The Seed of the Woman

As the Easter season approaches it causes us to pause and consider the grandeur of it all. At the same time we need to be aware of what “Easter” isn’t.

The Bible tells us that in eons past God created a beautiful and powerful being named Lucifer, son of the morning. But Lucifer had a major problem. His beauty and power were so profound that he thought he should be equal to the One that created him. Because of his pride God had no choice but to cast Lucifer out of heaven. Lucifer’s name was changed to Satan, the Devil, that old serpent, the father of lies, the great deceiver, among several other less than noble names.

Then when God created Adam and Eve in His own image and placed them in the Garden of Eden the great deceiver presented himself to Eve disguised as a “helper” to assist her in being like God. Eve fell for his subtlety and this original sin in the Garden of Eden of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil caused God to curse both Satan and all the earth.

Because of this original sin on earth God informed Satan that the day would come when he would be destroyed by a descendant of Eve, or the “Seed of the woman.”

So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed…all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall crush your head, and you shall crush His heel.” Genesis 3:14-15

Satan knew that God’s word was immutable so as the great deceiver he conjured up his own plan that would be an imitation to God’s plan in an attempt to deceive the world into believing a lie about the “Seed of the woman.” Inasmuch as Satan knew that he was destined for destruction, he wanted to take as many with him as possible.

Fast forward to after the flood and consider Noah’s descendants. Noah had three sons, one of whose name was Ham. Ham in turn had four sons, one of whose name was Cush, and Cush in turn had several sons, one of whose name was Nimrod.

“Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth…and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel…from that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh…” Genesis 10:8-11

History reveals that Nimrod was a very powerful military, political, and religious leader. The very name Nimrod means rebel. As mentioned in the Bible the beginning of his government began in ancient Babylon, the present day Iraq. His objective was to establish a worldwide false religion without the counsel of God almighty.

And they said, “Come let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves…” Genesis 11:4

But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built…so the LORD scattered them abroad from there…and they ceased building the city. Genesis 11:5-8

Nimrod had become very powerful in the eyes of the people. He married his father’s wife whose name was Semiramis and she became a powerful queen of ancient Babylon. In Assyria and Nineveh she was called Ishtar. Later she would become known as Ashteroth by the Israelites. She became the high priestess of an idolatrous religious system and was recognized as “the queen of heaven.”

Satan remembered the curse that God pronounced on him back in Genesis regarding the Seed of the woman and he began to reveal his counterfeit plan.

The “queen of heaven,” i.e. Semiramis bore a son named Tammuz, or Baal, who she said was miraculously conceived by a sunbeam. Legend states that Tammuz was killed by a wild boar. Then after 40 days of weeping and mourning he was raised from the dead and his resurrection was celebrated with the feast of Ishtar where people exchanged Ishtar eggs.

Does the Bible point out such flagrantly false religious traditions? Are there any warnings about Tammuz, the queen of heaven, or Ashteroth contained in the Bible?

Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
I Samuel 7:3

“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you! But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her…”The women also said, “and when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offering to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ permission?” Jeremiah 44:16-19

Then He said to me, (Ezekiel) “Son of man, have you seen what the elders …of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols?”...So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. Ezekiel 8:12-14

“Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.” Ezekiel 8:18

So the “seed of the woman” in Satan’s plan was Tammuz, the son of the pagan queen of heaven and her husband Nimrod. The Biblical “Seed of the woman” is Christ, the Son of the virgin lass named Mary. We need to be sure that we recognize and worship the Truth.

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul is not Scriptural

While it is a noble idea to want to “share the wealth” to assist the poor, it is not found anywhere in the Bible that it is the government’s duty to do so. The present administration and both houses of congress have the perception that it is in their scope of responsibility to redistribute the wealth within the citizenry. Their income redistribution plan is to be enacted via the tax structure.

Perhaps the clearest passage in the Bible relative to the intended purpose of taxation is found in the New Testament book of Romans.

“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God...For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good…For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil...For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.” Romans 13:1-6

This passage clearly explains that civil authority is established for the purpose of protecting the citizenry from those who choose not to abide by the established laws. This passage also grants powers to the appointed civil authorities to inflict punishment on the offenders. And more significantly, this passage states that the purpose of the taxing system is for generating funds to maintain law and order in the land.

When government gets involved in such issues as deciding how much each citizen should “give” to support others they are in essence playing “God.”

Upon examining the early history of the church we find ample references concerning the church’s responsibility to take care of the needy.

“Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of land or houses sold them…and they distributed to each as anyone had need.” Acts 4:34-35

“…there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world. Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren…” Acts 11:28-29

“…He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

King Solomon had the reputation of being the wisest man in the world. In his proverbs he had much to say about the individual’s responsibility to care for the poor and needy through voluntary acts. His writings also provide warnings to those individuals who shirk their responsibility to care for the poor.

“He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given.” Proverbs 19:17

This proverb states that when an individual gives to the poor, it is like giving to God Himself and God will reward the giver.

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.” Proverbs 13:22

“He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” Proverbs 10:4

These proverbs clearly states that God will take care of wealth distribution.

“One who increases his possessions by usury and extortion gathers it for him who will pity the poor.” Proverbs 28:8

“Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.” Proverbs 21:13

Therefore, the issue of income redistribution is very relevant but not a governmental responsibility. The Bible clearly states that it is to be left up to the individual to voluntarily assist the needy.

We would be hard pressed to find any contemporary issue facing America today that is not covered in scriptural teachings. It is amazing that we continue to reinvent the wheel when in fact it is all laid out before us.

One wonders how different things would be today if the lawmakers and president of this great Christian nation would consult their bibles regularly instead of letting them gather dust after the symbolic swearing in ceremony.

The Silence Heard Around the World

There were many varied things said and promises made during President Obama’s recent address delivered to the joint session of congress. But it was what wasn’t said that spoke the loudest and should awaken America. The words “War on Terror” were not to be heard during this lengthy address. To insure that Muslims are not offended it is now politically correct to avoid the use of such allegedly incendiary words.

Let’s make sure that we don’t forget who the self proclaimed enemy is. It begins with a religion that surfaced 600 years after the advent of Christianity and thousands of years after the birth of Judaism. The religion of Islam, which began with a self proclaimed prophet, has escalated into an international movement with the intent of ruling the world under the guise of serving “God.”

It should also be remembered that the God of Judaism and Christianity is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of Islam, called Allah, is the God of Abraham and Ishmael. They are absolutely not one in the same. So when a Muslim uses the term “God” he is not referring to the God of the Bible, he is referring to Allah of the Koran. The description in the Koran of the Muslim Mahdi (Islam’s Messiah) clearly resembles the description of the Biblical Anti-Christ.

And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am Christ,’ and will deceive many…” Matthew 24:3-5

We cannot be lulled into thinking that the enemy wants to make peace with us just because we have extended an olive branch to them. The enemy has their eyes on Israel, America, and the whole of western culture on two fronts, i.e. flagrant terrorism on the one hand and on a more subtle front there is what author Robert Spencer calls “Stealth Jihad.” This latter front progresses steadily as we abdicate our freedoms via apathy.

Let’s review some quotations directly from Islamic leaders and their literature to see how likely it is that Islam will make peace with Israel and America. From the Hezbollah charter:

“We see in Israel the vanguard of the United States in our Islamic world. It is the hated enemy that must be fought until the hated ones get what they deserve…We vigorously condemn all plans for negotiation with Israel…We oppose and reject…all other programs that include the recognition (even the implied recognition) of the Zionist entity…We recognize no treaty with it, no cease fire, and no peace agreements, whether separate or consolidated.”

The charter of Hamas is nearly identical with Hezbollah’s charter.

Following are several quotes from Al-Qaeda leadership:

“Yet with the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York, there occurred an even bigger destruction: that of the great American Dream and legend of Democracy.”

“These attacks took off the skin of the American wolf and they have been left standing in their filthy, naked reality. Thus the whole world awoke from its sleep and the Muslims realized the importance of the belief of loving and hating for the sake of Allah; the ties of brotherhood between the Muslims have become stronger, which is a very good sign and a great step towards the unity of Muslims and establishing the Righteous Islamic Khilafah insha-Allah.”

“Oh young people of Islam: Follow the orders of Almighty God and His messenger and kill those people. Death is better than living on this earth with the unbelievers amongst us, making a mockery of our religion and prophet… Fear God, try to please Him, and do not consult with anyone regarding the killing of those unbelievers.”

From the lips of Iran’s Ahmadinejad:

“The anger of Muslims may reach an explosion point soon. If such a day comes, they (Western governments) should know that the waves of the blast will not remain within the boundaries of our region and will engulf the corrupt powers that support this fake regime too.”

And from other Al-Qaeda literature:

“There will be continuing enmity until everyone believes in Allah. We will not meet them halfway and there will be no room for dialogue with them.”

“The religious scholars (Koran interpreters) have also permitted the killing of a hostage if he insists on withholding information from Muslims.”
(Didn’t President Obama recently get a standing ovation when he announced that “The United States of America doesn’t torture prisoners?”)

According to the Bible, things are not going to get progressively better. It is not the time to be complacent or to believe a lie. Negotiated peace in the Middle East is but a fleeting fantasy.

For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman… I Thessalonians 5:3

History of the Future

Republican pundits are having a hay day with the plethora of material they have available for the next several years with the new “change driven” democratic president. These pundits should look beyond partisan ideologies, however, and take note of President Obama’s Christianity which trumps political partisanship. His outward expression of his religious beliefs should make it much easier for anyone to speak out openly about biblical issues because Americans can be confident that their president’s ideology will reflect Biblical principles.

A profound attribute of the Bible is that a large portion of its contents describes in great detail historical events that were foretold literally hundreds of years before their occurrence. Kings were called by name and their missions explained centuries before the kings were even born.

The prophetic aspect of the Bible can be very beneficial to President Obama because many issues that appear critically important today may be non-issues in the future. This knowledge should assist President Obama in establishing his present priorities.

For example, one of the most discussed issues during his fledgling presidency is the issue of political partisanship. Partisanship can be described briefly as following general ideologies of a political party without regard to the merits of specific issues. For example the congressional response to the recently proposed “stimulus” packages reveals voting was along strict party lines, i.e. partisanship was very obvious. It is just accepted that this country will be governed by either conservative or liberal ideologies which will be decided by the general electorate. President Obama, along with perhaps all of his predecessors has spoken out about the need to minimize partisanship in government. Such partisanship does in fact inhibit the passage of proposed legislation.

Liberal ideologies are typically associated with the Democratic Party while more conservative ideologies are normally associated with the Republican Party. Christianity is prevalent in both political parties. One of the major differences between the two parties is the amount of governmental participation in the daily workings of a capitalistic system. Another major difference is whether the government should be involved in the redistribution of individual wealth via the taxing system or let capital flow freely to those who earn it and will hopefully reinvest it in the production of more goods and services.

In an attempt to minimize the affects of partisanship the government of this nation was established on the foundation of three separate entities, i.e. the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. Laws are proposed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. Such laws are examined, reviewed and either approved or vetoed by the Executive Branch of government represented by the president and his staff. The nonpartisan judicial branch of our government reviews such proposed legislation to insure that it is congruous with the Constitution. The three branches of government act as check points to each other to insure that the overall good of the nation is pursued. This system was designed with good intentions.

Well, President Obama’s Bible tells of a future day when partisanship will in fact be a thing of the past. That future day will include the three basic components, i.e. legislative, executive, and judicial functions, but they will rest on the shoulders of one individual which will not be chosen by the electorate. That future day is described thusly:

For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King; He will save us… Isaiah 33:22

And the “Whitehouse” will be in Jerusalem. There are entire chapters in President Obama’s Bible describing this future governmental arrangement.

That the government will rest on the shoulders of an individual not elected by the people and that the seat of such government will be located in the mid east is a seething indictment of our numerous failed attempts to successfully govern ourselves even with the best intentions. As we review the history of this great nation it must be admitted that we have strayed far away from the original principles espoused by our founding fathers.

President Obama and his successors may make valiant attempts to return America to its original intent, but according to the final chapters of his Bible such attempts will be in vain as the future history of all national governments has already been written.