The Seed that Blesses the World: Israel Not It!

“And Balaam saw that it was good in the eyes of Yahweh to bless Israel, so he did not go as at other times to encounter omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him. Then he took up his discourse and said,

‘The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,And the oracle of the man whose eye is uncovered;The oracle of him who hears the words of God,Who beholds the vision of the Almighty,Falling down, yet having his eyes opened,How fair are your tents, O Jacob,Your dwellings, O Israel!Like valleys that stretch out,Like gardens beside the river,Like aloes planted by Yahweh,Like cedars beside the waters.Water will flow from his buckets,And his seed will be by many waters,And his king shall be lifted up higher than Agag,And his kingdom shall be exalted.God brings him out of Egypt,He is for him like the horns of the wild ox.He will devour the nations who are his adversaries,And will gnaw their bones in pieces,And shatter them with his arrows.He crouches, he lies down as a lion,And as a lion, who dares rouse him?Blessed is everyone who blesses you,And cursed is everyone who curses you.’” Numbers 24:1-9

“‘But if you do not obey Me and do not do all these commandments, if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul loathes My judgments so as not to do all My commandments and so break My covenant, I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it up. And I will set My face against you so that you will be defeated before your enemies; and those who hate you will have dominion over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you. If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will discipline you seven times more for your sins. I will also break down your pride of strength; I will also give your sky over to become like iron and your earth like bronze. And your power will be spent uselessly, for your land will not give forth its produce and the trees of the land will not give forth their fruit.

“‘If then, you walk in hostility against Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins. And I will send out among you the beasts of the field, which will bereave you of your children and cut down your cattle and reduce your number so that your roads lie desolate. 

“‘And if by these things you do not accept My discipline, but walk in hostility against Me, then I will walk in hostility against you; and I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins. I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute vengeance for the covenant; and when you gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you so that you shall be given over into enemy hands. When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread by rationed weight so that you will eat and not become full.

“‘Yet, if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but walk in hostility against Me, then I will walk in wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will discipline you seven times for your sins. Further, you will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters you will eat. I then will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and give your corpses to lie on the corpses of your idols, for My soul shall loathe you. And I will give your cities over as a waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your soothing aromas. And I will make the land desolate, so that your enemies who inhabit it will themselves feel desolate because of it. You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste.

“‘Then the land will make up for its sabbaths all the days of the desolation, and you will be in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and make up for its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your sabbaths, while you were living on it. As for those of you who may remain, I will also bring weakness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. And the sound of a driven leaf will pursue them, and even when no one is pursuing they will flee as though from the sword, and they will fall. They will therefore stumble over each other as if running from the sword, although no one is pursuing; and you will have no strength to stand up before your enemies. But you will perish among the nations, and your enemies’ land will consume you. So those of you who may remain will rot away in their iniquity in the lands of your enemies; and also in the iniquities of their fathers they will rot away with them.

“‘IF they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also how they walked in hostility against Me—I also was walking in hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—or IF their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make up for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. For the land will be forsaken by them and will make up for its sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making up for their iniquity because they rejected My judgments and their soul loathed My statutes. Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so loathe them as to bring an end to them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am Yahweh their God. But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am Yahweh.’

“These are the statutes and judgments and laws which Yahweh has given to be between Himself and the sons of Israel by the hand of Moses at Mount Sinai.” Leviticus 26:14-46

“But it will be, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep and to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.

Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

“Yahweh will send upon you the curse, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you send forth your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me. Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it. Yahweh will strike you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with scorching wind and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish. And the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

“Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will become an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 

“Yahweh will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. Yahweh will strike you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart; and you will grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not succeed in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed all your days, with none to save you. You shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; you shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit. Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey shall be torn away from you and will not be returned to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you will have none to save you. Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and yearn for them all the day long; but there will be nothing you can do. A people whom you do not know shall eat up the produce of your ground and all your labors, and you will never be anything but oppressed and crushed all your days. And you shall be driven mad by the sight of what your eyes see. Yahweh will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. Yahweh will lead you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone. You shall become an object of horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the people where Yahweh drives you. 

“You shall bring out much seed to the field, but you will gather in little, for the locust will consume it. You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them. You shall have olive trees throughout your territory, but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. You shall become the father of sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. The cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground. The sojourner who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you will be the tail. 

“So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. And they shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your seed forever.

“Because you did not serve Yahweh your God with gladness and a merry heart—because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom Yahweh will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

“Yahweh will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose tongue you shall not understand, a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also will not allow grain, new wine, or oil, and the increase of your herd or the young of your flock to remain for you until they have caused you to perish. And it shall besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your gates throughout your land which Yahweh your God has given you. Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom Yahweh your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you. The man who is refined and very delicate among you shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain, so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else remaining, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in all your gates. The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your gates. 

“If you are not careful to do all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this glorious and fearsome name, Yahweh your God,then Yahweh will bring wondrous plagues on you and plagues on those who are your seed, even great and enduring plagues, and miserable and enduring sicknesses. And He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring on you until you are destroyed. Then you shall remain few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. And it will be that as Yahweh delighted over you to prosper you and multiply you, so Yahweh will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it. Moreover, Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known. Moreover, among those nations you shall find no relief, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there Yahweh will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day and shall not have any faith in your life. In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and because of the sight of your eyes which you will see. And Yahweh will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, ‘You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.” Deuteronomy 28:15-68

“Hear this word which Yahweh has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire family which He brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, ‘You only have I known among all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.’” Amos 3:1-2

“Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and he allied himself by marriage with Ahab. And some years later he went down to Ahab at Samaria. And Ahab sacrificed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him, and incited him to go up against Ramoth-gilead. And Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, ‘Will you go with me against Ramoth-gilead?” And he said to him, ‘I am as you are, and my people as your people, and we will be with you in the battle.’

“Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, ‘Please inquire first for the word of Yahweh.’Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?’ And they said, ‘Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.’ But Jehoshaphat said, ‘Is there not yet a prophet of Yahweh here that we may inquire of him?’And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh, but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil. He is Micaiah, son of Imla.’ But Jehoshaphat said, ‘Let not the king say so.’

“Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, ‘Hasten to bring Micaiah son of Imla.’Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, clothed in their royal garments, and they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are consumed.”’All the prophets were also prophesying thus, saying, ‘Go up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king.’

“Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, ‘Behold, the words of the prophets, as if from one mouth, are good to the king. So please let your word be like one of them and speak that which is good.’But Micaiah said, “As Yahweh lives, what my God says, that I shall speak.’

“Then he came to the king, and the king said to him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?’ And he said, “Go up and succeed, and they will be given into your hand.’Then the king said to him, ‘How many times must I make you swear to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of Yahweh?’ So he said,

‘I saw all IsraelScattered on the mountains,Like sheep which have no shepherd;And Yahweh said,“These have no master.Let each of them return to his house in peace.”’

“So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Did I not say to you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?’

“Then Micaiah said, ‘Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right and on His left. And Yahweh said, “Who will entice Ahab king of Israel so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” And one said this while another said that. Then a spirit came forward and stood before Yahweh and said, “I will entice him.” And Yahweh said to him, “How?”And he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” Then He said, “You shall entice him and also prevail. Go out and do so.”So now, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets, but Yahweh has spoken calamity against you.’

“Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah approached and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, ‘How did the Spirit of Yahweh pass from me to speak to you?’And Micaiah said, ‘Behold, you will see on that day when you enter an inner room to hide.’Then the king of Israel said, ‘Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son;and say, “Thus says the king, ‘Put this man in prison and feed him sparingly with bread and water until I return safely.’”’And Micaiah said, ‘If you indeed return safely, Yahweh has not spoken by me.’ And he said, ‘Listen, all you people.’

“So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you put on your garments.’ So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. Now the king of Aram had commanded the commanders of his chariots, saying, ‘Do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone.’Now it happened that when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, ‘It is the king of Israel,’ and they turned to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and Yahweh helped him, and God incited them away from him. So it happened that when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. Now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of the chariot, ‘Turn around and take me out of the fight, for I am severely wounded.’Now the battle raged that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot in front of the Arameans until the evening; and at sunset he died.” 2 Chronicles 18:1-34

“Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in peace to his house in Jerusalem. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him to his face and said to King Jehoshaphat, ‘Should you help the wicked and love those who hate Yahweh and so bring wrath on yourself from Yahweh? But some good has been found in you, for you have purged the Asheroth from the land and you have set your heart to seek God.’ So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. Indeed, he returned and went out among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and caused them to return back to Yahweh, the God of their fathers.” 2 Chronicles 19:1-4 

“The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh saying, ‘Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will make you hear My words.’Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was making something on the wheel. ⁴ But the vessel that he was making of clay was ruined in the hand of the potter, so he turned around and made it into another vessel, according to what was right in the eyes of the potter to make.

“Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ‘Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?’ declares Yahweh. ‘Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to tear down, or to make it perish; but if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to do against it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; but if it does evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, then I will relent concerning the good which I promised, to do good to it. So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am forming calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and do good in your ways and your deeds.”’ But they will say, “It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.”’

“Therefore thus says Yahweh,

‘Ask now among the nations,Who ever heard the like of this?The virgin of IsraelHas done a most appalling thing.Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country?Or is the cold flowing water from a strange land ever uprooted?For My people have forgotten Me;They burn incense to worthless gods,And they have stumbled from their ways,From the ancient paths,To walk in bypaths,Not on a highway,To make their land an object of horror,An object of perpetual hissing;Everyone who passes by it will be horrifiedAnd shake his head.Like an east wind I will scatter themBefore the enemy;I will show them My back and not My faceIn the day of their disaster.’

“Then they said, ‘Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to perish from the priest, nor counsel to the wise man, nor the divine word to the prophet! Come on and let us strike at him with our tongue, and let us give no heed to any of his words.’

“Do give heed to me, O Yahweh,And listen to the voice of those who contend against me!Should good be repaid with evil?For they have dug a pit for me.Remember how I stood before YouTo speak good on their behalf,So as to turn away Your wrath from them.Therefore, give their children over to famineAnd deliver them up to the power of the sword;And let their wives become childless and widowed.Let their men also be smitten to death,Their young men struck down by the sword in battle.May an outcry be heard from their houses,When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;For they have dug a pit to capture meAnd hidden snares for my feet.Yet You, O Yahweh, knowAll their deadly counsel against me;Do not atone for their iniquityOr blot out their sin from before You.But may they be overthrown before You;Deal with them in the time of Your anger!” Jeremiah 18:1-23

“And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘I will come and heal him.’ But the centurion said, ‘Lord, I am not good enough for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this man, “Go!” and he goes, and to another, “Come!” and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this!” and he does it.’ Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, ‘Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ And Jesus said to the centurion, ‘Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.’ And the servant was healed that very moment.” Matthew 8:5-13

“‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. Now when the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.” And they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?’ They said to Him, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.’

“Jesus said to them, ‘Did you never read in the Scriptures, “The stone which the builders rejected, This has become the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes”? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation, producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” Matthew 21:33-44

“Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? On account of this, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. Matthew 23:32–36

“And as He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He cried over it, saying, ‘If you knew in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.’” Luke 19:41-44

“For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also suffered the same things at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and do not please God, and are hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.” 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16

“Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the Law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant-woman and one by the free woman. But the son by the servant-woman had been born according to the flesh, while the son by the free woman through the promise. This is spoken with allegory, for these women are two covenants: one from Mount Sinai bearing children into slavery; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written, ‘Rejoice, barren woman who does not give birth; Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; For more numerous are the children of the desolate one Than of the one who has a husband.’

“And you brothers, in accordance with Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh was persecuting him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the servant-woman and her son, For the son of the servant-woman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.’ So then, brothers, we are not children of a servant-woman, but of the free woman.” Galatians 4:21-31

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24

“And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” Revelation 11:8

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. The first things passed away.’ And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’ Then He said to me, ‘They are done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:1-8