SOUNDS LIKE AMERICA!

(From "The Jerusalem Connection, July 2009) In 1787, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh named Alexander Tyler made the following comment about the fall of Athens.    "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."    Tyler continues, "The average age of the world's greatest civilization from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During that time, those nations always progressed through the following sequence: 1. From bondage to spiritual faith. 2. From spiritual faith to great courage. 3. From courage to liberty. 4. From liberty to abundance. 5. From abundance to complacency." 6. I have added: From complacency to dictatorship. 7. Finally, to revolution and disintegration! -- Mal Couch

FAVORING THE ISHMAELITES …

A dissertation done for one of the "big" seminaries in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area makes Ishmael and his descendants look like a group of Sunday school teachers! The dissertation was published recently in part in a religious magazine. How it was approved by the examining committee to me is a mystery!    The dissertation makes Ishmael, as seen in Genesis, look as if he was equally blessed spiritually as Abraham's true son, Isaac. Again, the question—how was this paper approved? The only answer must be that it was seen as being Politically Correct, but it certainly was not correct biblically!    One of the arguments in the dissertation I agree with is that there should be more evangelism directed toward the Arabs, many of whom are descendants of Ishmael. But in reference to the present animosity now being shown towards the Jews, the descendants of Isaac, there is raging both physical and spiritual warfare that will take the world up to the brink of the tribulation!    The birth of Ishmael through the Egyptian handmaiden Hagar was indeed a spiritual failure of Abraham. He tried to rush things up with God in order to have a son to whom he could pass along to his son the covenant promised to him by the Lord. Both Abraham and Sarah were not able to have children. God made them wait until they were up in years in order to show that the arrival of Isaac, the true son God intended, would be a miracle birth!    The dissertation argues that the birth of Ishmael was a positive compensation to Hagar—"God promised to multiply Hagar's seed exceedingly (Gen. 16:10), making her the only woman recipient of such a promise in the Bible." But reading the narration does not give one such an impression. It was true that Hagar as a mother was blessed by Ishmael's birth, however the birth of Ishmael would be a negative influence in the world and not a positive one. The angel of the Lord told Hagar that her son "would be a wild donkey of a man. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him" (v. 12). The dissertation author says this became a beneficial promise bestowed upon Hagar and Ishmael. No one has ever taken these words this way!    The author goes on and says that "Whether God's pledge is part of the initial covenant with Abraham or an independent promise" is not certain. How could the author miss 21:10 where Abraham rightly said "Drive out the maid (Hagar) and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac" (21:10). The Lord made it clear, "My covenant I will establish with Isaac" and not with Ishmael (17:21).    Because Hagar named her son through Abraham Ishmael (God hears) the author makes a broad, sweeping statement that was supposed to have a spiritual connotation: "This is a reminder that hearing the cries of the afflicted is a beautiful trait of God (v. 11). God promised Hagar that He would listen to her and her descendants in their unfavored social status." Where that is stated in Genesis, I do not know!    By the way, Paul makes the story of Hagar and Ishmael a negative one. Hagar is the type of human effort attempting to please God. Isaac born to Abraham and Sarah is a type of obeying God and following Him by faith (Gal. 4:21-25). The author of this dissertation turns the story around!    The author also argues that Ishmael was blessed because "he lived in the presence of all his brothers" (Gen. 16:12). The NAS reads "And he will live to the east of all his brothers." The author does not deal with the textual problem in the passage. He leaves out "to the east." Ellicott points out that "Many commentators consider this the more exact rendering. This is certainly the meaning of the word in 25:6." Thus, Ishmael did not stay around the tents of Isaac and receive the blessings bestowed upon him by the Lord. He fled from the presence of the family and also from the presence of the Lord!    When Ishmael is called "a wild donkey" the author turns this phrase around to some positive statement. He cites Job 39:5—that was a mistake! Job 39:5 derides the idea of the wild donkey. He says about the ass, "Will you trust him because his strength is great and leave your labor to him? Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain?" Of course not! So, with Ishmael. He never was trusted, nor did his descendants trusted in the God of Abraham!    While the dissertation author puts such a positive spin on Ishmael and his children, who today form the core of the Arabic people, he forgets to remind us that Muhammad comes from this line. Unger notes that Ishmael became "the progenitor of the Arabs, Israel's traditional enemies. Also from this line came Muhammad and Islam, one of the most demonic of religions and a foe to Christianity [and Judaism]."    The article closes with the words of the author that thousands of Arabs have come to Christ and been martyred over the years. While there is no doubt that many have trusted in Him for salvation, in my experience the numbers are somewhat exaggerated. Many in Bethlehem today call themselves Christians but there is some question whether they are truly born again—they appear to be but "cultural Christians." There is little doubt that most despise their Jewish neighbors and have nothing to do with them. This would make one think that they do not fully understand what the Bible is saying in its overall message. – Dr. Mal Couch

Behind our Backs

Whether you are an Obama fan, or not, EVERYONE IN THE U. S. needs to know....

Something happened... H.R. 1388 was passed yesterday, behind our backs. AGAIN!! You may want to read about it. It wasn't mentioned on the news... just went by on the ticker tape at the bottom of the CNN screen.

Obama funds $20M in tax payer dollars to immigrate Hamas Refugees to the USA. This is the news that didn't make ANY headlines...

By executive order, President Barack Obama has ordered the expenditure of $20.3 million in "migration assistance" to the Palestinian refugees and "conflict victims" in Gaza. And not one penny to Israel for all the rockets and killings!

The "presidential determination", which allows hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with ties to Hamas to resettle in the United States, was signed on January 27 and appeared in the Federal Register on February 4.

Few on Capitol Hill, or in the media, took note that the order provides a FREE ticket - replete with housing and food allowances to individuals who have displayed their overwhelming support to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the parliamentary election of January 2006.

Let's review...itemized list of some of Barack Obama's most recent actions since his inauguration:

• His first call to any head of state, as president, was to Mahmoud Abbas, leader of Fatah party in the Palestinian territory.
• His first one-on-one television interview with any news organization was with Al Arabia television.
  
• His first executive order was to fund/facilitate abortion(s) not just here within the U. S. , but within the WORLD, using U. S. tax payer funds.
  
• He ordered Guantanamo Bay closed and ALL military trials of detainees halted.
  
• He ordered overseas CIA interrogation centers closed.
  
• He withdrew ALL charges against the masterminds behind the USS Cole and the "terror attack" on 9/11.
  

Now we learn that he is allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees to move to, and live in the US at American taxpayer expense!

These important, and insightful, issues are being "lost" in the blinding bail-outs and "stimulation" packages. That have never been read by anyone who votes on them in the middle of the night!

Doubtful? To verify this for yourself: go to The Federal Register and search the term: E9-2488 on that website!

PLEASE PASS THIS ON... AMERICA NEEDS TO KNOW

WE are losing this country at a rapid pace. ....right under our noses! YET BEHIND OUR BACKS............

MORE CRAZY STUFF!

Former President Jimmy Carter made it public how "he has been in love with the Palestinian people for many years." He insists there can never be peace in the Middle East until everyone opens their arms to groups like Hamas. To the Palestinians he said, "I hope someday in the future to address you in your perpetual capital, Jerusalem."    Sounds good but it really was a lie! Our not-too-informed President, Barack Hussein Obama, said that Israel has had a right to exist in the Holy Land since the Holocaust. This is false! Their right to exist there goes back to God's promises that began in the OT. The drive to "go back home" to the Promised Land has been in the working stage since the Jews were scattered in A.D. 135 but for over two hundred years, this yearning to return has been in the works in earnest! Obama does not know his history. In a revisionist frame of mind he believes that Jerusalem is the home of the three faiths—Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. This too is wrong! Only the Jews hold the title deed to the land, and to Jerusalem, as given to them by God! It is the amillennial Catholic Church that has tried to lay some kind of claim on Jerusalem. It is not theirs!    With Obama's statement that Israel has had a claim on the Holy Land since the Holocaust, Prime Minister Netanyahu has set the record straight by saying, "Our prophets always envisioned peace; we bless each other with Shalom (peace); our prayers end in peace."    Be prepared for some who are "Christians" to cut Israel free from the promises of the prophets. The Protestant denominations are shifting even more to the left. This will be part of the Apostasy that we are rapidly moving toward. – Dr. Mal Couch

CAREFUL INTERPRETATION

I was asked recently about Genesis 17:4, 6, concerning the nations coming forth from Abraham. Is "the nations" a reference, an allegorical reference, to the fact that the Gentiles would be blessed by Abraham? In order to answer we must use two very important principles in hermeneutics: (1) good observation, and (2) examining carefully the context of a passage.    The "nations" here have to do with the many tribes that were spawned from Abraham. God told him that He would "multiply him exceedingly" (v. 2). And, that he would be "the father of a multitude of nations" (vv. 4, 6). This came about literally if one carefully reads 25:1-11. Through his second wife, Keturah, he had many other children, who then had more children. Also, his other children came through several concubines, and through Ishmael (the son of Hagar), as listed in 25:12-16.    However, God made it plain that through Sarah, Abraham would have seed (descendants) "after him" (17:7-10). The "after him" (Abraham) is a direct reference to the children who would come from his true wife (not a concubine) Sarah. "God said, 'but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant; for his descendants 'after him'" (v. 19).    Question: "Well, are the nations not the children of Abraham, as mentioned by Paul in Galatians 3:7-8?"    Read carefully! Paul takes note that the "nations shall be blessed in" Abraham (v. 8; Gen. 12:3). Paul is not making an allegory when he writes that we are sons of Abraham "by faith" not by lineage. He concludes: "So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham the believer" (v. 9). Noting carefully what Moses and Paul write in a technical sense: (1) Many nations will physically come forth from Abraham; (2) the nations will be blessed by Abraham; but (3) the seed (the descendants) of Abraham, as Moses is using the idea, happens to be those who come "from Abraham" through Sarah-Isaac-Jacob.    Granted, the idea is close when Paul says we are "sons of Abraham," but he is very careful by adding, "by, through faith." This is certainly a spiritual idea but it is not "spiritualizing" or "allegorizing." An allegory is made when one creates a new idea and replaces an old thought. In other words, to allegorize, would be to say that Israel means the church, or, the church means Israel!    The apostle Paul takes his thought further by writing "In Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Gal. 3:14). Paul makes it clear that the ultimate seed of Abraham is Christ. He writes: "When God spoke to Abraham and to his seed, He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as referring to many, but rather to one, 'And to your seed,' that is Christ" (v. 16). He elaborates by adding that the ultimate seed is Christ "the seed to whom the promise had been made" (v. 19). I hope this helps. – Dr. Mal Couch

PASTOR HARRY R. JACKSON ON TARGET!

Pastor Harry R. Jackson heads up a church in Beltsville, Maryland and considers himself a social conservative. While I do not agree with all he says, he is right on target on many things happening in our country. As an African-American he is deeply concerned with the move to make legitimate same-sex marriages. And he says it may soon be approved in Washington D.C. and have a further terrible impact on Black families. (As reported in The Washington Times, July 6, 2009)    As he faces liberal opposition, he says "I believe the Bible. … I'm just worried about the next generation." He says that when in the 60s a lot of government programs, government open-ended welfare, was put in place, it made it easier for [Black] men not to own up to their responsibilities. We helped our pocketbooks and hurt our homes." Many uninformed Black pastors are accepting the same-sex marriage argument as a continuation of the civil rights movement. They are an elite group of people, he says, masquerading as a minority and systematically imposing their will on the majority.    In the fall the same-sex marriage issue will probably come up in Congress concerning the governess of Washington D.C. He says if same-sex unions pass, "it will be the Armageddon of marriage there." Pastor Harry Jackson says that "everybody in the [Black] community knows that our families are all torn up. I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to say this is not going to strengthen marriage." He adds that the civil rights movement was one of the main reasons that marriage has depreciated in the Black community."    Jackson takes to task Black leaders like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton for being out of touch with the Black community. "I think they have decided that no matter what the church says at the grass-roots level, … no matter what the community says, they see themselves as leading in a direction that [says] they know better than the people." Pastor Harry Jackson wants to work with other denominations to stop the same-sex marriage movement. He views as ignorance the unintended consequences of same-sex marriage.    While I appreciate what this pastor is doing, the bottom line is the fact that same-sex marriage is being inspired from the pit of hell! It attacks the fundamental purpose of creation! It denies the historical facts laid down in Genesis about the roles of men and women. When the apostle Paul attacked homosexuality in Romans 1:27, he used for the word "male" the Greek word "arseen." God gave homosexuals over to their "degrading passions" for "their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, in the same way also the men abandoned ("dismissed") the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another MEN ("arseen") with MEN committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which were not right" (Rom. 1:26-28).    The idea behind "arseen" is "male sex" which is a legitimate word to use. But the word is very graphic. In their Lexicon, Balz & Schneider point out that the root of the word carries the picture "it flows," or "that which discharges sperm." Here in Romans 1, the word is placed in an earthy context of men who discharge themselves without a female. Paul could have used the word "anthropos" but instead he chose to use this graphic word.    Can same-sex marriage be stopped? In my opinion, No! The larger sin is that those practicing such no longer "acknowledge God." This is the larger sin of our present culture. This is taking us deep into the apostasy. Sin will only accelerate and become more sinful! If same-sex marriage is approved this fall in Washington D.C., it will spread rapidly across the nation. And that is what will probably happen sooner or later! Prepare for a terrible judgment to follow. – Dr. Mal Couch

THERE IS NO TURNING BACK!

We have all been watching our world and our nation for over a year now. And in my opinion things are not getting better. The corruption is increasing with no letup. I’ve just finished a new book entitled THIS GREAT NATION. I’m dealing with how our country has drifted from its founding principles.  The information is awesome and it will give you ammunition for answering our foes.

The Bible predicted “the departure,” the apostasy, and indeed it is coming about before our eyes!

Rick Warren has done it again! He met a few weeks ago with thousands of Muslims and spoke to their conference—the Islamic Society of North America. He urged the attendees to join with Christians to speak out against stereotyping of any group and to respect each other even while disagreeing. He urged them also to help “newcoming” Muslims to “learn what it means to be American.”

In my book, I show how Christianity was the foundation of the establishment of this nation. You will be shocked at all of the great quotes I give and what can be said of early America that has been lost to most people today.

What is happening today is a judgment from God. We did not appreciate this great nation—the gift of God. And we did not speak out against all of the immorality going on in our country. The “departure” is speeding up, not diminishing. Our nation is drunk on drugs, entertainment, fun and games, and is no longer sober, turning to God for His blessings! – Dr. Mal Couch

THANK YOU, DR.COUCH

I was raised in the Pentecostal Oneness Church but got out of it by studying with you in Psalm 2 and Romans 1. Your drive-time theology has really helped me. Thank you for everything, Dr. Couch, and bless you. By the way, it's impossible for me to find a good teaching church. They seem hard to find! I really appreciate your biography on Dr. John F. Walvoord. – Former student Thank you for your kind words. The material you sent from the Pentecostal Oneness people shows that they do not understand the issue of Christ's eternality and His preexistence. The verses they use have to do with His incarnation and not the fact of His eternal existence. When discussing the issue of Christ's eternality one must also discuss the doctrine of His preexistence. There are passages that show God addressing the person of the Son before His incarnation. Psalm 40:6-8 is an important passage. There the Son is speaking to the Father before He takes on His earthly body. In these verses the Son is speaking as One fully grown, as or just before, He was taking on His body for a sacrifice. This Psalm 40 passage is quoted in Hebrews 10:5-8. In Psalm 2:7 the same thing happens. On the day of Christ's incarnation, the Father speaks to Him before He comes to earth. "You are My Son, TODAY I have begotten (given birth) You." The Son's eternality is clearly stated in Hebrews 1:8-9. "But of the Son He says, 'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, …'" The Son's providential throne (not His earthly messianic throne) is eternal, and here also, He is called "God." God is an eternal Being, the Son here is called "God." "Eternal" in Greek is "eis ton aiwna tou aiwnos." Or, "Into the eternal of the eternal," "Into the age of the age!" In verse 6 the word "first-born" in Greek is "prwtotokon." This does not mean simply One born first but instead, "The preeminent born One." "First" is "prwtos." That is, the preeminent One born into time when receiving His human body. He existed in the past as the Son of God. In Hebrews 1:2 we read that when God made all things (this was long before the Son took upon Himself human flesh), He also "through, by means of the Son," made the world. Christ then was a co-Creator with God the Father! This is repeated in John 1:10: "Through Him the world was made." The Son was always a separate person from the Father (John 1:1-3). The "was" used in these verses are in the Past Tense with continual action. "The Word (the second person) always existed in the past with God, and the Word was always God. He was always in the beginning with God." The great Hebrew scholar, Dr. Merrill F. Unger, points out that the Messiah is called "the Eternal Father," but better from the Hebrew text, "the Father of Eternity" (Isa. 9:6). On this Unger notes: "According to the Semitic idiom, 'Where he who possesses a thing, etc. is called the father of it." The expression means "the eternally existing One," "the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending" (Rev. 1:8; 21:6). The Son of God, even before He came to earth in flesh, was the Author of the eternal state! All creation belongs to Him. The last part of Revelation 1:8 reads: "Who exists continually and who always existed in the past and who exists as the Coming One, the Almighty." This is applied to Christ. These verbs are from the eimi verb ("the to be verb"). What a description of the eternality of the Son of God! God described Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14 as "I AM WHO I AM." And, "I AM." This is the common "To be" verb in Hebrew, the One who just ever EXISTS! Christ takes this name on and applies it to Himself. He was the One speaking to Moses in the burning bush (John 8:24, 28, 58). "I am the everexisting One." The Jews realized that He claimed deity and eternality because "they picked up stones to throw at Him; …" (v. 59). He had claimed to be the eternal, everlasting God (10:33). Every believer needs two books in order to defend themselves against error. THE TRINITY, by Edward Bickersteth (Kregel), and THE FORGOTTEN TRINITY, by James White (Bethany). Thank you for asking about this. Dr. Mal Couch

HOW COULD HE DO THAT?

Dr. Louis Berkhof (1873-1957) has an excellent book entitled "Principles of Biblical Interpretation." It was written in 1950 and is a help for students of the Word in understanding how to know their Bible. He lists some great principles for studying prophecy but then sets those principles aside and gets all fouled up when explaining how we understand the prophecies of things to come. Some of Berkhof's principles: God gives prophecy by progressive revelation. Prophecy has to do with actual history. The prophets often express themselves symbolically but certainly not always. The prophets clothed their thoughts in forms derived from the dispensation to which they belonged. The words of the prophets should be taken in their usual literal sense. If the prophecies are given in a symbolical sense, the interpreter must proceed on the assumption of their reality, i.e., of their occurrence in actual life. Berkhof says in His Systematic Theology that Christ's Second Coming will be visible, sudden, glorious, and for the purpose of introducing the future, eternal age. But Berkhof trashes the idea of Israel's kingdom. He sees no plans for the Jews. And, for what reason we do not know, he takes to task the premillennial return of the Lord. He cannot explain why! And yet, he has given to us some sound interpretative principles about prophecy in his hermeneutic book. In his Theology, he gives some silly arguments against premillennialism that he cannot justify. He writes: The Premillennial theory entangles itself in all kinds of insuperable difficulties with its doctrine of the millennium. It is impossible to understand how a part of the old earth and of sinful humanity can exist alongside of a part of the new earth and of a humanity that is glorified. How can perfect saints in glorified bodies have communion with sinners in the flesh? How can glorified saints live in this sin-laden atmosphere and amid scenes of death and decay? How can the Lord of glory, the glorified Christ, establish His throne on earth as long as it has not yet been renewed? Berkhof then quotes a writer by the name of Brown who says: "What a mongrel state of things is this! What an abhorred mixture of things totally inconsistent with each other!" Berkhof forgets that Christ was resurrected in His eternal, new and glorified body and fellowshipped and even ate with the disciples! Also, he has not looked carefully at contexts and studied all the passages carefully. He is the one confused, not premillennialists, and as well, he does not let the Bible speak for itself! He pre-judges passages to try to make them say what he wants them to! If Berhkof applied his own excellent principles in interpreting prophecy, he would come to what the orthodox Jews, and the early church came to, and that is, the premillennial concept of the coming of the Messiah, the Son of David, and of the establishment of His earthly kingdom reign! I have a feeling he was influenced by others and did not study these issues on his own! The same kind of interpretative confusion is going on today! – Dr. Mal Couch