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including Letters to Rachel parts 1 and 2.
For example, try reading the lineage of Jesus in the early parts of a couple of the Gospel books. Even I can't get through it so easily! Back then, family lines and historical details were of high importance, and that was the way people's interest was held. Anyway, on to the letter:
As we've seen, the origin of sin took place in the highest of locations, around the very throne of Heaven. From there, it spread like a fearful disease to the very gates of the spiritual kingdom, and then descended like lightning to the earth. Mankind also became subject to its seductive poison, and their lot was (seemingly) thrown in with the rebellious angels. Horrors were seen to unfold in even the very first generation of the children of Adam.
In both the fall of Satan and Adam, we have seen the mystery of evil unfolding along a pattern. A cherished question, left unasked, quickly leads to doubts. These doubts, if also hidden, will eventually lead to even worse conditions. It is often this way even today, and we can see that one of the major hindrances to the best of plans is a lack of communication. Because people are unwilling to communicate, we see marriages break down, we see parents and children at odds, we see people thinking only of themselves, with barely a thought for others to the right and left of them, who could be the dearest of friends, if only a kind word would pass between them.
But neither did Yah leave his children to suffer full separation from His presence. The early history of humanity is a constant display of Heaven's encouragement, punishment and preservation of mankind in an effort to keep the individuals from giving in to the awful power of the adversary. Yes, earth was to be Lucifer's kingdom, but God's mercy was not to be withheld from those willing to accept it either. To humans was given a choice. They could acknowledge the leadership of this planet, and refuse to desire anything better for their lives, or they could say, as have men and women in every generation, "this world is not my home," and look forward with happiness to the day when the war will be over, and life will once again return to what it was supposed to be all along.
Sadly, many was the time that the Father's mercy was almost wholly disregarded. The tower of Babel was an attempt by men to reach Heaven itself, to exalt themselves above the world by their own power, to make a name for themselves that would never be forgotten. Well, they succeeded in that, but only as a warning - an example that trusting in the power of humanity in its fallen state is the surest way to be thrown into confusion.
The days of Noah are an even more tragic tale. The whole world was bowed down to the prince of the earth, and evil was at an all-time high. Only one man, of all the sons of Adam, was left and faithful to Yah's teachings. By his faith, his entire household was spared, while the rest of the world was allowed to sink under the natural weight of its own sin.
Satan cannot maintain a kingdom of mortal beings. The very principles of his rule encourage self-seeking at the expense of others. In every instance where a nation or a people have called upon Lucifer to be their leader (either by word or by deed), the results have always been their own swift destruction. The world that was flooded out in Noah's day, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and even its more modern counterparts, like the French Revolution, which came about when the kings of the country rejected the principles of reform advocated by Martin Luther. They purposely opposed the simple, Godly principles being taught by the ex-monk, and as a result the people of the nation were thrown into a madness that is known even today as one of the darkest periods in recorded history.
Such have been the dealings of God and demon with the people of the earth. The principles have been shown in their true light, and inevitable results, time and time again. Yet, for as many times of darkness when mankind has followed the way of the adversary, there have been wonderful moments when Yah's character has been revealed in His servants to both the world and the heavens.
The case of Job was one such event. Here was a man whose faith even God could boast about. At such a time, before the final blow was struck in the war, Satan still had some limited access to the gates of his former kingdom. He was still allowed to bring his debate before the holy courts, showing to the undefiled angels the events that had taken place on earth as a result of his efforts. As such, when Yah asked where he had been, Satan answered, "From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." (Job 1:7)
And God pointed downward and said, "See my servant Job, and how faithful he is." And His fallen child answered, "Of course he loves you. You have given him riches, and a large, healthy family, and fame within his community for his wisdom and good works. I'm sure that if all those things were removed from him, we would all see how quickly his faith would fail him."
And so Yah, confident in His servant, gave Lucifer the power to do all he said, with only the restriction that he mustn't physically harm the human. With great pleasure, the dark angel struck at Job's cattle, and they died. He caused his house to be destroyed, and all his children that were in there. His riches were lost, and his reputation soon followed, when people began to suspect that the reason for this destruction was because he had committed some serious sin against God.
Not content with that, Lucifer saw to it that the righteous man received all of this awful news AT THE SAME TIME. In rapid succession did his remaining servants give him the news of the loss of all he had owned. This was a great, fearful trial for the servant of God, but in all this, he never blamed his Father. Also, he was so confident in his own knowledge of heavenly principles that he could say with certainty and conviction that it wasn't even his fault that this calamity had befallen him, for he knew he had not sinned. This was not some arrogant assumption, but a statement of great faith and a true declaration of integrity. He did not understand why such awful things were happening, but he knew where the blame did NOT lie, and his faith was unbroken. His feelings he summed up in a prayer from which the now-famous line is quoted, "the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away."
The next time Yah and Lucifer met, the situation was unchanged. The Creator pointed out His faithful servant with even more pleasure than before, declaring that it was not for the sake of physical wealth or the praise of men that Job was faithful to Him. Ever the malcontent, Satan said, "Well, just let me take away the one thing you have left him, his health, and he will curse you to your face." God, ever patient, ever willing to let evil play out its course, let him have his way again, giving only one restriction, that the illness should not be fatal.
Job's body broke out in sores and boils that itched and burned and caused no end to his misery by day or night. His friends and even his wife added further to his trial by declaring that this MUST be a sign from God that he had fallen out of righteousness somehow, and that he should either repent, or just curse God and die to end his suffering. And Job was indeed tempted to do just that. He wished he had never been born, or that he had died in infancy, so he could have remained ignorant that such suffering was possible.
And... he did indeed question God. He asked why such horrible things happened. He declared himself blameless before the invisible throne, and protested that he should be treated so poorly, while even those who shunned the righteousness of heaven were allowed to prosper right in front of his face. Here was where the cycle of sin was broken. By taking his question to his Father in faith, he did not allow the course of his thoughts to fall into doubt, and harbored no ill feelings in his heart, although he was sorely inclined to do so as he sat upon ashes, dressed in rags and scratching at his abused skin with bits of broken pottery.
Yah's case was proved. Here was a man, a being with even less knowledge of Him than Lucifer had, yet he stood firm in his convictions despite the most terrible trials heaped upon him. If Satan had any capacity left for shame, he should have felt it in its full measure. He had been bested by a "mere human," and under conditions that he himself had never had to endure. The former pride of heaven was shown to be weaker than a member of the lesser race.
It was past time for Job's unfair sufferings to end. God revealed himself to his faithful servant in dramatic fashion, and though he did offer some chastisement for the manner in which the questions were asked of Him, He nonetheless held His servant up as the true example of a Godly man, as opposed to the doubting character of his friends. He told Job to pray for his friends, as they had displeased Him, and when he did so, God accepted his sacrifice, and the rest of Job's life was blessed, "more than his beginning, for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He also had seven sons and three daughters." (Job 42:12 & 13)
So it is today with many people. Suffering comes to us all. "The rain falls alike on both the righteous and unrighteous," but the difference is that when trials come to someone who is a servant of the Most High, we may see it as a blessed opportunity to prove our faith to both the heavens and the earth. Angels will rejoice as we prove our Father's love, and many may be the blessings that fall on those around us if they choose to learn from the example we set.
As Paul said, "So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: which is a manifest token of the righteous judgement of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer." (1 Thessalonians 1:4 & 5)
In every generation of history, there have been faithful servants of God to be the "lights of the world." For a time after the death of Christ, Satan was doing his utmost to destroy the memory of God's work upon the earth, and he succeeded to a large extent. Many of the truths so clearly expressed in the examples of the prophets were all but erased from the knowledge of man. The teachings of the Messiah himself were misrepresented, and his plainest lessons were but poorly understood.
As a result, reformers such as the above mentioned Martin Luther, as well as many others have appeared from time to time, and the truths that were once so greatly prized were once again set forth before the people. The steps have been gradual, for there has been much to re-learn, and many deeply-rooted traditions needed to be put away. But to those who had been faithful in small matters, greater and greater light was revealed. And we have been promised that as this last act unfolds, there would come a set of people very much like Job.
They will know God so well they can say with confidence that they have been following the principles of Heaven to the utmost, and indeed, they will become so very much like Jesus himself that when the very force of Sin itself is destroyed, these people will remain untouched. Like Enoch and the prophet Elijah, they will be taken directly up to heaven without ever experiencing death, "caught up together with them [those who died in Christ] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
Even though the war between Heaven and Satan's kingdom rages to this day, and with a greater intensity than before, the truth is that the victory has already been won. The decisive blow has already fallen, and Lucifer has received a fatal wound. He has been allowed to live for a time, though, for the last act must be undertaken for the benefit of we here on earth. Heaven had already witnessed the victory of Yah over His adversary, but there is still a question of the controversy in the human mind, and so our Father has allowed the season of evil to continue for a little while longer, so that on the last day, "every knee shall bow," and acknowledge that God is just.
Satan is defeated, as surely as if he had been struck by a poisoned dart. But the working of that poison has been slow to take effect, not that suffering may be continued, but that everyone would have a chance to see and understand the results of the war. To all who see and understand, we have one last opportunity to leave the leadership of that evil prince, to make our last stand on the side of Heaven. When Sin is finally wiped out of the universe, we will have had a blessed chance to cleanse it from our souls and live.
The plan for the redemption of man only becomes more beautiful and poetic the more we learn about it. Here we see a wonder. Just as Sin began in heaven itself, before the very throne of God, so it was that this "final blow" was struck here on earth. The conflict which began in the holy Kingdom of Yah was to see its true end at the very heart of the Kingdom of Satan. I pause here for now, and await your response to what I have written so far, with the promise that the best part of this story is yet to come :)
Sincerely,
David.
