How Long, Ye Simple Ones..? Time is running out...

by Jeremy James

The Book of Deuteronomy contains a verse which some believers find challenging:

“Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive,

and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.”

(Deuteronomy 29:4)

The Israelites had spent forty years in the wilderness and were about to enter the

Promised Land. Some mistakenly take this verse to mean that the LORD withheld

from the Israelites the ability to understand His law and His truth until their sojourn

in the wilderness had come to an end. But this is not the case.

A similar challenge is found in the Book of Isaiah. When the prophet is commissioned

by God to speak to the children of Israel, He says:

“Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and

see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat,

and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with

their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their

heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9-10)

It might seem as though the prophet was being sent to perform a fruitless task, that by

his very words he would cause his listeners to hear something other than what he

intended. But that doesn’t make any sense.

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The words “Hear ye indeed” reveal what this passage is all about. In Hebrew they

literally mean, “In hearing, hear”. The LORD is sending the prophet to deliver a

message to a people who will hear what is said but will strenuously resist it. So, instead

of “in hearing, hear” Isaiah will encounter untold instances of “in hearing, don’t hear.”

This “don’t hear, won’t hear” attitude is a central theme of both the Old and the New

Testament. It is a way of describing the initial manifestation of pride and disobedience,

the solemn moment when the individual instinctively shuts down all receptivity to

truth. He may continue listening, but only because what he hears is entertaining in

some way. The LORD actually described it in those terms to Ezekiel:

“And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit

before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they

will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love,

but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou

art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant

voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy

words, but they do them not.” (Ezekiel 33:31-32)

There it is. They hear the words of the prophet, they are amused or intrigued by them,

but they obstinately refuse to obey them!

Our fallen condition

In our fallen condition we are incapable of hearing the truth unless God helps us, and

He will help us only if we ask. The natural man will never hear the truth and

understand what is said. He must want it first, and his longing, his hunger, must be

both sincere and passionate. It must be such that, when faced with his own

brokenness, he asks God to help him recognize truth when it enters his life.

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These passages of Scripture shine with a new light when we read them in this context.

God never places an obstacle before anyone. Rather, He gives ample evidence of His

existence, His sovereignty, and His mercy. It is then up to each person to take this

evidence and, having reflected upon it, to embark on a search for God Himself, the

Creator of heaven and earth:

“And ye shall seek me, and find me,

when ye shall search for me

with all your heart.”

(Jeremiah 29:13)

We must ask God to open our eyes

During the plagues of Egypt, the Exodus, and the forty years of wandering in the

desert, the children of Israel were given astonishing evidence of God’s existence,

omnipotence and mercy, but they were still unreceptive to the living truth which He

offered: “Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see,

and ears to hear, unto this day.” (Deuteronomy 29:4)

He hadn’t given them the ability to see and hear this truth because they had not yet

turned to Him with all their heart and asked for this essential spiritual gift. This was

certainly true of those whose “carcases” fell in the desert because they refused to enter

the Promised Land, but it was also true of their offspring. The latter had the courage

to enter the Promised Land after forty years, very probably because God had just given

them two colossal demonstrations of His military prowess. In the first they annihilated

the forces of Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and in the second, shortly afterwards, they

destroyed the armies of Og, the king of Bashan.

The parables of Jesus

Jesus spoke in parables in most, if not all, of his public discourses for much of his

ministry. He was asked why he did so. Here’s his reply:

“Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing

see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they

understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias,

which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not

understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull

of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time

they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and

should understand with their heart, and should be

converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your

eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.”

- Matthew 13:13-16

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He is not saying that he wants to withhold the truth from anyone, as though some were

chosen by him to receive instruction in plain language while others, those he had

rejected, were given parables only. This is certainly not the case. He quotes Isaiah 6:9-

10 to show that the principle he is following was already enunciated by the prophets.

Jesus is telling his disciples that the only people who will understand what he is saying

– when he speaks in parables – are those who already hunger after truth. These are

the ones with ears to hear. The others will enjoy the parables and will receive a

blessing, but they won’t grasp the truth behind his words.

Could he not have spoken plainly to everyone? We know he did so at length in his

Sermon on the Mount. He used no parables and very little of what he said was set in

figurative language. Later in his ministry, however, he made extensive use of parables

in his public discourses. The critical turning point would appear to have come when

the Pharisees began to accuse him of performing his miracles by Beelzebub. Up to that

time Jesus would say, “he that is not against us is for us” (Luke 9:50). But the

Beelzebub accusation changed everything. Thereafter he said, “He that is not with me

is against me” (Matthew 12:30).

The Pharisees had committed a terrible sin. They had blasphemed the Holy Spirit:

“But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom

of God is come unto you.” (Matthew 12:28).

This moment marked a turning point in his ministry. The Pharisees had great

influence on the common people and their blasphemous accusation would have found

receptive ears. Those ears were no longer capable of hearing the true meaning of the

words that Jesus spoke. As the Savior said, “For this people's heart is waxed gross,

and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed...”

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The Apostle Paul

When the Apostle Paul was charged with the arduous task of addressing the religious

leaders of Judaism in Rome and proving to them from the Scriptures that Jesus was

the Messiah, he ran up against the same barrier. They knew the Scriptures inside out

and understood everything Paul had told them about Jesus, but their hearts too were

“waxed gross”:

“And when they agreed not among themselves, they

departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake

the Holy Ghost by Esaias [Isaiah] the prophet unto our

fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye

shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall

see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed

gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes

have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and

hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and

should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known

therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto

the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.” – Acts 28:25-28

We have looked at length at this phenomenon because it is a devastating spiritual

pathology. It is so dangerous and so toxic that, even when the incarnate Son of God

spoke words of truth, plainly and repeatedly, to people who had come out specially to

hear his words and see his miracles, those who were afflicted by this disease were as

deaf as a doorpost. Yes, they heard his words, but the truth which they imparted was

inaudible. They heard nothing.

In his parable of the sower, Jesus put these people in the very first category:

“When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and

understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one,

and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.

This is he which received seed by the way side.”

(Matthew 13:19)

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“And these are they by the way side, where the word

is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh

immediately, and taketh away the word that was

sown in their hearts.” (Mark 4:15)

“Those by the way side are they that hear; then

cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of

their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.”

(Luke 8:12)

This is the core problem. The gospel is blocked by Satan himself!

Satan has this power

As Christians we understand that Satan has this power, but we may forget that it

extends to truth in a broader sense. He can block the unbeliever from hearing the

gospel, but he can also block him from hearing anything that might prompt him to

enquire after the gospel. It is the same power.

This is what we are seeing today.

Billions of people all over the earth are being blinded by Satan. His perverse ability to

hide the truth from our eyes, even when spoken by the lips of Jesus, is hard to

comprehend. Nevertheless, it will help to explain why so many today are indifferent to

the warning signs that point to a coming New World Order where the Sons of Belial

will rule with ruthless zeal.

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If we look again at the parable of the sower, we can see that Jesus himself divided

mankind into four categories. The first we have discussed. These are the people who

are wholly blinded by Satan and reject the gospel out of hand. The second comprises

those who hear the gospel and receive it “with joy” but later drift away when faced with

“tribulation or persecution” (Matthew 13:21). The third category is very similar to the

second, consisting of those who, ensnared by “the cares of this world, and the

deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things” (Mark 4:19), abandon the truth

of the gospel. The fourth category is that extraordinary creation we know as the

Church, whose members have no interest in what the world has to offer, who are

undeterred by trials and tribulation, and whose love of Christ is manifesting

continually in fruitful service.

Deep sleep

People in categories two and three have effectively rejected the gospel, but they are

unable to admit it to themselves. They may exhibit many of the outer signs of a true

believer, but they bear no fruit. Surrounded by others like themselves, they cannot see

that they are barren.

The church in the Laodicean age is full of trees which bear no fruit. It is like a great

forest where no wildlife can survive and no birds sing. An awful silence hangs over the

earth.

The spiritual idleness behind this is potentially very harmful. The Old Testament tells

us why:

“Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep;

and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.”

(Proverbs 19:15)

A deep sleep! This is what we are witnessing today – a deep sleep! And it is grounded

in slothfulness, the opposite of fruitfulness.

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The Bible calls a slothful person a sluggard. Both words, slothfulness (Strong’s H6103)

and sluggard (H6102), have the same Hebrew root: ʿāṣēl

The sluggard is immune to counsel and sound advice. In fact, the Word of God tells us

that he thinks he knows everything:

“The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit

than seven men that can render a reason.”

(Proverbs 26:16)

A startling picture is now emerging, where the people who are most in need of sound

advice are the ones who are most likely to reject it. They scoff at those who did their

research and took the time to assemble the facts. Filled with pride, they have no

interest in conducting a rational examination of the evidence if the end result might

conflict with their own opinions.

This sounds so familiar to those of us who, for many years, have struggled to alert

professing Christians to the wiles of the Enemy and to his plan – which is now far

advanced – to subvert and destroy the church, to subjugate humanity, and to impose

his own ‘messiah’ on a traumatized world.

A church without fruit

A church without fruit is in a deep sleep. The sluggards have all the answers.

Impervious to reason, they are greatly irritated by those who attempt to throw a wet

blanket over their slumbering carcass. They construe as fabulous conjectures the dark

plans made by the Elite. The idea that a nefarious group of billionaires might be

conspiring against them is simply preposterous. “Have some sense!” they say, “This is

the real world.”

Alas, they are right. It is the real world – and they are hiding from it.

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The Word of God provokes them to answer a very challenging question:

“How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?

and the scorners delight in their scorning,

and fools hate knowledge?”

(Proverbs 1:22)

Later we will look at some of the many examples of man’s insanity – the glaring signs

of sinfulness and rebellion – which the “simple ones” have refused to acknowledge.

Collectively, they are a stinging reprimand to anyone who cares to listen, or a wake-up

call, as loud as a thunder clap, for those who are in a deep sleep. Sadly these rousing

rebukes have made no impression to date on those who live in their simplicity.

For those who have hardened their necks and refuse to listen, the Word of God foretells

a sudden and dramatic end:

“He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck,

shall suddenly be destroyed,

and that without remedy.”

(Proverbs 29:1)

Mankind can ignore, belittle or mock God’s Word for only so long. The Almighty has

incredible patience with our rebellious revelry, but there will come a time when He will

act, and when He does He will do so with frightening suddenness.

In His mercy He has given us a multitude of rebukes, reproofs and warnings, allowing

humanity ample opportunity to awaken from its “deep sleep”, and yet, when the

hammer falls, millions will wail and plead for clemency as though they couldn’t

possibly have known what lay ahead. They will hardly believe they are facing a

judgment “without remedy” –

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“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with

wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he

shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it... And I will

punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their

iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to

cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”

(Isaiah 13:9 & 11)

A Gallery of Lies

Our readers may be familiar with the episode in the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip where Charlie

Brown is deeply despondent and his ‘psychiatrist’, the scheming Lucy, suggests that he

kick away his worries by kicking a football. She offers to hold the football steady while

he runs at it. But he knows her too well. She is bound to pull it away just as he is about

to kick it, so he’ll fall flat on his back and look stupid. Having sweetly reassured him

that she would do as she said and hold the ball steady, he walks into position. As he

does so he convinces himself that this time – finally! – she’ll keep her word. He decides

to place his trust in her and runs furiously toward the ball. Then, just as he is about to

kick it, she did what she always did and pulled it away. After a pathetic somersault he

fell flat on his back.

This was a recurring theme in the 50-year comic strip. Charlie never seemed to learn.

Time after time she played him for a fool. She only had to come up with a new way to

win his trust and, despite the nagging feeling inside, he always believed her.

In a remarkable strip from October 1970 Lucy quotes from the Book of Isaiah. The

verse comes immediately after the passage we cited earlier. The prophet asked the

LORD, “How long?” and the LORD replied: “Until the cities be wasted without

inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate” (Isaiah 6:11)

[We reproduce the complete comic strip overleaf.]

Lucy makes a sharp observation, namely, that the prophet may have had difficulty

accepting the finality of the LORD’s judgment!

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How true this is, not only of those who are in a “deep sleep”, but of those in categories

two and three. The government keeps on lying, but it presents the lie in a new way every

time, and contrary to all reason the public continues to believe them! By doing this they

are literally placing their lives in jeopardy. They profess to be Christian and yet they

cannot bring themselves to accept the finality of the LORD’s judgment!

We were going to put some of these lies in the main body of this paper, but they have

an unbearable stench. As a compromise we have set them in a place apart – see the

gallery of lies in Appendix A.

“Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy

backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see

that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken

the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith

the Lord GOD of hosts.”

– Jeremiah 2:19

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CONCLUSION

How long will the scorners scorn and fools hate knowledge? How long will the simple

love simplicity? Despite the many signs which the LORD has given, they have great

difficulty accepting that their government is working for Satan, so they choose instead

to believe that their leaders and lawmakers are well-meaning duffers muddling

through: “They mean no harm!”

Wake up, people, wake up:

“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself:

but the simple pass on, and are punished.”

Proverbs 22:3 and 27:12

________________________

Jeremy James

Ireland

April 24, 2022

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APPENDIX A

A Gallery of Lies – in random order

The keeper of the gallery at the Guggenheim was unable to decide which lies were the

worst. When viewed in a clear light they were all terrifying. So he arranged them in

random order and placed them in dimly-lit rooms, alongside rows of fluffy toys,

distracting nudes, and amusing cartoons.

Our lone visitor entered the first room and read the lie printed in large type under each

picture:

prayer has no place in our schools;

men can become women and women can become men;

sodomy is normal;

evolution is a scientific fact;

carbon dioxide is a threat to life;

the massive online pornography industry cannot be shut down;

killing unborn children is normal;

a huge part of our industrial base can be safely off-shored to China;

a flu-like illness justifies the lockdown of society;

the national debt can grow indefinitely;

private banks can own and operate the Federal Reserve;

our churches can be closed by government directive;

healthy people can be forcibly inoculated;

the government can spray our skies with unknown substances;

Marxists, Jesuits and Freemasons can control our government;

private property can be confiscated by the state;

our military can be safely injected with an unknown substance;

the FDA and the CDC can be controlled by private enterprise;

the President can declare war without consulting Congress;

the President can make his own laws through Executive Orders;

our southern borders can operate like an open door;

Islamic men can be resettled within the US in vast numbers;

the country’s infrastructure can be allowed to decay;

the country’s electricity grid can remain unprotected;

China can control some of our main ports;

the sexualization of children is normal and healthy;

much of our sovereignty can be handed to the UN;

the WHO can decide our medical policy;

charitable foundations can wield power without oversight;

GMOs can be created and substituted for healthy food;

the medical profession can be based on the exploitation of illness;

children can be taken from their natural parents without due process;

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recourse to basic legal redress can be unaffordable;

the Ten Commandments cannot be displayed in a public place;

the government can use taxpayer money to shape public opinion;

the military can spend trillions on ‘black ops’;

Satanism can be recognized as a ‘religion’ in the military;

the elderly can be forced to die alone in a ‘pandemic’;

six media corporations can decide what the public can know;

gender dysphoria can be promoted by the state;

the pharmaceutical industry can be exempt from liability;

real wages can remain stagnant for fifty years;

pedophilia is a psychological orientation;

our extensive oil reserves can be neglected;

corn [food] can be used to produce automotive ethanol;

opioids can be dispensed without regulatory controls;

educational curricula can be significantly dumbed down;

a large proportion of college courses should produce no benefit;

Chabad Lubavitch can influence Executive decisions;

fluoride can be put in our drinking water;

UN troops can operate on American soil;

it’s safe to inject oneself with an untested experimental substance;

Big Tech can control free speech and censor the flow of information;

Executive Orders can exist which effectively abolish Congress;

the government can conduct extensive surveillance on the public;

agencies like the NSA and the CIA are entitled to have extensive covert powers;

the Council on Foreign Relations can decide foreign and domestic policy;

the government can replace cash with digital currency...

At this point our lone visitor fainted for the fourth time. When he recovered he had to

be carried into the street where he was seen to retch pathetically in the gutter for half

an hour. When he finally got home he said nothing to his wife.

“Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy

backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see

that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken

the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith

the Lord GOD of hosts.”

– Jeremiah 2:19