His Mercy Endureth Forever

Let’s discuss how the Holy Spirit works. It was some time ago that a voice from within told me to look at the phrase that we are now working on. The voice did not use Elizabethan English, however the KJV uses the Textus Recptus as the base text. The phrase “His Mercy endureth forever” appears 41 times in the Bible. Please understand that I have been led to study the languages of the Bible, but I have no formal training in those languages. Also, I have the best reference material available. I did study Hebrew with Rabbi James Cone at Temple Israel. I was the only Gentile in the class. However, since that class was, for me of very short duration, my Hebrew is limited. And, I never did get used to reading backward.

As I said, the phrase, “His Mercy endureth forever” appears in the Old Testament 41 times. With all that repetition we may think that God is trying to tell us something.

The ancient languages (Hebrew and Greek) did not use punctuation. Repetition was the way they accentuated an idea or concept. Repetition was the ancient exclamation point.

That is the good news, but the bad news is that “His Mercy endureth forever” is not a literal translation! The word “endureth,” or “endures” has been added to the text. The Hebrew literal text says, (Heb. leolam-לְעוֹלָם hasedo-חַסְדּוֹ,” or “for the age, {godly} kindness”. I have added the word “godly” to my translation to indicate the source of the kindness or mercy. The Hebrew translation must have added words when brought into English because one Hebrew word contains many “English” thoughts.

As Carolyn and I were discussing the Hebrew, we turned to the Hebrew word Olam. That Hebrew word refers to an age. It, in no way, speaks of eternity. There is no single Hebrew word that may be correctly translated “eternal.”

The fact is that God’s mercy extended to mankind had a beginning and it shall have an end. Prior to the fall of mankind there was no need for His mercy. At the end of the age of ages all shall be completely filled with the presence of God, and His mercy shall have overwhelmed all that stands in opposition to God, and again His mercy shall not be needed.

1 Cor 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

 Eph 1:21-23

²² And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,

²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (NKJV)

Those few verses take us far past Revelation to the consummation of God’s plan for the ages. In case you do not know, the millennium is NOT the end of the world or the end of all conflict.

Rev 20:7-10
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Many theologians twist the Scripture in an attempt to make Armageddon seem to be the last conflict, however when we actually read and believe the Bible we find that the War of Gog and Magog is at least 1,000 years past the return of Christ and Armageddon.

The return of Christ Jesus begins a millennium that has 1 thousand years that has no the open conflict.

During that millennium the sin-nature that is within human mankind and is unregenerateable shall lay dormant. However, it shall rise again prior to to the Great White Throne Judgment. The sin nature can, when confronted by the Holy spirit of God, but the only way to prevent the rise of the sin-nature is through the Lake of Fire and its complete destruction. Read Revelation 20 which must be read and understood as being a linear writing, and notice that the Gog and Magog war, and the Great White Throne Judgment resulting in death (Gr. thanatos-θάνατος) and hell (Gr. hades-ᾅδης) being cast into the lake of fire happens after the Millennium. The first death shall be consumed by the second death, and will cease to exist.

As you may have read, I believe that the second death is remedial and not punitive. But if God removes all rebellion within the sin-nature, Death and Hades, nothing shall remain.

The war of Gog and Magog indicates the the sin-nature was suppressed, but not eliminated during the millennium of peace.

The battle of Gog and Magog is the last open rebellion! The Lake of Fire shall consume all rebellion! There is no rebellion against God the Father, God the Son, or the Holy Spirit following the Great White Throne Judgment!

Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

It is the Holy Spirit that enforces the will of the Father. The Father and Son chose those whom they will to be called and the time of that calling. Then the Holy Spirit comes to indwell at the appointed moment and seals us from the punishment that the Son has already paid on the cross. It all works in concert according to His mercy!

God’s mercy endures forever.

personal

This blog page is very personal. If you read my commentary on Paul’s Letters on my Web Site, (http://darroll.tripod.com/), you will find no footnotes because It is very seldom that I quote other writers. The Late Dr. Manford George Gutzke and one instance of a quote from the Liberty Commentary are the exceptions. Dr Gutzke was an extraordinary writer and speaker, and I use his definition of “love.”

 I must sdmit that my commentaries are a result of inspiration and not perspiration.  At times you will find me at odds with the translators. On more than one occasion while I was actively writing the commentaries, I would be awakened in the middle of the night with the statement, “Go to your computer, and I will show you the proper translation.”

 When I began translating the Bible my knowledge of Greek would not fill a thimble. 

 I began in 1990 with Philippians, because it was only 4 chapters in Greek, so how difficult could that be?

 The translation was completed in 1999, just prior to the crash of my computer. And so, all that work was lost. But, the Internet had not become so powerful back in those days. In fact, my first three commentaries on Philippians, Colossians, and Galatians were so new that at the time they were the only commentaries on those letters at that time on the Internet, and if you wanted to read a commentary on any one of those three the only Internet source at that time was my writing. God has indeed blessed me!

I started blogging using the Ephesians text as the base, but I will be changing that to certain verses from both the Old and New Testaments.

 Thank you for reading this blog, and may God bless you.

 If you have any comments or questions please contact me at studycomments@yahoo.com and I will responds as quickly as possible.

Talking Points 19

Eph 2:1-3
¹ And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (NKJV)

Before the Holy Spirit opened our ears to hear Christ Jesus and our eyes to see the Truth we were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. We walked, talked and acted as dead men do. Our goal was just to get through the day.

I am not condemning anyone in this. We were born with brown, or back, or blonde hair, and a certain color to our eyes. All of that is neither good nor bad. Instead it simply is!

However, we were also born with a penchant to sin! Until God the Father chooses us to come out of the sin that seems engulf our lives we will live according to the leading of Satan. We who have been called to follow Christ Jesus are the chosen of God. During this age, we are led by the Holy Spirit (Roman 8:14)! In Christ we have been changed from the sons of “disobedience” to the sons of the Father.

In the past we were dominated by Satan and led by our sin-nature. We had no choice as to the direction we walked. But, when we were called out, we learned to walk in the ways of righteousness, the ways of Christ Jesus.

Those who live in Satan’s unrighteousness also live in the sin-nature, with which they were physically born.

Even if you are forgiven, you must still contend with the sin-nature. You Spirit is saved, not your body. Barring the second coming during your lifetime, it shall return to the dust.

Talking points 18

Talking points 18 Eph 1:22-23
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (NKJV)

The time when Christ puts all things under His feet may have already happened or may be a long way off (in human terms). That depends on what we mean by “all things under His feet.”

God being “all in all” is also a phrase that needs explaining!

According to the Old Testament the cattle on a thousand hills are already God’s (Psalm 50:10), which picturesque language for “He owns it all.” And, according to Ezekiel 18:4 all souls already belong to God.

Many people attempt to divide the Trinity in order to explain it. But we should always understand that the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are echad (Heb. ‏אֶחָד‎) and as such are inseparable.

In accordance with the plan of God for the ages, each fulfills a designated task at various times within that plan, but all are in complete unity as to the plan, the moment of its fulfillment and the events within that plan. When I refer to “God’s plan for the ages,” God is God in totality and not God the Father as opposed to God the Son or God the Holy Spirit.

As to God being “all in all” that too may be translated with a slight difference. In fact, there may be no “becoming” to it. That section may also be translated, “all in all is being filled by Him.” All of creation is now following God’s program for their participation in His plan.

All plans are determined by the goal of the one doing the planning. And so, “filling all in all” is the goal of God’s plan for the ages.

We are now living out the greatest object lesson ever devised.

Talking Points 17

Eph 1:17-21
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.(NKJV)

The above is one of four wonderful prayers written by Paul for the “body of Christ.”

Paul’s four prayers may be spoken for each member of our families, and our friends…those for whom we normally offer prayers each day.

However, they are not to be recited as if they are something magical. They must be prayed from the heart.

Here is an example of how to use them by inserting the name of each of our loved ones at the appropriate time.

Eph 1:17-21
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to (name) the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of (name) understanding being enlightened; that (name) may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (NKJV)

This and other prayers from the Bible are unique in their application to our daily lives. One of the areas of this prayer is contained in verse 20.

God raised Christ Jesus from the dead “and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” That is a wonderful statement, because we have been baptized into Christ Jesus. And that means that spiritually we, as saints, are seated with Christ in heavenly places.

Did you know that as a saint (Gr. hagios-ἅγιος) you are pure, holy, and blameless before God?

Talking Points 16

Eph 1:15-16
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: (NKJV)

Many Christians consider these verses as lead ups to the prayer that starts in verse 17. However, they are much more than that.

When we pray for others of the faith, we should name them. Our prayers should be pointed.

In prayers for the nation, although those prayers may appear to be general in nature, those prayers are actually very pointed.

At the time of this writing, Christians around the world are facing great persecution from those who are led by Satan. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of Christians are being murdered. In addition, the church in America is being led by the unconverted.

Once great Churches are now led by ordained heathen!

Pray for those of the Body of Christ!

Talking Points 15

Eph 1:13-14
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (NKJV)

We trust, focus faith on Christ Jesus when we actually hear “the word of Truth.” Until that moment we have not heard the Truth!

There is a great difference between physically hearing and spiritually perceiving.

Repeatedly in the book of Revelation, we find, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev 2:11/NKJV)

Those who do not hear with spiritual ears cannot hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Churches.

Have you heard the voice of god?

Those who have been chosen to be a part of the body of Christ have heard the voice of God the Holy Spirit as He opens the door of salvation to the chosen. When we hear the Truth we respond in the affirmative!

From the moment on Christ Jesus is our Lord (Gr. kurios-κύριος), our owner and proprietor. We are His lump of clay and He is the Master Potter molding us into that which is useful in the plan for the ages.

Rejoice that He has called and appointed you to life forevermore in Himself!