in Christ).

By denying and fighting the adversary we also become instruments of justice and punishment.

Activity Types

Infestation
Oppression
Presence (location)
Presence (object)
Vexation (physical)
Self-harm, or self-inflicted suffering of some type.
Obsession (mental)
Preoccupation, or persistent thought activity around evil. Its presence can fracture, rupture, or cause slippage of an individual’s mind distinct from psychological distress.
Possession (inhabitation)

Degrees of Spiritual Conflict

Temptation (Ordinary)

Evil spirits introduce into our imagination images brought together from prior visual or mental states. Demons cannot make a blind man see or imagine color (Aquinas). They have to work with something that is already there.

God permitting, demons can use what imagination or visual history exists. Demons cannot do anything that God does not permit. Demons are on a short leash (degrees and types of temptation). Restrictions exist surrounding the nature of possession. The adversary often knows when they are removed or required to leave.

God does not hear the prayers of the adversary, demons, or evil spirits.

Everyone is a slave of Christ either willingly or unwillingly.

Temptations can appear in good, bad, or innocuous forms. Demons can suggest good things to good people to cause damage. Knowing what to do and not to do during spiritual conflict is a gift (discernment, counsel). Humility is necessary to keep perspective. Suggestions that form are subtle with increasing levels of intensity. To produce fear in order for a person to fixate or ruminate about a matter to figure out how to escape.

Where a person recognizes he/she could fall within temptation, that is where the hole is. That hole is the demonic target beginning with subtlety. It is precisely here that in faith the prayer must be to call out for deliverance, confidence, and protection.

Oppression

People are attacked from the outside, or by external means.

a.) Direct – Relationships, finances, property, health
On a personal level, directly responsible for evil actions that invite demonic activity.

b.) Indirect – Policies, rules, ordinances, laws, regulations, etc.

When other people do evil things to get demons involved in culture, society, church, etc. It is necessary to be in the Word, prayer, worship, humility, and repentance to keep clear of influences in these areas.

They work in the areas of despair, distress, and disappointment

Obsession

Psychological or mental state where a person cannot think outside of fear, lust, anger, or other thoughts around pressure, harm, or the works of the flesh (Gal 5:19-25).

Consistent thoughts that are psychological and habitual become intellectual vice (e.g. mental illness). They are set in motion or effect by external means (what someone or something does or says to a person). By comparison, diabolical obsession is set on or off without external stimulus.

When or if a demonic obsession is permitted, it at times can become a form of punishment. Where a person is unwilling to repent, or wants to sin in a certain area (or will allow something to happen) that in turn provides an opening for a state of demonic affliction as a product of sin. The proper effect of every mortal sin is possession. While the numbers of people who are diabolically influenced are high, the percentage of people who are possessed is very low (less than a fraction of a percentage). So even if someone opens the door to influence or possession, it is God who permits or denies entry. It is very rare that a demon is allowed into a person as a form of punishment (Ripperger)².

The more sin people commit, the more empowered demons become and the worse spiritual conflict can get with specific individuals, cultures, or societies.

Possession

Very rare with occurrences at a fraction of a percentage (Ripperger)³.

People have periods of lucidity, but at other times they feel or experience what the evil spirit does. Yet some others blackout the whole experience.

A confession is a form of exorcism because any legal hold the demonic has on person breaks. Every time there is a decision to sin, and the inhabited person sins, that person attaches himself/herself to the evil spirit(s) within. When a person confesses sin, repents, and draws near to God through Christ, that legal hold is broken and the removal of evil becomes certain.

People who are partially possessed can be swayed to avoid spiritual disciplines and confession through influence and suggestion. It is assumed that positive emotional reactions are of God (which is what Luther thought). Demons who have access to human emotions can wreak havoc on individuals. This is another reason emotions are untrustworthy. They are able to cause positive emotions to certain pious practices, or they can block them. So it is necessary instead to follow reason enlightened by faith.

To keep people from being willing to suffer, demons will use any and all forms of influence and cause emotions possible or at their disposal (including fear). If an individual goes about seeking the demonic in an effort to root out influence, they will find that individual. So it is necessary to avoid seeking them out. Only deal with the situation when it surfaces, not before. Don’t go looking for a fight.

It is speculated that the highest level of spiritual warfare is with persons possessed and have decided to cooperate with the will of God and fight their way through it. It is through the spiritual war that contributes to a certain level of holiness is attained (compare Eph 2:10 and elsewhere to validate).

Permanency

“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,
[where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]*
“If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,
[where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]*
“If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,
where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.

– Christ Jesus, Mark 9:43-48, NASB

*Vv 44 and 46, which are identical to v 48, are not found in the early manuscripts

Citations

^1. Lampert, Capturing Christianity, Interview with an Exorcist – (YouTube, October 22, 2020). Accessed 10/22/2020. https://youtu.be/nhhi7Fk3ueI
^2. Ripperger, Sensus Fidelium, Levels of Spiritual Warfare – (YouTube, November 12, 2018). Accessed 10/15/2020. https://youtu.be/TMcvZaiBwe4
^3. Ibid.
^4.Heiser, Michael. The Unseen Realm. (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2015), 110. Heiser, Michael. Demons. What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness. (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2020), 213.
^5.The Horrible Doctrine – Discipleship Journal Article. Issue 34. – https://exavius.com/2017/04/26/the-horrible-doctrine/. Accessed 10/15/2020.

The Echoes of Concentric Woe

By on in Theology

The geographical relevance of Canaan compared to the surrounding territories of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Media, Persia, Anatolia, Crete, Cyprus, and others has often unrecognized spiritual significance throughout Scripture. To view the assembly of land and the chronologically ordered border formations as purely physical, natural, or socially constructed misses the deeper historical narrative about the emergence of the Kingdom of God and the messianic reign to come. People, places, and circumstances were supernaturally orchestrated together through geological, genealogical, and sovereign processes to bring about the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. Where sovereign circumstances over time gradually converged at Pentecost (Acts 2:1) from since the divergence of Babel (Gen 11:8) intentionally situated within the cradle of civilization.¹

As the Gentile nations surrounding Israel were first disinherited at Babel located in early Mesopotamia, they were scattered and placed under the spiritual rulership of the sons of God (Dt 32:8-9). Rulership, who were the fallen elohim,² who became cursed (1 Enoch 6:1-8) and separated from immortality as they were to eventually die like men (Ps 82:7) due to their corruption, neglect, and harm brought to humanity. At Babel, they were given charge over the nations (Gen 11:7, Ps 82:1) with Yahweh’s reserved people as is portion or inheritance among them (Dt 4:19-20, 1 Sam 26:17-19). Through the suzerain-vassal treaty formed as the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants of land, seed, and blessings, it becomes clear that Yahweh had chosen Canaan as Israel’s strategic location as sacred space to implement His redemptive work and replace the corrupted sons of God (Jn 1:12-13, Rm 8:14,19, Gal 4:5-6). A location set as a “land bridge” centered among surrounding nations between Asia, Europe, and African continents³ while governed by the corrupt and fallen rulers who were to eventually become adversaries judged (Gen 6:2, 1 Cor 2:6-8). With the arrival, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and coronation of Christ, the Kingdom of God was again placed upon this earth to intersect with the Kingdom of Heaven (Heb 10:12-13).

With the Lord’s calling of Abraham, it is no coincidence that overlapping divine covenants squarely placed at the center of the nations as an intersection between natural and supernatural interests. Through what would progressively develop as a spiritual war between good and evil (Eph 6:12), the kingdom of God was to assert its position among Gentile nations as prepared territory reclaimed. Starting in Jerusalem, extending to Asia Minor, and then out to the rest of the earth (Rome, Greece, India, and beyond) before the second coming of Christ toward the fullness of time (Eph 1:10). Just as the people of Israel were by eternal covenant chosen by the Most-High and set aside as a kingdom of priests, a holy nation (Ex 19:6), they organized around their wilderness tabernacle as tribes. A temporary situation that echoed further in time as Zion in Jerusalem served as a central point in which all other tribes of Israel intentionally distributed throughout Canaan. The temple mount of Moriah became ground zero where the Gentile nation’s rulers in a spiritual sense would surrender or cede their territory (the souls of humanity) through the redemptive work of Christ. Yes, a kingdom of historical and geological relevance, but more significantly, profoundly spiritual with redemptive or damning trajectories. As the tribes of Israel were concentrically distributed, so it was with surrounding nations and beyond until they reached the entire circumference of the earth (Mt 28:18-19). With nations reclaimed (Ps 82:2-4), a harvest was made ready through the prevailing conquest of Christ, a new Joshua, as He said of His royalty over Christendom, “My kingdom is not of this world (Jn 18:36).”

Israel occupied sacred physical space or holy ground as Yahweh had chosen the land of Canaan as the territory of His people (Deut 32:49). Just as the tabernacle and the temple became designed and built to set aside and reserve space as holy to Yahweh and His people, He would dwell among them (Deut 29:46). As the Lord’s people were to be representatives of the nations, other nations governed by the corrupted sons of god were to surround Israel. So as holy people upon the holy land placed into position, a messianic king would arise through Judah⁴ to plunge a dagger into the heart of the spiritual enemy among nations (1 Pet 3:18-22). The chosen among the nations would become redeemed in a nonlinear fashion across millennia both backward and forward in time.

To make a punctuated distinction between holy ground and enemy territory, consider the Scriptural inferences that traverse between Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army (1 Sam 26:17-19), and two demonic encounters upon Jesus as revealed within Scripture. First, it was Namaan who recognized before Elijah that the ground he worshiped on was holy (2 Kings 5:15-19). With Elijah’s consent, Naaman gathered up dirt from holy ground and loaded a mule to carry it off with him to worship Yahweh. A worship ritual to Yahweh, before the god Rimmon under false pretenses, while in enemy territory (2 Kings 5:18). Naaman knew there was no other God in all the earth except Yahweh (2 Kings 5:15), nor was there holy ground in Syria, the country in which he resides. An idol or false god Rimmon was possibly inhabited by a corrupted son of God who craved worship (Deut 32:16-17).

What does this ancient historical narrative have to do with Jesus?

As recorded by the author of Matthew, Jesus and His apostles encounter a man inhabited by many demons from Bashan (Mt 17:14, Mk 5:1). They were from Gentile territory (spiritual enemy), and they as Legion accordingly referred to Jesus as “Son of the Most High God” (Mk 5:7). In relativistic parlance, they address Jesus to acknowledge Him as above the sons of God. Both in rank and incomparability. They were in East Galilee in the territory of Bashan, known as the abode of the dead and territory of evil spirits.⁵ Specifically, the spirits of the dead Rephaim written about during the conquest led by Joshua.

Shortly after, by comparison, when Jesus and His Apostles arrived in Capernaum, they again encountered another man possessed by numerous demons. This time, they were located in Israel, on holy ground where the demon-possessed man called our Lord, “Jesus of Nazareth (Mk 1:24).” A subtle difference between “Son of the Most High God,” and “Jesus of Nazareth” as theological distinctions concerning the origination and status of spiritual beings within the separate territories they occupied and recognized.

Jesus is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The Kingdom of God is here, now. We have our marching orders, and they are to share the gospel and make disciples. To recover humanity wherever it is claimed within a world that is governed by corrupted rule until reconciliation, or final judgment.

Citations

^[1]Dr. Michael Grisanti, BTS512 History of the Covenant People Course Notes, 9.
^[2]Dr. Michael Heiser, Reversing Hermon: Enoch, The Watchers & the Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ. (Crane: Defender Publishing), 38-43.
^[3]Dr. Paul Lee Tan, Hal Lindsay, Section 3394 Strategic Importance in Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. (Bible Communications, 1996), 796.
^[4]Dr. Michael Grisanti, BTS512 History of the Covenant People Course Notes, 37.
^[5] Karel van der Toorn, et.al., Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, 2^nd Ed. (Boston: Eerdmans Publishing, 1999), 161.