Waiting on the Lord, why do we have divisions?

Waiting on the Lord, why do we have divisions?

This evening I am going to ask, Why do we have divisions? And I am also going to answer that question, at least in some respects. At the same time, we must know what it means to wait on the Lord: that we cannot take the vengeance of Yahweh our God into our own hands. All of this shall hopefully serve to illustrate both the vanity and futility of man. And of course, when I say “we”, I refer to Identity Christians, or at least to those Identity Christians who appreciate our work here at Christogenea.

The other day, as we were on our way home from Kentucky, several friends tried to pull me into an argument on social media. At the start of it was a post and some errant conclusions which were based upon a mistranslation of Luke 12:49. So the result was an argument and a blow-up among friends who are otherwise very helpful to our common cause. I hate to see that. But I never got to read the ensuing arguments, since it is hard to read and watch for the cops while driving 85 miles an hour down the interstate.

So this evening I thought to do a program discussing several topics, and Luke 12:49 will be one of them. I am not taking sides, or trying to favor any of my friends. The arguing was deleted before I could respond to the calls for my opinion, and perhaps that is all the better. I only seek the truth of the matters at hand, and hope that all of my friends are willing to follow in that endeavor. This same thing also often happens in the Christogenea Forum, and I hope that some of our friends there also take note. Even there we are constantly beset with petty divisions.

If our divisions are not in regard to God and race, if the war which we wage is not hampered by our petty differences, if we are not openly espousing lies and distractions, then why do we fight at all? There are truths which we must stand for, and there are things which are peripheral, or which should be considered peripheral. Most of the infighting I see among Identity Christians is over these peripheral things. Flat-earth is probably the most common of those.

Mark Downey used to say that there are people who like to major in the minors, and end up minoring in the majors. In other words, they end up fighting with one another over insignificant things, and while they are fighting they ignore the things that matter most. Of this, Christ had said in Matthew chapter 23: “23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” We do not want to be as the Pharisees, neglecting judgment, mercy and faith over petty differences.

Of course, there are differences which are not petty, and we must draw lines to distinguish them. So we do fight in defense of our racial integrity, and for the basic substance of the Christian truth, and in opposition to the enemies of our God. If the flat earth is really a dodecahedron, those important matters upon which Identity Christians should generally agree do not change and we also must remain steadfast in support of them.

But people usually remain adamant in their errors and resist their brethren on account of their own egos. Last Sunday we were at the Fellowship of God’s Covenant People, and they had a guest pastor named Brian Jones give a sermon. The service was prefaced by eulogies for Mark Downey, and Brian gave the sermon he had originally planned. He is sort of old-school Christian Identity, so he said a few things which we did not agree with. But I ignored those things for the sake of peace among brethren, shook his hand and gave him a copy of my Romans commentary hoping he reads it and inquires as to our differences.

During his sermon, Brian brought up the same topic which we address here. He described a local Christian Identity church in Indiana which closed a few years ago. The pastor had a few murals painted on a wall, and one of them had a depiction of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Brian explained how several church members complained that Adam and Eve had belly-buttons in the painting, and were asserting that they could not have belly-buttons because they were never born. Out of pride, they continued complaining until most of the church members took one side or the other, and ultimately half of the membership quit over the issue. So the church, losing much of its support, had to close its doors.

This is the sort of Pharisaical pride which often causes divisions among us. People who are wise in their own conceits think they have something figured out, and if we do not agree with them a hundred percent, they shun us and scorn us and often turn to cursing us. But how the hell do they know that Yahweh did not create the first man with a belly button? If God created man, why could He not create a belly-button also? How can we pretend to know anything more than what our Scriptures inform us? Why is it even worth arguing? This is exactly what Paul meant when he told the Corinthians that “all the knowledge we have, the knowledge inflates, but love builds. If one supposes to have known anything, not yet does he know according as there is need to know.” There is nothing wrong with actual knowledge, and of course Paul illustrates its virtues in many other passages in his epistles. But there is something wrong with holding knowledge without love, and using it to vaunt oneself over one’s brethren.

So going back to the dispute in which my friends tried to involve me. With the advent of the Internet and the easy accessibility to a plethora of Bible translations and other related literature, it has become very easy for people to pick-and-choose Bible translations for various passages which help to better support a certain belief or agenda. This is often done uncritically of the integrity of the translation chosen to support such an agenda. So many of our Christian Identity friends often do this same thing. They may prefer one version of Scripture for one passage, and other versions for other passages, wherever it suits their own opinions and regardless of the content or context of the passage in the original language.

Just recently we saw this in Luke 12:49. A friend who evidently wanted to uphold the idea that Christians must take action against their enemies at the present time, and he found a translation of this passage to support that idea, in spite of the many passages of scripture which are clearly in opposition.

The Greek of Luke 12:49, from the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (NA27): πῦρ ἦλθον βαλεῖν ἐπὶ (or some mss., εἰς) τὴν γῆν, καὶ τί θέλω εἰ ἤδη ἀνήφθη.

The first clause, πῦρ ἦλθον βαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, is “I have come to cast fire upon the earth”. This phrase is rather consistently translated across all significant English versions of Scripture. There are a few ancient manuscripts which have εἰς, or into, rather than ἐπί, or upon, but that difference is insignificant as it does not affect the general interpretation of the clause. That is the only difference amongst the manuscripts in the Greek of this verse.

The second clause, καὶ τί θέλω εἰ ἤδη ἀνήφθη, is read quite literally in the Christogenea New Testament to mean “and what do I purpose if already it is ignited?” The word purpose may also have been rendered as wish, will or desire. The King James Version has will. In effect, by His question Christ is saying that He came to cast fire on the earth, and that His will has no purpose if the earth were already burning.

However there are many variant readings of Luke 12:49 which may allow readers to come to a different conclusion as to its meaning. But before we begin to look at some of those, we must discuss two Greek words which the various translations often neglect, which are τί and εἰ.

The Greek particle τί is a shortened form of τίς. This word is an indefinite pronoun which can refer to anyone or anything, however it is commonly used in questions, which is the context here, where it means who?, or which?, or what? Its presence in the sentence cannot be ignored when the sentence is translated.

The New International Version of the Bible reads this verse to say: “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” So they translated the word τίς as how. Primarily, the word how is an adverb which describes or asks in what way or manner or by what means something may be done, or it inquires into the condition or quality or extent or degree or state of a thing. The word how cannot properly be used to answer itself, as if Christ had said “I wish very much”. That is an English colloquialism which cannot properly be attributed to the original use of the Greek word τίς.

But the New International Version also neglected to translate another Greek word here, which is εἰ. The phrase εἰ ἤδη ἀνήφθη cannot honestly be read to say “it were already kindled”, because it means “if it were already kindled”.

With certain tenses and moods of verbs, the word εἰ can act as an interjection, for which it is usually used along with other particles. However here it is a subordinating conjunction connecting the clauses, as well as stating a condition, since it is a conditional particle, if. But in any way, neither can the presence of this word be ignored when translating this passage, and many of the translations which we have do indeed ignore this word as if it is not at all present.

The phrase εἰ ἤδη τέθνηκε, which we would translate as “if he were already dead”, appears in Mark 15:44. For that, with the verb being an imperfect tense, indicative mood and 3rd person form, the New International Version has “if Jesus had already died”, having added the name Jesus. Now we can see that in Mark 15:44 the New International Version translates the phrase εἰ ἤδη properly, as “if already”, but here in Luke 12:49 where we have the same exact phrase, they ignored the “if”. At Mark 15:44, the King James Version has the longer phrase to read “he asked him whether he had been any while dead”, and the word whether also expressing a condition, it is a fair translation in this context.

So the New International Version of Luke 12:49 is a very poor translation. It seems to render τίς as if it is an adverb describing the magnitude or extent of a thing, in this case the desire which is expressed by the verb, when properly it can only inquire into the magnitude or extent of such a thing. As an adverb τίς does not modify another word, but only asks a question. Then the NIV completely ignores the conditional particle εἰ, as if the word was not even there.

The English Standard Version, the Berean Study Bible, the Berean Literal Bible, the New American Standard Bible, the Christian Standard Bible, the Good News Translation, the Holman Christian Standard Bible, the International Standard Version, the NET Bible, the New American Standard 1977 Bible, and the Weymouth New Testament all do just as the New International Version has done with Luke 12:49, completely ignoring the εἰ, or if, and misinterpreting the τίς, or what?, as if it were supplying an answer, or at least creating an exclamation, rather than asking a question.

Even worse than these aforementioned versions, The New Living Translation ignores both τίς and εἰ, where it has: “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning!” There is no word in that translation which reflects either the what or the if. This is completely dishonest, and many other translations do this same thing, such as the Contemporary English Version, the English Standard Version, the New Heart English Bible, the supposed GOD'S WORD Translation, and the King James 2000 Bible.

The Aramaic Bible in Plain English has only in place of τίς, “and I only wish it were already burning”, and it also misses the if. But all of the original manuscripts of Luke are Greek, and we do not know where the dishonesty lies since the New Testament portion of this Bible must have been translated from the original Greek into Aramaic and then more recently into English. We would never accept such a version as an authoritative specimen of the Scriptures. The Douay-Rheims Bible comes closer to the truth, but like the Aramaic Bible, this is also a version that went through another language to get to English, being translated from Greek to Latin to English, and it reads: “I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled?” So εἰ becomes but, and it should instead be if.

In regard to Luke 12:49, if we had to use one badly translated verse of Scripture in order to make a judgment, every one of these aforementioned translations are trash. They all translated this verse dishonestly, and some even more dishonestly than others. Perhaps our enemies would have us believe that Judeo-Christianity set the world ablaze, but nothing is further from the truth. In reality, Judeo-Christianity has done everything that it can to stomp out the fires which were kindled by true apostolic Christianity. And their own translators condemn them, because all of these translations missed the “if” in Luke 12:49 in the phrase εἰ ἤδη ἀνήφθη, but none of them missed the “if” in Mark 15:44 in the very similar phrase εἰ ἤδη τέθνηκεν, which means “if he had already died”! So comparing “if it were already kindled” to “if he had already died”, how do so many translations miss one “if” and not the other? This is the danger of picking-and-choosing Bible translations on a passage-by-passage basis: you are going to be burned time and again.

The Jubilee Bible 2000 actually has a reading different from any of these, which we believe is far better than any of them, even if we do not quite agree. It says “I am come to cast fire into the earth; and what do I desire, except that it be kindled?” There are certain contexts where we may render the Greek word εἰ as except, but this is not one of them. This rendering portrays the statement as an assessment by Christ that it is His casting of fire that does the kindling, and we cannot argue with that except that we do not accept that reading of the Greek. However it is still a better translation than any of these others, since we cannot imagine that it may lead to some dangerous and false doctrine.

Here the King James Version quite properly has Luke 12:49 to read: “I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?” If we were only to update the archaic language, we would read: “I am come to send fire on the earth; and what do I will, if it be already kindled?” The American King James Version, the American Standard Version, the Darby Bible Translation, the English Revised Version, Webster’s Bible Translation, and Young’s Literal Translation all also read the verse properly, translating it in a similar manner. This last translation, Young’s, has it to read: “Fire I came to cast to the earth, and what will I if already it was kindled?”

If I had to choose one of these versions rather than my own, reading the Greek and seeing the intended meaning, perhaps the American Standard Version is the most accurate, and the closest to our own translation, where it reads: “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and what do I desire, if it is already kindled?”

With this we should see the danger of picking-and-choosing a Bible translation to support an idea, or even an agenda, that we are comfortable with. This is why, when I started to study Christian Identity 20 years ago, I eventually decided that I had to develop my opinions on an informed perspective based on the original languages. So ultimately I made the Christogenea New Testament, and all of my commentaries on Scripture are based on that. At least, if I make a mistake, it is my own, I must accept responsibility for it, and I cannot blame it on others.

So now let us read Luke 12:49 in context, from our own translation:

49 “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I purpose if already it is ignited? 50 Now I have an immersion to be immersed in, and how am I constrained until when it should be completed! 51 Do you suppose that I have come to offer peace in the earth? No, I say to you, but rather division! 52 For there shall be from this time five divided in one house, three against two and two against three. 53 Father shall be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against wife and wife against mother-in-law.”

Here we must recognize the fact that there are multiple layers of separation, or division, described in the New Testament. The first and most important is mentioned in 1 Peter chapter 1 and 2 Corinthians chapter 6, that the children of Israel turning to Christ are once again to make themselves a holy and separate people, separating themselves from the other races and from non-Christians in general. But the next level of separation is that which is caused by the Gospel itself, because not all of us shall receive it. That is the division of which Christ speaks here in Luke chapter 12, that even members of single families shall be divided one against the other. For this reason we cannot act against our enemies, because more of our own people are against us than the number which are with us, and we would be found fighting against one another more fiercely than we would fight against the aliens and enemies of God. For this reason we have no choice than to wait for the appropriate time to arise and thresh. We cannot act prematurely if we want any opportunity to act at all. If we act prematurely, we may see ourselves cut off and useless to our own people. Therefore Christ Himself warned, that we must be as wise as the serpents, and as harmless as doves.

So our friend who posted Luke 12:49 on social media used a poor translation, and I forget exactly which one, but it was along the lines of those which read the passage to say, as the Contemporary English Version has it, “I came to set fire to the earth, and I wish it were already on fire!” This bad translation is misleading, because as our friend also supposed, it leads Christians to believe that Christ wants His followers, His people, to set the fire, rather than to wait on Him to set it. As we have seen, the best interpretations of the Greek inform us that He sets the fire, and that His purpose is for naught if the world is already burning by some other means.

Our friend, disgusted by the things which he sees around him and the condition of the country in which he lives, evidently sought to find a way to encourage like-minded people to do something about that condition presently. So the translation of Luke 12:49 which he chose justified that attitude, as he asked something along the lines of “Are we waiting for Christ, or is Christ waiting for us?” But without a doubt, many other Scriptures inform Christians that they should be waiting for Christ. We will discuss those shortly.

But first we must examine the historical pattern of sin and punishment, repentance and deliverance, which the Scriptures give us as an example. Paul had told the Romans “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. ” Then Paul told the Corinthians, speaking of our Old Testament ancestors, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” Therefore these admonitions must not escape us.

We will only give one example of this pattern, which should be sufficient, from Judges chapter 2: “7 And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of Yahweh, that he did for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. 10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not Yahweh, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. [They may have had the history, but not the experience.] 11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served Baalim: 12 And they forsook Yahweh God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked Yahweh to anger. 13 And they forsook Yahweh, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 14 And the anger of Yahweh was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. 15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them for evil, as Yahweh had said, and as Yahweh had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. 16 Nevertheless Yahweh raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. 17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of Yahweh; but they did not so. 18 And when Yahweh raised them up judges, then Yahweh was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented Yahweh because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. 20 And the anger of Yahweh was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; 21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: 22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of Yahweh to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.”

The aliens were not removed from ancient Israel, as a means by which to test Israel, because the children of Israel would not cease from their idolatry. So what should we expect today, when our own countrymen are fully engaged in the modern manifestations of that same idolatry? Baal and Ashtaroth were featured in last February’s Superbowl halftime show, and millions of our people were gleeful. Baal and Ashtaroth are in all of the latest Hollywood movies, and our people cannot wait for the opportunity to see them. Baal and Ashtaroth are all over television and the Internet spreading their degeneracy. Baal and Ashtaroth are in denominational church pulpits teaching the children of Yahweh to accept all other races and all Sodomites and other sinners. Baal and Ashtaroth are even on your Facebook friends’ lists, usually appearing in topless selfies or wearing plastic mouse noses and fake furry ears. So for this we are overrun with niggers, and Yahweh won’t call off the dogs.

Should we really think that such a sinful people as we have today actually deserve to be relieved of their oppressors? What does the Scripture inform us? In 2 Chronicles 7:14 we read “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” We may or may not receive mercy before sufficient of our people repent, but we certainly have no right to demand or to even expect mercy before that time.

However those of us who accept the Gospel of Christ, the identity of Yahshua Christ with Yahweh our God, the redemption from the grave of which our race has an absolute assurance, the commandment for which we are to separate ourselves from all other races, as well as from those of our own who refuse that commandment, should also recognize Baal and Ashtaroth and cease from idolatry. We should also agree on all of the important racial and moral points of Scripture. Yet Paul of Tarsus still told the Corinthians that “there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” So divisions are inevitable but we must also know where they come from, as the apostle Peter informs us “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”

The endless obscuring of racial lines, a gospel for beasts of the field, arguments over the ultimate fate of the non-White races, the arguments over a flat earth, the insistence of relying on sacraments or ceremonial works for righteousness or even for salvation, the insistence that we have two or even three Gods by those who would deny that Yahshua Christ is Yahweh in the flesh, false theologies such as political dominionism, which basically converts White Christians into zoo-keepers, or the idea that Noah came to this planet on a spaceship, or the claim that there are hidden Nazis inside the hollow earth, these and many other differences of opinion are purposely sown amongst us and exploited by the enemies of Christ in order to keep us divided.

Once we are taken in by one of these heresies, when we are convinced that we have knowledge, and especially if the knowledge is seemingly special or esoteric knowledge, such as the false teaching that niggers came from another galaxy, quite often our pride prevents us from seeing other points of view, or from seeing Scriptural evidence that proves our supposed knowledge to be wrong, and we refuse to accept the idea that what we perceive as knowledge is actually only bullshit. Our pride then causes us to act Pharisaically, to beat our brethren over the head with our supposed knowledge until they either agree, or they are forever driven away. Too often we become divided over minor issues which may not be provable one way or another. Doing that, we who accept the general and important aspects of Scripture make our relatively small numbers even smaller.

When something can be found in the plain language of Scripture, we should accept it, and not be found disputing with Yahweh our God. But when something is not explained by Scripture, even the apostle Paul said “a commandment of the Lord I do not have, but I give an opinion” (1 Corinthians 7:25), and we are all entitled to hold our own opinions so long as they are not contrary to the plain word of Scripture.

If Yahshua Christ foresaw the divisions among His people which His gospel would cause, as the passage at Luke 12:49-53 clearly suggests, then He also foresaw the circumstances under which those of His people who accept His Word would have to abide, and that they would have no remedy without His intervention. There are a host of Scriptures which illustrate the virtues of waiting on Yahweh, rather than attempting to take the vengeance of God into our own hands. Here are just a few of them:

From the 27th Psalm: “11 Teach me thy way, O Yahweh, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 2 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living. 14 Wait on Yahweh: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on Yahweh.”

Then from the 37th Psalm: “1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 3 Trust in Yahweh, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in Yahweh; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto Yahweh; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 7 Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. 9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon Yahweh, 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. 11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

Further on in that same Psalm: “32 The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. 33 Yahweh will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. 34 Wait on Yahweh, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. 35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. 36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. 37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. 38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 But the salvation of the righteous is of Yahweh: he is their strength in the time of trouble. 40 And Yahweh shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.”

Now from the 123rd Psalm: “1 Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. 2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon Yahweh our God, until that he have mercy upon us. 3 Have mercy upon us, O Yahweh, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. 4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.”

And from Psalm 130: “1 Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Yahweh. 2 Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. 3 If thou, Yahweh, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 5 I wait for Yahweh, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. 7 Let Israel hope in Yahweh: for with Yahweh there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

Then, in Proverbs chapter 20: “21 An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed. 22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on Yahweh, and he shall save thee.”

From Isaiah chapter 8: “13 Sanctify Yahweh of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait upon Yahweh, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.”

Then in Isaiah chapter 40: “27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Yahweh, and my judgment is passed over from my God? 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon Yahweh shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Then again in Isaiah chapter 49: “22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the nations, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. 23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am Yahweh: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. [The children of Israel in their captivity would come to inherit in fulfillment of the promises to Abraham.] 24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? 25 But thus saith Yahweh, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.”

From Micah chapter 7: “5 Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. 6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house. [This parallels the words of Christ in Luke 12:49-53.] 7 Therefore I will look unto Yahweh; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. 8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, Yahweh shall be a light unto me. 9 I will bear the indignation of Yahweh, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.”

From Zephaniah chapter 3: “7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings. 8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith Yahweh, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger [the judgment of the goats in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, see also Obadiah 15-16]: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. [The fire Christ shall spread upon the earth, Luke 12:49.] 9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Yahweh, to serve him with one consent.”

Now in the New Testament, from Luke chapter 12: “34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.”

In regards to the enemies of Christ in Jerusalem, Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, this time from the Christogenea New Testament: “7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already operating, he prevailing only presently, until he should be out of the way, 8 and then will the lawless be revealed, whom Prince Yahshua will destroy with the breath of His mouth, and abolish at the manifestation of His presence.” KINDLE

Then again in Paul, in 1 Corinthians chapter 1: “4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; 5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” Faith is not believing that you can have what you wish or covet, the Christian faith is the belief that Yahweh God can and will do what He promises.

Again, Paul wrote in Hebrews chapter 10: “35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

Then in James, chapter 5: “7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.”

On this subject, Yahshua Christ Himself has the last word both literally and figuratively, as we read in the penultimate verse of His Revelation the testimony of John that: “20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

Waiting on Yahweh, we should exhort our brethren to repentance and obedience in Christ, and that is our Christian duty. But in the end, we cannot save them from punishment for their sins if they refuse to repent. This we see in a condemnation of Jerusalem found in Ezekiel chapter 14: “12 The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, 13 Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: 14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD. 15 If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts: 16 Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate. 17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it: 18 Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves. 19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast: 20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but [or only] deliver their own souls by their righteousness. 21 For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?” So we must ask, how can we expect to do better than Noah, Daniel and Job?

The Revelation of Yahshua Christ lays out for us a schematic outlining His Will for our people. This plan of Yahweh for the ages is not going to change. Ultimately, in Revelation chapter 18 and after the curses of many plagues and vials foreboding punishment for those dwelling upon the earth, we read of the fall of Mystery Babylon. It is only then that we see the call to “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” and to “6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.” So we see that the children of Yahweh shall one day have the opportunity to partake in His vengeance against His enemies. But it must be done in His time, and not in our own, or we shall fail and render ourselves useless to our kindred. Many men are dead or sit in prisons because in their frustration they sought to take up the justice of God and execute it for themselves.

On these major issues, if we do not agree, we are not of service to either our God or our people, because it removes us from the things which we should be doing, to edify our brethren and to advance the cause of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. More than anything else, pride causes us to cling to false knowledge rather than the knowledge of God. True humility is subjecting oneself to the Word of Yahweh. Pride also causes us to want to take the vengeance of God into our own hands, when the Scripture tells us we must wait on Him. Waiting on Him requires humility, and often a humility which is even difficult to bear as we stand by and see our brethren suffer in the world.

The apostle Peter also warned us about that, where he wrote “8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” While Christ had informed His apostles that they had the power to tread on devils, on serpents and scorpions, He did not grant them the power to overthrow the idolatrous Roman empire, just as we seem powerless to fight with the beast system today.

But if you are more interested in flat earth or in flying saucers or in loving niggers rather than in loving your brother and pursuing what things are actually in the Scripture, you shall continue to cause divisions and you make yourself more useful to the enemies of Christ than to His people. If you would rather insist that Adam and Eve did not have belly-buttons than admit that you cannot know that with any certainty, you seek to rule over your brethren after the manner of the Pharisees rather than love your brethren after the manner of Christ.

Last week, Melissa and I traveled to Kentucky, to attend Pastor Mark Downey’s funeral. Mark and his wife Debbi have for a long time been good friends of ours, and we have many wonderful recollections of their fellowship.

But people wonder, how was William Finck such a friend with a man who denied Two-Seedline? So I will tell you how. While Mark Downey did not understand Genesis chapter 3 or Revelation chapter 12 quite the way that we understand it, he always listened to my opinions on those chapters, and he never argued with me over them. And while he was not what we call “Two-Seedline”, he nevertheless understood that the Jews were inherently evil by reason of their racial corruption, and he knew that none of the non-White races were of God. So Mark would never have thought that a nigger could be found in the Kingdom of Heaven. Most importantly, he also understood that Yahshua Christ was Yahweh God in the flesh, even if he shied away from the Hebrew names for God and Christ. We agreed on the major issues, so we did not have to fight with one another over the minor ones. And even with this, we had many intense debates in the Christogenea Forum, over the drinking of wine in the Gospel, over the nature of spirits and demons. But we never let the minor differences interrupt our fellowship and our friendship.

All of our brethren should learn from that example. Mark and I both could lay aside our differences, and not let our egos be inflated, for the sake of our fellowship. When we cannot convince our brethren of things which are not explicitly spelled out in Scripture, regardless of how clearly we ourselves may see them in the cross-references and allegories, we are better off setting them on the back burner for the sake of brotherly love, so that we can be free to engage in the important battles that we face, as Paul had explained in Ephesians chapter 6, which are “not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” To win that battle, we must love one another and win the hearts and minds of our brethren by our example. For that Paul further encouraged his readers in that same place to “14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints….”

So why do we have divisions? Evidently, because only Christ Himself can gather His people, as He so often informs us in Scripture. But if we love one another, we can put away petty divisions and edify our brethren. If we prefer to love ourselves, we will continue to have divisions until He comes.