Excerpt From Newsletter
And again, I saw under the sun the place of the Judgment (the Wicked One was there), even the place of righteousness (the Wicked One was there). I said in my heart, “God will judge the Righteous One and the Wicked One because a time for every desire and every deed is there {at the place of the Judgment}.” I said in my heart concerning the sons of the man: “God is going to purify them and show them that they are a beast because the fate of the sons of the man: is the fate of the beast. They have one fate! As this one dies, so that one dies. And all have one spirit. The man has no advantage over the beast because everything is futility. All are going to one place. All are from the dust and all are returning to the dust. Who knows that the spirit of the sons of the man goes up above and the spirit of the beast goes down below, to the earth?”
(Ecclesiastes 3:16–21) —my interim translation
Anyone should be able to see that the Prophet is mocking the “wisdom” that Solomon exhibited after he turned away from “The Way” of the Lord (1 Kin 11:1–11). However, it is not as obvious that he is also playing with parabolic imagery in the Passover Parable which describes the triumph of “The Man” over “the beast” on Judgment Day. In his use of that parabolic imagery, he discloses why the Prophets cryptically refer to the Antichrist as “the beast.”
The Prophets knew that the Serpent would one day be allowed to slither down out of the Sea of Waters and walk on two feet like a man. They talk about it all the time. But as Job, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the other Prophets of Israel make clear, Satan’s fate has already been sealed. “The beast” has no hope of his spirit ever going up to God. It must go down to the dust like every other creature who is a member of “the beast.” Although Satan is unwilling to accept the Truth, it is exactly as Moses stated:
Then His Majesty—God—said to the Serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are more cursed than all the domesticated animals
And all the wildlife of the field!
You will go on your belly
And you will eat dust all the days of your life!”
(Genesis 3:14) —my interim translation
Most folks never stop to consider the fact that “the beast” which inhabits the same planet as the man is subject to death because it has—like “the man”—been cursed. But unlike the man, “the beast” has no hope of salvation because God has not provided any. That is why the spirit of “the beast” does not share the same fate as the spirit of the man. So why would anyone ever call “the beast” a man? Even if he looks like the man, walks like the man, and talks like the man, he is still just “the beast.”
“If He’s ‘The Man,’ Who Are You?” The Voice of Elijah®, July 2001, p. 12
Newsletter Details
| Contribution of | $6.00 |
|---|---|
| Pages | 20 |
| Author | Larry Dee Harper |
| Language | English |
Related Information
A “New” Covenant Is Only New Once
This is the fifth in a series of articles that, when complete, will explain how the Prophets concealed the first of seven messages hidden in the Hebrew Scriptures by their use of the ancient Hebrew idioms “build a house,” “raise up a seed,” and “make a name.” The first four articles in the series appeared in the July 1996, October 1997, October 2005, and January 2006 issues. A fifth article that should have been attributed to the series appeared in the October 2002 issue. This article continues to track the promise as God uses Moses to reunite the promise under the terms of the Mosaic Covenant and make God’s Firstborn Son—Corporate Israel—the Heir of the promise.
Not All Israel Is Israel
This is the first in a four-volume series titled The Resurrection Theology Series. This volume examines the meaning and significance of the Hebrew idiom “cut off from.” This idiom is used extensively in the Old Testament to point to the fact that God continually “cut off from” Corporate Israel those individual members of Corporate Israel who were not pleasing to Him. Not All Israel Is Israel explains the significance of this fact as it relates to Jesus Christ and the Jews. The title is taken from Romans 9:6 where the Apostle Paul talks about his understanding of Who is—and who is not—a member of Corporate Israel—the Heir of the promise God gave Abraham (Romans 9–11).
The Passover Parable
Jesus said the writings of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms—that is, the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures—are all about Him (Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:46). Yet few today can find any reference to Jesus Christ in the Hebrew Scriptures because they don’t understand that God has used parables since the time of Moses to speak concerning His Son. The Passover Parable is at the heart of God’s message concerning His Firstborn Son, Jesus Christ. That message can be seen in the carefully orchestrated parabolic pantomime that God directed Corporate Israel, His Firstborn Son (Ex. 4:22), to enact during the Exodus of the sons of Israel from Egypt.
The Truth is Available
Check Out the Online Library
Browse through our library of booklets and newsletters—absolutely free!
Start Reading Now