The Killing Road

November 9, 2005 ©Homer Kizer
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Commentary — From the Margins

Last night just after sunset, just outside of Sebewaing, a doe stood on the asphalt, nuzzling her dead fawn, another roadkill, its blood staining this jewel of a planet, bright blue in a sea of darkness, a created death chamber in which all that lives will die. The doe licked her fawn’s wounds, its broken bones protruding through its hide. She seemed unafraid of the sugar beet trucks delivering to the processing plant, unafraid of the pickups hauling hunters home, of the cars making the circle tour of Michigan’s Lake Huron. Very likely, she, too, will be dead, bloating alongside the road, as these words are typed this morning.

But the mothering instinct of a dumb animal is a subject hardly worthy of serious exploration when the Christian Church as the last Eve systematically slays newly born sons of God through teaching a dispensation of Grace, while understanding neither Grace nor Law. Under the second covenant mediated by Christ Jesus, the laws of God—which He did not come to abolish—move from being written on two stone tablets, housed in a wood ark of the covenant in the Holy of holies, to two tablets of flesh, the heart and the mind, housed in a flesh and blood ark that will by baptized by Spirit and by fire as the wood ark of Noah was baptized by water. Baptism by Spirit and by fire will be unto life as baptism by water was unto death. However, baptism by Spirit will remove the cloak of Grace, thereby revealing the Body of the Son of Man, thereby liberating disciples from the law of sin and death that presently dwells in the fleshly members of every born-from-above son of God. And after the Son of Man is revealed, those liberated disciples who return to lawlessness because they believe they are under a dispensation of Grace will die in their sins when baptized by fire. Great will be the gnashing of teeth. Great will be the betrayal of disciples by their teachers of lawlessness, all of whom Jesus will deny knowing (Matt 7:21-23) when their judgments are revealed.

A dumb animal obeys the instincts placed within it; however, too many born anew disciples will not obey their Father or their elder brother, but obey, instead, the defeated prince of disobedience who broadcasts rebellion against the Father and the Son. These newly born sons of God walk the broad path, leading to delusion and destruction. They are, today, air breathing roadkills, each a spiritual firstborn son of God, awaiting the revealing of their judgments, awaiting being sacrificed in flames of gehenna. Yes, the majority of Christians are spiritually dead, slain because of their persistent lawlessness.

When certain elders of the circumcised nation, then in Babylonian captivity, came to the prophet Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord, the Lord said to Ezekiel, son of [the first] Adam,

Let them know the abominations of their fathers, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself know to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord [YHWH] your God [Elohim]. On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands. And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. (Ezek 20:4-13 — emphasis added)

But for His name’s sake, the Lord would have slain Israel when His firstborn son (Exod 4:22) was still in Egypt…the history of the physically circumcised nation forms the lively shadow of the history of the spiritually circumcised nation in the heavenly realm. Today, the spiritual nation of Israel remains in sin, in Egypt, the geographical representation of the mental topography that produces lawlessness. Disciples are living through the single long night of watching and of roasting the paschal lamb of God, this night beginning at Calvary, this night foreshadowed by the final plague that broke Pharaoh’s hold on the physical firstborn son of the Lord (Exod chaps. 11 & 12).

Although Israel (along with all of humanity) sinned against the Lord when the holy nation was still in Egypt, that sin was not reckoned against Israel even though all died (Rom 5:12-14). The nation was under a form of natural grace, which ended with the giving of the Law from atop Mt. Sinai. Liberation from Egypt, crossing the Red Sea, journeying into the wilderness did not end the natural grace afforded to the natural firstborn son of God. But the giving of the Law did. From that day forth, violation of the Law brought immediate physical death. Likewise, when the spiritually circumcised holy nation is liberated from the law of sin and death that presently dwells in the flesh of every disciple through empowerment by the Holy Spirit, this one spiritual event foreshadowed by the two physical events, spiritual Grace will also end. The disciple will already have the laws of God written on his or her heart and mind, and with empowerment by the Holy Spirit, the disciple will have the ability to keep these laws. There will no longer be a need for the garment of Christ Jesus’ righteousness. Sin and death will only exist outside of the disciple—unless the disciple returns to lawlessness because of tradition, or because the disciple believes the giant of disobedience cannot be slain, believes that the disciple is as spiritually powerless as a grasshopper. This disciple will then have committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will not be forgiven this son of God.

Again, because of Israel not forsaking the idols of Egypt, the Lord wanted to slay His natural firstborn son when this holy nation was still in Egypt. He refrained from doing so, just as He has refrained from slaying the spiritual firstborn nation, which will not forsake worshiping the works of its hands and the idols of spiritual Babylon. And just as liberating the natural son from bondage to Pharaoh did not stop Israel’s lawlessness, the same will be said of the spiritual firstborn son:

Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands, because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless, my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness.

And I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. But the children rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.

Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out. (Ezek 20:13-22 — emphasis added)

In typology and for disciples practicing typological exegesis, the physically circumcised nation is the spiritually lifeless shadow [existing in one less dimension than that which makes the shadow] of the spiritually circumcised holy nation of God. Being born-from-above gives disciples, as sons of God, actual life in the heavenly realm while these spiritual infants, toddlers, adolescents still dwell in fleshly tabernacles that remain confined to darkness. Until their judgments are revealed, disciples are imprisoned in darkness as are rebelling angels. All judgment occurs in this death chamber that is the creation. And after the Law was given from atop Mt. Sinai, death was immediate, or nearly so, for transgression of the law. The physical shadow of what would be grace had ended.

The land flowing with milk and honey that the natural nation could not enter was God’s rest (Ps 95:10-11 & Heb 3:19), its diminutive form being the weekly Sabbath (Heb 4:9). The nation that left bondage to Pharaoh died in the wilderness—and this natural nation is the shadow of the spiritual nation that will be liberated from bondage to sin and death. God’s wrath in the form of a great delusion will be poured out over the rebelling spiritual firstborn son, thereby preventing this nation of Israel from repenting. Because of its lawlessness after being liberated, God will cause the nation to be slain. The Lord has done this before:

Moreover, I swore to them [the children of the nation that left Egypt] in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols. Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the Lord. (Ezek 20:23-26 — emphasis added)

Today, the last Eve offers up firstborn sons of God to the unquenchable fire of the valley of the son of Hinnom, [Ge-Hinnom] where physically circumcised Israelites offered their firstborns to the flames of Molech. She does so because her husband, the last Adam, has defiled this faithless wife through giving her statutes and rules by which neither she nor her firstborn sons can receive imperishable bodies. She is defiled through her teaching infant sons of God a dispensation of Grace that causes these children to erase from their hearts and minds the laws of God, received with spiritual birth. She effectively prevents spiritual children from going to their Father by having them pray to their elder brother, or to His breath [Pneuma ’Agion]. She is a murderess.

The doe alongside the road licked the wounds of her dead fawn. She couldn’t make it feel better; she couldn’t bring it back to life. Yet, the greater Christian Church, which today still has a chance to save the spiritual lives of many infant sons of God, seems bent upon butchering her children, cutting them into steaks that are wrapped and frozen, then thawed and seared in the lake of fire. Flame broiled—and served to the prince of darkness, the present ruler of this world.

The natural nation of Israel would not walk in the ways of the Lord, would not stop profaning His Sabbaths, and was given by the Lord lethal statutes:

Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go whoring after their detestable things? When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. (Ezek 20:30-31 — emphasis added)

Likewise, the spiritual nation of Israel will not walk in the ways laid out by Moses, will not stop profaning the Sabbaths of the Lord, and has been given a lethal injection of lawlessness. Even when liberated from bondage to sin and death, the greater Church will still attempt to enter God’s rest on the following day, the eighth day, and for doing so, the entirety of this unbelieving assembly will seal its doom.

Broad is the road traveled by semis hauling sugar beets to the processing plant, by pickup trucks and passenger cars and most Christians going shopping on the Sabbath. Narrow is the path that leads to God’s rest. And the Lord will not be inquired of by those traveling the super highway that goes directly to the flames of the gehenna fire, foreshadowed by the fires of Molech through which the natural nation of Israel made its children pass. The valley of the son of Hinnom became the garbage dump for the city of Jerusalem. The lake of fire will be the spiritual garbage dump where carcasses of rebelling infant sons of God are burned to utter destruction, consumed totally by unquenchable flames.

Many will be the roadkills on this super highway to hell.

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