My prayer service is a priestly service.

My mother taught me to pray my evening prayer, it was to call upon Christ as our Savior and Lord, ask Him to save our loved ones and pray for the people and the country and pray the Lord’s Prayer. When I was 9 years old I acknowledged that salvation was the opposite of being deceived and fooled like in the fall, so I started asking him to save us from it, especially to save the woman from it, this came as the first priority and then I started to ask him to give me a saved woman as a girlfriend and as a wife,  as the second priority. When I prayed like this, I noticed that Jesus was close to me, as my best friend, so I can say as it is written, that He was a shadow at my right hand. 

Praying in this way is the central point of the priestly ministry, in the new covenant this became quite clear. Jesus has been faithful to me, He has never forsaken me, I have never denied Him, but I acknowledged to God and man that He is the Truth that sets us free. He is my high priest – my advocate – with the Father. He sent us the Holy Ghost, yes, to me also, who is my Advocate between the Saints and our Advocate on earth.

Jesus said that He is the one who takes my case, so I should come to Him with it and surrender myself completely to Him, I should look at Him and talk with Him. I have kept his words, both what is written in the Bible and what he has spoken to me and reminded me of by his Spirit in the church, I have recordings from the interpretation of tongues all the way back to around 1990. I regard it on the basis of what is written in the Bible. And he has answered my prayers and taken care of what I have said and written and he will still answer my prayers, he wants me to take the opportunity to pray for something greater. 

The Holy Spirit prays for me and many with me and then it is important for me to pray with the Holy Spirit, so I will be aware of what He puts on my heart to pray for, by the Holy Spirit, be aware of what he reminds me of. It reminds me of Jesus’ words, both what is written in the Bible and what He has spoken to me as answers my prayer. 

He answered my prayer, so I shouldn’t have to ask him for it again, as if I didn’t believe it? No, I must pray with faith and thus with faith in the answer He has given me. The evil one is constantly trying to take it away from me, but Jesus has conquered him, his work of salvation is complete and perfect and I can and will thank him for that. The true and living God dwells in me, and He is greater and stronger than He who is in the world. That is and will remain crucial.

This childish faith and recognition of the Truth is simple and fundamental, the prayer is in accordance with God’s will and it is important. Of course, we learn more with time, much that is more advanced than this, so children’s faith may seem stupid compared to that, but that does not mean that it is wrong or unimportant, but that it is fundamental and right, as something valuable to build on. The truth is not disproved, the alternative is a lie. 

Jesus demands the Devil to account for what he has done to me.

There are probably those who think they are so “wise” that they claim all this is wrong, so the opposite or an alternative is right, they resist, so their “prayer” becomes the opposite or an alternative to my prayer. But then praying to another god, so that they curse instead of blessing, answers the blessing with a curse. It’s so creepy that I’d rather not say what it means, but Jesus is going to demand the Devil to account for what he has done to me.

13.1.2024 You’ve gone through a lot of pain, but now it’s time to turn around. Your reward will be great. Prophetic message by Elin Therese Slotten.

“You’ve gone through a lot of pain, but now it’s going to turn around. Your reward will be great. You have gone through much, my child, and have remained faithful. You have had storm after storm, but still believed me and sought me. You’ve held on, even though it cost you all your strength. You’ve prayed, you’ve fasted, you’ve cried, and you’ve hoped! Even if you saw no light, even if you didn’t hear my voice, because the sound of the storm was so loud in your life, you haven’t departed. My beloved child, you have held on when others gave up! You continued to show the other the way, even when the questions were so many in your heart. You never failed and never denied me. My child, I have never left you for a second. You have never been alone or forgotten by me! All heaven knows thy name, and thy faith is seen and admired in heaven. Your reward is immeasurable and it will never be taken away from you. Your love for me is now tested and refined in fire and my heart is infinitely touched by your surrender and faith, even through your many tests and trials. You were never forgotten, my child. You are important! Every single word you have spoken is written down. I will bless you richly, my child. My promises are true. Everything will work out for your good. What the devil meant to destroy you with, I will use against him, to destroy him. He will pay for everything he has done to you. Know, my beloved child, that all your trials did not come from me. The devil comes to destroy, murder, and steal, but I come to give you life, and that in abundance! You will get life in abundance as long as you do not deny my name! Your reward is great, my child, and you will see my salvation over your life and family!”

I have not fasted by reducing eating, but that is not the main thing about fasting, it can mean to rest, so that the bodily activity is reduced. Then it will be healthy to reduce eating. In Isaiah 58 we see what fasting God wants. I include these verses:

Isaiah 58,6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. 

We were born into an environment and were socialized into it. At the rebirth, we get to see the kingdom of God and become saved into it. 

We were lucky to be born into a Christian family and home with Christian grandparents. Our mother and grandparents prayed for us and eventually it became clear that our father also prayed for us. Naturally, the child was socialized into the family, relatives and the local community, by socialization it received more and more education, as it has been since ancient times. There was both practical training in work and moral guidelines linked to religion. We see this in the Old Testament, especially in textbooks such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, they were taught godliness and then it was essential to learn to believe in Him and seek Him with all their heart. The man was taught to be a good husband and the woman was trained to be a good wife, it aimed at marriage and it became a new socialization for them. With marriage, home, and family life, God created a new society with new socialization for them. Indeed they were the ones who did their work, but they had to see it as God who did His work with them, and honor and thank Him for it, keep the shabbat holy, so that they rested on the foundation of what God had done. And then they also had to honor their father and mother for what they had done for them.

Since they were blessed by Abraham’s faith, they were to acknowledge that it was God who created something new from generation to generation, and then they had to adjust to it by seeking Him with all their hearts and clinging to Him with all their hearts. Whether they should seek Him and bow down to Him or try to be more independent of Him became a conflict between Him and the idols of the neighboring peoples and between them and the neighboring peoples.

Jesus blessed the little ones and told us to let them come to him, because the kingdom of God belongs to them. And then he said that we must repent and become as children, yes, born again, of water (the water of life) and the Spirit of God, in order to see it and enter into it. So we are born into it as well and then we are saved into it. Then we have to adjust to that as well. We can think of it as a socialization where the individual has to come as he or she is and find their place, as a need for them. It is only on the basis that Jesus died instead of us.

In modern society, we have had public schooling, there has come more and more of it, as we have seen how important this became for the construction of society. Society became more and more complex and advanced and needed more and more education. Because there is so much education, critical thinking is also needed to assess how much of this is needed or valuable in any way. Or if there is something valuable that has been discarded. Who should consider, it if not the people themselves?

Where does the most fundamental socialization that gave the most fundamental social building go, with marriage, home and family life and then church building? The kingdom of God is the most fundamental kingdom, to be born into it and socialized within it is the most fundamental socialization, to build on the foundation of the gospel is most fundamental, as God’s co-workers we build with something that has the value for eternity.

Blessing and salvation.

I believe that infant baptism served as a child blessing, because the parents, fathers, and priest believed in Christ, so they were blessed by faith in Him and became a blessing to the child. But baptism symbolizes how Christ saves us and that is something that the teaching must aim at. Faith comes from the preaching and the preaching from Christ´s Word. By believing that God raised Christ from the dead, we become righteous before God and by acknowledging that He is Lord, we are saved. Since Christ died instead of us, we are to regard us as being crucified and dying with him and in baptism we are buried with him. There we are also raised with him, by the power of God.

1.Cor.1,17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 
18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 

Col.2:6 You have received Christ Jesus as Lord; then you must also live in him. 7 Be rooted in him and built up in him. Stand firm in the threat, as you have learned, and abound in thanks to God.  8 See that nothing catches you with wisdom and idle foolishness, which is incumbent upon human traditions, and comes from the basic forces of the world, and not from Christ.  9 For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead, 10 and in Christ, who is the head of all powers and dominions, you have also been partakers of this fullness.  11 In him they were also circumcised, not with a circumcision made with hands, but with the circumcision of Christ, when you put off the body that is under sin.  12 For in baptism you were buried with him; there you were also raised with him, through faith in the power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.  13 You were dead because of your sins, uncircumcised as you were with your evil nature. But He made dives alive with Christ, forgiving us all our sins.  14 And he blew out the bill of guilt against us, which was written with the penance of the law, and went against us. He took it away when he nailed it to the cross.  15 He disarmed the powers and dominions, and made them a mockery, when he appeared victorious over them on the cross.

Col.3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

 Ephesians 2:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) 

Creation and the Fall, history repeating itself.

God created the man out of the dust of the field and blew the breath of life into his nose, so that he became a living soul. He planted a garden in the east and there he put the man and set him to cultivate and protect it. Then he created the woman out of his sidebone and brought her to him, that she might be a help who suited to him. Therefore, the husband should part with his parents and stay with his wife. Accordingly God creates something new from generation to generation. God created something fundamentally new, people were only to maintain the garden, by cultivating and protecting it, so that it would be productive, that is, for the nourishment and benefit of themselves. 

God rested on the seventh day after the work He had done and declared it holy. People were in God’s rest, but at the fall they fell out of it. The serpent enticed the woman that if they ate from the tree of knowledge, they would become like God and know good and bad. She took the fruit and ate and gave it to her husband and he ate too. This is still the Devil’s strategy, he fooles and seduces the woman as in the fall, and then uses her to entice the man along. Since they were trying to make themselves like God, they were to try to do God’s work themselves, in their own power, it was as if it were imposed on them, but they were not able to do so. God was spirit, but the man was soil, with sweat on his face he was to eat his bread, until he returned to the soil.

Since then, we see that God still created civilizations, but the rulers overreacted by trying to make themselves like God, as shown by the fact that they worshipped idols of sticks and stones. Then he punished them, and their kingdom perished. It was the history that repeated itself.

The birthright and the one that God chose and blessed to create something new.

In one family, the eldest son had the birthright and that meant a spiritual blessing over the others, so they had to conform to him, so they were also blessed. During the agricultural revolution, the family cultivated an area of land that became theirs and it was common for the eldest son to inherit it all, so that it also became included in the birthright. Such landed property was valuable and became a motive for war and devastation. They needed a defense, so it eventually became decisive for who owned the land. Thus, it might result in religious and militant landowners that were called aristocrats, while those who worked to cultivate it became slaves. The aristocrats might adore themselves and it showed in the fact that they made idols out of sticks and stones. Some of them became kings, but since they tried to make themselves like God, he punished them, so that their kingdom perished. Nevertheless, it was God who did it all, and it was history that repeated itself.

In this way, the teaching became tradition, but there was little new thinking and innovation, God wanted to create something new from generation to generation, but it was met with resistance. Then sometimes God would choose a younger brother from a group of siblings, bless him, and do something new through him. At times, the elder became jealous of him.

Cain and Abel.

Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain and achieved something more. Therefore, Cain became jealous and killed him. Later, Adam and Eve had a son, Set, he was just like Abel. In the Bible we get the family-tree of Kain and Set, but Adam and Eve got many more children that we don´t hear anything more of. As if det descendants of the two eldest sons were more important.

Kain og Abel.

Abel bar fram eit betre offer enn Kain og oppnådde noko meir. Derfor vart Kain misunneleg og slo han i hel. Sidan fekk Adam og Eva Set, han var heilt lik Abel. 

Genesis.4,1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 
6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.  
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 
9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? 
10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. 
11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; 
12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 
13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 
14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 
15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. 
…….

25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. 
26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

Genesis.5,1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 
2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 
3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: 
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: 
5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. 

Heb.11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 

Esau and Jacob.

Esau and Jacob were twins, Esau was born first, but Jacob came so close after, that he held Esau at his heel. Thus Esau was given the birthright, but it was somewhat strange that it should make such a big difference between twins. A lot of other things had affect here and it’s a long story. Jacob bought the birthright from Esau and deceived his father into getting the blessing that came with it by saying that he was Esau. Then he wrestled with the angel of the Lord to receive the blessing. The angel asked for his name and then he could not say that he was Esau or pretend to be someone other than who he was, he had to come to the Lord as he was and admit that he was Jacob. Then he was named Israel.

Genesis 32:24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. 
29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.  
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. 

Hosea 12:3 The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. 
3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: 
4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us; 
5 Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial. 
6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually. 

Joseph and his brothers.

Joseph had a dream that he told his brothers, and they interpreted the dream correctly and became so jealous of him that they wanted to kill him, but Reuben and Judah persuade them, so they sold him as slave instead. That was how it turned out, but it was a dream that God gave him, as a prophecy and implemented.

Gen. 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. 
4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.  
5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 
6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 
7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 
8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.  
9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 
10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 
11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying. 

David and his brothers and Saul.

David was the youngest of many brothers, and it seemed strange that God chose him before his adult brothers.

1 Samuel 16,3  And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. 
⁴ And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? 
⁵ And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 
⁶ And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him. 
⁷ But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 
⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 
⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 
¹⁰ Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these. 
¹¹ And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 
¹² And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 
¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. 
¹⁴ But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. 
¹⁵ And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. 
¹⁶ Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. 
¹⁷ And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. 
¹⁸ Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him. 
¹⁹ Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep. 
²⁰ And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. 

Jacob sent Joseph to look for his brothers, but they were so jealous of him that he did not fare well. In contrast, Jesse sent David to look for his brothers, and the elder turned out to be jealous of him.

1 Samuel 17:26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 
27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. 
28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 
29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? 
30 And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner. 

God had rejected Saul as king and sent Samuel to anoint David to become king. It became a battle of the spirits. David first defeated Goliath and continued to win victories, so the people honored him for it. And Saul became more and more jealous of David and wanted to kill him, so David fled and gathered a small band of warriors who were with him. Of course, this envy was much more fundamental than Eliab’s jealousy of David.

Jesus brought the true wisdom from heaven, so that the people could experience that God was their Father and guardian.

The people were incapacitated and degraded by the teachings of the “wise,” but their teaching was foolishness, even in Israel. But Jesus brought the true wisdom of his Father in heaven, so that people could experience that he became their father and guardian.

Matthew 11:25  At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 
26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 
27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. 
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus is the Truth that sets us free from slavery to sin and idols.

In the Old Testament, the idols, made of stick and stone, are called the Lie and Jesus called the Devil the Liar. In contrast, Christ is the Truth that sets us free from slavery to sin and idols.

John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 
33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 

The blood of Jesus speaks better than the blood of Abel.

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, so God blessed him and promised him that in him all peoples would be blessed, those who blessed him would be blessed, but those who cursed him would be cursed. This promise is fulfilled in Christ. The Father loved the world so much that he sent his only Son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. Those who believe in him and bless him will be blessed, those who curse him will be cursed.

Jesus went around preaching the gospel of God’s kingdom, he got some disciples who were with him, so they received special training. The Father was with him and did his work through him and them. This became more and more evident to the people, so more and more people believed in him and followed him. The priests, Pharisees, and scribes became jealous of him and regarded him as a dangerous competitor, so they rejected him and tried to clear him out of the way, and in the end they demanded that he be executed. But then it happened that the blood of Jesus spoke better than the blood of Abel.

Heb.12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 
²³ To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 
²⁴ And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 
²⁵ See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 
²⁶ Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 
²⁷ And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 
²⁸ Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 
²⁹ For our God is a consuming fire.

We who believe in Jesus, bless him, become blessed, receive him and receive the right to become God’s children, receive the grace God gives us in him, acknowledge him to God and man that “he died instead of me”, thus his sin offering is for me, which I use, so I become like Abel who offered a good sacrifice. But he was then beaten to death. Yes, but Jesus died instead of me, so that is the sin offering I will use. Abel is thus typical of the new nature, Cain is typical of the old nature that we are going to leave behind. 

1.John 3,4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 
5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 
6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. 
11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 
12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. 
13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. 
14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 
15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 
16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 
17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 

The devil will likely try to create discord, enmity, and hatred between brothers, thus dividing the family. But the Son of God is revealed to bring to naught the work of the Devil.

The Lawless One as a substitute for the one who is righteous through faith in Christ.

Paul spoke of the new Christ-nature that takes the place instead of the old evil nature, comparable to how John spoke about “the Abel” nature and of the “Cain nature”. In 2 Thessalonians 2 he spoke of the Lawless One who resists and will replace an angelica, we can understand it as a reaction against “the new Able-nature” by Cain killing Abel. It is not limited to using physical violence, but can result in it.

2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

The beast with the False prophet, as a substitute for God’s prophet.

God had said that he would do something new.

Isaiah 43,16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; 
17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. 
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 
20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. 
21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. 

But in Revelation.13 it is told that the Dragon gave the Beast his throne and great power.

Rev.13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 
² And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 
³ And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 
⁴ And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 

The dragon is the Devil and his strategy is to deceive and seduce people as in the fall, and then bring complaints against them, in order to gain power over them both with the seduction and the complaint. He enticed them to try to idolize themselves, so they became incapacitated and degraded under their idols. But here we see that he gives the Beast such power. This head of the Beast I believe is Emperor Nero, but it is also a political line far into the future.

Then it is told of a second Beast that served the first Beast. The second Beast performed signs similar to the sign Elijah was empowered to do. Yet this was the False Prophet, who thus tried to replace the prophet of the true and living God.

Rev. 13:13 ¹³ And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 

John 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 

The prophecy of the False Prophet may seem like something radically new, as if it were the new thing that God wanted to do, but in reality it comes as a substitute for it. With the result that people do not get into the new as God wanted to do anyway and do not join in it anyway. They are deceived, so they stay in the old way anyway.

Christ or the Antichrist.

The idols made of stick and stone were the Lies and the Devil was the Liar. But Christ is the Truth that sets us free from it. Who is the Liar then, if not the one who denies Christ? He is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

1.John 3:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 
20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 
21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 
22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. 
24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. 
25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. 
26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 
27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.