Saturday, March 16, 2019

Daniel's 70th week part 1


Dan.9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. (v25) Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. (v26) And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (v27) And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.


  When we talk about ‘the end’ of the world and ‘the last’ days, we need to be guided by the scriptures as to what this is relative to. The last days are in the rubric of Israel’s conversion to Jesus Christ. The last days of Israel’s chastening, conversion and restoration of the kingdom; the last days of Daniels 70th week. (Gen.49:1, Isa.2:2, Mic.4:1,Acts 2:17 w/Joel 2:28-32, 2 Tim.3:1, Deut.4:30)

  Thy people and thy holy city will be reconciled and brought into everlasting righteousness after 70 weeks (year weeks not day weeks- Gen.29:27-8, Lv.25:1-8). This was not manifested at the cross which occurred after 69 weeks (not after 70 weeks), although it will be a direct result of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But as Daniel revealed “after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself” (v26). There is one more week determined upon thy people and thy holy city before these things are brought to pass upon thy people and upon thy holy city. Jesus was not the “prince that shall come” after the Messiah was cut off (Jn. 5:43); otherwise you have Christians as “the people of the prince” who destroy Jerusalem 3.5 years after the covenant was confirmed during the last week of years. Notice this was not to occur some 40 years later at 70 A.D., rather three and a half years before Daniels 70 weeks were complete. Daniel’s timeline mysteriously stopped when Messiah the Prince was cut off (when 69 weeks were full), leaving yet one week of years. That these things were hidden from Israel should not be a mystery to us however. Consider what Daniel was told directly regarding his prophecies:

Dan.12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (v7) And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. (v8) And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? (v9) And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

 Jesus even told the Jewish disciples “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” (Ac.1:6-7) Apparently, it wasn't as obvious as preterists project, in that the restoration of Israel ("thy people") would not be after the next 3.5 years. The disciples were going to preach the gospel of Christ to the uttermost parts of the earth (v8) and teach all nations the words of Christ (Mt.28:19-20,Mk.16:15) but they were not immediately revealed some things (Jn.16:12-13). Part of the mystery kept hidden to Daniel and the Old Testament prophets was Jerusalem (Lk.19:41-2, Mt.23:37-8) and the Jewish nation being temporarily cut off (Rom.11:7,17,19) will allow for the fulness of the Gentiles to come to Christ (Rom.11:11-25). This was revealed primarily by the apostle to the Gentiles (Rom.11:13, 25-28) and hard to understand for a Jewish mindset (Acts 10- 11:1-18, Chapter 15). Peter signifies that Paul’s writings are prone to be twisted and corrupted:

2 Pet. 3:15-6 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Read Paul’s own words regarding this mystery-

Eph.3:1-7 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

Rom.11:25-27 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.


 This mystery of the Jews being cut off for an unknown and unspecified time (enter an imminent rapture) is for the Gentile gathering into the church which is the body of Christ (1 Cor.2:7, Eph.5:32, Col.1:26-7). (For those unfamiliar with gaps of time in the prophetic writings- read here.) Then Israel shall be saved and delivered according to Daniels prophecy as the final week of years concerning thy people and upon thy holy city. This will be an end of sin for Israel and Jerusalem and a finish to their transgression to reconcile them for their iniquity. Notice that it is not a general reconciliation made at the cross (after 69 weeks) but the particular application of his sacrifice upon the people of Israel (after 70 weeks). Christ has made reconciliation (Rom.5:10); it is our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement (v11). And we have the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor.5:18-9), that is by preaching the blood of the cross. But people must believe on Christ (Jn. 3:16) to have access by faith into that grace (Rom.5:1-2); it is of faith that is might be by grace (Rom. 4:16). So, Israel will need to be brought to repentance that they might believe (Mt. 21:32, Ac.20:21). Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? (Rom.11:12) If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? (Rom.11:15) The fulness (bringing in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy) and resurrection of the dead is connected with their conversion at the last (Dan.12:1-3, Jn.11:24, 6:39-40, 44, 54) after the time of Jacobs trouble (Jer.30:7, Deut.4:30) and the final 70th week.

 Consider these verses regarding the fulness of salvation to the nation of Israel, their restoration into their land and the hope of the whole earth:

Isaiah 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 60:21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

Isaiah 62:1,4 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.

Jeremiah 3:17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

Jeremiah 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Isaiah 4:2-4 In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: [4] When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: [32] Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: [33] But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. [34] And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Jeremiah 32:38-40 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: [39] And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: [40] And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

Jeremiah 33:8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

Jeremiah 33:16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.

Jeremiah 50:20 In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.

Ezekiel 36:25-29 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. [26] A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. [28] And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. [29] I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

Ezekiel 37:14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

Ezekiel 39:29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.

Zech. 12:9-10 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Zech. 13:1-2 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. [2] And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

Isa.32:17-18 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

2 Pet 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Ezekiel 37:22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:

Amos 9:14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.


 We will see the conversion of the earth that the whole creation is groaning and travailing for (Rom.8:19-21). There will be peace for Jerusalem as the Prince of Peace takes his seat upon the throne of his father David in Jerusalem (Isa.9:6-7, Zech.12:9).

Luke 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.  (There was no Davidic throne at this time, nor has there been to this day.)

Ezek.43:7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile...

Matt. 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jeremiah 3:17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

Zech.14:16-17 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

Psa.2:6,12 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion… Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Psa.48:1-2 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. 

Isaiah 35:9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

Isaiah 43:20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.

Ezekiel 34:25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

Hosea 2:18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

Joel 2:22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.

Isaiah 11:6-9 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. [7] And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. [8] And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. [9] They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.


Sin will be driven out of Jerusalem- this has not happened yet, because the 70 weeks are not complete:

Psalm 10:16 The Lord is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.

Psalm 37:9-10 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. [10] For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

Psalm 37:17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.

Psalm 37:22 For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.

Psalm 37:38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.

Psalm 44:2 How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.

Psalm 75:10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

Psalm 101:8 I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.

Psalm 104:35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord.

Psalm 119:119 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.

Isaiah 35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

Isaiah 52:1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

Isaiah 60:18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

Ezekiel 20:37-38 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: [38] And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

Joel 3:17 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

Nahum 1:15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

Zeph. 3:11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.

Zech. 14:21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.

Matthew 13:41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;


The nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord:

Isaiah 55:5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

Isaiah 60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Jeremiah 3:17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

Micah 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Zech. 14:16-19 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. [17] And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. [18] And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. [19] This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.


God will perform his oath that he swore to Abraham. Israel will inherit the land forever:

Luke 1:67-75 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

Gen.12:1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

Gen.13:14-17 And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

Gen.15:18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

Gen.17:4-8 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

Gen.50:24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Ex.6:8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord.

Ex.32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

Deut.1:7-8 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

Deut.11:23-25 Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

Jos.1:3-4 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
 
Ezek.20:42 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.

Jud.2:1 And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Amos 9:15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

Part 2



Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Alex Jones discusses God at his Joe Rogan reuniting


 On his return to the Joe Rogan podcast (along with a hearty supply of marijuana, liquor, and profanity- staples of Rogan’s podcasts) after he says God told him to destroy Joe Rogan, Alex meanders with great confidence through multiple conspiracies with the sort of confidence one might expect from someone with firsthand involvement. The same confidence he exhibited in his indictment of Joe Rogan as a pusillanimous, DMT sodden, demon controlled sell out; and his subsequent call to war on Rogan. 

 Jones reveals that NASA is a break away government/civilization formed by former Nazis- yet much of his inside information is from NASA insiders (at 2:13).  Alex said his grandfather knew Wernher von Braun, and he has family in advanced research projects, including his dad (53:30). CIA (911 episode 41. min) and Military insiders also supply him with information about what is really going on- but the Military Industrial Complex is part of the shadow government. How can Alex know he is being given intelligence and not the victim of psy-ops? He says he could be killed for some of the things he knows (2:41) and the NSA and CIA has followed him his whole life and admittedly given him misinformation. Plus they have tried to buy him and his dad off (28 min). Nevertheless he has a huge internet and radio following and hasn't been killed yet.

Considering these things Jones ought to pull back from his brazen confidence in the news stories he sites (you can't trust the news entirely) and the intelligence he is given from insiders (which could be well crafted psychological operations- as we watch the 'deep state' leak information to the willing press year by year). Just as he has pulled back from his confidence that Rogan is public enemy #1, controlled by globalists and trying to pump and dump bitcoin on his gullible pot headed audience. The point is that Alex concludes some things hastily and then retreats. He that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly (Prv.14:29) and he that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. (Prv.18:13)

 My point here is not to cast doubt upon everything Jones says- he may be correct on many conspiracies, I tend to give credence to some of them. My point is to torch and incinerate the foolish theological statements Jones made during this chemically induced consciousness streaming. Alex seems to have been spoiled by some form of Hegelian/Christian chimera; for example he states: 
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsrcYiTTNQU)
"We are God..." (3:08 min. of the main episode) referring to "that potential in yourself" (3:11 min.) "there is this giant consciousness that's God; swimming in a giant system of survival of the fittest that God has created to test God's self." The evil "is always trying to test God and infiltrate up into it to sabotage it".
Ezekiel chapter 1 is an alien story. (Enter Zecharia Sitchin and Erich von Däniken.)
3:20 "God knows everything except where God came from." 'God is advanced artificial intelligence'

 
 Now the sheer asininity of these ideas cannot be over stated. This is not the God of the bible or Christianity- Jones claims he's a Christian. He actually dawdles into contradiction saying God knows everything except where he came from, and then God is learning about himself, experiencing consciousness through us. God introduces evil and good and watches how it plays out, 'to test God's self'. Apparently God doesn't know himself or where he came from. Can we really have the hope of eternal life? Can god rationally have hope for his future? Obviously rationality doesn't emanate from his nature necessarily as his nature isn't necessary (he doesn't know where he came from). And if rationality was something he creates and projects onto creation (voluntarist problem) he can't have full confidence of his own continuity- since he doesn't know where he came from.

A god who does not know where he came from is not the God of the bible who declares 'I am that I am', who from everlasting to everlasting is God, and who inhabits eternity. (Ex.3:14, Ps.90:2, Isa.57:15) Neither can he declare "I am the LORD, I change not" (Mal.3:6) for the same forces that brought him into existence might very well blot him out. This is not a god who can found a reliable epistemology. "before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour." Isa.43:10-11 "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." Isa.44:6 "I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me" Isa.45:5

 A god who is learning of himself through us learning about him is a finite god who eventually through the process of time will know himself completely. This god is subject to time which he didn't create if he began to exist unwittingly. This is not the God of scripture of whom it is stated "Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite". Psa.147:5 But if it is an infinite god who is ever learning about himself he will never come to knowledge of the truth about himself. Either way it is not a God who can found the basis for rationality. Neither can this be the God of scripture who knows himself exhaustively. "for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." "even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." 1 Cor.2:10-11 "he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit" Rom.8:27
 As Christians we must not believe popular news personalities like we believe the bible and act in response. Someone espousing this heretical view of God is not being led by the Spirit of truth and while they may be correct on some things are being deceived and controlled by lying spirits (1 Jn.2:27, Eph.2:2, 1 Cor.2:12-15). Prove all things and hold fast that which is good. 1 Thes. 5:21



 

Friday, January 11, 2019


Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris versus David Hume
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jey_CzIOfYE


This is an interesting discussion and a great example of the scripture- Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.- 1 Cor.1:20-21 Now it must be acknowledged that both men are exemplar in their respective fields and highly intelligent. This qualifies them to serve as examples that “the world by wisdom knew not God”. The audience has high hopes that these sorts of free flow discussions will unlock wisdom wherewith economic, social, ethical and political problems will dissolve and the next stage of evolutionary enlightenment will sweep over the world overrunning the ignorant (bible believers included) freeing the world from superstition (like traditional Christianity) to the next great stride toward societal salvation. The disagreement between the two men are in regards to how to perceive ancient religious texts.


 Jordan Peterson's point is that religious stories encode wisdom acquired through millennia of evolutionary changes and should be reverenced by the individual trying to orient himself in life and ignoring them could imperil us. We don't know what all is necessary in the stories to discard them recklessly. The individual needs an a priori structure to interpret reality which we have built into us neurologically by evolution as well as by socialization. This value structure was developed over the evolutionary period and cannot be assimilated in the individuals own lifetime. Jordan says there is overwhelming evidence for this evolutionary a priori value structure in the scientific literature and this needs to be further explored. He criticizes Sam for being too quick to dismiss this orienting compass in the religious traditions on one hand and yet needing to replace it with his own stories and values on the other. He presses Sam on his abandoning ancient tradition for his 'transcendent rationality' asking what that is exactly and pointing out the a priori framework which we must apply to the innumerable objective facts and variables in the world to produce in our minds a manageable subset within which we can operate. (Not Jordan’s example, but something along the lines of seeing a field of grass and stating that the grass is green. There are a million blades of grass and other weeds mingled in with perhaps hundreds of shades of green and other colors throughout the field. You communicate the idea of grass and the predicate green and eliminate the innumerable variables such as the sizes of each individual blades, the angle of the sunlight, position of the sun, the shadows, the wind, smells, time of year, the number of clouds etc. to be able to communicate efficiently. We use the universal ‘grass’ to apply to the millions of blades of grass, otherwise we could not communicate about millions of things at once. This is the ancient ‘one and many’ or ‘universals and particulars’ problem of philosophy.)


Jordan's conception of God is a "complicated" group of different things. A transcendent conscious reality only observable over the longest of time frames (3.5 billion years from our evolutionary standpoint). God is that which creates habitable order out of chaos of being. God is the conceptions of reality metaphysically and biologically built into us over vast expanses of time. God is that which eternally dies and is reborn in the pursuit the higher being and truth, the highest value in the hierarchy of values, that reason for which we sacrifice now for a better future. The voice of conscience and eternal call to adventure; the source of judgment, mercy and guilt, the expression of truthful speech. That principal which selects among men the better qualities giving them a rise to power guaranteeing their posterity. It sounds like Jordan's idea of God- is logic, science and morality. (Jordan says he lives as if God exists, I’m sure God is flattered- Rom.1:19-22.)


 Sam Harris' issue is that there are two extremes that society can fall into- religious fundamentalism and totalitarianism on one side and nihilism on the other. We must escape these 2 with a value system based upon empirical facts not arbitrary or from revelation (e.g. the bible). A good life and bad life is distinguished with reference to undue (who decides that?) pain, suffering, early death, anxiety, etc. and these can be measured empirically. This is the basis of ethics and the direction we should move towards is a good life. Sam believes Jordan pays excessive homage to these religious stories and they are too subject to bias interpretations and abuse being used to manipulate people as well as destructive to science and enlightenment, our saviors as evidenced by our societal and technological development over the last couple hundred years. Sam believes the religious texts are more dangerous than helpful and we should dispossess ourselves of superstitious thinking while we (presumably scientists like himself) distill empirical generalizations from experience to guide society. Religions, he cavils, decide certain truths for all times that cannot be amended anytime in the future. This is unscientific since new ideas and things arise continually and we must outgrow this childishness and not dignify these religious stories. 


 Jordan presses Sam when he dismisses as an "interpretive game" the distilling of wisdom from the bible as himself being committed to the same game trying to derive value judgments from brute facts in the world of experience. Noting that the excessive amount of facts in the world with the extensive number of interpretations cannot be connected without a Kantian type of a priori structure which Sam is mirroring while at the same time is criticizing. Sam thinks that he is not mirroring Jordan's "reading into any story some apparently meaningful set of psychological insights" when he is reading into empirical facts some apparently meaningful set of psychological insights. Jordan caught his inconsistency as moderator Bret Weinstein seemed to point out as well mentioning that its “working across purposes with your other argument”.


 The most important part of the discussion is when Jordan asks Sam to elucidate his idea of an a priori structure, or perceptive apparatus. Sam says our intuition of truth and common reality is deeper than religion; it's a fundamental anchor of our sanity and knowing the difference between knowledge and hallucination. These intuitions are either impossible to analyze or must be compared to other more rudimentary intuitions like mathematics; which apparently is like a generalized counting (worked out by people over generations) of 4 apples into an abstract idea of the number 4. Or as 2 dimensional geometry was the standard until someone realized intuitively you could bend a triangle along a 3 dimensional curve and its angles would exceed 180 degrees. Jordan incorporates into the a priori framework the use of religious stories as a reduction of innumerable experiences to a manageable framework to help us live our life using wisdom that is impossible to acquire in our lifetime; we don't get interpretation from raw facts, we supply it. The raw facts don't tell us as Sam does that we should "act in a way, which means to embody a mode of being, which means to be a personality, which moves us from hell to something approximating heaven. That's not a fact!" This is a result of Sam applying an a priori framework to objective facts.


 It is evident during this discourse that Jordan Peterson pays closer attention to philosophy than does Sam Harris, but not close enough. This is the issue; epistemology. And this is exactly what both men must presume and take for granted to be able to scale their philosophies to a grand system. They both fail to appreciate in this discussion their own concept of an a priori structure or perceptive apparatus and the basis for which it produces accurate information and truth. The question is not do they perceive truth but can their philosophies account for how perception is at all possible? Is this rationally consistent with their grand system? Not, are they able to count, but can they account for their counting? The answer is NO!


 Both men assume there is an external world, although as philosophers have pointed out we are only acquainted with our sense data and not the actual world; we infer its existence as the cause of the sense data. You can never experience the external world you can only experience your sense data, thus the material world is unknowable along with any "apparently meaningful set of psychological insights" they might be verbalizing. Both men assume cause and effect, i.e. my sense data is the effect of the external world. Causation is another problematic assumption in their philosophical system as David Hume consistently demonstrated. Jordan referenced Immanuel Kant regarding this perceptive apparatus that we all use to make sense of the world of experience. Kant believed he solved the rationalists and empiricists dilemma over against each other after Hume properly pointed out that given their worldview cause and effect was not logically necessary rather it was psychological (more precisely that causation was not analytic as previously believed, rather it was synthetic- not known by logical deduction alone). Hume concluded causality was just a habit of association, provoking Kant to find an answer to this. Causality in Hume’s case would be like Pavlov’s dogs deducing that food is produced by certain chimes- cause and effect would actually be nothing more than conditioning, leading to the conclusion that we have no logical basis to expect any one thing over any other in the next 5 minutes. You couldn’t even say that causation, or the inductive principle is probably true because probability assumes the uniformity of cause and effect in nature.
 Bertrand Russell writes "Before Hume, rationalists at least had supposed that the effect could be logically deduced from the cause, if only we had sufficient knowledge. Hume argued- correctly, as would now be generally admitted- that this could not be done. Hence he inferred the far more doubtful proposition that nothing could be known a priori about the connexion of cause and effect." (The Problems of Philosophy, Ch.VIII paragraph 3)


 Kant tried to stanch the hemorrhaging inflicted by Hume by positing that knowledge is a combination of things provided by us (our perceptive apparatus) and the object. Kant had the objective external 'thing in itself' as the cause of our sensation and essentially unknowable (we are only acquainted with our sense data and not the object). According to Kant part of what we supply to the phenomenon of experience is time and space- they are subjectively provided by us not by the thing in itself. This rather humorously creates the possibility as Russell points out that we might see someone’s eyes below their mouths were Kant to be correct. (History of Western Philosophy- pg.687) And to Sam Harris' silly assertion that part of our perceptive apparatus which we supply to the phenomenon is mathematics (to which Kant also apportions logic and arithmetic) which he claims is generalized or abstracted from experience, is demonstrably wrong. Sam fails to appreciate the difference between empirical generalizations (all men are mortal) which gain more assurance as you have more supporting examples increasing probability (induction), and the certainty that follows from a priori judgments (2+2=4) which are deductively incontestable and self evident and do not gain increased probability the more examples you have. Also with inductive arguments (Sam's basis for math) you have terms as weak or strong qualifying of the strength of the reasoning. Whereas deductive arguments (the actual basis for math) are either valid or invalid, terms not applicable to inductive arguments. In other words Sam thinks you can gain deductive certainty from something that is probably true. Russell disposes of his assertion as well stating "The thing to be accounted for is our certainty that the facts must always conform to logic and arithmetic. To say that logic and arithmetic are contributed by us does not account for this. Our nature is as much a fact of the existing world as anything, and there can be no certainty that it will remain constant. It might happen if Kant is right, that to-morrow our nature would so change as to make two and two become five." Russell continues that this possibility "utterly destroys the certainty and universality" Kant desires to vindicate. (The Problems of Philosophy, Ch.VIII  pg.87)



 In summary of Hume’s doctrine Russell points out the objective and subjective parts. “The objective part says: When we judge that A causes B, what has in fact happened, so far as A and B are concerned, is that they have been frequently observed to be conjoined, i.e. A has been immediately, or very quickly, followed by B; we have no right to say that A must be followed by B, or will be followed by B on future occasions. Nor have we any ground for supposing that, however often A is followed by B, any relation beyond sequence is involved.” “The subjective part of the doctrine says: the frequently observed conjunction of A and B causes the impression of A to cause the idea of B. But if we are to define ‘cause’ as is suggested in the objective part of the doctrine, we must reword the above… ‘It has been frequently observed that the frequently observed conjunction of two objects A and B has been frequently followed by occasions on which the impression of A was followed by the idea of B.” (History of Western Philosophy- pg.640) Hume reduces objective scientific laws and uniformities to psychological habit that offers no guarantee of the same effects any time in the future. Even our perceptions which are caused by external things (well... ok, there is no causation so I guess our thoughts are random episodes) can’t be expected to be the same- so that we should abandon all expectations of any uniformity if we are going to be rationally consistent. Perhaps Russell’s apple will taste like roast beef the next time (pg.641). This would render sanity and insanity as equally logical alternatives in the expectation of any future events. Kant thinks he solved Hume’s challenge by making causation a necessary part of our perceptive apparatus; he psychologizes science. Science is now subjective. Sort of anticlimactic, right? Ultimately acquiescence to metaphysics is the only solution (Maybe the bible has something to offer us after all!). Sam by his own admission can’t know any of this to be true unless chemical reactions governed by physical laws in his brain randomly cause this thought to lodge into his head- in which case he wouldn’t ‘change’ his mind, his mind would just change on its own. Who needs the Marx brothers when we have this material!?! (Sam denies any free will as a naturalistic determinist; he decrees that it is an illusion.)


Another subjective dilemma with science is also the result of starting with man as the basis of knowledge and not God (Job 12:1,2, 13, Prv.2:6). Einstein referred to “naïve realism” as an illusion where things ‘are’ as they are perceived by us through our senses. He further states this “illusion dominates the daily life of men and animals”. Einstein went on by quoting Russell working away from naïve realism- “The observer, when he seems to himself to be observing a stone, is really, if physics is to be believed, observing the effects of the stone upon himself. Thus science seems to be at war with itself: when it most means to be objective, it finds itself plunged into subjectivity against its will.” (Ideas and Opinions pg. 20) His conclusion leads to the rejection of naïve realism based upon physics, indicating that our initial perceptions need logic and theory applied to them. Perceptions with conceptions. Kant said concepts without percepts are empty and percepts without concepts are blind. So these conceptions in our perceptive apparatus are transcendentally necessary to make our experience intelligible, as Jordan acknowledged. But we don’t just accept our perception alone, we look to some number of others to validate it with the same percepts. The understanding is the lawgiver to nature, but whose understanding, God’s or mans? It’s assumed your abstract thoughts are accurately related to material things; the ancient ‘one and many’ or ‘deduction vs induction’ or ‘universals and particulars’ dilemmas again. The problem further is that conceptions and perceptions are from different worlds, contradictory worlds.

The conceptual world of logic and math is perfect, unchanging, universal, abstract- the opposite of our perceptions which are imperfect, fluctuating, particular and physical. The empirical method of reasoning from perceptions involves a formal fallacy in logic of affirming the consequent instead of the antecedent. If you deny a law of logic or math you end in contradiction (A is not A; 2 +2=5). But to deny an empirical fact involves no self-contradiction (All birds do not fly; the earth does not revolve around the sun). If logic and math are generalized from experience then they are only probably true, and might change tomorrow. To apply infinite mathematics to the physical world involves infinite regress errors (You couldn’t have infinite points of division between two measurable points in space- Zeno’s arrow paradox; were there an infinite number of past causal events we could never arrive at the present). Or also Russell’s class paradox (class of all classes that is not a member of itself- is a member of itself and therefore not a member itself at the same time). Numbers appear to be abstract objects, not in a location and no causal interaction with other objects. Or the law of identity (in logic) would prohibit us from expecting any change in nature- for if A is A it will not also be something else.

  Mind and matter, as the competing schools of the rationalists and the empiricists through philosophical history demonstrate, are separate realities and cannot be explained in terms of each other since they are contradictory to each other. Zeno in defense of Parmenides conceived the arrow paradox (the arrow could never hit the target because before it travels half way, it has to travel half that distance, ad infinitum) supposedly proving that the material world is illusion. Really it proves that math is infinite and abstract and the world of matter is finite. We see differences in mind and matter also in that I can fail to think logically (my thoughts might not consistently adhere to standards of rationality- like when I fail a test) or I might have a moral failing (my actions might contradict standards of right and wrong), but I can't remain suspended in air and not fall off a cliff if I misunderstand the law of gravity; or not get run down by a bus if I don’t know about Newton’s 3rd law of motion while playing in traffic. The external world and the uniformities it exhibits are completely indifferent to my thoughts. The stars are seen in their seasons every year and I can’t change that by thought (Job 38:31-6), neither can Kant. My thoughts are free to be irrational or immoral but have no apparent effect on the external world of matter. So, scientific laws (which are known inductively by consistent and continual recurrence and are physically known by experiments and measurements- they are distilled generalizations from the many instances; one from the many) are not like rational laws (which are known deductively and are self-evidential or axiomatic and are known non-physically by just thinking). Logical laws are how physical laws are identified and evaluated, also how men exercise dominion over matter (Gen.1:26-8). Logical laws involve methods of thought used to analyze sentences or propositions for truth value; which truths cannot be determined independently but only in the whole theory of which they are a part. And neither are like moral laws which are subjective inclinations that are revelations of God and therefore are binding to our consciences. Moral laws do not follow logically from scientific laws which simply declare what is and not what ought to be. Jordan attempted to point this out to Sam; it remains to be seen if his mind sporadically changes in some anomalous moment. And moral laws are not deduced from logical laws which are used to analyze the validity of an argument, regardless of whether the premises are true. (e.g. The law of excluded middle-‘everything either must be or must not be’ or the law of contradiction- ‘nothing can both be and not be’ – these do not infer morality. Also, the statement ‘Moses either did or did not give the ten commandments’ does not directly infer that ‘thou shalt not steal’ is morally binding.) A metaphysical world view is necessary to make these things fit together. Moral law is revelatory, not strictly logically axiomatic, and not empirically proven to be binding. They are self-evident because God places them in the hearts of men all over the world by nature (Rom.2:14-15). The bible actually offers the only consistently rational worldview which saves science and morality.


 You can’t under estimate what Hume has done to Jordan and Sam’s evolutionary philosophies, but he utterly destroyed their basis for science at all. They have nothing left in the aftermath of Hume. Russell affirms concerning induction "that without this principle science is impossible."(pg.647) They are ignorant of this fact or choose to ignore it so they can continue thinking! But as it stands they cannot explain how thought or knowledge or science is possible apart from the Creator  whom they do not like to retain in their knowledge. If they cannot justify thinking they must relinquish the use of it.



Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools… Rom.1:21-22