Friday Morning Manna
February 7, 2020
Nathaniel Fajardo
email: [email protected]
Revealed! The Fowler’s fastening Cords and Snares!
“I will say unto the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.”
Ps. 91: 2, 3, K.J.V.
Here’s more: “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of a snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Ps. 124: 7, 8. “Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.” Prov. 6: 5. “The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come: Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the [false] prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.” Hos. 9: 8.
The master and most senior of fowlers is “the murderer from the beginning and the father of lies” (John 8: 44). His junior fowlers/liars are all the false prophets and self-anointed messengers, counterfeit pastors, ministers, theologians and all so-called spiritual guardians—so deceivingly pleasing, knowledgeable, suave, smooth-talking yet fork-tongued in their mesmerizing gibberish and stunning legalese, thus, more venomous, particularly in these closing hours of earth’s probation. Why? Hear this woe warning:
“Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Rev. 12: 12.
Misery craves company. The cursed and lost desires nothing more than to bring as many to perish with him. The master fowler knows he has a very short time now to do what his has ever done from the beginning—to deceive through subtility, craftiness, guile, lies as in “white lies,” half-truths, “alternative facts.” He is “as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5: 8); his agents are as ravening “evening wolves camouflaged in sheep’s clothing. Eze. 22: 27; Hab.1: 8; Zeph. 3: 3 Matt. 7: 15; Acts 20: 29.
God has His own and Satan has his. But while Satan has and specializes in creating spiritual “crossovers,” “hybrids” and “mutants,” as in antitypical “mixed multitudes” or half-breeds in half-baked, nominal Christians, or his outright clandestine elite special agents in the churches, God has none of this sort. We are either His or not.
Sadly, and so totally avoidable because of the saving truths of the true gospel, unnumbered millions already have and will continue being ensnared till the close of earth’s probation—if only they had “ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches” and did not “harden their hearts!” Our only safety from being ensnared in his unnumbered schemes and then bound to these snares, is to know without a doubt what these are. The Bible and the “spirit of prophecy, which is the testimony of Jesus” (Rev. 19: 10) given to “the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12) reveal all these that none may be deceived!
Now, if already ensnared somehow, do not delay! Break free from these cords, “escape for thy life” and flee directly to the only place of safety—typified by the six designated cities of refuge in Canaan, three on each side of the Jordan (Num. 35: 9-34)—our Refuge and Fortress, Almighty God in Christ, and His Word!
If not yet tripped up, never presumptuously play “Russian roulette” or engage in risky brinkmanship. Walk farthest from the edge of the precipice of temptation. Avoid the snares as you would a plague, like the literal and spiritual SARS, swine flu, bird flu, Corona Virus, AIDS, etc. Do not be like Eve whose presumptuous curiosity led her into the forbidden enchanted grounds of Satan’s presence, was trapped and fell.
“The pains of duty and the pleasure of sin are the cords with which Satan binds men in his snares. Those who would rather die than perform a wrong act are the only ones who will be found faithful.”- Vol. 5 Testimonies, p. 53
Over the years, in addition to my beloved King James Version Bible, I have learned to treasure the book “The Great Controversy” penned by Mrs. Ellen G. White (alongside the other books of the Conflict of the Ages Series). I consider this book my concise and handy “Prophetic Handbook for the Last Days” as an adjunct to the two major intertwined prophetic books of the Bible, Daniel and Revelation.
I believe most of the readers have read The Great Controversy sometime during their life time. I also know of some who haven’t and don’t have any plans, even as part of this new year’s resolutions. Some say, “I don’t like to read it; it’s too scary. Besides, what you don’t know won’t hurt you. I already saved when I accepted Jesus and was baptized. And that’s enough.” Several years ago I recall a church elder telling me to “chill” because those events prophesied such as the “coming time of trouble with its persecution” had already taken place during the Dark Ages, and that all we need to do is to remain faithful, go to church, pay our tithes and wait for Jesus to come and take us home to heaven. That’s it.”
Some have studied it, emphasis past tense, and see no need to review it in the light of the events now taking place in the world, especially in and of America, a primary subject of Revelation 13, symbolized as an initially peaceful “beast with lamblike horns” but will transform into “one speaking like a dragon.”
One need not go to the ends of the earth or some secret chamber or clairvoyant, seeking for genuine inside and advanced knowledge of the end-time prophecies. It is practically free and within reach of your fingertips. Just get yourself the book already. I suggest the 1911 edition because it has very helpful Appendices showing relevant extra Biblical supporting authoritative and official references. More importantly, the freedom to acquire and study such Bible subjects is still protected by the First Amendment that guarantees religious liberty and to worship God according to the dictates of conscience, not made-made religious laws. This, too, will come to an end as prophesied in Revelation 13 and magnified in Revelation 13. The essential details of how, when, why what and who in particular are involved in this most startling change will take place, is explained in the Great Controversy.
There are those who are currently seeking advancing light and securing a better understanding and appreciation of what the present, testing and sealing truths for these last days are in order to know with a certainty what God desires and expects of His people in their duty to Him and our fellowmen; what and how to prepare for them according to God’s priorities in the plan of redemption and in the revealed chronology of events that fulfill genuine prophecy, not the counterfeits. They are prayerfully studying this special prophetic book that magnifies upon—never replacing, duplicating or adds or takes away–and provides amazing details of the combined prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.
Naturally, such are better equipped to spot from afar, quickly zero in, discern, decipher and distinguish the chaff from the grain, the counterfeit from the genuine and discard the refuse. They cut to the chase through the maze, clutter and chatter in the overwhelming flood of information, disinformation, delusions—all distractions—and stick to the essential truths vetted by “the law and the testimony” (Isa. 8: 20), “to the law and the prophets” (Matt. 5: 17; 7: 12; 22: 40; Rom. 3: 21), as “present, testing and sealing truths for the last days.
NOTE: The original Great Controversy, 1884 edition, is “Vol. 4 of the Spirit of Prophecy. Then there is an 1888 edition, and the popular and widely-used 1911 edition. I use the 1884 and 1911 editions. I am quoting below from the 1911 edition, pp. 518-530.
This book dedicates a whole chapter entitled “The Snares of Satan” revealing the prominent yet unrecognized and unsuspected satanic snares—and thus are “hiding in the open. I urge all to read the whole chapter and the Bible verses quoted or referred to. I will quote a brief portion and one “snare.” Finish reading the rest then email me or Charles Fegarido, AUP Coordinator who posts the FMM, as to how many snares you identified. Now this:
“The great controversy between Christ and Satan, that has been carried forward for nearly six thousand years, is soon to close [note that!]; and the wicked one redoubles his efforts to defeat the work of Christ on man’s behalf and to fasten souls in his snares. To hold people in darkness and impenitence till the Savior’s mediation is ended, and there is no longer a sacrifice for sin, is the object which he seeks to accomplish. . . . “The Scriptures declare that upon one occasion, when the angels of God came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among them (Job 1: 6), not to bow before the eternal King, but to further his own malicious designs against the righteous. With the same object he is attendance when man assemble for the worship of God. [That’s why we need to pray for angelic protection whenever we come to worship the Creator on His Sabbath day!] Though hidden from sight, he is working with all diligence to control the minds of the worshippers. Like a skillful general, he lays his plans beforehand. As he sees the messenger of God searching the Scriptures, he takes note of the subject to be presented to the people. Then he employs all his cunning and shrewdness as to control circumstances that the message may not reach those whom he is deceiving on that very point. The one who most needs the warning will be urged into some business transaction which requires his presence, or will by some other means be prevented from hearing the words that might prove to him ‘a savor of life unto life.’” pp. 518, 519. [Does that remind you of any such experience?]
The Bible says: “Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man.” Eccl. 12: 13. The cord called “pain of duty” to “fear God and keep His commandments” is everywhere; it does not discriminate between race, religion, color, national origin, sex, handicap or familial status. Disobedience to God’s law, His word, is the first and foremost of all spiritual diseases plaguing mankind from the beginning to the end! Were it not for God’s mercy “that endures forever” and “longsuffering, not willing that any should perish,” and His intervention and intercession—which will soon end—mankind would long ago have become extinct through self-destruction!
Satan’s double-stranded cord not stronger than God’s three-fold cord
Satan’s double-stranded cord of the “pain of duty and pleasures of sin” must be very strong and durable indeed. But Satan cannot and can never be stronger than Jesus Christ! He has been defeated three times already in his war and battle against Christ!
First, Lucifer, a covering cherub, lost the first war, waged in heaven with his angels against Jesus and His angels. He not only lost, but with the angels under his command who had joined him, were forever cast out of heaven to the earth, becoming the “great dragon, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world,” his fallen angels, the “evil spirits” that have vexed mankind since then. Rev. 20: 3, 4, 7-9. Jesus said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Luke 10: 18. Second, he appeared to Jesus—weakened near death of His human nature due to His 40-day fast—as a powerful angel sent from heaven to strengthen Him. Instead, Satan tempted Jesus with fiercest of the three kinds of temptations by which all men are tempted with. Satan failed to make Jesus yield in any of them and lost the second time. Third, Satan was the mastermind and instigator behind the Jewish Sanhedrin and the Romans who falsely accused Jesus, and tried Him in the quintessential kangaroo court, then crucified Him. Iin His adopted human nature, with its inherent mortal incapacities, Christ “could not see beyond the portals of the tomb.” Satan exalted, thinking he could keep Jesus chained to his “prison” in death. Satan “had the power of death” but not of life! On the third day Jesus’s divinity brought back His life in humanity and forever broke the tomb’s fetters. Satan lost the third time.
And yet the Bible says: “A three-fold cord is not quickly broken.” Let’s cite the whole verse for it gives us a more complete truth by comparing and contrasting the relative strength of the numbers itself: “Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Eccl. 4: 12, N.K.J.V.
(To be continued next week on what the “three-fold cord” means)