I. a taborer,
a timbrel-player, a term of reproach for a soft,
effeminate person (alluding to the priests of Cybele), Plaut. Truc. 2, 7, 49;
cf. tympanum.
First.Samuel.Eight.Set.a.King.Over.Us.html
Theologians under Candace McQueen President of Lipscomb University. Jacob-cursed and God-abandoned Levites whose job was instrumental soothsaying or sorcery. Spiritual Formation or Lection-Divina based on Mass Murderer Ignatius of Loyola. All forms or induced KOMA, sorcery, witchcraft, based on an object as idol claiming that it will reveal GOD'S SPIRIT which, theologians insist, neither Father nor Son were capable of revealing.
Isaiah.3.Women.and.Children.Rule.Over.Them.html
Jo Bass the mother of them all
John.T.Willis.and.Jo.Bass.The.Holy.Spirit.html
Carol Wimber and the FULLER STORY at a place near you
Jeanene.P.Reese.Theology.of.Women.Teachers.html
Rhonda.Lowry.Gary.Holloway.John.Mark.Hicks.Lectio.Divina.html
Sara.Barton.The.Song.of.Solomon.html
Laura Buffington SEX and SALVATION: the Song of Solomon or the Hieros Gamos
FULFILLING THE ORIGINAL GODDESS WORSHIP
http://www.pineycom.com/Courtship.of.Inanna.and.Dumuzi.html
Isaiah.3.Women.and.Children.Rule.Over.Them.html
And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear. Neh 9:29Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. Neh 9:30
Neh 9:31 Nevertheless for thy great mercies sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God..
See views of later Jews who also misread their History
Coffman's Commentary Speaks for the total Bible view that Israel's rejection of God as King, Judge and Priest set the stage for their later repudiation of Jesus Christ in order to keep the evil Temple-System like all other nations. Remember that the clergy was still seeking a king "like the nations" and had not a hint of looking for a Spiritual King, Prince and Mediator:
The great Cambridge scholar, Henry McKeating, has the following comment on this passage from Hosea:
"Hosea is not only antagonistic to the northern kings but to the monarchy as such. The monarchy is powerless to save the nation. Israel was wrong to ask for a king. Her punishment was that she got what she asked." 7: Henry McKeating, Amos, Hosea, and Micah (Cambridge: University Press, 1971), p. 148.
Coffman: "We are aware that it is popular among many able commentators today to make apologies for Israel's monarchy and to apply what the Scriptures plainly say about it to some specific monarch, Saul, for example, as did Dummelow, or to the kings of Northern Israel as did Hailey;
but it is the conviction of this writer that
Israel was totally and completely wrong in asking a king and that this rejection of God (that is what the text calls it) contained embryonically all of the later sorrows of the Chosen People.Throughout the whole history of Israel, there were very few monarchs who even tried to serve the Lord. Solomon was to be blamed for the division of the kingdom under his son, because the people simply rejected the excesses of Solomon; and yet, even after God took the monarchy away from them, the nation wanted nothing in heaven or on earth as much as they wanted the restoration of that scandalous Solomonic empire.
It was this, more than anything else, that motivated their rejection of God Himself,
finally and irrevocably,
in their rejection of God's Son, Jesus Christ the Holy One.Go down the list of Israel's kings, David, the very best of all of them, was an adulterer and a murderer; and he also corrupted the worship of God by two sinful things:
(1) his initiating the events that led to the building of the temple (the den of thieves and robbers in Jesus' times); and
(2) his introduction of instruments of music into the worship of God. We do not have the space here to outline all of the misdeeds of Israel's shameful monarchy,
but it is clear enough that God's disapproval of the monarchy was no late thing, applicable only to the phantom kings of Ephraim's final years, but it rested upon the monarchy from the very beginning of it as outlined in this chapter.
If God had ever approved of it, He would never have taken it away from them!
Nevertheless, God accommodated to the sinful conduct of His people and in many specific instances blessed the kings of Israel,
"The Israelite state was not founded with divine blessing. Rather, it was allowed as a grudging concession, just as a parent lets a child have his way in order that he may learn his folly from experience." (Anderson, Bernard, Theology of the O.T. p. 163).
"In one sense the creation of the monarchy was providential...In retrospect, one can say that events which brought about the collapse of the Confederacy and the rise of the Israelite state were not...devoid of divine purpose. God's revelation is relevant to the whole of human life--to economics, politics, and every sphere of human activity.
If God would speak to the nations through Israel,
then Israel must undergo the experience of being a nation in order that she might appreciate the wealth of nationhood and attack the idolatrous power of nationalism." (Bernard Anderson, p. 163)This is why Jesus spoke to them in parables: to hide the eternal truths from the "foundation of the world" from the Like the Nation's Jews. Jesus absolutely wanted to PREVENT the God rejecters from hearing any truth. Isaiah 48 makes it clear that peddling the Word causes God to hide the truth from them. This is to mock or make buffoons of them.
It is not uncommon to insist on THE DOCTRINES OF MEN even when the IMMEDIATE CONTEXT and the entirety of the Bible parallel accounts and early church scholarship makes truth clear even to a schoolboy who can read.
When God rescued the evil Israelites from Egypt He gave them THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT which was a restatement of of the Covenant made with Abraham.
The Israelites rose up to play in musical idolatry and the original tablets were broken and never restated in their original form. God gave them the tribe of Levi to stand between the people and the new worship of the STARRY HOSTS.
The end of the Law up an end to the "doctors of the Law" who according to Jesus "take away the key to knowledge."
Knowing that they would never repent, God still tried to protect them from their own folly:
Without violating the covenant of Grace through musical idolatry there would have been no Law of Moses, no mediating priests and Levites and no judges. The vocational elders of the tribes would have taught and judged the people.
Therefore, prescribing for the priests, Levites, judges and kings does not mean that God wanted them. After all, God's righteousness would have left the whole pack to destroy themselves in Egyptian slavery.
And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment: Deut 17:9
When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Deut17:14
Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. Deut 17:15
Signs to Watch For:
But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you,
Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Deut 17:16
Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. Deut 17:17
And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: Deut 17:18
And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: Deut 17:19
That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel. Deut 17:20
By this definition the elders would know that they COULD NEVER find such a king and therefore be warned not to try.
Still later when the Elders FIRED God and insisted on a king LIKE THE NATIONS it was the final break up of the patriarchal system which would not rise again until Christ came.
THE ORIGIN OF THE ISRAEL AS A PAGAN NATION
By this definition the elders would know that they COULD NEVER find such a king and therefore be warned not to try.
The resulting NATIONAL KINGDOM has been called Israel's failed experiment with the "idolatry of nationhood." To be a nation LIKE THE NATIONS they would need a king like the nations. Of course, God knew that the motive was to be able to worship like the nations.
AND it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. 1 Samuel 8:1
Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. 1 Samuel 8:2
And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. 1 Samuel 8:3
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 1 Samuel 8:4When modern elders force themselves into the "office" without the ability or even character to be elders, they are forced to 'set a king over us' and then control the preacher to do their bidding. However, when you invite the "ploughing oxen" into the house to be surrogate father and husband John Calvin would say that he becomes your ruler and "a lazy ass."
And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 1 Samuel 8:5
But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. 1 Samuel 8:6
6. But the thing was evil in the eyes of Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
Why was this such a crushing choice to Samuel? Why should he know better than the elders that this was an evil departing from under the hand of God? First, a secular king with all of the pomp sucking up all of the money would replace Samuel as the Judge- prophet.
This was the rise of another pagan Temple-State as an idol. This was the rise of the Cainites or Kenites and Nimrod in Babylon who agreed to vanquish the older 'gods' in return for becoming The Supreme god.
God raised up temporary judges for special occasions. However, they had no standing army and not temple or trappings of nationhood.
Furthermore,
Samuel understood that the apostasy into NATIONHOOD was the final straw that the nation had rejected the patience of God when He sentenced them to captivity and death because of their musical idolatry which was just LIKE THE NATIONS but specifically like the worship of the Egyptian:
Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God. De.8:20
Hebrew gowry (h1471) means the heathen or Gentiles: a flight of locusts.
For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. Exod 33:16
The nation of Israel and the church of Christ are not "to become as much like he world as possible to attract the world." Israel was not to be counted as JUST ANOTHER nation:
For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Exod 23:9
And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 1 Samuel 8:7
THE MUSICAL SIGNS OF UTTER REJECTION:
After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: 1S.10:5
THE MARK OF THE MUSIC
"The trained musicians which eventually appear around the time of David and Solomon mark a distinctive change in the history of Jewish music. Before this time much of the music was made by women." (Zondervan Pict., Music p. 313).
"Before the establishment of the kingdom under Saul, it was the women who, as in every young civilization, played a major part in the performance of music. Such figures as Miriam, Deborah, Jephtha's daughter, and the women hailing the young hero David have become almost archetypes of female musicians. Characteristic of all these cases is the familiar picture of a female chorus, dancing and singing, accompanied by frenzied drum-beating. This is the scene known to the entire Near East, and not even the severe rule of Islam could wholly suppress this age-old practice." (Int Dict of the Bible, Music, p. 457).
"Women and girls from the different ranks of society were proud to enter the service of the gods as singers and musicians. The understanding of this service was universal: these singers constituted the 'harem of the gods'." "The Catholic Johannes Quasten in Pagan and Christian Music tells it like it is)
THE TABRET OR CYMBAL
-tympănŏtrĭba , ae, m., = tumpanotribēs, drummer, esp. used of the Galli in the worship of Cybele, in Lat. form tympanotriba, Plaut.Truc.611.
-T. Maccius Plautus, Truculentus, or The Churl
STRATOPHANES (to PHRONESIUM.) What say you? Why have you dared to say that you love another man?
PHRONESIUM I chose to.
STRATOPHANES Say you so, indeed? I'll first make trial of that. Do you, for the sake of such a shabby present, vegetables, and comestibles, and vinegar-water, bestow your love upon an effeminate, frizzle-pated, dark-haunt frequenting, drum-drubbing debauchee, a fellow not worth a nutshell:6 Is he deranged: "Hariolus." Literally, "a soothsayer," or "diviner." In their prophetic frenzy, these persons often had the appearance of being mad, and were so considered.
7 Drum-drubbing debauchee: "Typanotriba." Literally, "drum," or "tambourine beater." He alludes to the eunuch-priests of Cybele, who used to beat tambourines in her procession-probably in allusion to debauchees, emasculated by riot and dissipationOR SISTRUM:
-Sistrum, a metallic rattle which was used by the Egyptians in celebrating the rites of -Isis, and in other lascivious festivals,.Ov. Am. 2, 13, 11 By the Jews, Vulg. 1 Reg. [Samuel] 18, 6 .--Hence sarcastically, as if used for a war - trumpet by the wanton Cleopatra -Verg. A.8.696 -Luc. 10.63
WHAT IS PROPHESYING?
5012. naba, naw-baw´; a primitive root; to prophesy, i.e. speak (or sing) by inspiration (in prediction or simple discourse):—prophesy(-ing), make self a prophet.
"This is the first mention in the OT of a band of prophets. These were men who went about in companies and were able by means of music and dancing to work themselves up into a convulsive and ecstatic frenzy (2 Ki. 3:1-10).
Their abnormality was believed to be caused by the invasive influence of the spirit of god.
The word prophesied here does not mean either foretelling the future or preaching after the manner of the later prophets, but engaging in the ritual dance of the prophetic guild (19:18-24). Their behavior was commonly regarded as a form of madness (2 Ki. 9:11; Jer. 29:26)" (The Int. Bible Ency., I Sam. p. 932).
"The Hithpa'el of nb', in the ancient texts, refers to ecstasy and delirium rather than to the emission of a 'prophecy'." (de Vaux, Roland, The Bible and the Ancient Near East, p. 243 Doubleday
"Maniac inspirations, the violent possession which threw sibyls and priestesses into contortions--the foaming lip and streaming hair and glazed or glaring eyes-- have no place in the self-controlling dignity of Christian inspiration. Even Jewish prophets, in the paroxysm of emotion, might lie naked on the ground and rave (1 Sam. xix. 24); but the genuine inspiration in Christian ages never obliterates the self-consciousness or overpowers the reason. It abhors the hysteria and stimulation and frenzy which have sometimes disgraced revivalism and filled lunatic asylums." (Pulpit Commentary, 1 Cor., p. 460).
And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned [PERVERTED] into another man. 1 Sam 10:6
muto penis
muto punish, fine, mulct
muto to change, alter, exchange
Verb present active mūtō, present infinitive mūtāre, perfect active mūtāvī, supine mūtātum.
Thus Saul met a band of prophets who were "prophesying" as they came down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and Iyre (v. 5). At that moment, the ruah 'elohlm "rushed" (tislah) upon him, and he "prophesied among them" (v. 10). The words "prophesying" and "prophesied" in this passage are either Hitpael or Niphal (v. 1]) forms of nb' which obviously mean neither foretelling nor forthtelling. The unusual sight of an aristocrat like Saul "prophesying" was surprising to those who observed it, evoking questions like "What has happened to the son of Qish? Is Saul also among the ecstatics [nebi'~m] ?" "Who is their [the ecstatics'] father?"
It is noteworthy here that the people "saw" something unusual in the behavior of Saul. This should be contrasted with the reaction of the crowd described in Acts 2, whose amazement is four times traced to what they heard from the 120 (cf. vv. 6, 8, 11).
1 Sam. 19:18-24 This passage contains an alternate aetiological explanation of the saying, "Is Saul also among the ecstatics?" In his efforts to find and kill David, Saul three times sent messengers to Nayot, a city in the territory of Ephraim to which David had fled and where he had joined Samuel and the hebel nebi'im. Several things indicate the midrashic character of 66 this passage. First, it is unlikely that David would have fled north in a time of trouble instead of south to the region where his family lived. Second, Samuel is nowhere connected with the ecstatics except in this story; and indeed, in both the early and the late Samuel Sources, Sam uel is specifically distinguished from the ecstatic bands. Third, while the late source has Saul and Samuel never seeing each other following their Gilgal dispute (1 Sam. 15:35), this passage has Saul "prophesying in the presence of Samuel" (v. 24). Four, "the surprise at Saul's frenzy, which is expressed in the proverb, was in place at the beginning of his public career, when his psychological abnormality was unknown, but is quite out of place at this stage, when his character must have been well known."
In short, the value of this passage lies in the information which it contains about prophetic ecstasy as a group phenomenon, not as a source of historical information about Samuel, Saul, and David. One fact is clear. The contagion of group ecstasy lures one, two, yea, three envoys from Saul into the frenzy of "prophecy"! Finally, even the king himself, anxious to capture his most hated foe, is caught up by "the Spirit of God" and "prophesies." This "prophesying" was done in a group, all members of which had stripped themselves naked in the process,45 and the entire experience so overwhelms Saul that he lies naked for 24 hours (v. 24). If this passage accurately reflects operating procedure for an ecstatic group,45 nudity and frenzy were an integral part of "prophesying." Here again, one should note the interchange of Hitpael and Niphal forms of nb', as well as the fact that neither characteristic of classical prophesy, foretelling or forthtelling, is attested. Introduction: A Working Definition of Ecstasy
1 Sam 10:9 And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.
312. acher, akh-air´; from 309; properly, hinder; generally, next, other, etc.:--(an-)other man, following, next, strange.After the MARKS were performed Samuel called everyone together to explain the "musical prophesying."
309. achar, aw-khar´; a primitive root; to loiter (i.e. be behind); by implication to procrastinate:--continue, defer, delay, hinder, be late (slack), stay (there), tarry (longer).
1 Sam 10:19 And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your thousands.
The people and the kings were still bound by the Laws of god even as they were enslaved by the Monarchy. However, there was another precursor to what the kings would to to their food supply.
1Sa 12:16 Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.
1Sa 12:17 Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.
1Sa 12:18 So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
All that follows in the Monarchy is God "turning them over to worship the starry hosts" Acts 7 etc.
Hos 8:1 Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD,
because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
Hos 8:2 Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
Hos 8:3 Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.
Hos 8:4 They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not:
of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
Hos 8:5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them:
how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
Hos 8:6 For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; t
herefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
Hos 8:14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples;
and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities:
but I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour the palaces thereof.Was this just a request for a MILITARY COMMANDER which ultimately resulted it old spiritual David being chosen to be king? No. The ELDERS had repudiated God's Rule God warned in Ezekiel that they would not get away with it. Therefore, because the musical idolatry at Mount Sinai was the "because of transgression" which brought on the Law, and rejecting God simply allowed Him to carry out His sentence to CARRY THEM BEYOND BABYLON.
Confirmation from 2 Samuel Chapter Eight
The CONTEXT always proves the point of the Spirit's revelation. Truth is not MADE VISIBLE to those who reject the Word of God because Christ speaks to them in CODED LANGUAGE (Matthew 13). To wit, denying the inspiration of Ezekiel's parallel account is PROOF that the KEY to knowledge has been taken away.Only TURNING TO CHRIST opens the eyes (2 Cor. 3)
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day,
wherewith they have forsaken me,
and served other gods,
so do they also unto thee. 1 Samuel 8:8Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. 1 Samuel 8:9
"Like most of the aspects of Israel's religion, the institution of the priesthood suffered injury as a result of the conquest of Canaan. The Levites did not retain possession of most of their allocated cities and were forced to wander about the country (Judg. 17:7; 19:1; I Sam. 1:1). More serious was the theological impact of Canaanitish religious practices Even faithful Gideon came to feel no qualms about assuming to himself certain of the priestly functions; for he made an ephod, the priests' surplice that was decked with gold (Exod. 28:6-15), and employed it for a worship which was contrary to the law (Judg. 8:24-27). Eli's sons became so corrupt (I Sam. 2:12) that the line of Eli, which seems to have been that of Aaron's fourth son Ithamar, was cursed of God (vv. 30-36). Saul then slaughtered both the priests (I Sam. 22:18) and the temple slaves (II Sam. 21:1)." (Theology Of the OT, p. 375).When God turned Saul intro another man we can hardly think that this was a spiritual transformation. Rather, the timid farm boy was led to be a tyrant who disobeyed God and built an altar to his own glory.
Prophets were a common phenomenon in Syria-Palestine. In an Egyptian text (11th century BC), Wen-Amon (a temple official at Karnak) was sent by the pharaoh to Gebal (Byblos) to procure timber. While there, a young noble of that city was seized by his god and in frenzy gave a message to the king of Gebal that the request of Wen-Amon should be honoured. In another instance, an Aramaic inscription from Syria records that the god Baal-shemain told King Zakir (8th century BC) through seers and diviners that he would save the king from his enemies. These chapters reveal the close connection between sacrificial rites and divine inspiration. In the Old Testament book of Numbers, chapters 22-24, the Mesopotamian prophet Balaam (who may have been a mahhu) from Pethor, whom the Moabite king Balak had asked to curse the invading Israelites, is mentioned. In chapter 27, verse 9, of Jeremiah, another Old Testament book, it is said that prophets, diviners, and soothsayers were in the neighbouring countries of Judah: in Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. Since so little is known about these prophets, the question of the uniqueness of Hebrew prophecy is difficult to assess (see also Middle Eastern religion).
God would not CONVERT him into a spiritual person based on what the kings would do:And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. 1 Samuel 8:10
And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 1 Samuel 8:11
And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 1 Samuel 8:12
God didn't depend on chariots. In the NATIONS, the king rode in a rich chariot and the young men and women ran before the chariot and played musical instruments. They erected this Sun Chariot in Jerusalem.
And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 1 Samuel 8:13
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 1 Samuel 8:14
And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards,
and give to his officers, and to his servants. 1 Samuel 8:15
Grievous is:
Barus (g926) bar-ooce'; from the same as 922; weighty, i.e. (fig.) burdensome, grave: - grievous, heavy, weightier.
Mt.23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on mens shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
1Jn.5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Baros (g922) bar'-os; prob. from the same as 939 (through the notion of going down; comp. 899); weight; in the N.T. only fig. a load, abundance, authority: - burden (-some), weight.
Ga.6:2 Bear ye one anothers burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Josephus 2:[271] NOW it was that Festus succeeded Felix as procurator, and made it his business to correct those that made disturbances in the country. So he caught the greatest part of the robbers, and destroyed a great many of them. But then Albinus, who succeeded Festus, did not execute his office as the other had done; nor was there any sort of wickedness that could be named but he had a hand in it.
Accordingly, he did not only, in his political capacity, steal and plunder every one's substance,
nor did he only burden the whole nation with taxes,
but he permitted the relations of such as were in prison for robbery, and had been laid there, either by the senate of every city, or by the former procurators, to redeem them for money; and no body remained in the prisons as a malefactor but he who gave him nothing.
And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 1 Samuel 8:16
He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 1 Samuel 8:17
Human kings take, take, take, take, take and GIVE to his friends. And YOU are not going to like it.
And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you;
and the Lord will not hear you in that day. 1 Samuel 8:18
This proves that the king was more than a military commander who could use his charism to call up an army. The full implications go further: He will make you into a SLAVE NATION just like all other NATIONS where the god's agents lived in the temple.
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 1 Samuel 8:19
First: That we also may be like all the nations;
and that our king may judge us,
Second: and go out before us,
and fight our battles. 1 Samuel 8:20The opinion of the Spirit of Christ through the prophets.
And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear. Neh 9:29
Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. Neh 9:30
Neh 9:31 Nevertheless for thy great mercies sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.
Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly: Neh 9:33
Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them. Neh 9:34
For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works. Neh 9:35
Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: Neh 9:36
And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. Neh 9:37
Tebuwah (h8393) teb-oo-aw'; from 935; income, i. e. produce (lit. or fig.): - fruit, gain, increase, revenue.
They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the Lord. Je.12:13
As the judges were also the spiritual leaders before the prophets, the demand for a king was a demand for a religious leader. All like the nation's king was the designated agent of the gods. But to be both virtual priest and king was to usurp the future office of the SPIRITUAL king. Because his kingship was FULL TIME, his JUDGING would be full time. This would destroy the patriarchal (congregational) government where the senior males ruled and turn it over to a seculat temple state.
Zechariah pictures Jesus as both priest and king on ONE throne and their will be peace between them BOTH.
And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. 1 Samuel 8:21
And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city. 1 Samuel 8:22
In Chapter Ten, Samuel gives some more details about the TRUE motives of the people.
And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: 1 Sam 10:18
And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him,
Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your thousands. 1 Sam 10:19
Confirmation from Psalm 106
They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: Psa 106:32
Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. Psa 106:33
They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them: Psa 106:34But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. Psa 106:35
And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Psa 106:36
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, Psa 106:37And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Psa 106:38
Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Psa 106:39
Confirmation from Ezekiel 20:
Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. Ezek 20:27
For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them,then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings. Ezek 20: 28
Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day. Ezek 20: 29
Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations? Ezek 20: 30
For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you. Ezek 20: 31
And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone. Ezek 20: 32
And what comes into your mind will not come about, when you say: 'We will be like the nations, like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone.' Ezek 20:32NAS
As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: Ezek 20:33
Coffman Notes: WICKED ISRAEL'S PREFERENCE FOR PAGAN SHRINES
"Despite the fact of God's having set up his holy altar at a specific location and having given the most solemn prohibitions against worshipping or sacrificing elsewhere, and in spite of God's having forbidden the Jews to honor or retain any of the pagan shrines and altars in Palestine, they nevertheless spared all the pagan shrines, and installed others.
"Note the fourfold repetition of the word "there" in Ezek. 20:28. It was especially an affront to the God of Israel that his people would patronize and even prefer to worship at such high places, rather than at God's true altar. Of course, it was the licentious worship of the pagans which they at once adopted and included along with God's worship that was the great attraction for Israel. Blasphemy against God? Of course; it was blasphemy of the worst kind, because it connected the holy name of the Lord Jehovah with all the immorality and debaucheries of paganism.
Bama
(Ezekiel 20:29). This is a Hebrew word meaning `High-Place.' The tops of high hills were used by the pagans for their idolatrous worship; and in response to that, Moses prohibited the use of them even for the worship of God.
Of course, this happened both in the north and in Jerusalem.
Confirmation from Hosea 8:
SET the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. Hos 8:1Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. Hos 8: 2
Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. Hos 8: 3
They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. Hos 8: 4
Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? Hos 8: 5
Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. Hos 8: 11
I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing. Hos 8: 12
Zuwr (h2114) zoor; a prim. root; to turn aside (espec. for lodging); hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane; spec. (act. part.) to commit adultery: - (come from) another (man. place), fanner, go away, (e-) strange (-r, thing, woman).
They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the Lord accepteth them not;
now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. Hos 8: 13
For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. Hos 8: 14
The Lord Gave them a King in His Anger. Whey they PRAYED FOR the right to worship the STARRY HOST at Mount Sinai, God turned them over to worship the Starry Host or Astrial deities including the sun, moon and planets or Wandering Stars. When they asked for a king it was to repudiate the Theocratic rule but God answered their prayer but not before warning them that this was a TERMINAL SIN. Whatever man says, God said:
for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign (be King) over them. 1 Samuel 8:7
See the History of Musical Idolatry in Egypt.
See the Musical Idolatry at Mount Sinai
See Biblical and Scholarly Confirmations
Confirmation from Hosea 13
Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me. Hos 13:4 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. Hos 13:5
According to their pasture, so were they filled;they were filled, and their heart was exalted;
therefore have they forgotten me. Hos 13:6Exalted is a translation of the Hebrew word:
Ruwm (h7311) room; a prim. root; to be high act. to rise or raise (in various applications, lit. or fig.): - bring up, exalt (self), extol, give, go up, haughty; heave (up), (be, lift up on, make on, set up on, too) high (-er, one), hold up, levy, lift (-er) up, (be) lofty, (* a-) loud, mount up, offer (up), / presumptuously, (be) promote (-ion), proud, set up, tall (-er), take (away, off, up), breed worms.
It is adequate "scholarship" to note that the KJV does not use this word in a positive or spiritual sense.
God answers prayer:
Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. Psa 106:12
They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: Psa 106:13Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: Hos 13:7
But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. Psa 106:14And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul. Psa 106:15
I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them. Hos 13:8O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. Hos 13:9
Hosea speaks of the same idolatry practiced in Amos 5 and 6.
I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? Hos 13:10
A prince is:
Sar (h8269) sar; from 8323; a head person (of any rank or class): - captain (that had rule), chief (captain), general, governor, keeper, lord, ([-task-]) master, prince (-ipal), ruler, steward.
The PRINCES were as much a repudiation of God's Will as the Kings. As God prophesied that the kings would force the youth to be warrior musicians and make instrumental music, David's act for the future of the temple- state was:
MOREOVER David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was: 1Chr.25:1KJV
Asaph is from: Acaph (h622) aw-saf'; a prim. root; which is translated to mean: to gather for any purpose; hence to receive, take away, i. e. remove (destroy, leave behind, put up, restore, etc.): - assemble, bring, consume, destroy, fetch, gather (in, together, up again), * generally, get (him), lose, put all together, receive, recover [another from leprosy], (be) rereward, * surely, take (away, into, up), * utterly, withdraw.
Or Moreover, David (king) and the commanders of the army set apart for the service some of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with lyres, harps, and cymbals; and the number of those who performed their service was: 1Chr 25:1NIV
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. Eze.22:27
The SERVICE was not spiritual worship:
Abodah (h5656) ab-o-daw'; or abowdah ab-o-daw'; from 5647; work of any kind: - act, bondage, / bondservant, effect, labour, ministering (-try), office, service (-ile, -itude), tillage, use, work, * wrought
Abodah (h5647) aw-bad'; a prim. root; to work (in any sense); by impl. to serve, till, (caus.) enslave, etc.: - * be, keep in bondage, be bondmen, bond-service, compel, do, dress, ear, execute, / husbandman, keep, labour (-ing man), bring to pass, (cause to, make to) serve (-ing, self), (be, become) servant (-s), do (use) service, till (-er), transgress [from margin], (set a) work, be wrought, worshipper.
If God gave them kings in His Anger then He gave them PRINCES in His anger. Israel in the north was the most devoted to Sabeanism or planetary worship (Amos 5, 6) but Judah was right behind them.
These men were not PRIESTLY singers but "prophesied" for the king of the new nation.
These MUSICAL LEVITES were experienced in PROPHESYING which was singing, playing instruments and arousing a charismatic experience. This had the effect of "melting the heart" of the enemy.
From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nathan and Asarelah.
The sons of Asaph were under the supervision of Asaph,
who prophesied under the king's supervision." 1 Chr 25:2
All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD,with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were
under the supervision of the king." 1 Chr 25:6NIV
Where was the House of the Lord? It was the bayith (h1004) or the court.
Again, what is PROPHESYING? It is not spiritual worship nor is it foretelling the future:
"The Hithpa'el of nb', in the ancient texts, refers to ecstasy and delirium rather than to the emission of a 'prophecy'." (de Vaux, Roland, The Bible and the Ancient Near East, p. 243 Doubleday
"Maniac inspirations, the violent possession which threw sibyls and priestesses into contortions--the foaming lip and streaming hair and glazed or glaring eyes--
have no place in the self-controlling dignity of Christian inspiration. Even Jewish prophets, in the paroxysm of emotion, might lie naked on the ground and rave (1 Sam. xix. 24);
but the genuine inspiration in Christian ages never obliterates the self-consciousness or overpowers the reason. It abhors the hysteria and stimulation and frenzy which have sometimes disgraced revivalism and filled lunatic asylums." (Pulpit Commentary, 1 Cor., p. 460).
"Here singing served as a means of inducing ecstatic prophecy (speaking in tongues).
Thus the essential relationship between music and prophecy can be clearly seen.This relationship also explains why the expression for "making music" and "prophesying" was often identical in the ancient tongues. origen contra celsum 8.67.
The Hebrew word Naba signifies not only "to prophesy" but also "to make music." (Quasten, Johannes, Music and Worship in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, p. 39)
I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. Hos 13:11
Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up. Hos 13:16
O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Hos 14:1
Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Hos 14:2
Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. Hos 14:3
Ashshuwr (h804) ash-shoor'; or ·ashshur ash-shoor'; appar. from 833 (in the sense of successful); Ashshur, the second son of Shem; also his desc. and the country occupied by them (i. e. Assyria), its region and its empire: - Asshur, Assur, Assyria, Assyrians. See 838
Confirmation in the Apocrypha
While the kings brough physical peace to the nation, any good ended with Solomon in a spiritual sense: 1. Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, and his word burned like a torch.
2. He brought a famine upon them, and by his zeal he made them few in number.
3. By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens, and also three times brought down fire.
4. How glorious you were, O Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! And who has the right to boast which you have?
5. You who raised a corpse from death and from Hades, by the word of the Most High;
6. who brought kings down to destruction, and famous men from their beds;
7. who heard rebuke at Sinai and judgments of vengeance at Horeb;
8. who anointed kings to inflict retribution,and prophets to succeed you.
Confirmation from Isaiah to John
John and other New Testament Writers knew why NATIONAL Judaism was destroyed along with its EARTHLY Jerusalem and the Temple. And John notes:
Jerusalem, which was taken over by the Amorites in Abraham's time, later became a citadel of control by the aristocracy of rulers and court priests. These are the ones who killed the true prophets as Jesus mentioned in Matthew 23. The prophet Jeremiah refers to Jerusalem as the harlot in Jeremiah 3:1. Ezekiel refers to Jerusalem as the harlot in Ezekiel 16:15 and 16:35. When Jesus pronounced God's judgement upon Jerusalem, he said there are days of vengeance and great wrath upon it (Luke 21:22.). And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Revelation 11:8 [The Second Babylonian Beast, David L.E.]
Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants;
the one from the mount Sinai,
which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia,
and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Re.11:8
Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? Gal 4:21
For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. Gal 22But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Gal 23
Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. Gal 24
For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. Ga.4:25
Compulsory sacrifices were added after the musical idolatry at Mount Sinai which involved adultery and sodomy:
Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Isa 1:9
Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. Isaiah 1:10
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. Isaiah 1: 11
When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Isaiah 1: 12
Confirmation from Scholarship
All Scholarship is aware that Amos defines the LIKE THE NATION'S Idolatry begun primarily in the North. Jereboam had been slave driver for Solomon. However, he later ran to Shishak in Egypt for help. It was Jereboam who separated Israel from Judah and it was Shishak who came within five years to loot the Jemple in Jerusalem which was Judah's Capital.Numbers 2:47-54. But the Levites . . .were not numbered among them--They were obliged to keep a register of their own. They were consecrated to the priestly office,
which in all countries has been exempted customarily, and in Israel by the express authority of God, from military service. The custody of the things devoted to the divine service was assigned to them so exclusively, that"no stranger"--that is, no person, not even an Israelite of any other tribe, was allowed, under penalty of death, to approach these [Nu 16:40]. Jameson Fawcett Brown
"It is said, in Tosaphoth, that the sin lay 'not in demanding a king, but in the mode of so doing, 'like all the nations' virtually equivalent to a wish to become like surrounding idolaters." Professor Keil finds the wrong "In... nothing more than forsaking him to serve other gods." (Haley, p. 229-230).
"The religious activities by which the people sought to please Yahweh provoked only scorn from the prophet, for the festal and cultic activities obscured Yahweh's real nature and activity (4:4-5).
"If we take Amos' words as they stand, there seems to be little doubt that he condemned the entire religious pattern--feasts, sacrifices, ritual music, offerings, tithes--everything. Jerald LaRue, Old Testament Life and Literature (ch 18)
Confirmation from John Chrysostom
God Quarantined Animal Sacrifices "like the nations" to keep the people's "congregation" free.Chrysostom notes why God imposed sacrifices.
"Ye are mad, and will needs sacrifice: well then, at any rate sacrifice to Me. (What follows may serve to illustrate the brief remark a little further on, Kai h aixmalwsia kathgoria thj kakiaj.)
"But even this, He did not permit to continue to the end, but by a most wise method, withdrew them from it ...For He did not permit it to be done in any place of the whole world,
but in Jerusalem only.Anon, when for a short time they had sacrificed, he destroyed the city. Had He openly said, Desist, they, such was their insane passion for sacrificing, would not readily have complied.
But now perforce, the place being taken away, He secretly withdrew them from their frenzy." So here:
"Even the captivity impeaches the wickedness (which was the cause of the permission of sacrifice.")
And John notes:
And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Re.11:8
Confirmation from Mythology
The Frogs Desiring a King Aesop
The Frogs were living as happy as could be in a marshy swamp that just suited them. They went splashing about, caring for nobody and nobody troubled them.
But some of the frogs thought that this was not right, that they should have a king and a proper constitution, so they sent up a petition to Zeus to give them what they wanted.
"Mighty Zeus," they cried, "send unto us a king that will rule over us and keep us in order."
Zeus laughed at their croaking and threw down into the swamp a huge Log.
The Frogs were frightened out of their lives by the commotion made in their midst, and all rushed to the bank to look at the horrible monster. But after a time, seeing that it did not move, one or two of the boldest of them ventured out towards the Log, and even dared to touch it. Still it did not move.
Then the greatest hero of the Frogs jumped upon the Log and commenced dancing up and down upon it; thereupon all the Frogs came and did the same, and for some time the Frogs went about their business every day without taking the slightest notice of their new King Log lying in their midst.
But this did not suit them, so they sent another petition to Zeus, and said to him,
"We want a real king; one that will really rule over us."
Now this made Zeus angry, so he sent them a big Stork that soon set to work gobbling them all up. Then the Frogs repented, but it was too late.Zeus superseded father Saturn who fled to Rome: his number in the original Chaldee is 666.
Confirmation from Fulfillment of the TYPES
The Frogs GETTING a KingChanas or khanasa signifies he departed, drew off, lay hid, seduced, slunk away; from this root come akhnas, khanasa, and khanoos, which all signify an ape, or satyrus, or any creature of the simia or ape genus.
Remember that the mountain of armageddon are people who rise up, lift up and exalt themselves above the plain. This final battle is not the war of the worlds. Rather, it is the war of the words. The battle is from the Greek-
Polemeo (g4170) pol-em-eh'-o; from 4171; to be (engaged) in warfare, i.e. to battle (lit. or fig.): - fight, (make) war.
Polemic is from the Greek "polemikos" and means a war: "to shake, cause to tremble, dispute, controversial, argumentative. A polimicist is one "skilled in making war." (Webster) (I.e. a skilled change agent)
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs (toads) come out of the mouth (edge of a weapon) of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. Re 16:13
These kings for an hour are really frogs and they are not what they are quacked up to be. They are-
"Quacks were represented as frogs and were associated metaphorically with serpents." (Vine) (Marsh-leapers in Hebrew)
They are here again!
The little Simian is Defined in many Places as the Nachash or Serpent or Musical Enchanter
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come from the mouth of the dragon (Satan/the Devil), from the mouth of the beast (the Nimrod worldly government of Satan), and from the mouth of the false prophet (Satan's world religion established at the Tower of Babel -- worship of the seven planets and the false messiah, Nimrod.)
James Burton Coffman Commentaries, Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other rights reserved.
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