New Covenant Passover Plus My Passover Meditations

"This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.  This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you." ~Anointed Lord Salvation

Under the carnal covenant, Passover was kept as a memorial of God freeing Israel from bondage to Egypt.  Under the current spiritual covenant, Passover is kept as a memorial of God freeing believers in Christ/Messiah from bondage to sin.  It's a memorial of our Lord and Christ's sacrificial death.

Under the carnal covenant a lamb was sacrificed to remember how the lamb's blood had saved the firstborns of Israel in Egypt when it was smeared on the doorposts before the death angel visited.  Under the spiritual covenant we symbolically eat Christ's body (unleavened bread) and drink his blood (wine), because He is our Passover Lamb who was slain once for all sins (those of which would be repented), and in reality we "eat" of His spiritual nature to become more like He is, for it is true that we are what we eat.

There are two false religions, one of which claims to keep the carnal covenant (Judaism) and one who claims to keep the spiritual covenant (Christianity), but both hold to their man-made religious doctrines and traditions rather than keep the truth as written in the scriptures. That is why those who follow Judaism keep the carnal covenant Passover, and those that follow Christianity keep the pagan Easter.  Then there is the marrying of these two religions that produced Messianic Judaism, which also follow after some false doctrines from both religions.  They reject the pagan Easter, but they keep a largely carnal covenant Passover, eating a seder (meal), believing not in a new spiritual covenant but a renewed carnal covenant.

I've written extensively and very in-depth on topics concerning the carnal covenant verses the spiritual covenant, including contrasts to the carnal covenant Passover and the spiritual covenant Passover.  These are among my most popular studies.  For more info, you may visit the following links to my blog posts and website articles:

"Forever" in the Old Testament: Does it Always Mean Eternal?

New Covenant Does Not Abolish Law But Does Abolish Old Covenant

What "The Law Was Added Because of Transgression" Means

Old Covenant Carnal Showings

To Silence the Paul-Rejecting Carnal Covenant Lovers: Proving Jesus and Paul Were at One

Now to share some of my meditative thoughts from this Passover night just passed...

As I was reading one of the gospel accounts of my Lord's execution, I stopped to meditate for a while when I reached the part that records that He asked our Holy Father to forgive the ones who had a part in putting him to death and their supporters, telling Father that they were ignorant of what they were doing.  I spiritually jumped back in time and imagined the social climate of Judah during the last three and half years of the Lord's life on earth.  By the end of his three-and-a-half year ministry, many of the people knew of him.  I'm sure it would be like today in the U.S. when a figure becomes publicly prominent.  Rumors spread.  Even if the person is doing what is good, people who are biased against him (or her) who have power can quickly cast the person in a negative light in the eyes of the majority.  There are always the minority who will support the person, and the minority can number in the thousands or even millions (depending on the population involved) but still very much be a small minority.

I thought of the numerous things about which the majority of the people are deceived today.  The list is unending.  There are many who possess knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, but they still make up the minority by far.  And what of the majority?  They think they are the ones who possess good sense and think the minority as crazy and/or stupid. And the somewhat prominent figures who spread various truths (whether it be health, biblical, legal, environmental, agricultural, parental, etc.) are persecuted and branded by the mainstream media as nut jobs.

That must be what it was like in Salvation's time.  There were a growing many in the know, but they were few compared to the majority.  The ones who had power were afraid enough of what would happen if they openly went against him, because just like any gathering today where a teacher is speaking, those minority people are going to make up the majority in attendance.  But their power was great in that they still maintained their influence over the mainstream majority.

It was true then just as much as it's true now that many are very ignorant in what they believe and how they act toward others.  They believe they are doing what's right in how they live their lives, how they bring up their children, and how they perceive those who believe differently.  And God has kept them in blindness for the time being.  So they may rail wickedly against those who are really good and teaching and living by the truth, but they don't realize they are against God and truth.  They believe they're in the right.  Their blindness is fogging up their mind.  Now if they were serious enough about seeking and living by truth, they would be more likely to prove things and then realize the minority people are right about things.  But they are carnal-minded, choosing rather to try to enjoy life as much as possible without investing time in asking important questions and investigating into things.

But we have all been this way for a time, at least to an extent.  Some of us have always been more likely to investigate and ask questions and want truth, but we've all been guilty of going along with what the mainstream teaching on a matter is.  Who is to know whether we change down the line and open our eyes?

There were probably quite a few people who were strongly against Salvation the Anointed, because they'd believed the mainstream lies against him and lacked in understanding, who then later came to the truth and repented and were followers of the Lord.  So this is why our Lord would have asked Father to forgive them.  They were ignorant but would not allow themselves to be forever.

What wonderful grace and long-suffering our Eternal Father and His Righteous Firstborn possess!  Yes, so wonderful that They were both willing for the latter to come spend over 34 human life years (including gestation in the womb) on earth and endure all the hardships and temptations humankind go through, and ultimately die as our saving sacrifice!  And for this reason we remember our Anointed Salvation's loving sacrifice annually on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month.

I will save the other meditative topic I want to share for tomorrow, to post on the first day of Unleavened Bread.

Until then...

Passover: A Night to Be Much Observed

My fellow brother in Christ, Keith Hunt, years ago detailed why Passover night is a "night to be much observed" or "much remembered."  Many erroneously believe it is the following night—the fifteenth day of the first month—which is the first day of unleavened bread and a holy day. 

The details of the study can be found here: Night to Be Much Observed.

Tonight is the annual Passover, a night to truly be observed and remembered, for it is the death anniversary of our Lord Salvation (Jesus Christ/Yeshua Messiah).   This is truly the night that I have always "much observed," meditating on what my Lord Brother-Spouse did for me, studying the scriptures, praying...all after partaking of the unleavened bread and wine to symbolize his body and blood. 

As for the annual holy days, I have always made the big celebrations during the daylight hours:  the big feasts to be eaten mid-day and the remainder of the day to spend in study, meditation, fellowship with like believers and family.  Besides abstaining from servile work on the night of unleavened bread, I do not do anything particularly special.  I do the normal things I do on any other annual Sabbath (the weekly Sabbaths the big feast and dessert I fix to eat at the beginning of Sabbath and have leftovers for the following day, as we are not to even fix big meals during the hours of the weekly Sabbath), get clean, and go to bed.  There's nothing I spend time late that night that would fit under the "much-observed" category.

I believe it's most definitely Passover that is the night to be much observed, as it would seem pretty clear from account in Exodus and also from the account of our Lord's last Passover.  They "much observed" that night.  That's the night that, under the carnal covenant, the Israelites were FREED FROM BONDAGE TO EGYPT; and it's the night that, under the spiritual covenant, we are FREED FROM BONDAGE TO SIN. 

Please fellow brothers and sisters in the Royal Family, make this night a "night to be much observed."

The Coming Blood Moons NOT the Heavenly Signs Foretold

I first heard about the coming blood moon tetrad a few months ago while riding in the vehicle with my family.  My husband and I were listening to something on the radio.  At that time I did not learn very much about it.  I finally looked more into it two nights ago to see what people were saying.

If you don't already know, according to NASA calculations we will experience four lunar eclipses ("blood moons")—two in the Roman year of 2014 and two in 2015—and two solar eclipses in 2015, and each one of these eclipses will land on one of the Eternal God's feast days.

Persons like World Net Daily's Joseph Farah, El Shaddai Ministries' Messianic rabbi Mark Biltz, Protesting Catholic pastor John Hagee, and others are proclaiming on Youtube videos and more that these coming blood moons signify something and could be linked to the tribulation.  They all refer to the scriptures on the heavenly signs foretold in the scriptures of the moon turning to blood and the sun turning black as sackcloth (see Joel 2:31; Matt. 24:29; Acts 2:20; Rev. 6:12).

They purport that the soon-coming eclipses will be an alert or warning of some sort, because Genesis does indeed tell us that the sun, moon, and stars are also to be used for signs and not just to mark days, years and appointed times (misleadingly translated "seasons" in most English bibles). 

But then I noticed over and over again that they go on to attempt to prove their "warning" belief by noting past tetrads that each occurred on God's holy days.  There have been few tetrads since our Lord walked on the earth as a man, and the only ones where each occurred on God's holy days (or so claimed, as I've not confirmed whether this part is even true, but for the sake of this writing, we'll assume it is) were in 1967 and '68, 1949 and '50, and 1492 and '93.

They claim that in each of those occurrences, something big happened with Israel.  Now, really they mean the Jews only.  In 1492 the Jews were expelled from Spain, in 1948 "Israel" became a nation again, and in 1967 the Six Day War where Israeli territories were recaptured.

Ok, does anyone else see what I see?  How are blood moons that occur after the fact "warnings" or "alerts?"  1949 and 1950 come after 1948, unless I'm just that bad at math.  And did the first blood moons of 1967 and 1492 occur before the events started happening?  And even if so, what was the point of the ones the following years?

Perhaps the blood moon tetrads that land on God's holy days are meant to speak afterward.  I don't know.  But I do know that they're pretty useless for forewarning people of something, agreed?

The blood moons are said to land on Passover and the first day of Tabernacles in both years (2014 and 2015). There should be a correction here, though.  The date is actually when the first day of Unleavened Bread starts, rather than Passover, which is the day before.  Their error here is due to the Jews wrongly keeping Passover on the 15th day of the first month, rather than on the 14th as the law commands.  The first day of Unleavened Bread is a holy day, though, a Sabbath.  (Passover is actually not a high Sabbath.)

Probably the biggest error is the suggestion or even just the insinuation that the coming blood moons are the heavenly signs foretold in the bible to signal Christ's soon return.  Let's look at what the bible says about this:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Matt. 24:29-31, bold emphasis added).

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, see, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every slave, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Rev. 6:12-17).

The SIXTH seal, right before the seventh seal where the seven trumpets sound (of which the Feast of Trumpets foreshadows), unleashing the wrath of God and ushering in God's Kingdom with the resurrection of the firstfruits.  THIS is when the heavenly signs occur. Immediately AFTER the tribulation, as Christ said before that, as Matthew recorded for us.  AFTER the tribulation, but before the "day of the Eternal," or "great and dreadful day of the Eternal," the "day of God's wrath," or simply the "Lord's day," as John refers to it in Revelation 1:10. 

The period of the tribulation plus God's wrath spans a little over three and a half years (there are extra days mentioned tacked on after the tribulation at the end of Daniel for those paying attention).

The ones talking about the blood moon tetrad as if they mean the heavenly signs spoken of in the scriptures all assume a seven-year tribulation, even though the bible speaks of no such thing.  Over and over again, in many places, it explains that the tribulation is three and a half years.  That is how long the faithful believers will be in the wilderness to where they fled (forests, caves, etc.), and that is how long the two chosen witnesses of God will represent the Truth in Jerusalem against the two false witnesses ("beast" or "antichrist" and "false prophet") and do their signs and miracles while the two false witnesses also do theirs.  Three and a half years!  There is no seven years with a peace treaty broken in the middle and all that nonsense.  False prophets use ONE place in the bible to teach this doctrine, and that prophecy has absolutely nothing to do with the tribulation in the last days.  It deals with the Messiah's first coming and dying.

Another issue is the belief of a third temple before the tribulation.  The scriptures teach there will be a temple built after Christ's return.  The CURRENT TEMPLE is made up of Spirit-begotten Christians.  The false christ tries to sit in true believers, taking their bodies away from the true God.  There is some left of the last physical temple (the "Wailing Wall"), and it will be finished off in the end.

But the "abomination of desolation" that kicks off the tribulation is spelled out in Luke's record that is parallel to Matthew's and Mark's.  Please compare all three, and you will get your answer.  It's Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14, and Luke 20:21.  Matthew and Mark both have added words to them, warning people you must read to understand.  Go over to Luke and read, and you will understand. 

NOW, at least one of the guys I watched on Youtube said there will not be another tetrad for another 600 years or so and not another tetrad where all four moons are on God's feast days for about 1,000 years or so from now, so basically he was trying to say that THESE upcoming lunar and solar eclipses must be the heavenly signs, even though it seemed none of the men wanted to boldly say that they were.  They certainly want people to believe that, though.

LISTEN!  If you want to know what I believe,  I do not think that NASA's predicted eclipses mean anything!  I have a theory of my own, based on what facts I do have.  First, I've paid attention to how eclipses work over the years, and never does the whole earth see each one.  It depends on when it occurs.  Same with solar eclipse, if it happens when it's night on this side of the planet, but it's day on the other side, and they see the eclipse.

Second, I'm not so sure we should believe that we'd be able to predict when the heavenly signs will occur.

Third, I know that pole shifts and such can affect things, and I'd imagine if the earth was knocked off orbit somewhat, all of NASA's predictions would mean nothing.

I couldn't recall exactly when chronologically the huge earthquake that knocks everything off course was prophesied, but now I know, and when combined with my theory, I think there's a good chance my theory may play out this way.  Look back again at Revelation 6:12-17 that I included above.  WOW!!!  Do you see it?  The HUGE earthquake is to happen, and notice what happens RIGHT AFTERWARD.  It's the so-called, presupposed solar and lunar eclipses*!  It's going to be CRAZY when it happens!  It's not going to be some normally-occurring eclipses like we enjoy seeing.  The earth is going to be shaking off its course!  It's going to be FRIGHTENING like nothing we've known.  A horrible earthquake and being so scared because we know the earth must be going off its axis in order to be seeing the crazy things in the sky.  The islands and mountains will be moved from their places!  The sky leaving like when a scroll is rolled up?!?!?!  (See also 2 Peter 3:10).

Yes, my friends, it is my belief that that huge earthquake is going to cause us to see those heavenly signs, and THIS is NOT predicted by NASA.   You better just sit back and enjoy the coming eclipses,  perhaps sip on a nice drink, because you will be in danger of having a heart attack from fear when the so-called ones foretold in the bible occur.  As a matter of fact, the scriptures also foretell that of many wicked people.  It says their hearts will fail them because of the fear.  As for the true believers, when God's wrath is being unleashed, you will be kept safe.

*Note: A true solar eclipse only happen during a new moon and when it lines up between the earth and sun.  A true lunar eclipse can only happen during the full moon (two weeks later) and is when the earth lines up right between the moon and sun.  Clearly the "blood moon" and "black sun" in prophecy are not what we understand as lunar and solar eclipses.  Something clearly does happen for these signs, as well as the "stars" appearing to fall (Rev. 6:13; Matt. 24:29).  If you go on to see what happens a short span after that earthquake ordeal and the signs, there is "hail and fire mingled with blood" being cast upon the earth, causing the trees and grass to burn up on the earth.  We already know that the sky seemed to have departed, which sounds like we are going to lose some protection from outer celestial things that could enter our atmosphere.  A great "star" falls and makes the waters bitter.  The third part of the moon and the sun and the stars were darkened, so that a third of the day there was no light on it.  On and on.  So it seems to me that most definitely the "heavenly signs" that are not related in any way whatsoever to lunar and solar eclipses as we know them, and that these signs cannot be predicted by NASA.

This is GOD'S WRATH we're talking about!  He is going to GET ANGRY, He will have been provoked to the point of no return, because of men's sin!  Maybe he pushes a button to activate a huge rock to head our way.  Whatever he does, it lines out in the bible that there's a massive earthquake, the earth teeters "like a drunkard"(Isa. 24:20).  There's a little here and a little there in the various prophet books.  You've got to piece it together.  But there's the bad earthquake, damage to the earth and sky (heaven/atmosphere), and a whole lot of horrible things to come from the heaven (outer space) to hit this planet.  SO, THERE IS REALLY NO REASON TO BELIEVE NASA CAN PREDICT THESE HEAVENLY SIGNS.  If you're paying attention to the scriptures, you can know when the tribulation begins.  Years after that you can witness the heavenly signs and know God's wrath is about to be poured out and that soon thereafter we will see Christ come back.   

As for any "rapture" belief tied in with all this, all you need to do is read your bible, and it's EASY to see there is no such rapture, no Christians being pulled up to heaven to be spared the tribulation.  It's just not there!  It was only when I started really reading my bible a lot ON MY OWN, rather than listen to my Protesting Catholic pastors (and trust me, you must pay attention to the pastors and other teachers in the churches of God, too, because NOT ALL of what they teach is true, as I've gone through my bible and have seen over and over that they are wrong plenty themselves) that I read the truth and asked myself, "How in the world do they get the rapture idea?  Isn't this pretty clear?"  And indeed it is.  Over and over again, it's clear that the tribulation begins, true believers FLEE TO THE WILDERNESS (and no way does that mean one particular location on the earth, so if you sit around waiting for some angel to lead the way for you or rely on some false teacher's instructions, you are going to end up being caught, because you were unprepared!), and then later God's wrath is poured out, and THEN Christ comes back, and believers meet him in the clouds and continue with him down to Jerusalem where they will reign.

As my high school world history teacher always said the day before a test: "Read it. Study. Come prepared." 

Goddess Easter's Fertility Eggs Ritual

The false goddess Easter (Isthtar/Eostre/Ashteroth/Astarte/Semiramis/Isis, etc.) worshiped as the "Queen of Heaven" by pagans for thousands of years has a feast dedicated to her annually on the first "Sunday" after the first full moon following the spring equinox.  Legend has it that Easter dropped from heaven into the Euphrates River, hatching from an egg and turning a bird into an egg-laying rabbit.  This can be confirmed in many historical sources, and if you're reading this, it means you have a whole Internet full of free encyclopedias and free books on Google, etc. so that you can easily and quickly verify this.

Some already know this pagan history, but many do not know how exactly the dyeing and hiding of Easter's eggs fits into pagan history.  I'll soon get to this most disturbing truth.  Read on.

There are two groups of Christians, as put forth in Christ's parables and in His revelation to John.  In chapter 12 of Revelation there is depicted the true Church of God, all the spiritual virgins who keep themselves pure by "keeping the commandments of God and the testimony of Salvation the Anointed (Jesus Christ)."  Then there are chapters 17 and 18 which depict the spiritual whores who have fornicated true worship with pagan worship and breaking the commandments of God in order to keep the traditions of men.

Today most who call themselves Christians more closely follow Rome's false religion of Christianity rather than follow Christ.   They keep the feast of Easter to celebrate Christ's resurrection, without any authority from Christ.  Historically Easter's feast celebrated her son Tammuz's resurrection from the dead, as he was killed by a wild boar at the age of forty, and it's said that is why ham is customary to eat during Easter's feast. 

Those who worshiped Easter and Tammuz would go Easter's temple.  Virgins would be impregnated by the temple priest(s).  The following year, each and every year, the three-month-old infants would be sacrificed.  Eggs would then be dyed red with the infants' blood, buried in hopes of good fertility (for the land, etc.), and the belief was that they'd hatch several months later on Tammuz's birthday, December 25. 

Still today in some churches (Catholic and Orthodox and perhaps some Protesting Catholic churches) Easter's eggs are only dyed red.  It is explained to the sheep that it symbolizes Christ's blood, but where in the scriptures do we find a feast of God that involves dyeing eggs and celebrating Christ's resurrection?

The scriptures say:

When the ETERNAL your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go to possess them, and you succeed them, and dwell in their land; Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. You shall not do so to the ETERNAL your God: for every abomination to the ETERNAL, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it (Deut. 12:29-32).

However, then, when you knew not God, you did service to them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that you have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn you again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed on you labor in vain (Gal. 4:8-11).

Are you keeping rituals in your Christianity religion that you do not understand?  Are you letting your children participate in Easter's egg dyeing and hiding?  Do you believe it's innocent fun since you're using commercial synthetic dyes and not sacrificed infants? Or are you horrified that you've been taught that such traditions have been adopted by the Church of Rome and are still kept by her protesting daughters?  Do you believe keeping such things honors Christ, or would you rather not keep the adopted pagan holy days and instead keep the holy days God commands under the new covenant?

The days are found in Leviticus 23 of your bible.  They were kept differently under the old carnal covenant than they are now under the new spiritual covenant, but they are still the Eternal's holy days, and they foreshadow things to come (see Colossians 2:16-17).   It's important to know the meaning of these holy days that the true Holy Father commands and to stop following after the traditions of the false holy father of the false whore church in Rome.

To understand more about these feasts, see this brief outline on how God's feasts outline His true plan of salvation.

Stay tuned with the upcoming blog posts leading up to the new covenant Passover and Unleavened Bread feasts.  I'll be giving away one free copy each of two books, my God's Law of Love, the Perfect Law of Liberty: Jehovah's Ten Commandments Still Apply Today and fellow brother in the Lord Keith Hunt's The Biblical Prophets for Today.  These are testimony to the law and the prophets.

Forgiving Oneself

If you have not already done so, I highly recommend that you read my post about forgiving others and possessing a forgiving spirit before you read this one.

There are some who have no trouble forgiving themselves but struggle greatly with forgiving others. Then there are other persons, like I, who struggle more with forgiving oneself than anyone else. Perhaps you hold very high standards for yourself, trying greatly to be perfect, so then when you fall short of your standards, you figuratively beat yourself, and beat yourself, and beat yourself some more, and all that mental beating can truly harm your physical health, in addition to your spiritual health.  

If we do not forgive ourselves of a transgression, then we will either simply hate ourselves for it for the remainder of our lives, or we may even continue in the sinful practice in order to pretend like it's not bad in order that we don't hurt terribly from the guilt the transgression invoked.  In either case, without confessing the sin, repenting of it, and forgiving ourselves in the belief that God has forgiven us, we will not be able to move on to bring forth good fruit.  We not only hinder ourselves when we do this, but we also will go on hindering others when we choose to walk in unforgiveness toward ourselves.

Sometimes we may think our sin is so great and awful that we don't deserve forgiveness from God, and so then we don't forgive ourselves.  But is there any sin too great for God's forgiveness, except the one from which is not repented?

Let's examine some men and women from the scriptures and ask ouselves whether we think they forgave themselves of their sinful actions:

*Adam and Eve: Whose burden is more difficult to bear than theirs?  They passed on a sinful inheritance to us all.  Would they forgive themselves, though?  I know I forgive them, if they truly felt/would feel bad.  Would any of us have done any better in their positions?

*Abraham and Sarah: What about their agreement for Abraham to take Hagar to bed to have a child with her?  Wow, they must have really regretted that!  From what evidence we have, they greatly did, although I know Abraham loved his son Ishmael, of course.

*Samson: What foolish decisions he made!  As physically strong as he was, he certainly was weak with lust as to give his secret away to a woman who had already shown two or three times that she could not be trusted. Did he forgive himself?

*King David: We know he greatly regretted his murder and adultery (and therefore also blasphemy, as he was the king of the greatest nation and represented the nation of God).  Since he believed God forgave him, surely he forgave himself.  I know he also loved his son Solomon who came from the wife (Bathsheba) with whom he'd committed adultery beforehand.

*King Solomon:  There is great evidence that he must have repented from his great idolatries, fornications, revelings, etc. at the end of his life.  If he believed God is forgiving and forgave him, surely he could forgive himself.  

*Manasseh: It's imperative that you read of Manasseh the king of Judah in order to fully understand or refresh your memory of the extent of evil this man lived out and with which he led the nation of Judah.  He was guilty of much extreme evil, including causing his own son to pass through the fire in child sacrifice.  But then read about how he was punished, humbled, and how he turned himself around and ordered the nation to serve God.  Surely he would have had to forgive himself if he was able to move on and bring forth any good fruit (See 2 Kings 21 and 2 Chron. 33:1-20 and also the extra-biblical Prayer of Manasseh).

*Saul/Paul of Tarsus:  This man dragged early Christians to their brutal deaths, and he purported to do it all in the name of God.  He thought he was acting for God and that the Christians were blasphemers. He murdered true practicing believers, the very begotten children of God the Father and brethren of the Lord Salvation (Jesus Christ).  Later, after his repentance and living out life as a faithful Christian himself, he referred to himself as the "chief of sinners" (see 1 Tim. 1:15). His story can be read in the book of Acts.

We've all done wicked acts with which we struggle to live, at which we look back and think, "How could I have done that," or "How could I have allowed that to happen?"  Yes, it's true that some carry out worse things than others, but as I explained in my last post, some have inherited worse sin tendencies with which to begin.  This doesn't in any way excuse any sin, but a person thinking back on things might realize that he or she very likely would not have engaged in that sin if he or she would have been able to be steered down a better path in early life.

Even if given a good early life path, some will go the wrong way for a time for whatever reason, and there is still forgiveness available.  Think again of Manasseh, king of Judah.  His father Hezekiah was a righteous man and one of the best kings to ever reign over Judah (though, like us all, he did stumble and make some mistakes).  His faithful-to-God father died when Manasseh was only twelve, as God had promised fifteen years earlier that he would extend Hezekiah's life when he was gravely ill.  This may have been a starting point for Manasseh to go in the wrong direction.  He may have greatly questioned God for taking his righteous father who was so devoted to God, when he was only in his fifties, leaving a twelve-year-old son behind.

Many have fallen away after losing a loved one.  If this is you, it's not too late to turn back to God. He wants to use the bad things in our lives to refine us and to help others.  After I lost my infant son before he turned a month old, I was later able to help comfort another woman who lost her infant daughter.  She struggled greatly with her faith and was very distraught, because she had sons, but that was her only daughter, which she'd wanted badly.  God used me to greatly help her through her grief.  It also led me to research genetics, epigenetics, and environmental toxins and write and publish a book to help others.  My faith was made greater in the long run.  It wasn't so for my husband.  He cursed God after our son's death and has struggled ever since.

One of my favorite chapters in the scriptures is Ezekiel 18.  God pleads and pleads for people to repent.  He loves his creation of man.  He wants each to become his child.  We are each unique in our own way, and He's got forgiveness available for each of us. He said He doesn't take any pleasure in the death of the wicked.  If you are a parent, think of the way you plead with your child when he is being contrary.  Above all you just wish your child would obey, because you do not want to punish him.  You do not take pleasure in doing so.  Also think of the most wretched thing(s) your child(ren) has done.  It may be something that is very literally abominable to you, and yet you still find that you love your child dearly.  You still see the good in your child and just want your child to turn away from his wickedness so that you can lavish upon him all the good things you have in store for him.

Whenever you are are wallowing in your torment, hating yourself and wishing death upon yourself, think of how you view your children (if you're a parent).  Then realize that is how your Father in heaven views you.  He wants to forgive you.  Just believe that He will forgive you, and then move on.  Repent, turn from the sin.  Try your very best to do what is right.  Use whatever you can from the evil you did for good.  That may be going on to prevent others from going on that path or counseling others who have gone down that path.  Whatever it is, you will be shown what to do, if you allow Father God to show you.  Whatever we experience in life, whether it is sin or anything else, we are expected to use it to be fruitful in some way.

You must forgive yourself by seeing yourself the way your Holy Father sees you.  He sees you as His child that he dearly loves, no matter what wretched thing you've done or have been doing.  It doesn't matter how vile or violent or vicious it was.  He blessed David, He freed Manasseh, and he called Paul.  If He is willing to forgive those wretches, He is willing to forgive you, and so you should forgive yourself.  You must if you are to go on to bear good fruit in life.  This is God's will for you.

What happens if you do not forgive yourself?  You will either commit suicide, like King Saul of Israel or Judas Iscariot, both recorded in the scriptures; or you will poison your health with your torment. Your self-hatred, rebellious justification, guilt, and/or other emotional actions will affect your physical health, in addition to your spiritual health.  When the scriptures talk about "rottenness in the bones" and "a sick heart" and other such things, it's referring to the physical maladies that can result from spiritual emotions, whether it is heartbreak due to a loss or another's sin or whether it is self-inflicted because of one's own evil deeds.  Bitterness, guilt, self-hatred, no grace toward ourselves...these are no way to live our lives.

I recently read the sad story of Genie, a badly-abused child who was born in the 1950s, as part of my sociology course work for college.  Her abusive father ended up committing suicide.  It was his escape.  This is not good!  That is the end. There is no time to confess, repent, and then bring forth good fruit.  You just end your life on bad terms.  Does this make anything better?  It's easy to hate Genie's father, because most of us cannot imagine a human being doing all that he did to his child, regardless of his background.  He was still a responsible adult who should have admitted he had a problem and sought help.  Quite likely he would not have easily found forgiveness from fellow human beings, and perhaps someone reading this feels the same way.  Perhaps you've done something that indeed most people would not be willing to forgive.  But God is not that way.  I can assure you that God wants to forgive you and help you overcome and walk the rest of your life in holiness with His help. 

I've learned that seldom anything turns out the perfect way we have envisioned.  We want to be perfect.  We want our spouses and our children and our friends to be perfect.  We want our house to be perfect, our yard to be perfect.  We want our vacation to be perfect.  We want our visit with friends to be perfect.  We want our grocery store trips to be perfect. We want things to be perfect, but they won't ever be what we want them to be, perfectly.  We can properly work for perfection in all things, but when we fail, the only way we're going to be able to go on in contentment is if we seek the Only One who is perfect.  The more we want things to be perfect, the more it can hurt when we see that it doesn't end up that way.  It can so easily lead to self-hatred and unforgiveness toward ourselves when we want to be perfect and are not.  If we hate ourselves, then we're not going to be doing the best we can to serve others in this world.  If, on the other hand, we attempt to make ourselves feel better by continuing on in the wicked ways and justifying it, we are still not going to be doing the best to serve others, and we're only killing ourselves, albeit in a different way.

If you want that perfection, then be perfect in Him.  Forgive yourself, as He wants to forgive you, and then walk as best as you can as Christ, the Beloved Firstborn, walked.  You won't do it while dead, and you won't do it while hating yourself or justifying yourself.  You'll only do it if you forgive yourself.

Prayer of Manasseh:

O Lord, Almighty God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous seed; who hast made heaven and earth, with all the ornament thereof; who hast bound the sea by the word of thy commandment; who hast shut up the deep, and sealed it by thy terrible and glorious name; whom all men fear, and tremble before thy power; for the majesty of thy glory cannot be borne, and thine angry threatening toward sinners is importable: but thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and unsearchable; for thou art the most high Lord, of great compassion, longsuffering, very merciful, and repentest of the evils of men. Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness hast promised repentance and forgiveness to them that have sinned against thee: and of thine infinite mercies hast appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved. Thou therefore, O Lord, that art the God of the just, hast not appointed repentance to the just, as to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, which have not sinned against thee; but thou hast appointed repentance unto me that am a sinner: for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea. My transgressions, O Lord, are multiplied: my transgressions are multiplied, and I am not worthy to behold and see the height of heaven for the multitude of mine iniquities. I am bowed down with many iron bands, that I cannot life up mine head, neither have any release: for I have provoked thy wrath, and done evil before thee: I did not thy will, neither kept I thy commandments: I have set up abominations, and have multiplied offences. Now therefore I bow the knee of mine heart, beseeching thee of grace. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge mine iniquities: wherefore, I humbly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me, and destroy me not with mine iniquites. Be not angry with me for ever, by reserving evil for me; neither condemn me to the lower parts of the earth. For thou art the God, even the God of them that repent; and in me thou wilt shew all thy goodness: for thou wilt save me, that am unworthy, according to thy great mercy. Therefore I will praise thee for ever all the days of my life: for all the powers of the heavens do praise thee, and thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen.  (King James version)


Prayer of David:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving kindness: according to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight: that you might be justified when you speak, and be clear when you judge. Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part you shall make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence; and take not your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation; and uphold me with your free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors your ways; and sinners shall be converted to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, you God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open you my lips; and my mouth shall show forth your praise. For you desire not sacrifice; else would I give it: you delight not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good in your good pleasure to Zion: build you the walls of Jerusalem. Then shall you be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks on your altar  (Psalm 51, American KJV).

Two Types/Stages of Forgiveness

It recently came to my attention that the opposite topic of judgment and condemnation—forgiveness and pardon—is perhaps as confused and misunderstood as the former.

I've explained elsewhere before (not sure whether on this blog), as have others the right understanding on judgment.  If you already understand this, feel free to skip down to the bolded "Forgiveness" after the first line of asterisks. I'm not about to go into depth on it now, deeply quoting scripture, but summarily:

Many twist the meaning of the scriptures and ignore much scripture on the topic of judgment and/or simply do not understand.  People say you should not judge anyone for their sinful behavior, "...because Jesus said not to."  The fact of the matter is that our Lord and Christ said to take heed and be careful with our judgment, because with the same measure of judgment we apply to others, our Father God will apply to us (Matt. 7:2).  Basically, it was a message of not being a hypocrite and a lesson on God's righteous judgment toward us being what we apply to others.

When you read other scriptures, it becomes clear that Christians are expected to be able to judge righteously.  Christ told us to "judge righteous judgement," and "not according to appearance" (John 7:24). Paul rebuked the Corinthians for taking brethren to the judges of men, saying, "Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" (I Cor. 6:3).

If we lacked good judgment, how would it be that we could choose not to engage in sin like those around us?  If we did not judge that dishonoring God, idolatry, blasphemy, sabbath-breaking, dishonoring parents, murdering, adultery, stealing, lying, coveting, and such are sin, we are sinning!  

So you say, "Oh, but you should judge the sin, not the sinner."  But the scriptures say a different thing than what you say.  Oh, sure, the scriptures do say that we should not judge those without, meaning not DECIDING (one meaning of judging) whether the person is doing what is right or wrong, but meaning that we can't go PENALIZING those without.  Paul said to the Corinthians, "But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler-- not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove that wicked man from among yourselves" (I Cor. 5:11-13).

But then on the other hand, the scriptures teach us to rebuke the wicked: "Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself" (Ezek. 3:19)

Basically we are to JUDGE what is right and wrong and walk in that, as Christ walked, not going against our conscience.  We are to not be hypocritical with our JUDGMENTS, making sure if we JUDGE our neighbor or brother in something, we are not guilty of the same.  We can penalize a sinning brother or sister by casting them from a church group or from not associating with them, if they choose not to repent, but we cannot penalize those without.  We are going to be around sinners in this world, and we are to be lights (but not choose those people as our closest buddies).  We can judge them by DECIDING what they are doing is wrong and by REBUKING them, just NOT PENALIZING.

If a person is an unrepentant and practicing liar, whore or whoremonger, or thief, is it wrong to judge by saying the person is a liar, whore or whoremonger, or thief?  Of course not!  What nonsense!  It's called the truth, and some people just hate the truth, and so they misquote scripture.

************************************************

Okay, now on to FORGIVENESS.

First we know that we must be willing to forgive others if we want God to forgive us:

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses (Mark 11:25).

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors…For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matt. 6:12, 14-15).

So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses (Matt. 18:35).  This is the conclusion of the story of the wicked servant, which I'll write more about shortly.

We have all sinned and done horrible things.  It's easy for us to look at others and judge what they've done as worse than what we've done, but have you considered that in many cases you may be wrong?  Have you considered that you're judging by appearance, rather than righteous judgment?  Remember, God judges the heart.  Have you considered that most of the persons you are judging as being worse than you started with a genetically worse sin inheritance to struggle against and grew up in a worse sin-saturated environment to also struggle against?  Have you ever stopped to consider that those persons hate their sins, too, and struggle badly against them?  Have you ever meditated on whether you might actually be worse in God's eyes than some of those persons, because He is looking at the heart, and even though those other persons stumble and fall with worse outward sins that appear to man to be more horrible, that person is more repentant at heart and is trying harder not to commit those sins of heart and outwardly than you are with your lesser outside sins?

We have all sinned and fall short of God's glory child, the Perfect and Righteous Firstborn, Salvation the Lord (Rom. 3:23).  We are all filthy compared to my Beloved Salvation.  Since it's hard to read the hearts of some, and we know also that some judge us wrongly, because they don't know our hearts and how we may struggle greatly with certain things, we need to focus on our Lord and be so grateful He chose us and died for us so that Father will forgive us, if we repent of our sins.

Since we're so grateful for Father and Salvation (Jesus/Yeshua), we need to be just as forgiving as they are.

A Maskil of David. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (Psalm 32:1).  This was repeated by Paul in Romans 4:7.

And rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the ETERNAL your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil (Joel 2:13).

Now, indeed there are those who have repented and have been forgiven by God, but the scriptures also make clear that there are those who God has not and will not forgive, because they have not repented. God plans punishment for those who are sinning, but IF they repent, He forgives.

"Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin" (Jer. 36:3).

Repentance is required for forgiveness of God.  A few more references:  Acts 8:22; Hosea 14:2; Ezekiel chapter 18 (highly recommended read).   Quoted from my book God's Law of Love, the Perfect Law of Liberty: Jehovah's Law Still Applies Today, pg. 30:

    Those who do not keep God’s law will not inherit eternal
    life (Romans 2:6-13; 6:16, 23; 8:9; I Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians
    5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-6; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Hebrews 5:9; 6:4-6;
    10:26-31, 38-39; James 5:19-20, II Peter 2:20-22; 3:9-18; Revelation
    3:5; 21:7-8; 22:12-15; Exodus 32:33; Psalm 1:6; 5:5-6; 15:1-2; 34:16;
    37:9, 20, 22, 27-31, 38; 119:155; Proverbs 2:21-22; 10:30; Isaiah 24:5-
    6; 66:24; Ezekiel 18:4, 20-21, 23, 26-28, 3.—32; Hosea 4:6; Malachi
    4:1-6; Matthew 4:17; 5:7-20; 7:21-23; 19:17; 24:12-13; Mark 1:15; Luke
    10:25-28; 13:3; Acts 2:38; Acts 5:32; Acts 17:30
    and more).

In other words, those who don't repent will not be forgiven, as you must be forgiven in order to inherit eternal life. 

If God does not forgive those who do not repent, does that mean we should not forgive?  This is where a lot of people are very confused.  That is the reason for my strange title.  The answer is both yes and no.  I will explain in depth.  The answer is in the scriptures.

Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and IF he repent, forgive him (Luke 17:3).

 Does it say, "And whether or not your brother repents or not, forgive him?"  No, it doesn't.  BUT, it also does not say you should seek revenge or harbor bitterness in your heart.  In other words, you should possess a FORGIVING SPIRIT.  You do not know whether that person will later repent.  You are to REBUKE the person (in kindness of spirit, of course) and possess a forgiving spirit.  IF the person repents, forgive him (or her).

Again, except this time it is not for a brother in the Royal Family, but for the "wicked":

"Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself" (Ezek. 3:19).

The following details the same conversation quoted above from Luke, recorded from Matthew, and explains what to do if your brother (or sister) does NOT repent:

Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican (Matt. 18:15-17).

So, rebuke the transgressing brother, and if he doesn't listen, then take one or two more with you to confront him again, and then if he still doesn't listen, take it to the whole local church community, and THEN if he or she still doesn't listen, it says you should regard your brother or sister as a HEATHEN.  You should regard the person as one of the wicked, one of the ones "without" the church.  In other words, the person is NOT FORGIVEN, until the person REPENTS.  Does that mean you harbor hate and bitterness toward the person?  NO!  You should maintain a FORGIVING SPIRIT and LEAVE IT TO GOD.  In the end, if that person returns to the world and is overcome with wickedness and never turns from his or her ways, God will avenge you for his or her transgression(s) against you.

Before the story of the wicked servant:
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven (Matt. 18:21-22).

The above scripture is after the one I posted right before it, but it's before the one I posted that concluded the story of the "wicked servant."  So, it's in the context of a REPENTANT person, who after rebuked, repents.  Soooo...you should forgive your brother or sister who has sinned against you, but how many times?  What if the person transgresses multiple times?  Should you forgive each count?  When Salvation said not seven times but seventy times seven, he meant that you should be willing to keep forgiving, as long as you can detect the person is truly repentant at heart and is sorrowful about what he or she is doing against you.

A good example of this is the spouse who struggles with substance abuse.  Say one partner has an alcohol addiction or tobacco addiction.  That person is not just affecting him- or herself.  This kind of sin affects the spouse and other family members.  An addiction like this can be very hard to overcome.  For those who struggle with such an addiction or are married to a spouse who struggles with it, you know over the course of many years that the person can quit for periods of time and relapse over and over again.  It's difficult!  But you know he or she is trying, else the person wouldn't bother trying so hard to quit and wouldn't be so sorrowful over it and the problems it causes.  So forgive, forgive, forgive.  There are other examples, too, like the person who stands you up over and over, forgetting your meeting, or a spouse or friend who keeps slipping up with an Internet pornography addiction.  

So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow (2 Cor. 2:7).

Again, this refers to a repentant person, someone in sorrow.  It's bad enough for the repentant, sorrowful individual to cope with his or her own sin.  It's just too much for that person to also bear the sorrow of friends and family (and especially members of the Royal Family) rejecting and not forgiving him or her.

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots (Luke 23:34).  

Christ said the people who were dividing up his clothing and mocking and saying ugly things about him when he was on the cross knew not what they were doing.  They didn't realize who he was and that he was innocent.  They must have thought he was receiving just punishment, that he was a blasphemous troublemaker.  Notice Christ did NOT say, "Father, whether or not they know what they're doing, forgive them."  Of course not!  What was the point of Christ's coming to earth and dying for the transgressions of mankind if God is willing to forgive everyone, regardless of what they do?


Now, sometimes it can be difficult to get to a place of forgiveness toward someone, while in other cases it's relatively easy.  If you've done the same sin and understand it, you might find it very easy to POSSESS A FORGIVING SPIRIT toward the transgressor, unless you are hypocritical, like Salvation said of those who judge without removing their own sin first.

In the last two or three years I've had to change my debit card number twice, due to fraudulent use.  I do a lot of my purchasing online, so I memorize my card number.  It's irritating to me, more than anything, whenever I have to get a new card and to file a report for unauthorized charges on my account.  NEVER have I cursed the persons who have done this to me, NEVER have I possessed an unforgiving spirit toward the transgressors, and it's quite easy for me, because my husband and I were guilty of the same many years ago (before conversion).  We transgressed against around 70 different people for an amount of $30k to $35k, fraudulent use of a credit card across interstate lines, when I was seventeen years of age.  I understand why people are driven to do such things.

Do I know whether the people who have transgressed against me have repented of their deeds?  I do not know.  Have I forgiven them?  I hold a FORGIVING SPIRIT toward them.  This means that I do not know whether they've repented, as I DO NOT KNOW THEM.  It's between them and our Creator.  It's up to God to forgive, IF they repent.  I've done MY part.  God knows I possess a forgiving spirit toward them.  If they don't repent, then God will eventually punish them for their sin.

Now what about sins that we can't relate to and struggle with forgiving?  What about forgiving adultery when you can't imagine doing something so atrocious, or how about the murder of your spouse, child, parent, sibling, other relative or one of your best friends?  

Remember how we've all sinned and done horrible things?  We've not all done the same things.  We've not all committed adultery or murder.  But remember the way God sees things differently than we do?  Remember how some struggle with worse things?  (And remember that the HEART is what God judges, and some people desire such horrible sins in the heart, but they fear consequences from man if they transgress outwardly.)

I used to be guilty of murder in my heart in my teens.  I carefully premeditated different persons' murders. I know, it's awful.  It's absolutely appalling to me now.  I've since repented of my sin of murder.  Did I actually physically kill someone?  No.  But I still was guilty of the sin of murder before God.  I've repented and feel terrible about it.  What if I'd have actually physically carried out a murder?  And then, as I have in my real life, I later had terrible remorse and repented?  Would I not seek for forgiveness from those whom against I trespassed?  Would I not hope for forgiveness from the victim's family and friends?

Murder is a difficult thing to forgive, even for those who understand it, whether it's premeditated or whether it's a result of rage, and even more difficult if it's a child kidnapping-rape-murder.  But we are basically all guilty of our Lord Brother's death, because of our sin.  He was murdered for us.  God expects for us to forgive even murder....IF the transgressor repents.

Of course there are unsolved murders and unknown adultery partners and unknown thieves.  There are a lot of persons out there who have transgressed against us whom we don't even know!  We can't rebuke them!  Do we just forgive them?  What if we struggle with forgiveness?  

I think it helps to imagine the unknown person realizing before you that they've transgressed against you and apologizing in great sorrow to you.  You can SEE in your MIND'S EYE that they are deeply sorrowful (even though they may never meet you).  They feel absolutely awful for what they've done against you and are totally repentant.  Is that not how you have felt before our Righteous and Good Father and our Beloved Lord Salvation?  THAT is how you can then find that FORGIVING SPIRIT.  That's ALL YOU NEED.  If you do not know your transgressor, try this out!  It HAS WORKED FOR ME before.  I have unknown transgressors out there who committed horrible acts against me, and I hold NO BITTERNESS OR HATRED OR REVENGEFUL THOUGHTS against them.  God knows my heart is filled with a FORGIVING SPIRIT toward those unknown persons.  If they repent, God will FORGIVE them, and that pleases me.  I will also say, on the other hand, if they do not repent, I know God will PUNISH them.  He will AVENGE me for their transgressions against me, and that also pleases me.

This is perfectly holy, righteous, and good, no matter what anyone tells you.  We do NOT have to sit around feeling that we must forgive unrepentant people who love wickedness and hate us.  That is NOT what God expects of us.  He expects for us to possess a FORGIVING SPIRIT, not a spirit that allows people to just run all over us.  We are NOT to possess a REVENGEFUL, HATEFUL, BITTER SPIRIT.  

This is what I meant in the title by "two types/stages of forgiveness."  There's the FORGIVING SPIRIT and there's actual forgiveness.  And then there's manly forgiveness and Godly forgiveness.  For example, a person may forgive someone for becoming an unrepentant practicing homosexual, but will God forgive it?  No, He won't.  God doesn't go by man's rules.

And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” And he got up and went home. But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men (Matt. 9:2-7).

We can't forgive men the way God can.  As you see above, the scribes realized that God is the only One Who can truly forgive as far as our spiritual standing is concerned. We may forgive things that we do not think are sin, but God is the ultimate Forgiver/Pardoner.

Moses had asked God to forgive Israel and to blot him out of God's book in their place, and the ETERNAL said:

"...Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book" (Exo. 32:33b).


Notice what these perfectly righteous Children of God of the scriptures said about UNREPENTANT SINNERS, when it comes to FORGIVENESS:

Jeremiah and Jeremiah Quoting the ETERNAL God:

Yet, ETERNAL ONE, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger (Jer. 18:23).

Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them," says the ETERNAL (Jer. 6:15).

"Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And trooped to the harlot's house. They were well-fed lusty horses, each one neighing after his neighbor’s wife. Shall I not punish these people," declares the ETERNAL,“And on a nation such as this shall I not avenge Myself?"  (Jer. 5:7-9)

This speaks of punishment rather than forgiveness, BECAUSE they would not repent after continual rebuke.

"We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven" (Lam. 3:42).

Nehemiah:
 
Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders (Nehemiah 4:5).

David:
 
You, ETERNAL God Almighty, you who are the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to wicked traitors (Psalm 59:5).

May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the ETERNAL; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out (Psa. 109:14).

It is time for you to act, ETERNAL; your law is being broken (Psalm 119:126).

Paul:

Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works (I Tim. 4:14).
 
I've said this a few times, and I know many righteous Christians pray this way.  This is a very wise way to put it, because the Lord knows whether the person will repent.  If Alexander the coppersmith repented (even if he never saw Paul again, he could have cried out to God and felt horribly sorrowful about what he'd done and wished he could take it back), then the reward for the work of repentance was forgiveness, but if he didn't repent in due time, he would have "gotten his," if you know what I'm saying. 

Isaiah:
 
So people will be brought low and everyone humbled-- do not forgive them (Isa. 2:9)

This last one is talking about the time of great wrath of God in the future, when he will have rejected his people Jacob.  The context speaks of the land being full of materialism, idols (think of the Washington Monument phallic/penis obelisk and the sun god/goddess "Statue of Liberty"), tons of horses and chariots (think of all the fancy motor vehicles), and many fortune-tellers.

And finally, in Revelation, God's True Children symbolically cry out:

AND THEY CRIED WITH A LOUD VOICE, SAYING, "HOW LONG, O LORD, HOLY AND TRUE, DO YOU NOT JUDGE AND AVENGE OUR BLOOD ON THEM THAT DWELL ON THE EARTH?" (Rev. 6:10).

I have done as Jeremiah and the others have done toward certain ones on this earth.  For example, one of my most-hated targets is the evil ones at the top of Monsanto and the evil ones in our governments and the evil ones at the top of other corporations who knowingly unleash evil upon the peoples of this earth and DO NOT CARE!  Yes, I cry out to God, "WHEN will it be that you send my Beloved to PUNISH these evil ones?!"

It is PERFECTLY RIGHTEOUS to want vengeance on evil persons or people who sin against us who do not repent.  BUT WE LEAVE THIS UP TO GOD TO DECIDE, because we simply DO NOT KNOW whether a person will repent, especially if our transgressors are unknown.

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So again—and as summary and conclusion—we are to possess, as Children of the Most High God and brethren of the Lord Salvation the Perfect Firstborn, a FORGIVING SPIRIT without thoughts of hate, revenge, or bitterness against our transgressors but a RELAXED AND TRUSTING knowledge that IF the transgressors do not repent, we will be avenged by our Loving Father and Lord Salvation.

And if we truly TRUST God, and we are patient for that day of Christ's return, then it's not too difficult to possess that FORGIVING SPIRIT toward ANY transgressor, meaning we're willing to forgive anyone who repents. And for those who don't, we keep our pure spirit as not to defile ourselves and suffer with bitterness that will poison us, and we trust that God will avenge us.

Pentecost: A Lesson on New Life

On the weekly Sabbath day (May 18, 2013) my firstborn son Jaden William (nearly 10 years of age) found a newly-hatched chick when he went out in the morning to let the chickens out.  Three weeks before he had marked two eggs of his favorite, chicken Grace, one day apart, with a black marker, so that he would not remove them from the nesting box.  He had tried twice (once last summer and once this spring) to use an old incubator to hatch chicks.  He finally concluded the incubator needed to be broken apart and the parts recycled.

Leaving the eggs with the mother brought about success.  The other egg has not hatched (and may not have been fertilized). If it does, William will leave the chick with Grace, its mother.  William chose to take the first chick for himself, though.  He has lovingly cared for the baby bird by providing water, cutting up worms and letting it peck at insects and spiders, as well as letting it snuggle up to him practically all day.  If he leaves it for a minute, its peeping becomes loud and urgent.  Anytime William leaves its sight, it becomes frantic-sounding, just as any human baby attached to its mother.  Oh, how he loves that chick!

We enjoyed Pentecost (May 19, 2013), the holy day of our God that teaches us about new life in Christ, receiving the begettal/conception of the Spirit of God so that we can be born at the first resurrection as a spirit-bodied Child of God. That Spirit is a Helper to us when we repent of our sins and are baptized and have hands laid on us.  It's too difficult to overcome sin with the spirit of man alone.  We live in bodies of flesh, no different than the animals do.  The God Spirit is perfect, though, and so it helps us walk in righteousness and comforts us in our weakness.

Just as the little chick, the chicken child of Jaden's Grace (the hen), is a new life and is helped by William, children of God our Father and His Grace (the Firstborn of our Father, our Lord Salvation the Anointed One who is our Elder Brother) are helped by the Spirit our Holy Father gives to us.  The Spirit nurtures and nourishes us spiritually so that if we remain faithful and abide in Father's will, we will be successfully born into the Family of God at Christ's return to this earth, and we will assist as kings and priests to the King of Kings and High Priest our Lord Salvation, in teaching mankind the Way of God. 

I yearn for the day I am born into the Family of God.  I strive to keep myself spiritually fed with the help and guidance of my Father's Spirit (Seed/Sperm) so that I do not prematurely abort. The wonderful Pentecost feast annually reminds me of my begettal/conception as a child of God and my future spiritual birthday and marriage into the Royal Family and the death of this horrid body of flesh. 

Godspeed that day.  Father, YOUR Kingdom come, YOUR will be done on this earth as it is in heaven (and right now, as a whole, God's will is NOT carried out on this earth).