or Mr White and the Black Hat

“There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 14:12)

King David committed far worse sins than did King Saul. Saul was not an evil man, yet his judgments caused the deaths of many people, including Jonathan, his other sons and even the priests of God. Why did a reign that began so well end in such tragedy?

David, for all his sins (adultery, murder, trusting in armies), was not disqualified, yet Saul was rejected by God for lesser sins. What was the difference between them? Besides the fact that David owned his sin and Saul blamed everybody else, the difference was that David understood that his rule as a king over God’s Covenant people would only ever be on God’s terms. He could never be a king like those of the Gentiles.

Although his power was sourced in Israel’s priesthood, David was to embody the Covenant in a greater way than the priesthood. He was to be “Pentecostal” in the sense that he was to be not only under the Law, he was to embody, open and expound upon the Law for his people. He was to be the Law of Moses incarnate, and from David’s anointing by Samuel we see his soul broken as a priestly sacrifice, exalted in kingly fire, and finally taking on a prophetic nature. The fundamental point here is that the Law was a light to David’s path. He saw the future through God’s eyes, which means he could see a lot further ahead, by faith. He had a wisdom beyond his years.

“I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts.” (Psalms 119:100)

Saul’s victories led to a misguided belief in his own divinity, which is possibly why he honoured Agag by sparing his life. As kings, they had something in common. They trusted their own judgment. Saul’s “Pentecost” became instead the ministry of an evil spirit, and the anointing of David by the Holy Spirit. Saul was a wily warrior king, but his was not the serpentine wisdom that is harmless as a dove. His judgments were based on the pragmatism of the flesh, which can only see so far. Guided by his own wisdom, rather than becoming a “Covenant shelter” for his people, Saul’s manipulation of and meddling in the Covenant processes of God put at risk those in his care. Like Walter White, those for whom he fought were the very ones he put at risk, alienated, grievously harmed and eventually lost.

David’s various sins still brought tragic consequences, but when challenged he crossed the courtroom floor to stand with God against himself and received mercy. He listened to God. Saul refused to listen, and when God stopped speaking to him he sought guidance through witchcraft. God simply repeated, through Samuel, what He had said before. The voice of Samuel was “deuteronomic” but not in a good sense. It was a legal witness against Saul from the courts of God and would end his tyranny. Saul’s own blood atoned for his kingly sins. Obedience (prevention) would have been better than sacrifice (cure).

In hindsight, Saul’s unwillingness to be a living sacrifice and place himself in the hands of a faithful, just and merciful God, is easy for us to condemn. But in so many ways this is exactly how we live our lives. Saul loved the gifts of God more than God Himself, which is an incredibly subtle form of idolatry when it is the good things that we love. If we attempt to preserve the mind of the flesh (false Altar), we will then turn to a false spirit (false Lampstand) and the spirit of prophecy, the legal witness, will not be for us but against us. The outcome of our “Covenant” missions will be plagues instead of plunder.

This Saul versus David, first Adam versus last Adam pattern was replayed in the first century. Saul’s sins were lesser than those of David, but we must remember that the anointing of David is what put the brakes on Saul’s reign. It was the Ascension of Christ and the Day of Pentecost which empowered those Jews and Gentiles who were “after God’s heart.” But the events of Pentecost also “enlightened the eyes” of many who saw Jesus for who He is and yet rejected Him, blaspheming His Spirit. From that day on, the Rabbinic Judaism of the rulers of Jerusalem, with its pragmatic compromises and manipulation of the priesthood and Temple, became entirely demonic. The persecution of the saints by the Jewish leaders was inspired by the same jealousy that filled Saul. As Saul employed Doeg the Edomite to slay the priests who had fed the Showbread to David and his followers, so the Edomite Herods slew Christ and then set about wiping out the New Covenant priesthood.

The Herodian “voice of God” which they listened to (Acts 12:22) was Covenantal sorcery, and it was the prophetic witness of the apostles which condemned them to the great Day of Coverings. Unwittingly, the Herods had offered Christ as the Head of the sacrifice and His Church as the Body, making their own Temple redundant. Like Saul and his sons, Jews attempting to escape the Roman armies were “lifted up” for the birds and the beasts in mass crucifixions. Like David, Christ became a Covenant shelter and an eternal table for the remaining sons of Saul. [1]

The Jewish compromise was born of earthly pragmatism, a short-sighted wisdom. They sat in the seat of Moses but they trusted in their own wisdom. Their “Pentecostal” Lampstand eyes were filled with darkness. God’s ways are not our ways, and they are most often veiled to us, but we can trust Him, and walk in His ways, in the knowledge that He knows the end, and our end will not be the end of Saul.

[1] Walter White has a crippled son. And his lawyer’s name is Saul Goodman.

See also Spiritual Power.

Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.  (Genesis 2:10-14)

After the Herod and Shylock post, I had one complaint that the Worship as Commerce tag didn’t really do what it said on the tin, so I hope to capture it (briefly?) here. Now, where to start? As James Jordan explains, the idea begins in Eden.

“Eden is the land of food, and the outlying lands are lands of other raw materials. The Bible conceives of commerce between these lands, so that those of Adam’s descendants who lived in Eden would have to engage in trade with those who had moved downstream to Havilah. In this way, precious stones would be brought from Havilah back to Eden to adorn the sanctuary. When Israel came out of Egypt, she sojourned in the land of Havilah while the Tabernacle and the High Priest’s garments were made (Genesis 25:18). Here in this land of rocks were made many items of gold and onyx. Indeed, the only reference in the Bible to the onyx stone, outside of Genesis 2, is in connection with the High Priest’s garments. The shoulder stones of the “ephod” were made of onyx, and had the names of the twelve tribes put upon them (Exodus 25:7; 28:9-12).” [1]

When the worship of God is both central and elevated, the priests of God carry the Spirit to the nations. In return, the nations bring to Eden the gold and precious stones of the surrounding lands. Because of Solomon’s request for wisdom instead of wealth, the Lord honoured his selflessness, his godly rule, with wealth from the surrounding nations. The kings of the world brought their glory into the Temple. As Israel’s kings continually disobeyed the Lord, the wealth was stolen away. The Lord was like a thief in the night. The gold shields stolen by Egyptian invaders were replaced with bronze ones. Nebuchadnezzar made Judah a vassal kingdom and taxed it the way Solomon and Rehoboam had taxed the tribes. Finally he took everything.

But this “wealth for wisdom” is not only typological. God is not against wealth per se. He wants a church that is glorious both inwardly and outwardly. It is when the church becomes a shell, as Judah did, a false witness with false whiteness, that God cuts it back to Adams in animal skins. [2] The letters to the Asian churches in Revelation 2-3 recapitulate Old Testament history, [3] which makes Herod’s Judah parallel with Laodicea. Well, not so much a parallel as the same sin but fully grown.

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realising that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

First century Adam pretended that he was independent of God, that he had life in himself and did not need Jesus, the Tree of Life. Eating from the “Greek” Tree of Wisdom had left him wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked—the state of first century Jewish worship. What does Jesus say?

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich…

In Revelation, worship is symbolised as a commercial transaction. Jesus’ advice here echoes His words in Isaiah 55:1-3, calling on Israel to buy from Him kingdom wine and milk without money.

The Black Horse

This also explains the rider on the Black Horse, who starves the Old Covenant worship but leaves the New apostolic worship unharmed. Moses brought manna, Alpha food, but this old priesthood would be starved to the point of cannibalisation and then death (Zechariah 11:7-9). John would decrease while Jesus increased. The Old Covenant worship, pictured as a commercial transaction in grains, became an expensive exercise. Like the half-ephahs of grain in the hands of the woman suspected of adultery, (Numbers 5) it would be weighed in the balances, offered on the altar and become lean and barren. Jesus made wine. The oil (Spirit) and the wine (blood), the Omega food of the New Covenant, would be given “without price”.

The Beast

In Ezekiel, the King of Tyre is a compromised High Priest, an Adam covered in gemstones. In Daniel 6, the kingdom of Belshazzar is weighed in the balances. The handwriting on the wall is commercial language. In Zechariah 5, the wicked woman in the ephah basket is a counterfeit of the Ark of the Covenant, a box covered in lead instead of gold. Finally, it explains the mark of the beast. Summarising Jordan’s interpretation:

“…no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.”

Worship again is signified as commerce. Those without the mark were excluded from the Temple. Acts shows a progression from saints meeting in the Temple to Paul being arrested and the doors being shut (Acts 21:30; Acts 26:21). Christians became outsiders. The Temple was a house of prayer for the Gentiles. The Gentiles were supposed to bring their glory into it willingly, but the Jewish leaders were ripping them off. Their role was supposed to be priestly but they were lording it over the sheep. The money wasn’t the problem. It was the manner of the commerce being conducted. The Jews condemned the harlots and tax collectors, but Herod’s Judah was the biggest harlot and tax collector of all, and an unrepentant one. A godly economy is a shepherd. A beastly economy oppresses and devours like a wolf. It settles for bread.

Jerusalem, not Rome

One of the best arguments against the harlot of Revelation being identified as Jerusalem is the commercial language employed to describe her demise. Jerusalem was certainly at the “navel” of the world, but was she really that rich? Jordan brilliantly observes that the description of her wares in Revelation 18 is simply an expansion of the materials plundered from Egypt, Amalek, and then given willingly by the people of God to build the Tabernacle. Worship is described as commerce. The kings of the “earth” are the Jewish rulers of the Land. The Gentile worshippers are merchants, the proselytes who became twice the children of Gehenna. Jesus turned the Herodian Wall Street into the Wailing Wall.

What is even more crucial is the fact that it follows the seven Tabernacle speeches, which in turn follow the Creation week. The Temple, like Noah’s ark, was the “world-in-a-box”, a new creation. Its destruction removes the “buying and selling” from Judaism forever. [4] The centre of worship was now in Jesus, in heaven. [5] During this current age, all nations are bringing their glory into the kingdom. The strong man is tied up and Jesus, through us, is plundering his house. [6] The nations are His riches for sure, but this is not just their souls. It is also their pocketbooks, their businesses and their economies. All is sacred.

Exchange Rates Today

The idea that amassing wealth destroys the world and oppresses the poor is common in Scripture. It occurs when man seizes kingdom instead of waiting patiently for God’s timing. We look at our resources and think that’s all we have to play with. But based on the Bible, if we have been faithful with them, God has a way of making the cup run over in unforeseen ways. Wealth is not the problem at all. God made Christian nations wealthy. After the Reformation, God made Protestant nations wealthy. But we have followed the path of Solomon, who ended up using oppression to build his kingdom “earlier” than God intended. He turned the kingdom of God into Egypt.

When the Bible says that righteousness exalts a nation, it is talking about the outflow of personal and family government in prosperity and political clout. Europe had it and lost it. Britain had it and lost it. The US has it and is losing it. It seems the nation that faithfully invests by sending out missionaries to serve and die ends up as a world power. The Christian’s refusal to pursue money ends up with greater wealth for all (Matthew 6:32-33). The promise that the meek will inherit the earth (Land) is not just about the hereafter. Like Christ, when we fall into the ground and die to ourselves, there is a greater harvest, and it is not just about winning souls. Jesus died and then the Father gave Him everything, including the cattle on a thousand hills. Dominion follows faith, not coercion. Christians think they have to compromise to gain votes to get into power when all God asks of us is to pray, tithe and wait. The dominion will come, as it always does, when we can be trusted with it.

The gospel is holistic. Saved souls change culture, and history shows that it does not take many souls to do so, usually a few committed, praying people around a table over a few decades. To limit the harvest to pie-in-the-sky is the rankest gnosticism. True worship is directly reflected in economics. Cultus becomes culture. The God who sees worship as a commercial transaction paid our debt, but He still loves and blesses just weights and measures. It is most certainly Jesus in all of life. This project will end when the entire world actually is a Tabernacle for God. [7] This includes our economies.

All this stuff is in JBJordan. You should get into him and put those lesser theologians away for a while. I doubt you’ll want to go back to them after such rich fare.
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[1] James B. Jordan, Through New Eyes: Developing a Biblical View of the World, p. 73. [PDF] For more on onyx and the High Priest, see Gold, Onyx and Bdellium.
[2] See Rags to Robes.
[3] Check out Jordan’s Revelation lectures, and there is a summary in Totus Christus).
[4] See Totus Christus for a full outline. The light of the Lampstand is at the centre, of course. Judah’s sun, moon and stars came crashing down as Jesus predicted. See Thief in the Night. But also, the references to musicians and craftsmen corresponds exactly to those of Tubal-Cain, Jubal and Jabal. Herod’s Temple had become inherently Cainite. See The Significance of Tubal-Cain and The Significance of Jabal and Jubal. On craftsmen, see Unashamed Artisans.
[5] For the Roman Catholic readers, the centre of worship is still Jerusalem (the one above) and not Holy Rome. See Schism or Resurrection?
[6] See Under Your Feet.
[7] See A New Heavens and a New Earth and Blood and Soil.

So Moses and the elders are the Incense Altar above the Bronze Altar where the bloodshed is taking place. Paul thus is referring to Christ being “right behind” the doubting Christians, from heaven, as He promised.

Also, in the ministry of Christ, after His resurrection (the same point in the pattern), an angel sat on the rock.

“And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.”  Judges 6:20

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Matthew 16:18

NOTE: THIS POST HAS BEEN REMIXED AND INCLUDED IN GOD’S KITCHEN.

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[1] See The Binding of Satan (PDF)

See also Twelve Thrones.

How smart is this Book?

As discussed, if we begin with Saul’s anointing by Samuel, subsequent events follow the Feasts outline. Saul’s failure to kill Amalek is at Pentecost and his failure to defeat Goliath is at Atonement.

BUT… if we begin with David’s secret anointing by Samuel, subsequent events also follow the Feasts. This time, however, David’s slaying of Goliath is at Pentecost (the serpent/beast in the wilderness). Guess what’s at Atonement?

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The Tabernacle was not only a “portable Sinai”, the mountain of God laid out across the ground, it was the cruciform Man. We see Jesus, with the Throne of God on His shoulders (the Ark – government), bread and wine in His left hand (the Table - servanthood), the ‘seven stars’ of the Lampstand in His right (dominion), and His feet on the crystal sea (the Laver – resurrection). And He is lifted up “in the air” between heaven and earth (the Altar-Land) as the Mediator Who unites God and man.

As the Ark (Moses), with arms outstretched (Bread – Aaron, and Ruling Lights – Hur), He is the prophet, priest and king Who defeated Greater Amalek at Sinai.

It was always God’s plan that Israel have a human king:

“When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.” Deut. 17:14-15

Like Adam, this dominion would only come by obedience: by servanthood to God and faithful mediatory witness to the Gentiles. But like Adam, they seized dominion and demanded “a king like the Gentiles.” With Saul, they had a king who palled around with Agag of Amalek whom Moses commanded to wipe from the face of the earth.

“Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.” Deut. 25:19

I have already disputed with some who say that there was no restoration after the captivity; that the Babylonian exile in practice lasted until the time of Christ. But the Covenant was restored, the Temple rebuilt, and Israel’s priestly territory expanded to the size of an empire. With Daniel and then Mordecai at the king’s right hand, the kingdom of God was another step closer to “heaven,” as James Jordan points out.* The cruciform Tabernacle of God would cover all four points of the compass. The “times of the Gentiles” were actually a step closer to the kingdom of God.

But, as with Joseph, the days came when emperors ruled who didn’t know Mordecai. A restored Israel again forgot her mission and ended up in a bondage lasting 400 years – the time between Malachi and Matthew. This period was not an extended exile. It was not extended punishment for the disobedience of Israel’s kings. It was the consequence of rebellion against the restored Covenant of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah.

As in the time of Samuel, Israel demanded their own king—a king like the Gentiles. And they got one: Herod the Edomite. Blind “Isaac” once again tried to hand the Covenant over to Esau. Not only was Herod the wrong ‘son,’ he was Abimelech, Saul, Jeroboam and Pharaoh all rolled into one. Yet those who want to identify antichrist overlook this false Messiah. Look no further.

“Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.” Daniel 11:36

*James B. Jordan, The Handwriting on the Wall, p. 260. Available here.

Good point. Once again I would use the book of Esther. The role of restored Israel was to be witnesses within the world empire, as Daniel had been. It seems Mordecai sought to be like Joseph or Daniel, but by compromising Esther’s witness, Haman ‘usurped’ his role at the right hand of the throne (a pattern begun in the Garden of Eden).

However, God used the situation for good, and Esther provides us with an historical blueprint for events in the first century:

In Esther, we have in type the wisdom of God that had Paul in awe as he wrote the letter to the Roman Christians: Sending the gospel to the Gentiles provoked the Jews to jealousy. When the new bride was persecuted, the Jews were forced to endorse either the New Covenant people or their attackers. In this process, “all Israel” was saved (Romans 11:26). Old Jerusalem was redeemed, purified, and transfigured. Because of Mordecai’s disobedience, Esther was able to obtain mercy (Romans 11:30-32). The process both disciplines God’s people and glorifies them (Hebrews 12:11).

Applying this to the secular west, are we curbing ‘Esther’s’ witness in the hope that ‘Mordecai’ will gain some political power? Only God can exalt His people. Perhaps again He will use the failure of His people to witness faithfully as an opportunity to unmask and destroy His enemies. These exalted Amalekites have a habit of being deposed overnight. They fall ‘like lightning’ (Luke 10:18).

As with most things in the Bible the pattern begins in Genesis.

Unlike the serpent’s warriors, who live by the sword, God’s warrior is a father-ruler who fights only to protect those in his care. Nimrod was a serpent-king—a dragon; Abram was a servant-king, God’s answer to Nimrod the ‘rebel’ (most likely Gilgamesh).

Satan’s attack on ‘the offspring of the woman’ through Pharaoh had failed, so he resorted to inciting a conspiracy of nations. The serpent became a dragon. But Abram (as a good Gilgamesh/Nimrod), along with the men of his household, defeated them, rescued Lot and his family, and very importantly, plundered the attackers. The darkest nights that God allows are always opportunities for more glory. And, this being HOLY war, Abram refused the ‘devoted’ plunder.

The next instance involves Amalek, who attacked Israel in the wilderness, and mercilessly picked off the stragglers. Once again, God’s man “came down” to fight – in Joshua, at Moses’ command – with Moses, Hur and Aaron as Ark and cherubim on the holy hill, the “garden gate”.

“The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:16)

This statement about Amalek is more loaded than it seems. Amalek was defeated, and the plunders from the victory were devoted to building God’s house in the wilderness. We will see this pattern again and again. Each time, deliverance for God’s people is on a greater scale, and the defeat more catastrophic for His enemies.

Amalek is the archenemy of the saints. This first Amalek most likely descended from Japheth. Numbers 24:20 paints him as the original great “Sea beast”, and a counterfeit Alpha and Omega.

“Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end shall be destruction.”

Esau moved to Mount Seir and merged with the Horites to become ahybrid part-Canaanite people known as Edomites. One of Esau’s grandsons was named Amalek (Genesis 36:16), which shows a conscious or subconscious alliance between Gentile hatred and false brother hatred of God’s chosen son—a “Land beast”. This has an enormous impact on interpreting the later history of the Bible.1

False Solomon

As the exodus was bracketed by the destruction of Egypt at the beginning, and the destruction of Jericho at the end, so Joshua’s Conquest was bracketed by Jericho at the beginning and Hazor at the end.2 Both Jericho and Hazor, first and last, were devoted, or placed “under the ban”. No plunder was to be taken from them. They refused God’s sacrifice, so they themselves became altars in holy war. They were burned as a whole burnt sacrifice with fire from God’s Altar, and never to be rebuilt (Deuteronomy 13:12-18).3

The next conspiracy of nations was under Jabin in Joshua 11. He was conquered, but another Jabin arose after Israel’s disobedience (Judges 4). Jericho, the first devoted city, had been retaken by an old enemy, so now Hazor, the last devoted city, had been rebuilt and a new Jabin was on the throne. Jabin is a title, and it means “insight” or “he understands” – a false Solomon. The first Jabin was the head of the conspiracy of nations allied against Israel. As a wise ruler, he was the counterfeit “Transfigured King” who gathered Israel’s enemies together “like the sand on the seashore”. The Lord commanded Joshua to burn their chariots, hamstring their horses and plunder all their cities except Hazor. But Israel’s disobedience led to Jabin’s “resurrection”. A wise serpent had ascended from the pit to usurp Israel’s throne.

The narrative in Judges 4 focuses on Jabin’s right hand man, Sisera. Symbolically, Sisera was the seed of the serpent. The account of Deborah, Barak and Jael highlights Eve as the Covenant warrior-mother, tricking the serpent and crushing his skull with a tent peg. As was later said of Mary, mother of Jesus, Jael was “most blessed among women” (5:24). The “offspring” (Barak) of the woman (Deborah) crushed the “offspring” (Sisera) of the serpent (Jabin).4

“I will put enmity between you and the woman…” (Genesis 3:15)

(Interestingly, it appears that Solomon’s building projects included new gates at Hazor. See here.)

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1 See James B. Jordan, Esther: Historical & Chronological Comments (I), Biblical Chronology Vol. 8, No. 3, www.biblicalhorizons.com
2 We will see this same three-city bracketing in the New Testament.
3 See James B. Jordan, The Law of the Covenant, p. 154. Download from www.biblicalhorizons.com
4 See James B. Jordan, Judges: God’s War Against Humanism. Download from www.biblicalhorizons.com