Dangers to your Christian Life

    Dangers to your Christian Life

     Almost every time I am on one of my country's interstate highways I see someone texting on their cell phone while driving at 70 miles per hour (112.654 kilometers per hour). At that speed, the vehicle will travel the length of a football field in a few seconds WHILE THE DRIVER IS LOOKING AWAY FROM THE ROAD!

    This makes as much sense as turning on a chainsaw while entering a room where a baby is sleeping and throwing the chainsaw into the air. It may end well. I may not.

    Many Christians carelessly involve themselves in activities which are just as dangerous as a chainsaw. You may not agree with this list or may be able to add to it. Every item on this list has the potential to cause serious damage to your Christian life. 

   Practicing Cafeteria Christianity in which you take a little bit from here and little bit from there and reject things which make you uncomfortable. There are some things about Christianity which are difficult. Paul had some strong things to say about accepting any changes to the Gospel.

    Dabbling in astrology, Tarot, Ouija boards, automatic writing, divination, the occult, and other practices. These are not harmless children's games.

    Attempting an exorcism. Real demon possession is probably quite rare but Jesus acknowledged that it is real.

    Ghost hunting. The Bible never teaches the existence of ghosts though some people in the Bible obviously did believe in them. The appearances of dead Old Testament saints may have been the saints  actually being physically present. Ghost phenomena (hauntings, poltergeists, etc) may be evidence of the other supernatural beings mentioned in the Bible. Do you really want to find out?

    Practicing Hatha Yoga. The Sanskrit word "hatha" in English translates as "force" and is a system of physical exercises. From a physical standpoint, this is probably excellent for your health, relaxation, stress reduction, and bodily flexibility. When you practice yoga, from a spiritual standpoint, you are dabbling with Hinduism, a totally different religion from Christianity.

    The word "Yoga" is derived from yug, a Sanskrit word meaning "yoking" or "union." There are numerous types of yoga, all of which are focused on yoking or stilling the mind and achieving an inner stillness which contributes to a oneness with the universe, which is sometimes described as "cosmic consciousness."    

    Aligning oneself with extreme political views, whether conservative or progressive. Politics is not the answer; the Gospel is the answer. "Render unto Caesar" assumes that we should have civic and political involvement but our ultimate allegiance must be to Jesus. Secular political parties are ultimately not motivated by Christian principles but by a desire for political power. Real change can only come by reformed hearts, not by legislation.

     

Book Comment: The Secret Life of Angels

In The Secret Life of Angels: Who They Are and How They Help Us (2014), biblical teacher Ron Rhodes examines many of the prevalent modern pagan (yes, I said pagan) ideas about the existence, nature, and activities of angels. In the modern secular culture, there are far more people interested in angels than one might think. The main unifying theme in all of these secular culture views is that they diminish or totally eliminate Jesus from the discussion.

Some people, including some who call themselves Christians, would deny the existence of angels or would explain that what seems to be angelic activity is merely a manifestation of God. Rhodes points out that both the Bible and Jesus Himself are explicit in their statements that angels are real persons.

Teacher Rhodes discusses many of the erroneous prevalent beliefs about angels and shows how and why these teachings are at odds with the Bible's teachings.  He also points out that many modern angel beliefs include occultic activity and open one up to other types of contact. Some of the unbiblical views include:

1. Angels are the spirits of humans who have died and gone to Heaven.
2. Angels always present a positive uplifting message and their purpose is to bring meaning into our lives by helping us to feel loved.
3. Angels are never the instruments of God's wrath. They have nothing to do with the Old Testament image of a vengeful and wrathful God. (This plays into the unscriptural idea that the Gods of the Old Testament and of the New Testament are radically different persons.)
4. Angels are proper objects of worship.
5. Angels teach us that our true nature is divine.
6. Angel activity is increasing in modern times. This is an indication that the world is nearing an evolutionary change, a tipping point.
7. Angels protect all people regardless of their religious beliefs.
8. Angels can be summoned by humans.
9. If we tell an angel what we want, the angel will work to satisfy that desire.

Teacher Rhodes then spends several chapters of the book in discussing the Biblical teachings concerning who God's angels actually are and their true nature and origin. He also discusses our proper relationship with the angels. He backs up each statement with numerous biblical quotations.

The Secret Life of Angels would be incomplete if it ignored one final element of angelology; the most controversial element. Teacher Rhodes points out that, just as the Bible and Jesus explicitly affirm the existence of God's angels, they also are explicit in affirming the existence of the fallen angels, the demons. Rather than being the imaginary stuff of superstition and ignorance, the demons are real persons just as real as the angels. The Bible gives us quite explicit instructions about how to deal with these persons.

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

  

ESCHATOLOGY SERIES, POST #2: ESCHATOLOGIES FROM VARIOUS CULTURES

Eschatology is theology concerned with the final events of history. The word is derived from the Greek words  ἐσχάτος  eschatos ("last") and λόγος logos ("word"). Eschatology is therefore the study of “last things.” The focus of eschatology is usually on reality as a whole rather than on the individual. The word eschatology first appeared in the English language about 1550. 

In most known cultures, including the most primitive, there has been a belief in some sort of existence of the individual after death. Some held that the afterlife would be a dull and dreary thing., others that only the good would survive into an afterlife.  Some felt that the afterlife would be largely an extension of this one, perhaps on a more exalted plane as reward for bravery or great skill.  Many held that the retribution for an evil life was annihilation.

The Babylonians and Assyrians felt that retribution for evil came largely in this life as did the divine rewards of long life, strength, prosperity, and many children. The ghost of the individual existed in the underworld with the other dead. Demons ran around in the underworld inflicting punishment for sins committed during life.

In the ancient Egyptian religion, the good individual could hope for unending life with Osiris, the sun god. The existence was in some ways physical and this is the reason for mummification of the body. In the afterlife the actions of the deceased during life are weighed and judged. The dead face several trials and are subject to a second death if they fail.

Ancient Persian (Persia, modern Iran) religion (Mazdaism, Zoroastrianism, Parseeism, etc) was dualistic with a conflict between equally powerful good (Ahura Mazda) and evil (Ahriman) deities. The two deities were co-creators of the universe. The evil deity will, in the end, be vanquished and a judgement of people based on their life's deeds will occur. Those with evil deeds will be purified by fire, Hell will be purged, and the earth will be renewed by a purifying fire.

The ancient Greeks believed that life on Earth was the highest good for man. After death, the soul survived in a dull attenuated existence with little emphasis on retributive justice for life's misdeeds. A few very evil individuals would receive eternal punishment in Tartarus and a few favorites of the gods
would exist in eternal bliss in the Elysian Fields.  

Recently, there was much popular discussion of "2012." This was based on Aztec mythology which predicted the end of our current cycle of time on 21 December 2012. The Aztec mythology describes several cycles ruled by deities who are destroyed at the end of each cycle along with all the humans living during that cycle. The sun is the deity of the current cycle.

The human sacrifices regularly performed by the ancient Aztecs had a specific purpose. The blood and the extracted human hearts were seen as the food or fuel which maintained the ability of the Sun god to function. The stability of the universe depended upon regular human sacrifices.

Norse (Scandinavian) eschatology is presented in the story of Ragnarok, the climactic battle of the  cyclical Old Norse mythology. Nearing the end of the cycle, people, and the Gods themselves, will become increasingly corrupt, not honorable, dissipated, apathetic, and nihilistic. The Frost Giants, led by the renegade god Loki, will come and the battle will begin, accompanied by natural disasters. Most of the Norse gods will be killed and the world will eventually be dead and silent, covered with water and in total silence. After a time, fertile land will emerge from the water and the few gods who survived the battle will gather. A new first couple of humans will repopulate the new clean earth and the gods will celebrate.

In some religious/philosophical systems, such as Baha’ism and Jainism, there is neither a beginning nor an end.  Baha’is believe that reality consists of a series of progressive revelations by prophets. The coming of each new prophet is the judgement of the previous religion., with the prophet Bahaullah having brought the ultimate revelation.

The most severe forms of Buddhism deny even this. Within each moment in time, both birth and death are present. As each moment is born, the previous moment dies. The only reality is the present moment. There is no reward or punishment and no God. Individual existence with its cravings and desires is the ultimate evil.  Salvation is the extinction of every type of desire, even the desire for existence.

Hinduism sees reality and time as a series of repeating cycles as Shiva destroys and regenerates the universe repeatedly. The individual is part of this cyclical nature and ultimately will come to realize that individuality is an illusion. The individual consciousness is in actuality part of the Ultimate Reality and its ultimate destiny is absorption back into the Whole. All reality will contract into a singularity which will then begin again to expand.

Islamic eschatology points toward a Day of Judgement in which each persons good deeds will be balanced against their evil deeds. The sayings of the Prophet Muhammad give many signs which will indicate the approach of the Day of Judgement.

Judaism is most concerned with life now, in the present time, and is more corporate than individual. The concept is that the important thing is observance of the Law in order to prepare ourselves and the world for the coming of God's kingdom on Earth. The religion is absolutely monotheistic and God is absolute in His control of the universe. Man is intended to live in friendship with God during this life. There is very little discussion of retributive justice in the afterlife. 

Jewish eschatology is based on the Nation of Israel as a whole, not on the individual. The promises of the Old Testament are to the nation, the people of the land Am ha'aretz (עם הארץ), not the individual. The hope is for the establishment of a theocratic Messianic kingdom, based in Jerusalem, which will rule the world with justice and peace. 

An introduction to Christian eschatology will be presented in the next post.

Film Comment: This Is the End

Collect up at least one hundred film actors, singers, and entertainers at a wild drug and alcohol fueled party, then start the end of the world, complete with giant monsters and demons. The Earth cracks open and people fall into a burning Hell. Have the actors portray themselves, thrown into this situation.

This Is the End (2013) has a cast filled with big name celebrities: Jamez franco, Seth Rogan, Jay Baruchel, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Dany McBride, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Mindy Kaling, David Krumholtz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Rihanna, Paul Rudd, The Backstreet Boys, and many others.

When the trouble starts everyone runs outside as the world begins to burn and explode around them.  Too dumb, selfish, cowardly, drug-addled, gluttonous, etc. to “escape” some do not even notice the disturbance.  But they soon will. The six main protagonists run back into the “safety” of the house.

The guys tell themselves they will survive because they are “good people,” but they realize that they are not.  The film does not show any of these people in a good light.  They all realize that they are damned.

The film, a comedy with some undeniably hilarious moments, features violence, gore, impalement, decapitation, penis jokes, nudity, profanity, cannibalism,  homosexuality, demons, intentional blasphemy, obscenities, betrayal, alcohol and drug abuse, self-righteousness, taking God’s name in vain, urination, vomit, obscene gestures, discussion of intent to rape in the presence of the intended victim, masturbation, demonic possession, prayer for the death of another person, sexual slavery, cowardice, self preservation at the expense of other’s lives.  Did I forget anything?

The supposedly ”happy” messages of the film are:

1.     Self-sacrifice confers instant entry into Heaven.

2.     In Heaven, we become angels.

3.     In Heaven, you can have anything you want, even a dooble.

4.     There is no need to be a “Christian” to enter into Heaven.

5.     Heaven is just another wild party.

6.     The Rapture looks like an alien abduction with a beam of light pulling the person up into the sky.

This highly offensive film intends to offend in every way imaginable, showing a contempt or disregard for any conventional understanding of propriety or morality.  It made me wonder.  The actors, portraying themselves, know that they are damned.

In the film, they are facing evidence which, at the very least, proves that God and the supernatural are real.

These are extremely talented, supposedly very intelligent comedians who have gone out of their way to intentionally offend nearly everything related to Christianity and the End Times.  Should not this film prod these actors into actually thinking about their real-life situations?

To some, or most of the actors, I am sure that this was all just a big joke.  Perhaps they are like many people and do not believe anything at all.  Post-modern moral and intellectual relativism at its logical conclusion.

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This is an end of the world film where the Earth is not merely damaged, but is actually destroyed.  Two other prominent films of this type are When Worlds Collide (1951), which depicts the chaos which erupts when a planet the size of Earth is on a collision course with our planet.  The other is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), a surprisingly tender and bittersweet love story.  Either of these two films would be an infinitely better use of your two hours than This Is the End.

A Text in the Middle of the Night

Last night at one-thirty AM my wife's smartphone received a text message.  We have someone in the hospital so we burst out of bed to read the message.  It was a text of an internet scam which has been active for over a year.  The text says that the receiver has won $1000 and to get the money one needs only go to a link provided in the text.  The link loads a virus which steals a person's private personal information (passwords, account numbers, social security number, etc) from a computer or smartphone.
This is a criminal activity.

Attacks on personal information are rampant.  In just the same way, Christians are constantly under attack from The Evil One and his servants, especially when they are distracted by life's worries or worse, are spiritually asleep.  It is not currently popular to think of Satan as a person but the Bible clearly does.  Most people, including Christians, do not need his help in falling short of the mark.

Remember, if you resist the devil in the power of the Lord, the devil will run away! James 4:7.

Book Comment: Edgar Cayce on Jesus and His Church

Edgar Cayce, a photographer by trade, and born in 1877 in Kentucky (USA), is known as the Sleeping Prophet.  He is represented today by the Association for Research and Enlightenment. 

In a trance state, Cayce gave thousands of “life readings” (over 14,000 documents) for individuals over a forty-three year career.  He claimed to be a Christian, read the entire Bible annually, and served as a Campbellite (Christian Church, Disciples of Christ) Sunday School teacher.  Those who knew him personally said that he was a gentle, kind, and humble man. Then, why is he considered to have been a heretic by the vast majority of Christendom?  Reading Edgar Cayce on Jesus and His Church (1970) will give you a good idea.

 

The book, by devotee Anne Read, is supposed to give us a “much truer and more complete understanding of the life of Jesus than the Bible alone.”  To the spiritually and intellectually awake Christian, this statement is a giant flashing red flag.

The vast majority of the Cayce “life readings” concern health, massage therapy,  and the treatment of disease states.  Cayce, though possessing only a seventh-grade education, is considered by many to have been one of the fathers of modern holistic medicine.

In other readings, starting around 1922, Cayce began to stray significantly from orthodox Christian doctrine.  His trance declarations began to include references to past lives, reincarnation, astrology, Atlantis, Akashic records, the Universal Mind, spiritual beings, prophecies of the future, and unorthodox declarations about the nature of God and Jesus.       

At first, Cayce himself was concerned about the turn his readings had taken, but soon, he became convinced he was imparting the truth to his followers.  Edgar Cayce said that he never actually heard his own readings because he was asleep when he gave them.  He read transcripts of the readings when he woke up.  His initial misgivings about the contents of the readings is obvious from what he said to Arthur Lammers when he awoke from one trance state and read what he had said.  

“But what you’ve been telling me today, and what the readings have been saying, is foreign to all I’ve believed and been taught, and all I’ve taught others, all of my life.  It ever the Devil was going to play a trick on me, this would be it.” Quoted in Thomas Sugrue, Stranger in the Earth, 1971, p. 210.

The worst deviation from Christianity in the Cayce teachings concerns who Jesus was.  This is the main point of Cayce’s heresy.  He taught that Jesus was a man, a created soul, a spirit child of God, who became the Christ.  He further taught that we are also the spirit children of God, the same as Jesus, and that salvation and enlightenment comes when we realize our true nature and return to God.  This is the New Age doctrine of the divinity of man mixed in with the ancient heresies of Adoptionism and Arianism.  Both heresies deny the full deity of Jesus.

One Christian response to Cayce is stated by William J. Petersen in his book, Those Curious New Cults, p. 46.

“For a good portion of his life, Cayce was a commercial photographer.  He understood very well the mechanics of his trade.  A blank film is inserted, the shutter is snapped,  and then the film is developed in the dark.  The nature of a photograph, whether it is a formal family picture or pornography, depends not on the film but on the photographer who uses the cameras.  During his trances, Cayce’s mind was like a blank film that would be developed in the dark.  I believe that Cayce allowed his camera to get into the wrong hands.”

Petersen is hinting at what many people believe: the person who was speaking during Cayce’s trance states was not Edgar Cayce, but someone else, something else.  Speaking in traces is a standard event for mediumship and spiritism/spiritualism.  The New Age teachings of Ascended Masters and spirit guides speaking through human channellers comes immediately to mind.  The messages given by these spirit guides invariably are at odds with orthodox Christianity.

 What I am about to say will sound very controversial to some Christians, especially those who have accepted the anti-supernaturalism of the modernist world view (there it is again).  Unless one accepts that the spirit guides are who they say they are, they must be someone else.  The obvious answer is that they are Satan himself, or more likely his demons.

The Bible is quite emphatic that Satan and his demons exist.  In fact, Jesus said so.  Either Jesus was ignorant, mistaken, or correct.  I would go with Jesus.

A detailed Christian Response

http://www.watchman.org/profiles/edgar-cayce/

More on Edgar Cayce tomorrow.

Baby Jumping

I have to admit that I do not understand this at all.  It is the festival of El Salto del Colacho (“the devil’s jump”) in Castrillo de Murcia , a village near Burgos, Spain.  The festival has been held annually since 1620 and is said to cleanse the babies of original sin and to guard them against illness and evil spirits.  The babies are all less than one year old.

Pope Benedict XVI has asked priests to distance themselves from the festival.

(Some videos will not play properly when you click on the triangle.  Instead,  click on the title line in the picture and the video will begin .  When the video is completed, close the You Tube pop-up window to return to this blog.)

Ghosts!!!!!

The Bible is clear that we are surrounded by hosts of supernatural beings, both benevolent and malevolent.  A less clear question is whether or not any of these beings are what we would call “ghosts,” the disembodied spirits of dead humans.

There are numerous mentions of “ghosts” and “spirits” and an “after-life” in the Bible.  (Deuteronomy 18:9; 1 Samuel 28:7-25,  Matthew 14:25-27, 2 Corinthians 4:13-18, 5:1,6-8, 11:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, John 10:10, 19:30, Mark  5:1-20, 15:37-39, Luke 23:46, 24:39  1 John 4:1,  

There are various Christian interpretations which have been put forth:

1.     “Ghosts: are demons in disguise, hoping to lure us away into error.

2.     “Ghosts” are not personal beings, but are traces or ripples we leave behind in the space-time continuum., especially after intense emotional experiences.

3.      “Ghosts” are what many believe them to be, the disembodied spirits of dead humans, trapped in the material and unable to “move on.”

4.     “Ghosts” are the product of superstition or very “active imaginations.”

5.     “Ghosts” are an utter fabrication produced by persons wishing to profit in some way from gullible people.

My own take on ghosts is that they do not exist.  When we die, we immediately are in the presence of the Lord (Luke 23:43).  There is nothing in the Bible about the spirits of the dead walking the Earth.  The witch of Endor who called up Samuel the Prophet (1 Samuel 28) was shocked when he actually showed up.  She was accustomed to dealing with someone or something else.

If ghosts did exist, Christians would have no need to fear them.  We are indwelled by the Mind of Christ and demons, as well as angels, must obey us.  The demon’s only other recourse would be to run away. (James 4:7)

Below are links to sites exhiiting the world’s extreme interest in ghosts and hauntings.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-seven-most-haunted-spots-earth

http://paranormal.about.com/od/hauntedplaces/ig/World-s-Most-Haunted-Place/

http://www.letitflow.com/most-haunted-places-usa/

http://inventorspot.com/articles/13_real_haunted_places_2532

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reportedly_haunted_locations_in_the_world

One United Church of Christ pastor , The Paranormal Pastor, definitely believes in ghosts:.

http://theparanormalpastor.blogspot.com/2008/08/bible-and-paranormal-part-1-ghosts.html 

And, The Haunted Places Directory.

http://www.haunted-places.com/ 

You Have to Have Faith

If you have seen many vampire movies you know the often repeated scene where a scared out his wits victim grabs a crucifix and holds it up to ward off an advancing vampire.  Of course, the vampire grabs and crushes the crucifix, and then says, "You have to have faith!" Then the biting begins.

There is a story in Acts 19:13-16 where two unbelieving Jewish exorcists attempted to use the name of Jesus as if it were a powerful magic incantation.  Their idea was to use the magic to cast a demon out of a possessed man.  Instead of being cast out, the demon had its slave beat the two men and chase them away.


"Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew,and chief of the priests, which did so.  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?  And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." Acts 19:13-16

The Devil's Future

"When the devil reminds you of your past ... remind him of his future." Teresa of Avila


As you grow closer to God, the Devil and his angels step up their attacks, usually in ways no one else but you would notice; self-doubts, opportunities to indulge in whatever is your strongest temptation, tests of your patience and acceptance of others,  obsessive thoughts, and many more.  It is not necessary for the Devil's purposes that he pull you away from Jesus.  He will be happy if he can make you ineffective.


The Devil and his angels are in all-out war against God.  They have to be if they are to have any chance (they don't) to escape the fire.


"Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Revelation 12:12



"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:" Matthew 25:41

Film Comment: Rabbit

This perverse (extremely perverse) little nine minute film is one I know you'll probably never see, so I'm doing no no harm in including spoilers in this comment. Rabbit (2005) is a limited animation film illustrated like a children's picture book with the names of each object printed directly under the object: ie. "rabbit," "flower," "house," "boy," and "girl," etc. You get the idea, it looks like an old fashioned British children's reading primer. The British director, Run Wrake, used educational stickers he found in a junk shop.

A sweet little boy and girl are playing in a garden when the girl decides to cut open a passing rabbit. The boy uses a cricket bat to whack the heads of several animals. Inside one animal, the children find a strange little animated idol (a demon?) which turns insects into jewels. The children come up with a plan; distract the idol with a tasty bowl of jam, kill animals to attract insects which the idol will turn into jewels, and the children get rich. They set their plan in motion and drive off to get more jam. The idol has other, deadly, ideas. The children end up eaten by insects.

This bizarre film was nominated for a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award and it deserved it. It speaks none too subtly about animal cruelty, consumerism, greed, corruption, and hypocrisy (false innocence). As seen by Christian eyes, it is an allegory about the dangers of consorting with evil and demonstrates graphically that death really is the result (wages} of sin.

For those who wish to see the film, it is available from Netflix in the compilation entitled Cinema 16: Disc 2 (European Short Films).

Film Comment: Satan: Prince of Darkness

Satan: Prince of Darkness is a 1998 Arts and Entertainment Channel documentary which is ultimately unsatisfying because it attempts to be non-controversial. It rightly points out several modern understandings of the demonic; that the ancient fear of witches and the devil in part stemmed from a fear of women and sexuality; that the Salem witch trials were the result of rampant human fear and ignorance; that in the Eighteenth Century, Satan began to be seen as a rebel against authority and that in the Nineteenth Century he became an object of ridicule as science began to explain away God and Satan; and that, in the modern era Satan is seen as an interesting myth, the BOOGEYMAN.

The Bible clearly declares the Devil and his demons to be real, dangerous beings who seek to hinder or invalidate believers. Ephesians 2:1,2; 1 Thessalonians 2: 8, 3:5; Acts 5:3; 1 Corinthians 7:5; Revelation 2:10, 12:10; Matthew 13:38-3.

On the Human Knowledge of Christ, Part 6

Demonology
The absolute assertion that Jesus was mistaken in his belief in the existence of evil spirits and demonic possession is based in truth on a philosophical prejudice. How do you know that demons don't exist?
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LIMITS TO JESUS" KNOWLEDGE?
Luke 2:52 says that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature. He could learn, meaning he did not possess all knowledge. Bonsall described this a s a pure white lily which unfolds, revealing what is already there.
In Mark 11:13 and Matthew 21:19, Jesus curses a fruitless fig tree. Since this event probably occurred in April, before the fig season began, some see this a a sign of Jesus' ignorance and unreasonable annoyance. Frank Stagg, says that Jesus knew full well that the tree would have no fruit and that he used it as a parable. Since the tree had the outward appearance of being fruitful but was in truth fruitless, it was cursed. The main sin of the Jewish leaders of Jesus' time was that they were more concerned with outward appearances than they were with their own hypocrisy.