"And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom;
for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:"
Exodus 18:3, KJV

"Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou
shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that
he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for
thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt
not seethe a kid in his mother's milk."
Deuteronomy 14:21, KJV

"They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a
stranger: I am an alien in their sight."
Job 19:15, KJV

"I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto
my mother's children."
Psalms 69:8, KJV

"And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the
sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your
vinedressers."
Isaiah 61:5, KJV

Thus, it is easy to conclude from this cursory study of the
original Hebrew words used in the Old Testament, that when
the word "alien" is used in the Bible, it is not referring
to space aliens by any means; it is normally referring to
non-Hebrew people, or else to those who feel like strangers
amongst their own people. Even attempting to accept the word
"alien" as meaning beings from Outer Space in the previous
verses, makes them sound so bizarre, and rather ridiculous;
and it totally changes the meanings of the verses, and takes
them completely out of context.

As I told this woman who had written to me, if people like
her would take the time to conduct more serious research,
instead of just blindly accepting the words of New Age and
UFO cult figures such as Sheldon Nidle, Robert Morningsky,
Metatron, Cosmic Awareness, and the plethora of other false
prophets, mystical gurus, wannabe psychics, oriental yogis,
etc., who prey upon them, they would do themselves a lot of
good.

Sadly, as I mentioned earlier, some people knowingly reject
the truth, even when you put it right in front of them. They
intentionally choose to embrace their delusion, because it's
just too difficult for them to admit their error and confess
that they have been wrong. Their pride is obviously greater
than their desire to know the truth. It is easier, and more
comfortable for some people, to continue believing the lie,
come what may; and sometimes they will defend it ferociously.
In fact, the Bible tells us that if people insist on being
deceived, God will not only allow it, but He will send them
the delusion that they desire, as we see here:

". . . because they received not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:"
2 Thessalonians 2:10b-11, KJV

"I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their
fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer;
when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before
mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not."
Isaiah 66:4, KJV

In speaking about God's Salvation, and how His fellow Jews
would for the most part reject Him as the long-awaited and
prophesied Savior, Jesus Himself said in the Gospel of John:

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved."
John 3:19-20, KJV

What a tragic picture of the backslider in heart. They are
bathed in the light of the truth of God's Word; but sadly,
they foolishly reject it and turn away from it. They prefer
their spiritual darkness and ignorance, and shun walking in
the light of Gospel truth. Such people have become prisoners
of their own pride and foolish stubbornness, because they've
rejected the freedom which God's Word offers them. As Jesus
said to the Jews in John chapter eight:

". . . If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free . . . If the Son therefore shall make you
free, ye shall be free indeed."
John 8:31b-32, 36, KJV

Many people are stumbling about in spiritual darkness today,
bound by invisible chains which they can't even see, because
they have rejected the truth which God's Word offers them.
They have become slaves to the sin of unbelief. He is their
master; and as the Apostle Paul wrote:

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to
obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin
unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
Romans 6:16, KJV

It is for this very reason, that during one of His sermons
in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus quoted some verses from
the Old Testament, in order to explain to His audience how
He had come to set the captives free from sin and spiritual
darkness and ignorance. He said on that day:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal
the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
Luke 4:18-19, KJV

As I recall, this woman never wrote to me again. I don't know
what happened to her. Maybe in His Mercy, God was eventually
able to get through to her, and she accepted the truth of His
Word; or maybe not. Once we reject the truth, it becomes even
more difficult for us to accept it at some later time in our
lives; because with each rejection, we are forced to harden
our hearts just a little more; and we slowly become callous
creatures who are no longer able to even feel the conviction
of God's Spirit working in our lives. As the Apostle Paul
wrote to the brethren:

"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye
henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of
their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is
in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being
past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness,
to work all uncleanness with greediness."
Ephesians 4:17-19, KJV

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in
hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;"
1 Timothy 4:1-2, KJV

Please notice some of the descriptive phrases that Paul uses
in those Scriptures. He talks about having our understanding
darkened, becoming ignorant, (or lacking in knowledge), and
suffering from spiritual blindness in our hearts. But then
notice what he says in order to even further emphasize what
a terrible state this is. He says that people become past
feeling; they become numb to the conviction of God's Spirit
speaking to their hearts.

In that second group of verses, that is precisely what Paul
means when he talks about their conscience being seared with
a hot iron. I believe that Paul is referring to the process
of cauterization. When you cauterize a wound with heat, such
as with a hot iron, electricity, or with some other agent,
the nerves and tissues become scarred and deadened, so that
the person can no longer feel anything in that part of their
body. This was a common practice in times past. It helped to
prevent infection, stopped the bleeding, and caused a wound
to heal more quickly.

So as I was saying, once we begin to harden our hearts to
the Voice of God's Spirit, and begin to reject the truth of
His Word, we are setting ourselves up for strong delusion.
If we fail to accept God's truth, then nothing remains but
Satan's lies and deceptions. Nevertheless, once people hear
the truth of God's Word, they will be held accountable for
it, whether they receive the truth or not. They may choose
to foolishly flee back to their world of spiritual darkness,
but as the Lord pointedly stated concerning the unbelieving
Jews of His own time, their sins of rebellion and unbelief
have already been exposed, and they are now without excuse,
as we see here:

"If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had
sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin."
John 15:22, KJV



Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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