Dr. Strangelove and the self-inflicted wound
November 11, 2020 11:55 PM
Dana
Received 11/10/20 at 9:14pm
This is a little messy and complicated, but I wanted to put it out there in case anyone else has had visions of something similar, maybe as confirmation, because so many of us are having similar dreams and visions. I’m asking God for more specific details and information, so please bear with me. If I receive anything else pertaining to this, I will release it. May YHVH bless and keep you and yours.
Vision:
I’m getting bizarre images right now. Vintage nuclear bomb paraphernalia – scenes from Dr. Strangelove, posters with a woman straddling a bomb, the “duck and cover” turtle, bombs being dropped from planes, people laughing as the bombs are falling… it was a mess of images flooding into my mind.
Then I heard the words “self-inflicted“, and I felt a drop, an emptiness in my stomach and thought to myself, “We did it to ourselves. Are we, the United States of America, going to bomb ourselves??”. I wanted to see if there was any specific reference in the Word about self-inflicted wounds, and I was lead to these scriptures.
Jeremiah 6:1-30
ZION’S FOES PREPARE WAR AGAINST HER: HER SINS ARE THE CAUSE.
1. Benjamin–Jerusalem was situated in the tribe of Benjamin, which was here separated from that of Judah by the valley of Hinnom. Though it was inhabited partly by Benjamites, partly by men of Judah, he addresses the former as being his own countrymen.
blow . . . trumpet . . . Tekoa–Tikehu, Tekoa form a play on sounds. The birthplace of Amos.
Beth-haccerem–meaning in Hebrew, “vineyard-house.” It and Tekoa were a few miles south of Jerusalem. As the enemy came from the north, the inhabitants of the surrounding country would naturally flee southwards. The fire-signal on the hills gave warning of danger approaching.
2. likened–rather, “I lay waste.” Literally, “O comely and delicate one, I lay waste the daughter of Zion,” that is, “thee.” So Zechariah 3:9 , “before Joshua,” that is, “before thee” [MAURER].
3. shepherds–hostile leaders with their armies ( Jeremiah 1:15 , 4:17 , 49:20 , 50:45 ).
feed–They shall consume each one all that is near him; literally, “his hand,” that is, the place which he occupies ( Numbers 2:17 ;
X
4, 5. The invading soldiers encourage one another to the attack on Jerusalem.
Prepare–literally, “Sanctify” war, that is, Proclaim it formally with solemn rites; the invasion was solemnly ordered by God (compare Isaiah 13:3 ).
at noon–the hottest part of the day when attacks were rarely made ( Jeremiah 15:8 , 20:16 ). Even at this time they wished to attack, such is their eagerness.
Woe unto us–The words of the invaders, mourning the approach of night which would suspend their hostile operations; still, even in spite of the darkness, at night they renew the attack ( Jeremiah 6:5 ).
6. cast–Hebrew, “pour out”; referring to the emptying of the baskets of earth to make the mound, formed of “trees” and earthwork, to overtop the city walls. The “trees” were also used to make warlike engines.
this–pointing the invaders to Jerusalem.
visited–that is, punished.
wholly oppression–or join “wholly” with “visited,” that is, she is altogether (in her whole extent) to be punished [MAURER].
7. fountain–rather, a well dug, from which water springs; distinct from a natural spring or fountain.
casteth out–causeth to flow; literally, “causeth to dig,” the cause being put for the effect ( 2 Kings 21:16 2 Kings 21:24 , Isaiah 57:20 ).
me–Jehovah.
8. Tender appeal in the midst of threats.
depart–Hebrew, “be torn away”; Jehovah’s affection making Him unwilling to depart; His attachment to Jerusalem was such that an effort was needed to tear Himself from it ( Ezekiel 23:18;,Hos 9:12 Ezekiel 23:18;,Hos 9:12 , 11:8 ).
9. The Jews are the grapes, their enemies the unsparing gleaners.
turn back . . . hand–again and again bring freshly gathered handfuls to the baskets; referring to the repeated carrying away of captives to Babylon ( Jeremiah 52:28-30 , 2 Kings 24:14 , 25:11 ).
10. ear is uncircumcised–closed against the precepts of God by the foreskin of carnality ( Leviticus 26:41 , Ezekiel 44:7 , Acts 7:51 ).
word . . . reproach–( Jeremiah 20:8 ).
11. fury of . . . Lord–His denunciations against Judah communicated to the prophet.
weary with holding in–( Jeremiah 20:9 ).
I will pour–or else imperative: the command of God (see Jeremiah 6:12 ), “Pour it out” [MAURER].
aged . . . full of days–The former means one becoming old; the latter a decrepit old man [MAURER] ( Job 5:26 , Isaiah 65:20 ).
12. The very punishments threatened by Moses in the event of disobedience to God ( Deuteronomy 28:30 ).
turned–transferred.
13. ( Jeremiah 8:10 , Isaiah 56:11 , Micah 3:11 ).
14. hurt–the spiritual wound.
slightly–as if it were but a slight wound; or, in a slight manner, pronouncing all sound where there is no soundness.
saying–namely, the prophets and priests ( Jeremiah 6:13 ). Whereas they ought to warn the people of impending judgments and the need of repentance, they say there is nothing to fear.
peace–including soundness. All is sound in the nation’s moral state, so all will be peace as to its political state ( Jeremiah 4:10 , 8:11 , 14:13 , 23:17 , Ezekiel 13:5 Ezekiel 13:10 , 22:28 ).
15. ROSENMULLER translates, “They ought to have been ashamed, because . . . but,” &c.; the Hebrew verb often expressing, not the action, but the duty to perform it ( Genesis 20:9 , Malachi 2:7 ). MAURER translates, “They shall be put to shame, for they commit abomination; nay (the prophet correcting himself), there is no shame in them” ( Jeremiah 3:3 , 8:12 , Ezekiel 3:7 , Zephaniah 3:5 ).
them that fall–They shall fall with the rest of their people who are doomed to fall, that is, I will now cease from words; I will execute vengeance [CALVIN].
16. Image from travellers who have lost their road, stopping and inquiring which is the right way on which they once had been, but from which they have wandered.
old paths–Idolatry and apostasy are the modern way; the worship of God the old way. Evil is not coeval with good, but a modern degeneracy from good. The forsaking of God is not, in a true sense, a “way cast up” at all ( Jeremiah 18:15 , Psalms 139:24 , Malachi 4:4 ).
rest–( Isaiah 28:12 , Matthew 11:29 ).
17. watchmen–prophets, whose duty it was to announce impending calamities, so as to lead the people to repentance ( Isaiah 21:11 , 58:1 , Ezekiel 3:17 , Habakkuk 2:1 ).
18. congregation–parallel to “nations”; it therefore means the gathered peoples who are invited to be witnesses as to how great is the perversity of the Israelites ( Jeremiah 6:16 Jeremiah 6:17 ), and that they deserve the severe punishment about to be inflicted on them ( Jeremiah 6:19 ).
what is among them–what deeds are committed by the Israelites ( Jeremiah 6:16 Jeremiah 6:17 ) [MAURER]. Or, “what punishments are about to be inflicted on them” [CALVIN].
19. ( Isaiah 1:2 ).
fruit of . . . thoughts–( Proverbs 1:31 ).
nor to my law, but rejected it–literally, “and (as to) My law they have rejected it.” The same construction occurs in Genesis 22:24 . Literally, “To what purpose is this to Me, that incense cometh to Me?”
incense . . . cane–( Isaiah 43:24 , 60:6 ). No external services are accepted by God without obedience of the heart and life ( Jeremiah 7:21 , Psalms 50:7-9 , Isaiah 1:11 , Micah 6:6 , &c.).
sweet . . . sweet–antithesis. Your sweet cane is not sweet to Me. The calamus.
21. stumbling-blocks–instruments of the Jews’ ruin (compare Matthew 21:44 , Isaiah 8:14 , 1 Peter 2:8 ). God Himself (“I”) lays them before the reprobate ( Psalms 69:22 , Romans 1:28 , 11:9 ).
fathers . . . sons . . . neighbour . . . friend–indiscriminate ruin.
22. north . . . sides of the earth–The ancients were little acquainted with the north; therefore it is called the remotest regions (as the Hebrew for “sides” ought to be translated, of the earth. The Chaldees are meant ( Jeremiah 1:15 , 5:15 ). It is striking that the very same calamities which the Chaldeans had inflicted on Zion are threatened as the retribution to be dealt in turn to themselves by Jehovah ( Jeremiah 50:41-43 ).
23. like the sea–( Isaiah 5:30 ).
as men for war–not that they were like warriors, for they were warriors; but “arrayed most perfectly as warriors” [MAURER].
24. fame thereof–the report of them.
25. He addresses “the daughter of Zion” ( Jeremiah 6:23 ); caution to the citizens of Jerusalem not to expose themselves to the enemy by going outside of the city walls,
sword of the enemy–literally “there is a sword to the enemy”; the enemy hath a sword.
26. wallow . . . in ashes–( Jeremiah 25:34 , Micah 1:10 ). As they usually in mourning only “cast ashes on the head,” wallowing in them means something more, namely, so entirely to cover one’s self with ashes as to be like one who had rolled in them ( Ezekiel 27:30 ).
as for an only son–( Amos 8:10 , Zechariah 12:10 ).
lamentation–literally, “lamentation expressed by beating the breast.”
27. tower . . . fortress–( Jeremiah 1:18 ), rather, “an assayer (and) explorer.” By a metaphor from metallurgy in Jeremiah 6:27-30 , Jehovah, in conclusion, confirms the prophet in his office, and the latter sums up the description of the reprobate people on whom he had to work. The Hebrew for “assayer” (English Version, “tower”) is from a root “to try” metals. “Explorer” (English Version, “fortress”) is from an Arabic root, “keen-sighted”; or a Hebrew root, “cutting,” that is, separating the metal from the dross [EWALD]. GESENIUS translates as English Version, “fortress,” which does not accord with the previous “assayer.”
28. grievous revolters–literally “contumacious of the contumacious,” that is, most contumacious, the Hebrew mode of expressing a superlative. So “the strong among the mighty,” that is, the strongest ( Ezekiel 32:21 ). See Jeremiah 5:23 , Hosea 4:16 .
walking with slanders–( Jeremiah 9:4 ). “Going about for the purpose of slandering” [MAURER].
brass, &c.–that is, copper. It and “iron” being the baser and harder metals express the debased and obdurate character of the Jews ( Isaiah 48:4 , 60:17 ).
29. bellows . . . burned–So intense a heat is made that the very bellows are almost set on fire. ROSENMULLER translates not so well from a Hebrew root, “pant” or “snort,” referring to the sound of the bellows blown hard.
lead–employed to separate the baser metal from the silver, as quicksilver is now used. In other words, the utmost pains have been used to purify Israel in the furnace of affliction, but in vain ( Jeremiah 5:3 , 1 Peter 1:7 ).
consumed of the fire–In the Chetib, or Hebrew text, the “consumed” is supplied out of the previous “burned.” Translating as ROSENMULLER, “pant,” this will be inadmissible; and the Keri (Hebrew Margin) division of the Hebrew words will have to be read, to get “is consumed of the fire.” This is an argument for the translation, “are burned.”
founder–the refiner.
wicked . . . not plucked away–answering to the dross which has no good metal to be separated, the mass being all dross.
30. Reprobate–silver so full of alloy as to be utterly worthless ( Isaiah 1:22 ). The Jews were fit only for rejection.
PSALM 94
OVERVIEW
SUBJECT. The writer sees evil doers in power, and smarts under their oppressions. His sense of the divine sovereignty, of which he had been singing in the previous Psalm, leads him to appeal to God as the great Judge of the earth; this he does with much vehemence and importunity, evidently tingling under the lash of the oppressor. Confident in God’s existence, and assured of his personal observation of the doings of men, the psalmist rebukes his atheistic adversaries, and proclaims his triumph in his God: he also interprets the severe dispensation of Providence to be in very deed most instructive chastisements, and so he counts those happy who endure them. The Psalm is another pathetic form of the old enigma — “Wherefore do the wicked prosper?” It is another instance of a good man perplexed by the prosperity of the ungodly, cheering his heart by remembering that there is, after all, a King in heaven, by whom all things are overruled for good.
DIVISIONS. In Psalms 94:1-7 the psalmist utters his complaint against wicked oppressors. From Psalms 94:8-11 he reasons against their sceptical notion that God did not notice the actions of men. He then shows that the Lord does bless his people and will deliver them, though for a while they may be chastened, Psalms 94:12-15 . He again pleads for help in Ps 94:16, and declares his entire dependence upon God for preservation, Psalms 94:17-19 ; yet a third time urges his complaint, Psalms 94:20-21 ; and then concludes with the confident assurance that his enemies, and all other wicked men, would certainly be made to reap the due reward of their deeds, — “yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off.”
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; 0 God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself: or, God of retribution, Jehovah, God of retribution, shine forth! A very natural prayer when innocence is trampled down, and wickedness exalted on high. If the execution of justice be a right thing, — and who can deny the fact? — then it must be a very proper thing to desire it; not out of private revenge, in which case a man would hardly dare to appeal to God, but out of sympathy with right, and pity for those who are made wrongfully to suffer, Who can see a nation enslaved, or even an individual downtrodden, without crying to the Lord to arise and vindicate the righteous cause? The toleration of injustice is here attributed to the Lord’s being hidden, and it is implied that the bare sight of him will suffice to alarm the tyrants into ceasing their oppressions. God has but to show himself, and the good cause wins the day. He comes, he sees, he conquers! Truly in these evil days we need a manifest display of his power, for the ancient enemies of God and man are again struggling for the mastery, and if they gain it, woe unto the saints of God.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 1. 0 LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth. It may perhaps seem to accord too little with a lover of piety, so strenuously to urge upon God to show himself an avenger against the wicked, and to rouse Him as if He were lingering and procrastinating. But this supplication must be regarded in its proper bearing; for David does not pray, neither should we pray, that God would take vengeance on the wicked in the same way that men, inflamed with anger and hatred, are wont often to avenge themselves of their enemies, but that He would punish them after his own divine manner and measure. The vengeance of God is for the most part a medicine for the evil; but ours is at times destruction even to the good.
Therefore truly the Lord is alone the God of revenges. For we, when we think we have inflicted a penalty upon our enemy, are often much mistaken. What injury to us was the body of our enemy? in depriving him of which we nevertheless express all our bitterness. What wounded thee and wrought thee harm and shame, was the spirit of thine enemy, and that thou art not able to seize and hold, but God is able; and He alone has such power that in no way can the spirit escape his strength and force. Leave vengeance with Him, and He will repay. He admonishes us, that if we ourselves wish to be avengers of our own pains and injuries we may hurt ourselves more deeply than our enemy: for when we take vengeance on him, we indeed wound and do violence to his body, which in itself is vile and of little regard; but in our own best and most precious part, that is, in our spirit; we ourselves, by losing patience, receive a deep stain, because when virtue and humanity have been expelled thence, we meanwhile incur faults to be atoned for therein.
Wherefore God is entreated to become Himself the avenger of our injuries, for He alone knows aright and is able to avenge; and to become such an avenger that only the very thing which injured us may be punished. Some greedy man has cheated thee in money, may He punish avarice in him. A proud man has treated thee with scorn, may He destroy his pride, etc… This is vengeance most worthy to be inflicted of God, and by us to be sought. Jacopo Sadoleto. 1477-1547.
Verse 1. I do not think that we sufficiently attend to the distinction that exists between revenge and vengeance. “Revenge,” says Dr. Johnson, “is an act of passion, vengeance of justice; injuries are revenged, crimes avenged.” And it is from not attending to this essential distinction that the scorner has been led into such profane remarks, as if there were a vindictive spirit in the Almighty, and as if he found delight in wreaking vengeance on an adversary. The call which the psalmist here makes on God as a God to whom vengeance belongeth, is no other than if he had said, “O God, to whom justice belongeth!” Vengeance indeed is not for man, because with man’s feelings and propensities it would ever degenerate into revenge. “I wilt be even with him,” says nature; “I will be above him,” says grace. Barton Bouchier.
Verse 1. The two divine names (El and Jehovah, — God and Lord) recognize God as almighty, eternal, self existent, bound by covenant to his people, and alone entitled to take vengeance. J. A. Alexander.
Verse 1-6.
“Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;
Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones,
Forget not: in thy book record their groans
Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piemontese that rolled
Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they
To heaven. Their martyred blood and ashes sow
Over all the Italian fields, where still doth sway
The triple Tyrant; that from these may grow
A hundredfold, who having learned the way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe.” John Milton.
HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS
Verse 1.
Retribution the prerogative of God alone.
Under what aspects may we desire his rendering it.
How, and when he will surely fulfil this righteous wish.
Verse 1.
Vengeance belongs to God and not to man.
Vengeance is better in the hands of God than of man. Let us fall into the hands of God, etc. G. R.
Death, eternal ,
The necessary consequence of sin
Romans 6:16 Romans 6:21 ; 8:13 ; James 1:15
The wages of sin
Romans 6:23
The portion of the wicked
Matthew 25:41 Matthew 25:46 ; Romans 1:32
The way to, described
Psalms 9:17 ; Matthew 7:13
Self-righteousness leads to
Proverbs 14:12
God alone can inflict
Matthew 10:28 ; James 4:12
IS DESCRIBED AS
Banishment from God
2 Thessalonians 1:9
Society with the devil &c
Matthew 25:41
A lake of fire
Revelation 19:20 ; 21:8
The worm that dies not
Mark 9:44
Outer darkness
Matthew 25:30
A mist of darkness for ever
2 Peter 2:17
Indignation, wrath, &c
Romans 2:8 Romans 2:9
IS CALLED
Destruction
Romans 9:22 ; 2 Thessalonians 1:9
Perishing
2 Peter 2:12
The wrath to come
1 Thessalonians 1:10
The second death
Revelation 2:11
A resurrection to damnation
John 5:29
A resurrection to shame
Daniel 12:2
Damnation of hell
Matthew 23:33
Everlasting punishment
Matthew 25:46
Shall be inflicted by Christ
Matthew 25:31 Matthew 25:41 ; 2 Thessalonians 1:7 2 Thessalonians 1:8
Christ, the only way of escape from
John 3:16 ; 8:51 ; Acts 4:12
Saints shall escape
Revelation 2:11 ; 20:6
Strive to preserve others from
James 5:20
Illustrated
Luke 16:23-26
