Why You Should Support And Encourage Homeschooling

It Is Better For The Children. Homeschooled children consistently score higher on academic and socialization tests. They have all the natural advantages of a tutorial environment without the disadvantages of the modern classroom. Question: Who will do a better job of teaching the average child- some stranger that doesn’t know them from Adam or their own loving, Mommy and Daddy?
It Is Better For The Parents. Frankly, any parent that is disinterested enough in their children to not do their best to provide for their child’s education will be the first that take advantage of the “free” government babysitting known as public school. A parent who loves their child enough to voluntarily spend twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week with their child will do whatever is necessary to give them the best education possible. These parents reap the benefits of well-educated children in their retirement years plus the opportunities to increase their own education through the process of teaching their own children. Question: Are ‘free” government schools worth every penny?
It Is Better For The Teacher In The Ranks. Every child taught at home reduces the average teacher’s workload by 3%. That is that much more time the teacher can devote to the rest of their class, making the children’s education better and the teacher’s job easier. Question: Would you want to do the job of the average teacher? Thirty total strangers every year to teach basic skills and socialization to while making all the special interest groups happy. Sound like fun?
It Is Better For The Property Tax Payer. Fewer students in school mean less crowding. Less crowding means a slower demand for new school buildings and teachers. Less demand means lower taxes. Question: Is it really moral for Uncle Sam to steal your hard-earned money to pay for your neighbor’s child’s education?

A Christmas Lament

To the tune of the twelve days of Christmas (written a couple of years ago)

On the week before Christmas my life brought to me...
· 12 dirty dishes
· 11 unpaid bills
· 10 loads of laundry
· 9 unbaked bread-gifts
· 8 unbought presents
· 7 sleepless nights
· 6 hungry children
· 5 runny noses
· 4 broken cars
· 3 dirty bedrooms
· 2 broken cars aaannd
· 1 sick husband
It was a hard year.

Our Country

My only disagreement with this article sent to me by frannygoat is that the changes started 150 years ago with the introduction of public school (from the Germany that created Hitler, by the way) and the removal of the Bible from our court rooms. It has just been a slower process in this country. BettySue

About the author via Google... Pamela "Atlas" Geller began her publishing career at The New York Daily News and subsequently took over operation of The New York Observer asAssociate Publisher. She left The Observer after the birth of her fourth child but remained involved in various projects including American Associates, Ben Gurion University and being Senior Vice-President Strategic Planning and Performance Evaluation at The Brandeis School . by Pam Geller I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books in six languages, and have studied history all my life. I think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is just a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes, these exist but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus. Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about 10 - 15 years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two. We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why? We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why? We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (now violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?). We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose? Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, Social Security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about.) The list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth. It is potentially 1929 x 10. And we are at war with an enemy we cannot name for fear of offending people of the same religion who cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so. And now we have elected a man no one knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla , Alaska . All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe is more important.) I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now. This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again. I thought I would never be able to experience what the ordinary, moral German felt in the mid-1930s. In those times, the savior was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they did know was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory and promises.. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully them into submission. And then he was duly elected to office, with a full-throttled economic crisis at hand [the Great Depression]. Slowly but surely he seized the controls of government power, department by department, person by person, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The kids joined a Youth Movement in his name, where they were taught what to think. How did he get the people on his side? He did it promising jobs to the jobless, money to the moneyless, and goodies for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe , and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - Did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and .. . .. change. And the people surely got what they voted for. (Look it up if you think I am exaggerating.) Read your history books. Many people objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and made fun of. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though ... Don't forget that Germany was the most educated, cultured country in Europe . It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And in less than six years - a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency - it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors. All with the best of intentions, of course.The road to Hell is paved with them. ***************************************************************
[>] IN GOD WE TRUST Every body that is on this mailing list is either a senior citizen, is getting close or knows sombody that is Most of you know by now that the Senate version (at least) of the "stimulus" bill includes provisions for extensive rationing of health care for senior citizens. The author of this part of the bill, former senator and tax evader, Tom Daschle was credited today by Bloomberg with the following statement. Bloomberg: "Daschle says health-care reform "will not be pain free." Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them." If this does not sufficiently raise your ire, just remember that Senators and Congressmen have their own healthcare plan that is first dollar or very low co-pay which they are guaranteed the remainder of their lives and are not subject to this new law if it passes Please use the power of the internet to get this message out. Talk it up at the grassroots level. We have an election coming up in one year and nine months. We have the ability to address and reverse the dangerous direction the Obama administration and it allies have begun and in the interim, we can make our voices heard! Lets do it!

Marriage and the Church links

Guarding and Growing your marriage
Marriage is the picture of Christ and the Church. If our marriages fail, it destroys that picture. We must carefully guard our marriages.

Insanity and the overwhelmed modern mother
Why are so many women so tired and overwhelmed? There really is a cause.

Why women are…
Going Crazy and Wanting to Go Back to Work?
You try taking on three different major life changes at once and see how sane you stay!

Resisting Irresistible Impulses
How do you deal with these? From Dr Laura

Where are all the healthy churches?
I can tell him where one is, but that is all I know of.

The State of the Nation by Ken Ham
Boy are we in trouble!

Things the Bible says

I can find these things, these principles in the Bible. Can you find anything in there that says differently?


1. God is a God of justice, vengeance, and jealously as well as love and compassion.

2. We are to put God ahead of things.

3. We are to love others more than ourselves.

4. The Bible is the ultimate source of truth.

5. Marriage is between one man and one woman.

6. Sex is for marriage only.

7. God hates divorce.

8. The husband is supposed to love his wife enough to sacrifice himself for her.

9. The wife is to obey her hubby and help him achieve God’s calling in his life.

10. Children are blessings from God.

11. It is the parent’s responsibility to make sure their children are educated in the ways of the Lord.

12. Pastors are to be chosen by how well they manage their families, how hospitable they are, that they teach, that they have a good reputation in the community, that they are even tempered and not greedy.

13. The church is supposed to worship God.

14. The church is supposed to take care of the widows and poor.

15. The church is supposed to step in and fill the gap when the family can’t do their job.


Observations:

1. Most Christians today will only do the part of the above that won’t interfere with their entertainment and acquiring of “stuff.”

2. Most Christians believe children are biological accidents.

3. Most Christians don’t really like their children nor want to spend time with them.

4. Most Christians think it is a more important job to be a nice checker at wal-mart than to care for their own children.

5. Most churches think a pastor should be chosen by how good he preaches.

6. Most churches think that people will be saved if the church has a good rock band and the best entertainment.

7. Most Christian children grow up thinking church is something done to them.

8. Most Christians think children are a disruption of the service.

9. Most Christians think children are the church of tomorrow, not today.

10. Most Christians will tell me I am condemning and judgmental and have missed the will of God for pointing out the inconsistencies between their actions and the Bible’s teachings.

Hmmmmm

Types of government:

ANARCHISM: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both cows. The government sells the milk in government stores.

SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes one of them and gives it to your neighbor.

DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both cows and drafts you.

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

NAZISM: You have two cows. The government takes both and then shoots you.

FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.

INDUSTRIALISM: You have two cows. You dissect them both and figure out how to build a milk-factory instead.

BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. To register them, you fill in 17 forms in triplicate. Then the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

LIBERALISM: You have two cows. You sell both to the rich. The government then taxes the rich one cow and gives it to the poor.

PROTECTIONISM: You have two cows. You can't buy a bull from another country.

DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk

CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

LIBERTARIANISM: Go away. What I do with my cows is none of your business.

SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

Just for Fun:

ANARCHISM: You have two cows. The cows decide you have no right to do anything with their milk and leave to form their own society.

COMMUNISM: CUBAN: You no longer have any cows. They sailed to Miami. You still have no milk - but you do have Fidel.

COMMUNISM: "PURE": You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk. Well, maybe the local bully gets more, or a few neighbors band together to kill you so that there is more milk for everyone else.

COMMUNISM: SOVIET: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk. Then the government sends you to prison.

COMMUNISM: CAMBODIAN: You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.

COMMUNISM: CHINESE - MAO STYLE: You have two pigs. The government launches a campaign to convince you to donate them voluntarily to provide meat for workers in the city. The government then declares that people don't need pigs to make pork. Quoting the correct phrases from your little red book, you and your neighbors try to create pork from sheer willpower. Your local party leader reports that you have exceeded all expectations. Your neighbors starve.

SOCIALISM: BUREAUCRATIC: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you should need.

BUREAUCRACY: EUROPEAN UNION: You have two cows. The EU loses one cow, milks the other and then spills the milk.

BUREAUCRACY: UNITED STATES: You have two cows. The government takes both, loses one while moving it to a farm in Puerto Rico and forgets to milk the other.

DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. A vote is held, and the cows win.

EUROPEAN UNIONISM: You have two goats. The EU declares them to be fruit in order to conform to a rare Belgian custom of making Cow Jam (jam being required to have at least 45% fruit).

EUROPEAN UNIONISM: You have two cows. The EU develops a quota system that limits the gas emissions from flatulent cows. You sell your carbon allotment, not the milk.

REDISTRIBUTIONISM: You have two cows. Everyone should have the same amount of cow. The government takes both cows, cuts them up, and spends more than the cows are worth giving everyone a little piece of cow.

CAPITALISM -- AMERICAN: You have two cows. You sell one of them, and buy a bull. The cow and bull have a great love life; you sell the movie rights to Hollywood. Then you go into real estate.

CAPITALISM -- HONG KONG You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt / equity swap with associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax deduction for keeping five cows. The milk rights of six cows are transferred via a Panamanian intermediary to a Cayman Islands company secretly owned by the majority shareholder, who sells the rights to all seven cows' milk back to the listed company. The annual report says that the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Meanwhile, you kill the two cows because the feng shui is bad.

The Parable of the talents reapplied

One day God called three families to Him. To one of them He gave ten children. To the next He gave five children. To the third He gave just one child (whether through infertility, miscarriage or early death doesn’t matter. They were only given one child to raise.) He told them to go and raise their children in His culture and education (Ephesians 6)


Later, all three families gathered around His throne. He asked the first family what they did with the children He gave them. They said, “We invested ourselves into our children and made them the top priority in our lives. We sacrificed material wealth so mamma could stay home and homeschool them. We protected them from peer and media influence, though we would have enjoyed more of both ourselves. We made a point of living a righteous life so they would have an example and we followed the Bible’s commands for hubby to love his wife sacrificially and wife to obey and help hubby so they would understand the relationship between God and the church. We carefully researched everything that had to do with their lives, especially their mental and spiritual lives. We taught them not to have a heart of rebellion and the blessings of hard work, and made sure our home was always full of fun and joy. When they became adults, we encouraged them to court instead of casual dating and to stay pure until marriage, guarding their hearts from temptation. After all this hard work, all ten found loving, godly mates, and raised their children the same way. We now give you back our original ten children, their ten mates, and nearly a hundred grandchildren.”

God answered, “Well done though good and faithful servants! It is time for you to enter into your rest. You will be made rulers of a hundred cities.”

He turned to the third couple and asked them the same thing. “God, you only gave us one child. But we took that child and invested ourselves in him. Hubby worked extra hard so wifey could be a volunteer aid at the small private school we sent him too. We were very careful what we allowed him to watch on TV, protecting him from the bad and discussing the marginal and the good. We only exposed him to a very few, well chosen friends who were being raised the same way. When he became an adult we encouraged him to marry his childhood sweetheart and take her to college with him. They became missionaries in the Congo, had five birth children and adopted seven orphans. We present to you our one child, his mate, and their twelve children.”

God answered, “Well done though good and faithful servants! It is time for you to enter into your rest. You will be made rulers of thirty cities (16 for your decedents and another fourteen four those they brought to God that would never have heard the word without your sacrifice of your children and financial support of their work).”

He looked at the second couple; the one with five children. “And what did you do with your children?”

“Well, God. You see, we knew You had written rules to live by, but no one can actually live that way. We sent our children to public school to be witnesses, (even before they were saved). Anyway, we couldn’t afford private school tuition because our house payments were so high. And we couldn’t homeschool because wifey had to work to make the payments on our two new cars. We didn’t discuss what was on TV because they were in their bedrooms and we were in ours. We only let them watch “good” stuff though. They made lots of friends we didn’t really like, but maybe our children were good influences on them. We didn’t let them date until a full year after their peers were dating. One of our boys got his girlfriend pregnant and we talked them into giving the baby up for adoption instead of getting an abortion. That’s good, isn’t it? We made sure they all knew about birth-control and where to get it, but that we didn’t really think it a good idea to have sex before they married. Or at least went to college. They all got married. Well three of them did divorce. Two of them twice. We have seven grandkids in all. We take them to church with us when we can, but four of them are not in our children’s custody, so that is not very often. Two have given their hearts to you and are trying to live right, but it’s difficult since their parents don’t really live right. We don’t know what happened. We raised them in church. Well, most Sundays anyway. I guess the Sunday school teachers and Youth Ministers messed up. So, God, here are the two of our decedents that love you.”

“You evil and idolatrous people! You knew I had laws to live by but you flat ignored them! You lost the ones I gave you to protect! Take away their children and put them under the influence of the first couple and take these people and toss them in hell for disobedience!

“To him who has, will much be given. From him who has not, will that which he does have be taken.”

What is Natural Family planning?

A woman is only fertile 3-10 days per month. I guarantee that when any birth control method failed, it failed on the days she was fertile. You can't get pregnant when you are not fertile. Period.

The key, then, is to know when you are fertile.

It actually takes more than a sperm and an egg to make a baby. The sperm must get TO the egg. The woman's vagina is high in acid. Acid kills sperm. Also, the cervix is closed tight most of the month. But once per month, the cervix softens and opens up. At the same time, the body produces a clear mucus (about the consistency of a raw egg white), that is alkaline (neutralizes the acid) and is high in glucose (to nourish the sperm). It also has channels for the sperm to swim up.

Then the progesterone that causes you to release an egg also causes your temperature to go up half a degree. If you take your temperature (orally with a digital thermometer works fine) first thing every morning before you get up, drink or eat anything, and record it, you will see this happen. That means you have ovulated. The mucus will stop when you ovulate. It takes a few days for it to all go away and an egg is only viable for three days. So three days after you ovulate, you are no longer fertile.

So, if you want to get pregnant, enjoy your mate's companionship while you have mucus showing up to three days after it stops and your temprature raises. (Note, if you have been using a hormonal means of birth control, it may take a year or more for you to begin to ovulate again.)

If you do not want to get pregnant, avoid intercourse during these days. It is that simple.

Benefits:
· 100% natural.
· No chemicals.
· No side effects.
· It is FREE.
· It increases communication between partners.
· It is instantly reversible.
· It leaves things open for God to work.

How effective is Natural Family Planning?

For achieving pregnancy, I have read about one doctor, (who was a fertility specialist), having a conversion to Catholicism, a religion that forbids chemical or mechanical intervention in fertility even in getting pregnant. After her conversion, she began teaching her patients this method and had far better success than she had had with modern pills and procedures.

For preventing pregnancy; clinical trials have shown it to be as effective as the pill; 98%. In everyday practice, it is as effective as the condom; 89%. This is due to its being instantly reversible, not because of any flaw in the method itself. In other words, no one is getting pregnant while faithfully adhering to the method. They are getting pregnant because they decide to risk a pregnancy during their fertile time.

I have only hit the highlights here. There is a great deal more that can be learned about fertility. For more information, check your local library for "Your Fertility Signals."Or contact the Couple to Couple League

Debt, The Bible

I suppose I could come up with a way to relate those three things, but I really just wanted to share these links.



The swordsman, a parable...
Too true.

Ezekial 38

1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

Gog is the name of the ruler of Magog, Meshech, and Tubal. This is not the same Gog and Magog mentioned in Revelation any more than the Jezebel mentioned there is the same woman that married King Ahab of Israel. The Revelation mention is a symbol, which I will deal with when I get there.

We don’t know for sure who this is talking to. Archaeology has not positively identified him yet. We do know that Magog was a grandson of Noah and that the ancients often named a country after their founding ancestor. Magog settled somewhere in Turkey. We know that there were countries in Turkey at about the time of Ezekiel named Meshech and Tubal. Best guess is that Gog is a major ruler in what we now call Turkey in the mid 500’s – 200’s BC.

3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

God didn’t like him.

5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:

6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

These countries evidently were allies of Gog. We do know that Antiochus Epiphanes and his father had these nations as allies and that they plundered Israel repeatedly. It is possible that they are the fulfillment of this chapter. It is not at all unusual for kings to be known by more than one name in history (For example, Ramses II is also known as Shishak, Sisi, and a couple of other names just in Egyptian writings. Conquered nations often come up with their own names for foreign rulers, too, to further complicate things.)

7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

Ezekial give prophecy here that God will lead a great army.

10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?

Gog is going to turn his attention on Palestine, which was mostly made up of unwalled villages. He will do this in order to plunder them.

Chronologicaly, Antiochus IV fits. Israel had a time of peace after her return to her homeland (chapter 37) and then was conquered by the Syrians (chapter 38?).

14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?

15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

Many put this scripture still ahead of us. However it clearly says here that Israel’s enemies will come “all of them riding upon horses.” I cannot imagine any army today reverting to the use of horses. This obviously was talking about some time before mechanized warfare.

16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

Isaiah, Joel, Deuteronomy, Psalms

18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.

19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

A “great shaking” was most likely political, not a literal earthquake.

20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

Again, this is most likely talking about warfare and politics. God would fight for His people in such a great way that the only sufficient way to describe it would be the symbol of a great earthquake.

21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother.

22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

God caused Median soldiers to begin to fight each other in the time of Gideon. He promises to do this again. We do know that during the time of Antiochus IV the Macabees had many miraculous victories. They should not have been able to kick him out of the country. It was only by God’s intervention that they were successful. Also, Antiochus died from a horrid disease from God, not in battle.

A Quote About Women

"This opinion is not peculiar to one sex and contested by the other; I never observed that the women of America consider conjugal authority as a fortunate usurpation of their rights, or that they thought themselves degraded by submitting to it. It appeared to me, on the contrary, that they attach a sort of pride to the voluntary surrender of their own will and make it their boast to bend themselves to the yoke, not to shake it off.....as the Americans can conceive nothing more precious than a woman's honor and nothing which ought so much to be respected as her independence, they hold that no punishment is too severe for the man who deprives her of them against her will.....Thus the Americans do not think that man and woman have either the duty or the right to perform the same offices, but they show an equal regard for both their respective parts; and though their lot is different, they consider both of them as beings of equal value. They do not give to the courage of woman the same form or the same direction as to that of man, but they never doubt her courage; and if they hold that man and his partner ought not always to exercise their intellect and understanding in the same manner, they at least believe the understanding of the one to be as sound as that of the other, and her intellect to be as clear.”As for myself, I do not hesitate to avow that although the women of the United States are confined within the narrow circle of domestic life, and their situation is in some respects one of extreme dependence, I have nowhere seen woman occupying a loftier position; and if I were asked, now that I am drawing to the close of this work, in which I have spoken of so many important things done by the Americans, to what the singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply: To the superiority of their women."

From the 1800’s.

My, we’ve come a long way, baby. All the way to “equality.” If we were “superior” before and now we are equal, we have come a loooong way…



Down.

Babies, Schools and unemployment

EpiphanyWant an end to the unemployment crisis? Want to instantly raise wages? Want to virtually end juvenile delinquency, learning disabilities, ADHD, and a whole host of other problems? Guess what? Mommies ARE important!

Marriage is about the human heart.

The human heart is in rebellion to God.

Many who are for gay marriage are assuming sexual orientation is genetic. It is not. The research that is supposed to have shown this is VERY poorly done. The studies are not scientifically valid. I can give you links to sites that take them apart piece by piece and explain the problems with them (you would be amazed how much of our lives are affected by very bad science. Did you know there is no link between eating fat and heart disease? Sugar and heart disease, yes. Man made trans fats and heart disease, yes. Butter, whole milk and good ole’ meat NO! And vaccines? Iffy at best. Sigh.) The gay marriage issue is in no way related to the racial bigotry and to compare them is to diminish the entire issue of racial prejudice and to demean those who fought it.

The fact is that gay couples already have all the same rights as married couples under Domestic Partnership Laws. What they are campaigning for is a name, nothing more. And if heterosexual marriage is in such bad shape, why would gays want to be identified with it anyway?

The fact is that marriage is not an invention of humankind. It is an invention of God’s. He designed it for the purpose of 1) creating godly children, something no gay couple can do without outside help, and 2) representing Christ and the church. Now how does a gay marriage do this? Wouldn’t this show us that God doesn’t need the church, just another God? or the church doesn’t need God just a sister church to fellowship with? This is totally ridiculous and total blaspheme.

Where will this lead? Do we next give men who have the urge to have sex with little boys the legal right to marry them? There are those who say this is as much a part of their genetic make up as the gays are claiming. How about those attracted to animals? Do we give them the right to marry their dogs? Give me one good argument to restrict these practices without using the same arguments heterosexuals use against gay marriage.

The fact is that marriage is none of the government’s business in the first place. They have no right telling anyone anything about marriage. It is a religious institution. I don’t even think they should issue marriage licenses (though I haven’t figured out how to get around inheritance problems without it:-)

And these laws do affect the none gay person. For example, landlords have the legal right to deny those shacking up an apartment under their religious freedoms. Legalization of gay marriage forces them to rent to gays even if they believe they would go to hell for it (while the gay couple can always pick another apartment. They have the right to choose, but the landlord doesn’t). It also forces churches to hire gay Sunday school teachers and office help against their sincerely held religious beliefs, or risk law suits or even prison.

“Do unto others…” I am not advocating stoning gays, as the Old Testament tells us to do. Far from it. I do not advocate any violence against gays. What I ask my country and fellow Americans to do to me is to leave me alone and allow me to worship my God in the way He has called me to. Passage of these laws removes that freedom and gets the average gay couple nothing more than identification with a very troubled, sick institution. It is one more step to telling me what to teach in my homeschool or outlawing homeschooling all together. It is one more step to imprisoning my hubby and father for what they preach from the pulpit. With the anti-discrimination laws on the books (that Act Up fully intends to use to the fullest extent) it will complete the transformation of this country into a religious dictatorship with Atheism as the religion. Anyone worshiping in any none approved way would be labeled a bigot to someone.

Remember, when you approve of the government taking my rights, you are giving them the right to take yours.

We cannot continue to be surprised…

…When we run our marriages like the heathens and end up with the same divorce rate as heathens do.

The worldly way to run a marriage is for the partners to be “equal.” The truth is though, that this is impossible. If men and women were identical it might be, but they are not. What generally happens is that the woman rules the roost because the man knows if she doesn’t get her way he doesn’t get what he needs (sex.) so in the average “equal” marriage the woman is the boss, (my observation: tyrant). The results of this are that both parties feel used and abused and spend the whole marriage trying to make sure they get their share and get their needs met.

The Bible shows a different way.

First of all, if we would just follow the command from Jesus to “love your neighbor as yourself” we would have better marriages. Imagine a marriage where both people spent their energy making sure their partner’s needs were met. Or let’s go a step farther, a marriage where each person “spoke” only love with their actions, attitudes, and facial expressions.

Let me ask, if Jesus came into your house with sore, tired feet, would you sit down and rub them for Him? Jesus said “Whatsoever you do unto the least of theses my brethren, you do it unto Me.” When you rub your hubby’s feet or bring your wife her favorite drink you are credited in heaven as if you did it to Jesus.

Now, we aren’t any of us perfect so our “godly” marriage will have times of one partner acting selfishly. How do we handle that? Do we make sure they know they were wrong and that they can’t treat us that way? That wouldn’t be a very godly response, now, would it? Jesus said to “turn the other cheek” and to “pray for those who despitefully use you.” Paul said to “…let each esteem others better than themselves.” (Philippians 2:3) This is how we should respond to our flawed spouse.

Now, the Bible is plain that the man is the head of the household. VERY plain. Does this mean he has a right to be a bully? Of course not. The above verses alone would rule that out. But the verses that talk about the man being the head also talk about the man loving his wife as much as Christ loved the church.

Jesus loved the church so much that he chose to die the most tortuous method of execution ever invented by humankind, even though He didn’t want to. He did what His “bride” needed because He loved her so much. This is how a man is to act towards his wife. (This means occasionally doing something she wants to do even if he hates it, among other things.)

The Bible says that Christ is working to present to Himself a bride “without spot or wrinkle.” Spots are sin. A man who sees his wife heading into sin needs to lovingly point it out and direct her towards God. He is responsible for her spiritual health (making the note that no one can force anyone to obey God. It must come from the heart.) A wrinkle happens when something is unused. A man is to make sure his wife uses her God-given talents.

The Bible also says that the woman is to submit herself to her husband just like she submits to Christ. You don’t do this because your husband deserves it (which he doesn’t because no human does) but because God told you to. You see, when you disobey your hubby you are disobeying a direct command of God.

Let me put it this way: you are going out to dinner and you higher a babysitter for your children. You tell them to obey her while you are gone. When you get home, you find out that they were little terrors doing nothing she told them to. The fact is your children disobeyed you as much or more than they did the babysitter. When you disobey your hubby, you disobey God, too.

I have seen women who said they obeyed their hubby except where he was wrong. This isn’t obedience; it’s agreeing. And doing what you are told while grumping and procrastinating is passive aggression. Obedience is when you cheerfully and promptly do what is asked of you.

This is actually a very freeing attitude to have. It means you have the power to obey God and be happy without having to depend on the attitude, wisdom or godliness of your hubby. Even if your hubby or wife is not saved, if you treat him like the Bible tells you to you are credited for doing it to Jesus. It doesn’t’ matter what your mate’s response is.

Why did God make things this way?
First of all, marriage is a symbol of God’s relationship with the church. God has a plan and the church is to help Him achieve it. God gives a man an assignment (such as “raise godly children, be the best construction worker possible, run a store, be a missionary or farmer) and his wife is to help him complete it (much as a top notch secretary helps her boss take the company into the fortune 500. Both boss and secretary are highly intelligent and capable people each with their own job to do to achieve their common goal). God loves the church enough to die for her. The church is to obey God. Man is to love his wife enough to die for her. The wife is to obey her hubby. When the world looks at a godly marriage, it should see God’s love and the church’s devotion.

Secondly, God designed us this way for our own survival and comfort. A man has the instinct to fight and compete. This makes him able to hunt, farm, work…conquer the world! When his wife “stands up to him” his instinctive response is to fight back. So a woman who fights for her rights has a fight on her hand even if hubby actually agrees with her. Weird but true.

But this same man also has the instinct to protect those weaker than himself. So a wife who doesn’t fight but presents herself as his helper will find herself “protected” right up onto a throne of adoration.

A woman has the instinct to nurture. This is to insure that babies get fed and cared for. It also insures that the elderly, ill and handicapped get cared for. The problem comes in when the woman views her hubby as either a baby or the enemy instead of her teammate. A babied man becomes a baby. A man treated like an enemy becomes an enemy. A man treated like an admired boss becomes a protector, provider and friend.

A man who unconditionally loves his wife and follows the Bible’s command to provide for and protect her, will find himself with a devoted woman who knows she can depend on him and admire him. Her instinct will encourage her to follow him as the best way to achieve her goals of nurturing the weak.

Now, imagine a church full of couples who treat each other in the biblical way. There would be no need for divorce and

What a light to the world!

Spankings

Have you ever read Michael Pearl’s book “To Train Up a Child”? This book talks about teaching a child to have the correct attitude and to obey. He first tells parents to tie heart knots with their child so there is a lot of love. Then he tells them to spank (their small child) when they disobey in order to teach them to listen and obey (eventually transferring that obedience to God). I can attest that this method works as it is the one my mother used with me (long before the book was written) and I have used with my children who are absolute delights.

In his book, Rev. Pearl tells us that some women tell him in counseling sessions that they love their child too much to spank them. His answer is always, “No you don’t. You love yourself too much to spank them.” You see, the parent is too afraid of losing the approval of their child to give the child what he needs to grow up right. This is selfishness, not love.

“Why do you write so hard some times.”
Because I love you enough to risk losing your approval in order to move you to godliness.

The Bible says that God spanks those who are His children. It also says that if you do not receive occasional spankings from God, you aren’t His child. Now what would God use to deliver His spankings?

My Experience
My father was the pastor of the church I grew up in. I have seen many people come and go through the church. I have observed many mistakes and many triumphs.

Here are my observations in one area I write on frequently: children following God into adulthood.

I can’t tell you the number of times I have seen elderly people come to church and cry for prayer because their adult children don’t know God. It is seldom a case of the parents raising their children and then coming to the Lord. It is usually the case where the child was raised going to church (Sunday school) every week and being in the youth group. For some reason almost all of the children of the elderly as well as the Christian friends I grew up with left the church as soon as they reached adulthood. What happened to “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not DEPART from it?” (Proverbs 22:6) This sounds like a promise, doesn’t it? This doesn’t’ say “when they are old they will come back to it.” It says they won’t leave The Way at all. ALL these people raised their children in church…BUT… they almost all sent them to public school, too.

Now as an adult I find the statistics that 80% of Christians send their children to public school and 80-88% of “Christian” children backslide upon reaching adulthood; exactly my observation.

How very depressing to spend twenty years investing in a child to only have them turn their back on your King. No wonder Christians don’t have any more children than sinners do. Obviously God didn’t mean Proverbs 22:6 when He told Solomon to write it.

The Solution
But what if all these children weren’t raised in “in the way they should go?” Maybe two hours of Sunday school and one hour of youth group coupled with 30 hours of atheist school and 40 hours of materialistic TV is the “way of the sinner.” The truth is, every one of these children continued in the way they were trained; the way their parents had them spend the majority of their time.

So how do you raise a child “In the way he should go”?

Homeschool. 94% of homeschooled children stay in their parent’s religion once they become adults. NINTEY-FOUR PERCENT!!! It seems educating them for 30 hours per week from a godly perspective instead of an ungodly perspective makes a huge difference.

Don’t send them to Sunday School, Children’s Church, or Youth Group. It seems that those homeschoolers who are losing their children are pinpointing their local church as the point where godless ideas are entering their home. And churches that don’t have these programs are retaining 85% of their children (remember that those who do the “traditional” Christian Sunday school with public school are LOSING 85%) Children learn to love God better when church is something they do instead of something that is done to them.

Don’t watch TV or allow then to spend a lot of time with other media outlets. The media is, by their own admission, 80% atheist/ socialist. “Whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Your child will become whatever he puts in his brain. Do you really want him to become what he is watching on TV or listening to in his music?

Have family devotions. 2-3 hours per week at church is simply not enough. You need to have a little church in your home. When the parent makes reading the Bible important enough to stop everything else for on a daily basis (right after breakfast or supper seem to be the universal best times with just before bed a close second), it teaches the child that reading the Bible is important. Twice a day would be even better. Honestly most parents really are (unintentionally) the hypocrites their grown children accuse them of being. The parent says he loves the Lord but won’t spend any time talking to Him or learning of His will. How long would he stay married if he treated his spouse this way?

Now by “family devotions” I don’t mean anything fancy. Just read one chapter out loud from the Bible per day and say a little prayer. Of course the prayer must be sincere, but it doesn’t have to be anything worthy of printing in the next prayer manual out there. Just tell God you are thankful for His blessings and ask Him to help you all to understand what you read. Throw in an honest petition for the things that concern you and you have a prayer that will please God. Prayer is really just talking to God like you would your spouse or best friend.

Some of us add a nightly song to this. You can buy a tape to sing with and God doesn’t care how you sound as long as you are joyful and sincere. “Make a joyful NOISE unto the Lord!” it doesn’t say “make pretty music unto the Lord” but “happy noise.”

I have come to the conclusion that the above are the solutions by my observations and study. (and, yes, we do them in our own home) They don’t guarantee your child will choose God (as we all have free choice) but they do significantly hedge the bets.

Today, I am still the pastor’s daughter but am also the assistant pastor’s wife. I am still seeing the elderly crying for their lost children. And I see the young raising their children the exact same way their elders raised theirs. My heart breaks for what I see happening. I have watched children go from little innocents through dedicated “Christ’s kids” to sold out heathens. I know adults today whose parents raised them the “traditional” way who, today, are living like they never heard the name of God before. Yes, a few have come back to God in their older years, but most haven’t. And oh the lost time and damage done to the lives of those who do (illegitimate children, divorces, brain damage from drugs, etc.)

It is enough to make me cry.

Or yell warnings to those headed down the same path.

That is why I write hard.

To quote Mark Driscol:

“I love you. That is why I am angry.”

Marriage links

http://terrybreathinggrace.wordpress.com/2011 /02/11/random-snippet-from-the-scenes-of-my-life/  Great advice!

The soul mate myth
http://terrysoapbox.blogspot.com/2008/12/soul-mate-myth.html


Do women want to be treated badly?
http://ccostello.blogspot.com/2008/11/do-women-want-to-be-treated-badly.html

Things NOT to Say During Childbirth
Amen! LOL
http://generationcedar.blogspot.com/2009/02/things-not-to-say-during-childbirth.html


The Chaos Theory
http://www.drlaurablog.com/2009/02/26/chaos-theory/

Biblical Marriage: Does it only work if your husband is nice?

Marry Him!
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200803/single-marry


""persons in homogamous (i.e., same-faith) relationships & those in which both partners attend religious services regularly tended to report greater relationship satisfaction than do others. In addition, the frequency with which couples engage in regular in-home worship activities (e.g., prayer, scriptural study) was also positive linked with relationship quality." Nat'l Marriage Project

"Though the man be as the head, yet is the woman as the heart.-Puritan William Gouge"

"And who is my neighbor?" Luke 10:29b

Jesus responds by telling him the story we now call "The Good Samaritan."

And Jesus answering said, “A certain [man] went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded [him], and departed, leaving [him] half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked [on him], and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion [on him], And went to [him], and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave [them] to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.” Luke 10:35

The Levite and priest were high officials in the church. They were fellow countrymen to the injured man, distant family members, if you will. They were also supposed to be in the business of caring for the hurt and poor. It was part of their job. Samaritans were highly despised by the Jews and the feeling was generally mutual. Yet in Jesus' story it was the despised one, the one the hurt man would have spit on if he could have, who helped him.

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, "He that shewed mercy on him." Then said Jesus unto him, "Go, and do thou likewise." Luke 10:37

We live in an odd country. Many, many are very eager to go find an enemy or stranger to care for in order to fulfill this story. Yet that rather misses the point. It was the culturally unimportant, the despised one that Jesus told the lawyer to care for. Listen very carefully to women talk (on TV and in magazines and books as well as in person) and make a list of who bad things are said about, who is considered unimportant. (“It’s so hard to be a parent. Kids are such an inconvenience. The little brats don’t give me a moment’s peace. The ole’ ball and chain. That Man! …”)

God does nothing by accident. He has a purpose, or often, several purposes for everything He does.
God created a man and woman to begin with. He did not make two men and one woman or four women and one man. He made one woman and one man.
There is only one church and one God. Now, many of us worship in different buildings all over the world, but we all belong to the same church. There is one God as there was one man in the beginning. There is one church as there was one woman in the beginning.

Why have children

1. Children are blessings from God and more blessings are always good.

“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.” Psalms 127:3

“He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.” Psalms 113:9

“Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” Psalms 127:5

“And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God… Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be THE FRUIT OF THY BODY, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine (cows), and the flocks of thy sheep…And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the FRUIT OF THY BODY, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee… But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shall be THE FRUIT OF THY BODY, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.” Deuteronomy 28 (fruitfulness is a sign of blessing and barrenness is a sign of cursing.)

2. God commanded us to multiply.

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Genesis 1:28 (This command was never rescinded.)

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

“And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.” Genesis 9:7

3. God designed our bodies to have children.

Men with six or more children (who are never overweight) live more than ten years longer than men who have none.

Women who have children have far less rates of cancer and the more children a woman has the lower the cancer rate as well as the slower the aging process.

4. To create an army of God.

Let’s do a little math comparison:
Let’s say we have ten families, one Christian and nine sinner families. Each family has the average number of two children and each child finds someone just like them outside our group to marry. The second generation the score card will look like this: Christians: 2-Heathens:18. The third= Christians: 4-heathens: 36. The fourth= Christians: 8-heathens: 72. The majority of Christian families are loosing 85% of their children to the world and it takes 30 Christians to win one sinner. In the fourth generation we will loose 7 out of 8 of the Christians and not have enough Christians to win anyone.

“Houston, we have a problem.”

Let’s redo those numbers assuming the Christian family at the beginning takes God’s Word at face value and assumes children are blessings, the “Be fruitful” command was never removed, and that God really is in control of even biology. Most families like this also believe God tells parents to homeschool (Duet 6:7, Ephesians 6, Duet 11, et al)
Generation one= C: 1 (family) - H: 9. Generation two= C: 7 (the average family before the days of our birth control/death culture had seven children) - H: 18. Generation three= C: 49- H: 36. Generation four= C: 343- H: 72. If we carry it one more generation we have 2401 Christians and 144 heathens. Since homeschool families only loose 4% of their children, we still have 2305 Christian families. Add in the one sinner saved per 30 Christians and we have 2385 Christian families. We are still losing ground, unless…

Unless the higher ratio of Christians saturates the society to the extent that there is a faster conversion rate.

The first group had absolutely no chance of surviving much less winning any one for Christ. The second has a fair shot at it.

Let’s look at our original question: Why have Children?

Should we even be asking this? Shouldn’t we be asking “Why shouldn’t we have (more) children?” The entire idea of us controlling how many children we have stems from the worldly idea that children are curses and burdens and we have a right to be selfish. And this indoctrination is so deep that I can’t even tell you how many people I know how ask God for guidance in every area of their lives… except how many children to have. You suggest they pray about it and they give you a blank look like just began speaking a foreign language.

“Aren’t we supposed to be smart and responsible?”
The Bible tells us not to lean on our own understanding. It tells us to pray about everything. It also tells us God controls the womb.

“I can’t afford it.”
How do you know? I have heard of many who let God give them as many children as He wants to even though they are living in poverty. Many times, God gives the hubby a new, bigger income shortly after this commitment. Other times He miraculously stretches the existing income (for example, someone GAVE us a $1500 vacuum cleaner and someone else GAVE us a 15 passenger van!) but I have never heard of a God fearing couple who honestly trusts Him going hungry.

Let’s put it this way:

Who would know best how many Eternal Souls a couple should bring into this world? God or a human being?

Ezekiel 37

Assyria had a habit of capturing city/states and moving the population to a new location. So when they captured the Northern Kingdom, Israel, they took them to all corners of their kingdom. Assyria covered half of modern day Turkey, well into Iran, down to the border of modern day Saudi Arabia, to all of Egypt. Thus, Israel was scattered to the “four corners of the (known) earth.”

Babylon was not quite so ambitious (nor as large), but they did move some population around and, of course, took captives home as slaves to their various cities.


1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

I believe this was a vision Ezekiel was having when he was praying.

2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

3 And He said unto me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, thou knowest.”

4 Again He said unto me, “Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, ‘O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; “Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

6 “And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” ‘ “

In his vision, God commands Ezekiel to speak to a bunch of dried up bones; to tell them they will live; certainly something that no human could cause to happen. Now, remember, Israel was carried away into captivity during the time of the Assyrian Empire (722 BC), Judea has been carried away into captivity (597 BC), and Jerusalem has just been totally destroyed by Babylonians (586 BC). The nation of Israel is dead. It is the dried out bones. Can they ever live again? It certainly doesn’t look like it to the human eye, but God says here they will.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

9 Then said He unto me, “Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”

10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

11 Then He said unto me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.’

The captives had probably just heard of the destruction of Jerusalem. They viewed themselves as totally destroyed beyond hope of ever being a nation again, just like a valley of dried bones would be beyond ever living again.

12 “Therefore prophesy and say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

13 “ ‘And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

14 “ ‘And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.’ “

This scripture was fulfilled in the time of Cyrus the Great (536 BC). Cyrus gave the command for all people displaced by the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires to go back to their homelands. Though not all captives returned home, the Bible records (Ezra 6:17, Act 26:7(notice Paul speaking in the present tense), James 1:1) references to the entire nation of Israel- in their homeland- after the time of Cyrus. In addition, history records Ptolemy of Egypt wanting to have the Hebrew Scriptures translated into Greek for his library. He sends for six scholars of each tribe to do the work. History tells us that seventy-two men showed up and translated what we now call the Septuagint Bible. (Septuagint means seventy. Septuagint is easier to say than Septuagint-beth so they rounded it).

6 men from each tribe X 12 tribes = 72. All twelve tribes were home.

15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

16 “Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions:

17 “And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

God preformed a miracle in Ezekiel’s hand by uniting two sticks into one. From the time of Rehoboam until the carrying away into Babylon, the nation Israel had been divided into two pieces that warred with each other. The hatred was so heavy that they could never be one nation again….or could they?

18 “And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, ‘Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?’

19 “Say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord GOD; “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.”’

God says Israel (Ephraim) and Judah (Israel and his fellows) WILL be united into one nation in His hand.

20 “And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.

21 “And say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord GOD; “Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone (“Where they ARE gone, right now,” This is speaking of the exile Ezekiel is a member of, not a later one), and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

22 “And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel;…

Members of all twelve tribes returned to Israel after the call of Cyrus to do so. They gathered as one nation, one people, with no difference between those from the Northern Kingdom and those from the Southern Kingdom. In fact there was no more mention of either kingdom separately in the Bible or in history and the terms “Israel,” “Jew,” and “Judah” are used interchangeably. In addition, the members of all the tribes all agreed to divorce their none-Israelite wives.

…and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:

23 “Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

There is no record anywhere of Israel as a whole serving idols again. Oh, some individuals did, to be sure. But the nation as a whole no longer committed idolatry. Their formal religion was Judaism for the rest of their existence. With the records in the Maccabees we see that many had a dedication to God sufficient for salvation (not just a religious show). Many of the common people in Israel accepted Christ. History tells us the church in Jerusalem alone had a membership of over 50,000 people and that was with danger of persecution from the officials of Israel. These people really did turn their hearts to God.

Now the officials (Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.) had fallen into humanism (the belief that good works will save you). But they did not worship idols.

24 “And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

Jesus is “David.” He is King, today, of all who accept Him. Paul tells us in Romans 11 that all who accept Christ are true Jews, while those who don’t are not, no matter what their blood lines. So Jesus is today King of the true Jews.

25 “And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.

When Christ returns, we true Jews will all live in the New Jerusalem, the land Abraham was searching for and was promised (Hebrews 11:10- God gave him Palestine as a temporary home until he moved to heaven, the “city with foundations whose builder and maker is God.”). We will dwell there for all of eternity.

26 “Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

There was once an art contest to depict “perfect peace.” There were many submissions of landscapes, mother/child scenes and so on. The winning picture, however, was of horrible storm. You could almost hear the thunder and the wind! But in the corner in a small cave was a mamma bird sitting snug on her nest sound asleep.

Peace is not the absence of conflict; it is contentment and security in the midst of the storm.

God has made a covenant of peace with all true Jews.

27 “My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

We are the temple of the Lord. He dwells in the midst of us.

28 “And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.”’”

“Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
The unsaved can tell there is a difference about us. They can see that God sanctifies us.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel lived at the same time as Daniel. He was also a captive, though carried away to a different city (probably around 597 BC).

The first 33 chapters of Ezekiel are spent prophesying that Babylon will destroy Jerusalem and about what was going to happen to their neighboring countries. Chapter 34 tells us that God is still in control and 35 tells us of His coming punishment of Seir (Edom) for her assistance to Babylon. From 36 on, Ezekiel is prophesying about the restoration of the entire nation to her homeland.

Ezekiel 36
1 Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:

2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:

Because the enemies of Israel were bragging about their victory…

3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:

4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;

5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.

6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.

God promises to punish the heathen nations that took way too much delight in punishing Israel for God.

8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.

God promises the physical land that it will feed the nation Israel again.

9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:

10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:

11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

12 Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.

This return to the homeland happened seventy years after the final attack by Babylon. The area of Israel was again inhabited by the descendent of Jacob and they lived and prospered.

13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations:

14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD.

15 Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD.

God promises to remove the shame of conquest.

16 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.

18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:

19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.

God gives the reason for the original captivity. Israel and Judah sinned. The offended and angered God. So God allowed their enemies to beat them up and take them into captivity away from their beloved homeland.

21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

God wanted His name to be represented and, even though Israel continued to curse God, He decided to bring them home.

22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy Name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

God did not return Israel to her homeland for her sake but for His. This is like a man whose wife has committed adultery allowing her back into the house on a trial reconciliation because he needs a housekeeper and someone to watch the kids. There is no mention of a great love for Israel here.

23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

God was going to do this because He wanted the non-Israelite nations to realized He was God.

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.

Again, this is not done for Israel’s sake but for God’s. He promises to do the work to clean them up and restore them to a respectable place so He can have a respectable wife, not because they deserved it.

31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

God’s intent is also to bring repentance on the nation. It does appear that they repented of their evil ways when they returned to their homeland.

32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.

“I will forgive you of all the sins against me the day you come home.”

34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.

35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.

36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.

God was caring for His reputation.

37 Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.