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Lessons from three kings and the cause of all the evil in our land today &
The answer to the false doctrine that both goats in Lev. 16 represent Christ
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Fred R. Coulter—October 27, 2018
Greetings, brethren! Welcome to Sabbath services! This coming Nov. 6 we're going to have one of the most important elections in the recent history of the United States. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. Both sides think 'we have a blue wave' or 'we have a red wave.'
What's going to happen? The United States is facing many difficulties and problems! We do have a President who at least is trying to do what is right, which is good. However, how is going to be? Look at the caravan coming! How is that going to be handled? It's not going to look very good having troops with weapons turning back women and children, because that's what the media will portray! The majority are military age young men! I wonder what that means? We'll have to see how that goes!
- How is it going to go with the general population!
- Is there going to be a change?
- Is it going to be a turn to God?
- What is going to happen?
We'll start to find out on Nov. 6th.
Let's look at a couple of Proverbs that tell us the difference between a righteous king or ruler, and one who is wicked. We've had eight years of terrible wickedness! Now we have some change that looks good. However, remember that these things are not for salvation! These things are just for people in the land. So, it's going to depend upon the people and the rulers, whatever slough of rulership they have, and it's going to depend on the President.
Proverbs 29:2: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice…" That's kind of what we have now. There are more people more confident and things like this, because the burden of the regulations, restrictions and things like that the former administration put on have been lifted and taken away.
"…but when the wicked rule, the people mourn" (v 2). Isn't that exactly what it's been for a long, long time? Yes, indeed!
Then you look at California and it looks like it's going to go bankrupt! If the democrats win, they want all the illegals come in and we give them everything they need, even healthcare and let them vote. Did you know that in San Francisco illegals vote? Think of that! San Francisco used to be touted as being one of the great cities in the United States.
Now it's nothing by streets scattered with homeless, human feces and drug paraphernalia. Amazing! "…but when the wicked rule, the people mourn."
Verse 4[transcriber's correction]: "The king establishes the land by justice…"—meaning to make things right, and at least we have a President that's trying to make thing right. However, he has a lot of opposition against him to keep it wrong and burden the people down.
"…but he who takes bribes tears it down" (v 4). Isn't it interesting, as rich as Donald Trump is, he's taking not one dime for being President. But you look at all the others in there who are 'on the take' and isn't it something that they can't even convict someone like Senator Menendez from New Jersey. That's how corrupt and awful that the situation has gotten.
Now, if there's going to be any turn around, any change, it will be because there's more time in God's plan than we have anticipated. And the Gospel has to be preached in the all the world for a witness! All the Churches of God have to be partakers of that and in warning the world. God also raises up, as it were, financial prophets, health prophets, those who in the field to tell you what's going wrong.
Verse 12: "If a ruler hearkens to lies, all his servants are wicked." Stop and think about the past administration: filled with lies, lies, lies everywhere!
- look at how wicked it had become
- look at how terrible it had become
- look at the Justice Department
- look at the FBI
These Proverbs apply to everyday rulership!
Verse 14: "A king who faithfully judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever."
On the other hand, v 16: "When the wicked are multiplied…" We need to stop and think about what's causing all of these difficulties. We've cover them over and over again:
- removing God from the public square
- removing God from the government
- removing God from the schools
- removing God from the universities
- removing God from people's lives
Exalting the base, the evil and the wicked through:
- entertainment
- movies
- music
And remember, when we're born into the world, what do we know? Nothing!
And now we have coming up Halloween; oh yes, it's for the kiddies; indoctrinate them into Satan's way early in life.
Proverbs 20:28: Love and truth preserve the king…"
How many times did you hear Obama talk about God and love compared to Donald Trump? Trump always talks about love and God, so I hope that things go well in election.
"…and his throne is upheld by mercy" (v 28).
Now, Hezekiah was a righteous king and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. God even turned back the Assyrian armies and saved Judah and Jerusalem causing the whole army of 180,000 to die in the night. That's a good way to defeat your enemy!
Always remember that when God fights for you, He will fight for you His way! And it's better than our way!
Hezekiah:
We find that Hezekiah got sick and he prayed to God and God forgave him and gave him 15 years extra life. Then the ambassadors from Babylon came to see him because they heard of the defeat of the Assyrian army. Of course, all of the treasure that the Jews and King Hezekiah got from the spoils of the Assyrian army were just absolutely humongous! So, the ambassadors from Babylon came over to find out what happened. So, Hezekiah told them and then did a really foolish thing. He showed the ambassadors all the wealth that they acquired because of that victory. God said, 'Because you showed them all of this, it's all going to Babylon.' So, you see, we have to be very careful how we handle ourselves and so forth.
Hezekiah died; 2-Chronicles 32:32: "And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the highest of the tombs of the sons of David. And all Judah and the people of Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh reigned in his place" (vs 32-33).
Here's another very interesting phenomena: you have a good king and you have a wicked king, then you have a good king, and then you have a wicked king. It's quite a thing!
2-Chronicles 33:1: "Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign…" He obviously didn't know very much. So, how was the country actually run? By his father's advisors!
They probably said, 'Your father was righteous but he was too strict. He should have given the people more latitude.' That's how 'a little leaven begins to leaven the whole lump.' That is the whole country!
"…and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem" (v 1). That's a long, long time!
- Aren't you glad we have elections every four years?
- How would you like to have 55 years of Obama? Clinton?
Or whatever other terrible President you would like to name!
Verse 2: "But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel." He turned everything upside down!
Verse 3: "For he built again the high places, which Hezekiah his father had broken down…"—because Hezekiah said, no more worshipping other gods, no more altars out here on top of hills, and no more child sacrifice! Think of that!
Stop and think about today. What is the greatest cause of our problems? The state sponsored murder of the unborn!
There are a lot of people trying to do what they can to reduce it down; they'll probably never eliminate it. What does this teach us? When you have corrupt judges—and this was voted in 7-2 by the Supreme Court in 1971—to have legalized abortion! From that developed Planned Parenthood!What an absolute hideous name for the murder of the unborn!
There's a movie out called Gosnell. I recommend that as many as possible to watch that movie so that you know what goes on in these abortion clinics and centers. Until that is greatly reduced, or eliminated, there will always be terrible problems confronting us and the surge of the stranger coming into our land because we are killing our future generations!
- God despises that!
- God hates that!
Let's see what Jeremiah told them; let's see how he expressed it. Let's see what God said! This was well known. They didn't have abortion clinics, but they had Molech and Molech would take the little children as a sacrifice.
Jeremiah 19:1: Thus says the LORD, 'Go and get a potter's earthen jar, and assemble some of the elders of the people and of the elders of the priests." Get the top leaders out here, and 'I want them to learn a lesson.' Remember that Jeremiah's ministry was 40 years!
Verse 2: "And go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom by the entry of Potsherd Gate. And there declare the words that I shall tell you. And say, 'Hear the Word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and people of Jerusalem….'" (vs 2-3).
This needs to go to all of those who are leaders in the United States of America. Not only to Washington, DC, but to every capital of every state; these are the words of God
"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I will bring evil upon this place…'" (v 3).
- Do we have a lot of evil in the land? Yes, indeed!
- Do we have a lot of trouble with strangers coming into the land? Yes, indeed!
- Illegal aliens? Yes!
- Why? Because of abortion!
- Could it be that for every child that is murdered in the womb by abortion, God sends a foreigner? Either legal or an illegal alien!
As a nation, since 1971 when abortion was made legal, we have killed going on to 60-billion unborn! Amazing!
Do you think that God is not going to take revenge because of that? Yes, indeed! He says, "…I will bring evil upon [you]…"
"…which shall cause the ears of him who hears it to tingle?" (v 3). What did we just have? All of those fake bombs going out to the leaders of the Democrat Party! There are a lot of people who think that the Democrats did that themselves as a desperate means to try and get people not to vote for Republicans. That may have some substance to it, but look at what that did to the whole country!
Then we just had a massacre in Pittsburgh in a Jewish synagogue where they were having a special blessing for naming the children. Is that horrendous evil brought upon us? Think about those things!
Verse 4: "Because they have forsaken Me, and have profaned this place and have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents"—this place where they were standing at the Valley of Hinnom! That's where the altar to Molech was, and that's where they sacrificed the children!
Verse 5: "'They have also built the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I never commanded nor spoke, nor did it come into My mind. Therefore, behold, the days come,' says the LORD, 'that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but, The Valley of Slaughter'" (vs 5-6).
Guess what? That valley stretches way out and that's where the Battle of Armageddon is going to take place! Stretched out mile after mile! It's going to have blood up to the depth of the horses' bridle.
The Word of God is true, and He means what He says!
Verse 7: "And I will make the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem come to nothing in this place…" Isn't that true? Wasn't Judah and Jerusalem defeated? Yes!
To show you how selfish King Zedekiah was, he asked for Jeremiah to come to him secretly by night. So, Jeremiah came and Zedekiah said, 'Jeremiah, tell me what's going to happen.' Jeremiah told him what was going to happen, but 'if you surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and go to Babylon as a vassal king there, then God won't destroy this place or the temple.' (Jeremiah 37)
But Zedekiah did not heed the words of Jeremiah. He tried to escape, figuring that he and his sons could escape, but were caught by Nebuchadnezzar and brought before the king himself. He gouged out the eyes of Zedekiah and killed his sons and sent him in chains to Babylon. (2-Kings 25:7)
You can't mock God! Listen! Poor Jeremiah had a really tough, tough ministry to do.
Sidebar: Remember that Jeremiah got custody of the king's daughters. The rest of that story is that he took them over to Ireland to heal the breach between Pharez and Zarah.
Jeremiah 19:7: "…and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of those who seek their lives. And I will give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city a waste and a hissing. Everyone who passes by shall be astonished and shall hiss because of all its plagues. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their own sons and the flesh of their own daughters…" (vs 7-9).
Stop and think about that today. What if all of a sudden the food supply was cutoff? How long do you think we would last? Not very long at all!
Manasseh:
Jeremiah's reign covered a good portion of Manasseh's reign. Let's see how much difference one man can make! We'll see for evil with Manasseh. Then we will see for good with Josiah.
2-Chronicles 33:2: "But he [Manasseh] did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel, for he built again the high places, which Hezekiah his father had broken down…" (vs 2-3).
'Let's have freedom of religion.' That's one of the big errors in the Constitution: freedom of religion! When the founders wrote that, they weren't thinking of Islam, Hinduism, or any of those, they were thinking of Catholicism and the Church of England, which by the way, the head is whomever is king or queen.
That's why the Gospel has to come out from America. I'm convinced that whatever time there is left, it's because the Gospel must be preached, and it must be preached from America. That's why this coming election may be the most consequential of any we have had recently.
"…and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them…. [astronomy, astrology] …And he built altars in the house of the LORD…" (vs 3-4).
Think of this: Here's the temple of God and here's the king, and he says, 'let's have freedom of religion. That's freedom within our place of worship where the temple is.'
Verse 4: "And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, 'In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.' And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD" (vs 4-5).
How do you suppose the priests who wanted to follow the Truth, could bring the sacrifices that they needed to bring? What a terrible mess that was!
Verse 6: "And he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom…."
Sidebar: Have you heard of 'walking on hot coals'? There was a man who came into the Church of God and became a minister, and left and now promulgates walking on hot coals.
That's why it's not what you think it's going to be. Whatever it will be is based upon what you do today! Then tomorrow what you do that day, and the next day! If you go into apostasy then any evil is likely to come about.
"…He also observed times…" (v 6). Brought in Christmas, Easter, New Years and all of the pagan celebrations right there at the temple of God! Think of that!
"…and used enchantments, and used witchcraft…" (v 6). There are more witches than there are Presbyterians today. They have tried to put a hex on Justice Kavanaugh and Donald Trump. We hope and pray that God will turn that all around and put it on them.
"…and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards…. [demons] …He did much evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger. And he set a carved image, the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, 'In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever'" (vs 6-7).
- Look at what human beings do!
- Are we doing that today?
Yes, with all the things that we're doing! It's quite amazing!
Verse 9: "But Manasseh led astray Judah and the people of Jerusalem, and caused them to do worse than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel. And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and to His people, but they would not listen. Wherefore, the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains and carried him to Babylon" (vs 9-11)—because at that time Assyria was ruling Babylon!
He did repent there; so it's possible to repent. How much repentance there will be at this time, we don't know! We don't know how it's going to be. After Manasseh, his son Amon trespassed more and more.
Josiah:
Here we go, good king, bad king, a little repentance, bad king, now we have a good king:
2-Chronicles 34:1: "Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign… [he must have had some pretty good advisors]: …and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right nor to the left. For in the eighth year… [16-years-old] …of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth… [20-years-old] …year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. And they broke down the altars of Baalim in his presence. And he cut down the images, which were on high above them, and the groves. And the carved images and the molten images he also broke in pieces, and made dust from them, and scattered it upon the graves of the ones who had sacrificed to them. And he burned the bones of the priests upon their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem" (vs 1-5). Quite a thing!
Verse 6: "And so he did in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even to Naphtali, in their surrounding ruins. And when he broke down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the idols in all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. And in the eighteenth year of his reign… [24-years-old] …when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan" (vs 6-8)—and so forth!
They began to cleanse and clean out the temple. They had gone so far from God that even the priests didn't know where the Law of Moses was contained in the temple. So, they were cleaning it out and Shaphan brought the scroll—that they found way back in the temple area—to Josiah. It was the book of Deuteronomy. Shaphan was probably reading to Josiah chapter 24 about all the curses that were coming upon them.
Josiah tore his clothes and repented and cried out to God. Then what happened? They sent for Huldah the prophetess, the keeper of the priests' wardrobe to ask what was the word from the Lord! There wasn't a priest there or a Levite there to tell him the Truth.
Let's see what the message was, and this is how much one good man can make a difference!
Verse 20: "And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 'Go inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us because our fathers have not kept the Word of the LORD to do according to all that is written in this book'" (vs 20-21).
They went to Huldah and this is the answer that they got back:
Verse 23: "And she answered them, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel, "Tell the man who sent you to me, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon its people, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah, because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, so that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. And My wrath shall be poured out upon this place and shall not be quenched'" (vs 23-25).
Can you say that's a strong indicator of what's going to happen to us?
Sidebar: Stop and think what's happening to the UK. They have 63 Sharia Law areas in Britain. How are they going to avoid being overrun and held in captivity in their own land by the Muslims that live in Britain? Think on that for just a minute!
It says in Hosea that Ephraim is a 'silly dove.' Is that not a true prophecy? It's going to happen!
Verse 26: "And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, so shall you say to him, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the words you have heard, "Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before your God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and humbled yourself before Me, and tore your clothes and wept before Me, I have even heard you also," says the LORD'" (vs 26-27). Remember this: God always honors repentance!
Sidebar: Read about the life of Samson [transcriber's correction] the prophet and judge. He was declared to be a judge and Nazarite from conception. He was not to drink any strong drink at all, nor eat grapes or anything like that. He let his hair grow and never cut it.
What happened? He ended up turning after prostitutes! Finally, he gave away the secret of his strength, which was his long Nazarite hair. So, the prostitute had men come in and cut his hair while he was asleep. They took him captive. Here was one who was supposed to help deliver Israel. They brought him into the temple of Dagon with great pillars. They had 3,000 of the leading people of the nation there to celebrate the capture of this man.
The last thing he did, because his hair had grown back while he was in prison, was pray to God and say, 'O God, hear me just this once more and give me the strength.' He had been chained to the two main pillars that held up the whole temple area. 'Give me the strength to push these pillars out.' He did! And the whole temple area came down and killed everyone in there, and Samson, as well.
God honored that repentance. Whenever there is repentance, God will honor it!Think of that in relationship to our current President and why he is being as successful as he has been. He has turned to God in the best way that he can. That's why in every one of his speeches he mentions God and love and love one another. It shows that there is a spirit of wanting to do right. God will honor that!
Verse 24: "Thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the words you have heard, 'Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before your God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and humbled yourself before Me, and tore your clothes and wept before Me, I have even heard you also,' says the LORD. 'Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, nor shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place and upon its people.'" And they brought the king word again" (v 24-28).
Then there was a great declaration by Josiah. He called all the leaders, all the priests and all the people. They all came to the temple and Josiah stood by the king's stone and he made a covenant with God to do all the Law, all the sacrifices, to do the things that should be done. Then they kept the greatest Passover that had ever been, and God blessed him.
Then 12 years later his vanity got the best of him and he wanted to go out to fight. He was told not to go to fight. But he went out to fight disguising himself as an ordinary soldier so they wouldn't know he was the king. But an arrow got him and he died.
Then Jeremiah gave what we call the book of Lamentations: woe, evil, destruction that was now going to come. Jeremiah knew what the prophecy concerning Josiah was. There would be peace until he died and then it took 22 more years until the final captivity of Judah and Jerusalem to Babylon.
So, we see the difference in an evil man and what he makes, and a good man of what he makes. Good is meaning that he's following God to the best of his ability. This is not unto salvation!
If the election turns out that those who want to do the things that are right and just, perhaps that gives us much more time. But remember, this whole modern age is very fragile! Terrible evil and circumstances can come upon us at any time.
So, we hope that there are enough who are doing good so that will give us an opportunity to preach the Gospel and serve the brethren and do what is right.
(go to the next track)
The Two Goats
I recently sent an e-mail to The Church of the Great God because they believe that both of the goats of Lev. 16 represent Jesus Christ. In my e-mail I asked him to please show why he believed that both goats represent the work of Christ. Here's the answer I got back:
David Grabbe's study is a thorough explanation of the ceremony is based strictly on the Holy Scriptures…
Well, you can do that but still misinterpret.
…clearly placing all the emphasis on Jesus Christ and all the work that He is doing while removing Satan from another place where he has, again, insinuated himself in order to diminish the work only Christ can do.
I don't know what he means by that.
From what you have written, you either have not carefully reviewed the study, or you have read something into it that is not there.
We'll examine it thoroughly in this segment and see exactly what it says.
We do not believe, nor does it say anywhere in the study that Christ bore Satan's sins…
Completely misunderstanding the goat for Azazel! Christ is not bearing the sins of Satan. What he's saying is that he thinks that the way the Bible interprets it correctly is that Christ is bearing the sins of Satan.
Nowhere does it say that! I'm glad he doesn't believe that, but then he never explained how the second goat represented the work of Christ.
…or that Satan's sins are covered by the blood of Christ. Nor does it picture the wilderness picture a paradise in heaven, as you impute the study to teach.
If the goat is sent out into the wilderness to take away the sins of the children of Israel as a type of Christ ascending to heaven, that's the interpretation of what it would be if both goats applied to Christ.
Rather than read what I wrote, we'll go through and see exactly the only meaning this can have. As I pointed out on the Day of Atonement, the understanding of Lev. 16 in relationship to Rev. 20 could not have been understood until Revelation had been written.
We know that God had a plan before the ages of time, and that Christ was slain from the foundation of the world!
Let's look at the activity of Satan. Rev. 12 tells us about the time before the creation of the world and about the rebellion of Satan and a third of the angels. Then we'll see how that came about.
Revelation 12:1: "Then there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun…"
God pictures His plan as a woman, because of the children that the plan is going to bring forth into the Kingdom of God.
"…and having the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. And being with child… [Christ] …she cried in travail, and was in pain to deliver. And another sign was seen in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads; and his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth…." (vs 1-4).
That's the war that was in heaven and that's how the earth became in 'tohu' and 'bohu'—chaos and confusion—and the flood covered it. Then God redid the earth for man.
Let's see what drove Satan to do it. Ezek. 28 tells the motivation of Satan, and though he was created perfect, that does not necessarily mean that he could not sin, because sin is a choice.
Satan likes to come along and say that the truths of the Bible referring to himself are not true. This is how misinterpretations come about.
Ezekiel 28:11: "And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Son of man, lift up a lamentation over the king of Tyre…'" (vs 11-12).
There's the prince of Tyre, and the king of Tyre represents the one who became Satan.
"'…and say to him, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'You seal up the measure of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty'" (v 12). That cannot refer to a man; that can only refer to an angelic being!
Verse 13: "You have been in Eden the garden of God…" How many were in Eden? God, Adam, Eve and the serpent who was Satan! And after Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, they couldn't go back in there and neither could Satan.
This could not refer to any man and could not refer to the king of Tyre, because Eden had long since been destroyed at the time of the Flood.
"…every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the turquoise, and the emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your settings and of your sockets was prepared in you in the day that you were created. You were the anointed cherub that covers… [that could not be a man; this has to refer to the one who became Satan] …and I set you so; you were upon the Holy mountain of God… [where the throne of God is in heaven] …you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire" (vs 13-14)—brilliant with splendor like fire!
Verse 15: You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until… [because there's free moral agency—independent free moral agency—IFMA] …iniquity was found in you. By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled your midst with violence, and you have sinned…." (vs 15-16).
I don't know exactly what that means, but whatever it was, they were busy doing what Satan wanted them to do, and what they were doing was sinful, instead of doing what God wanted him to do.
"…Therefore, I will cast you as profane from the mountain of God… [and he was] …and I will destroy you…" (v 16). Destroy doesn't mean to destroy and bring to nothing!
- Can you destroy a person without killing them?
- Can you destroy Lucifer without exterminating his existence? Yes!
- How do you do that?
The way that God does it is to take it all away from him!
- all of his power
- all of his glory
- everything that he has done
We know that the final thing that is going to be is to be in the utter blackness of darkness forever! That is destroying, or absolutely nullifying, but not exterminating him.
Here's how Satan sinned, v 17: "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness…."
- I'm just as good as God.
- Look at how great I am.
- I'm the covering cherub right over the throne of God.
- I look at God and see Him and I look at myself and say, 'Why can't I be God?'
- I'm as good as God.
That's probably what he was thinking!
"…I will cast you to the ground; I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you" (v 17).
- When will that take place? Not until he is put into the prison!
- Who are going to be the kings and priests to see that? We will!
Verse 18: "By the multitude of your iniquities, by the unrighteousness of your trade, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore, I brought forth a fire from your midst; it shall devour you, and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth, before the eyes of all who see you."
Now, it goes from Satan on into the physical king who represented Satan. So, you have the two together, because spirit cannot die. Satan is a spirit being. That's why he's going to be in the blackest darkness forever!
Let's see what motivated him to sin. What did he want to do? Again, we find this very similar, because Satan comes along and inspires kings and dictators, possesses them. We've seen that in our day. How about WWII?
Isaiah 14:12: "How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning!…." The Latin word is 'Lucifer'! There are some who believe that Christ should also be called Lucifer! Well, we won't get into that here.
"…How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!" (v 12).
When Christ was tempted by Satan the devil, what did he offer Christ? All the nations of the world and the glory of them, for it's been delivered to him! IF Christ would worship him! But Christ said, 'Get you behind Me, Satan, be gone!' Has Satan weakened the nations? Look down through the history of the whole world. Yes, indeed! Things start out at a certain level and sin increases and it gets deeper and deeper into sin, and it gets worse and worse! We've seen that! It happens with every nation! That's the whole history of the children of Israel and Judah in the Old Testament.
Verse 13: "For you have said in your heart, 'I will ascend into the heavens… [because they were on the earth] …I will exalt my throne above the stars of God… [remember that a third of the angels followed him] …I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.'" (vs 13-14). That was Satan's sin!
And Satan is trying to convince men that they can become God his way, but it will never happen!
Verse 15: "Yet, you shall be brought down to the grave, to the sides of the pit." That's the prison! Though he is living, it's like living in a grave, because he can't do anything.
Now let's see how Satan works. You can go back and read how Eve was deceived, Adam with her at the fruit, and how that God judged all of them. There we have in Gen. 3:15 the first prophecy of coming of the Messiah, 4,000 years before He came! So, some prophecies stretch out over a long time.
Today we grow up in a world the way that it is. Let's see how Paul describes it. When you come into the world this way, you know nothing when you're born. You learn and are taught, and this is Satan's world. Soon there's going to be Halloween and all the little kiddies are going to be out there learning Satan's way! Same way with all the other holidays, and they think that's right.
Satan has some things in it that makes it look really good. 'Oh, this is for the family and the children, and it's all so wonderful.' But they don't realize that they're being indoctrinated into Satan's way and into his world. He's called the god of this world (2-Cor. 4:4).
Ephesians 2:1: "Now, you were dead in trespasses and sins." Why would Paul say that? Because every human being has within him or her 'the law of sin and death.' Though you're alive, you're going to die, because it's given to everyone once to die, and that is to die in Adam. Because Adam sinned and death passed into the world. That's why all sin! Because we have 'the law of sin and death' within us.
So, you're a good as dead; "…you were dead in trespasses and sins." If you live in sin you're as good as dead. But even the righteous die, because 'it's given to everyone once to die.'
Verse 2: "Which you walked in times past according to the course of this world…" You grow up in this society and you accepted everything the way you were taught, and it's all taught in a way to make you think it's a good thing.
"…according to the prince of the power of the air… [another title of Satan] …the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience" (v 2). They don't know they're disobedient!
Do they know they're sinning against God? No, they don't! Remember:
- Jesus spoke in parables so they wouldn't commit the unpardonable sin!
- He blinded their eyes so they wouldn't understand!
- He stopped their hears so they wouldn't hear!
Lest they should believe and be converted! That's what Jesus said, and it's hard to understand unless you know the plan of God.
Verse 3: "Among whom also we all once had our conduct in the lusts of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world." Then God reached down and called you!
The point is that the children of Israel were not called unto salvation. They were called to live according to the letter of the Law and be God's people. They were to be priests of God to the whole world. But they never did do that!
Let's examine Lev. 16 again, and see that it does not say anywhere in Lev. 16 that both the goats represent the work of God, or the work of Christ! This is quite a thing that was done here, and it was a prophecy of what's going to be one of the last things to happen before the final Kingdom of God comes down from the new heaven to the new earth. There are two aspects to Satan's fate:
- when Christ returns he will be put into the prison and sealed for a thousand years
- at the end of the Millennium and the last war that he instigates coming against Jerusalem, he's going to be put into the Lake of Fire and sent on into the darkness of blackness forever
The priests could only go into the Holy of Holies once year on the Day of Atonement. Then God instructed Aaron on all of the offerings necessary for the priests and for the Levites, and for the children of Israel.
Leviticus 16:6: "And Aaron shall offer his young bull of the sin offering which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself and for his house. And he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation" (vs 6-7).
Now, let's see what it says of the two goats; v 8: "And Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats…" Why does he cast lots, because these were identical goats?
"…one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel" (v 8). Is Azazel another name of Christ? NO! Azazel is another name for the demons in the wilderness and for Satan in particular! Why would he cast lots? Because people cannot tell the difference between the false gods of this world and Satan the devil as the 'god of this world' and the true God! They can't tell the difference.
Look at Protestantism today. They do a pretty good job pointing out things in the Bible, reading the Bible and trying to live by some of the things in the Bible. But come along Satan's holiday, there they go right down the shoot into Satan's ways.
- they don't keep the Sabbath
- they don't keep the Passover
- they don't keep the Holy Days
So, they're 'halfers'—half Satan and half God! But they think that they're all right with God. They use the name of Christ. What a deception that is!
That's why in this ritual here, which portrayed the coming fulfillment of these events, God is the One Who chose the one for the Lord and the one for Azazel. Human beings cannot tell the difference of and by themselves.
Verse 9: "And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer it for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement upon it… [not with it (KJV)] …and sent away into the wilderness for Azazel" (vs 9-10). Then Aaron was to bring the sacrifices for himself!
After all the sacrifices and the blood sprinkled on the altar for himself and the priesthood and the household of the Levities and so forth:
Verse 15: "Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people…" All sin offerings are sacrificed, because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin!
Remember what we just reading Eph. 2; people sin living in a world thinking it's right, but they don't know that it's coming from Satan the devil. They don't understand that.
So, once a year, God had this for the forgiveness of the sins for the children of Israel because God could not continue with them unless He covered their sins with the sacrifice of the blood of the goat. That's why Atonement is also called Yom Kippur, which means to cover.
"…and bring its blood inside the veil…. [right to the Ark of the Covenant] …And he shall do with that blood as he did with the blood of the young bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. And he shall make an atonement for the sanctuary because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions in all their sins…." (vs 15 16).
- Does this sacrifice cover all their sins? Yes!
- Does it cover Satan's sin of inspiring them to sin against God? No!
That's why there are the two goats! If they are forgiven, covered:
- Why then goat #2? Because sin is not just a human activity, but inspired by Satan the devil!
Satan is the god of this world, but there is no sacrifice for him, because there is no repentance and there is no forgiveness. There has to be a different symbology in order to show how God is going to lay it upon Satan the devil.
You don't bring Satan the devil into the Holy of Holies and have blood sprinkled for him!
"…And so he shall do for the tabernacle of the congregation, which remains with them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goes in to make an atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. And he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make an atonement for it…." (vs 16-18)—that's the main altar for sacrifices!
"…And he shall take of the blood of the young bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. And he shall sprinkle of the blood on it with his finger seven times and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel" (vs 18-19).
Let's see what happens then. All the sins are covered for that year, forgiven for that year. Not for the sake of the people so they may have eternal life, but for the sale of the people that God would continue to deal with them in the covenant that He had with the children of Israel, which commanded obedience to the letter of the Law.
Verse 20: "And when he has made an end of reconciling the sanctuary and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him… [the goat] …all the sins of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away by the hand of a chosen man into the wilderness" (vs 20-21).
How can this represent Christ? When Christ was raised from the dead, did He take the sins of mankind up to heaven with Him? No!
The sins were all on the earth! He became the perfect sacrifice so that those who repent can be forgiven their sins through His shed blood. The key important thing: Nowhere in the Bible does it picture the throne of God or heaven as a wilderness!
"…and shall send it away by the hand of a chosen man…" (v 21)—a type of the angel in Rev. 20 coming with a chain and getting Satan the devil—laying his hands on him—throwing him into the prison and putting the seal over him.
"…into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities to a land in which no one lives. And he shall let the goat go in the wilderness" (vs 21-22).
That's how God symbolized how He's going to take care of the sins of Satan in inspiring people to sin against God. Three is no forgiveness, but it must be removed!
Verse 23: "And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall strip off the linen garments… [v 24]: And he shall wash his flesh with water in the Holy place… [v 25]: And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar. And he that let go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp" (vs 23-26)—that's a type of the angel!
There is no way that the live goat can picture a work of Christ; no way! If it did, how are you going to show how God is going to take care of Satan the devil and remove him? Until you had the book of Revelation there's no way you could even understand that!
This is why some of these rituals and ceremonies, and some of these prophecies that we have, are way off in the future from the time that they were given and written and picture something far more profound.
- yes, for the children of Israel there
- yes, God set it all aside for the year
that was to encourage people, because:
- people need renewal
- people need forgiveness
This is why God did it!
So, there is no way that the live goat can picture anything that Christ would do! I hope that ends it. I don't know if it will, but all these doctrines come around in circles and cycles, and we have to go through them over and over again.
That is the truth of what it is as far as we are able to understand it. But there is no way that the goat for Azazel can picture a work of Christ!
Christ was sacrificed to take away the sin of the world!
Azazel is the goat that was left alive, because it pictures Satan the devil who is a spirit being and cannot die.
So therefore, you have to have a ceremony like this to show that there is a power greater than human sin—that is causing the human sin—which is Satan's sin!
When Jesus was tempted by Satan the devil, where did Jesus go? He went into the wilderness! That also pictured Satan's activity! Jesus overcame Satan! First thing He had to do was overcome Satan the devil.
At least for us and those who know the Truth, this will help settle the problem and question. And we hope that they come to the knowledge of the Truth and where they're missing the mark!
Scriptural References:
One Man:
- Proverbs 29:2, 4, 12, 14, 16
- Proverbs 20:28
- 2 Chronicles 32:32-33
- 2 Chronicles 33:1-3
- Jeremiah 19:1-9
- 2 Chronicles 33:2-7, 9-22
- 2 Chronicles 34:1-8, 20-21, 23-28
Two Goats:
- Revelation 12:1-4
- Ezekiel 28:11-18
- Isaiah 14:12-15
- Ephesians 2:1-3
- Leviticus 16:6-10, 15-26
Scriptures referenced, not quoted (Two Goats):
- Revelation 20
- Genesis 3:15
- 2 Corinthians 4:4
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 11/5/18
Corrected: 11/7/18
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