Everyone knows that animals don’t have souls. This is common knowledge throughout Christendom; it almost goes without saying. That is why I was greatly surprised to come across this passage:

Ecclesiastes 3:18: “I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?”

We know that when a person dies there is a part of him that lives on after death; although we usually refer to it as the person’s soul, Ecclesiastes calls it the “spirit of a man”. What is tremendously surprising is to discover that animals also have a spirit. The spirit of the man lives on after death – as does the spirit of the beast.

Now, before you get too excited, there are a lot of things that this passage does not say. We know exactly what happens to the human spirit after death: it either goes on to Heaven to be with the Lord, or else it is sent to Hell to be tormented. We also know that when Jesus returns our corpses will be resurrected and our spirit will be put back into our bodies – but that promise was given to men, not to animals.

This verse seems to indicate that the animal’s spirit goes “downward to the earth”. It doesn’t seem to go to God or to Hell. The verse also does not say that this spirit endures forever, or that one day the creature’s body will be resurrected and its spirit will be restored. It may be that the animal’s spirit just dissipates after death, but to be honest I don’t know. I haven’t found any other verses that talk about this and I don’t want to read too much into it.

But it’s an intriguing verse, all the same.

Jude 1:24: “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”

Don’t miss that last part – “with exceeding joy”. That is worth dwelling on. It is so easy to focus on our failures and on everything that has gone wrong, and miss the fact that that one day our lives will be filled with “exceeding joy”. And why will this be? Why will our lives be filled with exceeding joy? Simply because it is God’s good pleasure to give it to us.

Jude 1:14: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

First of all, there is a manuscript going around today that claims to be the lost book of Enoch. Whether it is genuine or not I do not know; it may be, although I very much doubt it. However, this book is not Scripture. It contains heresy and error, and it has content that contradicts the Scriptures. No matter how interesting it may be, it must be stressed that this book is not part of the Bible and must not be treated as such.

That being said, Jude does record that Enoch was a prophet, that Enoch prophesied some things, and that what he said will come to pass. I believe that Enoch is speaking about what we find in Revelation 19:14, where the Lord returns with the armies of Heaven to battle those that have gathered to wipe out the Jews. (This is also known as the Second Coming.) Look how similar the passage is to what Enoch prophesied thousands of years earlier:

Revelation 19:11: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

In Christ’s first coming He brought joy and glad tidings, good will toward men. However, in His Second Coming He will bring judgment, wrath, destruction, and death. In His first coming He came to save the world; in His Second Coming He comes to judge the world. The kingdoms of the world will become the kingdoms of the Lord, and He will reign forever and ever.

Notice what Jude 1:15 says: “To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” In other words, judgment is coming. The Lord has tarried, but that will not last forever. What Enoch and the apostle John prophesied all those years ago will surely come to pass.

The purpose of this lesson is to give a general overview of the entire life of Abraham. By taking some time to look at his life as a whole, we can see events in context and get a glimpse of the bigger picture. It then becomes much easier to take an in-depth look at specific events, since we will already understand how everything fits together.

In this particular study we are going to start with the birth of Abraham. We all know that he was born thousands of years ago, but it’s possible to pinpoint his birth a little more closely than that. Genesis 11 contains enough genealogical data to allow us to figure out approximately when he was born. First, Arphaxad (the son of Shem, and grandson of Noah) was born two years after the Flood:

Genesis 11:10: “These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:”

Salah was born when Arphaxad was 35, which means that Salah was born 37 years after the Flood:

Genesis 11:12: “And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:”

Eber was born when Salah was 30 years old, which means that Eber was born 67 years after the Flood:

Genesis 11:14: “And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:”

Peleg was born when Eber was 34 years old, which means that Peleg was born 101 years after the Flood:

Genesis 11:16: “And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:”

Reu was born when Peleg was 30 years old, which means that Reu was born 131 years after the Flood:

Before Jesus ascended into Heaven He told His disciples to preach the gospel to the entire world:

Mark 16:15: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Jesus also said that before He returns the gospel will be preached to the entire world:

Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

This has led many people to believe that the Rapture will not happen until everyone has heard the gospel. This sounds plausible, but it is an error. The return that Jesus was speaking of was the Second Coming, not the Rapture. (The Rapture is a signless event; it can happen at any time. Nothing else needs to happen before the Rapture takes place.) It is true that the gospel will be preached to the entire world before the Second Coming, but the Church is not the one who will do it. Instead it will be done by an angel during the Tribulation:

Revelation 14:6: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

Notice the clarity of this passage! The preaching (and the passage does use the word “preach”) is being done by an angel, not the Church. What is being preached is the “everlasting gospel”. Moreover, it is preached to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people”.

The Church was given the task of reaching the world with the gospel, but we will fail. The job will be accomplished by an angel, not by us. After the angel has finished its task, then Jesus will return and the end will come.

We don’t often think of angels preaching the gospel, and rightly so; that task has been given to us in this age. But the day will come when an angel will preach to the entire world.

Jude 1:11: “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.”

Jude has quite a lot to say about the false teachers who have turned the hope of the gospel into a license to sin. He makes it clear that these teachers are lost, empty, and spiritually dead. He then states that they are headed for “the blackness of darkness for ever”. They will perish, be judged, and enter the Lake of Fire, where they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever.

Notice how bold Jude is in condemning those who teach a false gospel! He does not just condemn their false teachings; he goes on to actually condemn the teachers themselves. He makes it clear that those who teach a false gospel will be damned. He wants everyone to understand that the penalty for teaching a false gospel is very, very high. It is not a “victimless crime”, and those who do so will not get away with it.

Today people seem extremely reluctant to call out false teachers. I have heard a great many sermons in my lifetime, but I have heard extremely few that call out false teachers and warn against them. The apostle Paul did not hesitate to call out false teachers by name and warn against them, and we ought to be doing the same today. A shepherd who refuses to protect his sheep from the wolves is utterly useless. Where are the pastors today who are sounding the alarm? There is no shortage of wolves.

The other day I came across an article online that claimed that the Garden of Eden was probably located in what is now Iraq. I’ve seen this claim made numerous times, and since it doesn’t appear to be going away I decided to address it. The record needs to be set straight: there is no Biblical reason to believe that the Garden of Eden was in Iraq – or anywhere else in the Middle East, for that matter.

The first thing we need to understand is that the famous garden that God made was actually put in a country called Eden. The reason it was called the Garden of Eden is because it was the garden that was in Eden. Eden was the name of the country, not the garden:

Genesis 2:8: “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”

As you can see, the Lord planted a garden in Eden. So what do we know about this country of Eden, and why do people mistakenly believe it was Iraq?

Well, the Bible says that a river came out of the land of Eden. That river subdivided into four other rivers, one of which was the Euphrates river:

Genesis 2:10: “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.”

People read this and think “Oh! That must be talking about the Euphrates river that’s in the Middle East. Therefore that must be where the Garden of Eden was located!” That seems very clever, until you realize that there was a worldwide Flood that destroyed the world. The whole purpose of the Flood was to wipe everything out, and that’s exactly what it did. It had a devastating effect, to the point where it even altered continents. After the flood waters subsided the world was a radically different place. The topography of the planet had been altered forever.

The modern Euphrates river is not the same Euphrates river that is mentioned in Genesis 2. It is not one of four rivers that all come from the same source; that tributary system was destroyed by the Flood. After Noah and his family left the Ark and began repopulating the world they named a new river after a river that had existed before the Flood. It is just like how the American city of New York is named after the old English city of York.

It is impossible to know where the old land of Eden used to be, since it was completely destroyed in the Flood. It could have been anywhere on the globe – including in areas that are now covered by oceans. There is no compelling reason to think that it was in the part of the world that is now the Middle East.

Jude 1:9: “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”

This is a strange passage. Why was Michael contending with the devil about the body of Moses? No one knows where Moses is buried, because God buried him personally (Deuteronomy 34:5-6). Is his body important in some way?

Some have speculated that Moses and Elijah will be the two witnesses that are discussed in Revelation 11. We know that Elijah will be resurrected before the Tribulation begins (Malachi 4:5-6); whether he will be a witness, I do not know. The Bible does not explain what this conflict was about. It is a bit odd.

I have researched this verse and I have read commentaries and articles about it, and after all is said and done the truth is that nobody has any idea what Jude is talking about. There are a couple competing theories, but they are weak, they lack supporting evidence, and they aren’t very compelling. This is one of those areas where theologians throw up their hands and say “I have absolutely no idea”.

In my opinion, issues like this make Heaven all the more exciting. People have been living in Heaven for thousands of years; it is full of prophets, apostles, and people with tremendous wisdom – and on top of that, God Himself dwells there! I am sure that people in Heaven have been busy studying, learning, and writing over the centuries. I strongly suspect that Heaven contains a vast treasure trove of theological knowledge. In Heaven questions concerning predestination and eschatology (the study of end times) have surely been settled long ago. The greatest theological resources that we have here on Earth surely pale in comparison to what we will have access to when the Lord comes for us. (I have a feeling that, when we arrive there, we will find ourselves in need of some serious education – both to learn what is true, and to unlearn what is not true.) Here we see through a glass darkly, but one day we will see face to face.

In Genesis 10 we find a man by the name of Nimrod:

Genesis 10:8: “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”

The Bible describes Nimrod as “a mighty one in the earth”, and as “a mighty hunter before the Lord”. However, there is a great deal more to the story. Nimrod was not like Esau, who was a mighty hunter of wild animals. No, he was something else entirely – a depraved hunter of men who fought the Lord and did many terrible things.

The name “Nimrod” comes from the Hebrew word marad, which means “rebel”. (Some people think that Nimrod might actually be his title instead of his name.) History tells us that Nimrod was an evil tyrant who hated the Lord. This is how the ancient Jewish historian Josephus described him:

Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah — a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny — seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence upon his own power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers. (Ant. 1: iv: 2)

As you can see, Nimrod was driven by a passionate hatred for God. He was angry at God for destroying the ancient world in the Flood and was determined to do three things: turn men away from God, get his revenge, and build a tower so tall that if God sent another Flood He would not be able to destroy mankind a second time. Nimrod was a rebellious, powerful king who had no fear of God whatsoever.

That in itself is an astonishing thing. The Lord had just shown His awesome power and wrath by destroying the entire world in the Flood – a fact that Nimrod knew but did not take to heart. Everyone who rebelled against God had died in the waters; the only ones who survived were God’s servants. The rebels may have thought that they were stronger than God, but the Lord showed them how utterly powerless they really were. God clearly demonstrated how utterly futile it was to rebel against Him. It is simply not possible to gain victory over God – and yet Nimrod did not care. He was determined to be just like the rebels who lived before the Flood, even though those rebels had fought God and lost.

It is an amazing thing that men who knew about the Flood still chose to rebel against God. The Flood did not strike fear into their hearts; in fact, it only made them hate God even more. God had proven that He was stronger than man, but Nimrod did not care. He was determined to fight an all-knowing, all-powerful God. Nimrod saw that men feared God and was determined that they should fear him instead.

This is not the first time that men have chosen to wage war against God, and it would not be the last. Throughout history God has poured out His wrath upon those who hate Him, showing how utterly futile it is to rebel against God, and yet people respond by deciding to rebel even more. Despite the fact that rebelling against God is hopeless, men still refuse to repent and be saved. They cling to their sin and rebellion all the way to the bitter end. Men were like this when history began, and they will still be like it when this age draws to a close:

Revelation 16:9: “And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.”

Here we see the same mindless rebellion that drove Nimrod. During the Tribulation the Lord will pour out terrible judgments upon the Earth. When He does so, clearly demonstrating His wrath and power in a way that no one can deny or ignore, men will still refuse to repent. Instead of seeking forgiveness and grace they will instead curse God. Nimrod cursed God for judging the old world in the Flood; these men will curse God for judging the modern world in the Tribulation. It is the same sad story – men deliberately choosing God’s wrath over God’s mercy and grace. God offers forgiveness, but they will not take it. Their hatred for God is so great that they would rather curse God and die.

Nimrod’s boast to rebel against God by building a tower was not mere words. As Genesis 10:10 points out, Nimrod founded Babel – the city made famous for its tower that was supposed to reach heaven itself:

Genesis 11:2: “And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

The city of Babel was founded as an act of rebellion against God. In fact, some have called it the first organized rebellion against God. Cain had rebelled against God, but he was just one man; there is no evidence that he led a movement. Nimrod, however, did exactly that.

You see, after the Flood the Lord commanded mankind to repopulate the planet:

Genesis 9:1: “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”

Nimrod, however, had another plans. He was determined to lead mankind away from following God. He founded the city of Babel and was determined to make a name for himself. He was going to build an empire that was dedicated to fighting God and was committed to rebellion against the Most High. Babel was not simply another city; it was an act of defiance against the Lord Himself.

Nimrod was determined to thwart the plan of God, but his grand vision for Babel did not come to pass. The Lord noticed what was going on and decided to stop it:

Genesis 11:5: “And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

Notice how easy it was for the Lord to put an end to this scheme! Once again, mankind discovered that trying to rebel against God was fruitless. God is simply too great; He cannot be defeated. No city or power or scheme of men can possibly overthrow Him. He is far above our reach and has infinite power and wisdom. Nimrod was trying to thwart God by building a tower too tall for any flood to overcome, but the Lord did not send another flood. Instead God simply confused the languages of man, and that was that. Since man could no longer communicate with one another they were scattered abroad. The great tower at Babel was abandoned and left unfinished.

(As a side-note, notice that the Lord said “let us go down” – a reference to the Trinity. There are many times in the Old Testament when God refers to Himself in plural form. The Jews reject the concept of the Trinity, but despite their protests the Trinity is found in both the Old and New Testament.)

It is important to realize why God decided to intervene. Verse 6 tells us that “nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do”. Mankind was determined to build a kingdom that was in direct opposition to the Most High God. They were going to form a one-world government that would rule over the planet in the name of wickedness. God realized that if He did not stop them they were going to succeed, so He intervened. Their plan to create a tyrannical empire that spanned the entire globe, which would be headed by one wicked person who hated God, was stopped.

But it was not stopped forever; God simply delayed it. This is the point that I want to bring out. You see, the story of Babel did not end on the day that God confused the language of men. Babel is just another name for Babylon. Nimrod did not just found a city; he started a civilization. Although the tower was abandoned, Babylon itself did not disappear; it continued to grow in power until it became a major civilization that conquered much of the ancient world. The book of Revelation tells us that one day the city of Babylon will succeed in taking over the entire world. There will be a one-world government headed by an evil man of incredible wickedness – a man known as the antichrist. Nimrod’s dream will come to pass and it will endure – but only for a short while, until Jesus Christ returns and destroys it once and for all.

It is important to realize that Babylon is more than just a city or an ancient civilization. There are two factions in this universe – the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. Babylon is the sum of everything that is in rebellion against God. You might say that Babylon is the kingdom of this world. (Some have described history as a tale of two cities: Jerusalem, the city of God, and Babylon, the city of this world.) Babylon may no longer be a world power, but it was never really defeated. The city of Babylon was rebuilt by Saddam Hussein and it endures to this day. As the years go by its power will increase until it dominates the entire planet – and then God will judge it, as the book of Revelation describes.

Before getting into that, however, we should take a look back at history. Babylon is mentioned many times throughout Scripture. For example, during Israel’s conquest of Canaan, Achan was led into sin when he saw a Babylonian garment:

Joshua 7:20: “And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.”

When this event happened Joshua had just started leading the children of Israel into battle against the Canaanites. They had conquered Jericho and moved on to Ai, a city that was so small and weak that Joshua paid it little attention. When he sent his army against it, however, his army lost; Ai defeated them and killed 36 Israelites. Joshua inquired of the Lord and found out that God had removed His blessing from them because one of the Israelites had sinned. All of the spoil from Jericho was supposed to go to the Lord, but Achan had kept some of it for himself. This sin caused the Lord’s favor to be removed from Israel and they began to lose battles; they did not win another battle until Achan was put to death.

It is interesting that Achan was tempted by a Babylonian garment. Achan was led astray by the kingdom of this world, and it destroyed him. The Bible strictly warns us to not love this world or the things that it contains:

1 John 2:15: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

Achan loved the things of Babylon more than the things of God, and it cost him his life.

This is far from the only time that Babylon brought grief to Israel. When the evil king Ahaz rebelled against God, the Assyrians came and settled men from Babylon in Israel:

2 Kings 17:24: And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.”

Later, of course, Babylon would completely conquer Israel and relocate its entire population. Israel rejected God, so God gave them over to the kingdom of this world.

The good King Hezekiah was also ensnared by Babylon. Hezekiah had been gravely ill, but he cried out to God and the Lord healed him. After his recovery a group from Babylon came to pay their respects. Hezekiah responded by boasting about his wealth and showing them what a great and powerful king he was:

2 Kings 20:12: “At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.”

You may recall that King Nebuchadnezzar also made the mistake of boasting about his greatness. That did not end well for him, nor did this end well for Hezekiah:

2 Kings 20:14: “Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
15 And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord.
17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?”

Do you see how Hezekiah simply did not care? He did not cry out to God, asking Him to forgive his pride and arrogance. The king did not intercede on behalf of Israel, as Moses had done on countless occasions. Hezekiah was so self-centered and hard-hearted that the warning of God’s coming judgment meant nothing to him! The fact that Israel would be conquered, his own sons would be enslaved, and many people would be killed made no impression on him at all. In fact, in verse 19 he even calls it “good”! All he cared about was himself. “Things will be good in my time; who cares what will happen to my children? If they’re going to be brutally murdered by Babylonians, well, hey, that’s not my problem.”

Hezekiah had been a good king but he was led astray by the things of this world. He cared about his money, his power, and his glory; he wanted to make sure that things were good for him. He had fallen in love with the things of this world and wanted to make sure that the Babylon king respected him. The wrath of God was of no concern to him whatsoever.

Isaiah’s dire prophecy came true. Years after Hezekiah died, King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel and hauled its men away to Babylon:

2 Kings 24:24: “In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.”

The rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar did not go well. In the days of Jehoiakim’s son, Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged Jerusalem. When the city fell he destroyed the temple, sacked the city, and hauled away its treasure and people to Babylon:

2 Kings 24:10: “At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.
12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said.
14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.”

God had warned Israel repeatedly that if they rebelled against Him He would hand them over to their enemies, but they did not listen. Moses warned Israel about this before they even set foot in the promised land, and prophet after prophet repeated the warning of Moses. It was all to no avail: Israel refused to serve God, so He handed them over to Babylon – the kingdom of this world. Since Israel loved this world more than it loved God, the Lord handed them over to it.

But Babylon was not left unpunished. God promised to put an end to them:

Isaiah 13:19: “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.”

What is so interesting about this prophecy is that it has never been fulfilled. When God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah the cities were utterly destroyed in a matter of moments and all of their inhabitants were suddenly killed. Babylon, however, did not suffer that fate. Instead it was gradually abandoned over a period of centuries. In fact, the city still existed in the days of Peter. The apostle mentioned it in one of his letters and said that there was a congregation of believers there:

I Peter 5:13: “The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.”

Some have tried to claim that this was a code-word for Rome, but that is not the case. There is no evidence that Peter ever visited Rome; when Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans he greeted a very long list of people who were there (Romans 16), but Peter was not mentioned. It is much more likely that Babylon simply meant Babylon – especially since the city was still inhabited at that time.

Besides this, Isaiah 13:20 says that after Babylon is judged it will never be inhabited again, and that is something else that has never happened. In 1983 Saddam Hussein rebuilt the city of Babylon, directly on top of its old site. In May of 2009 the site was reopened for tourism, and today it is a tourist attraction. The ancient city lives again.

The reason this has happened is because its judgment is still in the future. The prophecy of Isaiah will come true during the Tribulation. Toward the end of that seven-year period the city of Babylon will be destroyed:

Revelation 18:1: “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”

By this point in the Tribulation the city of Babylon is a great deal more than a mere tourist attraction. All nations and kings have become entangled with her and she has given many merchants great wealth. Babylon is in a position of both political and economic power. Yet, despite its power, and despite the way it rules over the world, it will all be destroyed in a single day and a single hour – just as Isaiah foretold:

Revelation 18:8: “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.”

Notice how Babylon is called a “great city” and a “mighty city”. For more than a thousand years there was no city of Babylon at all; there were only ruins. Now the city of Babylon lives again, just as the Bible foretold. It has begun its ascent to world domination. As the Tribulation draws near we can expect Babylon to grow tremendously and amass great wealth and power. It will once again become a mighty city that rules over the entire world – just as it did in ancient times. In fact, it will become the greatest city on the planet:

Revelation 18:17: “For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!”

In the cosmic struggle between the city of God and the city of this world, the city of this world will be utterly destroyed. God will avenge His people:

Revelation 18:20: “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”

Long ago, Nimrod founded Babylon in an attempt to defeat God and set himself up as king. Near the end of the Tribulation the Lord will utterly destroy the city that he created and put an end to the rebellion that he started. As Revelation says:

Revelation 11:15: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”

Amen!

In the book of Ezekiel God begins talking about the devil, who is referred to as the king of Tyre. (Why Satan is referred to this way, and not simply called ‘Lucifer’, is far beyond the scope of this post.) At first the discussion is easy to follow:

Ezekiel 28:12: “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.”

When Lucifer was created he was the wisest and most beautiful of all of God’s creation. He was in Eden in the garden of God; he was adorned with every precious stone. All of that is easy to understand.

Then we come to this:

Ezekiel 28:14: “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”

As God describes the glory of Lucifer, one of the key things that’s mentioned is that he has “walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire”. What on earth does that mean? What are the stones of fire? Why is walking among them such an impressive, awe-inspiring feat?

We find it repeated again a few verses later:

Ezekiel 28:15: “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.”

When God pronounces judgment upon the fallen Lucifer, He says that He will cast him out of the mountain of God and destroy him from the midst of the stones of fire. This leads me to believe that the “stones of fire” are something that can be found in the mountain of God.

It is possible that the “stones of fire” (which some say should be translated as “glittering stones” instead of “fiery stones”) may be something that is found in Heaven. This passage may be saying that Lucifer was in Eden, the garden of God, and in Heaven as well – he had access to both places.

Whatever it is, the stones of fire are never mentioned again, and we never hear anything else about them. It’s one of the mysteries of the Bible.

Jude 1:7: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

Jude brings up another example where God judged cities, utterly destroying them for
their wickedness. God judged Sodom and Gomorrha for “giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh”. In other words, God destroyed the cities because of their gross sexual immorality. We all know what type of immorality these people were guilty of; the old word “Sodomite” comes from the name Sodom. Today these people are called “homosexuals”.

A lot of people in the church claim that homosexuality is not a sin. One church even went so far as to release a new version of the Bible that has been edited to remove all condemnation of homosexuality. (It is called the “Queen James Bible”; you can find it on Amazon, but I refuse to link to it.) Yet, despite all this, the Word is clear: homosexuality is a sin. It has always been a sin and it will always be a sin. It was a sin in the Old Testament and it is still a sin in the New Testament.

All of us are sinners; there are none who have not sinned. God requires all of mankind to repent of their sins and subject themselves to the authority of Christ. This means that there are no sins that we are allowed to keep. We must repent of all of them; we must forsake them and turn from them. That does not mean that Christians do not sin, but it does mean that we acknowledge that our sins are actually sins and we cry out to God for the grace to turn from them.

It is impossible for anyone who refuses to repent of their sins to be a Christian. A thief who refuses to repent of thieving cannot be saved. An adulterer who refuses to repent of fornication cannot be saved. Likewise, a homosexual who refuses to repent of homosexuality cannot be saved. You must repent of your sins, and homosexuality is absolutely a sin.

Those churches that teach that homosexuality is not a sin are doing a terrible disservice. A man who is lost in his sins needs to be told that he is lost in his sins; otherwise he will remain lost and will keep going down the road to Hell. Thieves must be told that they are sinners and urged to repent. Adulterers must be told that they are sinners and urged to repent. The same goes for homosexuals, and for all types of sins. Telling a sinner “What you are doing is fine; God approves of your behavior” is a terrible wrong. God’s opinion on this matter has not changed – and editing the very words of God does not change anything either.

I saw something online today that really got my attention. The headline for a video clip was:

“Milton Friedman: minimum wage is the most ‘anti-black law in the land’”

This is how someone responded:

Anonymous: “If you’re going to put his comment in quotes, you have to note that he said the law was the “most anti-Negro law in the land.” It’s what he actually said, and it wasn’t a slur then, and it’s not a slur now. Quotes are quotes, and changing them out of fear is too PC for words.”

The commenter is absolutely right. He had a great point, and he made it well. However, there was a follow-up comment by someone else:

rick s: “get a life.”

This is everything that is wrong with our society in one nice little package. The second commenter made no logical point; he just insulted the person who told the truth. You see this over and over and over again: if you tell someone the truth you will be insulted. You will be mocked. You will be told that you’re stupid. These “haters” don’t have anything logical or reasonable to say, so they just insult you – as if, somehow, saying “Boy are you a loser” is a logical rebuttal to the facts you have brought up.

We live in a world full of absolute morons. Anyone who believes that name calling is a proper rebuttal to a logical argument is a fool. In fact, he is a very dangerous kind of fool, because he is a fool that cannot be educated or reasoned with, and who has an invincible kind of ignorance. The reason the world is going down in flames is because wisdom is despised and foolishness is highly valued.

People tell me all the time “I wish you hadn’t told me the truth. I liked the lie better.” People prefer lies over the truth. They would actually rather be lied to, because they like the lie. They hate the person who tells them the truth because they hate the truth itself. I’m not even talking about religion here; there’s apparently a whole mass of people who love lies in general because lies make them happy and the truth makes them sad. These people will actually come right out and tell you that they don’t want to know the truth because they’re happy believing what they want to believe.

Any civilization that is filled with shallow people who love lies and fight those who tell the truth is a civilization that does not have long to live. Reality always wins in the end.

Jude 1:6: “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

Jude is talking about the fallen angels that took human wives and produced the Nephilim – the race of giant, evil beings that lived before the Flood. Jude tells us that these fallen angels have been “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness”. Unlike other demons, these beings are not at liberty to roam the earth; instead they are imprisoned in a special hell (literally; the word that is translated “hell” in this verse is used only in this one place, and refers to a distinct and separate place). There they wait in darkness until the Great White Throne Judgment, at which time they will be cast into the Lake of Fire and tormented day and night, forever and ever.

I have written more about this here: The Nephilim