As I was meditating on the Belgium posting, the Lord said to me, in no uncertain terms, "John 19:11". I then turned to that verse to see what it said, and I found the following words spoken to Pilate by Jesus:

"Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin" (John 19:11)

The word "power" above is a mistranslation of the Greek noun exousia, which literally means "jurisdictional authority" or "legal authority". Even though God's "ulterior motive" for allowing Jesus to come under Pilate's exousia was to redeem us, we must always remember that the Lord God is a God of laws and principles. In His Tsidkenu righteousness, He never acts outside the realm of laws and principles which He Himself has established. Therefore, when Pilate gained "legal authority" over Jesus, it was the result of a "legal door" that was opened in the spirit realm, a door which gave carnal man authority over the Son of God. This handover could not happen "willy-nilly". Jesus could not go from the covering of the Father to the dominion of carnal man for "no reason at all". What, then, gave Pilate "legal" spiritual access to Jesus? The need to answer this question is emphasised by the following passage:

"⁴And 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? ⁵And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. ⁶And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. ⁷And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. ⁸And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. ⁹If any man have an ear, let him hear. ¹⁰He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." (Revelation 13:4-10)

[The word "power" in verse 5 is, once again, a mistranslation of the Greek noun exousia meaning "jurisdictional authority"]

The passage above begs the following questions: Why would a blasphemer be given authority for 42 months (v5)? Who "gave" him that authority and why? Why was it "given unto him" to make war with the saints (v7)? What did this "giving" entail? Why would a righteous God allow someone who blasphemes against Him to make war with His consecrated saints and "overcome" them? Isn't God's righteousness supposed to be invincible? Why would a loving God who cares for and watches over His saints allow them to be overcome by a blasphemer? Since God is by no means an abdicator who reneges on His assumed responsibilities, something extraordinary must happen in order for Him to allow His beloved to be taken and overcome by His enemies. There must be "legal grounds" for the enemy to come and take God's people. The enemy cannot simply come in of his own volition and take them from the Father's care. What are these "legal grounds"? Who gives the enemy these "legal grounds"? And, why is this legal "loophole" even available to the enemy in the first place? The stream of thought below is the result of addressing these questions:

In order to impart His Nature, the Lord must expose Himself, which opens Him up to attacks against Him. His Love lies in making Himself vulnerable before the unrighteous, not in condoning their unrighteousness. God performs (long) acts of love (i.e.- sacrifice) to restore people. Once the acts of love are rejected, God proceeds to exact revenge on those who ignored the value of His prophetic sacrifice. It is then that He ends up abhorring the very people whom He once loved (i.e.- performed acts of love for).

"¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ¹⁸He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." (John 3:16-20)

[Notice that John 3:16 says, "for God so loved the world", not "for God so loves the world". The fact that "loved" is in the past tense means that it refers to an "act of love", which is emphasised by the rest of the verse, which speaks of God giving His only begotten Son.

It has always been interesting to me how Christians are so bent on quoting verse 16 (and verse 17), but generally have no idea what the next 3 verses say. And those who do know the next 3 verses are prone to "hiding them under the rug" because they speak of something they would rather not talk about: condemnation. Notice that verse 18 bluntly declares that he who does not believe is already condemned. The rest of the passage then goes on to condemn those who reject the light of God's truth, choosing instead to abide in their unrighteous acts, and it indicts those who "hate the Light" (i.e.- who hate God, since God is Light - 1 John 1:5). The passage is in no way a "gooey", "soap-opera style" love poem. It is a straightforward passage that emphasises God's act of love and the judgement looming over those who reject that act.

The word "condemned" that appears in verses 17 and 18 was actually translated from the Greek verb krino, which literally means "to judge"; krino is the Greek word behind almost every appearance of the verb "to judge" in the King James New Testament translation. The word "condemnation" was translated from the Greek noun krisis, which literally means "judgement", and is the noun form of the verb krino. In other words, the New Testament passage that is so-often quoted by Christians to speak of God's love is actually a passage that speaks about judgement. Whilst the verb "to love" appears only once, the verbs "to judge", "to reprove", and the noun "judgement" appear a combined 6 times!

When verse 17 declares that the Son did not come to the world to "judge the world" but rather to "save it", God is not saying that there is no judgement involved in His love. That would contradict what Yeshua Himself said in John 9:39 ("For judgment I am come into this world"), John 16:8, John 16:11, Luke 12:51, and John 3:20 ("... lest his deeds should be reproved"). Instead, God is saying that the ultimate purpose behind His coming into the world is not "judgement" but rather "salvation" (i.e.- restoration). As we have said before, God's judgements are not an end in and of themselves, but rather a means to an end. Those who forget this fact turn into legalists who lose their "first love" and end up deviating from God's true judgements, applying human judgements instead.]

"²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:22-23)

[Notice the phrase "Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity!!!" To shove a person away is to "abhor" that person. Therefore, God is declaring that He abhors those who use His Name for their own iniquitous purposes, purposes that masquerade as "love" but are really "iniquity" in God's eyes.]

"³³Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: ³⁴And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. ³⁵And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. ³⁷But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. ³⁸But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. ³⁹And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. ⁴⁰When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? ⁴¹They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. ⁴²Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? ⁴³Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. ⁴⁴And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. ⁴⁵And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them." (Matthew 21:33-45)

[Notice that those who reject God's visitation are not sent an "I love you anyway" Hallmark card. Instead, God promises that He shall unleash His revenge on them by destroying them (v41). Interestingly enough, the word "miserably" in verse 41 was mistranslated from the Greek word kakos, and the phrase "wicked men" was translated from the almost equivalent word kakos (the two kakos words used here differ only in the letter "o" used in Greek; the Greek alphabet has two letters for "o": omicron and omega). As we have mentioned before, the word kakos refers to things that have no "usefulness" or "purpose". Therefore, verse 41 says, "He will purposelessly destroy those purposeless men". According to thefreedictionary.com, the word "random" means "having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective". Thus, we can say that the destruction mentioned in verse 41 is a "random" destruction, a destruction laden with "disorderly chaos". When God's green-horse visitation is rejected, a buccaneer revenge laden with chaos is spawned.]

"¹¹And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. ¹² His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. ¹³And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. ¹⁶And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. ¹⁷And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; ¹⁸That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great." (Revelation 19:11-18)

The fact that God (yes, even the "New Testament" God) does abhor is undeniable, as is clearly shown by the passages above. However, it is worth asking, "How can God, who is Love (1 John 4:8,16), abhor anyone?" The answer to this lies in the following passage:

"⁶Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. ⁷Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. ⁸All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad." (Psalm 45:6-8)

God loves righteousness (v7), and He will pour out His love on the righteous (v8). As shown by verse 8, God's anointing is an outpouring of His liquid love. When that love is denigrated and abused, it turns from an enabler to a nullifier, from a creator to an annihilator. He loves righteousness, and He is willing to pour out His Love (i.e.- Himself) for the sake of those with a potential for righteousness, even if they are currently in a state of unrighteousness. However, when those with the potential for righteousness end up loving unrighteousness or an incomplete righteousness, God is forced to choose between loving them and loving righteousness. In God's case, righteousness will always win out. Thus, in abhorring someone, God is actually loving righteousness, which means that His acts of abhorrence are actually acts of love; He is abhorring the person precisely because He loves righteousness so profoundly.

"For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them" (Isaiah 61:8)

"⁸And 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: ⁹Even him, whose coming is after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, ¹⁰And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: ¹²That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:8-11)

"⁴For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, ⁵And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, ⁶If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. ⁷For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: ⁸But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." (Hebrews 6:4-8)

There is an inherent "permanence" or "eternality" in full love:

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee" (Jeremiah 31:3)

"Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life" (Jude 1:21)

When God loves someone, it is with the intention of loving him or her forever. Since He cannot abide with unrighteousness, it is impossible for Him to fully love someone who has chosen to coexist either with unrighteousness or with an incomplete form of righteousness. He can only fully love those in full righteousness.

When God's loving eyes spot a person with a potential for full righteousness (i.e.- those who have not sinned unto death), He approaches that person (even if he or she is trapped in unrighteousness). Why? Because full righteousness is impossible without an impartation of God's Nature, for full righteousness is not achieved by man striving and labouring "on his own"; instead, it is achieved as we yield under the Mighty Hand of God's judgements, allowing His very nature to be fused into us. As God (i.e.- someone in God) draws near to perform this "fusion" impartation, He exposes Himself to suffering in two ways:

He will suffer the way a caring mother suffers as she tends to her dependent child, patiently nurturing him as she waits for him to mature. In that sense, God is suffering on account of the incompleteness in the person's righteousness, in the same way that a mother "suffers" as she is forced to change her baby's nappies and as she is forced to carry him around whilst he is still unable to walk on his own.   "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, 20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you" (Galatians 4:19)   "7But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: 8So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. 9For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God." (1 Thessalonians 2:7-9)

He will suffer like a younger brother as He is blatantly attacked by the person's unrighteousness. Wherever righteousness and unrighteousness meet, a conflict will inevitably ensue. Just like Joseph's brothers, unrighteousness becomes angry when it sees righteousness approaching, clenching its fists and preparing to madly swing them when righteousness gets within "striking range". In His Love, God is willing to take the blows, even when He knows that the blows are coming, because that is the only way the unrighteous person will have any hope of restoration. This "taking of unrighteous blows" will last for a season, until God's MAD (Make-A-Decision) mechanism kicks in. If the MAD mechanism's clock runs down to zero, MAD destruction (Massive Anarchical Devastation) is unleashed.