Has America Become Latter Day Amorites?*

Someone once said that if we don't learn from history, we are bound to repeat it. This message today is a serious prophetic warning. Second Peter warned that in the last days scoffers would come and the source of their scoffing would be the prophesied return of the Lord, and the judgment against wickedness. These scoffers would say, "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." (2 Pet. 3:3-4). These scoffers, Peter said, deliberately overlook the flooding of the earth in judgment, which occurred since the creation. Peter wrote that instead of a judgment by water, this time, the judgment against ungodly men would be by fire that is stored up for this purpose. Both the heavens and the earth will be dissolved and melted with fervent heat (v. 7, 10). The description of this melting heat sounds very much like the outcome produced by a nuclear holocaust. Many nuclear powers among the nations today are on the verge of conflict, and such conflict was only narrowly avoided in the past. The only reason that we have not yet seen this prophesied judgment, said Peter, is "The LORD is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night..." (v. 9). The judgment of God is patiently withheld to give men an opportunity to repent, but the day will come. You can read a confirming word in the Apocrypha: Wisdom 12, for those who understand that while the Apocryphal books are not now considered scripture, they were quoted in scripture, and offer interesting additional information. In a prophecy given to Abram, the LORD promised that Abram's seed would experience servitude, or slavery, as strangers in a foreign land. That servitude would last 400 years. At the end of that time, the Lord would bring judgment upon the land that oppressed His people with servitude, and His people would be delivered out of that land with great substance (Gen. 15:13-14). It has been approximately 400 years since America began oppressing the native people of this land, and began to bring people from Africa and other lands into slavery here. Now, in America, there is still violent racial hatred against different racial and ethnic groups. The prophecy of the LORD to Abram does not stop there, however. He could not bring Abram's descendants back to the land of Canaan until the 400 years were completed "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" (v. 16). After four generations, God would bring back Abram's descendants to the land of Canaan through judgment against Egypt, and at the same time, displace the iniquitous Amorites from that land. God found the practices of both the Egyptians and the Amorites to be an aabomination and warned His people not to do the same: "After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God." (Lev. 18:3-4). What were the practices of both Egypt and the Amorites, the inhabitants of Canaan, that were so abominable that the LORD would bring judgment upon them. What are the abominations that America shares with the Amorites? The LORD, in Lev. 18, describes numerous sexual sins that defile. Not only do these sins defile a people, but they defile the land on which the people dwell: "For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled; that the land spue not you out also, when you defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people." (v. 27-29). All of the sexual sins mentioned in Lev. 18 are running rampant in America today. Sexual perversion, promiscuity, and pornography, are tolerated by law, while those who speak out against it are not tolerated. Another abomination of the people of the land that the LORD warns His people against is the offering of children to the god, Molech: "And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD." (v. 21). Here in America, millions of chldren have been slaughtered in abortion. This is the human sacrifice of children. Shall the Lord judge the Amorites, but not judge us for doing the same? The LORD said that there were six things He hated, and seven were an abomination to Him. One of those things mentioned is the shedding of innocent blood. Does there exist any more innocent blood than that of an unborn child in its mother's womb? Yet we shed it daily. One who wanted the practice of abortion to become widespread, Margaret Sanger, who served as president of Planned Parenthood, shared the views of Hitler regarding those who were "less desireable". She believed that populations from the "mongrel nations" should be controlled, even eliminated, and that civil and religious leaders, especially from the poor, black, and immigrant communities, should be recruited to endorse and spread these methods of population control in those neighborhoods. The prophets wrote of the Word of the LORD concerning His people when they practice the ways of the Amorites. Isaiah wrote that when God's people join properties into large land possessions, their houses shall be desolate. He judges His people who no longer are sober, but drunk until they have no self-control, and encourage their neighbors in drunkenness to see them fall. As a people, we have become users of alcohol, and also drugs, in order to escape sobriety. God told His prophet that His people have turned away from the knowledge of the LORD, and no longer consider the work of His hands. "Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it." (Isa. 5:14). Not only do these conditions exist in America, but Isaiah continues to show us our nation: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!...which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him." (v. 20-21, 23). Truth, justice, and the knowledge of the LORD are no longer sought in America. We here in America surely fit the picture that Isaiah has painted. As the prphet Habakkuk sought the LORD to hear for what he should repent and intercede, he was told to write the vision down plainly, so all could quickly read and understand it (Hab. 2:1-2). This vision, though it was for a future time, would come, and it would not be late. Though the scoffers, such as those spoken of by Peter, above, believe that the Word of the LORD will not come to pass, the LORD assured Habakkuk that it surely will. The LORD spoke judgments or "woes" that would come to "him that increaseth that which is not his, and to those who become involved in the covetous and oppressive economics of debt (v. 6: "thick clay"). The Word is spoken against those who take spoil from other lands, and fill their own land, and cities, with violence and blood. The Word is against those who are covetous, seeking and taking to accumulate what they need, they believe, to secure a place for themselves in order to avoid an evil overtaking them. However, we cannot buy or accumulate our way out of the woes and judgment of God. "Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!" (v. 12). Much of the growth of our nation came by violence and practices of iniquity. We purposefully and violently drove out native peoples to inhabit their lands, and built our wealth on the enslavement of others. Habakkuk was so convicted by this vision from the LORD, that he immediately went into prayer: "O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy." (Hab. 3:1-2). This is the same kind of prayer that the LORD asks of His people when they see their land embroiled in these conditions of iniquity (2 Chron. 7:14). If His people will pray and repent, and change their own ways, He will hear and heal our land. There is no other remedy or solution. Though men may try to buy, fight, or even vote their way out of the "woes" that come from their iniquity, there is only one solution given by God: the repentance of His own people. Though men might scoff and say that there is no coming judgment, the Book of Revelation says that a moment comes when the mystery of God declared by His servants the prophets will be finished, when the voice from heaven says, "...there should be time no longer", which means there shall be delay no longer. Until that moment comes, we have been given time by a longsuffering God to heed, understand and repent. *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 4/25/21 message to the church. To contact: PO Box 154221, Waco, TX 76705 or Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com Look for Dr. Stevenson on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimeschool.com

The Shema and the Ekklesia*

The Shema, found in Deuteronomy 6, is defined as the basic principle of Jewish belief, proclaiming the absolute unity of God. The Hebrew word shema means "listen, hear and do". The words of the Shema are: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (Deut. 6:4-5). The principle declared in the Shema is so important, that the Jewish people place these words in a mezuzah and attach it to the doorposts of their homes (v.9). They enclose these words in phylactory boxes and wear them on their foreheads, between their eyes, and on their forearms (v. 8). They are to teach the Shema principle to their children at every opportunity (v. 7). The "oneness" of the LORD declared in the Shema is the Hebrew word echad, meaning a plurality of oneness, like a bunch of grapes. To Christians, we understand this plurality in the concept of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus gave us a revelation that takes us further into this plurality of oneness. When a scribe asked Jesus which commandment is first of all, Jesus answered that it was the Shema, as stated above. Jesus also added the commandment that He said was like the Shema: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." He said that there were no greater commandments than these (Mk. 12:28-31). The first focus, according to Jesus, is the kingdom of God, but the second focus connected to it is the love of your neighbor. Jesus gave His disciples a profound meaning of the echsd onenoss or unity of the LORD, as He prayed to His Father on their behalf. He included them, and us, in the echad oneness of God: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the wolrd may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (Jn. 17:20-23). This same oneness that includes those who believe and follow Christ, also allows us to be with Him where He is (v. 24). The oneness or unity that exists between us, Jesus and the Father also makes us perfect in that echad unity. This unity with Christ and the Father also requires a unity with each other as believers. Paul wrote: "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." (Eph. 4:1-7, see also 1 Cor. 1:10-13). We also see this perfecting work found in the echad unity mentioned above by Jesus, and written of by Paul: "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ...speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." (v.11-16). The unity of each of the individual members of the Body of Christ, and their unity with the head of that Body, Christ Himself, does a perfecting and increasing work in the Body. Right now, the Body of Christ is one of the most divided, disunified, entities on earth. There is contempt and judgment against one another, against denominations, division over doctrines. Paul makes it clear that there is no part of the Body that does not need the other parts of the body. Each part is important and supplies what is needed within the Body (1 Cor. 12:2-27). Peter wrote that the echad unity among the brethren causes us to inherit the blessing (1 Pet. 3:8-9). Psalm 133 describes the pleasantness and priestly anointing found when the brethren dwell together in unity. In this Psalm, David also sings about the blessing that Peter mentioned above that comes from this unity: "...there the LORD commandeth the blessing, even life for evermore." This brings us right back to Jesus' words, above, that they may "be with Me where I am", which is the place of life forevermore. However, as echad unity brings perfection and blessing, division or disunity brings destruction. As Jesus was falsely accused of casting out demons by the power of Satan, He answered His accusers: "How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end." (Mk. 3:23-26). Recorded in Luke 11, Jesus expressed it this way, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against itself falleth..." (v.17). He also put it simply when His disciples pointed out that some were casting our devils in Jesus' name who "were not part of their group" by saying, "...there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part." (Mk. 9:38-40). We need to begin praying for the echad unity of the brethren with each other, in Christ, the Head, and in the Father, like never before. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 4/18/21 message to the church. To contact: PO Box 154221, Waco, TX 76705 or Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com Look for us on Facebook and Twitter.

Rapture Ready - Are You Really Ready?*

As we see the signs of the end times around us, including pandemics, turbulent and destructive weather, economic troubles, many Christians are looking for The Rapture, the catching away of the Church to be with Christ. People are saying they are Rapture- ready, but do we really understand what it takes to be ready for The Rapture? Jesus gave this warning regarding what can become stumbling blocks to our "readiness": "And take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare it shall come upon all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Lk. 21:34-36). Even the cares of this life can derail our ability to be Rapture-ready. Jesus said for us to pray that we may be accounted worthy. What is required to be worthy? Jesus told us: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Mt. 5:48). "Perfect" as used here means complete, as in having grown into the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ, as stated in Ephesians 4. In Rev. 3, Jesus gave a warning to the church at Sardis saying, "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God." He urged this church to repent. If they did not repent, He would come upon them like a thief in the night, "and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." As for those in the Sardis church who had not defiled their spiritual garments: "...they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy." (Rev. 3:1-6). Jesus is looking for ferfect works from His church. How do we attain this perfection, the completeness of the fulness of Christ? Jesus had a discussion with a rich young man who had spent most of his life living according to the commandments of God, but still felt that he lacked something necessary that he may have eternal life. He asked Jesus, "...what lack I yet?". Jesus answered him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow (akoloutheo- walk the same road) me." (Mt. 19:16-21). Jesus told this pious, sincere young man, "Walk the same road as Me". What does it mean to follow or walk the same road as Christ? As the LORD described the way that pleased Him through His prophet, Micah wrote, "Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Wlll the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams...shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:6-8). The LORD is saying here, as Jesus said, "Follow Me!", "Walk the same road with Me!". The LORD said the same thing to Abram: "I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." (Gen. 17:1). As God separated Abram from his home in Ur of the Chaldees, He separates us also from the world by saying, "Walk with Me, and be perfect". The LORD separated Noah from the violent and corrupt world around him, a world that would experience God's judgment, by saying of Noah, "...Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD...Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." (Gen. 6:8-9). Of the man, Enoch, who lived before the flood of judgment, and who was the first example in scripture of one who was "raptured", God said, "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Gen. 5:22-24). This message, to be perfect, to walk with God, to follow Him, has been repeated throughout the Word of God. There is a coming judgment. There is a heaven to gain, and a hell to shun. There is a Church in need of making herself ready for The Rapture, and for Christ's return. Pray to be worthy to escape and stand before the Son of Man. Be perfect, and walk the same road with the Lord. To contact: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 or Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find Dr. Stevenson on Facebook and Twitter.

Ressurection Sunday 2021

Please view Dr. Kenneth Stevenson as he gives a presentation on the Shroud of Turin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSScv7dYHD4&t=14s To Contact: PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 or Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com You can also find Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr. on Facebook and Twitter

Passover 2021*

The arbitrary decision to separate Passover from its relevance to Christ's death and resurrection was made by men in the early history of the Church. However, this was never so in scripture, or in the prophetic and powerful redemption plan of God. Passover, a commanded Feast of the LORD, clearly exemplifies Jesus Christ as the Lamb who shed His blood to cover us, as the lamb's blood covered and protected the Hebrew slaves' households from the judgment of death that plagued Egypt. The account of Passover is told in Exodus 12. Moses was told by the LORD what the Israelites must do to survive the final plague that was about to spread through Egypt. It would be this last plague, the death of the firstborn, that would finally convince Pharaoh to let the people of God go. God instructs that each household, on the tenth day of the month, is to choose a year old lamb from their flock that is without blemish. They are to keep the lamb for four dqys, and on the fourteenth day, they are to kill it. Each household must use a hyssop branch to strike the doorposts and lintels of their homes with the blood of the lamb (which would make the shape of a cross on the front of their homes). They must roast and eat the lamb and unleavened bread wearing their outer garments, with their shoes on their feet, and their staffs in their hands, ready to make a hasty departure. The LORD then said, "It is the LORD's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." (Ex. 12:11-13). The LORD also commanded the Israelites that they are to keep a remembrnce of this Passover forever: "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and you shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever." (v. 14, see also v. 17, v. 24,). Pssover is not a feast of Israel. It is the Feast of the LORD, to be kept by each generation. We can see the fulfillment of Passover as John the Baptist identified Jesus as the Messiah: "The next day, John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world." (Jn. 1:29, 35-36). The gospel recorded John the Baptists's testimony of Christ: "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." (v. 31-34). John identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, and as the Son of God. The Book of Revelation continually refers to Jesus as the Lamb. It one exmple, it says, "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the beast/antichrist), whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev. 13:8). It is revealed here that Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. As the Lamb, Jesus is found in the Hebrew opening words of the Book of Genesis: Barashiet Elohim aleph-tav..., translated in our Bibles as "In the beginning, God...". "Bareshiet" in ancient pictographic Hebrew letters means "Behold the hand, behold the nail". In Revelation, Jesus refers to Himself as the "aleph-tav". From the Greek, we read it as "Alpha and Omega": "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." (Rev. 1:8, see also, 1:11, 22:13). As the prophet Isaiah described the Redeemer of Israel, he wrote: "Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last (see Rev. 1:11). Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together." (Isa. 48:12-13). As we can see, although the Lord made Himself as a Lamb, and gave Himself into the hands of men, scripture identifies Him as the Aleph-Tav, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the One who laid the foundation of the earth. He is the "I AM" who identified Himself to Moses. Isaiah wrote: "Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I." (Isa. 52:6). It is this same I AM who brings forth good tidings and proclaims salvation (v. 7). "The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." (V. 10). Before He was lifted up on the cross, scripture prophesied of the Lamb, Jesus, "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle (nazah- to sprinkle (the blood of expiation), to startle) many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm (meaning: power, strength, arm or forearm stretched out, shoulder (of animal sacrificed), son of "arm"; Root: sow/sower, produce, yielding seed, conceive) of the LORD revealed? (Isa. 52:13-15, 53:1). The sacrifice of the Passover lamb in the temple, and the death of Jesus on the cross occurred at the same time of day on that Passover: "Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 3/28/21 message to the church. To contact: PO Box 154221, Waco, TX 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com Recommended: Dr. Stevenson's new book: "NAZAH: White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling" Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimesschool.com