Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
One. PRACTICAL JUDGMENT: QUICK DECISIONS - NORTH AMERICA.
Matthew 12:36-37 (NNT). “And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account of it on judgment day. … For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.”
We in North America - the Western World - both Canada and the United States, are an impatient people - activists - interested in steps to get results and a job done. We have inherited the Greek-Hellenistic philosophy of “Lineal” thinking, as opposed to the “Block” thinking of the Far East and the Bible Middle East. “Contemplative” movements do not appeal to the West.
As a result we are known as Pragmatists and Activists. And of course there are dangers in whatever course an area of the world chooses. It is good then to recognize that our world can be divided into 12 segments, each segment corresponding to one of the tribes of Israel. In a subjective manner one can align the world in such a correspondence, and of course recognize that others would have a similar yet different correspondence.
But we can note as a truism that our two northern countries in North America do have a correspondence with the tribe of Dan. When Dan found his tribal inheritance in Canaan land too confining, he alone of the 12 tribes broke out of his inheritance and added to it territory in the extreme north. He did it with force, and broke commandments of God to do so.
But have we not in our New World as relatively new nations, broken into the Western world - replacing the original inhabitants of the land, often through broken promises and covenants? And have we not taken our inheritance from Europe and applied the Industrial Revolution then to our new territory, and through practical decisions - have built ourselves into the world's leading nation as it were?
We have success seminars throughout our 2 nations continually, and we see success in the light of tangible results. We often find that we schedule ourselves individually and corporately in such intensity, that it takes resolve to leave time to “smell the roses.”
Of course the above is not all bad, but it is good to look at the other 11 parts of the world with their corresponding tribes of Israel. The balance of the East in “block” thinking and some contemplation won't hurt us at all. Rather it will help us to heed the words of Jesus at the top of this section - that “our words” are extremely important. A few decades ago a man's word was as good as his bond. Could God-given revival restore some of that worth?
Two. PRACTICAL JUDGMENT: JOHN/LUKE AND HIS TEMPERAMENT.
Genesis 30:1-6, (CJB). “When Rachel saw that she was not bearing children for Jacob, she envied her sister and said to Jacob, 'Give me children, or I will die!' … This made Jacob angry at Rachel; he answered, 'Am I in God's place? He's the one who is denying you children.” … She said, 'Here is my maid Bilhah. Go, sleep with her, and let her give birth to a child that will be laid on my knees, so that through her I too can build a family.' … So she gave him Bilhah her slave-girl as his wife, and Jacob went in and slept with her. … Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. … Rachel said, 'God has judged in my favor; indeed he has heard me and given me a son.” Therefore she called him Dan [he judged].
It is interesting to note how the “temperaments” correspond not only to individuals and tribes - but also to nations. The tribe of Dan is a John/Choleric and a Luke/Melancholic in his two leading temperaments. All 12 tribes functioning together were necessary for Israel to achieve the effectiveness that Balaam prophesied and communicated to Balak.
What if all 12 segments of our world moved in such a mutual appreciation of each other? This practical leadership temperament of the United States and Canada has been a blessing to the entire earth. No nations of the earth in the past have so effectively sent forth missionaries to bless all mankind to the ends of the earth. And much still goes forth from our churches and denominations to bless. It may not be perfect - but when we evaluate the social services, the hospitals, the work among lepers, the educational institutions - well - only through the church has such blessing come. It has not come from atheists and non-Christian countries. Dr. E. Stanley Jones in his 29 books effectively points out this truth.
Each individual can relate specifically to one of the 12 sons of Jacob - and each church, city and nation can relate to one of the 12 tribes of Israel. The 12 temperaments set forth by Dr. Tim LaHaye helps to discern this identification. Not one is bad. All are good and necessary. Yet not one is perfect. But when we let the Perfect One live His Life through us individually and corporately - then we see the power of unity! Israel in times of blessing manifested unity in diversity and diversity in unity. We can accept our uniqueness in the United States and Canada - but it needs to function in cooperation and understanding with the other 11 segments of our world.
Three. PRACTICAL JUDGMENT: DAN - A SERPENT.
Genesis 49:16-18, (CJB). Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. … Dan will be a viper on the road, a horned snake in the path that bites the horse's heels so its rider falls off backward. … I wait for your deliverance, ADONAI.”
Judges 13:24-25, (CJB). Manoah's wife bore a son and called him Samson. The child grew, and ADONAI blessed him … The Spirit of ADONAI began to stir him when he was in the Camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.”
It is good to know the potential dangers in our individual temperament and make-up. We need one another to maximize our potential for good.
Jacob said that his son Dan was like an adder - a serpent - a snake. It bit the rider's horse at the heels, and the rider then fell over backwards.
When Dan took more for his inheritance up north - on the way he robbed a people of their idol-gods to worship along with the God of Israel. This in the north plus Bethel in the south became a great snare to Israel. The serpent brought in idolatry - the 10 northern tribes of Israel found their horse bitten by this adder. Over 100 years before the fall of the Kingdom of Judah, the Kingdom of Israel fell - and was taken into captivity.
If we are a Dan individually or corporately, it is good to be forewarned of the potential danger we could be to our fellow man.
The poison of the atheist Madelyn Murray O'Hare has been ingested into our nation. Liberal non-Biblical thinking has permeated our national government and institutions - perverting these institutions. These have brought in illegal abortions, and seek to legitimize homosexual marriage. We are shaming the God of the Church, the God of Israel and the God of the Bible. Our land was founded differently than the direction many would take it today. We need to hear the Franklin Grahams, the Jerry Falwells and the Pat Robertsons. All that glitter is not gold. All that calls itself a religion of peace is not truly founded in peace. We need to guard that which we inherit from our Founding Fathers. We price of liberty is constant vigilance. We cannot let down our guard, nor be deceived by those who speak Peace - Peace - but an entirely different goal has been constant from the very beginning of some religions.
Four. PRACTICAL JUDGMENT: DAN'S STONE - THE BERYL.
Ezekiel 1:26-28, (CJB). “Above the dome that was over their heads was something like a throne that looked like a sapphire. On it, above it, was what appeared to be a person. … I saw what looked like gleaming, amber-colored fire radiating from what appeared to be his waist upward. Downward from what appeared to be his waist, I saw what looked like fire, giving a brilliant light all around him. … This brilliance around him looked like a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was how the appearance of the glory of ADONAI looked. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of someone speaking.”
Dan's stone is the beryl. It is not only a hard stone, but also a stone that glows with the fire of judgment. Both Canada and the United States have been founded upon godly principles, Christian principles, and Bible principles. Why, the very Federal Parliament buildings of Canada have remarkable Bible scriptures upon them, and on one of the clock towers you can see the Star of David!
In contrast, the writings on the Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem are anything but godly! How the enemy delights in maligning as lies the purposes and designs of the God of Israel, the God of the Bible and the God of the Church. He is NOT the God of this other religion!
Let the judgment stone of Dan - the beryl - glow forth once again in full and understanding righteousness.
Five. PRACTICAL JUDGMENT: THE EAGLE AND LION'S WHELP - DAN.
Deuteronomy 33:22, (CJB). Of Dan Moses said: “Dan is a lion cub leaping forth from Bashan.”
Isaiah 40:27-31 (CJB). Why to you complain, Jacob; why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from ADONAI, my rights are ignored by my God”? … Haven't you known, haven't you heard that the everlasting God, ADONAI, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow tired or weary? His understanding cannot be fathomed. … He invigorates the exhausted, he gives strength to the powerless. … Young men may grow tired and weary, even the fittest my stumble and fall; … but those who hope in ADONAI will renew their strength, they will soar aloft as with EAGLES' wings; when they are running they won't grow weary, when they are walking they won't get tired.”
Psalm 103:3-5 (CJB). “ADONAI forgive all your offenses, he heals all your diseases, … he redeems your life from the pit, he surrounds you with grace and compassion, … he contents you with good as long as you live, so that your youth is renewed like an EAGLE'S.”
Moses prophesied over Dan that he would be as a lion's whelp - a young lion - leaping from the hills of Bashan. This is parallel to the thought of Jacob over Dan as an adder - a serpent.
But Dan in the inscrutable foreknowledge and predestining Sovereignty of God - is numbered as one of the 4 leading tribes in Israel! Judah on the East led 2 tribes in the march of Numbers - and throughout Joshua and Judges. From him came forth the 10 good kings. The break-a-way 10 tribes produced not one godly king! He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and from him came forth Jesus, who will return to rule from the Throne of King David.
Reuben was on the South with Simeon and Gad. Ephraim was on the West with Manasseh and Benjamin. But DAN was on the North with Asher and Naphtali!
Reuben was the man of Luke as Judah was the Lion of Matthew. Ephraim was the ox of Mark. But DAN was the eagle of John! It is also true that the eagle is the prominent emblem of the United States. Jesus within Himself has the perfect balance of all 4 of these leading tribes, including Dan.
The eagle is a remarkable bird, and the United States is still a great nation. DESPERATELY we need revival. We have had two Great Awakenings in our past. Dr. J. Edwin Orr has done yeoman's duty in writing them up with the concomitant outpourings of the Spirit in Great Britain. In the early 1900's God brought not only the Welsh revival, but also the Topeka, Kansas and Azusa Street Visitation. The Charismatic Renewal of the late 60's and 70's has also brought blessing.
But we can't rest on our laurels. Today we need a greater Visitation than ever before to prepare for the return of God's appointed King. He will come to the Mount of Olives and reign from Jerusalem over this earth. THEN the earth will learn what it is to live under TRUE righteousness.
Jesus is God's Eagle, and Lion and Man and servant Ox. He combines this spirit in all 4 Gospels and in the faces of Ezekiel's cherubim. May His Eagle Spirit come upon America once again to prepare for God's last day agenda. Even though Samson, a Danite, had sinned - yet in the judgment of his blindness he cried out to God - O just once more let my strength return that I might avenge myself upon my enemies for the loss of my sight. And God granted his request!
Six. PRACTICAL JUDGMENT: THE LAST DAY'S BIBLE.
Matthew 7:21-27 (LDB). “Not everyone who continues to call me 'Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who practice obedience to my Father in Heaven will be allowed in. … On Judgment Day there will be many who will say to Me, 'But, Lord! O Lord! Didn't we prophesy and preach in Your name? We even drove out demons and performed many miracles in Your name!' … Then I will reply, 'I never knew you. Get out of My presence, you who insist on living as you please instead of obeying God!' … So everyone who is listening to what I have just said, and continues to put My words into practice, is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. … The rain came down in torrents, and the flood waters rose. The winds blew fiercely and pounded the house, but it didn't break apart because it was built on the rock. … But everyone who hears what I have just said, and still ignores Me and fails to put My words into practice, is like a man who was foolish enough to build his house on sand. … The rain came down in torrents, the flood waters rose, the winds blew fiercely, pounding the house, and it collapsed with devastating results.”
“The Last Day's Bible” is a relatively new translation (1999). The producer and publisher of this version of the Bible is Life Messengers, the organization founded in 1944, that produced and published in great quantities such outstanding witnessing booklets as Here's How - Destined for Greatness - Have You Been Brainwashed? - and many others. Over 66 million copies of Here's How alone were printed and distributed in over 50 languages in scores of nations.
25 years in the making, including eight years of prophecy study, with the Old Testament to follow, Life Messengers is still committed to the admonition at the end of the booklet Here's How: “There is so much that God wants every person to know, both concerning this life and that which is beyond. Most of this important knowledge is obtained through reading the Bible and through fellowship with God in prayer.”
What others are saying - “My judgment is that The Last Days New Testament is just as accurate as the New International Version, but much more readable.”
-- Ken Taylor, translator of The Living Bible
“A most compelling translation for the end of the age. And a powerful commentary on the absolute need of repentance, obedience, and brokenness, if we are to be born again, and saved.”
-- Frosty Fowler, talk show host on KGNW, Seattle
“This translation has for me a 5-fold emphasis: Apart from accepting the full Lordship of Jesus Christ, we will never make His heaven, (Romans 10:9-10). Jesus as Savior is recorded 24 times in the New Testament - but Jesus as Lord occurs 348 times - 14:1! There is a clarity about this translation that reminds me of the Living Bible. To give the equivalent to God's thoughts - sometimes has greater clarity and force than a word by word translation. This is often because of the difference in idiomatic change in languages. See the above selection from Matthew 7 as an example of this. In this translation the reader will find Clarity in Eschatology - the doctrine of last things. Clarity on the Privilege and Necessity of Witnessing.
Clarity on the need of a Spirit-controlled life.
I have known of the translator for over 45 years, and have known him personally for 40 years. I have such confidence in Life Messengers and his work, that I accepted his invitation to become a member of his board. It is my measured conviction that this translation exemplifies the “Practical Judgment” of this paper - and the American spirit of creativity and inventiveness that has existed since our founding fathers of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson -- then on to Thomas Edison - and now down to our day through Ken Taylor and the author of the “Last Day's Bible.” Published by Life Messengers, PO Box 1967, Seattle WA 98111-1967.
Seven. PRACTICAL JUDGMENT: THE 1948 VISITATION & GEORGE HAWTIN.
Judges 4:4-7; 14; 5:31 (CJB). Now Deborah, a woman and a prophet, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. … She use to sit under Deborah's Palm between Ramah and Bethel, in the hills of Ephraim; and the people of Israel would come to her for judgment. … She sent for Barak the son of Abinoam, from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him: “ADONAI has given you this order: 'Go, march to Mount Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men from the people of Naphtali and Zebulun. … I will cause Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, to encounter you at the Kishon River with his chariots and troops; and I will hand him over to you.'” … Deborah said to Barak: “Get going! This is the day when ADONAI will hand Sisera over to you! ADONAI has gone out ahead of you!” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. … “May all your enemies perish like this, ADONAI; but may those who love him be like the sun going forth in its glory!”
I will not teach what I cannot demonstrate,” was one of George Hawtin's favorite statements. If you will refer to our Website www.2rbetter.org under Embryonics - you will find an article on Dan written 2 ½ years ago. In it is an illustration of this principle through the life of Milford Kirkpatrick.
Again and again - following the presentation of a teaching, Brother Hawtin would challenge the people to believe for a demonstration of that very teaching. In a sense, the life of Deborah illustrates this. She would give the Word of the Lord as it was given to her - and then as in the case of Barak - she would challenge him to immediate obedience. This is crystal clear in the issue as it related to Sisera's forces under Jabin.
In Madame Jeanne Guyon's Commentary on the book of Judges, she makes this point as a clear principle taken from the life of Deborah. As a matter of fact, Deborah stood head and shoulders above her contemporaries of that day, and George Hawtin had a parallel position in his day. Only two or three in a generation reach this place of intimacy in Jesus. Swift decisions of practical and sound judgment issue forth from such people. Dan illustrates this principle, and so did Deborah, Madame Guyon and George Hawtin.