The Trailer Arrives

1. The trailer finally arrived. Just so you’ll get a small taste of the experience, I’m doing the slow sequence of unboxing. It arrived by US Postal Service late in the day. I picked it up at the office during a lull in the rain that has plagued us all day. The box is just over knee high to me.

2. The trailer comes packed in its own travel bag. The whole thing folds up to fit inside. This is so you can pack it up, like a folding bike, for movement via public transportation, if needed. The bag is also handy for helping organize the load, as you’ll see in a moment. I had seen videos of how to unpack, so it wasn’t a mystery to me.

3. This is the whole thing unpacked and folded. It resembles a specialized two-wheeled dolly, and can be used as one. I’ve seen videos of people who tide to a grocery store and use it as a shopping buggy, using their own shopping bags or tote baskets, etc. It’s not all that tough, but it’s versatile for most things. The load capacity is rated at 60 pounds.

4. This is the trailer properly attached to my Zizzo Forte. In case you weren’t aware, you can see I’ve made some upgrades to the bike itself: better handlebars, a real mirror, and I’ve built a twin bottle rack for the front. The blue bag on the front can be replaced with a backpack that hangs off the handlebars and rests on the front rack. That way I can carry everything I’m likely to need for really long trips.

5. My wife captured me taking it for a test ride. I have a small load on it just to get a feel for it. With not much load, I never even felt much difference. I tried to become aware of the wider track, but other than that, I hardly felt anything at all. It jumped curbs and everything. I’m impressed with how smoothly it pulls, no bumping or jerking. Looking forward to that first camping trip!

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Numerology versus Gematria

Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon. He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived. The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He also caused everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast — that is, his name or his number. This calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the beast’s number, for it is man’s number, and his number is 666. (Revelation 13:11-18 NET)

We’ve seen no end of speculation on what to make of the “666” from this passage. Most people run to the traditions of gematria. From the website My Jewish Learning, we get this definition of gematria:

Gematria is a numerological system by which Hebrew letters correspond to numbers. This system, developed by practitioners of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), derived from Greek influence and became a tool for interpreting biblical texts.

Notice that gematria is not Hebraic, but from the Hellenized Jewish nonsense that brought them the Talmud. It would be familiar to the writers of the New Testament in the same way — as an intellectual practice that is foreign to revelation.

Here’s the main problem: There is no regulating principle for gematria. You can chase it in both directions, reducing letters to numbers, or trying to guess how to make letters come out of the numbers. It’s too easy to monkey around with the results going in either direction because the rules aren’t strict enough to prevent gaming the outcome. How many of us could find a way to make our names in English come out to 666? Most of us.

Notice what the passage in John’s Revelation says: The Beast will rule by making sure everyone bears the ensign/icon of his control. In John’s day, this language refers to operating (the hand) and thinking (the forehead) under allegiance to the Beast. The Hebrew concept of “name” is not at all like it is in English or other western languages. In the Bible, “name” is not a legal identifier, but most often a title or role. God’s “name” represents His authority. To avoid saying His name in vain, Hebrews would refer to ha’shem — literally “the name” to indicate they were talking about Jehovah.

In this sense, a more useful study would be numerology — the symbolism of numbers. The most common example is 7, typically representing something ritually holy (devoted, separated). In the Hebrew language, the phrase “to seven something” means to ritually bind it, to devote it to God. You could be said to “seven yourself” — binding by an oath to God.

While the number 3 is often associated with the Trinity, that’s not where it comes from. It shows up places like Paul’s mention of the “third (level of) Heaven”. The number is structural. It symbolizes how you should expect God to operate, in the sense that, if God did something, it likely will manifest in triples somehow.

You may have seen frequent uses of 40 to represent a time of testing in the sense of preparation. Meanwhile, 3.5 is a time of tribulation under God’s wrath. Note that there are several ways to get to that 3.5 years, counting the days, weeks or months.

The number 12 is “the whole thing”. Any mention of the twelve tribes should be obvious, pointing to the whole nation of Israel in toto. If you see 24 elders in John’s Revelation, it points to the representatives of twelve tribes from two sources, the fullness of Israel and the Gentiles.

In standard numerology, 6 means coming up short of 7. It is the number representing fallen human nature. If you triple 7, it is the structural completion of holiness. To triple 6 means the fullness of what humans can accomplish. Translation grammar for the passage cited above indicates a better rendering of the last verse might be that 666 is the number of mankind as a whole. The Beast will rule as the pinnacle of what man can accomplish outside of the Covenant.

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This Is What Really Matters

On those long bike rides across the American countryside, what will I say to people who start chattering about politics or social issues?

I’m sure it will vary some depending on the context, but if anyone really wants to know, I’ll give them the thesis of the Unseen Realm. The Lord will guide my lips in the situation, but behind it will be the assurance that all politics and social activism is is from the Devil, a distraction from what really matters.

What really matters? Try this:

Look at the lyrics:

Amazing Love
Graham Kendrick

My Lord, what love is this
That pays so dearly
That I, the guilty one
May go free!

Amazing love, O what sacrifice
The Son of God given for me
My debt he pays, and my death he dies
That I might live, that I might live
(Last time only) That I might live!

And so they watched him die
Despised, rejected
But oh, the blood he shed
Flowed for me!

And now, this love of Christ
Shall flow like rivers
Come wash your guilt away
Live again!

I find myself singing it quite often. This is what really matters.

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Admin: Ministry Notes

To answer some questions I’ve had: I’m finally in a position to branch out into another area of ministry. It may sound like a hobby to you, but I’ve long felt led to engage in faith outreach through my cycling. I wanted to do this several years ago and events hindered me; God wasn’t ready for it yet. This year it seems like He has put the package together for me. I’m planning on riding my bike around Oklahoma — bikepacking — ostensibly to promote cycling and bicycle tourism in the state. In the process, you can be sure I’ll mention my faith when there’s an opening.

Part of the issue is that most people in the state don’t think about cyclists touring and camping here. I’m hoping to nudge folks into giving it some thought. That means making a lot of calls to little towns, law enforcement agencies in particular, to ask for help in accommodating camping. Most “camp sites” are for RVs only. Tent or hammock camping is simply not on the menu in most places, and there aren’t all that many in the first place. Yes, public lands are generally open to camping, and just getting through the bureaucratic hassles is challenging enough, but most of them are far enough out that I would need to make at least one overnight stop on the way. My first few targets will be single overnight trips.

I’m currently training up to ride multi-day trips with overnight camping. For now, I’ll be using my Zizzo Forte folding bike. I’m pretty sure it’s up to the task, with the added bonus of drawing more attention. Few people ride folding bikes in Oklahoma, and most people don’t recognize what they are on sight. It increases the likelihood of people asking me about the whole thing. Of course, with the stuff I’ll need to carry to survive, I will be getting a trailer for the bike. The one I feel best fits my bike is the Burley Travoy. If you want to help me pay for this, you can just purchase an Amazon gift card, because Amazon sells this trailer. I won’t be able to do any camping until I get that.

In addition I’m hoping to get a better saddle for the bike (leather is the best and the most expensive) and a decent digital camera. For now, it’s just my cellphone. If you want to see videos, I’ll need something like a GoPro to do any good.

Meanwhile, I’m focused on longer rides, and when weather permits, I’ll be at this 6 days/week. If this works out as I hope, by next fall I plan to start riding into other states. To make this all the more interesting, I’ll be wearing those t-shirts in various colors that say “Bikepacking Oklahoma” on the front, and “Share the Road” on the back (thanks Linda!). I’ll keep my bushy white beard and long curly hair to add some peculiarity, rather like a costume. If this works out at all, I’ll open up a blog for it on Substack. Pray with me, in particular about the hope of changing a few lives.

The email account for all of this is jehurst@gmail.com.

Tracking donations:

$50 from TR
$200 from anonymous
$100 from LC

Trailer has been ordered. The balance and any further donations will go toward a leather saddle and full leather riding gloves.

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Our Mysticism Is Not Like Theirs

I recently reviewed one of the papers Heiser posted on his Naked Bible Podcast site in conjunction with a study in Acts 22 (connected to 2 Corinthians 12): Mysticism [PDF].

Aside from some specific details, it was nothing new to me, and offered nothing different from the substance of what I’ve taught from the beginning. Jewish mysticism generally, and regarding Philo specifically, is just another branch of western mysticism; it bears no resemblance to biblical mysticism.

Western Civilization is inherently man-centered. The western brand of mysticism remains firmly rooted in that. The whole thing hinges on men seeking and achieving something, taking control and conquering by human talents and abilities. It seeks to defy human nature itself and aims at reshaping (“evolving”) humanity according to something dreamed up in human reasoning.

The authors of the paper noted that some of the specifics of Jewish mystical exercises remained oral lore, and were not recorded in the documents that have been found. Nonetheless, those specifics are referred to, and it’s clear that the whole thing hinges on the achievements of the practitioners.

They refer to seven levels in Heaven, whereas Paul mentions three. They talk about having to know what amounts to passwords to move to higher levels, whereas Paul was simply dragged before the Lord. The Jewish version encourages men to achieve a form of man-made holiness in order to begin the process, whereas the biblical narrative makes it clear that a human can enter only when summoned according to God’s purposes.

It’s easy to see how Kabbalism is simply the natural progression of Jewish philosophy; it represents the quintessence of western mysticism looks like. It’s always rooted in reshaping human nature according to reason, seizing an opening into Eternity by essentially destroying human nature, making us less human. This is not possible; it’s a lie from Hell. It tempts us to desire to be like the Nephilim. The whole business of human elevation, no matter who talks about it, always looks like the Nephilim.

The essence of faith is not dissolving the self into divinity. In Christ you do not lose your identity nor your human nature. Rather, you gain divine power over your fallen nature even while that nature continues to be exactly what it has always been. You are still the same person, but set free from subjection to your fallen flesh. It’s the same personality, but as God gave it to you, not the what Satan cultivated in your flesh. You turn it over to show the other side.

Paul was surely aware of Philo’s teachings, since Philo was only a generation older and was very influential in rabbinical traditions. However, every experience Paul had with the Risen Christ was at His behest, not Paul’s. One does not cultivate a desire to visit Heaven in this life; one cultivates a desire to know Jesus in whatever way He chooses to be known. For the majority of us, that is by nailing our fleshly nature to the Cross and exploring our convictions. It’s not an exercise; it’s a commitment, feudal submission to a Person.

This is biblical mysticism. Anything less cannot be called “faith”.

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To the Catacombs

Continuing with yesterday’s theme, let’s stay on track.

The Lord is working out His policies through His Divine Council. The purpose is wrapped up in the debate over His handling of Lucifer’s case. Some elohim rebelled in rather absolute terms — the ones who crossed the boundaries and came to earth to interfere in God’s agenda. They cannot leave this realm; their plans have failed and that failure is working it’s way through time and space. But the bulk of God’s divine staff did not cross that line. They are still on His staff and still doing their jobs within acceptable boundaries. God has made adjustments and is still in control.

He continues to relegate certain tasks to them, knowing in advance how they will perform. This world remains nothing more than a very complex test case. He favors His family in this world, but on terms that naturally flow from His greater purpose in affirming the justice of His decision against the Devil.

Here on our level, everything depends on the Covenant. Since no government on earth is under the Covenant, no government on earth warrants the attention He once gave to Israel. The people of that nation lost everything when they rejected their Messiah. They were handed over to Satan who uses them as his special representatives. God favors His Covenant people, and the only covenant that matters is in His Son. It is not a human government, but a divine government in the hearts of His family.

Satan and the Divine Council are handling our government while God supervises certain aspects of it. They have boundaries. For example, they do not get to control the essential core of natural processes. Natural disasters are handled by God alone. Instead, the rise or fall of most nations is generally in their hands. None of them are covenant governments, so they don’t really matter. There can be no justice outside the Covenant.

My convictions say that America must fall in some sense. It’s part of the broader collapse of Western Civilization, but my calling is to focus on the US. I’m convinced that the Union of States will be broken. It’s not a question of time line and specific steps; my heart sees the general trend. Don’t get lost in the details.

What matters right now is that we should not resist our current ruling regime in terms of broad policy decisions. That’s not under human control; no human efforts can roll it back. Save your resistance for those things that touch on your mission and calling. Saving America is not on the menu. Prepare for the break up; prepare your mind to exploit the situation for the Lord’s glory. The only use we have for paying any attention to analyses of Trump’s motivations is to understand how he works. The same standard applies to all his allies in government.

This is tribulation; wickedness has been unleashed. You should expect oppression to rise all over the system. If you pay attention, you can reasonably predict what kind of oppression we will see. A major focus is arrest, confinement and deportations — currently applied to non-citizens. There has been talk of deporting citizens later, or maybe sending people to Guantanamo. That’s mostly talk, but it indicates how the current regime is thinking and planning.

I seriously doubt the Union will collapse all at once. I believe it will come in steps spread over a few years. The dismantling activity of DOGE is only part of it; the problem is the nature of our how our government system works at a fundamental level. It is pervasive and intrusive in every way. The Union has become a certain kind of Beast, and will die when some essential part of it dies. Everyone alive today has stepped into this system built before they were born, and most of them are wholly incapable of thinking outside that box until the box is gone. There will be lots of surprises and general upheaval. The issue will not be an official recognition of the Union’s collapse, but the selective cutting of controls until the Beast is no more.

Another issue on the horizon is what kind of political backlash will come once the Union is broken. What are the political leanings in your state? The leadership’s instincts will be to build another box right away, just like the federal system unless those leaders have given thought to how they would live without the federal constraints. What regional associations will your state maintain? Pray for wisdom to discern.

I don’t mean to insinuate the Trump is some kind of Antichrist figure. He lacks the earmarks for that. He’s simply a very large figure on the stage, a very important weapon of destruction that will pass from the scene in due time. Who is getting their hooks into the remnants of the system for when he’s gone? You should expect a great plundering to follow, because it’s already begun. Nobody is thinking of the peoples’ best interests, but their own.

The globalist regime was not like the Roman government in the New Testament. Resistance was warranted and wise. The neocon regime we have now is very much like New Testament Rome. Resistance is mostly foolish. This is the time to go underground, as it were.

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Nothing Else Will Work

I’ve been asked to comment on a couple of things.

Christian Mysticism is otherworldly. The source of our motives and decisions are spiritual in nature. We strive to follow Christ in that nothing rooted in humanity sways our course. We do not act on data alone. We filter all data through our convictions. If some input rings a bell with our convictions, then that’s all we need. If any input fails to ring that bell, we push it aside. We don’t deny the data; we say that it doesn’t matter in our mission.

I do not buy into the whole story promoted by Suspicious Observers. I certainly don’t think much of their front-man. He’s not a scientist, but for me, this is not about science. Much of what he says does not ring that bell with me, but some of it does. It’s not about the science or the sales pitch; my concern is how my convictions respond to certain issues their videos raise.

I have a duty to obey my convictions. My convictions say that the magnetic poles are likely to reverse before I die. My duty before God is not so much to preach about the coming catastrophe as it is to prepare myself and my parish for the mission opportunities that will come with that mess. Even if none of the SO predictions come true, what matters is that my convictions demand that I structure my future choices as if some of it was true.

Reality is rather dubious in the first place. This world is not my home; I was made for Eternity. While I’m here, my duty is to stay in submission to my Lord and follow Him by the convictions He burned into my soul. I follow Him in not wasting any effort or resources on changing this world. This world is expendable, a temporary accommodation in which His servants testify of His claims on Creation. The Devil and his allies are liars, and it’s our mission to be the proof of that.

Many of the things my convictions warned me about in the past have come true. Today my convictions say that the final course for this country is now set. There is nothing any mere human — singly or everyone in unison — can do to change that course. It is determined by powers far above humans. There is nothing I can gain by continuing to prophesy, and activism is a fool’s errand.

I’ll still call people to repentance and to the Covenant; I’ll still demonstrate the sacrificial love of Christ who died for us. I’ll still use those methods to call out to the Elect so they can claim their divine heritage. But warning people of bad things coming? It’s too late for that. Tribulation is here and it can’t be rolled back. It must run its course.

And the course I must run is to rely entirely on how I act individually and together with my parish to say all I need to say. To some it will appear that we are turning inward, but that would miss the point. We cannot help people any other way now. We will walk by faith and declare it to each other, but in full view of the world. If that is not enough to draw people, then they will certainly not be drawn by anything else.

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The Task Is Clear

It’s time once again for some clarifications. This is not binding on anyone else; it’s just my peculiar notions about some things.

I’ve often explained that miracles are wired into Creation itself. There are multiple factors involved in accessing them. At the bottom end, the lowest common denominator, is a certain consciousness that addresses Creation from the heart-mind.

The fallen elohim and their Nephilim offspring taught this to humans even before the Flood, and they misused that power for evil ends. That’s the second of the Three Rebellions. The Flood mitigated some of that rebellion, but since neither the elohim nor the Nephilim were allowed to leave this realm of existence and return to Heaven, they stuck around and continued stirring up trouble. The used various means to get the attention of a rather small portion of humanity to teach the Black Arts so that they showed up in places like Pharaoh’s courts. The talents for this kind of stuff are rare.

That stuff was the same power as miracles, but abused for evil ends. You’ll notice that there is no record of great things being accomplished by those powers, just some major deceptions. Anything more substantial is purely fiction (deception). In other words, the power’s use was mostly mischief, and nothing like that global perversion of human existence such as before the Flood. The powers are limited by certain missing factors, boundaries God set in place.

A major missing factor was the lack of a valid covenant with Jehovah. The bigger miracles, like the Ten Plagues, belong to the Covenant. If you don’t enter the Covenant, the power is vastly curtailed. If you do enter the Covenant, you still need to keep the focus on what the Covenant is supposed to accomplish in this world: Revelation.

Our parish talked recently about how Election is also tied to Revelation. This is the key to everything. God has a message to humanity in our fallen state. That message includes a heart-led consciousness. It is something that has been missing from Western Civilization. God did not sponsor the West; Satan did. For all the things you may imagine the West has gained, the whole point has been to keep God’s Elect from rediscovering their divine heritage — including miracles.

Take a look at the progress of things in the New Testament. We had the Twelve Apostles — counting Paul, the true “successor” to Judas’ place — with whom certain divine provisions died. Since John died around 95 AD, there has been no new Scripture, no new revelation that applies to everyone under the Covenant of Christ. That’s because these 12 were not western men, but Hebrew men. Not in terms of their ethnic identity, but they were highly conditioned by their time with Jesus from within a Hebraic worldview.

It’s not that miracles have ceased by any means, but the wide open access those men had is no longer there. I’m not saying it’s not possible; I’m saying it’s not happening. God still does miracles, but there are no humans around today who are so familiar with the territory that they can just raise the dead when it glorifies the Lord. Part of the issue is that we are unable to discern when something like that suits the Lord’s glory.

Prophets today can discern things God is doing here and now, and for a limited audience, but they will not gain a word from God that is binding on other believers. The miracles do not manifest with any consistency. The missing factor is not limits on God’s end, nor in Creation itself, but that we have so far failed to recover what the Twelve had. I’m not sure it’s possible, but more to the point, we simply have not done it.

We don’t raise the dead as consistently as Jesus or the Twelve; we don’t walk on water and we don’t rebuke storms to make them go away. The biblical prophecies about the End Times suggest that these things may return then. We’ll see. But the point should be clear that what the Twelve had disappeared with them. It’s obvious in the writings of those who took up church leadership behind them. The tone and content is not the same. Nor has it been the same at any time and place since then.

The task for us should be clear: to recover as much as possible the Hebraic outlook and the heart-led way of faith. That is the Covenant path, and the way to recover our divine heritage that God promised.

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Remnant Theology 02

Ref: Heiser refers in one podcast to a document: Remnant Theology in Biblical Prophecy [PDF].

We learn that the term “remnant” has both positive and negative connotations in Hebrew depending on the context. The linked article marches through the history of biblical prophecy and how the term was used in various contexts. If nothing else, it’s a very good review of where various prophets fit into the stream of revelation.

Even better, there’s a good look at the Essenes and Qumran Community and their literature. It offers a reference to the Damascus Document (previously called the Zadokite Document) and you can find an outline of it here. The Library of Congress offers a translation of just one fragment here.

There are also various references to the books of the Apocrypha. If you don’t have a hard copy, they are easy to find online. The paper uses some obscure terms:

“lexeme” — a very basic root word in any language’s lexicon, a short word or stem that is part of other words

“topos” — a traditional theme or motif

It’s worth a read.

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Restoration Theology 01

Ref: Heiser’s 3rd Q&A podcast

In the podcast Heiser refers to Restoration Theology in a PDF extracted from the Logos software library that he posted on the website. It’s about 16 pages long, and it is by no means light reading. It requires that you focus and keep track of references in the Bible and in various Second Temple documents.

It is well worth your time if you can handle it. I spent an hour or so plowing through it and making mental notes of things I recognized.

In particular, it has been my contention that the ANE outlook includes an insistence on seeing the world on multiple levels at the same time. There are threads of consideration that must be held in tension in order to find your way through moral issues. If you can grasp that approach, then you should be able to follow this extract. It calls on the reader to understand how Second Temple Judaism was not all one school of thought.

The authors refer to a Deuteronomic school of thought that held Jews must repent in order to restore the nation to its former glory. They explain it rather well, if in a condensed form. You must pay attention as you read it. Then they point out how this is a core element in Pharisaism, and thus part of what Paul was thinking about when he wrote.

And it is quite obvious that Paul wrote on multiple levels. If you cannot keep track of his references, you’ll get lost. It’s downright silly and irresponsible to attempt to squeeze Paul’s writing into a single level of consideration. Especially foolish is viewing it on a literal level.

This extract concludes with opening up a fresh understanding of what Paul seems to be saying about how “all Israel will be saved” in the end. I recommend you read this thing. Keep in mind that there is a repeating block of text on the bottom of each page identifying the source, and it can at times appear to be part of the narrative.

Feel free to ask for clarification, in particular on how we can incorporate this material in our own teaching. Later on I’ll take a look at the second PDF posted on that page.

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