Exhortations

Troubled World

The View- Troubled World.

The truth about the troubled world has many markings that are openly linked to the mark of the Beast, seen or unseen, natural or spiritual. It’s a concept that many fundamentalist believers accept its truthfulness. Divided views among Christians about the mark of the Beast make the unbelievers stay away with fear, thinking that they might be joining a false belief and feel safer if they will keep their distance away.

Christians are to keep the unbelievers closer to our faith, but we also need to be aware that fellowship with darkness can have unfavorable results. As per Paul’s epistle, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?—2Corinthians 6:14

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible mentions the marking on the flesh from the beginning to the end. It is therefore written in the Bible, so we should not ignore the truth, and defending it is our main concern. Receiving the knowledge of truth is knowing and understanding the proper interpretation and application for the sake of righteous and holy life. Being equipped with knowledge and understanding is evidence of having wisdom, and the source of wisdom is God.  

What matters is having God in our life and work. The wisdom of God is the solution to this troubled world. Many are lost in translation due to a lack of wisdom, both natural and spiritual. We must seek God before anything else and receive the gift of discernment. The wisdom of God will guide us to make moral decisions and the ability to make quality judgments. Proverbs 2:6, NIV: “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”  

Wisdom is the source of knowledge and the ability to understand the power it brings to interpret and apply the proper reaction to a given action. If someone throws a stone at you, in return, give them bread, there is no glory in making an act of revenge but instead promoting more hatred. The direction toward a peaceful and happy life is to share the love of God. When someone lacks wisdom, ask God faithfully and humbly, and learn to know Him better through constant communication using His written word. Submit to Him with all your heart and soul without a single doubt. We are in God’s image and have what He has.

When Sin enters the human body,  trouble begins, and the shadow of God seems to be far away. Sin separated us from God, and it seems humans cannot live without Sin. God separated from the human being. Going back to Genesis, God put a mark on Cain’s forehead after he murdered his brother Abel, a Divine mark to protect him not to be killed or anyone seeking vengeance against him— Genesis 4:15. Many agreed that the marking is physical and why God gave protection to Cain is God’s way and His thought is not our thoughts. God can conceal things and yet give wisdom to the wise.

God asked the Israelites to mark their hand or forehead with His word. Deuteronomy 6:5-9— “4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be in your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, walk along the road, lie down, and get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and your gates.”

Even though the people of Israel’s unfaithfulness and disobedience, the Israelites remain God’s chosen people. God will never change His mind and His purpose behind it. According to Mathew, a Canaanite woman asks Jesus to be healed, and Jesus answers in Matthew 15:24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The mission of the Son is to deliver the mission to the Israelites. Another proof to consider was Prophet Isaiah’s prophecies centered on the nation of Israel. Through Isaiah, God affirmed His love for the people of Israel and restored the nation to Gold. ‘I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. –Isaiah 49:16).

People cannot be deceived into worshipping other gods unless they do not know the true God and have most likely never heard about Him or could be ignorant of His word. To worship God, the Father is to know His word and pray that His plan is soon to come. The ancient Greeks used tattoos to mark the criminals and enslaved people that would identify them in case they escaped, and the Romans followed this tradition. This could be why Jesus has a marking “On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: the king of kings and Lord of lords.” Revelation 19:16

The world’s trouble is not acknowledging God of His existence, and knowing the LORD of Host may not be enough to God’s standard. Therefore, there are markings in our hands or foreheads that mean expressions of devotion to the LORD, and there are markings that mean nothing but decoration and markings that also express submission to the ruler of this world and are sometimes called the prince of the air.

We must consider that not all markings are visible to human eyes; human eyes cannot see the markings that the LORD put in our hearts. However, God always sees us, and we should feel it whenever we misstep in the wrong direction. It reminds us that we belong to Him and always sets us apart from those with different markings, which is our protection.

Related Scriptures: Revelation 7:3; Revelation 9:4; Ezekiel 9:3-5; Leviticus 19:28; Isaiah 44:5; Ezekiel 16:11-12—There are more scriptures related to this topic, and it is written because it is essential to learn why there are some scriptures that seem confusing but yet a good reason why it was written for our knowledge and understanding.

God is all in all.

Bishop Joseph

Dr. Joseph Vitug, Ph.D. - Bishop Emeritus

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