Separatism, Part 3

Separatism as a Fundamental Principle of Christian Agrarianism, Part 3
Posted by Michael Bunker
editor@biblicalagrarianism.com

The Kingdom of God

In the last part, we cursorily examined the history of the world's system of mammon, and of the beast system which would arise that would cause all manner of men to become slaves to their own primitive and carnal lusts. As prophesied in the Holy Bible, a system arose from among the people that allowed them to join together in order to fulfill the desires of the flesh. This system, despite and contrary to the commandments of God, allowed man to come together and develop a system of specialization which severed man from his connection to the creation and gave him duties and employments that were unproductive or counter-productive to his spiritual well-being, causing him to rely inordinately on man and governments rather than on the providence and sovereignty of God, and it eventually stripped man of his position of authority in the lives of his people, his family, and his children. Through time mammon became the operative principle of life, and, as the scripture promised, even very religious men and women were deceived by it, taken captive by it, and would become slaves to it - even to the point that the religious authorities in the time of Christ were willing to purchase, betray, and extinguish His mortal life for money. From these truths we come to understand that arguments for syncretism and against separatism are really arguments for the maintenance of (and service to) the system of mammon that feeds and coddles the flesh as opposed to God's ordained system which nurtures and grows the spirit. Jesus said that every man would serve either Him or Mammon (Matt. 6:24), and His Word teaches us that in the last epochs of this period of world history the system of Mammon would grow to be such a powerful entity that men would not be able to separate from it without great personal cost – in persecution, pain, and suffering - and that those who are enslaved to it would only be able to continue in it by agreeing to willfully choose and serve (worship) it, as opposed to serving God in the Kingdom of God.

In the first part, we discussed the Kingdom of God (or Heaven) as it is taught to us in the parables of Christ. We should take another look at these parables here. I will relate to you two of the parables from Matthew the thirteenth chapter that the Lord uses to explain and display the Kingdom of God:

“And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 13:3-9).

And again:

“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” (Matt. 13:24-30).

We should note that Jesus chose not to explain the parable to the masses:

“All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field” (Matt. 13:34-36).

Jesus did not intend for the religious pharisees or the carnal man to understand the parable. We should also note that he sent the multitude away so that he could explain the parable to his elect disciples alone:

“He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 13:37-43).

In explaining the parable to his disciples, He chose to use agrarian terms - terms only those who understood a farming based life could understand - so even among the disciples (and those that would come after them) His words were intended to be clear and understood chiefly among the people who understand, live in, and work, the soil. His words would have meaning to those who understand the soil, and whose society is built and designed around the proper management and dominion of the land. Think about that for awhile. We have to confess upon reading the Word of God, that God had no intention of showing truth and mysteries to those who have no love for Him or His ways. He intended this truth for a separatist - agrarian people.

So let us look at the parable:

Jesus Christ is the one that soweth the good seed – and we know that the good seed is the Gospel of God and His Kingdom.

The field is the world (not the “church” as is claimed by some), and we know from the parables in this very chapter that we studied earlier, that the world has wayside areas where the hearts of men receive the Word of the Gospel, but understand it not, and it is said that the seed which spills there is snatched up by the Devil (Matt. 13:19). Remember, these people were not intended to hear or understand the Gospel:

“And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Matt. 13:14-15).

Some people receive the Gospel in stony places, which means that they are unregenerate religious people who claim to understand and believe the Gospel, because the Word says that they receive the Gospel with “joy” (Matt. 13:20). These people have stony unconverted hearts (Eze. 36:26) that are blind, deaf, and dumb to the Kingdom of God. These religious professors have no good soil (meaning they do not have regenerate hearts) and therefore the Word cannot root in them. These make a good profession for awhile, but at last, when things get too hard, or when persecution and suffering arises, they fall away.

Some people receive the Gospel among thorns. The thorny ground is that unfruitful ground which is encumbered by the cares and deceptions of the world. There is much activity (like in Vanity Fair) and much commerce, and much activity, but no separation or true righteousness. When these people receive the Word of the Gospel, they try to combine it with the ways of the world. These folks say they love Christ and are Christians, but they truly love mammon and the ways of the world. The ways of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches then choke out the Word. Sadly, the Word of God says that this false believer may look and act like he thinks a Christian should look and act, but alas, in the end, he is unfruitful (Matt. 13:22).

So these are the explanations that Christ gave of the way the Word of God is spread and received, and how the Kingdom of God is grown in the world. Now, within the world, in the best soil, Christ has sowed His seed. Not long after this sowing, though, the enemy (Satan) sows tares (or false wheat) which grow up in the world in the same places where the Gospel was preached.

Jesus Christ says that the good seed are the Children of the Kingdom, and the tare seeds are the Children of the Wicked One.

When the time comes that the Word begins to bear fruit (the Gospel leads to conversion in the hearts of God's elect), angels come and separate the wheat and the tares. The tares are gathered together (not out of the “church”, but out of the whole world, including the professing “church”). What is this gathering together if it is not the gathering of worldlings to the centers of mammon and worldliness? The people gather together, just as they did in the days of Babel, in the days of Nimrod, and in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. These are gathered together to be burned, as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were burned.

This gathering together of the wicked, from my understanding, happens twice – once because the wicked tend to gather together in this world – and again when they are gathered together at the great judgment to be thrown into a furnace of fire:

“As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world” (Matt. 13:40).

God will also gather together His own:

“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah” (Psalm 50:3-6).

The wheat is gathered into the barn (Matt. 13:30) and onto the threshing floor which is the place of purgation or purging (Matt. 3:12). This is not some spiritual “purgatory” like that which has been made up by the Papists, but is the Church of God and our life of obedience in Christ while still here in this world:

“Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt. 3:12).

Our verses here and our knowledge of the agrarian art of threshing teach us some valuable lessons. First we should note that tares are never brought to the threshing floor. They are already gathered to be burned. Only wheat is gathered to the threshing floor. On the threshing floor the wheat is spread and it is thoroughly beaten with sticks. This purging does not separate the wheat from the tares (who have already been separated and gathered together) but it separates the wheat from the chaff. Chaff is the part of the wheat which not desirable to the farmer. He desires to purge the chaff away from the wheat, so he beats the wheat - “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Rev. 3:19a). The Holy Spirit – the fan of the Lord – thoroughly purges the floor, blowing away all that which is displeasing to the Lord. The wheat is then gathered into the garner, which is the Lord's Kingdom. When the Lord desires to use the wheat, it is ground into flour and used to make good bread.

This is a story of separation through and through.

Now let us take a look at how horribly these beautiful parables have been mangled, distorted, and mis-taught by the prophets of syncretism.

1. They teach that the wheat and tares are supposed to stay together, and that they are indiscernible, and that they are never separated, and that these verses teach that there is no telling where a Christian may be found, and that a Christian may grow just as safely and healthily in an urban city among the wicked and surrounded by unbelievers as he will when separated into a true Christian agrarian society.

2. They teach that the field is “the church” (although Christ says it is the world), and therefore it is no wonder that there are unbelievers and believers in the church. While it is true that there will almost always be deceived unbelievers in any “church”, the Bible teaches that they are the Children of the Wicked One and that they should be rooted out. The prophets of syncretism teach that it is natural for a “church” to be filled with unbelievers (after all, it is evangelism), and that tares and other weeds are to be encouraged, and that the “church” ought to be filled with them. In fact, the entire modern “church growth” movement is based on the premise that tares need to be brought into “church” so that they can be changed into wheat! The modern dominionist movement doesn't believe in filling the “church” with tares, instead, they believe that the wheat ought to be about the business of expanding the fields and taking over neighboring farms, so that more tares will be converted to wheat.

3. Contrary to the teaching of the Bible, the prophets of syncretism teach that tares become wheat when they “get saved”, and that all men were once tares but that the saved tares become wheat. The Bible, however, teaches that wheat comes from wheat seed, and that tares come from tare seeds.

4. The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ alone is the sower, who plants only good seed. The prophets of syncretism teach that evangelists and all believers are sowers, and that they plant indeterminate seeds, some of which grow into tares, and some that grow into wheat.

5. The prophets of syncretism teach that the wayside is to be purposely sowed, as is the stony ground and the thorny ground. While the Bible teaches that sometimes good seed happens to fall in these places, the syncretists manipulate others into giving money, and gather together huge amounts of it, to hire professional “sowers” who are then purposely sent out to sow seed among the rocks and thorns.

6. While the prophets of syncretism teach that any man can and should be a sower (despite the fact that Jesus calls Himself the sower), they also teach that only spiritual angels – actual created angels from heaven - can be reapers or harvesters. Syncretists teach this error despite the fact that Christ asked the disciples to pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers to the harvest: “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matt. 9:37-38). The Bible teaches that the word “angels” means “messengers”, and that sometimes ministers of the Gospel are called “angels” (Rev. 1:20). Now, if we look at the Bible and we see that these harvest labourers are supposed to separate wheat from tares in this world, and then gather the wheat to the threshing floor, does the false gospel of syncretism still stand up to scrutiny?

7. Since the parable of the sower says that these harvest events are to happen “at the end of the world”, the prophets of syncretism teach that physical separation will only happen “at the end of the world”, and by this they mean, after we are all dead. The Bible, however, teaches that the phrase “at the end of the world” often means “during the time of the Gospel”, after Christ has suffered and died on the behalf of His elect, and has put away their sin in order to separate and purify them unto Himself: “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”.

The Lord Jesus Christ used these parables to accomplish two things:

• To give enlightenment, truth, direction, and encouragement to the elect of God – those who have been given by Divine Grace the ability to hear and see the Kingdom.

• To hide these sublime truths from world lovers and mammon lovers – the Children of the Wicked One – who naturally and angrily reject the truth of God.

“And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand” (Matt. 13:10-13).

To those whom it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, more shall be given to them, and they shall have more abundance. The phrase “he shall have more abundance” is one word in the Greek which means “to superabound” or “to have in excess”. Since the child of the Kingdom has a heart towards spiritual things, and towards eternity, he will superabound in spiritual gifts when he is separated by God into the Kingdom. Those who believe themselves to be in the Kingdom of God, but who are actually the “children of the wicked one”, will have even those gifts that they think are theirs taken away from them. This is why it is constantly reaffirmed in the scripture that the professing believer is to examine himself that he be in the faith. There are those who love the world, who serve mammon, who separate only invisibly and never actually, who think that they are in a good condition, and that they are bound for heaven after they die. They have been blinded to the truth of God found in His parables. The kingdom of this world has a religion called Christianity, and the prince of this world has a people who call themselves “christians”. This truth is plainly evident in the prophetic scriptures, yet it doesn't often cause mainstream “christians” to question their affiliation, their lives, or their understanding of God's Word.

In the next part we will examine God's plan in using separatism to teach and train His children for the Kingdom that is to come.

I am your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

Late September Pics

9/29/08 - 2nd Day - Afternoon. It was a bit chilly this morning... 52 degrees. We are in the time of great swings again because it is supposed to be near 90 today. I love this time of year. We are getting the fall garden put in a bit late, but it is doing alright so far. I hope to have the next portion of the Separatism series posted later today or tomorrow, so check back for that. Here are some ranch pics from early this morning. This first one is of two of the small beds planted with lettuce, pickles, and squash...


This next pic is of our sweet potato bed.


Here is our pregnant pig Bitty... still no sign of piglets yet...


Yesterday, when Danielle went to go get milk from the milk ladies, they gave us a young boer doeling that had been rejected by their herd and was bottle raised. Her name is Heather and she is very friendly. Here is Jennifer with her newest pet...

Alright, back to work on the Separatism series. Check back later today or in the morning for that!

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

A Confluence of Events

9/26/08 - 6th Day - Late Afternoon. Preparation of the Sabbath. Well, I never did get around to posting the Bunky Awards winners, but I will try my best to get on that early next week. A confluence of events occured, as I mentioned in my last post, which brought about a flurry of canning activity around here involving the whole family. In addition to the windfall of the large amounts of inexpensive tomatoes, our hens starting increasing their egg production this week. Providentially, at about the same time we received a surprising call from our "milk ladies" (the ladies from whom we used to get good, fresh, raw milk) saying that their cows were now back "online" and they were getting an oversupply of milk. So we arranged to take them a supply of eggs in exchange for 4 gallons of whole milk. This led to us making butter from the milk, then canning the butter and 4 half gallons of milk in addition to our tomatoes. This week we put up somewhere around 80 quarts of tomato product, including bloody mary mix, salsa, and spaghetti sauce. I went back to Sligers Produce in Brownwood today and they still have a pretty large amount of tomatoes left. We definitely could put up some more spaghetti sauce and salsa, so if I have time next week I might go buy a few more flats. We are also (Lord Willing) going to go get 4 more gallons of milk from the milk ladies on the Lord's Day so we can put up some more milk and butter. After that, we will start working on cheese and sour cream - two of our favorite farm products.

Today, out of necessity, I was re-arranging our root cellar and I thought about how quickly it was filling up. As is expected on an off-grid farm, we are particularly low in stored meat, and we were remarkably low on vegetables and other canned goods until this week. Usually, around this time of year, a larder will be low on meats because butchering is usually done in the late fall or winter, and the vegetable harvest is usually overflowing. Because of our drought year, we are where we expected to be on meats (very low), and before our tomato windfall, we were very low on vegetables as well. We are doing very well on fruits, jams, and jellies. On the hoof we have 8 or 9 cattle, of which one steer (Pedro) is scheduled to go to the butcher on October 8th.


This is a picture of Pedro. Pedro was our first full-blooded Longhorn born to us here on the land. He was born about 3 weeks or so premature and we bottle fed him for awhile before he was able to reach and start suckling on his momma. He has always been a little fella, and at about 25 months old he is about the same size as some of our one-year-olds. But it is time for him to go, and we can use the beef and hamburger to put into storage.

Also on the hoof we have the two pigs, both of whom we hope are pregnant and will drop before Ranchfest. One of them (Mimi) we will butcher some time in late November. We also have two goats which will be butchered (Lord willing) in December or January. If the Lord wills it, our Holstein should drop a calf in February or early March, which means we will be getting all of our own milk and dairy products from right here on the ranch., and if all goes well, we will have some more pigs ready to be butchered before the cold weather goes away in March.

So, that is our plan. It is all a process and we take one day at a time. We make our plans, and the Lord directs our feet.

In the meantime...

a bunch of rich politicians are going to be robbing their constituency of over $700 Billion in order to maintain a failed economic system which was built on and supports a failed industrial system - all so that rich bankers won't lose their yachts, and fat, dumb colonized urbanites won't have to give up their Blackberrys and Iphones as they grow more and more dependent on the hologram of freedom, liberty, and prosperity all defined and explained to them in the Holy Bible.

Peace,

Michael Bunker

Tom8o's

9/24/08 - 4th Day - Late Afternoon. Sorry I haven't got the final announcements and "stuff" for the Bunky Awards posted. I'll get to it soon. We've been too busy canning tomatoes. We had a horrible garden this summer due to the drought, so we were not able to get much canned or stored, so Danielle and I went to Sligers Produce in Brownfield to buy some tomatoes. Sligers is an awesome little store that sells tons of fresh farm produce, much of it from area farms. They will even buy produce from small farms like ours, so we hope someday to sell them excess vegetables or fruit if we have any. Anyway, they had a huge shipment of beautiful farm fresh tomatoes at $1.49 a lb. On Monday I asked the lady if I could get a bulk discount since we were buying 75 lbs. of tomatoes and she sold them to us for $17.95 a flat (of 25 lbs.) which comes out to about .72 a lb. which is about half price! We immediately started canning tomatoes, and yesterday I sent Danielle back for another 100 lbs. and the owner of Sligers sold them to us for $15.00 a flat (.60 a lb.!). So, as you can expect, we have been busy today making spaghetti sauce and salsa. Yesterday we canned about 42 jars of tomatoes, and we are still going at it today. We have spaghetti sauce in the canner now, and after supper we will start making salsa. It's all hands on deck for this one...

Nice, beautiful, red tomatoes...


And lots of them...


Sarah says - "These are some nice tomatoes!"


Robert standing on a stool first drops the tomatoes in boiling water for a bit, then puts them in cool water so the skins come off easily...


Jennifer carefully chopping up some fresh basil from our garden...


Jennifer skins the tomatoes and Tracy chops them up...


My job... chopping up onions which had been carefully stored from our spring garden...


The Product... some jars of spaghetti sauce...


An even more satisfying product. Here is Danielle with a full quart of dried ground basil from our garden. Do you know how much basil it takes to make a full quart once it is dried and ground? A LOT!


Now to the Salsa!

Semper Tejas,

Michael Bunker

Q&A Fridays! Issue #43

9/19/08 - 6th Day - Late Afternoon. Preparation of the Sabbath.

Welcome to Issue #43 of Q&A Friday for Friday the 19th of September, 2008. I want to thank you all for your great emails and questions. I want to remind everyone of the rules by which I will be playing: Not all questions will be answered, and not all those that are submitted can be fitted into one issue. Those that did not make this issue (for length reasons) might be included in a future one. Questions might not be answered or included in the Q&A for the following reasons:

The scope may be too broad, or it may involve a topic on which I have taught at length... ex: “Can you explain the whole Creation?”. The question might need to be asked more specifically, or with fewer presuppositions that I would have to handle before actually getting to the question (I do reserve the right to rewrite questions to make them more clear and understandable or to make them more amenable to the format here). Answering the question might drag me off of “message” or into an area on which I am currently teaching, but at a point where I haven’t gotten to yet. If the question is answered in an upcoming teaching, or would involve getting into a topic I have planned for the future, then I will likely choose not to answer it yet.

The question might be considered rhetorical, or might involve me bearing witness against myself... such as “Who are you?”

As always, send your questions to Q&A Fridays:

editor(at)lazarusunbound.com.

Michael,

What is the proper way for a community of biblical agrarians to handle death and burial? What do you do there at the ranch? I am familiar with what the Amish do and it is quite beautiful how they arrange funeral services from casket making to wake, fellowship and burial. I am asking because I would like to get away entirely from the modern corporate funeral, burial in a steel reinforced casket enterprise. Could you elaborate?

Thank you for your question. I think that, first of all, although a community might have some cultural practices or traditions, in the end death and burial are very personal things for the family involved. We try to be there for people in any situation, but we also (as elders and/or leaders) try to keep in our place. We can advise and direct, we can counsel and support, but we try not to dictate. Death is an inevitable part of life and living in a community, and I agree that simple services are likely the best. We must remember that burial services are for the living and not for the dead. If someone dies in the Lord, then we know that they were translated into His presence, and therefore there is no need for expensive or showy services. We do teach that excessive grief is a sin, but we do believe that Biblical and moderate grieving is encouraged and acceptable. We do encourage folks to have a right view of death and dying, and we do accept that it is a normal part of life to mark the passing of a loved one. We have had only one death here in the community, and the circumstances (and the immediacy) required that a steel casket be purchased for transport. If someone were to actually die here on the land, we would have a much better likelihood of being able to build or procure a simple pine or wood casket. Texas really has very good laws that secure us much freedom in the burying of our dead. We do have a burial ground/cemetery here at the land. Now, as I said, the actual memorial service and other types of services would be left up to the individual family and their wishes, within bounds of course and subject to oversight and counsel from the elders here. Every situation is different. When our son Thomas died, we did not have a burial or graveside service. We had a memorial service some time later. You can read the memorial sermon here:

Memorial Service for Thomas Shepard Bunker

I know that in most cases, an Amish style simple service is preferable, though I also understand that in some circumstances – say the death of a notable person (like Spurgeon's funeral perhaps) there might be a need to make arrangements for many more people to come and fellowship. I do plan on dying, and I don't plan on being here for my wake of funeral, but I would encourage everyone involved with it to be moderate, but to still make allowances for the fact that there may or may not be people from around the country who might want to come here in support of my family. I guess that is a side cost of being notorious. Maybe my enemies would like to have their own celebration!

Michael,

I was reading with some amusement the exchange between you and “Robbie” (the Arminian syncretist) on the comments section of your blog. I agree that he never dealt with the issues, created straw men, and skirted around your answers. I am curious though how you would deal with his assertion that Lot was chosen because he was righteous. I read 2 Peter where Lot is identified as just and righteous, but we know that when someone is considered just and righteous by the apostles, it is because of Christ's righteousness imputed to them. How can you miss that? I read Gill on the subject and he agrees. How do you explain this to someone who already too puffed up to hear? Thanks in advance for your answer.

I received another filibuster from Robbie just yesterday which emphasized this very point. Remember, Robbie insists that he reads the Bible for what it says, while everyone else who disagrees with him reads it for what they want it to say. Indeed Lot, a type of the wicked sinner, living among the wicked who is regenerated and saved by grace, upon his regeneration was vexed by the sin and wickedness of Sodom. We know that Lot was not righteous in an of himself, because the Bible says that there are NONE righteous, no not one. I offer these scriptures for proof:

Psalm 14:3

Psalm 53:3

Rom. 3:10,12

In fact, it is a permanent and unchangeable tenet of Christianity that we acknowledge that there are none righteous among men, and that all acceptable righteousness is imputed by Christ and is of grace and not of works, that no man may boast. So, we learn from reading the verses in Gen. 18 and in 2 Peter that Lot was saved AND SEPARATED OUT by God for His own purposes, and not for any act or work in the creature. Why was Lot saved and separated from wicked Sodom? Because he was to be the father of the Moabites, of which Ruth was to be one, who herself was to bring forth Obed, who begat Jesse, who begat David, who was the forerunner precursor and type of Christ. So Lot was saved by the righteousness of Christ, for the ultimate purpose of Christ, and for the sake of Christ and His kingdom – which is contrary to what Robbie claims and believes. As an Arminian, Robbie believes that men are saved by their own free will, and that God is a responder and respecter of men. It is funny how they accuse true Christians (those who believe in the Doctrines of Grace (like the Protestant Reformers, Puritans, etc.) of making God a respecter of persons, when we say that men are all sinners, and that God saves men for His own purposes, while there is no difference between them, and that salvation is a complete and utter work of God with no admixture of the works of men. The Arminian insists in freewill, and therefore they cannot read the Bible for what it says (in its entirety) but must put portions of God's Word in competition with other portions of God's Word. It absolutely makes a Papist or an Arminian (they are actually the same thing) sick to their stomachs that God might save sinners without their help, and that he then sanctifies them and perfects them as His own work, separating them out from the world and unto Himself. Note that the syncretist almost always also has really bad doctrine, in fact it is quite common to find syncretism and Arminianism in the same corpse. It is also not uncommon to find such pride and arrogance wrapping that corpse.

So, to answer your question, if someone is humble and enabled by the Spirit of God to hear, then you can explain it to them. If they are puffed up and unteachable, all you can do is send them on their way. Not to say that such men are harmless – because they are not. Unorthodox doctrine and bad orthopraxy swirled into the same man is a recipe for danger. These men do not now have the power or authority to silence me, but some day they will. Anyway, for now the Bible teaches us to separate from such men – and to have no fellowship with those who come bringing another doctrine. These men have no idea that their Arminian free-will doctrines are new, and were birthed by the heretic Pelagius, and brought forth in the heart of the Antichrist Papal Church during the Counter Reformation and the Council of Trent. They will learn it in time though – unhappily – on the judgment day. To those who are new to all of this, I recommend my book Swarms of Locusts, and A.W. Pink's wonderful book The Sovereignty of God.

Michael,

Do you think that someone who lives an urbanized/industrial life and who thinks that is just fine, but who has good salvation doctrine – for example they go to a Reformed Church – is damned?

Thank you for your question. Of course I cannot see what invisible work has been done inside a man. All of us who are now saved were once children of wrath (Eph. 2:3). We know, however, that God's work in His children does not finish at regeneration. It also involves bringing them the Gospel that they might believe the truth and be converted. Conversion involves a whole lot more than going to a good church, sitting and listening to sermons, or any other such superficial works. We know that, as it is said of Lot who was mentioned earlier – concourse with the wicked vexes the soul of God's elect every day. God sends men the truth in order to separate them from the wicked world. He commands them to flee the City of Destruction and to not look back, and to flee all the way to the mountain (Christ). So it would surely be folly to assume that a man who feels happy and satisfied in an urban/industrial setting is saved. If a man feels at peace with the wicked, it is likely that he is a Sodomite and not a Lot.

I am your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

Ranch Updates and Important Updates

9/18/8- 5th Day - After Breakfast. Good Morning y'all. Things at the ranch are going fine here. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous for a week or so, since the rains came We have had beautiful days with absolutely stunning blue skies with the temps around 80 or so, and cool nights in the low 50's and even some high 40's, which is highly unusual for summer in Central Texas. Anyway, we have enjoyed the gorgeous weather. We didn't get a drop from Ike, so we were spared the flooding and other devastation. My sister is still in Houston, but is doing well, though she has been without power since the storm.

We have been doing some work on the garden, though a lack of resources has prevented me from doing everything I want to do. My sweet potatoes are still thriving, and we harvested a BUNCH of basil the other day. I have 9 basil plants that have absolutely thrived since the rains came. We harvested about 60% of the leaves off of them the other day, and we are drying them as we speak. I am pretty certain that we will end up with well over a quart jar of dried, crumbled basil - which is a lot of basil. My peppers have also revived, and we have planted some fall items like lettuce, squash, egyptian walking onions, and broccoli. I am planning on planting a large amount garlic this fall as well.

None of our cows have dropped calves yet, which is surprising, and, as I mentioned in a previous post, our pig Bitty is highly pregnant, but hasn't delivered yet. Mimi, the other huge gilt, doesn't even look pregnant. If she doesn't start looking pregnant really fast, she will be butchered, maybe at Ranchfest if we can get some morning cool enough to do it. According to my figures, the last date our gilts were with the boar was on June 18. A female pig has a gestation period of 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. This means the absolute last day that these pigs should deliver is October 10, the first day of Ranchfest. So if Mimi has not delivered by then, we will probably have some pig butchering as a Ranchfest event. From the looks of it, Bitty should have delivered long before then.

Speaking of Ranchfest, things are looking good, and we are expecting a fairly large crowd this year. Donations have been basically zero, so we hope that improves, or we will have a fairly large crowd sitting around looking at eachother, or butchering a big fat pig. We need Ranchfest donations in early, because we need to be able to buy supplies and get things prepared for the week. This way we'll know what we are doing. I will be sending out an email to my friendslist today. If you do not receive it, it is because you are not on (or you have been removed) from my private email list. Please see the post below to see about getting added to the list.

I hope you all didn't lose everything in the stock market! The governments of the world are throwing untold billions of funny money at the problem to keep the world from crashing. Except the Russians, they just closed their markets and announced they would sieze a large portion of the Arctic in order to drill for oil... makes sense. The politicians are all pointing at eachother with one hand, while they jam the other down into your wallet to throw your money at the problem. I told my chickens, pigs, goats, cows, and rabbits that Wall Street fell. They didn't get it. Not one of them panicked. Of course they usually don't panic when they are going to the butcher either. Only the goats do. Somehow they know. Which maybe explains why the stock market fell.

Michael

How to get added to my Email List

Quite often I get requests to be added to my email list. As far as modern "ministry" types of email lists, I do not have one. I do have a private email list called my "friendslist" which is a very small, heavily vetted list of friends/supporters who want to keep up with, pray for, and support the ministry and help out with what I do. My friendslist is not for the merely curious, nor is it for trolls or tourists. If you are seriously interested in being added to my email list, here is what you must do...

You will have to SNAIL MAIL me a request, which means that you will have to address an envelope and send your request to me through the mail. Why? Because it keeps out the trolls and the tourists, and it lets me know that the people who are getting the materials care about them and want to receive them. Then, to stay on my email list, you will have to contact me at least three times a year by snail mail and request to stay on the list, otherwise you will be peacefully and painlessly deleted.

Right now, I haven't determined what resources will be available where, but for right now (until further notice) the email list will be the place to get sermons and other materials emailed to you within a day or so of them being preached here in our community. I won't be posting sermons on BiblicalAgrarianism.com until further notice, and we are usually several months behind in publishing them on Lazarusunbound.com.

If you used to be on my email list, but haven't received any emails from me in the past week or so, then that means you have been deleted. You will have to SNAIL MAIL me a request to be put back on the list.

Send requests to:

M. Bunker
1251 CR 132
Santa Anna, Texas 76878

If you want to be added immediately, you can email me at editor ( at ) lazarusunbound.com and inform me that your snail mail request is on the way.

Thank you,

Michael Bunker

Scattershooting in the Cool of the Morning

9/17/08 - 4th Day - After Breakfast. Scattershooting on a cool morning. Well, since the rains came a week or so ago, we've had fall-like temps here in Central Texas. Woke up the last two mornings to 48 degrees, though it has gotten into the 80's during the day. Oh, by the way, don't let this short scattershooting blogpost keep you from reading the latest parts of the Separatism series:

Read Part 1-A
Read Part 1-B
Read Part 2-A
Read Part 2-B

Here is a picture of one of my big fat pigs...


That picture is of Bitty. Bitty is very, very pregnant. We had hoped she would have dropped her piggies by now, but she hasn't yet, as you can see. Bitty is famous because she is responsible for hundreds of homely men getting dates. It's true. About a year ago, we were trying to remove bitty from her momma so we could clip her ear and mark her. She weighed about 7 lbs. or so at the time I would guess. Anyway, I asked Kelly Sustaire to come over and help me, because the momma sow (Luella) didn't like us messing with her piggies. Anyway, I ran in the pen, grabbed Bitty, and right about that time Luella comes charging at me yelling and screaming. So I threw Bitty like a football to Kelly who was standing outside the pen. Kelly dropped her for an incomplete pass. Anyway, I then commented to Kelly that, since a pig flew, hundreds of people were legally due dates with women who had previously turned them down. Anyway, I don't think anyone will be picking Bitty up and throwing her now. She probably weighs upwards of 450 lbs. I really hope she has her piggies soon. Our other pig, Mimi, should be pregnant too (she might be), but she is nowhere near as pregnant as Bitty.

Hey, I'll get around to announcing the final winners of the Bunky Awards, and sending out the delicious mesquite coffee next week. Your job, if you are a Bunky Award winner, is to send me your mailing address so I can send you your coffee.

Herrick Kimball has a great article that he posted this week over at The Deliberate Agrarian:

Emerging Crisis, Population Shift, and the Rural Remnant

I highly recommend that you read it and heed it.

I have received quite a few questions lately reminiscent of the Q&A Fridays question. So if you all would like a Q&A Fridays episode, just email me your questions and I'll put out one this week (if the Lord wills)... editor (at) lazarusunbound.com. For those of you who are not familiar with Q&A Fridays, I used to answer emailed questions (about anything) in an episodic (or quixotic) emailed and blogged Q&A journal, sent out fairly regularly. You can read past Q&A Friday episodes over on BiblicalAgrarianism.com.

Peace y'all,

Michael Bunker

Separatism as a Fundamental Principle, Part 2-B

Separatism as a Fundamental Principle of Christian Agrarianism, Part 2-B
Posted by Michael Bunker editor@biblicalagrarianism.com

Before you read this part, go read Part 1-A

Read Part 1-B

Read Part 2-A

Mammon

“Worldly-mindedness is as common and as fatal a symptom of hypocrisy as any other, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a visible and passable profession of religion, than by this; and therefore Christ, having warned us against coveting the praise of men, proceeds next to warn us against coveting the wealth of the world; in this also we must take heed, lest we be as the hypocrites are, and do as they do: the fundamental error that they are guilty of is, that they choose the world for their reward; we must therefore take heed of hypocrisy and worldly-mindedness, in the choice we make of our treasure, our end, and our masters.” (Matthew Henry)

In the next several parts we will be discussing separation and its importance as it relates to the Kingdom of God. In this part we will specifically be discussing the Kingdom of This World and the system of Mammon which gives it power. Throughout all of human history, and throughout the entire Bible, there are two opposing kingdoms in view. We will be discussing these contrasting kingdoms in depth, but it is necessary here that I discuss some very important principles concerning these kingdoms; principles that are often forgotten or confused by students of the Word.

The Kingdom of This World

There is a kingdom, which is actually made up of all the worldly kingdoms (Matt. 4:8), which is referred to by Jesus repeatedly as “this world”. This kingdom has a ruler or spiritual prince (the word “prince” means “ruler”) also called “the god of this world”, has other spiritual principalities and powers, has earthly princes or kings, has its own wisdom, and has a fashion (an external condition, a culture, style, or system) also known as a “course”. It is important to note that Satan, the prince of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11, Eph. 2:2), is not the rightful King or Prince of the earth. That position was originally given to Adam as man. Satan, therefore is a usurper prince, who has gained his authority by deceit and by the willful consent of the governed, and not by rightful inheritance.

This kingdom of this world is referred to throughout the Bible and in many of Jesus Christ's discussions, sermons, and teachings. It is important that we point this out, because the modern mantra of “in the world, but not of it” - taken to mean “just like the world in the flesh, but spiritually separate” - teaches that there is no discernible difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of This World. There are two prominent errors, mentioned before in this series, that lead to a dangerous and erroneous view of the Kingdoms:

1. The futurist and dispensationalist view that the Kingdom of God is still future, and that no one enters the Kingdom until they die. In this view, the Kingdom of God is heaven and the spiritual realm, and Christ was bringing and instituting no real Kingdom during His earthly ministry. This view invalidates separatism because in it there is nothing to separate from and nothing to separate to; and it promotes worldliness and denies all that Christ had to say about the Kingdom of God.

2. The Kingdom Now, Theocratic, or Reconstructionist view that the Kingdom of God came fully and completely during the time of Christ or shortly after that, meaning that Christ has already come and instituted His Kingdom, which is of this world, and things will get better and better as Christians “christianize” wordly institutions and bring all things under the rule of Christ. In this view, as we have mentioned before, the Kingdom's of this world have already become the Kingdom of God, and God has no intention of returning to destroy the wicked and to bring a new heaven and a new earth. Christ has already returned (at some point invisibly) to rule, the seventh trumpet has sounded, and there is no difference between “this world” and Christ's kingdom, therefore there is no need for separation. This is the worldview and system that the Papists have tried to push for over 1400 years, and the Church of England and other national “churches” have tried to institute for several hundred years.

We will discuss the two separate and distinct kingdoms more in the next part, but for now it is important for us to examine what Jesus Christ and His Word has said about the difference between “this world”, and the Kingdom of God.

First, we should note that the Kingdom of this World is not vanquished and overthrown until the last trumpet:

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev 11:15).

Paul confirms that this last trumpet will not be “invisible” or some confusing and indiscernible moment in history (like the destruction of Jerusalem), but will be the moment when all Christians of all time are “changed” and are given incorruptible bodies. The earthly bodies of corruption will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God, but those who are Christ's will be changed and given incorruptible bodies. This is true of the righteous dead, who at this time will rise from the dead, and of the living:

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1Co 15:50-55).

It is naturally in the Devil's interest to confuse the kingdoms and to cause professing Christians to err by convincing them that they have nothing to fear in worldliness. Both the futurist and the preterist, both the dispensationalist and the reconstructionist, are able to deceive people by convincing them that they can stay in the world without fear or danger. But the Bible says that the two kingdoms, The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of This World, will remain distinct and separate until the last trump, when God's children will be changed and receive incorruptible bodies. If you have not received your incorruptible body yet, then the last trumpet has not sounded, and you are accounted with either the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of This World. You live according to the fashion (or “course”) of one or the other (1 Cor. 7:31). The Bible says that if you live according to the fashion or course of this world, then you are still deceived and in the power of the Prince of This World:

“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph 2:2).

John Gill says this of the “course of this world”: “the course of it is their custom, manner, and way of life; to which God's elect, during their state of unregeneracy, conform, both with respect to conversation and religious worship: great is the force that prevailing customs have over men; it is one branch of redemption by Christ, to deliver men from this present evil world, and to free them from a vain conversation in it”. Because of the prevalent errors in discerning between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of This World, most professing Christians have been convinced that there is no difference, and that there is no “course” or “fashion” of this world that identifies men according to which Kingdom and Prince they serve.

Like I said earlier, we will get into some depth on the subject of the Kingdoms in the next parts, but for now it was necessary that I identify and prove that the Kingdom of God is separate and distinct from this world, and that it has separate and distinct characteristics, and operates according to different principles. The Kingdom of God came with Christ, because Christ IS fundamentally the Kingdom of God, and as in any other Kingdom, Christ's Kingdom has its own society and culture, its own economy, its own fashion and course. It came with Christ, but will be fulfilled and perfected at Christ's return at the last trump.

Knowing that there are two separate kingdoms with two separate masters, let us hear what Christ says about one of the fundamental differences that exist between the two kingdoms:

“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him” (Luk 16:13-14).

Now, let me tell you that there are some of you reading and hearing this right now who believe yourself to be in the Kingdom of God, and to be under the Headship and Kingship of Jesus Christ, but who serve mammon and mammon alone. Now it is time that we study what this means, so we can identify error. Separatism naturally involves a sword: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb 4:12). Note that the Bible says that covetousness and the service of mammon identify those who are still servants of the Prince of This World. The “passport”, mark, or citizenship papers of the children of this world lies in covetousness and the service of mammon. I want to note again that this is why Satan and his prophets push the prevailing errors concerning the two Kingdoms. Deception requires that men not be able to see God's intention and purpose in separation. People remain in the Kingdom of This World, and subject to the Prince of This World, because they cannot see the Kingdom of God - “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). In order to be able to separate from the Kingdom of This World, you need to be able to see it, and in order to see it, you must be born again.

Ok, all of this has been preface to our latest history lesson. Today we are going to track some of the history of the Kingdom of This World, and its system of mammon, so you can see what it looks like today.

Mammon is defined several different ways, and we can get a more full understanding of the essence of it by studying these definitions:

1. Riches, wealth; or the god of riches.

2. The false god of riches and avarice.

3. Wealth, wordly gain.

Mammon is the personification of the earthly and worldly desire for more wealth or money than is necessary. The Bible teaches, “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (1 Tim. 6:8). The service of mammon is the sign or mark of those whose hearts are on this world, and not on the world to come. It is critical that we understand these things, and that we know history, because an understanding of money (and mammon) is necessary in order for us to know God's mind when it comes to separatism and agrarianism. It is the love of money and the service of mammon that keeps men in bondage to the world.

The History of Money

In studying the history of money, it is important that we first get rid of the colonized deceptions that pervade our thinking. Money as we know it (coins and paper) are a relatively recent invention. When the word “money” is used in the Old Testament, it is not speaking of coins and paper used as currency. First let me say that the word “money” is actually from the Latin moneta, which means "mint, coinage," and is derived from Moneta, a title of the Roman goddess Juno. Coins were minted outside of the temple of Moneta, and it is from this practice that man has derived the name of money. Please also remember that, from this time, money became an inexorable part of human worship in the Kingdom of This World, and became a central pillar of most worldly religions. It is not unimportant that our Lord, the rightful King of Creation, was betrayed for money.

Some will insist that money has been around forever, and that it has always been a central reality in the history of God's people, but when you read the term “money” in the Old Testament, for example when Abraham bought the cave and field of Machpelah for money, it is not at all speaking of coinage and paper that we call “money” today. Let us read the account:

“And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land. And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant” (Gen 23:7-16).

This event happened sometime around 1859 BC, but the use of silver as money had been around for some time before that. We read here that the “money” used by Abraham was actually silver. It was not paid in coins, but had to be weighed out in “shekels”. The shekel weight had been established by the Babylonians as part of the Babylonian system we are studying here from around 3000 BC and it was related to an established weight of barley. The word shekel did not refer to a coin, but to an established weight (such as a “gram” or an “ounce” is an established weight). The word “money” in our English Bible is translated from the word kehsef which means “silver”.

Back Even Further

For the first 1600 years of the world, exchange, and commerce were accomplished through trade and barter. In some cases and places, due to an intrinsic problem with barter (called “the coincidence of wants”) a system of credit was created, where a basic standard was set, and an intermediate nonperishable item was used to eliminate the coincidence of wants. For example, if you raised dates or figs, which are perishable, and you desired to trade for wheat or goats – it would be necessary (in order for there to be a straight trade) that someone “coincidentally” was wanting to trade goats or wheat for figs or dates at precisely the time when your crop was harvested and ready for trade. This problem is called “the coincidence of wants”. In order to mitigate against this problem, a third crop or item may be utilized to bridge the distance. You might go ahead and trade the figs and dates for a future crop of wheat or for some future number of goats. In the interim, the owner of the wheat or goats might give you some valuable item that is valuable but nonperishable (like wine, salt, or silver, etc.) to hold until which time he is ready to redeem them with the wheat or goats that you need. But the point is that for 1600 years mankind had no real need for what we call money. Until the wicked descendants of Cain began to build cities (which necessitate money, debt, and specialization) every man lived an agrarian existence, and he produced from the ground most, if not all, of what he needed to survive. Trade and Barter existed, but they were actually quite rare. Most men survived by God's providence from the land, and did not have any need for more than they could eat, drink, wear, or live on for their survival. It is so common for man to look at history through glasses tinted by his own experience, that it is very difficult for modern man to even conceive of a world without money.

Abraham was considered a very wealthy man, and it is said he had gold and silver, so people automatically assume that he was one of the idle rich like we have around today. But wealth in that time was measured in a wholly different way. You see, there was no need – in fact it would have been wasteful and ridiculous – to have more than you need. It is said that Abraham was “very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” (Gen. 13:2). Note that cattle is mentioned first, because it was the primary measure of wealth and store of value. The term “cattle” meant cows, oxen, sheep, asses, and camels. So it is true that Abraham was wealthy, but we must also remember that Abraham was the patriarch of a very large clan. His family and servants numbered in the many hundreds, if not thousands. Abraham had a lot of mouths to feed, and he properly managed his large herds and flocks for the maintenance of himself, his family, and all those for whom he was responsible. Abraham was considered wealthy, as we have seen, but an examination of the time and culture will cause us to reject that Abraham's wealth was anything like what we call “wealth” today where men gather to themselves mountains of irrelevant and unimportant items, and invest large amounts of money in decorations, entertainment, and so called “stores of value” (like stocks and bonds). There would have been no need for more animals than could be managed for the production of food, clothing, and supplies for the amount of people for whom Abraham was responsible.

I pause here to note that we read in Genesis the 13^th Chapter that Abraham was wealthy and had many cattle and herds, and so was his nephew Lot. They were both so wealthy that they could not dwell together in the same land anymore, so Abraham desired to separate from Lot (who evidently operated on different principles) and so he gave Lot the choice of what direction he will go. Lot chose the plain of Jordan near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham chose to dwell in the land of Canaan, which was without cities, and was more conducive to agrarian success. Ok, I will return to the discussion of the wealth of Abraham, but we have to take a side road here to discuss Lot – since, although Lot ought to be the poster-boy of separatism and God's preference of agrarianism over urbanism, Lot seems to have become the hero and spokesmen for worldlings everywhere who all fancy themselves to be Lot. So let us look at this for a moment...

It is said by worldlings and syncretists that Lot was saved for his own righteousness, but the Bible says he was saved by the intervention of Abraham (an agrarian separatist) (Gen. 18) and because “God remembered Abraham” (Gen. 19:29).

It is said that Lot is not an example of separatism, though God clearly took vengeance on the wickedness and urbanism of Sodom and Gomorrah, and separated Lot out from it before it was destroyed.

Let's review the story...

Lot, due to his choice of living near the cites of Sodom and Gomorrah, lost his wealth and was rescued by God's grace alone from the destruction of those cities. God determines to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, even with Lot and his family in it, but Abraham intercedes with God to spare Lot (Gen. 18), who is his kinsman. Lot and his family (his wife and two daughters) are physically removed from Sodom in order to save their lives. Lot is ordered by God in a Christophony not to stay or stop in the plain, but to flee all the way to “the mountain”. The mountain is a type of Mount Zion and of Christ's Kingdom. Lot is too afraid to flee to the mountain, even though his eventual destruction in the plain of Jordan is evident, so he begs God to allow him to stay in a small city (Lot even mentions twice that it is just “a little one” ), and God agrees for Abraham's sake not to destroy that one small city (Gen. 19:17-21). Lot and his daughters are scarcely saved and his wife perishes even as Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. It is said that Lot is spared for Abraham's sake, not his own (Gen. 19:29). Later Lot repents of staying in the small city, and flees to the mountain, only to there become (by God's providence) the father of the wicked Ammonites and the Moabites.

So just maybe worldly syncretists do not want to claim Lot as their spiritual father.

Back to our discussion of wealth. The system of barter and trade changed slowly. First, as we have seen, men began to look for an intermediate commodity, such as salt, wine, or silver, that could be used as a store of value to help with barter and trade. So long as men lived rural and agrarian lives, there was little need for much silver or gold, and very small amounts of these metals were held as a store of value – and then only to offer relief from the “coincidence of wants”. With urbanization and specialization, came the need for money and for the ability to acquire, hold, and expand it. The Babylonians first systematized the exchange and use of money, as it became fundamental to the new Babylonian urban culture. Hammurabi, the first king of the Babylonian Empire, in his famous code, created extensive rules and laws governing the creation, use, and exchange of money. This is the beginning of the world's system of mammon.

For another 1000 years, the Code of Hammurabi and the first Babylonian system of commerce was used throughout the known world. But then, even as this first Babylonian system of money and exchanged reigned in the world, Nebuchadnezzar came to power in Babylon.

There are two main events in the life of this Nebuchadnezzar that we need to study. The first is the dream he had in Daniel the 2^nd Chapter.

In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the king awakens from a dream that he cannot remember. The dream troubles him, so he calls forth all of the Chaldean mystics and Magicians, and all the astrologers and sorcerers, but they are unable to tell him either the substance or the meaning of the dream. Because of this, Nebuchadnezzar grows very angry and orders the death of all the wise men and advisors in Babylon. Arioch, the king's captain reminds the king of Daniel, the wise man of of the captives of Judah. Daniel tells the king he will give him the interpretation after prayer, and retreats to be with his friends and pray for the interpretation. The interpretation is given to Daniel, who then gives it to the king:

“Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure” (Dan 2:31-45).

Here Daniel gives the king of Babylon both the dream he had dreamed, and the interpretation thereof. The king had dreamed of this great image (an idol or statue) made of various metals and materials, and he had watched as a large stone, cut out without hands, crushed the statue, which crumbled into dust or chaff and was blown away of the winds. The stone that smote the feet of the statue then grew into a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Now, Daniel also gives Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of the dream. Nebuchadnezzar would be the first of four great kingdoms which would ruler over the people of the earth. The Babylonian empire, of which Nebuchadnezzar was the king, would be the gold kingdom. The kingdom would eventually fall and be replaced in order and time by three subsequent empires. The second kingdom, the silver kingdom, is given for us in the Bible as the Kingdom of the Medes and the Persions (or the Kingdom of Medo-Persia). The third kingdom, the kingdom of brass is the Empire of the Greeks. After the fall of the Greek Empire, the Roman Empire (the fourth kingdom) will arise. The fourth kingdom is very interesting and deserves our attention. The fourth kingdom will be the kingdom that remains in power until the end of the age. The fourth empire begins as iron, then as it travels down the legs and into the toes of the statue (through time) it becomes a conglomeration of iron and miry clay. From history we see this fourth kingdom develop first as the Roman Empire, which after it's fall becomes the empire of the Roman Papacy, which reigns through its conglomeration of secular and religious power, in an ever weakening way, until the Lord comes to destroy it.

Now, we need to note that this whole system is one statue. It is one system, even if it is ruled and shaped at different times by different world powers. Each system flows into the next, and the single beast portrayed by the statue still exists as one beast when it is destroyed by the stone, which is Christ.

Daniel tells the King that a very great and awful beast system will be developed, and that he, Nebuchadnezzar is the head and originator of that system. This system will be a culture, a dynasty, a financial and an economic system, and a single kingdom (called the Kingdom of This World) that will dominate history until it is destroyed by Jesus Christ. The final incarnation of this beast will have attributes of all the previous kingdoms, and will add the attributes of each successive system as they are amalgamated into one beast.

Let's move on to the second important event of Nebuchadnezzar's life.

In Daniel Chapter 3 we read that Nebuchadnezzar, apparently smitten with the fact that he was the head of gold, or having become obsessed with gold, and possibly in an attempt to forget or eradicate the idea that his golden kingdom would be replaced by lesser kingdoms in succession, built an image much like the one in his dream, only he had it built (or gilded) completely in gold. Let's read about it:

“Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon” (Dan 3:1).

So we note that Nebuchadnezzar made the image 60 cubits high, and 6 cubits wide, which number, 66, is the precursor of the mark of the eventual beast it prefigured, 666, which ought to help direct us in the right direction concerning the spiritual root and direction of image and its purpose. The number 6 is the number of man, and the eventual beast (the system begun here at Babylon but completed in the end of time during the fourth (or Roman) period, would be a system of worship that is man-centered, so the final six would not be evident in this typological image of gold. The image of gold was built for worship, and as a religious idol, it was forced upon the people of Babylon as a god. It prefigures a man-centered system of economics, and society that will have all the attributes of the four kingdoms built into culture and lives of the people. The event was being held, it was said, during an economic convention in Babylon where all of the great men and authorities in the kingdom were coming together to unite under this kingdom of gold. Howard B. Rand in his Study in Revelation says this:

“Here we have an account of the birth of the gold standard, when by solemn decree it was made a controlled medium of exchange, the possession of which became essential to those who would buy and sell in the world markets”

From this point onward, the world had created a system for itself where wealth was no longer defined as the ability to abundantly feed, clothe, and care for your family and servants from the land. From this point on, wealth required the acquisition and holding of the means of exchange, instead of actual property, land, cattle, etc. The intermediate means had become the idol, and metals – which you cannot eat, which will not provide you shelter, and with which you cannot use to clothe yourselves – had become the primary form of “currency” and measure of wealth. As is natural among wicked men, the rationalization was eventually made that carrying and holding gold and silver was no longer practical. Soon coins of inferior materials were substituted for those of gold and silver. Silver, the original form of money, was soon phased out in favor of gold backing alone. It was not long before paper money came into existence, originally backed by gold held in storage at “banks”, but eventually it was backed by nothing but the word of lying governments. Paper and coin would be phased out in favor of digital money, wealth would be measured by blips on computers, and by the amount of debt one can handle while still appearing wealthy. All of this was designed in order to allow wicked men to fall farther and farther away from the garden from which they originated. Without this system of money and without this Babylonian economic system, cities would collapse, and men would be forced to return to the land and produce from it – or perish.