This writer evaluated the 45th president of the United States as a buffoon from the early days of his campaign. Two words that are dangerous beside the name or title of the 45th president of the United States are ‘great’ and ‘perfect’. Yet these are the words that he and his flunkies want to sound out incessantly. The day is certainly with us for us to slam the door on bigotry and hypocrisy whether it comes in a campaign rally, in an official government conference and in private conversations. 45 is still showing how much he is unsuited to live in communities that are open and caring, much less the White House. His whitewashed heart is showing the signs of colour: red for blood he’s eager to shed, pink for his uninvited hand up women’s skirts, green for his support for a fossil fuel economy, blue for his purple for his solidarity with Nazism and other regurgitation, yellow for his lies about Chinese money, and bright orange for his confirmed status as buffoon: but not the perfect possenreißer.

To the citizens of the United States.

The new low began when voters thought that a rich bigot could become a prince by winning votes. The new low began when people started putting evangelical junkies on the level of Christian messengers. The new low began when the media stopped confronting opinions with facts. Mothers and fathers, teachers and pastors, lawyers and judges, policemen and firefighters, are all guilty of elevating Caesar above God. We seem to have learned little from either ancient or modern history.

Both the white and the right will soon speak the truth about Israel and American solidarity. Unfortunately, there is no new high for the United States: not after two centuries of searching for a more perfect union, not after claiming to be not only the greatest on earth but also the one successful challenger to God himself, and not after electing a gloating bigot, and refusing to call him on it from the start.

For crying out loud, Israel had 70 years. So lets face it, time is up, and not even a bird should peap. This Psalmist will sing! Five thumbs to potusbigotusgloatus. Gloating bigot, his talking heads, assorted clowns, and masked men with plastic frowns: all buffoons. But worse than 45 is his vp, or the next potus. It is not getting better, folks. Straight Down. Get ready for the perfect possenreißer. The consummate buffoon is yet to come. Watch the evangelical beast media for the identity of the perfect possenreißer.

The media failed to call the bigot when his intemperate speech began in public.  We have heard the mantra: we’ve come a long way and we still have a long way to go.  It is an admission that little real progress is in the works.  One cannot go forward with character formation without changing our perspective.  It is a preacher’s perspective: America needs to repent.  I dare call names.  Hagee and Graham will suffice.  They’re all Balaamists posing as people empowered to decree everything except true godliness.

The U.S. establishment, now headed by confirmed bigots, oligarchs, cowards, revisionists, and anarchists.  We are not talking about anyone with a flawless record.  At least we expect Christians to be focused on love, mercy, and humility.  Instead we have heard that women’s reproductive health – a choice that women need – is the lynchpin of Christian faith.

Islam has found a way to dominate and the silly evangelicals do not have the sense to admit that Christ and Caesar are not pals.  Christianity is not designed for temporal governance. The U.S. and Israel are in the same situation.  Their cherished uniqueness and greatness do not about to grain of sand in the vast universe of divine intentions.

Will American ever say that it’s path has been less than stellar?  Will we keep believing that  gee whiz technology makes a nation great? If America is a star, can we say her light is the prosecution of public lies, the demolition of common illness, misleading advertising. he eradication of poverty, a tango with israelism – chosen status?

When capitalists and the church share a dinner table we can be sure that excreta and vomit are the main course.  It looks like the gates of hell have lost again.   Now they think another actor – this time a Black female –  will cover up the mother of abominations.

If the world needs another magnate to pose as intelligent and successful, carry on.  Make American Sorry Again.  If the world needs another actor to redeem the poor from murderous law enforcement carry on.  Make American Sorry Again.  If the world needs another godless icon to dazzle the uninformed with caring audio-video soundbytes, carry on.  Make American Sorry Again.  The greatest thing is that skeletons are tumbling out of the closets.  The greatest man is the humblest, not a mercurial bigot.  So stop hiding from the sun.  Stop hiding from the Son.  America is Sorry Again because she will be forced to stop holding innocent tribes hostage over ontested scraps eventually.

Love’s a thing and God’s the thing maker.  People are still scrambling to find an excuse to indulge their desires for worldly possessions, even though there is ample evidence that things we love are an obstacle to the kingdom.

It is the intelligent thing they say.  Go to school, marry who you love, get and keep a job, buy a home, have children, are all of this life and world even though having children (for example) is a divine command (part of the earliest commands).  More than money, education, and family is a master who has the whole world in his hands. Think not that you are being asked to choose between the world and God.  There is no comparison.  Think not that you are being asked to judge people who may seem to be putting the world ahead of God.

Beware that love like Yeshua’s does not scare you into the bondage of nothing.  His love is our love, poured into our hearts for our pouring.  That love can not be wasted on things.  

Evil is here to stay. Every day has its adversity and badness. You have no doubt heard the very popular phrase “make sure this happens to no one else”. It is usually what we hear from the authorities when something awful happens in our community. So let’s take a closer look at the prevention of evil.

If there are 10 categories of immoral behaviour (as based on the ten commandments), then we have to label the whole body of legislation and all the inquiries and commissions as utterly ineffective. They have not put a stop to any evil. In fact evil multiplies. How little progress we have made!

We are expected to abide by the law, no exceptions, and zero-tolerance is the high standard. The law – any law – is not allied with grace or faith. We comply or we violate. So if it takes individuals a lifetime to grow up we know who benefits from an endless stream of regulations in a few months or weeks. No-one.

If Israelite children, drilled in the sayings of Scripture need to be saved from sin why are people still talking about growing up in the church?

Heading down that road of popular acclaim reveals a very broad road, and an unlikely destination which is obviously not maturity. Rules are for kids (Galatians 3). Being genuine covers both speaking the truth and not covering up our journey with gold medals and awards. We are not there yet. Growing up hurts, and calls for daily dying, and if these are absent, the odds are that we are like seaweed in a riverbed. Difficult but neither unthinkable nor impossible. Christ became sin for us!

Doctor J

Reflections on preventing evil

Two years ago, on January 2, 2015, this writer was immersed in further research on the Palestinian Problem, resulting in the following essay with the above title.  This followed the approval of my doctoral thesis “Christ our high priest: post-sacrificial services” in 2012.

No-one would have guessed that this encounter between the King of Salem (MKS) and Abram was a door-opener much less a door that opens two critical roads to appreciating Messiah’s priesthood and reign. I dare say that no-one has imagined that these two avenues of divine intervention have anything to do with the current shameful turmoil over Jerusalem. Jews may wish to paper over the facts about the holy cities and the Gentile world may want to sympathize with either Jews or Gentiles but what’s to be will be.

Facts about Canaan’s Holy Cities.

There are two holy cities. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Isaiah 64:10 (KJS)

God’s ruler will be both priest and king;Neither Moses nor Aaron have a future as authorities; The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. (Ps 110:4) If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? (Heb 7:11)

Salem, MKS’s city is not Jerusalem; Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. (1Kgs 8:1)

There is no Abrahamic greatness without Gentiles. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. (Gen 15:5)  And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. (Gen 32:12),

Misguided Passions

If ever there was a prophet in New Testament times, it was John.  However, when John the Baptist was murdered did any Jews rise in protest? There was only one act left to fill up the cup of Israel’s rebellion, deliver Messiah to the Gentiles (Mat 23:31-32). Like the plot against the patriarch Joseph, the execution of Messiah paved the way, despite human malice, for Abraham to get descendants like the stars of the sky and sands of the sea. Jews cannot have enough children to make this happen, so let us not waste any more time with temple mount and the land promise.

It is no surprise that followers of Moses and descendants of Ishmael are shedding blood like pouring water in the name of their most cherished traditions. Modern Zionist expectations have taken over the Biblical idea and resulted in all kinds of contradictions. We hear a great deal about the land promise but we see no embrace of the purpose for the Abrahamic promises in their widest application, namely the blessing of all of earth’s families.

Solomon’s Temple

The temple was built on land bought from a Jebusite (Salemite, Zionite)

And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people. (2Sam 24:21)

And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. (2Sam 24:22)

All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” (2Sam 24:23)

And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. (2Sam 24:24)

And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. (2Sam 24:25)

The temple’s location; not Zion, the city of David.

Let us follow David with his primary innovation: housing the ark. It really begins with David’s capture of Jebus-Salem-Zion, and his building of homes for his growing family.

Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion : the same is the city of David. 2 Sam 5:7

And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent. (1Chr 15:1)

Then he immediately turns his attention to the ark.

Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever. (1Chr 15:2)

And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD unto his place, which he had prepared for it. (1Chr 15:3)

DAVID TALKS TO THE PROPHET NATHAN ABOUT HOUSING THE ARK

Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remaineth under curtains. (1Chr 17:1)

David wants to see the ark housed in a residence suitably ornate and more so than his own residences.

And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death. (1Chr 22:5)

David’s primary preoccupation.

Remember, O LORD, in David’s favor, all the hardships he endured, (Ps 132:1)

how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, (Ps 132:2)

“I will not enter my house or get into my bed, (Ps 132:3)

I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, (Ps 132:4)

until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” (Ps 132:5)

Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar. (Ps 132:6)

“Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool!” (Ps 132:7)

What place was this?

For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place: (Ps 132:13)

“This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it. (Ps 132:14)

I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread. (Ps 132:15)

Her priests I will clothe with salvation, and her saints will shout for joy. (Ps 132:16)

There I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed. (Ps 132:17)

His enemies I will clothe with shame, but on him his crown will shine.” (Ps 132:18)

The chosen place was the place from which David’s house would reign

It was to this place that our Lord rode on a donkey (Zech 9:9)

Zion receives the King, but Jerusalem puts up all kinds of resistance.

And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt 21:9)

And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? (Matt 21:10)

And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. (Matt 21:11)

David attempts to bring the ark to Zion-Salem

David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. (2Sam 6:1)

And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim. (2Sam 6:2) And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, (2Sam 6:3)

So David was not willing to take the ark of the LORD into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. (2Sam 6:10)

And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness. (2Sam 6:12)

Here begins the Tent of David Tradition (Amos, not so much in competition with, but in primacy over the temple.

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: (Amos 9:11)

After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: (Acts 15:16)

From this citation of Amos in the Book of Acts we see that David’s tabernacle is central to God’s inclusion of Gentiles in the royal city. Gentiles and neighbours cannot reasonably be included in the Levitical institutions, hence Jewish temple mount interests and priorities are an anachronism and an affront to the reconstituted kingdom.

DAVID’S PLANS AND GOD’S DIRECTION

Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel. (1Chr 22:1)

And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God. (1Chr 22:2) And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight; (1Chr 22:3) Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David. (1Chr 22:4) And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death. (1Chr 22:5) Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the LORD God of Israel. (1Chr 22:6) And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God: (1Chr 22:7) But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. (1Chr 22:8)

We learn here that God rejected David as temple-builder because of his many homicides, however they may be justified, which leaves a great many of our 21st century leaders out of the short list as nation-builders.

THE TEMPLE AND THE ARK

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. (1Kgs 8:1)

The geography is quite clear here: “out of the City of David, which is Zion”, and the destination, temple mount, where David had purchased the property from the Jebusite, Ornan (Araunah).

The inclusion of Gentiles was authorized but never fulfilled due to strict Jewish adherence to Levitical conventions. Here is a portion of Solomon’s dedicatory prayer.

“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake (1Kgs 8:41)

(for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, (1Kgs 8:42)

hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name. (1Kgs 8:43)

A House of sacrifice confirmed by the Lord

Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. (2Chr 7:12)

A House of Prayer confirmed by the prophet Isaiah

“And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant— (Isa 56:6)

these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (Isa 56:7)

The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.” (Isa 56:8)

Even after the Persian exile, Jews are stuck in kindergarten with their shocking exclusion of Gentiles (Ezra 9) and the priority of the temple in the conflicts between Judaism’s leaders and Yeshua’s disciples indicates no change. The diagnostic exchanges between Yeshua and the temple authorities shows that the temple had become something no-one but the perverse wanted.

John the Baptist set this conflict off with his announcement of Yeshua as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). John’s contemporaries had to read between the lines. If a man from Nazareth was the sin-bearer, then the countless animals whose blood was shed in the temple were irrelevant and symptomatic of the deep sleep into which succeeding generations of Jews were plunged. The temple was far from being what God intended. Matt 21:12-17

The Leaders were on the wrong side of history when Yeshua spoke about the demise of the temple and its services.

And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. (Matt 21:45)

But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. (Matt 21:46)

Zion’s destiny

It is the king’s city. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. (Ps 76:2)

See also Ps 2:6, Ps 48:2, Ps 132:13

The seat of perfection; Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. (Ps 50:2)

The divine rod comes from Zion-Salem

The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. (Ps 110:2)

Eternal life comes from Zion-Salem

As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (Ps 133:3)

SUMMARY

The pertinent intrigue is about the fate of East Jerusalem, with its typical and appointed population of Rahab[ites] (Egyptians), Babylonians, Philistines, Tyrians, and Ethiopians (Psalm 87). Temple mount is an irreversible embarrassment to Moses and Abraham. While today’s Zionist state claims descent from Abraham descendants they have over the centuries have rejected the prophetic focus on David and Messiah, and hence the MKS tradition. They want a holy city cleansed of Gentiles thereby opposing the inclusion of Abraham’s larger family.

For Christians the furor about Jewish and Palestinian rights miss the point of God’s plan for the most treasured piece of real estate on the planet. To reduce its importance to who has a building there is sheer blindness. The matter will be be decided when Messiah touches down.

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. (Zech 14:4)

And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. (Zech 14:9)

The Melchizedeqite priesthood of Christ must be the hub for the disposition of the sacred sites.  In the absence of an informed basis for discussion we will have to endure the revolving door of xenophobic rhetoric and violence.  In the absence of a Christian witness the world stands aghast at the interminable malice between Ishmaelites and Israelites. Any resolution of the Palestinian problem and the legitimate expectations of the Jewish people by civic intervention will be temporary and inadequate. Let us therefore stand with our great High priest, eagerly expecting the king and his ideals in the style of MKS, bringing forth bread and wine and blessing all.

God is known for his fiats.  Not the cute Italian cars that have become famous across the pond.  I am not talking about fists.   Fiat is not a  typo but fiats do have a Roman element.  When civic rulers want to get something new done, they create the rationale, convince their colleagues, write a law, and announce with some fanfare that the new situation exists, even when it really does not.  For example, a new citizenship provision may be announced and its procedures and intended outcome will not see the light of day until someone applies successfully.  Commands are like that.  “Do not take hot food items from the oven without mitts” is out there, nowhere, until until one gets burned and chooses to use mitts.  Even simple commands such as “Call your dad when you get a break”, “Please forgive me”, “Give me that”, or “Kiss me” may never hit life’s road.  This ilustrates the futility of thinking that human fulfilment can come from obedience to commands.  We only need to resist one command to be labelled as rebellious and stiff-necked; outside the stream of the divine will.  Do we find our finest by fiat without faith?
These following two verses from Genesis 1 each contains  a fiat.  The Latin (old Italian language) is the surce of our word FIAT.  It means “Let there be…”

• Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
• Gen 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

The Latin Vulgate (Roman version of the Bible) has for Genesis 1:3:

Dixitque Deus : Fiat lux.

and-he-said God: let light be.

When God said “Let there be…”  whatever he named jumped into reality.  Light, the firmament, the waters, and the sun and moon.  Christian life realities are also the subject of a fiat.  Life is tied up with light, both physically and spiritually.  The sun is the powerhouse of our galaxy just as Christ is of the universe and more specifically of those who are not hiding from his influence, unlike the plants and ecosystems, or people with little melanin in their skin.  We learn from 2 Cor. 4:6 that the light shining in our hearts is the outcome of a fiat. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts,  to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.David addresses the effectiveness of God’s fiats when he wrote and Ezekiel mediated in a fiat. Ps. 33:9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. Eze. 37:10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them,  and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Fiat power is not as widespread as some would like us to believe, even when the name of Jesus is used creatively and with appropriate intention.  Very often our fiats fall to the ground because we are improperly positioned: (a) we are not yet in the habit of loving as God has loved us (b)  our view of the situation is severely limited even when our intervention is aimed at relieving suffering and lifting the darkness.  If fiats were the stuff of Christian daily life why are we still tolerating the corruption that infects us, the roadblocks to enjoying our Father’s world, and why are we living as less than birds and lilies in the field?  Christ effectively touched lepers and coffins, spoke to dead and the deaf, and changed their conditions stat.

Those four verses are the fiats proper, but Genesis 1 also contains other orders that are equally effective.  Verse 9 has LET BE GATHERED the waters.  Verse 11 has LET SPROUT the earth.  Verse 20 has LET SWARM the waters.  Verse 24 has LET BRING FORTH the earth.  These are practically fiats too.

We have tried to associate fiats – speaking things into existence or position- with faith, and often a particular high level of faith.  In fact faith does not need to be big to upend a mountain into the sea.   Human fiats are related to faith in two ways.  God’s fiats stand alone and need no helper or intermediate.  Our frustration with not being able to speak things into existence is due to the absence of the One the who matters: He who gives faith (which is the only means that ensures God’s pleasure).  True faith needs no fiat because it copes with any situation by means of Spirit-fruit and speaking things into existence is not happening without unhypocritical love.  Fiats for us seem useless and finding our finest by fiat without faith is indeed a pipedream, because faith works by  love (joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness).