This Place is a Mess

Today I came across an apocryphal text I had never heard of before. It’s called The Ascension of Isaiah. It’s about a vision Isaiah had. I was very moved by it. Usually, when you read an apocryphal book, you can tell right away that it’s nonsense. Sometimes, though, they contain a lot of truth.

Isaiah lived during the times of Hezekiah and Manasseh, two kings of Judah. Hezekiah was not a bad king, but his son Manasseh was a murdering devil-worshiper. He welcomed the filthy false religions of the time, and he had prophets killed.

Isaiah told Hezekiah Manasseh would cause Isaiah to be cut in half with a saw. Hezekiah was very upset, and he decided to kill Manasseh, but Isaiah told him that the messiah (yet unborn) would not permit Hezekiah to do it.

Hezekiah died, and Manasseh began promoting idolatry. Manasseh listened to a false prophet named Belchira. Isaiah left Jerusalem and moved to Bethlehem, but Bethlehem was also disgusting, so he moved to a mountain in the desert. A number of prophets joined him.

Guess what made Belchira and the apostates mad? The real prophets predicted judgment for Judah and Jerusalem. The false prophets were just like Joel Osteen and Larry Huch. They predicted warm, fluffy things. It’s funny if you think about it; false prophets love to appear warm and comforting, but they’re also the people who are ruthless and sadistic to real prophets. Classic manipulation.

Belchira had the favor of the worthless king, and he was able to have Isaiah captured and tortured. He had the saw applied to Isaiah, and as the cutting started, he taunted Isaiah and tried to get him to recant. Belchira and the other false prophets were laughing and celebrating as the blade cut into Isaiah.

They were sort of like the people who are glad to see Christian bakers bankrupted by homosexuals who suddenly decide only a Christian bakery can fill their cake needs. They saw the righteous as wicked people who caused problems.

Here is what Isaiah said: “So far as I have utterance (I say): Damned and accused be thou and all they powers and all thy house. For thou canst not take (from me) aught save the skin of my body.”

Furthermore, Isaiah had a vision as he was cut, and after the vision began he was no longer able to see or hear Belchira. The Holy Spirit spoke through him during the murder, until it was finished. The book says he didn’t weep or cry in pain.

Other stories say Isaiah hid in a tree, and he was killed when the tree was cut. You be the judge.

There are a lot of interesting things about the book. For one thing, it predicts the rise of a world leader who is possessed by Satan. It says he will work great miracles, such as making the sun rise at night. He will call himself God and demand sacrifice.

Of course, this is the Antichrist.

Think how happy a man like that would make the gay army. Killing Christians who disagree with them, exalting every type of sexual sin, and appearing to confirm everything they believe…he would give them a god they could believe in and worship without reservation. He would turn the tables on generations of human beings who imposed harsh penalties for sexual perversion. The appeal is obvious.

Look what it says about the return of Jesus:

And afterwards, on the eve of His approach, His disciples will forsake the teachings of the Twelve Apostles, and their faith, and their love and their purity.

And there will be much contention on the eve of [His advent and] His approach.

And in those days many will love office, though devoid of wisdom.

And there will be many lawless elders, and shepherds dealing wrongly by their own sheep, and they will ravage (them) owing to their not having holy shepherds.

And many will change the honour of the garments of the saints for the garments of the covetous, and there will be much respect of persons in those days and lovers of the honour of this world.

And there will be much slander and vainglory at the approach of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will withdraw from many.

And there will not be in those days many prophets, nor those who speak trustworthy words, save one here and there in divers places,

On account of the spirit of error and fornication and of vainglory, and of covetousness, which shall be in those, who will be called servants of that One and in those who will receive that One.

And there will be great hatred in the shepherds and elders towards each other.

For there will be great jealousy in the last days; for every one will say what is pleasing in his own eyes.

And they will make of none effect the prophecy of the prophets which were before me, and these my visions also will they make of none effect, in order to speak after the impulse of their own hearts.

What a picture of the modern church!

Forsaking the teachings of the Apostles…done.

Much contention…done.

Many love office though devoid of wisdom.

Look at the Pope. He’s just a common socialist. You could put his hat on Bernie Sanders and see little difference. He talks about worldly issues all the time. That’s because he knows virtually nothing about God. He’s just a politician.

Look at the prosperity preachers. They’re generally vulgar louts with no education and no class, but they live like emperors, surrounded by fawning toadies who bury themselves in debt to pay for tailor-made suits and jet airplanes.

It’s as if Isaiah had the Internet and cable TV.

There are other remarkable things in the book.

For one thing, Isaiah describes our flesh as “garments” and the skin of animals. I have often thought that the skins God gave Adam and Eve were probably their flesh bodies. It makes complete sense. Our flesh is exactly like animal flesh, right down to the DNA.

Isaiah describes glorified bodies as garments, too. And he describes the Rapture, in which we will leave the flesh behind and ascend to heaven.

Look at this:

And there I saw Enoch and all who were with him, stript of the garments of the flesh, and I saw them in their garments of the upper world, and they were like angels, standing there in great glory.

Another interesting thing about the book is that it confirms what God has shown me about the world: it’s a low, trashy place which is much more like hell than heaven. It’s a place where we fight over garbage, thinking it’s important.

Satan is “the Prince of the air,” which means he has power in the first heaven, which is the atmosphere of the earth. Because we worship him, the earth is like his realm:

And we ascended to the firmament, I and he, and there I saw Sammael and his hosts, and there was great fighting therein and the angels of Satan were envying one another.

And as above so on the earth also; for the likeness of that which is in the firmament is here ont he earth.

People like to think the fallen angels get along and obey orders, but why would they? One of the reasons mutiny doesn’t work is that the leaders have no authority. If the crew of The Bounty deposes the captain, who represents the British crown, there is no one with real authority in charge. It’s scary to attack someone who has the British navy behind him, but who cares about a man who only has his sword and whatever allies he can scrounge up among the mutineers?

The spirits that hate God don’t get along. They’re just like us. They fight for dominance all day, because they have to. They have no one on the throne of heaven to keep them in power. This is why Jesus said a house divided against itself would not stand.

Isaiah also spoke of supernatural blindness, saying only certain people who were present could hear what he said about his vision, and that when Jesus descended to earth, the spirits were not able to recognize him.

You have to exalt God if you want to perceive him, and if you contemn him, one of the penalties is supernatural blindness and lack of faith. It sounds strange, because the Bible says God isn’t willing for any to perish. You would think he would work hard to put faith in everyone, at all times. That’s not how it works. If you are sufficiently disrespectful, God himself will put blindness in you.

The scenario the book presents is not what you would expect to hear from a Catholic priest or a babbling idiot on TBN, but it’s very consistent with what the Holy Spirit says. There are levels to existence. This level is very filthy and cheap. The people who will be lifted out of it are the humble and teachable, not those who have perfect willpower. People who serve Satan on earth are deceived; they think evil is not merely good, but divine. They think God’s values are disgusting and vile.

The book seems inspired to me. If not, it must have been written by someone who had been exposed to the truth and who was familiar with it.

I also looked at Lot’s story today, in the Bible and in Jubilees. The destruction of Sodom is a picture of the end of the world. Before burying Sodom in flaming sulfur, God made a bargain with Abraham. He agreed to spare the city if ten good men could be found in it. That would be something like a tenth of a percent.

The ten men never turned up. Sodom was too filthy at that point. But it shows that God won’t completely withdraw his mercy while there are good people who will suffer with the bad. It makes a solid case for the Rapture. If God wouldn’t destroy Sodom for the sake of ten people, he can’t bring the Tribulation while hundreds of millions who worship him are here.

The closer you get to God, the more he will separate you from the world. People are filthy and deceived, and their problems are contagious. Lot suffered with his miserable neighbors day after day for years, and when they tried to rape the angels, God gave Lot relief. If you’re trying to please God, you’re not going to be happy unless there is some distance between you and the horde, and you’re not going to be able to focus on him.