Snakes Are Misunderstood...We Have an Understanding Now With the People of God..." [Sidenote: "Sophist," (Greek = lover of wisdom), "Philosopher." The same word as sophia (wisdom).] And so we shall try to be wise, and understand the things that are in heaven, and in the earth, through the power of the Holy Spirit; which things, for the present, are declared unto us in Scripture, which are true; wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. And again he said unto them, You know the commandments of the Lord, because you kept them; and how in keeping of them your fathers did inherit the land. Howbeit, for this cause, the land became barren, and they were destroyed, because they forsook the Lord, and burned incense unto strange gods, and took the name of the God of Israel in vain. And the Lord said, Because they have forsaken my law which I commanded them, and have not hearkened unto my voice, and have not walked after me, but have forsook me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that there be no deliverance for them, then said the Lord, The time is come, that I will cause the land to be emptied of them, as at the beginning, and that they shall be utterly destroyed; that wickedness may not be established in the land, which was turned again to be a fruitful field. And the Lord said, If I bring again the evil upon them which I did unto them in the wilderness, wherein they were provoked to anger, and they walked out against me, and would not hearken unto my voice, I would scatter them anew among the heathen, and they should know that I am the Lord. And the land is desolate, because of the wickedness of them; and I have smitten none of them, but delivered those that were appointed unto death; that the land might remain desolate. And now, behold, the Lord is about to lay siege against them and to destroy them. Now therefore, O ye children of Israel, put away from you every man his incense and his idols, and let not any of you bring in unto yourselves any more any manner of graven image, or any likeness of anything, which is in heaven above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth. And take heed to yourselves, that ye forsake not the Lord, and that ye obey not the voice of the Lord your God, but turn ye back from your ways and your evil doings; and keep his commandments and his statutes which he hath taught you: that ye may live, and be multiplied, and that ye may dwell in the land which the Lord hath sworn unto your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, hath promised you. Therefore, if ye will hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God, and will keep all his commandments which I command you this day, to do them, that the Lord your God hath commanded you: then shall ye live, and be multiplied, and inherit the land, which the Lord your God gave unto your fathers to inherit it; and it shall be an everlasting possession unto you, for ye shall return unto it. But if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe and observe all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, then I will lay upon you all the curses of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you, and I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will spend my anger against you, and will do with you all that which is evil in your sight; and ye shall be taken away from the land which I gave unto you and your fathers; and ye shall be adrift among the nations, and shall be an astonishment. And the Lord shall scatter you among the heathen, and ye shall be exiled nations from before the Lord: and ye shall be a reproach among the nations that are round about you. And because ye have chosen for yourselves to become a people for God unto himself, therefore, I will abhor you, and will reject you, and will forget your name; and I will make you perish out of the land of your habitation: and I will afflict you so sore with your enemies, that ye shall grope one upon another, and ye shall fall over each other, as though the one of you were a reed broken off. And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that I will cause to cease out of the heavens the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: and the sun shall be torn into rags, and the moon shall be flayed, and the stars shall be cast down upon the earth; and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send forth the angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour no man knoweth, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark; And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in an hour when ye think not, the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing. But verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he thinketh not, and shall cut him asunder and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [Sidenote: Christ's Character.] Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. And they also that are awed by his word, are blessed of the Father. But I say unto you, that in this rejoicing there are some of you that are here this day, shall be hereafter sorrowful. For I say unto you, that there be some among you that shall in no wise inherit the kingdom of God; but notwithstanding shall be cast out as a branch, and shall be withered; and they shall be delivered up to the burning: and men shall wonder that ye are not in pain and anguish. But there are some of you that shall in no wise taste of death, before the Son of Man comes in his glory. But I say unto you, That in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones