Tuesday, June 28, 2016


Word of God
But he answering, said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The Gospel According to Matthew 4:4

Psalm 16:2
Prefaced & Edited by Doktor Riktor Von Zhades

O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my well doing extendeth not to thee
GNV Translation Ed. 1599
I have said unto HaShem: Thou art my Lord; I have no good but in Thee
JPS Translation Ed.1917

Brethren:

Who else can we turn to but to put our trust in our Lord? Our whole being, our whole existence depends on our Creator. All that we are we owe to Him that loved us enough to send His own Son into the world to be the propitiation of our sins. In Him doth all our righteousness comes from, for it is imputed unto us to be heirs to the kingdom. As such all good that we do, we do in His name, and for His glory, that those of this world may know of His goodness to all His children. - Doktor Riktor Von Zhades - Humble servant of Christ.

He recognizes his solemn dedication of himself to God as his God: “O my soul! thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord, and therefore thou mayest venture to trust him.” Note that It is first the duty and interest of every one of us to acknowledge the Lord for our Lord, to subject ourselves to him, and then to stay ourselves upon him. Adonai signifies My stayer, the strength of my heart. Secondly this must be done with our souls: “O my soul! thou hast said it.” Covenanting with God must be heart-work; all that is within us must be employed therein and engaged thereby. Those who have avouched the Lord for their Lord should be often putting themselves in mind of what they have done. “Hast thou said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord? Say it again then, stand to it, abide by it, and never unsay it. Hast thou said it? Take the comfort of it, and live up to it. He is thy Lord, and worship thou him, and let thy eye be ever towards him.”
Matthew Henry - 17th Century Theologian

Sunday, June 26, 2016


Seth and His Descendants Part Two
Genealogy of the Believing Race, through Seth
(Based on Genesis Chapter 5)
By Alfred Eldersheim
Edited by Doktor Riktor Von Zhades

ONE purpose of Scripture has now been fulfilled. The tendencies for evil of the Cainite race have been traced to their full unfolding, and "the kingdom of this world" has appeared in its real character. (Read John 18:36; 2 Corinthians 4:4) On the other hand, the race of Seth have gathered around an open profession of their faith in the promises, and of their purpose to serve God, and they have on this ground separated themselves from the Cainites. The two ways* are clearly marked out, and the character of those who walk in them determined. There is, therefore, no further need to follow the history of the Cainites, and Scripture turns from them to give us an account of "the elders" who "by faith" "obtained a good report." (Read Hebrews Chapter 11)

At first sight it seems as if the narrative here opened with only a "book," or account, "of the generations of Adam," containing here and there a brief notice interspersed; but in truth it is otherwise. At the outset we mark, as a significant contrast, that whereas we read of Adam that "in the likeness of God made He him," it is now added that "he begat a son in his own likeness, after his image." Adam was created pure and sinless in the likeness of God; Seth inherited the fallen nature of his father. Next, we observe how all the genealogies, from Adam downwards, have this in common, that they give first the age of the father at the birth of his eldest son,** then the number of years which each of them lived after that event, and finally their total age at the time of death. Altogether, ten "elders" are named from the creation to the time of the flood, and thus grouped:***

Column 1 - Names; Column 2 - Age at Birth of Son; Column 3 - Number of years after that event; Column 4 - Total Age; Column 5 - Year of Birth from Creation; Column 6 - Year of Death from Creation.

On examining them more closely, what strikes us in these genealogical records of the Patriarchs is, that the details they furnish are wanting in the history of the Cainites, where simply the birth of seven generations are mentioned, viz.: Adam, Cain, Enoch, Irad, Mehajael, Methusael, Lamech, and his sons. The reason of this difference is, that whereas the Cainites had really no future, the Sethites, who "called upon the name of Jehovah," were destined to carry out the purpose of God in grace unto the end. Next, in two cases the same names occur in the two races - Enoch and Lamech. But in both, Scripture furnishes characteristic distinctions between them. In opposition to the Enoch after whom Cain called his city, we have the Sethite Enoch, "who walked with God, and was not; for God took him;" and in contradistinction to the Cainite Lamech, with his boastful ode to his sword, we have the other Lamech, who called his son Noah, "saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed." Thus the similarity of their names only brings out the more clearly the contrast of their character. Finally, as the wickedness of the one race comes out most fully in Lamech, who stands seventh in the genealogy of the Cainites, so does the godliness of the other in Enoch, who equally stands seventh in that of the Sethites.

Passing from this comparison of the two genealogies to the table of the Sethites, we are reminded of the saying, that these primeval genealogies are "monuments alike of the faithfulness of God in the fulfillment of His promise, and of the faith and patience of the fathers." Every generation lived its appointed time; they transmitted the promise to their sons; and then, having finished their course, they all "died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." That is absolutely all we know of the majority of them. But the emphatic and seemingly needless repetition in each case of the words, "And he died," with which every genealogy closes, tells us that "death reigned from Adam unto Moses," (Read Romans 5:14) with all the lessons which it conveyed of its origin in sin, and of its conquest by the second Adam. Only one exception occurs to this general rule - in the case of Enoch;**** when, instead of the usual brief notice how many years he "lived" after the birth of his son, we read that "he walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years;" and instead of the simple closing statement that "he died," we are not only a second time told that "Enoch walked with God," but also that "he was not; for God took him." Thus both his life and his translation are connected with his "walk with God." This expression is unique in Scripture, and except in reference to Noah (Read Genesis 6:9) only occurs again in connection with the priest's intercourse with God in the holy place. (Read Malachi 2:6) Thus it indicates a peculiarly intimate, close, and personal converse with Jehovah. Alike the life, the work, and the removal of Enoch are thus explained in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." (Read Hebrews 11:5) His translation was like that of Elijah (Read 2 Kings 2:10), and like what that of the saints shall be at the second coming of our blessed Lord. (Read 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52) In this connection it is very remarkable that Enoch "prophesied" of the very thing which was manifested in his own case, "saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."*****

When Enoch was "translated" only Adam had as yet died: Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, and Jared were still alive. On the other hand, not only Methuselah, the son of Enoch, but also his grandson Lamech, who at the time was one hundred and thirteen years old, must have witnessed his removal. Noah was not yet born. But how deep on the godly men of that period was the impression produced by the prophecy of Enoch, and by what we may call its anticipatory and typical fulfillment in his translation, appears from the circumstance that Lamech gave to his son, who was born sixty-nine years after the translation of Enoch, the name of Noah - "rest" or "comfort" - "saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed." Evidently Lamech felt the burden of toil upon an earth which God had cursed, and looked forward to a gracious deliverance from the misery and corruption existing in consequence of it, by the fulfillment of the Divine promise concerning the Deliverer. In longing hope of this he called his son Noah. A change, indeed, did come; but it was by the destruction of that sinful generation, and by the commencement of a new period in the covenant-history. We mark that, in the case of Noah, Scripture no longer mentions, as before, only one son; but it gives us the names of the three sons of Noah, to show that henceforth the one line was to divide into three, which were to become the founders of human history.

It is most instructive, also, to notice that Enoch, who seems to have walked nearest to God, only lived on earth altogether three hundred and sixty-five years - less than half the time of those who preceded and who succeeded him. An extraordinary length of life may be a blessing, as affording space for repentance and grace; but in reference to those most dear to God, it may be shortened as a relief from the work and toil which sin has brought upon this world. Indeed, the sequel will show that the extraordinary duration of life, though necessary at the first, yet by no means proved a source of good to a wicked and corrupt generation.

*Consider Proverbs Chapters 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 - Dr. RVZ

** With the exception of Seth, who, of course, was not the eldest son of Adam.

*** Such are the numbers according to the Hebrew text. There are differences between this and the Greek translation of the so-called LXX (the Septuagint), and also the Samaritan text. For further particulars we refer to chapter 10, where also the difference between the chronologies of Ussher and Hales is explained.

**** It might also be suggested that Melchizedek could be considered in the same accounting for we find no record of his birth, nor death, except that he was a righteous man after God’s own heart. - Neither His Father, nor His Mother were written of in the tribal annals; and neither the beginning of His days, nor the end of His Life were written of, except of as those in the likeness of the Son of Allaha, (Aramaic for God) thus his Kingly Priesthood is established forever. (literal translation: “to the end of the universe - Hebrews 7:3 AE Translation - Dr. RVZ

***** Jude 14, 15. This quite accords with what was generally known about Enoch. One of the Old Testament apocryphal works, written before the time of Christ (Read Ecclesiasticus 44:16), has it that "Enoch was translated, being an example of repentance to all generations;" while another book (B. of En. i. 9) expressly states, that he prophesied the coming of the Lord for judgment upon the ungodly.



Thursday, June 23, 2016


Word of God
But he answering, said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The Gospel According to Matthew 4:4

Psalm 14:5
Prefaced & Edited by Doktor Riktor Von Zhades

You may set at naught the counsel of the lowly but HaShem is his refuge (JPS Translation)

Brethren:

The ungodly sneer at those who would worship our Creator but he is our tower of strength and our hiding place during divers tribulations and trials. Who else can we turn to for inspiration, and wisdom concerning all things that might beset us on this temporal plain. Man will fail you, even with the best of intentions, but the faithfulness of God will never cease, and never fail. (Read Deuteronomy31:8; Psalm 9:10, 71:22, 94:14; Isaiah 11:5, 41:17; Lamentations 3:23; Zephaniah 3:5*; Hebrews 13:5-7)

He [The Psalmist David] endeavors to comfort the people of God With what they have. They have God’s presence: He is in the generation of the righteous. They have his protection. The Lord is their refuge. This is as much their security as it is the terror of their enemies, who may jeer them for their confidence in God, but cannot jeer them out of it. In the judgment-day it will add to the terror and confusion of sinners to see God own the generation of the righteous, which they have hated and bantered. With what they hope for; and that is the salvation of Israel. When David was driven out by Absalom and his rebellious accomplices, he comforted himself with an assurance that God would in due time turn again his captivity, to the joy of all his good subjects. But surely this pleasing prospect looks further. He had, in the beginning of the psalm, lamented the general corruption of mankind; and, in the melancholy view of that, wishes for the salvation which should be wrought out by the Redeemer, who was expected to come to Zion, to turn away ungodliness from Jacob, (Read Romans 11:26). The world is bad; O that the Messiah would come and change its character! There is a universal corruption; O for the times of reformation! Those will be as joyful times as these are melancholy ones. Then shall God turn again the captivity of his people; for the Redeemer shall ascend on high, and lead captivity captive, and Jacob shall then rejoice. The triumphs of Zion’s King will be the joys of Zion’s children. The second coming of Christ, finally to extinguish the dominion of sin and Satan, will be the completing of this salvation, which is the hope, and will be the joy, of every Israelite indeed. With the assurance of that we should, in singing this, comfort ourselves and one another, with reference to the present sins of sinners and sufferings of saints. - Matthew Henry

*HaShem who is righteous is in the midst of her, He will not do unrighteousness; every morning doth He bring His right to light, it faileth not; but the unrighteous knoweth no shame. - Jewish Publication Society Eds. 1917 & 1985 - Editor’s notation; This writer just happens to like this translation as it makes note of the righteous character of The Lord (HaShem) and His faithfulness.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016


Word of God
But he answering, said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The Gospel According to Matthew 4:4

Psalm 14:4
Prefaced & Edited by Doktor Riktor Von Zhades

Do not all the workers of iniquity know that they eat up my people, as they eat bread? they call not upon the Lord.

Brethren:

Consider also this day in your meditations Psalm 79:6; Jeremiah 10:25; Amos 8:4; Micah 3:3

Of the being of God, of the nature of sin, and of the punishment due unto it? This question is put either by way of admiration, as Kimchi and Aben Ezra observe; the psalmist, or rather God speaking after the manner of men, wondering that there should be such ignorance and stupidity among men, as before expressed; or rather, as denying this to be the case, and affirming that they have knowledge, notwithstanding they think, and say, and do, as before related, as in (Read Romans 9:21 ) . Do not they know that there is a God? and that they are accountable to him for their actions? Verily they do: for this is said, not of sinners of the Gentiles; though even they, by the light of nature, know there is a God, and show the work of the law written in their hearts; and have a consciousness in them of good and evil; but of sinners in Zion, of the profligate part of mankind among the Jews, who had a divine revelation, by which they knew the one God of Israel; and a law, by which was the knowledge of sin, and whose sanctions were rewards and punishments. And it seems to design the chief among them, who had power over others, to eat them up and devour them; even their political and ecclesiastical governors (Read Ezekiel 34:2 ) , who, though they had no spiritual understanding, nor experimental knowledge of things, yet had a theoretical and speculative one; so that their sins were attended with this aggravation, that they were against light and knowledge. Nor pray to him, or serve and worship him; for invocation includes the whole worship of God; and this they do not, though they know him, and are daily supplied by him, and eat his bread. Some read this clause with the former, "they eat bread, and call not on the Lord"; as if their sin was, that when they eat bread, they did not ask a blessing upon it, nor return thanks to God for it, which ought to be done; but the accent "athnach"(a) under ‘bread’, will not admit of this sense, though it seems to be countenanced by the Targum.”
John Gill - Theologian

(a) These are accent marks used in the old Hebrew texts

Monday, June 20, 2016


Word of God
But he answering, said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The Gospel According to Matthew 4:4

Psalm 14:2-3
Prefaced & Edited by Doktor Riktor Von Zhades

2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that would understand, and seek God. 3 All are gone out of the way: they are all corrupt: there is none that doeth good, no not one.

Brethren:

For the Lord your God sees and searches into the hearts of men (Read Romans 8:27) that as such, He knows which will follow His lead, His way, and walk in His righteousness. However, we must ask ourselves, are we as faithful to Him as He to us? For daily we both bless and curse from the same spring of water (Read James 3:9-11). Likewise that spring can be compared to the heart from which the issues of it are spoken through our mouths. (Read Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 12:35)
Consider then this for yourselves, which do you serve; the heart of this world, or the heart of righteousness. - Dr. Riktor Von Zhades - Servant of Christ

The disgrace and debasement it puts upon the nature of man. Sinners are corrupt, quite degenerated from what man was in his innocent estate: They have become filthy, putrid. All their faculties are so disordered that they have become odious to their Maker and utterly incapable of answering the ends of their creation. They are corrupt indeed; for they do no good, but are the unprofitable burdens of the earth; they do God no service, bring him no honour, nor do themselves any real kindness. They do a great deal of hurt. They have done abominable works, for such all sinful works are. Sin is an abomination to God; it is that abominable thing which he hates (Read Jeremiah 44:4), and, sooner or later, it will be so to the sinner; it will be found to be hateful (Read Psalm 36:2), an abomination of desolation, that is, making desolate, (Read Matthew 24:15) This follows upon their saying, There is no God; for those that profess they know God, but in works deny him, are abominable, and to every good work reprobate, (Read Titus 1:16). [Yet we find that] every operation of the thought of man’s heart was evil, only evil, and that continually. They have gone aside from the right of their duty, the way that leads to happiness, and have turned into the paths of the destroyer.” Matthew Henry

Sunday, June 19, 2016


Seth and his Descendants Part One
The Race of Cain
(Based on Genesis Chapter 4)
By Albert Eldersheim
Edited by Doktor Riktor Von Zhades

THE place of Abel could not remain unfilled, if God's purpose of mercy were to be carried out. Accordingly He gave to Adam and Eve another son, whom his mother significantly called "Seth," that is, "appointed," or rather "compensation;" "for God," said she, "hath appointed me ('compensated me with') another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew." Before, however, detailing the history of Seth and his descendants, Scripture traces that of Cain to the fifth and sixth generations. Cain, as we know, had gone into the land of "Nod" - "wandering," "flight," "unrest," - and there built a city, which has been aptly described as the laying of the first foundations of that kingdom in which "the spirit of the beast" prevails.(a) We must remember that probably centuries had elapsed since the creation, and that men had already multiplied on the earth. Beyond this settlement of Cain, nothing seems to have occurred which Scripture has deemed necessary to record, except that the names of the "Cainites" are still singularly like those of the "Sethites." Thus we follow the line of Cain's descendants to Lamech, the fifth from Cain, when all at once the character and tendencies of that whole race appear fully developed. It comes upon us, almost by surprise, that within so few generations, and in the lifetime of the first man, almost every commandment and institution of God should already be openly set aside, and violence, lust, and ungodliness prevail upon the earth. The first direct breach of God's arrangement of which we here read, is the introduction of polygamy. "Lamech took unto him two wives." Assuredly, "from the beginning it was not so." But this is not all. Scripture preserves to us in the address of Lamech to his two wives the earliest piece of poetry. It has been designated "Lamech's Sword-song," and breathes a spirit of boastful defiance, of trust in his own strength, of violence, and of murder.(b) Of God there is no further acknowledgment than in a reference to the avenging of Cain, from which Lamech augurs his own safety. Nor is it without special purpose that the names of Lamech's wives and of his daughter are mentioned in Scripture. For their names point to "the lust of the eye, and the lust of the flesh," just as the occupations of Lamech's sons point to "the pride of life." The names of his wives were "Adah," that is, "beauty," or "adornment;" and "Zillah," that is, "the shaded," perhaps from her tresses, or else "sounding," perhaps from her song; while "Naamah," as Lamech's daughter was called, means "pleasant, graceful, lovely." And here we come upon another and most important feature in the history of the "Cainites." The pursuits and inventions of the sons of Lamech point to the culture of the arts, and to a settled and permanent state of society. His eldest son by Adah, "Jabal, was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle," that is, he made even the pastoral life a regular business. His second son, "Jubal, was the father of all such as handle the harp (or cithern), and the flute (or sackbut)," in other words, the inventor alike of stringed and of wind instruments; while Tubal-Cain, (c) Lamech's son by Zillah, was "an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron." Taken in connection with Lamech's sword-song, which immediately follows the scriptural account of his sons' pursuits, we are warranted in designating the culture and civilization introduced by the family of Lamech as essentially godless. And that, not only because it was that of ungodly men, but because it was pursued independent of God, and in opposition to the great purposes which He had with man. Moreover, it is very remarkable that we perceive in the Cainite race those very things which afterwards formed the characteristics of heathenism, as we find it among the most advanced nations of antiquity, such as Greece and Rome. Over their family-life might be written, as it were, the names Adah, Zillah, Naamah; over their civil life the "sword-song of Lamech," which indeed strikes the key-note of ancient heathen society; and over their culture and pursuits, the abstract of the biographies which Scripture furnishes us of the descendants of Cain. And as their lives have been buried in the flood, so has a great flood also swept away heathenism - its life, culture, and civilization from the earth, and only left on the mountaintop that ark into which God had shut up them who believed His warnings and His promises.

The contrast becomes most marked as we turn from this record of the Cainites to that of Seth and of his descendants. Even the name which Seth gave to his son - Enos, or "frail"(d) - stands out as a testimony against the assumption of the Cainites. But especially does this vital difference between the two races appear in the words which follow upon the notice of Enos' birth: "Then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah." Of course, it cannot be supposed that before that time prayer and the praise of God had been wholly unknown in the earth. Even the sacrifices of Cain and of Abel prove the contrary. It must therefore mean, that the vital difference which had all along existed between the two races, became now also outwardly manifest(e) by a distinct and open profession, and by the praise of God on the part of the Sethites. We have thus reached the first great period in the history of the kingdom of God - that of an outward and visible separation between the two parties, when those who are "of faith" "come out from among" the world, and from the kingdom of this world. We remember how many, many centuries afterwards, when He had come, whose blood speaketh better things than that of Abel, His followers were similarly driven to separate themselves from Israel after the flesh, and how in Antioch they were first called Christians. As that marked the commencement of the history of the New Testament Church, so this introduction of an open profession of Jehovah on the part of the Sethites, the beginning of the history of the kingdom of God under the Old Testament.


And yet this separation and coming out from the world, this "beginning to call upon the name of Jehovah," is what to this day each one of us must do for himself, if he would take up the cross, follow Christ, and enter into the kingdom of God.

(a) A modem commentator holds that the words of Genesis 4:17, only imply that Cain "was building," not that he had finished the building of his city. Editor’s notation to footnote:

14 And deceived them that dwell on the earth by the signs which were permitted to him to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make the image of the beast, which had the wound of a sword, and did live. 15 And it was permitted to him to give a spirit unto the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast should speak, and should cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16 And he made all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads” - Revelations 13:14-16

(b) A modern critic has rendered Lamech's Sword-song thus:

"Adah and Zillah, hear my voice: ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech; Yea, I slay men for my wound, and young men for my hurt. For if Cain is avenged sevenfold, Lamech seventy and sevenfold"; referring to the invention of Tubal-Cain, and meaning that if God avenged Cain, he would with his sword avenge himself seventy and sevenfold for every wound and every hurt.

Editor’s notation of footnote - “TUBAL-CAIN (Heb. תּוּבַל־קַיִן), son of Lamech. Genesis 4:22 states that "Zillah bore Tubal-Cain, who forged implements of copper and iron; Tubal-Cain had a sister Naamah." Various attempts have been made to identify Tubal-Cain as the name of an ancient tribe somewhere in the Near East. S. Mowinckel, however, followed by W.F. Albright, understands Tubal as a generic name for smith, derived from ybl, "to bring, produce." The second element of the name is universally connected with the Arabic qāyin, Aramaic qaināyā (qaināʾah), "smith, metalworker." In later times, Tubal-Cain was confused with the Tubal of Genesis 10:2, for example, and mistakenly identified with the Tuscans, well-known smiths of the ancient world. A. Dillmann pointed to the parallel between Tubal-Cain and his beautiful sister Naamah and the Greek smith-god, Hephaestus, and his sister Aphrodite. The aggadic interpretation of the meaning of Tubal-Cain's name, is based upon the biblical record that he was "the forger of every cutting instrument" (Read Genesis 4:22). The aggadah teaches that by thus furnishing mankind with the means to repeat Cain's act of killing, with even more ease, he perfected (tibbel, תִּבֵּל) Cain's sin (Read Genesis R. 23:3).’ - Source - Jewish Virtual Library

(c) Perhaps "Tubal, the smith."

(d) The word is used for "man," from his frailty, in such passages as Psalm 8:4; 90:3; 103:15, [and others]
Editor’s notation of footnote - dal dal from 1809; properly, dangling, i.e. (by implication) weak or thin:--lean, needy, poor (man), weaker. 1809 - to slacken or be feeble; figuratively, to be oppressed:--bring low, dry up, be emptied, be not equal, fail, be impoverished, be made thin.
Source Strong’s Concordance for the word “man”
Also worthy of notation is the word “frail”;
605 'anash aw-nash' a primitive root; to be frail, feeble, or (figuratively) melancholy:--desperate(-ly wicked), incurable, sick, woeful. Source - Strong’s Concordance

(e) This has been made even more manifest in our own times. Think upon the advancement of technology that has become a two sided coin of both blessing and curse. For now along with the ability to promote the Gospel of Christ, we can also see the denouncing of it by the ungodly. Even as a short a time as a half century like minded people of both the former and the latter groups were limited in their ability to speak such to only small handfuls of others. Not so today, for we have instant communications via the internet, TV, radio and a host of other means in which we can and do connect. Dr. RVZ

Thursday, June 16, 2016


Word of God
But he answering, said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The Gospel According to Matthew 4:4

Psalm 14:1
Prefaced & Edited by Doktor Riktor Von Zhades

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God: they have corrupted, and done an abominable work: there is none that doeth good.

Brethren:

We cannot add much in the way of commentary for the above other than to say man’s current nature is one of sin. Righteousness as defined by our Creator is beyond his reach. This is particularly true of the ungodly, who would deny Him. Praise be to our Lord and Redeemer Christ Jesus for His sacrifice. For now His righteousness is imputed unto to us. (Read Romans Chapter 4)

This is to be understood not of a single individual person, as Nabal, which is the word here used; nor of some Gentile king, as Sennacherib, or Rabshakeh his general, as Theodoret; nor of Nebuchadnezzar, nor of Titus, as some Jewish writers interpret it, making one to be here intended, and the other in the fifty third psalm: the same with this; but of a body, a set of men, who justly bear this character; and design not such who are idiots, persons void of common sense and understanding; but such who are fools in their morals, without understanding in spiritual things; wicked profligate wretches, apostates from God, alienated from the life of God; and whose hearts are full of blindness and ignorance, and whose conversations are vile and impure, and they enemies of righteousness, though full of all wicked subtlety and mischief: these say in their hearts, which are desperately wicked, and out of which evil thoughts proceed, pregnant with atheism and impiety; these endeavor to work themselves into such a belief, and inwardly to conclude, at least to wish, [that there is] no God; though they do not express it with their mouths, yet they would fain persuade their hearts to deny the being of God; that so having no superior to whom they are accountable, they may go on in sin with impunity; however, to consider him as altogether such an one as themselves, and to remove such perfections from him, as may render him unworthy to be regarded by them; such as omniscience, omnipresence and to conceive of him as entirely negligent of and unconcerned about affairs of this lower world, having nothing to do with the government of it: and thus to deny his perfections and providence, is all one as to deny his existence, or that there is a God: accordingly the Targum paraphrases it: ‘there is no, government of God in the earth;’” - John Gill 17th Century Theologian






Tuesday, June 14, 2016


A Twelfth Plea
by Doktor Riktor Von Zhades

Fellow citizens, countrymen and women:

Only perhaps a few now can recall, but many more have read that at one time this nation could feed the world. Likewise we became an industrial powerhouse with innovations that lead to such revolutionary technologies. Many medical advances came from us, the curing of deadly diseases, and the will to see a job get done. We were indeed a blessed nation. We unashamedly, and freely worshiped our Creator and our Lord. He in turn opened all the windows of the heavens and pour the riches of them upon us, and gave us the usage of His wisdom to succeed in all our endeavors. Yet now, here we stand, a nation fractured, and almost torn asunder. Divided by so many evil forces. Spiritual forces in high places that attack the very fabric of this once God fearing nation.

Also, we have neglected our very selves. Do you not know that your very bodies are temples that house the Holy Spirit of God? Yet these temple have been allowed to decay, and fall into ruin. We have rejected His presence within ourselves, and have allowed that of the world to take hold and strangle our first love; that being of the Creator.

Hearken now to the words of the Prophet Haggai Chapter 1:2-8, and prepare to meet your God

2 'Thus speaketh HaShem of hosts, saying: This people say: The time is not come, the time that HaShem's house should be built. 3 Then came the word of HaShem by Haggai the prophet, saying: 4 'Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your cieled houses, while this house lieth waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith HaShem of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and brought in little, ye eat, but ye have not enough, ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink, ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages for a bag with holes 7 Thus saith HaShem of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hill-country, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith HaShem.”

Monday, June 13, 2016

Word of God
But he answering, said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The Gospel According to Matthew 4:4

Psalm 13:5
Prefaced & Edited by Doktor Riktor Von Zhades

5 But I trust in thy mercy: mine heart shall rejoice in thy salvation; I will sing to the Lord, because he hath dealt lovingly with me.

Brethren:

First it should be noted that this from the Geneva Bible Translation, and as such what is separated into two verses, that being five and six, are herein combined into one.

Moving forward it is no surprise that throughout his life King David was faced with adversity, from his battle against Goliath and persecution by King Saul, and further onward in dealing with those that would act treacherously during his reign. Yet still through all these divers tribulations he clung fast to two ideals and beliefs. One placing his trust in the Lord to deal with these trials and to do so fairly. Two; to sing and praise Him for doing justice for him in love.

We could learn much from just these two actions if we applied them to our lives on a daily basis. To trust in His wisdom, and to praise Him for the same. Henceforth, let us strive to do this for it is a proven road to internal peace. For it is the peace that passes all understanding. (Read Philippians 4:6-8)
Dr. Riktor Von Zhades - Humble servant of Christ Jesus

The faith, hope, and comfort of the psalmist grew and increased by prayer; from complaining he goes to praying, from praying to believing; he trusted not in himself, not in his own heart, nor in his own righteousness and merits, but in the mercy of God; and not in the bare absolute mercy of God, but in the grace and goodness of God, as the word F24 here used signifies, as it is displayed in the plenteous redemption which is by Christ; which is a sufficient ground of faith and hope; (Read Psalms 130:7) [both of] which God is the contriver, author, and giver of, and in which the glory of his perfections is so greatly displayed: and a true believer rejoices more on account that God is glorified by it than because of his own interest in it; and this joy is an inward one, it is joy in the heart, and is real and unfeigned, and is what continues, and will be felt and expressed both here and hereafter.

In prayer faith is encouraged, through believing the heart is filled with joy; and this joy is expressed by the lips, in songs of praise to the Lord, ascribing the glory of salvation to him, and giving him thanks for every mercy and blessing of life; both in a way of providence and grace, granting life and preserving it, and supporting with the comforts of it; blessing with spiritual blessings, and crowning with loving kindness and tender mercies; all which is generous and bountiful dealing, and affords a just occasion of praise and thanksgiving.”
John Gill - 17th Century Theologian

Sunday, June 12, 2016


Cain and Abel
The Two Ways and the Two Races

(Based on Genesis Chapter 4)
By Albert Edersheim (1825-1889)
Edited by Doktor Riktor Von Zhades

THE language in which Scripture tells the second great event in history is once more exceedingly simple. Two of the children of Adam and Eve are alone mentioned: Cain and Abel. Not that there were no others, but that the progress of Scripture history is connected with these two. For the Bible does not profess to give a detailed history of the world, nor even a complete biography of those persons whom it introduces. Its object is to set before us a history of the kingdom of God, and it only describes such persons and events as is necessary for that purpose. Of the two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain was the elder, and indeed, as we gather, the first-born of all their children. Throughout antiquity, and in the East to this day, proper names are regarded as significant of a deeper meaning. When Eve called her first-born son Cain ("gotten," or "acquired"), she said, "I have gotten a man from Jehovah." Apparently she connected the birth of her son with the immediate fulfillment of the promise concerning the Seed, who was to bruise the head of the serpent. This expectation was, if we may be allowed the comparison, as natural on her part as that of the immediate return of our Lord by some of the early Christians. It also showed how deeply this hope had sunk into her heart, how lively was her faith in the fulfillment of the promise, and how ardent her longing for it. But if such had been her views, they must have been speedily disappointed. Perhaps for this very reason, or else because she had been more fully informed, or on other grounds with which we are not acquainted, the other son of Adam and Eve, mentioned in Scripture, was named Abel, that is "breath," or "fading away."

What in the history of these two youths is of scriptural importance, is summed up in the statement that "Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." We next meet them, each bringing an offering unto Jehovah; Cain "of the fruit of the ground," and Abel "of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof." Jehovah "had respect unto Abel and his offering," probably
marking His acceptance by some outward and visible manifestation; "but unto Cain and his offering He had not respect." Instead of inquiring into the reason of his rejection, and trying to have it removed, Cain now gave way to feelings of anger and jealousy. In His mercy, God indeed brought before him his sin, warned him of its danger, and pointed out the way of escape. But Cain had chosen his course. Meeting his brother in the field, angry words led to murderous deed, and earth witnessed the first death, the more terrible that it was violent, and at a brother's hand. Once more the voice of Jehovah called Cain to account, and again he hardened himself, this time almost disowning the authority of God. But the mighty hand of the Judge was on the unrepenting murderer. Adam had, so to speak, broken the first great commandment, Cain the first and the second; Adam had committed sin, Cain both sin and crime. As a warning, and yet as a witness to all, Cain, driven from his previous chosen occupation as a tiller of the ground, was sent forth "a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth." So - if we may again resort to analogy - was Israel driven forth into all lands, when with wicked hands they had crucified and slain Him whose blood "speaketh better things than that of Abel." But even this punishment, though "greater" than Cain "can bear," leads him not to repentance, only to fear of its consequences. And "lest any finding him should kill him," Jehovah set a mark upon Cain, just as He made the Jews, amidst all their persecutions, an indestructible people. Only in their case the gracious Lord has a purpose of mercy; for they shall return again to the Lord their God - "all Israel shall be saved;" and their bringing in shall be as life from the dead. But as for Cain, he "went out from the presence of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, that is, of "wandering" or "unrest." The last that we read of him is still in accordance with all his previous life: "he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch."

Now, there are some lessons quite on the surface of this narrative. Thus we mark the difference in the sacrifice of the two brothers - the one "of the fruit of the ground," the other an animal sacrifice. Again, the offering of Cain is described merely in general terms; while Abel's is said to be "of the firstlings of his flock" - the first being in acknowledgment that all was God's, "and of the fat thereof," that is, of the best. So also we note, how faithfully God warns, and how kindly He points Cain to the way of escape from the power of sin. On the other hand, the murderous deed of Cain affords a terrible illustration of the words in which the Lord Jesus has taught us, that angry bitter feelings against a brother are in reality murder (Read Matthew 5:22), showing us what is, so to speak, the full outcome of self-willedness, of anger, envy, and jealousy. Yet another lesson to be learned from this history is, that our sin will at the last assuredly find us out, and yet that no punishment, however terrible, can ever have the effect of changing the heart of a man, or altering his state and the current of his life. To these might be added the bitter truth, which godless men will perceive all too late, that, as Cain was at the last driven forth from the ground of which he had taken possession, so assuredly all who seek their portion in this world will find their hopes disappointed, even in those things for which they had sacrificed the "better part." In this respect the later teaching of Scripture (Psalm 49) seems to be contained in germ in the history of Cain and Abel.

If from these obvious lessons we turn to the New Testament for further light on this history, we find in the Epistle of Jude verse 2 a general warning against going "in the way of Cain;" while St. John makes it an occasion of admonishing to brotherly love: "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." (See 1 John 3:12) But the fullest information is derived from the Epistle to the Hebrews, where we read, on the one hand, that "without faith it is impossible to please God," and, on the other, that "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." (Read Hebrews 11:4) Scripture here takes us up, as it were, to the highest point in the lives of the two brothers - their sacrifice - and tells us of the presence of faith in the one, and of its absence in the other. This showed itself alike in the manner and in the kind of their sacrifice. But the faith which prompted the sacrifice of Abel, and the want of faith which characterized that of Cain, must, of course, have existed and appeared long before. Hence St. John also says that Cain "was of that wicked one," meaning that he had all along yielded himself to the power of that tempter who had ruined our first parents. A little consideration will explain this, and, at the same time, bring the character and conduct of Cain into clearer light.

After the fall the position of man towards God was entirely changed. In the garden of Eden man's hope of being confirmed in his estate and of advancing upwards depended on his perfect obedience. But man disobeyed and fell. Henceforth his hope for the future could no longer be derived from perfect obedience, which, indeed, in his fallen state was impossible. So to speak, the way of "doing" had been set before him, and it had ended, through sin, in death. God in His infinite grace now opened to man another path. He set before him the hope of faith. The promise which God freely gave to man was that of a Deliverer, who would bruise the head of the serpent, and destroy his works. Now, it was possible either to embrace this promise by faith, and in that case to cling to it and set his heart thereon, or else to refuse this hope and turn away from it. Here, then, at the very opening of the history of the kingdom, we have the two different ways which, as the world and the kingdom of God, have ever since divided men. If we further ask ourselves what those would do who rejected the hope of faith, how they would show it in their outward conduct, we answer, that they would naturally choose the world as it then was; and, satisfied therewith, try to establish themselves in the earth, claim it as their own, enjoy its pleasures and lusts, and cultivate its arts. On the other hand, one who embraced the promises would consider himself a pilgrim and a stranger in this earth, and both in heart and outward conduct show that he believed in, and waited for, the fulfillment of the promise. We need scarcely say that the one describes the history of Cain and of his race; the other that of Abel, and afterwards of Seth and of his descendants. For around these two - Cain and Seth - as their representatives, all the children of Adam would group themselves according to their spiritual tendencies.

Viewed in this light the indications of Scripture, however brief, are quite clear. When we read that "Cain was a tiller of the ground," and "Abel was a keeper of sheep," we can understand that the choice of their occupations depended not on accidental circumstances, but quite accorded with their views and character. Abel chose the pilgrim-life, Cain that of settled possession and enjoyment of earth. The nearer their history lay to the terrible event which had led to the loss of Paradise, and to the first giving of the promise, the more significant would this their choice of life appear. Quite in accordance with this, we afterwards find Cain, not only building a city, but calling it after the name of his own son, to indicate settled proprietorship and enjoyment of the world as it was. The same tendency rapidly unfolded in his descendants, till in Lamech, the fifth from Cain, it had already assumed such large proportions that Scripture deems it no longer necessary to mark its growth. Accordingly the separate record of the Cainites ceases with Lamech and his children, and there is no further specific mention made of them in Scripture.

Before following more in detail the course of these two races - for, in a spiritual sense, they were quite distinct - we mark at the very threshold of Scripture history the introduction of sacrifices. From the time of Abel onwards, they are uniformly, and with increasing clearness, set before us as the appointed way of approaching and holding fellowship with God, till, at the close of Scripture history, we have the sacrifice of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to which all sacrifices had pointed. And not only so, but as the dim remembrance of a better state from which man had fallen, and of a hope of deliverance, had been preserved among all heathen nations, so also had that of the necessity of sacrifices. Even the bloody rites of savages, nay, the cruel sacrifices of best-beloved children, what were they but a cry of despair in the felt need of reconciliation to God through sacrifice - the giving up of what was most dear in room and stead of the offerer? These are the terribly broken pillars of what once had been a temple; the terribly distorted traditions of truths once Divinely revealed. Blessed be God for the light of His Gospel, which has taught us "the way, the truth, and the life," even Him who is "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (See John 1:29)