(Note: Once again the blog is adding white background to texts where I didn't put any. My attempts to remove them don't work, so please ignore)
Examining "A More Christlike Word"
by Brad Jersak
Day 101
“For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (Paul’s concern from 2 Corinthians 11:4)
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The False Filter |
The Biblical Filter |
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The word OR the Word |
The Word THROUGH the word |
In my previous post, Conclusion #5, I
addressed how the Scriptures show that Yahweh, Jesus' Father, was as loving as
Jesus and that Scripture is abundantly clear in this regard. Jesus never once
corrected the Hebrew Scriptures as if their view of Yahweh was faulty, but he
kept quoting them and speaking of the God they revealed, always with agreement
that he and the Father were one.
In this post, Conclusion #6, we will tackle
the other side of the issue, whether the Hebrew Scriptures were so corrupted by
God’s boys that they mistakenly represent Yahweh as being vindictive and
violent, quite different (apparently) from the Jesus of the New Testament. In
this focus, I will lump together all the synonymous issues that Brad Jersak
attacked, including God’s justice, his condemnation of sinners, his wrath
against sin, and anything else related to this facet of God.
Question 2: “Is Yahweh more judgmental than Jesus?”
The
reason Brad Jersak has written his trilogy of “more Christlike” deceptions is
because he wants everyone to believe that the Yahweh of the Old Testament is
far more judgmental than Jesus. To swallow that poison, we need to also believe
that the Hebrew Scriptures are corrupt. According to the author, they are not
“breathed out by God” as the apostles taught, nor were they written down apart
from “the will of man” as “men were carried along by the Holy Spirit” to record
God’s breathed-out words as the apostles taught.
As I
have shown a few times, the Bible presents “inspiration” (God breathing out
Scripture) like this:
This shows that inspiration happened when God “breathed out” his words through the writers into what we now have in Scripture. That makes Scripture (what has been collected into the Bible) the “word of God”, exactly what it claims to be. This is why I am using it as authoritative in denouncing Brad Jersak in his false teachings.
I am
also pointing out that Jersak’s “authority” for dissing the Bible as God’s word
is himself and his kin, people outside of Scripture who are to be trusted to
tell us not to trust what is written (to which I state my strong
disagreement!).
Instead
of trusting what Scripture says about God breathing out his words through men
into Scripture, Jersak wants us to believe that the wills of the men were so
involved that the Bible is not God’s word, but a God/man hybrid. He would then
say that the real Jesus (which is his pseudo-Jesus) tells us what Yahweh really
was like, and even though that isn’t in Scripture, we are to swallow the poison
and just drink the koolaid. Here is how I illustrated his view:
Note: this is NOT true! Yes, this is good news! We do not need to believe Brad Jersak for any reason whatsoever, let alone telling us to change how we view Scripture from what Scripture itself says. What we have in the Bible is NOT a “God/man hyrbrid” that must be interpreted by each congregation of people. It is the authoritative word of God that governs all Jesus’ people until his return. Period. Nothing else is authoritative over the church Jesus is building.
Thankfully, God’s word, the Scriptures, collected into the Bible, are
much clearer than Brad Jersak claims, so we will look at how this is revealed
in Scripture that there is no unholiness, unrighteousness, or injustice in the
justice and wrath of God, and that Jesus is just as holy, righteous, just, and
wrathful as his Father. Of course, he is also equally loving, kind, merciful,
gracious and compassionate as his Father.
This
is, in fact, why the Father and Son conspired to create the plan of salvation
before they even created the world. Salvation from the condemnation of sin was
absolutely necessary if they would ever have a people in their own image and
likeness. The whole gamut of condemning and destroying sin and death must be in
place for people to be “delivered out of the domain of darkness and transferred
into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.”
The
Justice of the Father is the Justice of the Son
In Brad Jersak’s attempts at persuasive
rhetoric (which I think means that what he says is figurative, not literal) he
claims that the Yahweh of the Old Testament is violent in his judgment. He then
claims that his “another Jesus” is nothing like him and has to help us all see
him in a more Christlike way.
However, since this is all about what the
Scriptures say about Yahweh and Yasous, our quest for “truth in love” must
consider whether Jesus is presented as less judgmental than Yahweh. We know
that Jesus did not correct his Father in anything. We know Brad Jersak was
lying when he claimed that there are verses of Scripture showing that Jesus was
correcting the Hebrew Scriptures. So we still have this picture in the
Scriptures where there is NO mention in the New Testament of there being
anything wrong with Yahweh from the Old Testament.
What we are left with then is whether there
are pictures of Jesus expressing wrath that are just as wrathful as Yahweh
expressing wrath. Now, because it is so easy to make these posts long, and this
is just a conclusion to what I have already shown, let me simply present two
Scriptures together, one from the Old Testament and one from the New. They show
conclusively that the wrath of God in the Father and the Son is identical, and
that it is revealed that way throughout the Scriptures with no need for false
teachers like Brad Jersak to make a “more (another) Christlike” way, God, or
word. And the wrath of God in the Father and Son is not in-the-image-of-man
violence. It is the utterly pure judgment of God against sin and sinners, with
the good news of the kingdom calling people out of their darkness and into
God’s glorious light.
The Wrath of Yahweh in Isaiah 63
I am going to use this passage from Isaiah 63 to give a picture of God, Yahweh, communicating about his judgment against sin. Then we will look in the New Testament at what it says about Jesus in his judgment against sin. What we will see is that there is no disparity whatsoever between the Father and the Son, again exposing Brad Jersak in his twisting of Scripture for false-profits.
Who is this who comes from Edom,
in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.” (vs 1)
As I look at this, I have questions. Particularly, who is the “I” who is “speaking in righteousness, mighty to save”? And, as much as Brad Jersak has a disdain for context and meanings of words, let’s go for it anyway!
Back in 61:8, Isaiah quotes Yahweh as
saying, “For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will
faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant
with them.” The “them” is God’s people. God wants them to know that he loves
“justice”, which means, “justice (quality) n. — the quality of being free from
favoritism, self-interest, bias, or deception; especially conforming to
established standards or rules” (BSL). This is clear in the prophets, that God
does not relate to anyone out of favoritism, but by himself as the standard of
holiness and righteousness. God’s justice has caused him to execute judgment
against his own people when they were living in sin, and against their enemies
when his people were walking with him.
At the same time, the people of God need to
know that God “hates robbery and wrong”, you know, like false teachers teaching
what is wrong and stealing from people by selling trilogies of books that are
wrong about God! It doesn’t matter who it is who robs or does wrong, God hates
it. God cannot love righteousness without hating evil. Brad Jersak’s God who
does not condemn criminal nations but lets almost everyone into paradise in the
end does not exist. There is no justice FOR God’s people if there is no justice
AGAINST evil.
What we have so far is that the “I, speaking
in righteousness, mighty to save” is Yahweh, and the “save” part relates to
what he was doing at the time prophesied to save his people.
In 62:4-5, God promises his people who are
on their way to judgment because of unrepentant sin that his discipline on them
will end with glory. He says,
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in
Her,
and your land Married;
for the LORD delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so
shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the
bride,
so
shall your God rejoice over you.
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the LORD delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.
This is God’s word before his people experience his judgment. The whole book of Isaiah speaks of a judgment that is coming, calling the people to repent and turn back to him, but they never do. However, even in this book of judgment (justice), we see God’s mercy prevailing. This is, in fact, what it means that “mercy TRIUMPHS over judgment”. When the people did repent, they saw mercy swoop in and restore their relationship to God.
Instead of bowing to the idol of the BJs (buying their poisoned-pudding of this fairy-tale “another Jesus” who corrects Yahweh his Father), we should look at the mercy of Yahweh that even while he compared his people to the worst of prostitutes and adulteresses, when he calls a future generation back to him, and they come because they have humbled themselves and prayed, and sought God’s face and turned from their wicked ways, he will “hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” just as PROMISED!!!
And when God does hear their cry of repentance, and he does hear them calling his name in faith, they will discover that Yahweh is filled with such delight in them as his people that it would be like a young man absolutely in love with his betrothed bride and pleased as pleased could be to marry her and have her as his own forever. Yes, this is the way Yahweh looked forward to their return BEFORE they even went off into captivity because they would not LISTEN TO HIM!!!
A few verses later in the same chapter (62:11-12), Isaiah again speaks for Yahweh:
Behold, the LORD has proclaimed
to
the end of the earth:
Say to the daughter of Zion,
“Behold, your salvation comes;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.”
And they shall be called The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the LORD;
and you shall be called Sought Out,
A
City Not Forsaken.
to the end of the earth:
Say to the daughter of Zion,
“Behold, your salvation comes;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.”
And they shall be called The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the LORD;
and you shall be called Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.
What wonders are contained in this prophecy! Yahweh is telling his people that their salvation is coming even before they go into captivity because of their sin. THAT is the way he feels about his people. And the only reason he could not do that now, would not do that at that time, was because they were unrepentant in their sin. So, first justice would need to do its work, and then mercy would triumph over that justice by bringing the children of Zion home in repentance and faith and lavishing the love of God upon them.
So, when we come to this verse (repeating where we started this section):
Who is this who comes from Edom,
in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save”,
it is all about Yahweh coming to save his people. He will come in righteousness after righteously and justly dealing with their sin. He will come mighty to save and no one can stop him. Even before their condemnation falls upon them, he is pouring out the songs of mercy that flow from his heart because this is how he would love to treat them if they were willing.
Now let’s continue through this chapter (Isaiah 63) because we must see what Yahweh is like before we look at what Yasous (Jesus) is like.
Why is your apparel red,
and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? (vs 2)
A winepress was where grapes were crushed by people treading on them. As people stomped around the winepress crushing the grapes, the juice would be collected to be made into wine. Yahweh is picturing himself as one whose apparel is red from treading the grapes in a winepress. If you know your Bible, you already know who this sounds like besides Yahweh!
“I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their lifeblood spattered on my garments,
and stained all my apparel. (vs 3)
I am not going to try to explain all of this like a commentary. I simply want us to recognize the components that were written down by the prophet Isaiah, speaking on behalf of Yahweh, speaking like he was writing down the breathed-out words of God, and if he was saying anything false about Yahweh, Jesus would have said so since false prophets were to be stoned to death for daring to lie about Yahweh (which is what Brad Jersak has been doing!). The point here is that the imagery of Yahweh’s garments being stained red (yes, obviously a figure of speech, but meaning the same thing in its real application to come in the judgment as what the metaphors are saying) is that this is a picture of judgment. It is people who are being trampled (metaphorically) so that it is their “lifeblood” that has “spattered” on Yahweh’s garments and apparel. Don’t forget this part. If Yahweh is described like this, would Jesus be the same?
For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and my year of redemption had come. (vs 4)
Notice this is one sentence. Vengeance and redemption were both coming. Together. Friends. Applied justly. To redeem his people, Yahweh had to carry out vengeance on their enemies.
I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;
so my own arm brought me salvation,
and my wrath upheld me. (vs 5)
Again, the partnership between “salvation” and “wrath” is upheld because wrath must be expressed against enemies to save his people from their oppression.
I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.” (vs 6)
The “peoples” would be the enemies of God’s people. God dealt with them in anger and wrath because they were against him and his people.
I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,
the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord has granted us,
and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love. (vs 7)
In the midst of this, Isaiah’s response is to declare the praises of God’s “steadfast love (hesed)” for his people. And this steadfast love is evident by the fact that God expressed anger and wrath against their enemies.
For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely.”
And he became their Savior. (vs 8)
See the connection between a people who are no longer going to deal with Yahweh falsely, hypocritically, adulterously, and idolatrously, so he “became their Savior” by expressing his wrath and anger against their enemies in order to deliver his people.
In all their affliction he was afflicted,
and the angel of his presence saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. (vs 9)
I’m going to end with this next verse, not because the theme doesn’t continue to show the partnership between God’s justice for his people and against their enemies, but because we see enough of how Yahweh is described here that we can now consider whether Jesus is shown in the same light. I wanted us to see how intimately God associates himself with his people that he would feel afflicted in the affliction they experienced. And it even allows for the consideration that Jesus was present in this as “the angel” of God’s presence who saved them. At the very least, it sends us to the cross where this is indeed how God worked out his so great salvation.
The
Wrath of Yasous (Jesus) in Revelation 19
Revelation 19 is remarkable in that it pictures almost the same scene as
what Yahweh has described of himself in Isaiah 63. Again, we will go verse by
verse to consider what it is telling us about Jesus. Remember that anything
that is a figure of speech (metaphorical language), still means the same thing
in the real-life event as was illustrated by the word-pictures. Let’s begin at
verse 11:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
This
is speaking of Jesus. It is a vision. Jesus is sitting on a white horse,
indicating the righteousness of his mission. His very name is “Faithful and
True” because that is who he is. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is
the complete image of the faithfulness of Yahweh. He is the complete image of
what is true because he is the Truth.
Now we
are told this about Jesus, that it is IN righteousness that he both judges and
makes war. It doesn’t matter what we believe about Jesus in his first coming as
the merciful and gracious shepherd of his people. In his second coming, he is
the one coming to judge (the sheep and the goats) and to make war, which means “make
war”! And the only reason people think this sounds so different from the
gospels is because Jesus’ first coming was for salvation, and his second coming
is for judgment. In his own words he told us,
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:17-18).
In the
first coming, Jesus was not sent to condemn the world. It wasn’t time for that.
It was time to procure salvation, which Jesus did on the cross. However, Jesus
made clear even at that time that whoever does not believe in him and receive
this gift of salvation is already condemned. This means condemned the way the
Hebrew Scriptures talked about people being condemned. And the reason they were
“condemned already” is because they did not avail themselves of the one thing
that would save them out of their condemnation.
Jesus
said the same thing at the end of John 3, “Whoever believes in the Son has
eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath
of God remains on him” (vs 36). Jesus makes clear that without receiving God’s
gift of salvation, “the wrath of God” described in the Hebrew Scriptures
“remains” on that person. It is already there. And Jesus himself will uphold
the wrath of God on anyone who does not believe.
The
point here is that the picture of Jesus in Revelation 19 does not contradict
what he said during his first coming. He told us what was to come. While Jersak
tried to twist the meaning of the sheep and goats judgment of Matthew 25 to
mean the opposite of what is written, that was Jesus telling us what is now
pictured in Revelation 19. The two pictures are in full agreement.
Now
back to Revelation 19 in its description of Jesus:
“His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. (vs 12)
This
sounds like someone we would want on our side, not against us. You know, like
the pillar of cloud and fire for Israel is now the eyes of flaming fire in Jesus.
To have the Triune God on our side is a huge blessing full of promises; to have
that same God against us as his enemies is the most terrifying thing in the
world, and Revelation tells us that it is Jesus himself who will show this to
the world.
He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. (vs 13)
Really? Like the same as Yahweh? And yet “the Word of God” who came in
the flesh? The Word who was God and was with God? You know, like Jesus the same
as his Father?!
And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. (vs 14)
This
would kind of sound like the redeemed, the saints of God who are coming with
the Savior to carry out his vengeance and judgment on the world, wouldn’t you
think?
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. (vs 15)
Isn’t
this the image of Jesus John had at the very beginning of Revelation? Remember
when John wrote, “from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was
like the sun shining in full strength” (1:16). Here we see that this sharp
two-edged sword is for the distinct purpose of striking down the nations in
judgment.
And
then there is that direct association with Yahweh in so many ways! As “the Word
of God” his message is exactly what the Father wants to communicate. But look
at this association: Yahweh said in Isaiah 63 that he trod the winepress of his
judgment alone; here Jesus is pictured as being the one who was treading the
winepress of… okay… do you see the answer?!
When
it says “of God”, who is that talking about in the Bible? Is this not showing
Jesus distinct from his Father in being the Son and not the Father, but one
with his Father in everything they have ever done, including the judging of the
nations? So there is no doubt that this is “the winepress… of God the
Almighty”. And this means that, just as in creation God the Father created
through God the Son creating, in expressing the judgment we read about in
Isaiah 63, Yahweh tramples the nations through Jesus trampling the nations. No
discord. No disparity. No Yasous correcting Yahweh. No disagreement with the
Jesus of the gospels who said that people were already condemned and the wrath
of God was already on them. But this pictures Jesus’ second coming when he will
carry out “the fury of the wrath” of God. Fury is “a feeling of intense anger”
(BSL), and wrath is, “a feeling of intense anger that does not subside; often
on an epic scale” (BSL). The point is that it is JESUS, the “Word of God” who
is doing the exact same thing as Yahweh his Father described of himself.
On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (vs 16)
Jesus
has the right to do this judging because of who he is. As Paul wrote,
“God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
This
is the name Jesus was given that is above every other name. It is his Father’s
name. It is Jesus’ name. It is the Triune God. And this is why people
confessing Jesus Christ as “Lord” (equivalent with “Yahweh”) is to the glory of
God and not a slight against him, because Jesus Christ is the image of God and
God is glorified in his Son being glorified. But all of this is associated with
Jesus carrying out the same judgment God has ordered against the nations (which
is why they will be mourning when Jesus appears).
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” (vss 17-18)
This
is how to view God’s judgment of his enemies, that it is a victory celebration.
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. (vss 19-21)
I
won’t elaborate. The picture of Jesus’ wrath is the same as Yahweh’s wrath. To
claim that Jesus corrected that view of his Father as somehow corrupted by
God’s boys who didn’t quite catch what he said is totally dishonest (and if a
guy can write a trilogy of books about this it is DELIBERATELY
dishonest!).
The
For-Profit False Prophets are “Nothing New Under the Sun”
However, what I didn’t elaborate on in that sharing was a more detailed
exposé of Brad Jersak’s false teachings that make him money for telling people to
not trust the Bible, not trust Yahweh, and not even trust Jesus as “the Way”
that is not “Christlike” enough for the BJs.
How
does that relate to Brad Jersak’s dissing of the wrath of Yahweh (Father and
Son) for profit? That Paul proclaimed “the gospel free of charge” (I
Corinthians 9:18; II Corinthians 11:7). That’s why he could say, “For we are
not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as
commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ” (II Corinthians
2:17). I am sure Paul would be deeply grieved at the proliferation of these “peddlers”
like Brad Jersak and his kin who are earning a living (or dying) by leading people
astray. And yes, because this included my wife and I losing a family we had
quickly come to love because they are convinced of these falsities, it IS very
personal!
Choosing
Between Paul and Brad
Because this conclusion is focused on showing that both Yahweh and
Yasous are pictured in the same grape-treading imagery of the wrath of God, let’s
put the line in the sand and acknowledge that we are being forced to choose
between what Brad Jersak has said in his books dissing God’s justice against
sin, and what the apostle Paul said in his letters warning us of “the wrath to
come”. Here is a summary of the Scriptures in Paul’s letters that tell us what
to believe about the wrath of God. We now know that Jesus is just as “wrathful”
as his Father, so let us consider (or reconsider) what these things mean for us
today.
1. Romans 1:18 ~ “For the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” At time of writing this for Paul,
Jesus was with the Father in heaven. That the wrath of God was revealed “from
heaven” meant it was in full unity and harmony between the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit.
2. Romans 2:5 – “But because of your
hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of
wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.” This fits that it is Jesus’
second coming when “the day of wrath” is expressed, the Father’s glory radiating
through Jesus.
3. Romans 2:8 ~ “but for those who are
self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be
wrath and fury.” “Wrath” and “fury” are the two words describing Jesus in Revelation
19.
4. Romans 3:5 ~ “But if our
unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say?
That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)” This
is what Brad Jersak is claiming, that God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on sinners.
Methinks we should be siding with Paul on this!
5. Romans 4:15 ~ “For the law brings
wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.” The law brings wrath
because it gives us the righteousness of God which we are determined to
violate.
6. Romans 5:9 ~ “Since, therefore, we
have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from
the wrath of God.” Believers are saved “from the wrath of God” that is pictured
as still coming to be expressed by Jesus.
7. Romans 9:22 ~ “What if God, desiring
to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience
vessels of wrath prepared for destruction”. Both Father and Son are God. We
cannot make the Father appear different than the Son. Jesus always did what the
Father was doing, and that will be the case in the coming day of wrath.
8. Romans 12:19 ~ “Beloved, never
avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance
is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” Isaiah 63 and Revelation 19 show us
what it means to “leave it to the wrath of God”. And that includes Jesus!
9. Romans 13:4 ~ “for he is God's
servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the
sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's
wrath on the wrongdoer.” Even good government is seen as carrying out “God’s
wrath” when they punish “the wrongdoer”.
10. Romans 13:5 ~ “Therefore one must be
in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of
conscience.” Again, “God’s wrath” is associated with good governing.
11. Ephesians 2:3 ~ “among whom we all
once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body
and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
What is past-tense for believers is present and future tense for unbelievers.
12. Ephesians 5:6 ~ “Let no one deceive
you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon
the sons of disobedience.” This applies specifically to Brad Jersak since he is
deceiving people “with empty words” and it is because of him, people like him,
and the things they teach, that God’s wrath is coming as described in
Revelation 19 about Jesus.
13. Colossians 3:6 ~ “On account of
these the wrath of God is coming.” Again, coming as it is described about Jesus.
14. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 ~ “and to wait
for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us
from the wrath to come.” We must accept both of these, that Jesus “delivers us”
and it is “FROM the wrath to COME”.
15. 1 Thessalonians 2:16 ~ “by hindering
us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill
up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!” Paul
envisioned God’s wrath coming to those who were hindering people from hearing
the gospel.
16. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 ~ “For God has
not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Believers are “NOT destined” for wrath, but unbelievers are.
Now,
since we aren’t positive who wrote Hebrews, I will include these separately
from Paul’s “for sure” writings:
17. Hebrews 3:11 ~ “As I swore in my
wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” God’s wrath regarding his own people
who refused to go into the promised land was without favoritism or partiality.
18. Hebrews 4:3 ~ “For we who have believed enter that rest, as
he has said, ‘As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’ although
his works were finished from the foundation of the world.” Repeating this
event.
And to
give the big picture of how the apostles addressed these things, here is the
apostle John’s record from the book of Revelation:
19. Revelation 6:16 ~ “calling to the
mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated
on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb”. This clearly shows that it is
the “wrath of the Lamb”, meaning Jesus Christ our Lord, meaning Brad Jersak is
lying that Yahweh has something wrong with him for expressing his just wrath
against criminal nations.
20. Revelation 6:17 ~ “for the great day
of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” The “their” means Yahweh and
Yasous. Father and Son. Sinners will not stand against their wrath in the judgment,
which is why we warn people to “flee from the coming wrath”.
21. Revelation 11:18 ~ “The nations
raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for
rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name,
both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” Jesus’
first coming was NOT “the time for the dead to be judged”. But the second
coming is that time, and the time when God’s servants will be rewarded for enduring
the wrath of the world, the flesh, and the devil as the church has warned
people about the coming wrath and called them to the good news of great joy
that we have a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
22. Revelation 14:10 ~ “he also will
drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger,
and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy
angels and in the presence of the Lamb.” A very picturesque image of the very
literal event of judgment that is to come.
23. Revelation 14:19 ~ “So the angel
swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth
and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.” And we know that both
Yahweh and Yasous trample that winepress in wrath until every drop of judgment
has been expressed.
24. Revelation 15:1 ~ “Then I saw
another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues,
which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.” God’s wrath is
expressed throughout history, but this picture is of the end of his wrath as Jesus’
executes God’s judgment on the world.
25. Revelation 15:7 ~ “And one of the
four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the
wrath of God who lives forever and ever”. My mind often goes reeling in trying
to comprehend the book of Revelation, but I do get it that the trumpets seem to
indicate God’s ongoing expressions of wrath throughout history, while the bowls
indicate the final judgment.
26. Revelation 16:1 ~ “Then I heard a
loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out on the
earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.’” A command from the temple of God
about pouring out the wrath of God on the earth.
27. Revelation 16:19 ~ “The great city
was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God
remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury
of his wrath.” Babylon, representing all the evil of the world, including all
the evils of Jerusalem, will drink to the dregs all the fury of God’s wrath.
28. Revelation 19:15 ~ “From his mouth
comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule
them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath
of God the Almighty.” And that simply summarizes once again that it is Jesus who
will do his Father’s will in expressing the justice of his wrath.
Now
let’s add to this:
29. That John the Baptist said “to the
crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned
you to flee from the wrath to come?’” indicating what Jesus would do as
described in Revelation 19.
30. And Jesus in describing the
desolation coming to Jerusalem identified, “for these are days of vengeance, to
fulfill all that is written”, which means he agrees with what the prophets
spoke about the time of Yahweh’s vengeance. And continued, “Alas for women who
are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there
will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people” (Luke 21:20-24).
Again, Jesus is affirming God’s wrath against his people as prophesied in
Isaiah 63.
31. And so, when Jesus said, “Whoever
believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not
see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36), it is all in
context of what the prophets had already written, and what was waiting to be
fulfilled in his second coming.
Conclusion: Brad Jersak is totally wrong in claiming that there is
disparity between Jesus in the Scriptures and Yahweh in the Scriptures. Jesus is
just as wrathful (and loving) as his Father. No disparity. We see this in the
Scriptures that are “breathed out by God”, and even in Jesus’ own words within
those Scriptures.
Escaping the Liar’s Lair
As I wind this down, let’s be clear that Brad
Jersak has totally misrepresented the attributes of God’s love and his justice
by claiming that justice is not consistent with love. I have tried to show how
bogus that is to have a God who loves but does not carry out justice against
criminals. But I am reminding us that God is EQUALLY just as he is love. In the
diamond of God’s nature, love is one facet, justice another. They NEVER cancel
each other out. Mercy never “trumps” judgment, but when God propitiated his
wrath against our sin on Jesus so that justice was satisfied, then mercy
triumphs over every soul that repents and trusts in Jesus for salvation.
When
the “poor in spirit” attach to God’s divine nature, they see him through the
facets of his love and mercy. When sinners look into the divine nature, they
see the facets of God’s judgment and wrath. But we never separate the two as if
Jesus is one and Yahweh is another. If that were the case, Jesus would have
said so in his own words.
By
this point, I am convinced that this summarizes Brad Jersak’s ministry,
particularly in his trilogy of poison-in-the-pudding books of the “more Christlike”
dissing of God, his word, and his Way:
The purpose of
the BJs’ writings is to demoralize people’s faith in the authority of Scripture
as the breathed-out words of God. They continue the serpent’s question in the
garden, “Did God actually say…?” to replace what God said with what the “evil
people and imposters” are peddling for unjust gain.
The
way out of the Liar’s Lair is given to us by the apostle James,
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:7-10)
May
God bless his lost sheep by turning them around on the garden path of Brad
Jersak’s false teachings, and lead them home through repentance and faith in Jesus
Christ our Lord and “the word of Christ” we have in the Scriptures collected
into our Bibles!
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
A More Christlike Word © 2021 by Bradley Jersak Whitaker House 1030 Hunt
Valley Circle • New Kensington, PA 15068 www.whitakerhouse.com
Jersak, Bradley. A More Christlike Word: Reading Scripture the
Emmaus Way. Whitaker House. Kindle Edition.
Definitions from the Bible Sense Lexicon (BSL) in Logos Bible Systems
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