*Disclaimer: This is not a Prophecy. I am not a prophet. It's just what I was inspired to write, like a Midrsash on Prophecies. I do not want to deceive. It's more of an inspirational work, made to reflect on Biblical thoughts and poetry. T. S. Eliot made the same device, in Ash Wednesday, which is also not a Prophecy; this is just poetry.
Chapter 1 The Biting Fly and the Hissing Goose
The biting fly and the hissing goose
Are more tolerable than this people.
The biting fly does not bite
And the hissing goose protects her young
But this people have the venom of asps beneath their tongue.
Chapter 2
Fight o Samaria
Freedom writhes this day---
Baal is worshipped by the rich
And Baphomet by the poor.
Slaughter, o Samaria
The Canaanite from within you.
Purge their very babes from you.
Dash their infants to pieces.
Destroy, thresh, show no mercy
To the heathen gods---rip down their altars;
Break their altars, and destroy their heritage.
Cause their shame to be forgotten in the lands,
O Israel. Now is not a time for peace,
But for the sword. Thresh from among you
And rip down the faithless, with their horns.
The Assyrian navies, sleek ships from Tarshish,
They sail into thy seas, o Samaria, off thy coasts.
Who shall bewail the children of the god Moloch?
Shall we now do to their infants,
What he has seen fit to do to ours?
They dance, with the horns of devils upon their heads,
And they speak their blasphemes and their curses.
"The Prophet Prophesies!"
So says the people, yet it is another vain vision.
How many prophecies shall they utter in error?
Shall the wicked go unpunished?
Who, thou Samaria, is it who bowed the nape
To Moloch? Is it not even you?
Woe! Iniquity upon Iniquity!
Samaria, you ought have foughten
But instead you made alliances with your own Accusers!
You have sacrificed to the Pagan Bull
And you have burned incense to the Lilith!
Now, shall you be destroyed
And your babes ripped from you.
Where your judgment would have proceeded
As light, it is now darkness, for you,
O Samaria, ought have foughten,
But instead you have made alliance with Sin.
Yet, the Prophets shall be among you,
And wag the tongue, as you lick like an adder
With poison. We shall escape, we men of Judah.
Selah.
Thou Land of Whirring Wings,
Who brought ensigns by papyrus vessels,
Thou cleaved by the rivers,
O, Moab, hide the Children of Israel---
For if they cleave to you, and seek your good,
They shall not be slain.
Do not enter into the war
My Children, but let the nations war among themselves.
For judgment proceed'th from the Most High
For their iniquity, and the LORD has lain this trap.
They shall be greatly ashamed, those who accused Judah,
And they shall no more look upon their gods,
And say, "The LORD see'th not."
Your hands shall be bound,
And thy mouths stopped, and every ear shall tingle
At what the LORD has planned for you,
Who made war with your brother in the day his iniquity was found out.
Samaria, she is forsaken, do not take up a lament.
Chapter 3
Lilith
LORD! the log is in mine own eye;
Yet I see more clearly than I ever have;
It is not I who plucks the mote from the eye;
No. for I have the beam in mine eye
And I can never take it out!
LORD, You are our physician,
And You will also transplant in us a clean heart;
You will remove the beam
So that we speak Your Name to others,
To beckon them to take part in Your salvation and healing.
Yet what of my lust?
God will be seen,
But I do not have an answer for my shame---
I know at night the Lilith comes,
And there she remains,
So the sin will not become a waking one.
I become unclean in the morning,
And will not partake of my warfare until evening;
And I will change my garments,
And wash with water and lye.
Yet I can smell sin upon me;
I know my own shame---
When will the God of my fathers answer me?
In my longsuffering, come before I cause
Another to stumble!
Chapter 4
God of My Youth
LORD, You were the God of my youth.
Yes, You. My Mother taught me Your statutes,
My Father instilled in me Thy fear.
I have been Israel from the days of my youth.
LORD, had there been a statute from my Mother
Which I did not abide?
Had my Father given me the liberty of a young man?
Yes, LORD, and I had grown up a plant before You.
Yet, the Philistines were my neighbors,
Yes, even Egypt. And with them I trespassed
By harkening to their idols. I had even Moab
As my brother, and Sodom as my sister,
Whom I had fornicated with, and I
LORD, I had taught her my wicked ways.
Yes, LORD, I had done it, being taught by Philistia
And Egypt, to disobey my Mother, and mock her statutes.
I was taught by Egypt to dishonor my God;
For I fornicated with Philistia, Egypt, Moab and Sodom.
And Philistia was the first to teach me her ways,
And Egypt taught me his ways, and we likewise were corrupted together.
LORD, had there been a command of my Mother or Father
That I had dishonored in my youth? Yes, LORD,
By the teachings of the Philistines,
And by their ways, my Mother and Father were corrupted.
And LORD, Israel was led astray.
Ephraim is my brother, LORD,
And he even loves Philistia to this day,
And fornicates with her idolatry.
LORD, I had done this thing from my youth up;
But, by Your discipline, it has been ended.
Let Israel now say, "My fornication has ended."
Chapter 5
Lord I Am Prosperous
LORD, I am prosperous
And greatly fattened by Your goodness. Selah.
I eat, and am not in fear.
I drink, and the fats of the milk roll down my cheek.
I drink the sweet, and eat the fats of sucklings.
LORD, I eat the fine grains,
Yet, LORD, let the one who murmurs in their prosperity
Think upon You.
For, food and drink, and a good wine of joy
This is goodness to man, and his portion.
Labors which man enjoys, and the price of feasting,
LORD, what man, having this,
Ought to be petty and angered at You?
Yet, LORD, the heathen rage at You,
For they are greatly prosperous,
Yet, in their prosperity, their covetousness
Wants more. They have wives, children,
Loves, feasts, labor which is not too exacting,
Yet, to them, they wish aught to play and rest.
When, LORD, shall man rest, but in Your city?
When shall we nurse from the breasts of Zion
Save when we are finally freed from this bondage?
Yet, to eat, drink, and enjoy one's labors
What is greater than this?
What gift upon the earth is better?
Yet, the Heathen, and Your people, LORD,
Yes, even Your people,
Turn a blasphemous eye to the heavens,
And curse Your name, for they want riches in abundance.
Sustenance You give them,
A portion with the great,
Yet, they still continually blaspheme You?
What shall be done about this?
LORD, in rest, ease, and prosperity,
They eat, and then forget You,
Coveting great riches, and devices, and worldly fame.
LORD, You shall surely answer them,
And in the whirlwind of Your secret fury
You shall watch for them,
And cause them to stumble.
For, the prosperous were many,
LORD, upon the earth,
Yet none were satisfied.
They had bread, water,
Wine, sweet drink, meat,
And their daily dish of vegetables.
They had their homes laid out,
And their riches were many...
More than any before them?
Yet, LORD, they took to anger,
That they wanted more.
What shall be done for this people
To turn them to repent?
They loathe You LORD,
And in their fatness are like Sodom.
What shall be done to them?
What shall be made for these to repent?
Chapter 6
Deliver Me
LORD, I am surrounded by vain women,
Vain and stupid, their whorishness tries to
Entice me, yet I will not be enticed.
How long, oh LORD, will the daughter of Babylon
Go in her prosperity?
How long will her wicked devices prosper?
How long will the effeminate man be joyful
And the righteous man brought to naught?
When will the oceans belch forth vanity,
When will the skies be bronze,
When will the ground be iron,
Is it not when the wicked triumph over the righteous?
LORD, my sins are known to me,
And I am greatly distressed that I have known the nakedness of my shame.
Yet, great vanity besieges me,
And vain women seek to tempt me,
And the wicked seek to ensnare my soul in their devices.
LORD, to where do I turn
If not You? Where do I look
If not upon Zion's beauty?
As a choice bride, Zion awaits Your servant,
And as a decked bride with ornaments,
She awaits the cause of the just,
Whom in their suffering and torment
Abide upon this earth a little longer.
LORD, the wicked rise,
And there is no prosperity for Your servants.
They are robbed, and beaten, and told many lies
Which the sins of their youths have given credence to.
LORD, for the Bride Price we are thrown into prison,
We are made a perpetual shame and sorrow,
And we are made into small and worthless things.
While men marry men, and men lay with children
And seek to acquire impunity for this crime against the Most High.
LORD, they seek my soul to destroy it,
And they seek the priest's life for a pledge.
They take the muzzle off the ox, and make it plow,
And they hinder the poor man from making his end's meet.
LORD, You shall see and laugh at them.
They say, "The LORD shall not see it,"
And yet You laugh them to scorn,
And heap up judgments in Your lake of fire
For the heathen who reject You. Higgaion Selah.
Chapter 7
The Plot of the Entire Bible, From Beginning to End
A plot emerges from its pages.
An epic story, spanning every generation.
Do you wish to know the Bible's story?
I will tell it to you.
Man is created, and man falls.
So, immediately God sets forth a redemption plan.
Through the Woman's Seed, will be an heir
Which crushes the head of the Serpent.
So, God chooses a man from among His people
To give His promise to.
This man is Abraham.
And then Abraham has a Seed Isaac.
And Isaac has a seed Jacob.
And Jacob, all of his sons are promised
To be God's peculiar people.
Jacob's son Joseph then gets sold into slavery by his brothers
And later raises to the status of Satrap in Egypt.
He stays the famine, and all the world is saved.
And his family comes to Egypt.
Four hundred years later, Jacob's family
Are slaves, and the firstborn of Israel are commanded to be
Killed. Yet, from among them, comes Moses,
Who is from the son of Jacob named Levi.
And Moses leads his people out into the desert,
Gives the law and command of ordinances
By which God will judge the Earth,
Which if followed to the letter
Condemns every man, woman and child
And every nation to be destroyed.
For that is God's judgment and Wrath.
Moses dies, and a Warrior named Joshua raises up,
And Joshua leads God's people into Canaan,
After forty years of Israel's wandering
Because of disobedience and worshipping the Golden Calf.
Joshua conquers Canaan, for Canaan was abominable in its sin
And ruled by wickedness.
Then, Israel is established, and the land is ruled
Through God's law alone.
Yet, after several hundred years,
The peoples cry out for a King to deliver them
And a king is given to them, by the ordinance of Samuel.
Then comes the lordship of the Kings.
First by Benjamin, the smallest tribe,
But Saul, the Benjamite,
Fails and becomes wicked. Then, redemption comes through Judah
And David becomes King,
A man after God's own heart.
And from David, it is promised that his Heir
Will be one who is seated upon the Throne of Israel forever.
David's Son Solomon then establishes the Temple
And his son Rehoboam divides the kingdom
For his cruelty. And Israel fractures into
Two kingdoms, Israel and Judah.
Judah remains faithful, mostly,
But, Israel rebels, and comes under siege
By Assyria, and is taken captive.
However, Judah survives the onslaught,
And is promised that the Messiah would suffer
For the sins of the people,
As it was promised to Abraham when he went to offer Isaac
That God would provide the Lamb for sacrifice,
And Abraham would not have to.
Finally, the King of Judah,
Jehoiakim, is besieged by Babylon,
For Hezekiah, the righteous king,
Sinned by showing Babylonian Kings the riches of Israel.
Babylon besieges Judah,
And the bloodiest siege in history ensues,
Where men eat one another,
And must eat human dung to survive.
The walls are broken,
And Judah goes into captivity.
The Law is broken, and severed,
And cannot be binding any longer.
So, after seventy years, Judah returns
To Israel by Cyrus the Great's decree
And there they rebuild the wall and temple.
And they are told to Eat the Fat and Drink the Sweet.
For they are commanded this, to show that they are awaiting
For a newly prophesied Covenant, rooted in Abraham's seed
Who will bless all nations.
Then, the Maccabees reign for a short while,
But are conquered by Rome.
And while under Roman Captivity
The branches are sheared for the ordinances of the Law had been added to.
Here a little, there a little.
And finally, the Promised Heir comes, the Seed of Abraham, the Seed of Eve
The King Who shall reign forever in David's stead,
And God's people reject Him, and Crucify Him,
And mock Him, and made Him poor and a vagabond.
Thus, God Himself was this man, and when He died
He descended into Hell to become our Burnt offering;
The Lamb Whom Abraham was said God would Provide
In stead of Isaac.
Then, this man named Jesus raised from the dead,
Demonstrating His awesome power over death,
And He was God, Who raised, as the Early Creeds go.
And this man ascended in Bodily form to Heaven,
Where He remains to this day, awaiting to judge the living and the dead.
Then, upon His return, Zion shall give birth to the Christ Child,
The promised Heir, and He shall be swiftly carried up into Heaven
And there nurtured, until He returns with the Sons of Israel
Who had never sinned---those like He---
And He slays the hordes at the Battle of Megedo.
And this same man will rule upon the Earth for one thousand years
Giving those of His saints principalities and governorships,
And beautiful wives and children, and vineyards.
And none shall be made afraid, and every man shall eat from his own garden
Undaunted by any sin or malice.
Finally, Satan shall return, after having been imprisoned by God's Angel
And Satan shall gather his forces for the war
Of Gog and Magog. They shall be defeated utterly.
And a new heaven, and a new earth shall descend,
From which those men who have chosen God from the foundation of the world
Shall dwell, in a city more beautiful than any other,
And shall become nations and be pleased by the neverending
Bounty of Jehovah-Provider.
Amen.
Chapter 8
Before I Get Bitter
God, come, before I get bitter.
LORD, I called ones I love pigs
Because I was so embittered.
In my anxious longings
My comforters had given me gall.
While in my complaint I spoke ill.
Wrought from ire, LORD,
That your child is bitter.
LORD, shall I ever see good
In the land of the living?
Shall I ever have sweetness?
Or, LORD, shall I be driven down
Like a wedge? For a sin in my youth
Shall I be continually sorrowful?
LORD, I know I had sinned.
I know I had complained in my mourning.
LORD, in this sight, I am wrong.
Yet, justify me. For there is nothing in me
That I can do to redeem myself from the pit
Laid down by my enemies.
LORD, I am swallowed up,
For when I mourn, they put
Upon my heart firebrands.
And when they sting, I speak uncouth words.
LORD, yet it is still my soul which had sinned
And my anger and bitterness.
LORD, redeem me from the mischief,
For I am being brought over the spoke
And I am continually mournful.
Without hope, what shall I be but evil?
Shall I retain any good, LORD,
If I am continually disciplined?
If I am continually washed over by Your
Devices, and stricken by Your prince
Shall I be made into a righteous son?
Or, shall I suffer, and be embittered and evil
And work wickedness for my complaint?
LORD, You have trodden me down
Past the point where I am bearing fruit.
Now, Your wrath has wrought iniquity.
LORD, lay off the yoke, and uplift the heavy burden
Or I shall fail, and my goodness shall remain no more.
For, LORD, who affixes curses, and who affixes blessings?
Is it not You who sustains a man in the way?
Then, let me never be faulty
And maintain my way upon the slippery slope,
Lest my sins consume me from the land of the living.
Chapter 9
LORD, I, I Stand at the Furnace
LORD, I, I stand at the furnace;
Thine afflictions tarry over my soul.
Where shall I find comfort?
I look for the kind man,
The merciful man,
But am sorely ashamed.
My joints are out of order,
And my hand forgets her skill.
LORD, I wait upon You,
Tarry not... come and help me.
LORD, though I forget a statute
And sin against You,
I shall not forget You.
I shall stand in Your statutes,
And work in the presence of Your saints.
My brothers have come against me.
They draw their swords against my soul.
LORD, rescue Your servant...
My wall is half built,---
LORD, strengthen my arms.
Bring forth the day my walls are built,
And strengthen me in Your constitution.
LORD, deliver me from the hands of mine enemies,
And give me the desires of my heart.
My enemies are my own household,
And I am greatly perplexed.
LORD, drive my enemies away.
Preserve my heart,
And let me see joy in the land of the living.
But, LORD, I have sinned against You.
I have done this evil in Your sight.
LORD, my sin is ever before me.
I am greatly ashamed by mine own iniquity.
My brothers come against me,
My own parents are haters of my soul.
I am injured, my hand is out of joint,
Yet they say, "Work with thine hand,
"For thou art a worthless son."
LORD, I am greatly broken in an instant.
I am greatly ashamed of this,
For I have done this iniquity in Thine sight.
I am not blameless before Thee,
Unless Thou turn my captivity
And heal the hearts of those whom I have made a victim
In the days of my sinful youth.
Chapter 10
LORD, I Will Wait for You with All My Heart
LORD, I wait for You with all my heart.
Let me not be despised.
Let not my enemies triumph over me.
LORD, when I look to the East,
And see the mighty waves
I tremble, and when I look to the North
And see the princes are fat
I wonder; when I look to the South
And I see the poor I consider;
LORD, how many shall suffer
Because of man?
LORD, let me never have this world.
LORD, let me die before I would take it.
Yet, LORD, my health is the flourishing of Your Word
And my bones are rotten within me,
Let Your kindness renew them,
And bring forth the tender saps.
LORD, for Your pruning I have been sore wounded
And for Your admonishment I have been sore vexed.
I have been poor, and my hopes have failed me.
I have seen the widow look upon me with astonishment
Saying, "Who is this man, whom the LORD has chastised?
"Who is he?" LORD, I am an astonishment to all who see me
For You have taken my beauty and my strength
And have withered it like the spring flower.
I have risen up, my beauty was before me,
But like a rose, it withered and I was foul.
LORD, bless this man, Your Servant
Whom Your Apostle had said
Was Graven upon Your palm.
LORD, let me not be plucked from Your palm
For none can remove from Your hand what is
Etched into it; for LORD, I am Zion
Bound for Your city and Your pasture.
Let not my heart be troubled anymore.
Amen.
Chapter 11
LORD, My Faith is Firm
LORD, my faith is firm and steadfast.
When the westerly winds blew
And brought the heat,
When the mighty men of the Philistines were against me
LORD, You breathed, and they were but ashes.
You were furious, and You raised up
On mounted wings, and took to my defense.
LORD, how many shall say of me,
"Look, this is the man who placed his trust in the LORD
"He is utterly ruined, let us go and plunder him."
LORD, let not my heart waiver,
And let not my eyes be haughty.
For I have sinned, and done this thing
Which has offended You.
Against You, and only You I have sinned.
For LORD, what affront have I done?
I have been afflicted and in chains
I have suffered the rebukes of many
And I have borne the hot chastisement of the LORD.
Let not Your precious one see decay
And let not my soul dwell with the prisoners.
Let my heart be wicked no more
And let my eyes be raised up to You
And not the mountains.
Let my heart praise You in the midsummer
And in the winter
In and out of harvest.
Let not my hands be slack
Nor my heart haughty
But let my meditation be continually on the LORD
Mine heart in me trembles
And I rejoice with great mirth
Yet trembling,
For who shall annul the plans of the LORD?
Who shall come against Him or against His servant Israel?
I shall meditate with the honey of the feast
Upon my lips, and shall take my cup with trembling
And my heart with great fasting
And I shall remember the LORD
And be cautious in my ways
Lest I offend against him.
LORD, lead me in the paths of righteousness
So I do not offend Thee, and so I do not wander from Your paths.
For in my youth I was a sinner
So in my youth I bore my yoke of shame.
Let the latter rains be spectacular
And the summer fruits filled with sugars.
Let the harvest be plentiful
And the fruits of my offerings not sin.
Please, accept the offerings of my first fruits
And the sin offering of my hand
Whom I have made an offering
The Soul of Thy Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Chapter 12
LORD, My Soul, My Soul LORD
LORD, my soul, my soul LORD
Longs for the pleasant brook.
Yet, there is great heartache
And pain...
LORD, from where shall my heart come?
Surely all things come from You
And not vain imaginings.
For my heart considers
And my soul tastes of Your wrath.
LORD, for my sins, I have been under
Your rod...
For a short time Your wrath has rested upon
Me, and I am greatly thankful.
For the rod discourages great mischief
And it brings one to repentance.
Yet, LORD, Who art Thou?
And who am I?
Do I, I, LORD, do I
Have the keys which open the doors?
Do I have the keys which never can be shut?
Do I! LORD, I have Your authority?
Why then does my heart imagine mischief?
For there, lying on my bed,
I see my heart is exceedingly deceitful
And it is vain.
Why, LORD, why do You leave me to the heart
Which is abominable?
My heart, which if You could
LORD, I would ask that You shave with the sword
And shave from it the evils which Your servant knows.
For I lack, LORD, I lack what is right
And good and honorable.
I have backslidden, I have backslidden
And from where does the healing come?
Who, LORD, Who shall heal me?
Shall not You? O LORD of the Sabbath?
Does not Your rod strike me
And Your kindnesses abound?
Does the sword threaten my lands?
Does the great wars spread abroad come here?
LORD, surely You know they do not,
Yet, for Your servant's sake
He trembles day and night
Knowing great slaughters could come at any moment,
Like a thief in the night.
Therefore, O LORD
Heal my wanderings!
Put my tears into Your bottle.
For my tears are continually with You
And my grace abounds.
For in my heart is great abomination;
Why do You leave me to it?
Do You not speak, "I shall heal your backsliding!"
Yes, and You heal me, little by little,
Yet LORD the armies march and wander.
Where is our help?
Our help is in the LORD
Maker of heaven and earth
Who shall raise up seven shepherds
And eight principle men.
Who shall stay off the beast
For Your Servant Israel's sake.
Have kindnesses and mercy
O LORD of the Sabbath.
Have mercy and kindness
And do not leave Your servants to decay.
In Jesus Name I pray.
Chapter 13
LORD, Set My Enemies to Confusion
LORD, set my enemies to confusion.
Hide the merciful man.
Hide him, and let not Your wrath fall upon him.
LORD, heal his mourners.
Heal his mourners, for I have sinned
In speaking error.
In error I spoke…
LORD, this was my sin;
My sin is surely with You.
In error I spoke,
And great mischief arose.
It terrified the winds,
And it terrified the just.
LORD, I had spoken vanity
And wind, and have not spoken the word of God in truth.
For this, revive me in its time,
And let my heart be steadfast to always follow Your commandments.
Revive the merciful man on his bed.
Let his heart be praised
And let his milk never run dry.
LORD, I have spoken
But who has set it to pass?
LORD, bring this one swiftly to hell
The ones who do misdeeds
To set the prophets to confusion.
For LORD, our words are idle
And spoken sometimes in vanity
And the wicked set them to pass
And the wicked heartily take up the mischief.
I speak it upon my bed,
LORD, I speak it,
Fearful of You, LORD,
Praying.
LORD, the wicked set it to pass
And I know not how or why it gets done.
LORD, I awake, and it is like the sun has risen.
Then my enemies come
Streaming to set me to confusion.
Lo! Their trap has sprung on them.
Because it proceeds out of my mouth
It does not mean I want it to come forth.
Because it proceeds out of my mouth
I have spoken vanity many times
I wish to revive the soul of the hungry
By bringing justice to the wicked
And swift punishment to the man of error.
With my words I bring judgment
And I do not know where they come.
LORD! Set the enemies at confusion.
Let them fear and tremble at Who You are.
Not I, LORD, for I am but a swarthy idiot.
I speak vanity, and winds
And the heathen seethe to bring words to pass
That are not Yours. So confuse them, LORD
And let their traps spring on them.
LORD, when I had cried war
I had meant it for peace.
When I had cried bloodshed
I meant it for healing.
When I had cried a curse
I meant it for salvation.
For this, heal my iniquity,
And cast it far away from me,
For LORD, when I bless I bless a hundred fold
And when I curse, I mean it for everlasting life
And never destruction.
Let the wicked repent at my words
Which are destruction to their souls
So my words naught become’th.
Chapter 14
LORD! I Cannot Bear My Shame!
LORD! I know my own sins!
They are with me!
Why, why LORD do the heathen try to destroy me?
Why, why LORD do they this thing?
Why do they continually try to throw Your beloved in prison?
Why do they continually try to assault me with their tongue?
LORD! Have I done this thing to them?
No! I listened to the Prophet’s words
And I submitted my yoke to Babylon.
I did not fight it.
I did not make haste.
I did not say, “Yes! I was innocent.”
Because, LORD, surely You know I was not.
When my sins came to remembrance
I put off my outer garment
And I repented in ashes
And fasting.
When I had fasted,
My own kin had made it my shame.
I had mourned, and I had wept
I had known I had done this abomination in Your sight.
Why then, when I am at peace
And in the land
Do these come upon me
And try to break me with their tongues?
Why LORD! When I have honored You.
I had not resisted.
I had not said, “I was surely innocent.”
For I knew I had done this abomination in Your sight.
Why then do my enemies try to pounce?
Why then do they try to put my soul in bonds
And my dove into prison?
I had not done anything!
Yes, what I had done, LORD,
Surely You know
What I had done, LORD,
You had corrected me.
You had stricken me.
You had cleansed my soul.
LORD, when I was among the heathen
I was just like one of them.
Then they rejoiced at my sin.
They said, “Eat, drink, be merry!
“For You are one of us!”
So it is not for my sin
But my repentance
That I have found myself an enemy.
LORD, for their shame
They try to take me to the grave.
They even seek to kill my soul.
LORD, I am fragile
And I cannot bear my own sins.
Surely, if every sin had been numbered
And every sin laid to my account
LORD, I would be encumbered and destroyed.
But, LORD, I know You are with me
For when I cry, You listen.
When I pray, Your ear is ready to hear.
In the time of great waters
I had not raised my prayer
But before it.
LORD, the waters threaten to lay me up to the neck
But LORD, why do these heathen try to take my life?
Had I not laid silently?
Had I not succumbed to justice?
Had I fought it, or done any thing otherwise unwholesome?
When I saw I had sinned, I had laid it to Thy account
To render unto me what was my just due.
And I had received double for all my sins
According to the Heathen’s justice.
I had not laid a cry.
I had not tried to fight my bondage
Which was right, and You had put me unto chains.
No, I had laid my yoke, and let it stay.
Now my bonds are broken,
And they try to take from me
And to put me back under bonds.
No… they shall not.
For their trap shall spring on them like a wild animal
Bereaved of its cub.
It shall come upon them as a bear
Furious for meat
And it shall tear them.
For my sin, I had been recompensed double.
For the injury they had done to Your servant Israel
To not allow him to come out of his bonds
You, You LORD shall recompense the Heathen.
Why should a man suffer an entire lifetime
For the sins he has committed?
Is not grace sufficient?
Is not justice paid its due to the heathen
Who do not cry about an injury
But because of vanity?
They cry because of their own vanity
And not that this evil had been done.
For the evil I could suffer, yet but a little longer.
For even for evil, they ought not recompense a man
For his whole life.
For the LORD has spoken to me:
“I will touch you.”
And LORD, I ask that I never see chains again.
LORD, I ask this because I am innocent
And washed in Your blood.
I had this stain upon my conscience
And needed it lifted.
In my pride I had gone and tried to recompense my salvation to myself.
When I had sinned, in conceiving vanity to save me
I learned that my own mouth or hand could not save me.
Therefore, LORD, I had laid unto the yoke
And let Your waves pass over me.
Night after night, and day after day
I mourned, I fasted, I had loosed the bonds of my sin.
Yet, the Heathen grew even more wrathful
At my chastity, for no longer was I the one who had committed offense
But they. They for trying to lengthen my bonds.
LORD, even soldiers and warriors and spies
Had encamped against me, and LORD, surely You know
They sought my life while I was in my captivity.
Why, then, do they continually try to lay this evil upon me
When I have suffered and have paid my due
Double for my sin?
LORD, do not let their plans prosper.
For even brethren are lifted up against Your servant.
And LORD, I cannot bear my own shame
Lest I be destroyed.
Certainly You know my sins
And have hidden them in Your mercy.
For they are against You, and no one else.
It is You who I have sinned against.
Let not Your servant Israel taste of the captivity a second time.
His soul could not bear it.
Amen.
Chapter 15
LORD, False Accusers Have Risen Up!
LORD, false accusers have risen up!
Had they not seen, o LORD
Had they not seen what was done to the wicked ones
Whom Your people were tormented by?
Had they not seen
How they belched forth words
And were destroyed in a moment?
LORD? How long shall they shoot forth lies
At the merciful ones?
How long shall they speak vanity
And shame the counsel of the poor?
LORD, there is no violence in our hands
We of Israel.
There is no malice nor intent to destroy in our hearts.
We go forth, spreading forth our seed
We wait for the harvest.
We look to the ground
And see the shoots springing forth.
We wait on these, like a harvest
Bountiful to our God.
Father, the harvest springs forth
But then there is none to consume for our people.
It springs forth, and it is eaten by the heathen nations who surround us.
Father, and when they fall into judgment
When they go forth into the grave
By their own wickedness and stupidity
Father, we, we are the ones who are held accountable.
Father, first they make war
And when we don’t draw out our swords
They fall ‘pon rocks
And are dashed to pieces
By their own hands
By their own weapons
By their own lies.
And then they say unto Israel, “Aha! Aha!
“We see! You are the wicked
“And murderous generation!
“We lay forth a curse every so many generations!
“And we change the laws!
“We have you in our trap now!”
LORD, had they not seen the previous traps laid against Israel
How it dashed them to pieces?
How their entrails were as bursting forth from them?
LORD, yet they multiply a war against You, and only You.
Their weapons prospered for a little while
Making the dearth of Your people very great.
Yet, in the valleys, decision was made
And great was the slaughter at Beth-Hashaida.
Why, then, do they continue to attack?
Why then, do they continue to slaughter Your people?
Their own traps sprung on them
And now they multiply even greater war.
Yet, the war shall be turned to the gate.
It has now left Zion.
Say this now, Israel,
“The war has now left Zion.”
Now shall the Assyrian be made war with in his own country.
Now shall they be slaughtered
And now shall they be laid waste.
Yet not by the sword, nor by man’s devices.
Now shall they be held in captivity
And their people mocked and on display
For the whole world to see.
The LORD decreed a destruction against you
And even had you laid down your weapons
The slaughter would be great.
We, the LORD’s people
Would have followed you with our words
And wagged the tongue at you
And watched you flee as dogs
From the prey
When the lions come to tear.
That shall be you,
Yet the lions will want live prey
And they shall follow you to your holes
And they shall rip the enemies of the LORD’s people to pieces.
Yet, you continue war.
War with the LORD shall not prosper you
Oh king of Israel.
Pekah, the merciful man has spared you
The merciful man has blessed you.
For one battle, you are enraged
Yet now let Zion tear forth her walls
O Israel, for your people are a great number
Yet they multiply their vanities.
For these vanities, you bring forth and wag the tongue.
Now we shall lay forth the curse on you
And wag our tongues at you.
Assyria has visited the prophets.
Assyria has visited the lame
And the saints.
Now shall go forth the slaughter as at Midian
O Pekah, king of Israel.
Into captivity shall you go
To the nations whom you did not know.
Judah shall be set free.
Judah shall be eating in the valleys.
Judah shall feed by the brooks.
Judah, O King of Israel, whom you were at war with.
Judah shall confess the curse upon thee
For smiting your brethren
And continually bringing them to shame.
For your curses and your vanities
O Pekah, King of Israel
Shall be your shame.
All your words shall fall on your own head
And depart from the land of Judah.
Assyria’s king shall hear of a great rumor
And shall return unto his cities.
The prophet says to you,
Oh Assyrian? Where is the blessing?
Had not even you done so to us?
And Pekah will be left bare without you
And he shall be as a heath in a burning woods
Consumed by the fires of his own curses.
He shall be laid low in the valleys of Kidron
As the LORD’s people eat, and Judah rejoices with the wife,
LORD, the wife You have chosen for him.
For Judah shall be called “Israel” wherever a blessing rests.
And Judah shall be called “Judah” wherever a blessing rests.
O! Ephraim, Pekah King of Israel, you shall be called so, and even called Judah
Wherever a curse shall rest.
Therefore, the curse which you smote the LORD’s people with
The one which you found by our laws,
It shall fall on your head, o Northern King.
And the curses shall rest on you
O foolish king.
Thus ends the words of the Prophet.
Chapter 16
LORD, Helper of Your People
LORD, Helper of Your people.
The heathen are in derision.
The wicked one belches up
And so let the ones who trouble Your people
See this as a curse:
Those who fight against Israel shall be like her
With her vomit.
The Prophet had warned.
She’d have been better off in prison.
Yet the trap was set for her
To, to destroy her.
LORD, Your people are now at rest.
Your brooks are in the valley of Kidron.
Your people laugh, and Your people play
As violence ends in the streets of Israel,
Let Israel now say:
Let those who trouble us end up like her.
Selah.
Chapter 17
Save Your Servant Israel
LORD, to where do I turn?
LORD, to where do I turn?
Do I turn to the north?
Will my help come from there?
Do I turn to the south?
Do I turn to the king?
Do I turn to the earth?
What is underneath the earth?
From where does my help come?
Idols do not set before my eyes
I have heard Your voice
Idols do not set before my eyes
And I, LORD, I am a listener ready to listen
I am a sheep ready to be set down
In the pasture.
Where does my help come?
Surely all other gods are wolves
Ready to steal
And destroy.
Surely all other gods deceive
And surely they say, “Do some little bit of evil
“So that your will comes to pass.
“Love your life so much
“That you will do this little evil
“And your desire shall surely shine forth like the morning star.”
Yet, LORD, if there is error in my heart
If in my way are stumbling-blocks
Surely You shall remove them.
Why do I, LORD, why do I excel above other men?
Am I something which men look to and say
“This man is my example.”
Surely not, LORD, for You are the example
You are the path set before our feet.
If all else follow after vain idols
I shall surely stay steadfast in Your love.
For where does my heart lean?
If there is a company against me
I shall call upon You early
I shall, before the war
Constantly speak into Your ear.
Who are the men who trouble the meek and feeble?
Who are those who cause trouble for Your servant Israel?
Surely they shall be set forth ablaze
And shall burn for eternity in hell.
Yet, I, I shall listen and wait upon You.
For my salvation is like a wellspring
And my heart a steadfast servant.
Though the company does not believe my words
Though they say, “He lies, there is nothing good in him,”
Though they wait for my feet to stumble
And though they make a diligent watch for sin
LORD return upon their own heads their mischief.
For dreams they accuse Your servant
While they walk forth in slander and murder all the day long.
How long shall the wicked prosper?
Surely You shall not let Your servant see decay.
Chapter 18
The inhabitants of the land are wary of Pride
So they say, “Let the merchandise speak.”
So, for merchandise, they make it their god.
Woe! Are not the sodomites still married in the land?
Is not the rebellion over Baal?
Yet, my people will have it so
So long as their mouths are filled
And their bellies full.
They say, “Let the merchandise speak
“And fear our shekel, and fear our wrath.
“Make the companies and trains of the Merchant Kings of Babylon
“Make them wary of us, for we will not purchase their trades.”
No, my people. For the sin runs deeper than the vice of greed.
You cannot contend with greed for greed
Greed for pride, or pride for greed.
Also, the LORD has a grievance with you.
The shepherd thinks to understand God's thoughts.
He says, “The LORD Rebuk'th the poor man
“For he being now healed, now must exact all hard labor.”
The Greek and the Hittite then, thinking the same thing,
Says, “God is a fool, for why doth He heal Lazarus?”
Then, the Ammonite says an even more foolish thing,
“God is a worthless, grievous sinner, for raising Lazarus.” Even so
The Hittite knows his foolishness, too.
And you rejoice, for they sell not the fragrant drinks
With their Pride, for you say, “Our shekel exacts the price.”
No... there is no repentance. All know, the brazen forehead
Of the Prideful is a wearisome burden. For they are but fools.
Yet, it is greed which is most burdensome in the land.
Greed, which makes a brother a slave,
And makes a widow a victim.
Greed, which pays no equity
And greed which leaves the expert at his craft poor and humbled.
For you want entertained, and you wish to purchase the entertainment
But you do not wish to be fed with nourishment, or truth
For all ask for “Evidence” when there is abundance,
But none seek to listen when that case is made.
Rather, they go about lying, and slandering, and cursing their God.
Woe to the inhabitants of this land.
What shall be done to you?
Shall the dogs bark
Or the swallow swoon at you
Like it did to this prophet?
For your unrighteousness, he walks trembling.
Repent. For your mischief and murders
The air becomes like a furnace;
Yet you mock the prophet,
“Are thy skies blue?”
And he rebukes you.
Do not mock the prophet any more,
Or he will show grave signs
Which shall make even he tingle;
For he wishes only your good,
And not your demise.
For, what good is it for he,
To be taken down to Egypt?
Because of your stiff necks
His prosperity rests on your repentance
And his good on your shoulders.
For, he does not wish to die in a foreign land,
So repent! The Kingdom is at hand!
Yet, he shall eat, and be made comforted.
While you shall rest and be weary no more
Should you just repent.
Chapter 19
Dear,
Toby
I don’t believe Nicky Cruz is fake. I think that whole circus style of worship is fake. The Spirit works quietly. Not rowdily and disorderly.
I think there’s a better way than holding circuses underneath a big tent, and moving people emotionally. I don’t think Nicky’s conversion was like that. Not in what I read.
I mean, I just don’t believe that kind of thing saves people. Nicky got saved because God pricked his conscience, and Nicky knew what he was doing was evil. That’s why he got saved. It wasn’t at an altar call.
In my experience, and this is just my experience, genuine conversions come from a deep stirring within us to be right with God, and not from big events and flashy shows. It’s been my experience.
You need a foundation laid of Christ, and the Morality of Scripture. Without which, nothing will last when the floods come. And two hours at a big tent doesn’t do that. Only fine teaching and decades of studying scripture. And also having knowledge of Who Christ was, which many churches today don’t have. There’s a lot of churches, both Conservative and Liberal, who misrepresent the person of Christ. Either making Him too severe, or making Him too lax. We’re in a dire straight right now, and I would suspect not very many people actually know the Gospel at all.
People are stubborn these days. You are, too. You believe something which isn’t true. Did you disregard the entire point I made? You want to know who makes true converts? It isn’t flashy pastors in big tents. It’s your Sunday School Teachers, and your Local Pastors, and family and friends who live the gospel in your daily life, and are renewed by Christ’s strength, despite severe trial and persecution and oppression.
We have this market brand ideology for Christianity, and God will judge the world for it.
Like I said, the faith will be tested. And if it isn’t founded on the Bedrock of Christ, and true Christianity, it isn’t going to last.
Most of the people who get “Saved” at events like this, don’t know anything about Christ. They know one platitude, and when God wounds them, they turn away. And God will wound you in order to test your faith and obedience. “I have not chosen to refine you with silver, but in the furnace of affliction. I will prosper the one who says these things.”
I thought you repented of your last comment, and saw reason.
Again, I don’t think Nicky is a bad person, but there’s methods of evangelism that work, and there’s methods that don’t. This has been tried, and has failed to cause repentance. It only emboldens people to believe they’re saved, when they really aren’t.
I know what I’m speaking is the truth. And I know what you’re speaking isn’t. And people resisting my word, that’s what’s causing all of the bad things that are happening, and about to happen. My ministry comes with power. It shakes entire nations, and causes world leaders to tremble. And I know what is happening, more than you do.
So, if you reject the power of my ministry, they did the same to Jeremiah, and it isn’t my sin.
Nicky wouldn’t reject me. He’d listen to every word I spoke. Because he is humble.
Yes. By God’s power, He speaks through me.
Nicky would understand this. That’s all I need to know. You, however, are very stubborn and won’t listen to reason.
I mean, you are breaking my heart, Toby. Nothing I said should be contested. The fact is, there’s a great falling away already, woe to the inhabitants when that even greater one comes.
I’m not God. You work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. But, I know what I speak is true.
You should know what I’m telling you is true. You want me to clarify, that Christ’s church is not a circus? You want me to clarify, that the younger generations are losing faith? You want me to clarify, that wickedness reigns right now, and our current style of worship isn’t working? You want me to clarify that going to a big tent and saying one prayer doesn’t save you?
Pray over it. What reason do I have to lie to you? I’m neither raging, or being unkind. Rather, you are.
You need to listen to what I’m saying. Clarify it? You have eyes. Look. And see. Is the Gospel reaching people in this country? Or is it just about snuffed out? And I’ve seen a thousand like events. You’re saying this one is different, but I have to disagree.
I never said he wasn’t preaching the Gospel, either. I said, that events like this haven’t been reaching the younger generations, and it’s time we shift our methodology, so that we don’t lose what we have. Because I don’t think most of the people he comes into contact with, are genuinely saved. If they were, there’d be a revival of Christianity, and the country wouldn’t be contemplating putting people in jail for free speech.
No, it is. Because people have forgotten the Gospel. I remember it. The Gospel should be a lot more persuasive than it is now. One person said, if the full Gospel were preached, there’d be no one who wasn’t saved. I believe him.
I mean, I myself have forgotten some of it. That’s how bad it is. The sin of the world has grown too severe, so that pastors aren’t preaching on the nuances of scripture like they should. They have bad heresies, and both you, I and Nicky need to learn how to get rid of that. To get the leaven out of our houses. So to speak.
Yes. But, the LGBTQ would convert to Christ, if we demonstrated charity. A large portion of the meaning of scripture has been lost over time. Due to Satan corrupting the world, and history and time and space. Death is changing the very fabric of time and space, and is corrupting the Gospel from the Pulpit. If we preach the Gospel, as it were originally taught, we’d be spared the Wrath of God and Tribulation. Like Philadelphia.
The letter of the law yokes you into a bondage you can’t burden. We’re free from that law, to live according to the Spirit of Grace in Power. The Tribulation is the captivity, which falls upon the disobedient sons of God, who have strayed from the faith, and sought to work their own salvation. Or forgot the Law altogether.
Many, if not all would convert. Do you remember the power of Peace, and the days of the Son of Man? If we could bring that to the gentiles, they’d all be saved. That’s the power we ought to walk in.
Yes. But [men aren't being saved,] because of Satan’s deception. If people knew the Gospel, they’d all be saved. But, God blinds it from some, because of their sin, so they cannot know it.
I remember its peace, Toby. I know what it looks like. And all of us need to walk in that power, and we’ll save many by doing so. We could save this generation from the evil work Satan is trying to work.
But, also remember that God can open the eyes of the blind through power. We may just be in an age where the average person hates good, like it was at the end of Jesus’ life. If so, there will be great tribulation. But, the hope I have is that good is persuasive, and can soften the hearts of this people.
You were so close. So close.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Let you pass into the things I know to come, since you have no hope in the restoration of this world. But, I will live by my hope that this generation can repent, and be saved.
For my own sake, I hope in that. I don’t want to live under the curse. And my hope preserves me.
There’s much you don’t understand, ye of little faith.
Do you not know, that when the Gospel was preached in its full power, it caused the whole world to believe? Ye of little faith. The wrath of God comes upon this generation very shortly, unless we renew our hope, and preach God’s Peace to the Gentiles.
Satan hides that from you. Because his deception is deep, and he doesn’t want repentance. He wants to dull the spirits of this people, so he can rule over them.
You’re blinded by your own leaven. When Christ came, within 400 years, the entire world was converted to Christianity. Because God’s Spirit enabled that conversion, and that generation obeyed God’s law. Why is it that this generation is losing faith? It can’t be because the Gospel is being preached. It can only be that the Gospel is being preached wrong. A false gospel. And I’ve diagnosed the problem. It’s because we treat the Word of God lightly, and not with due reverence. The Gospel has become a circus.
[You say to me, that I do not go by what Jesus said, but] I am going by what Jesus said. You’re just not listening. And you never have. That’s the sin of this generation. To think you know, but having your ears dulled, and your eyes blinded, you cannot see or hear, by which to repent. It’s your own sin. But, if this generation walked in God’s peace, it would convert the nations, and shut their mouths, and convert many. Woe to you scribes and hypocrites, and Pharisees… you cast your own shame like a cloud without water. Hypocrites! Have you no hope?
You wish to hasten the day of wrath. Whereas I wish to speak for this people’s benefit. Do you rob me? Do you wish to cause the vision to come to pass? Do you wish to throw my soul into prison? If so, there will be great tribulation. You’ve been warned. Preach the Gospel, bring many to repentance, or there will be great tribulation and cause for fear.
Thus ends this word.
Chapter 20
This is Apollos, to the Churches in Asia. Greetings. I do not know whether war is necessary against you, but it seems our elected governor, put in power by good Christians, wishes to seethe a dispute with you over something that was ordained by God, and directed to bring the deceiving nations a sense of humility. For as you know there are rumors of great plagues terrorizing all the inhabitants of the world. This was by no fault of yours, I am sure, but was in fact God’s design to bring back repentant souls, and to discourage the wicked from establishing their regimes. For, there were earthquakes in Assyria, and great works wrought by God which brought the unbelieving hearts of many to Christ.
It was said by one man in particular, that it was a good deed to go to war with Babylon. He had said, “God had told me to war with Babylon.” Had God spoken to this man, he would have clearly seen in Jeremiah that it was a foul and disgusting thing to go to war with Babylon. Which, the whole world has suffered under needless wars for centuries now, but he has caused the nations to doubt whether Christ is truly the Son of God.
Doubtless, you hear rumors about Homosexuality, how it is clean and right, and that women are not forbidden by Christ to commit fornication. When, indeed, when Christ spoke of men, he spoke of women. Equally, they both bear the weight of guilt under the law, and equally, both are shareholders of the same rewards and punishments. Do not accept this heresy, as it will confuse the church, and lead to a great falling away, as is prophesied. Rather, humble those brethren who believe such things, by reminding them it is a filthy act which is committed by the sons of men, and it need not be entertained as righteous, but as an abomination and filth.
Furthermore, there are those of the Amorites who have chosen God, and have colonized the land of Moab. These have found it dutiful to restrict certain luxuries in their villages, and it is done in the name of Christ. Such abstinence ought to be observed by all, to a less radical degree. For, it is these luxuries which are causing the most deceptions.
Furthermore, if I write to you a letter, churches in Asia, I write it to tell you to obey your governors, for I have prayed fervently for a place where Christ may flourish, for His spirit is fading in all of Europe. I believe that by your swift obedience to the laws, and by your unwillingness to partake in revolts, you will sway your emperors to allow Christ to be freely preached, for no other freedom do we need. For with Christ comes all freedom, and without Christ, what is called freedom is actually a bond and restraint.
Therefore, it must be said that sheep feed on grass, and chew the cud. They do not feed on wars nor violence. Do not hesitate to reprimand officials for their crimes, for Jeremiah had done such, and was rewarded greatly by God. However, do not take up stones to hurl at brethren, for wars are not our business. Only the preservation of the Gospel. Therefore, feed on the cud, and chew on it, for if you do, you shall remain wise and satisfied by poetry and the sundry things which Christ has given you the liberty to understand. For it is wise to get wisdom, and to use it for the expediency of peace. Understand that Christ is the Word, and the unwise cannot perceive Him, therefore, pray that they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to perceive what remains holy, but hidden from their eyes. However, also know that there will be wars and rumors of wars, and we are not to violate our love for Christ by fighting. Let Moabites fight for Moab, and let Assyrians fight for Assyria. However, we shall not resist Babylon.
If you doubt that this is indeed Apollos, I have it on confidence that I have talked with Paul, and am indeed the man whom he referred to, who was called up to the Third Heaven. And what was not lawful to speak, I shall not speak. However, it was not licentiousness that God confided to me, but rather the mystery of Zion. Antichrist will say that it was licentiousness since we share a similar mind, and this shall be a subtle way to identify him when he comes. For the Spirit of God attests that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh, therefore, He is not merely an idea or fable, but is the living, breathing God, seated in His glorified body with the Father in heaven. Amen.
Chapter 21 95 Theses
1. That the church as an institution is the most beautiful thing of human nature; men join together, and play their part in communal activity, and organize themselves to do great things.
2. That the church is a place where humans come, and do their human activities, and form together to make music, cook and deal out bread to the homeless, and do things in corporeal form, all organized as humans do.
3. That the church is not a place for spreading false causes, or political causes. The church is an institution for the spreading of the Gospel, the Good News preached by the Apostolic Faith and Christ Himself.
4. That the church is not a pulpit for one's own activism. It is not a place to preach on current affaires, or spread doctrines of demons regarding the days we live in, and their passing fads.
5. That the church must remain conservative in all that it does, preaching the Morality of Christ in all of its intricacies.
6. That women can be sub-deacons, and Sunday School Teachers, or lead the Worship Procession, but cannot hold authority over men.
7. That the LGBTQ is not permitted to be practiced by church members, but is rather to be shunned from worship, but understood said things happen outside of the church, which are not our domain.
8. That all fornication and adultery, is to be shunned from worship, and yet understood such things happen outside of church.
9. That the church body must not form rules, which exclude members for various purposes, or create a division in the church based on past history: As the church is a place for the molding and perfecting of the soul in truth.
10. That ignorance of the scripture is a damnable heresy, and that the clergy themselves must know the 66 partitions of the Standard Holy Bible, and might even know said partitions of the 70 Books of the Apocrypha.
11. That it is blasphemy, to assume the church body is sinning, by rebuking a criminal, or a misbehaving member of the congregation, as our job as a church body is to edify fellow members in the faith, and not embolden them in their sins.
12. That the traffic of merchandise must be kept separate from the institution of the church.
13. That Christian Books are non sequitur, and need not be taught from the pulpit.
14. That the congregation is not to be taught "Self Help" but rather given the means to be righteous.
15. That a diligent search of the scriptures should be made for all truths of Church Clemency. That we are to forgive those who have fallen, so long as they have remediated that part of their life.
16. That in no way shape or form, are the principles of psychology to be taught in Church. Psychology is Damnable, and forces one to shun those who are fallen, so that they receive no grace, as it emboldens those who are equally imperiled of hell to be bold in their sins.
17. That the congregation is to hide one another's secrets, and not publish them to the world. A Congregation is a place where sinners come to repent; so long as a member of the church is in right conduct, his past sins are to be hidden from view, like they never were.
18. That pastors must be in good standing with their community, and not have criminal records, or if they do, to have no suspicions toward them whatsoever.
19. That a pastor's children must be believing, and in the Orthodoxy of the Faith... if not, said pastor must step down from office. So the world does not scorn the Pastor's children.
20. That the church's job is to deal out meat to the starving, and moral character to those who congregate as a spiritual meat, and heavenly food.
21. That the foundation of Christ must be laid before any other. For, so many churches lack even the slightest knowledge of Who Christ is.
22. That those members called "Apostles" are those whom the world rejects, and not a title to be taken in name only... if one be called "Apostle" they must be forsaken by the world and its system.
23. That if one be called "Prophet" they must be in due diligence to hear their words, to see if their interpretation be right.
24. Do not despise a Prophet, but a prophet does not preach of good fortune.
25. That only some attain the right to be called "Prophet" and such a one as this bears fruits and marks in their life, of extraordinary gifts of insight into the nature of scripture, beyond that of a Pastor's.
26. That if one be called a "Pastor" they must obey the entire faith, and not parts of it.
27. That if one be called a "Pastor", they must attain to orthodoxy, and suffice to the Traditional Apostolic Faith, in all of its moral truths.
28. That a pastor ought not commit moral treason, by teaching any doctrine contrary to the tenets of the faith.
29. That if one belies their beliefs as genuine, but are proven to be false, they are to be shunned until they make a remedy.
30. That church services are not to be a ravel or filled with ecstasies. They are to be sober, and orderly, and not like a base congregation of sinners.
31. That the gift of "Tongues" is not babbling profusely, but is demonstrated by speaking a language you have never heard or learned.
32. That the gift of prophecy is not idly telling one another their fortune--as a diviner--but is rather to warn the world of coming judgment, and said office is rare.
33. That every dream does not come from the LORD, and when a dream is mentioned to a Pastor or Elder, said dream must be checked against scripture, but taken seriously if the one who says it, has proved themselves as a Prophet or Apostle.
34. That if one is to be called a "Teacher" they must instill in the little ones the foundations of the faith, and they must know what they speak.
35. That a man, before being called to teach, must demonstrate knowledge of the Bible and what it means.
36. That evidence is to be found for the faith, and said evidence is weighty, and must be taught from the pulpit.
37. That pastors must have knowledge of their congregations, and let them participate in service through prayer, song and exultation of the LORD.
38. That no manner of uncleanliness should be had, in a church service. All members of the congregation must be washed, clothed modestly---or with their heavenly apparel---and wear respectful clothes.
39. That no member of the congregation can have an odor, unsavory to the LORD, and join in worship.
40. That if a poor member of the church comes, and cannot be clean---for she is poor---to take her to your houses, and wash her, and provide for her a holy garment.
41. That if a member of the congregation shows themselves to be righteous, to give them a place to stay and eat, so long as they do work apportioned for the LORD.
42. That the office of a Prophet is one who speaks truths, and not one who speaks flattery.
43. That if one shelters a prophet, they are to watch said prophet, and make sure they do not err.
44. That no Prophet will ask for a wage, but will be satisfied by the blessings of the congregation, which they give.
45. That an Apostle will travel for three days at a congregation, and no more. Welcome said Apostles into your homes, and know they are holy.
46. If an Apostle proclaims a duty over you, to pay them, or give them their sustenance, such is not an Apostle.
47, That if a Prophet proclaims a duty over you, to pay them or give them their sustenance, such is not a Prophet.
48. That fathers and mothers are to take care of their children, and not abort them, or throw them out on the streets. For they are your kin, and it is your duty to provide for them what you can.
49. That abortion is a grievous sin, and is not to be done by anyone in the Congregation.
50. That the congregation is to be knitted with love, and not envy, strife or bitterness.
51. That the congregation is to be beholden to charitable acts, and give their portion to the poor, and also not to shun members of the congregation who display moral character.
52. That no new doctrine is to be taught, except it be revealed through the Holy Scriptures for its appointed season.
53. That Homosexuality, Transgenderism, or Sodomy and Catamy are not allowed by congregants, though said behaviors might be lawful, or even encouraged.
54. That members of the congregation, who are married, withhold not their bodies from their spouse.
55. That members of the congregation, who are married, treat their spouses with due respect and love; not as authoritarian, but as fellow creatures of the Cross.
56. That all covetousness for positions be neutralized, and the greater one, who has knowledge and esteem, be promoted over the one who seeks the office for gain.
57. That the office of pastor is not a career, but rather a necessity for leadership. For very few men are capable of understanding scripture on their own, and need wise counselors to interpret it for them.
58. That scriptural interpretations follow the hierarchy of Apostle (one proven to be), then Prophet (one proven to be) and then Pastor (One proven to be), and then Teacher (one proven to be). And that no false interpretation be given.
59. We as congregants are to be Bareans.
60. That sexual immorality not be found among you.
61. Nor coarse language or filthy jesting.
62. That the church is to be respected, and the building respected, and not to be a disorganized mess, but rather orderly in all things.
63. That faith triumphs over judgment, and faith in the good character of our congregants as a witness, until guilt is established.
64. That the congregation is not to be distrustful of one another, or follow vain patterns of abuse, associated with the World and its worldly distrust.
65. That the church is to be open, and free to all who come and wish to be well. There is not to be suspicion aroused on account of members, if they show themselves to be virtuous.
66. If a member of the congregation shows any lack of discipline, and sin, if it is sin leading to death, they are to be expelled from the congregation.
67. That sexual intercourse not be made in the church building, even by married members. For it is a holy place, and is not to be made unclean.
68. That the fruits of the Spirit be upon all congregants, and their innocence like a child's.
69. That congregants have no respect of person, and that they rebuke unlawfulness in all degrees, if discovered.
70. That congregants rebuke and exhort one another in all things, and make sure the Law of God is followed in every respect.
71. That the faithful go out into the world, and preach the Gospel as Evangelists.
72. That a rich man is not to be given preference over a poor man.
73. The church shalt not publish the Tithes and Offerings, for this angers the LORD.
74. That if the church does a good service, or good deed, it keeps silent, and secret, and does not publish it.
75. A pastor is worth his wages, and a prophet and apostle too. The congregation ought to support said people with gifts.
76. There is not to be any distrust sown among the congregants, by means of gossip, or talk about people's past sins. They are to be cleansed by the Altar, and if there is no cleansing, why have the Altar?
77. That communion is to be done orderly, and there are not to be meals during church services, so there is no drunkenness or gluttony.
78. That the church ought to facilitate meals to the poor, and support them, for this world is fickle and burdensome, and not all men are gifted with a cheerful countenance.
79. That those who can work, ought to do so. And those who cannot, ought to find occupation which builds up the body of Christ, whether by knitting blankets, or making meals, or doing good deeds.
80. That a woman is not to have authority, and neither is a gay congregant (unless said Gay congregant is celibate and proven himself to be worthy).
81. That the church body is not to get tattoos. And it is not to be published that such a thing is lawful. It is not. We ought to look pure, and undefiled, and unstained by the world.
82. That costly jewelry is not to be worn, nor costly apparel. Rather, wholesome apparel, when in the church body, is to be worn, so as not to shame the poor.
83. That the Jewish Feasts are not to be mandatory, nor are the feasts to be taught, except what they mean. There shall be no aspect of Judaism taught from the Pulpit--that priesthood is abolished in Christ's blood.
84. That it should be taught to all congregants, the Bible and all its nuances. Including Old and New Testament. And Preachers, Prophets and Apostles ought to have familiarization with the Apocrypha, to help guide their congregations into right interpretations.
85. That scripture is not a matter of private interpretation, and if one does not know, they are to go to an authority. If a congregant, to a teacher, if a teacher, to a pastor, if a pastor, to a prophet, if a prophet, to an apostle. And if an Apostle, to the LORD.
86. That the laying on of hands be done orderly, and not disorderly.
87. That no showy miracle be done in the church, as they are most often made to deceive.
88. That no magic be performed, or illusions, or tricks in order to get the congregation to believe falsely; for if belief is established on false miracles, so will their faith be false.
89. That a church is to keep a record of miracles. And to be diligent in proving a miracle was not. So if it be a miracle, they will rejoice, if no other thing can be said.
90. That those who perform miracles, and have the Spirit, are to be noted, and their doctrine listened to closely.
91. That if there be any healing, gift of tongue, prophecy, or teaching, it be made manifest by skepticism first, until the deed is made manifest that no other explanation can be had.
92. That the church is not to falsely proclaim miracles, but every miracle is to be investigated by church authorities.
93. That if one be a "Deacon" they do their deeds with due diligence, as they make the church orderly.
94. That if one be an "Elder" they minister as church officials.
95. That no man or woman be established a position in the church, until they establish that they have right doctrine.
Chapter 22 An Image
I saw a beautiful virgin of Israel defiled before their enemies. Whom she was spat on, and broken, and she was there naked before my eyes. I asked the LORD, “For what cause does Israel suffer so much!” And He replied, “Because they have not hearkened unto me, and have added and taken way. They have altered My Law, and therefore I am furious with them," saith the LORD. "For I had told them, not to swear by Baal, yet the very priests themselves, take an iron stylus, and scribe their error into my Law. What shall I do unto them, O Israel? Counsel me! What shall I do for a nation that has backslidden, and has perpetuated every disease? For their error is grievous, and their shame exposed.”
Chapter 23 A Letter on Fustration
Resolve to know Christ. Don't be indifferent to Christ. Pray all day, every day, meditate on His Word and commune with Him. No matter what, when you feel depressed, take a walk through a forest or desert--wherever, just like Jesus--and pray. You'll be invigorated. Tell God you're angry with Him, but don't let your heart be bitter, and ask Him for peace and love and to not be angry. Prepare to die for the love of your brother, and hope for his wellbeing and satisfaction more than your own. God will provide what's necessary for your fruit. As He wants love and peace, not style and cunning, developed in your personality. Every anxiety, go to the LORD. No matter how hard, go to Him, make known your true thoughts, and develop the fruits of righteousness. God cares more about that than your success. He'll give you whatever you need for righteousness, but prepare to suffer long for the hope of good and ripe fruit.
Do not worry. Ask God for heavenly treasures. And you will soon be freed from this world's burdens. You won't long for death, nor will you despair, but you'll have hope which is commanded.
Chapter 24 Hephzibah
You have said, “The LORD rejected me.”
Why is it, oh Israel, that the LORD rejected you?
Was it not because of your deep sin?
Was it not because of your deep transgression?
Yet, behold, the LORD shall be found
If you just seek Him.
You say, “How had we not sought You?”
You have sought comfort in this world
And not the world hereafter.
Behold, the LORD shall love you, if you love Him.
But you say, “How have we not loved the LORD?”
You have not taken Zion to yourself
Like a choice virgin, but have forsaken her
And caused her to dwell in a dry land;
You have married strange daughters in the land.
Therefore, write a bill of divorcement
For the strange daughters, and seek after Zion;
I speak so you are not foolish,
And do not divorce your lawful wife:
Let go of the things of this world
And bind yourself heavenly treasure.
You say, “But how have we not bound heavenly treasure?”
You have sought this world's goods
And filled your barns, and filled your olive groves
But have neglected the fruit fields of Zion
And the mansions made out of precious stone;
You have neglected the mountain of the LORD
And the milk and honey of Zion's dales,
And have not sought a world without end:
You have sought treasure here on Earth
And have not walked accordingly, by asking for treasure here
And not where they shall never perish.
Behold, you have blasphemed, and wrought deep sin.
You say, “How have we blasphemed?”
Lo, has the LORD not seen your secret parts
Yet He has not made an end of you.
He has given you of His spirit a portion
So strive a little longer;
Look for heavenly treasures and not worldly
And all shall be well with your soul
When the trial and tempest and storm comes
You shall not be knocked over.
For build upon the foundation of rock
And not sand. Thus saith the LORD.
Chapter 25 Heaven and Hell
Brethren, Greetings in Philadelphia. I come to acknowledge that a great mischief has been wrought in the land. Men are being led astray to dismember themselves, and turn themselves into women. And women the same, fashion loins for themselves through strange science. There are women who exert their own rule over men. And men who see women as a lesser creature, and not with the soul of man. There is greed, concupiscence, and a fire about to be put out by Sin and its idolatry.
I say, these are evil times we live in, but it was asked, "How do we save Christianity?" For the heathen think we are about to perish, as they plot to take our liberty away, and kings strip the title of "Church" from their domains. We shall not perish, but be gathered to all the worlds, my brethren, and brought back to Zion. We save a man's soul through the law, and our sobriety. We walk in peace, and love, and charity toward our fellow man, and give right answers. So even the Heathen , when they are rebuked to their face, they know that it is because we love them, and not because we wish to harm them.
Hell exists, my brethren, and it is a comfort to me. For I see all the suffering caused by the heathen, and I weep at the disasters they reap, always causing distress to themselves and others, by stripping away that which is natural to man, and replacing it with something base and unkind. For they say "Consent" as if it were a word which granted them license to do all manner of evil. Can you consent to the destruction of your own soul? Surely you can, and it will reap the same vengeance as it did in this life, and there will be no pleasure in it in hell, when it is through.
As for heaven, Zion is Peace, and we obtain her through the arts of Kindness, Charity, Love, and Good Fruit. She is beautiful, so desire her like a comely maid. I do not know what heaven shall be, but take all the good you see in this life, and put your hopes there, for Satan will not allow you to have a good life, if he were able. If you have a good life, rejoice, but tremble for many are taken off the path of righteousness by worldly lucre.
The prophets are among us, and speaking, and the tabloids are running stories of insane conspiracies. Maybe they are true. Maybe they are not. In my own estimation, it is sin that is causing everything, and not the agency of man working destruction, but rather sinners with no knowledge of the good, trying to construct a "Better World" where their vision has nothing like love, charity or kindness, but rather has lust, greed and self-assertion. And this is the world they are creating, and the world rejoices in this new creation. And it shall, Christians, therefore seek to obtain Mercy as a Prize, for she is beautiful among all others, and she is one. Seek after Mercy, and Peace and Wisdom, and bind them to your bosom, and lie down with them in matrimony. Marry them to your soul, and you shall have all the worldly fruits for repentance and righteousness. And not the fruits of vanity and greed.
Brethren, Suicide is a grievous sin, and the heathen being so frustrated by our words, take their own lives, to spite us. For this cause, Brethren, keep preaching the truth, and you shall retain Mercy, and they hell. For the fires are quenched in them, of good fruit and spirits, and they have wedded to themselves Sin in Holy Matrimony. A marriage of sin and flesh, conjoined to the corruption of the State and corruption of the Soul. Therefore, preach repentance to them in kindness, so if they do die by our words, they were at least warmly entreated, and not harshly criticized. Preach to them in love, and not bitterness, envy or slander.
Also, keep back the storms of Antichrist, by watching the clouds moving in on the horizon. Know the times. Keep Peace in your hearts, and Wisdom, and Mercy, and Love, and Justice, and know the times we live in, are not good times. For, being so cursed upon the earth for a little while, the curse itself will save you, having not received your earthly reward--or perhaps you have lost it--you shall attain a better hope for the world to come, and all your sin purged from you, you shall be married in the land of Zion. And eat the Supper Feast with our LORD of the Fruit of Life, the Milk and Honey of Zion, and the Living Waters. It shall taste better than any earthly morsel, and greater still, shall be our cities and gold and mansions.
Brethren, keep at bay all sinful thoughts, all sinful lusts... and know I write a sermon not Scripture... for I write many sermons, and many words to you. Do not depart from the Sixty Six books of the Bible, but seek where it is written, and seek witnesses for yourselves among the Heathen, that confirm God's Word. Seek for wisdom, and refined by fire, you shall be tested as Gold come out of the furnace, and made a Holy Portion for the LORD. Don't commit suicide, but rather run the race, and many shall follow after you, and shall be tried in the same furnace as you, my loves. And perhaps, a holy sacrifice shall be left, of even worldly prosperity, and we shall be saved from the testing to come.
Chapter 26: My Teachings on Marriage
My, not Paul's teachings on marriage.
Listen, my brethren, to Paul, for marriage brings worldly sorrows. But, good worldly sorrows, for one then has company in this strange world, and recourse to expire worldly lusts. And a spiritual sister or brother, whom flesh binds with flesh, and a child springs forth into this world, sown between the fruits of two lovers.
If you cannot afford or fathom how to take care of your children, do not have sex. But, if your wife or husband have desire, satisfy it fully. And have the children, for God shall abundantly provide for a household sown in love. Sown in discord, it shall have curses, but in love, and peace, and no enmity or strife, there shall be fruitful fields and gardens, and springs, and wells, and rivers, and much fleshly lusts expired through the satisfaction of your mate.
Do not marry one of the same sex. Do not change your gender from your sex. For if you do that, you will surely die in the lake of fire. Until you divorce this strange spouse, and expire the lust completely, whether by castration, then so be it. Or by neutering, then so be it. Whether by plucking out your eyes, or ears, then so be it. My heart aches, that questions like these were not common for so many years, and yet now everyone is forced to ask them. Or, if you have no lust, you may remain whole, and not a Eunuch, but abide in peace.
If unmarried, the LORD shall bring you dreams if you need them. Wash, do not enter into battle, and your soul shall be purged of fleshly lusts. It is better not to have dreams, however. Also, do not be filthy Dreamers, looking for lusty ways to gratify your desires.
As for birth control, use whatever you wish, but maximize the pleasure. But, do not kill the seed, or the egg, or the fetus. That is my teaching, not Paul's.
Also, love your spouse as much as you can. Indulge in love, and feel love for one another. Drink deep of each other's cisterns and wells, in the love enjoined in the two through the fleshly covenant of marriage. Love her, deep love, and true love. Make heavenly peace the union you share with your spouse, and friendship felt most sincere. For if it is not this, you cannot be divorced.
Do not get divorced. Not for any reason, other than adultery. Any other reason, causes infidelity, and is wickedness.
Do not fantasize about anyone beside your spouse. And if you do not have a spouse, do not fantasize, but let your dreams purge worldly lusts. Do feel a bit guilty for dreams, however, as they are not good. But, do not feel like you have sinned, either. Only that you are unclean. But if you do have a spouse, fantasize about her often, for she is your soulmate, and she is whom God gave you as your portion in this life.
Have one spouse unto death, and if need be another in widowhood. And if your spouse has touched the flesh of adultery, you are made free.
27. My Life Thus Far
St. Broom was 16 years old when he began to worship the LORD. He did that which was right before the LORD, all the days of his life. He was an exceedingly wicked child, though, who made many evil deeds, and lived in conscience to remedy and restore whom he had wronged. Yet, his victims were unmerciful, and contracted many enchantments to devil him, and through observing times, and enchantments and employing even fallen Seraphim and many sorcerers, they tormented him all the days until now. Yet, he departed not from the LORD, and even was caused to think he blasphemed, but had not, for Satan had spoken to him in dreams, and caused his mind to be tormented. All for childish visions, Satan had restored nothing which the enemies of St. Broom had stolen from him, and they were sore wroth all the days of their life. Yet this St. Broom had, he never bowed a knee to Baal, but spoke right of the LORD and all His statutes, even in confused times. And was restored to a good conscience in Christ Jesus. Nor did he use enchantments or witchcraft, yet was a very learned man.
Chapter 28: The Hissing Goose and Biting Fly
The hissing goose hiss'th for itself
And the biting fly doth bite.
This people's arrogance is more dangerous
Than a bear lurking in the woods.
My arm cannot save them, for it is weak
And my heart fail'th for waiting.
They surely do not wish to repent.
Chapter 29: A Sermon To The Antichrist
Devil, you need God's power to be good. We know right from wrong innately. That's not what God is for. Abraham had to be shown God does not demand human sacrifice, as the Amorite Religion required it. Except once, through God's Son, which God says Jehovah Jireh. He will provide. But our conscience bears witness to that, and the Bible bears witness to our conscience.
Slavery is a kindness on those who cannot understand or know how to take care of themselves. Or it's there to reprove the wicked for their crimes. It also was the only way to keep large cities fed. We don't need it now, as we have industrial machinery.
God talks more about charity than anything else. That's why I believe.
The wars God caused man to fight brought peace, though. Sin grows too severe sometimes, where the next time, God will have to destroy it Himself, like He did in Noah's day. But in Moses' day, He delivered the people of Israel through the beach, and defeated Pharaoh, and caused the next generation to war with Canaan, as they were in deep sin, which caused deep suffering. In Christ's day, He died and raised, and persuaded the entire Roman empire, through the peace of His servants' righteousness. But now, we cannot war anymore. We have to win through persuasion. Like it were in Rome, again, and maybe by our own blood.
We don't know who burns in hell. God is Judge not I. No, I don't know who's going to hell. Or who's going to heaven. Nobody does. The nations will join themselves with Israel, so there's no way to tell. God's Word is extolled above even Himself, so those who love righteousness, I believe have grace, so long as they find Christ, and His power. There is one name, and all other roads are wicked. There is only one gate, but few shall find it. I believe righteousness compels the LORD to find you, though, and move all things to bring you to Him, and gather you, as a Hen does its flock.
But He resurrected, confirming His witness. Josephus names His brother, James, dying for the testimony that Christ raised from the dead. Not to mention, myriads of Church history--we know a lot about the apostles--they died believing too, having met and ate, and lived a very intimate and close life with Him. And they saw Him ascend. And Thomas put His hands into His wounds, being slain by red hot irons after not perishing in a furnace. So it could only be Christ. That's confirmation of His moral teachings.
The Gospels are the evidence. They're more reliable and closer to the source than Plutarch. And we have far more manuscripts to compare and understand, and make a complete documentation of the scripture. We know this through Papias who it was who wrote the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and John, and Luke we know accompanied Paul, who knew James, Peter, John and through John Mary.
Well, consider, if you weren't going to hell, the LORD would draw you to Himself. You couldn't be removed even if Satan employed Seraphim to blaspheme God's holiness through your prophetic organs. Which Satan has done, as I've witnessed through reading about the martyrs. If the LORD has chosen you, He knows your heart already, and will save you because He has instilled His righteousness within your heart, and has proved you love His law. There is no work, but a change of heart. The LORD is sovereign, and is the one Who causes change.
It's not your deeds, but your state of heart. Hell happens because you've rejected the Holy Spirit, and cannot have a share of God's righteousness, nor His peace. If you cannot have God's peace, where will you go? What will you have? God is the source of all good. So you ultimately can have no good if you choose to reject Him.
There's no work in heaven. It's a restoration of Eden, with Hephzibah as your Eve or for women the LORD as their Husband, and the Lord's Mind, Soul and Spirit so you can never have any more sin. You become like God, and have power to judge, and are made into clans and nations. It's the restoration of the mistake made by Adam and Eve, only saved through Christ, and given a resurrected form like Himself.
Category: Psalm
LORD! I Cannot Bear My Shame!
LORD! I know my own sins!
They are with me!
Why, why LORD do the heathen try to destroy me?
Why, why LORD do they this thing?
Why do they continually try to throw Your beloved in prison?
Why do they continually try to assault me with their tongue?
LORD! Have I done this thing to them?
No! I listened to the Prophet’s words
And I submitted my yoke to Babylon.
I did not fight it.
I did not make haste.
I did not say, “Yes! I was innocent.”
Because, LORD, surely You know I was not.
When my sins came to remembrance
I put off my outer garment
And I repented in ashes
And fasting.
When I had fasted,
My own kin had made it my shame.
I had mourned, and I had wept
I had known I had done this abomination in Your sight.
Why then, when I am at peace
And in the land
Do these come upon me
And try to break me with their tongues?
Why LORD! When I have honored You.
I had not resisted.
I had not said, “I was surely innocent.”
For I knew I had done this abomination in Your sight.
Why then do my enemies try to pounce?
Why then do they try to put my soul in bonds
And my dove into prison?
I had not done anything!
Yes, what I had done, LORD,
Surely You know
What I had done, LORD,
You had corrected me.
You had stricken me.
You had cleansed my soul.
LORD, when I was among the heathen
I was just like one of them.
Then they rejoiced at my sin.
They said, “Eat, drink, be merry!
“For You are one of us!”
So it is not for my sin
But my repentance
That I have found myself an enemy.
LORD, for their shame
They try to take me to the grave.
They even seek to kill my soul.
LORD, I am fragile
And I cannot bear my own sins.
Surely, if every sin had been numbered
And every sin laid to my account
LORD, I would be encumbered and destroyed.
But, LORD, I know You are with me
For when I cry, You listen.
When I pray, Your ear is ready to hear.
In the time of great waters
I had not raised my prayer
But before it.
LORD, the waters threaten to lay me up to the neck
But LORD, why do these heathen try to take my life?
Had I not laid silently?
Had I not succumbed to justice?
Had I fought it, or done any thing otherwise unwholesome?
When I saw I had sinned, I had laid it to Thy account
To render unto me what was my just due.
And I had received double for all my sins
According to the Heathen’s justice.
I had not laid a cry.
I had not tried to fight my bondage
Which was right, and You had put me unto chains.
No, I had laid my yoke, and let it stay.
Now my bonds are broken,
And they try to take from me
And to put me back under bonds.
No… they shall not.
For their trap shall spring on them like a wild animal
Bereaved of its cub.
It shall come upon them as a bear
Furious for meat
And it shall tear them.
For my sin, I had been recompensed double.
For the injury they had done to Your servant Israel
To not allow him to come out of his bonds
You, You LORD shall recompense the Heathen.
Why should a man suffer an entire lifetime
For the sins he has committed?
Is not grace sufficient?
Is not justice paid its due to the heathen
Who do not cry about an injury
But because of vanity?
They cry because of their own vanity
And not that this evil had been done.
For the evil I could suffer, yet but a little longer.
For even for evil, they ought not recompense a man
For his whole life.
For the LORD has spoken to me:
“I will touch you.”
And LORD, I ask that I never see chains again.
LORD, I ask this because I am innocent
And washed in Your blood.
I had this stain upon my conscience
And needed it lifted.
In my pride I had gone and tried to recompense my salvation to myself.
When I had sinned, in conceiving vanity to save me
I learned that my own mouth or hand could not save me.
Therefore, LORD, I had laid unto the yoke
And let Your waves pass over me.
Night after night, and day after day
I mourned, I fasted, I had loosed the bonds of my sin.
Yet, the Heathen grew even more wrathful
At my chastity, for no longer was I the one who had committed offense
But they. They for trying to lengthen my bonds.
LORD, even soldiers and warriors and spies
Had encamped against me, and LORD, surely You know
They sought my life while I was in my captivity.
Why, then, do they continually try to lay this evil upon me
When I have suffered and have paid my due
Double for my sin?
LORD, do not let their plans prosper.
For even brethren are lifted up against Your servant.
And LORD, I cannot bear my own shame
Lest I be destroyed.
Certainly You know my sins
And have hidden them in Your mercy.
For they are against You, and no one else.
It is You who I have sinned against.
Let not Your servant Israel taste of the captivity a second time.
His soul could not bear it.
Amen.
LORD, False Accusers Have Risen Up!
LORD, false accusers have risen up!
Had they not seen, o LORD
Had they not seen what was done to the wicked ones
Whom your people were tormented by?
Had they not seen
How they belched forth words
And were destroyed in a moment?
LORD? How long shall they shoot forth lies
At the merciful ones?
How long shall they speak vanity
And shame the counsel of the poor?
LORD, there is no violence in our hands
We of Israel.
There is no malice nor intent to destroy in our hearts.
We go forth, spreading forth our seed
We wait for the harvest.
We look to the ground
And see the shoots springing forth.
We wait on these, like a harvest
Bountiful to our God.
Father, the harvest springs forth
But then there is none to consume for our people.
It springs forth, and it is eaten by the heathen nations who surround us.
Father, and when they fall into judgment
When they go forth into the grave
By their own wickedness and stupidity
Father, we, we are the ones who are held accountable.
Father, first they make war
And when we don’t draw out our swords
They fall ‘pon rocks
And are dashed to pieces
By their own hands
By their own weapons
By their own lies.
And then they say unto Israel, “Aha! Aha!
“We see! You are the wicked
“And murderous generation!
“We lay forth a curse every so many generations!
“And we change the laws!
“We have you in our trap now!”
LORD, had they not seen the previous traps laid against Israel
How it dashed them to pieces?
How their entrails were as bursting forth from them?
LORD, yet they multiply a war against You, and only You.
Their weapons prospered for a little while
Making the dearth of your people very great.
Yet, in the valleys, decision was made
And great was the slaughter at Beth-Hashaida.
Why, then, do they continue to attack?
Why then, do they continue to slaughter your people?
Their own traps sprung on them
And now they multiply even greater war.
Yet, the war shall be turned to the gate.
It has now left Zion.
Say this now, Israel,
“The war has now left Zion.”
Now shall the Assyrian be made war with in his own country.
Now shall they be slaughtered
And now shall they be laid waste.
Yet not by the sword, nor by man’s devices.
Now shall they be held in captivity
And their people mocked and on display
For the whole world to see.
The LORD decreed a destruction against you
And even had you laid down your weapons
The slaughter would be great.
We, the LORD’s people
Would have followed you with our words
And wagged the tongue at you
And watched you flee as dogs
From the prey
When the lions come to tear.
That shall be you,
Yet the lions will want live prey
And they shall follow you to your holes
And they shall rip the enemies of the LORD’s people to pieces.
Yet, you continue war.
War with the LORD shall not prosper you
Oh king of Israel.
Pekah, the merciful man has spared you
The merciful man has blessed you.
For one battle, you are enraged
Yet now let Zion tear forth her walls
O Israel, for your people are a great number
Yet they multiply their vanities.
For these vanities, you bring forth and wag the tongue.
Now we shall lay forth the curse on you
And wag our tongues at you.
Assyria has visited the prophets.
Assyria has visited the lame
And the saints.
Now shall go forth the slaughter as at Midian
O Pekah, king of Israel.
Into captivity shall you go
To the nations whom you did not know.
Judah shall be set free.
Judah shall be eating in the valleys.
Judah shall feed by the brooks.
Judah, O King of Israel, whom you were at war with.
Judah shall confess the curse upon thee
For smiting your brethren
And continually bringing them to shame.
For your curses and your vanities
O Pekah, King of Israel
Shall be your shame.
All your words shall fall on your own head
And depart from the land of Judah.
Assyria’s king shall hear of a great rumor
And shall return unto his cities.
The prophet says to you,
Oh Assyrian? Where is the blessing?
Had not even you done so to us?
And Pekah will be left bare without you
And he shall be as a heath in a burning woods
Consumed by the fires of his own curses.
He shall be laid low in the valleys of Kidron
As the LORD’s people eat, and Judah rejoices with the wife,
LORD, the wife You have chosen for him.
For Judah shall be called “Israel” wherever a blessing rests.
And Judah shall be called “Judah” wherever a blessing rests.
O! Ephraim, Pekah King of Israel, you shall be called so, and even called Judah
Wherever a curse shall rest.
Therefore, the curse which you smote the LORD’s people with
The one which you found by our laws,
It shall fall on your head, o Northern King.
And the curses shall rest on you
O foolish king.
Thus ends the words of the Prophet.
LORD, Helper of Your People
LORD, Helper of Your people.
The heathen are in derision.
The wicked one belches up
And so let the ones who trouble your people
See this as a curse:
Those who fight against Israel shall be like her
With her vomit.
The Prophet had warned.
She’d have been better off in prison.
Yet the trap was set for her
To, to destroy her.
LORD, Your people are now at rest.
Your brooks are in the valley of Kidron.
Your people laugh, and your people play
As violence ends in the streets of Israel,
Let Israel now say:
Let those who trouble us end up like her.
Selah.
The Poem is inspired by Micah 7.
Especially these verses:
10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
A woman harassed the prophet Elijah in this prophecy, and she said to the prophet, “Where is the LORD thy God?” His eyes would behold her. That is, he would see her in person. And she would be trodden down in the streets because she transgressed against the prophet.
11 In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.
In the day that this happens, Jerusalem’s walls will be built, and the “Decree shall be far removed.” That is the decree to destroy and lay waist Israel; the decree to destroy and plunder all of her work and labor; the decree to put her in prison.
12 In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
And so one shall come from Assyria, the nation at war with Israel, from his fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the “River” and from “Sea to sea” and from “Mountain to mountain.” That is, he shall visit the LORD’s people, one by one.
13 Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
This is a curse. Because the people are wicked, the land will be a desolation.
14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
There will raise up a shepherd who will feed the people with the rod. That is, he will discipline the people. They will feed in Carmel and Bashan. I think the people who dwell solitarily in the wood will come out of hiding—the Israelites who were being persecuted by Assyria, and they will again feed on the fatness of the land.
15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.
The prophet Elijah will be shown marvellous things. For forty years, he will be shown marvellous things.
16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
The nations will see this and be confounded at all their strength. The miracles performed by Elijah will leave them with no choice but to believe in God and shut their ears and mouths and be deaf and blind. The reason is because the report of Israel’s victory will reach them, and it will be so shocking that it will deaf them.
17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.
The wicked will lick the dust like a serpent and move out of their holes like worms of the Earth. They will be afraid of God, and shall fear because of Elijah the prophet.
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
The LORD does not have anger forever, or else the people of Israel would fall away from Him, and stop worshiping Him. Rather, He brings Israel—all of us—justice and peace, and wins our victories for us. That is what the above poem is about, is about Medea being destroyed by her wickedness. She “Belches” forth her vomit, which are her words. Her own words destroy her because she gains success in all that she does, she profits off of lies, only to meet her fate, which is to be trodden down in the streets like mire. What’s important to understand about this, is that people can only profit off of lies for so long. The lies are like vomit. Because when someone tries to fight against the LORD’s people, they will vomit up all of their wickedness and lies, and be destroyed. There will be no sparring them. They will be at rest, and in prosperity. The LORD is good, and Jesus Christ is the LORD come in the Flesh.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
The LORD will turn toward us again and have compassion on us. He will “Subdue our iniquities” and will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. That is, He will literally throw our sins into the depths of the sea. How this happens, I don’t know, but it’s a huge influence on Fairyland. I imagine Fairyland being where the sins are cast. Leviathan’s belly, where somehow our sins go, and get swallowed up by him. That is the influence in my poetry, anyway.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
The LORD will perform the truth to his people, and mercy to the gentiles who are his people. He has sworn to save us, and will, and will lead His people Israel by a shepherd, Israel, so they know how to turn and do what is right. Because they hadn’t been doing what was right. That was why Assyria came up against them.
Save Your Servant Israel
LORD, to where do I turn?
LORD, to where do I turn?
Do I turn to the north?
Will my help come from there?
Do I turn to the south?
Do I turn to the king?
Do I turn to the earth?
What is underneath the earth?
From where does my help come?
Idols do not set before my eyes
I have heard your voice
Idols do not set before my eyes
And I, LORD, I am a listener ready to listen
I am a sheep ready to be set down
In the pasture.
Where does my help come?
Surely all other gods are wolves
Ready to steal
And destroy.
Surely all other gods deceive
And surely they say, “Do some little bit of evil
“So that your will comes to pass.
“Love your life so much
“That you will do this little evil
“And your desire shall surely shine forth like the morning star.”
Yet, LORD, if there is error in my heart
If in my way are stumbling-blocks
Surely You shall remove them.
Why do I, LORD, why do I excel above other men?
Am I something which men look to and say
“This man is my example.”
Surely not, LORD, for You are the example
You are the path set before our feet.
If all else follow after vain idols
I shall surely stay steadfast in Your love.
For where does my heart lean?
If there is a company against me
I shall call upon you early
I shall, before the war
Constantly speak into your ear.
Who are the men who trouble the meek?
Who are those who cause trouble for your servant Israel?
Surely they shall be set forth ablaze
And shall burn for eternity in hell.
Yet, I, I shall listen and wait upon You.
For my salvation is like a wellspring
And my heart a steadfast servant.
Though the company does not believe my words
Though they say, “He lies, there is nothing good in him,”
Though they wait for my feet to stumble
And though they make a diligent watch for sin
LORD return upon their own heads their mischief.
For dreams they accuse Your servant
While they walk forth in slander and murder all the day long.
How long shall the wicked prosper?
Surely you shall not let your servant see decay.