Edition 412: April 10^th 2018

The essence of foolishness:

Introduction:

You will be amazed to see just how foolish so many people are – even intellectuals! Foolishness is perhaps the greatest, growing problem worldwide today. This edition is designed to help you avoid the pitfalls, line up with God’s word and make you strong. There is God-given advice here, and rebuke as well. Take heed of both!

Today, as we race into the unfolding of the end-time drama, powerful satanic forces are at work and intensifying. This is the time to be well-prepared to stand against the forces of evil.

The days that lie just ahead are the final days of intense spiritual conflict. The days are evil, beloved brethren! (Ephesians 5:17)

There will be far fewer people saved at the end of the day, than most believe. The world today is full of fools of all persuasions and intellectual levels.

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

What is a fool?

Isaiah 32:6 “The foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity to practise ungodliness, to utter error before the Lord...”

Proverbs 14:9 “Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is favour.”

Fool: Strong’s H191 “Eviyl,” Meanings: One who despises the wisdom of God, one who mocks God, a wicked person. Biblical foolishness has much to do with spiritual blindness.

A fool then, has nothing to do with intellect. In fact most intellectuals are the biggest fools on earth. The biblical fool is one who is independent of God, mocks God, is spiritually blind, and full of sin. The fool doesn’t care about his eternal future.

There is another Bible word for “fool” which does relate to intellect, but that is not my concern here in this edition.

Let me mention however, the Bible shows that there is plenty of hope for the fool from an intellectual point of view, but little of no hope for the moral fool, who I am dealing with here.

Psalm 53:1 “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.”

●By the way, the Bible says that we are not to call people fools. The context of that, relates to looking down on someone from a position of elevated, judgmental pride.

End-time fools:

The most notorious end-time fools are the five foolish virgins of Matthew 25:1-4 who were unprepared for the coming of the Lord. They tried to borrow oil for their lamps from the five wise, but were refused, because when they had the opportunity to get ready, they squandered it. That really is the story of today.

By the way, most interpreters agree, as do I, that all 10 virgins represent the entire church. Note that the five foolish virgins were shut out and the door was closed. That means that they lost their salvation. It does not mean that they were not saved in the first place.

Revelation 3:16 speaks of the end-time lukewarm church being spat out by God. They mixed a bit of truth with error making it lukewarm and effectively neutralising it.

Some, in the end-time church of Thyatira are cast out by God into great tribulation. (Revelation 2:22) These people mixed truth with witchcraft and other evils making their position an abomination to God.

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 speaks of God sending strong delusion on those who reject the truth specifically in these last days. That makes them prime fools!

Today, many in the Spirit-less churches, are falling away fast, including their leaders. They think they can follow our Lord without the active working of the fullness of the Spirit of God in their lives. This is particularly acute and in these end-times.

It is absolute foolishness to think that you can identify and deal with demonic spirits and forces with your intellect or own mind outside of the gifts of the Spirit.

The great majority of the verses in the Bible dealing with foolishness relate to God’s own people!

The foolishness of rejecting Bible prophecy:

Bible prophecy is the eyes and ears for the church. It shows you what is to come. How can you be in your right mind and ignore it! Yes, I know great damage has been done to the word of prophecy but the deceived Revelation 12-sign teachers and other false prophets, but they were all acting in and through the spirit of error.

God is the designer and architect of the ages and He has given us His word of prophecy for our edification and preparedness. No greater body of scripture is given to this vey subject! Only big fools would chose to ignore it. Most churches do!

Right now, and I mean now, we are on the verge of huge prophetic developments in the Middle East. We are on the verge of the great Ezekiel 38/39 war. (I will share some interesting things from the Bible on this, in next week’s edition.)

The great shaking is about to begin. If you know Bible prophecy, or at least its framework, you will be prepared to stand securely.

Do not wander off into all sorts of strange beliefs now. Do not receive from people who do not have a clear, well proven track record.

Jeremiah 14:10 “Thus the Lord says to this people: ‘They have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; He will now remember their iniquity and punish their sins.”

The foolishness of the mass-media:

Tragically, much of the church today has sold their souls to the TV set and have replaced faith in the Lord with faith in the media. It has shaped them and formed them, to their eternal detriment.

Jeremiah 8:8-9 “How can you say, ‘we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? ‘Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; so what wisdom do they have?’”

The verse above is one of those that so succinctly describes and defines the godless mass media of today. They are champions in leading billions astray, and will be ultimately responsible for sending them to hell! They are true fools from a biblical point of view.

Today, the mass media has attained a god-like status. The media swims in their never-ending discussion panels and opinions - all of the god of the world.

Proverbs 18:2 (Amp) “A self-confident fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his personal opinions and himself.”

Psalm 10:4-13 “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God, who is in none of his thoughts...His mouth is full of cursing, deceit and oppression; under his tongue is trouble and iniquity...He sits in the lurking places of the villages; in the secret places he murders the innocent; his eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless...He says in his heart, ‘God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see it....Why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, ‘You will not require and account.’

The traditions and customs of man nullify the word of God and blind you. The spiritual forces of rebellion to God lead people into futile tradition-keeping. (Mark 7:13)

The foolishness of coming against Israel:

We are on the brink of huge wars and conflicts breaking out in the Middle East, with Israel being dragged in and becoming a key player as international hatred grows towards Israel.

Isn’t it interesting that the nations that recently became anti-Semitic have now been handed over by God to the devil. This is true for many European nations, Canada and others.

It’s good to remember that all anti-Semitism and replacement theology within the church is in effect, anti-God and a rejection of God’s plans.

Do you know that destruction and chaos of war is part of the judgment of God upon those who reject His ways, and specifically, who come against Israel.

2 Chronicles 16:9 “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

Dangerous end-time foolishness:

Tragically people can’t see it, but foolishness is a prison. It’s the world’s great invisible prison resulting in the terrible punishment of enslavement to the devices of the devil.

Psalm 107:17 “Fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquities were afflicted...they drew near to the gates of death...”

There is a unique form of foolishness in this world and it comes from God Himslef as an affliction. He inflicts people with it! That may not be part of your theology, but it is true. If you become a victim of it, you will not escape!

Romans 1:21-28 “They knew God, but didn’t glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools...God then gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonour their bodies, exchanging the truth of God for a lie and worshipped the creature rather than the creator. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions, even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. (Lesbianism) Likewise, the men burned in lust for one another...God gave them over to a debased mind...”

Notice in the verse above that these people became fools in their so-called wisdom! Notice also that people who support and practice homosexuality are “handed over” by God! In fact, in this discourse they are “handed over” three times.

1 Corinthians 1:18 “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

This verse above shows an unavoidable condition of the fool. He is blinded to the message of the cross, in which there is salvation – exclusively. But there is an amazing positive aspect to the verse as well. To those who are being saved, (salvation of the soul) it is our power!

Proverbs 12:15 “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.”

Proverbs 28:26 “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.”

Proverbs 14:16 “The wise fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages in his self-confidence.”

Foolishness –the curse of God:

There are too many verses on this to list here, but suffice to say that rebellion to God in specific ways, mainly witchcraft in all its forms, produces the curse of foolishness on the participants. They become blinded fools. This normally becomes a generational curse as well!

Deuteronomy 28:20-29 “The Lord will send on you cursing confusion (foolishness) and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed...because of the wickedness of your doings...The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion (foolishness) of heart and you shall grope around at noonday as a blind man in the darkness and you shall not prosper in your ways.”

What is the passion of your life?

Most Christians today are shallow, spiritual slobs, beguiled by the world, blinded by its god, and on the road to hell - in Jesus name.

Your passion should be to know our Lord more and more and to know yourself in God’s light. The more you get to know our Lord, the more you want to make Him known. That’s the way to go.

The problem with the fool who has rejected God’s word is that he now has no point of reference, anchor point, and no absolutes in his life, besides those that he engineers to suit himself. He has no definition of sin in his world of variables. He has no measure of comparison in terms of right and wrong. He is on a fast moving slippery slide, spiralling downwards.

In the days of Noah they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, marrying, giving in marriage, building and planting. There is nothing wrong with those things. But they were also full of evil and sin.

It was their foolish disregard for God’s warnings and living in sin and evil that brought judgement on themselves. The end-time world is just the same!

Jeremiah 7:23-24 “Obey My voice and I will be your God and you shall be My people, and walk in the ways that I have commanded you that it may be well with you.’ Yet they did not obey nor incline their ear, but walked in the counsels and the imagination of their evil heart, and went backwards and not forward.’”

Most people today have their hopes set in this world only. They are blinded by the temporary bright lights and luxuries of the day. But they do not know and see that where and when they fall in death – that’s it. Their eternal destiny is set!

Ecclesiastes 11:3 “Where the tree falls there it will lie...”

Romans 14:10-12 “...We shall all stand before the judgement seat of Messiah ...Each of us shall give account of Himself to God.”

Here is something to consider: There is coming a day just after death (or rapture) and just after our judgement, that all will be revealed about all of us. Everything will be made manifest. We will all see each other’s eternal glory, reward-state, or lack of it.

2 Corinthians 5:10 “We must all appear before the judgement seat of Messiah...” (Lit= we must all be made manifest.)

We will all be forever manifest to the universe and it will all be based on what we did with our lives here on earth. Yes all our sin will be gone, but the effects of sin – our eternal reward will be seen.

Romans 2:16 “...God will judge the secrets of men by Yeshua the Messiah, according to My gospel.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 “...Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

The answer:

Matthew 6:20 (Amp) “Gather, heap up and store for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither rust nor moth and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Do you see how important it is not to waste your time on unnecessary pursuits of the things of the world? We are in the world and all need to partake of it to a degree, but our main priority must always be towards a focus on eternity.

Only in the Lord can you get one amazing miracle to work for you. You can redeem the time. That means that you can buy back the time that you have wasted and that the devil has stolen from you. In our Lord there is a second chance and more.

One of the titles for our Lord is: “The Lord our redeemer.”

Ephesians 5:16 “See to it that you walk circumspectly and not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

Only true believers have the God given luxury and privilege of being blessed with the ability to repent and put things right, cancelling out our sins forever.

Our foolishness and sins will be removed as far as the east is from the west – forever. Do you know that if you head off going west you will always be going west, never east? In other words our sins are forever gone!

The answer to spiritual foolishness is not education. It is surrender to God in all areas of your life.

This is a collection of some of my Baobab tree paintings and photographs combined with a flower.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!