CHAPTER #9

Divinely Empowered Civil Justice, Theme #4 & Theme #5

(i.e. The Kingdom of God)

 

“A Little Leaven”

The foremost means by which the drawing and persevering GRACE of God was ROBBED from its saving purpose (going before and behind men as a saving shield) so that God no longer lifted men up when they fell or led them in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake, but, rather, He led them into the pit of fallenness, destruction, and death: The foremost means of this awful robbery is what the inspired authors of the NT called, “LEAVEN”. My reader, you might wonder how a person could ever depart from God when he did formerly experience saving grace (grace which was effectual to capture the God-hating will of man and make it a slave to righteousness for God’s Name sake). You may wonder how or why the grace of God departed from a man so that, alas, the effectualness of God’s saving grace no longer inspired and persevered the work of salvation which the Lord began! This question and its answer are of such vital importance… are they not?

Oh dear reader, let us take heed! It was written in the New Testament, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6). Notice that the text says, “the whole lump”. By God’s permission, the Sinners were able to undo the safe-haven of salvation known as a New Testament Local Church! This, of course, was not a new phenomenon. This was an ancient tactic used by Satan to destroy the people of God who were too proud to admit their personal and corporate need for Church Purity, and in the Old Testament, for example, this resulted in the downfall of the whole Nation! God have mercy, dear reader, and grant us eyes to see such a vital thread of doctrine which was woven throughout the common and proverbial sense of Israelite society during that time! [Note: When and if Civil Justice was Divinely Empowered to succeed, the nation of Israel was pure, and when and if the Church was pure and holy, it was acceptable and desirable to the KING, but when and if the Church was impure and unholy, it was abominable and repulsive to the KING. Therefore, when and if Church Purity was successfully established and maintained, personal and corporate salvation was persevered through the KING.]

What is the language of “leaven”, proverbially speaking? There is no verse in the Old Testament which did coin the dangers of “spreading evil” in the Church by the term “leaven”, like 1 Corinthians 5:6-13 does in the NT. Nevertheless the principle was preached, pronounced, and rephrased with alarming frequency! – historically, scripturally, metaphorically, and in plain language the principle was expounded. Indeed, so did The Proverbs. When “the lump” and “leaven” are mixed, the whole lump is leavened; and according to 1 Corinthians 5:6-13 this is an inordinate and damnable mixing. Even so, is there any inordinate and damnable mixing warned against and proverbially experienced in the OT Church? The common sense experience of Israel in David and Solomon’s day did draw the line very plainly, enough for Israelite children to understand. In general, the proverbial leavening/spreading effect (the spread-ability of evil) was notoriously identified as “enticements”, “seductions”, “flatteries”, and “lusts” which lead to unlawful “companionships”, “friendships”, and “fellowshipping”. You see, The Proverbs did specify and illustrate actual events where sin and sinners existed in Israel, commanding, for example,

Thieves and Murderers: Speaking of thieves and murderers, it was written, “My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path” (Prov. 1:15). Why should the man, the saint, “walk not” in “the way” with these kinds of men (“wicked persons”-1Cor.5:13)? Speaking affectionately, Solomon said, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not” (Prov. 1:10).

The Adulteress, Harlot, or Strange Woman: Speaking of a Strange Woman, it was written, “Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her House” (Prov. 5:8).

Drunkards, Partiers, and Gluttons: Speaking of partiers and the like, it was written, “Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh” – Prov. 23:19-20

In this way The Book of Proverbs illustrated potential events very relatable to the people and easy to understand. The Proverbs did not command separation from thieves, murderers, strange women, drunkards, and partiers only, but all sinners (all wicked and evil men). Take, for example, Proverbs 4:13-15 as it is illuminated by Psalm 1:1-6. 

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the Law of the LORD; and in his Law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” – Psalm 1:1-6

“Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. AVOID IT, PASS NOT by it, TURN FROM it, and PASS AWAY.” – Prov. 4:13-15

When and if one or more sinners do live and remain uncaught in Israel – long enough to act as a leaven of malice and wickedness among the righteous inhabitants of Israel (the Households, Neighborhoods, Cities, and Provinces of Israel) – the call and command of God was one which beckoned a resistance comparable to spiritual militancy. Such solemn charges like “take hold fast”, “let her not go”, and “keep her”, convey that saving faith can and will be robbed from the man who holds the truth loosely and casually (Prov. 4:13). Sinners, being persons, have a “counsel”, a “way”, a “seat”, and they have a sin-separated enemy called righteous men (“An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in way is abomination to the wicked.”-Prov.29:27). The location of sin and sinners in Israel must be confronted with biblical opposition (like a spiritual military), no casualness about it! “AVOID IT, PASS NOT by it, TURN FROM it, and PASS AWAY”, the inspired Commander warned (Prov. 4:15); and men should only return with the necessary preparations, authorities, and weapons so as to do judgment (“Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.” – Exodus 32:27).

Each and every individual civilian of Israel was forbidden to be with sinners (“neither desire to be with them”-Prov.24:1) because that which was in their hearts and that which flowed from their lips would contaminate and overcome the righteous people (Prov. 24:1-2). Biblical humility decried “friendship” with a sinner, even with an “angry man”, why? If the saint did but “go” with them (or keep company with them), what happened? Will the saint convert the sinner? Will the Christian be a light in the darkness? It was written, “Make no friendship…Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul” (Prov. 22:24-25)! “A companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Prov. 13:20)! The KING’s warning is clearly put, “GO from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceives not in him the lips of knowledge” (Prov. 14:7). To refuse the enticing voice of spiritual adultery is to (Prov. 9:13-18, Jas. 4:4, 1 Jn. 4:5-6), on the other hand, respond to the voice of Lady Wisdom who cried, “Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding” (Prov. 9:6)!

“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be FAR from them.” – Proverbs 22:3-5

Saving faith acts in obedience to the aforementioned scriptures of separation and holiness, for thorns and snares must be foreseen and avoided via a consciousness of the KING’s inescapable judgments! The sinners of foreign nations must be expelled from the coasts of Israel; this we know,[1] but so much the more, also, sinners which were of Israelite nationality! They too were “thorns” and “snares”, persons who must be converted or killed according to OT Church Law! The sinners (scorners) must be discovered, fount-out, and punished… or the Church is doomed (Prov. 20:11, 16, 29:7-8). The backsliders and once-born civilians of Israel would linger and roam about Israel refusing to go to the wise for fear of being reproved, judged, and smitten (“A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise.”-Prov.15:12), therefore the righteous were compelled to pursue and discover them from all their various hiding places.

“SMITE a scorner, and the simple will BEWARE: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge…CEASE, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge. An ungodly witness scorneth JUDGMENT: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity. Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.” – Prov. 19:25-29

All those that did abide in good fellowship with the Church (“The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.”-Prov. 15:31) needed to learn the tactics of Church Purity depicted above. Firstly, there must be a separation of the inordinate mixture (Prov. 14:6-8), secondarily there must be a gathering together of all the wise, and thirdly there must be a searching-out of all the foolish scorners so as to execute judgment upon them. Upon the accomplishment of biblical judgment there would be a revival of the simple who were caught-up in the enticements of iniquity (the fools made wise again!), thus the leavening effect of sin spreading man-to-man, house-to-house, and neighborhood-to-neighborhood was stayed.

You see, my reader, The Proverbs were careful to declare the conclusion of un-caught and un-purged leaven so that every civilian (Church Member) of Israel might reckon with facts of life, peculiar facts, realities which were common sense only within the holy and righteous Nation of Israel, where God was KING.

Proverbs 11:9-14 --- If the wicked were not removed from a city it would be overtaken and overthrown: man-by-man, neighbor-by-neighbor, and City-by-City. Sin would spread neighbor-to-neighbor until it overtook the whole City (“the whole lump”)! Sin would spread from City-to-City until it overtook the whole Province (“the whole lump”)! Sin would spread from Province-to-Province until it overtook the whole Nation (“the whole lump”)! “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6)?

Aye, this awful course! What is the KING of Israel’s heart on the matter? Do you think that un-judged sin or sinners in the Land of Israel were an abomination to God, which is a hateful thing!? Unjudged sin or sinners in every other Nation in the world were hateful to God, indeed, but in Israel, where God was immediately KING via His Special Presence, especially dwelling among a holy people like no other people on earth, sin was all the more distasteful and unbearable! Much more, then, the Proverbs declared what was abominable to God in Israel so that every Israelite would take heed.

Becoming an Abomination to the LORD

God hates the means and persons through which sin spreads!

When The Book of Proverbs stated that some particular sin or sinner was “an abomination to the LORD”, we can be sure that before long the hatred of God will lead such a man into destruction via His deluding powers – powers which did always go before crimes committed and death penalties suffered. Therefore, also, according to the Law, such sin or sinners must be utterly detested (a moral hatred) at all costs lest others are seized by the deception of God and fall therein. [For more information, see “The Deception of God”.]

According to scripture there are abominable men and abominable sin, and the men exist because of the sin (the men: Prov. 11:19-21, 22:14, 16:5, 15:9; the sin: Pro. 21:27, 15:8, 28:9, 6:16-19, 15:26). The abominable men are said to be, “of a froward heart” and “proud in heart”, therefore they are rightly called, “the wicked”, the “abhorred of the LORD” (Prov. 11:20, 16:5, 15:9, 22:14). This hatred of God towards the wicked is to be feared because it is declared to be of greater force than the whole uprising of hateful men joined together in a cause of iniquity (“though hand join in hand” – Prov. 11:21, 16:5). How shall such a conflict of God-against-Sinners end? The hatred of GOD would utterly crush the uprising of abominable men (hence the proverbial promise that they “shall not be unpunished” and “shall fall” - Prov. 11:21, 16:5, 22:14)!

Abominable Men are doomed to suffer the grasp of inescapable judgment decreed by God:

·   “As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death. They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are His delight. Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.” – Proverbs 11:19-21

·   “The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein” - Proverbs 22:14

·   “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.” – Prov. 16:5

·   “The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but He loveth him that followeth after righteousness.” – Prov. 15:9

 

Abominable Sin:

·   “He that justifieth the wicked, and He that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.” – Prov. 17:15

·   “The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?” – Prov. 21:27

·   “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is His delight.” – Prov. 15:8

·   “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” – Prov. 28:9

·   “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” – Proverbs 6:16-19

·   “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD” – Prov. 15:26

As we can see in the citations above, when sin did progress and spread (man-to-man), justice was compromised so that… abominable men and practices abounded in the Land of Israel! When justice was compromised House-to-House, Neighborhood-to-Neighborhood, and City-to-City, this meant that false judgments were being made (Prov. 17:15, Hab. 1:4), impenitent people were offering sacrifices (Prov. 21:27, 15:8), and Law-deafened hearers were ignorantly or presumptuously praying God-rejected prayers (Prov. 28:9)! And now, behold, roaming sinners were corrupting all righteousness: proud looks, lying tongues, violent hands, and false witnesses at judgment stands (Prov. 6:16-19)! Thus did the Prophet Habakkuk lament in his day, “Therefore the Law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous: therefore wrong judgment proceedeth” (Hab. 1:4).

Proverbs 25:4-5, 22:10-12 --- Terrifyingly, un-caught and un-purged sinners would eventually find their way into the King’s Court, crippling the Nation. The very Throne of Israel would be altered from its course of righteousness by the presence of wicked men standing before the King! A little leaven leaveneth the whole Nation, yes, even unto the neck thereof: the Courtroom of the King!

A False balance, or, the sacrifices of the wicked were “an abomination to the LORD” because, immediately, justice was withheld so that a backsliding (sinning) Israelite was not constrained into repentance via the chastisement of Civil Justice (or as a worst case scenario, a profane sinner lived who God Almighty desired to die), but what was of greater importance was the effect that this one sinner had upon the City and Nation. One sinner was a matter of National Security in Israel, because God was their security. An offended God was security compromised! Of a truth, therefore, every Household, City and Province of Israel which fell throughout the ages of time can look back in retrospect and remember when one sinner lived-on having escaped the remedial grasp of Civil Justice. “Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly” (Prov. 17:12).

§  Corruption of Judgment: Prov. 17:15, 20:10, 23, 21:27

§  Household: Prov. 3:33, 12:7, 14:11, 15:25, 14:1, 15:6, 15:27, 17:13, 21:12, 24:3,

§  City: Prov. 1:21, 8:3, 9:3 (Preaching), 11:10-11, 29:8

§  Nation: Prov. 14:34, 2:21, 28:2, 29:4, 14, Eccl. 10:16-17, Psalm 101

§  Court Purity: Prov. 14:35, 16:12-13, 22:10-12, 24:7 25:4-5 [The purity of the King’s Court was necessary because it was the location at which the weightiest of doctrines and most holy articles of knowledge were considered for judgment purposes; therefore this Court needed to be kept with an even higher standard of purity than elsewhere (see Prov. 22:10-12).]

§  One Man: Eccl. 9:18, Prov. 17:12

Hearken, my reader! Considering this awful course well, taking notes! What should an OT Church Member do in the aforementioned situation, where uncaught and unpurged fools were on a rampage of folly in the Land of Israel? What was the first step to take in remedial action? SEPARATION. Firstly, there must be a separation of the inordinate mixture (Prov. 14:6-8), secondarily there must be a gathering together of all the wise (Prov. 13:20), and thirdly there must be a searching-out of all the foolish scorners so as to execute judgment upon them (Prov. 21:11), or else… what? Or else God-sent GRACE to persevere would be replaced by a God-sent DELUSION unto damnation! Sin was contagious! …and therefore God commanded a separation of inordinate mixtures. Friendship, companionship, fellowship, and unrighteous tolerance of a fool would act as a wisdom-robbing disease that corrupts the good manners of the wise (1 Cor. 15:33). Speaking of this, it was written, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Prov. 13:20). If there was no separation then there was no salvation, and if there was no salvation then God-sent GRACE was being replaced by a God-sent delusion, and, thereby, the wise were becoming fools, and justly so - they were in disobedience to the voice of God which commanded Israel to live in holiness.

God’s Fatherly Hand of Grace Leading Souls into Perseverance

OR

The Hand of a Delusion (Warranted by Divine Threatenings) Leading Souls into Destruction

The delusions sent by God were mechanisms which guided once-born or backslidden Israelites into justice because they were not in control, the delusion was. Grace led to salvation or a Delusion led to damnation, and God forbade the mixture of the un-caught deluded with the grace-led righteous. God made sure that the sinners who dwelt within Israelite civilization couldn’t hide because the hand of a delusion would have led them into a circumstance of justice orchestrated by the KING. So common was this activity that, in the Land of Israel (the one and only Divinely Set-Apart Civilization that existed in the world), the people consulted a Manual of common sense for guidance, The Book of Proverbs. Those things which were commonly observable and inevitably commonplace became common sense proverbs: rules and rhymes which never failed!

The Book of Proverbs did, therefore, accurately represent the common-sense experience of every Church Member (Civilian) in the Land of Israel. Within the boundaries of the Promised Land – God was KING! – the proverbial facts do testify to that! In other words, for example, The Book of Proverbs did express God’s promises of life and death, blessing and curse, operations of justice enforced by an Ultimate and Inescapable Police Force, God Almighty. Outside of the Land of Israel, the Church, these promises and proverbs were neither known nor experienced because they were not the Law of the Land.

What does all of this have to do with the New Testament Gentile Church Age dispensation?

Where God Almighty did, of old, reign within the borders of the Promised Land to operate these Divine Laws, the Lord does also, a-new, reign within… what? A Promised Land? No. The Lord does not reign in a certain geographic region of Land located on earth in the New Testament dispensation, albeit He does reign as a KING just as He did in the Old Testament. How? God exercises Lordship as KING of Kings within and among a Promised People, not a Promised Land. The Promised People have become The Promised Land, spiritually and typologically speaking. So, also, just as the Lord’s KINGship was outlined via The Proverbs (the reality of Divine Law lived-out and experienced by the people of God in the Land of Israel), the Lord’s KINGship is typologically relevant in the Gentile Church Age via the New Covenant.

Where OT Divine Law warned of a swift and inescapable judgment performed by God Almighty, the KING of Israel, upon specified sins and sinners (once-born men or backslidden saints), the NT reflects a parallel or comparable judgment. For example, when and if a right-standing saint of Israel (a wise man) was walking in companionship with a fool in disobedience to the voice of God (which commanded separation), the wisdom of the right-standing saint would be turned into foolishness, grace into delusion, and the language of these judgments can be detected in parallel or comparable Divine Acts in the OT and NT. No matter what specified “sin” is actually spreading because of the inordinate mixture of saint-and-sinner, no matter what language is used to describe, what outfit of wisdom is being turned into the garments of foolishness because of the unlawful mixture, the turning of wisdom-to-foolishness is communicable through a variety of biblical terms.

One among the great variety of biblical terms is, for example,

#1)   Because of the mixture of the wise and foolish, thereby the diligent were made slothful (the awake were put to sleep).

Where the KING would curse individual Israelites in the OT so as to reduce them into physical poverty because of the sin of slothfulness via “a little sleep” (Prov. 6:1-11, 24:33-34; Note: prosperity was a mark of God’s blessing in the OT – Deut. 8:17-18, Prov. 10:22), the NT judgment of the KING is comparable but not parallel. The judgment of God is not and cannot be exactly parallel because in the New Covenant, God’s blessings often result in physical poverty (Lk. 6:20, 1 Cor. 1:26-29, 4:11-12, 2 Cor. 6:10, 8:2, 9, Jas. 1:9-10, 2:5, Rev. 2:9, Lk. 14:16-24). Even though the judgment is not parallel it is still comparable, for the KING of the NT does curse men into the reduction of “spiritual poverty” because of the sin of slothfulness via “spiritual sleep” (spiritual poverty: Rev. 3:17, Lk. 12:21, 1 Tim. 6:18, Eph. 1:18, Matt. 6:21-23; spiritual sleep: Rev. 3:3, Lk. 21:36, Eph. 5:14, Matt. 25:1-13, Rom. 11:8, Isa. 29:10, 1 Thess. 5:6-7, Rom. 13:11, Lk. 22:46, 1 Pet. 4:7, Col. 4:2, 1 Cor. 16:13, Lk. 12:38, Mk. 14:38; slothfulness: Matt. 25:26, Heb. 6:11-12, 11:6, 12:15, 2 Pet. 1:10). Don’t be mistaken, my reader: “spiritual poverty” and “spiritual sleep” did exist in the Old Testament (Prov. 13:7, 8:10-11, Deut. 8:12-14, Isa. 29:9-10, Ps. 69:23, Mic. 3:6, Isa. 44:18, Ezek. 14:9) as two of many weapons in the arsenal of Divine Curse, and these two judgments are obviously transferable into NT scenarios; albeit let us take note how that physical poverty was not transferable. What is spiritual darkness? What is spiritual sleep?

Those in spiritual darkness are in spiritual sleep, because of the darkness. In short, these states are delusions sent by God. A delusion-free Israelite (a right-standing and spiritually awake Israelite) did hear the voice and teachings of “understanding” and “knowledge” because they are “plain” and “right” to him, God giving the man grace (Prov. 8:9). Because of this blessing of Divine Providence, the knowledge of God was “easy” to hear, understand, and retain (Prov. 14:6). Albeit for a scorner, “A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not” (Prov. 14:6). Why can’t the scorner find wisdom, even though he seeks after it? Because of Divine Curse, the scorner is locked-up in the blackness and darkness of “deceit” (Prov. 14:8). You see, God gives light or sends darkness, God reveals the truth or shrouds it in mystery. “I the LORD have deceived that prophet”, the LORD pronounced (Ezek. 14:9). And to all the bystanders He did say, furthermore, “To the Law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa. 8:20). The providence or plague of truth or deceit, light or darkness, these were not mere coincidences that befell the masses, no! This was God-to-man justice in the Land of Israel, as the psalmist reiterated in Psalm 125:4-5 & Psalm 18:25-26. Very specifically, God used deceptions as mechanisms (Ezek. 14:9) to guide and lead-forth every once-born or backslidden Israelite into the fate of justice’s determination – because to live in the Land of Israel, one did abide within the arena of the KING’s Dominion (The Church), the place where God’s will was done on earth. This is why The Proverbs spoke of backsliders (“who leave the paths of uprightness”) as individuals who were blinded by spiritual “darkness” (Prov. 2:13), but those who were in right-standing with God in the Church, on the contrary, were abiding within the rays of an ever-growing spiritual light! “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble” (Prov. 4:18-19). Without a mistake, therefore, the harlot seized her prey (the deceived and soon-to-be adulterer) in the black and dark night (Prov. 7:9)!

The above information is introductory, to say the least. For more information regarding the operable curses in Old Testament and New Testament parallelism and comparableness, please see “The New Testament Curses of God”, “Spiritual Famine or Spiritual Desertification”, Spiritual Darkness (chapter 16, section 2), Spiritual Drunkenness (chapter 16, section 4), NT Darkness to Light: The Gospel of Regeneration (chapter 17, section 3), A Biblical Study of Spiritual Infancy (chapter 17).