“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance” (2Pe 3:9).

Indeed we must all choose day by day to pick the good and reject the evil. But it seems that the God of the universe, the God who not only created light to bring us out of darkness, is also the creator of the very darkness out of which we are to come.

The God who creates the good we are to choose is also the God who creates the evil we are to refuse.

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [ things].

These are profound scriptures rigorously avoided by the bulk of Christendom. I need to reword that because the scriptural truth is that they do not avoid this scripture; the truth, according to Christ, is that God has blinded them to this scripture, and they don’t even know that it is in the Bible. Being blinded by God Himself, when it is pointed out to them they still cannot see it: “To them it is not given… to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 13:11).

To whom is it not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom? “All these things spake Jesus to the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake He not unto them” (Mat 13:34). For what purpose did Christ speak in parables? “… 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” (Mat 13:15).

Here’s the way Mark puts it: “But without a parable spake He not unto them: and when they were alone, He expounded all things to His disciples” (Mar 4:34).

I’ve already quoted Mat 21:45, but let’s be clear that the “chief priest and Pharisees” and “lawyers and Pharisees” were indeed included in those to whom Christ spoke in parables “to whom” it is not given… to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”. Here again is…:

Mat 21:45: “And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that he spake of them”.

As I understand the question you asked, “Who are these people who refuse to come to the wedding supper?” The answer is: it is those to whom Christ spoke these very parables. It is those to whom it is not given to “know” or to “see” or to “hear” or “be converted” or “be healed”.

Why are these things not given to them while on the other hand we are told “because it is given unto you to know… but to them it is not given”… blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear” (Mat 13:11 and 16).

The answer is: God had decided, not “before the world began”, but “before eonian times (the Greek word is aionios – Strong’s #166) that certain predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works ALL THINGS after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:11) would be “called… with an holy calling, not according to our works but ACCORDING TO HIS OWN PURPOSE and grace which was given us in Christ before the world began (before chronos aionios – before times eonian)” (2Ti 1:9).

Now John the Baptist had admonished the same scribes, lawyers and Pharisees to “repent for the remission of sins” (Luk 3:3). Had the multitudes, including the scribes and lawyers and Pharisees repented, Christ would never have been crucified, and we would have no savior. But things are not left to chance with God.

Those who crucified Christ certainly did not consider themselves robots any more than you or me. Indeed robots are nowhere to be found in scripture. The scriptural word for us all is far more basic and simple than robot. In God’s eyes, we are nothing more than slightly moist dust. We are clay, and God is the Potter. Here are God’s words to every one of us:

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay [ the first Adam made by the Potter] was marred in the hand of the potter [ that’s God]: so he made it again [ the second Adam] another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make [ it]. Jer 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay [ is] in the potter’s hand, so [ are] ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

This too, is couched in admonitions to repent, yet in the same breath we are told that it is God who makes the “marred vessel first and then destroys the marred vessel and replaces it with “another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make”.

This is in accord with how the first Adam [ that’s us] comes right from the hand of the creator, the Potter. He [ we] was naked, meaning according to Rev 3:17, he was a sinning machine, and of the dust, corruptible. Serpents do not literally eat dust, but the Adversary certainly does feed on our flesh. “Dust shalt thou eat” has been the nourishment of the Adversary since Adam. We have all come from the hand of the creator naked, sinful and of the dust, corruptible. Anyone who believes that Adam would never have died if he hadn’t eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil believes that flesh is after all incorruptible and can live forever.

One must eat of the tree of life to live forever. The first Adam never did that. Adam did not die and become corruptible because he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam sinned, was spiritually naked, because he was corruptible and of the flesh, of the dust, and was dying: “In the day that you eat thereof DYING you shall die”(Gen 2:17). Few people notice that the tree of the knowledge of good has the same root as the tree of the knowledge of evil. Consequently they are confused as to why Cain’s offering to God was rejected. After all Cain “brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord”(Gen 4:3).

They are very few indeed who are given eyes to see that it was God Himself who planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Fewer still see that both good and evil HAVE THE SAME ROOT.

But there is much more revealed here in chapter two of Genesis:

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The truth which seems to be the least understood of all is that even the tree of life is ‘made to grow out of the ground’. The truth of this simple statement gives the lie to Satan’s “you shall not surely die” untruth (Gen 3:4). Satan convinced the first Adam of a lie which has been ensconced in Adam’s children from the beginning. In effect what Satan told our parents and is still telling us today is ‘you will never surely die.’ But Christ tells us:

Joh 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life…

That is why Christ had to come in the flesh and partake of our earthy, dusty composition. “OUT OF THE GROUND made the Lord to grow… the tree of life” (Gen 2:9).

Both trees grow ‘out of the ground’. What this tells us about ourselves is: “that they [ mankind] might see that they themselves are beasts” (Ecc 3:18). Paul puts it like this: “… that was NOT first which is spiritual but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is OF THE EARTH [ even Christ, the tree of life] earthy: the second is the Lord from heaven” (1Co 15:46-47).

The scriptures teach us that ONCE Christ died to put away the sins of the world, and “it is appointed unto man ONCE to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:26-27). We are NOT immortal, and we are NOT ‘spirits having a physical experience.’ “Dust thou art”, destined to have a spiritual experience, but only after Christ enters into our lives. When He does enter our lives, we receive His spirit as an earnest of the paid- for possession: “Now are we the sons of God”, but we still have to die to the flesh here and now, and even if we live till “He shall appear [ and] we shall be like Him” (1Jn 3:2), we still must be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Salvation is not in us coming out, it is rather outside of us through Christ coming into us and changing us.

The essence of this whole subject is that “the Lord made to grow…” ALL is of God, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life BOTH “the LORD MADE TO GROW.” And they both have their beginnings “OUT OF THE GROUND”, not out of the spirit.

The elect are saved ” by means of death” (Heb 9:15 & 27), not from death. That is how ‘life’ comes ‘out of the ground’.

This is all a perfect picture in types of Eph 2:8-10. “By grace we are saved through faith… for we are HIS workmanship.” Christ, our sacrifice, shed his blood for us “while we were yet in our sins” (1Co 15:17). It is not shed for those who ‘decide to repent’. It was shed for us “while we were yet in our sins”. Those who fill the master’s house at the wedding feast are not those who willingly chose to come to the wedding: “the Lord said… go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luk 14:23).

Who fills the master’s house for the wedding? Those people who are compelled and dragged to the wedding. That is what scripture teaches everywhere.

We don’t even contribute the faith to our calling. “It is the gift of God.” We are dragged and compelled to accept Christ. The Greek for compel here in Luk 14:23 is anagkazo – Strong’s #315. It appears nine times in the New Testament and never has anything in common with the concept of “free will” or “free moral agency”.

Anagkazo is the same word in Act 28:19: “I was constrained to appeal to Caesar…”. Paul did not want to appeal to Caesar. He felt “constrained” to do so. In all nine instances it has this concept. Those affected by being “compelled” are never the initiators of the actions taken upon them. “And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme…” (Act 26:11).

Another scripture tells us who it is who will fill the master’s house at the wedding supper: ” No man can [ choose to] come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (Joh 6:44). Very few Christians indeed are aware that the Greek word translated ‘draw’ here in Joh 6:44 should be translated “dragged”. The Greek word is helkuo – Strong’s #1670. It appears eight times in the New Testament. Every time this word is used, it is instructive to us to understand exactly how God “the Father draws” us to His wedding supper. Counted down they are:

8) Jas 2:6 – “… do not rich men draw (drag) you before judgment seats.”

7) Act 21:30 – “And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul and drew (dragged) him out of the temple…”

6) Act 16:19) – “And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and drew (dragged) them into the market place unto the rulers.”

5) Joh 21:11 – “Simon Peter went up and drew (dragged) the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three… yet was not the net broken.”

4) Joh 21:6 – “And he said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw (drag) it for the multitude of fishes.”

3) Joh 18:10 – Before I quote this scripture, let me say that it is my strongest desire to avoid what Peter does here. It is typical of overzealous Christians to use the sword (the word of God) as Peter does, and it is hard for anyone to hear if his “ear’ has been cut off by the sword. The high Priest’s servant was obviously not being “dragged” by the spirit of Christ. Nevertheless, there is a spiritual message in this and in every incident recorded in the scripture. The lesson here is that God’s word (the sword) when used rashly on a uninquisitive and unreceptive soul has the effect of cutting off their ‘ears’. Those who are not being dragged by the Spirit, but are still forced by overly zealous converts to look at scriptures they’ve never seen and don’t want to see, end up without “ears to hear” (Mat 13:13). But Christ gave the high priest’s servant back his ear. I personally like to think that this is telling us that this entire experience gave this one servant the ability to see and hear the words of salvation from the One who is capable of “dragging all men” to himself (Joh 12:32) each in his own order (1Co 15:22 and 23).

But now back to Joh 18:10: “Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.” Depending on the weight, it is most likely that ‘dragged it’ would not be the best translation here, but one thing is certain; swords do not decide to jump out of scabbards any more that fish decide to come to land or jump into boats. It is God who tells us that we are “given eyes to see and ears to hear”. If we don’t see and understand, the only reason we don’t is because “to them it is not given… to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 13:11-16).

2) Joh 12:32-33 – “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw [ drag] ALL MEN UNTO ME. This He said signifying what death He should die.”

Has Christ been lifted up on the cross of crucifixion? Of course, He has. Now through the fiery chastening and scourging of grace, He will drag every man who has ever been born to Himself: “For God so loved THE WORLD [ while we were yet in our sins – 1Co 15:17] that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life… that THE WORLD through Him might be saved” (Joh 3:16-17). Is this just a weak wish on God’s part or is this what will happen? “Every knee should bow… and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Php 2:10- 11).

1) Joh 6:44 – “No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me DRAW [ drag] him…”

No doubt many would have followed Christ before His crucifixion just as they did, 3000 in one day, after His resurrection. But they were not dragged to Him by the Father. Instead, He gave them eyes not to see, ears not to hear and hardened hearts lest they should be converted and He should heal them.

These are the eight times the word ‘draw’ appears in the entire New Testament. Once again, we are shown that it is “the Lord God made to grow every tree… the tree of life… and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:9).

This is the real reason the Jews rejected Christ. This is the real reason most people are (temporarily) ‘lost’ during this age. This is also why Christendom in general will refuse to come to the wedding.

Here are a few plain, straightforward scriptures regarding God’s methods of operation. Eph 1:11 – “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him WHO WORKETH ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL. Eph 2:8 – “By grace are ye saved through faith: and that (faith) not of yourselves: it is the gift [“to you it is given” – Mat 13:11] of God.”

Paul equates this gift of faith with God showing mercy on us: “So then IT IS NOT OF HIM THAT WIILLETH [ no free moral agency] nor of him that runneth, BUT OF GOD THAT SHEWETH MERCY.” (Rom 9:16).

This plain straightforward statement, which annihilates the false doctrine of man’s “free will”, is preceded by this declaration from Him who “worketh all things after the counsel of HIS own will”: “… I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy…” God is insistent that we understand that we have virtually NOTHING to do with our being called and being dragged to Him. It is all by “predestination” and “the counsel of HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:11).

The life that we “now live in the flesh [ is not of our choosing but] by the faith of [ not in] the son of God” (Gal 2:20) “that [ faith] not of yourselves IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD” (Eph 2:8). It is the faith of the Son of God, not of you or me or any other man, but the faith of Christ.

“Moreover whom he did predestinate, them He also called…” (Rom 8:30). “So then it is NOT of him that willeth… but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom 9:16) is in this context: “For the children [ Jacob and Esau] BEING NOT YET BORN, neither having done any good nor evil [ before ever being given a chance to choose the good and refuse the evil], THAT THE PURPOSE OF GOD ACCORDING TO ELECTION [ predestination – Rom 8:30 and Eph 1:11] MIGHT STAND… as it is written ‘Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom 9:11 and 13). This is before they were born, and it is written for our admonition. This is not telling us of an exceptional case. This tells us how God operates “all after the counsel of His own will.”

This, Paul knows, sounds so unfair, unjust and unrighteous to us. “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God…?” (Rom 9:14). He then goes directly into the total sovereignty of God: “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy… It is not of him that willeth, but of God who showeth mercy” (Rom 9: 15-16). To reinforce the truth of which Paul was well aware: “I [ God] create evil (Isa 45:7), he adds this to the fact that God hated Esau before he was even born: “… the scripture saith unto Pharoah, even for this same purpose have I raised you up, that I might show my power in thee, And that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore HE hath mercy (Drags) on whom HE will have mercy and whom HE will HE hardeneth [ blinds] “(Rom 11:17). But doesn’t the scripture teach that blindness comes from “the God of this world”?

Of course, “the God of this world (age – aion ) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2Co 4:4). That’s the same reason Christ spoke in parables “lest they should be converted and I should heal them” (Mat 13:15). Who sends the god of this age to blind the minds of unbelievers? “He [ God] hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted and I should heal them” (Joh 12:40).

And again: “God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day: (Rom 11:8). This is what Paul means two chapters earlier where he says: “So then it is not of him that willeth…but of God who sheweth mercy…Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy and whom He will He hardeneth (blinds, gives them the spirit of slumber, does not open their eyes or ears) (Rom 9:16, 18).

Since He hardened Pharaoh’s heart before Moses ever arrived back in Egypt (Exo 4:21), since it is He who blinds people’s eyes and stops their ears, and since it was He who gave the murderers of our Lord the power to do their evil deed, since “none is able to withstand…” Him (2Ch 20:6); why DOES He yet find fault?

In other words, if the people who chose not to attend the wedding supper were actually fulfilling God’s purpose, and if those who do attend are dragged against their own fleshly will, through chastening and scourging to the wedding supper, WHY DOES HE YET FIND FAULT?

Does Paul now contradict himself and the entirety of scripture and say God finds fault with sinners because they choose to close their eyes, they choose to stop their ears, they want the spirit of slumber, they have chosen to harden their hearts and they chose not to attend the wedding feast?

No, that’s not his answer. He first rebukes us for our ignorance:

Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed [ Esau, Pharaoh, those who refuse to attend the wedding feast, you or me] say to him that formed [ it], Why hast thou made me thus?

Paul realized that those who repent and come to Christ only do so because they have experienced something from God which opened their blinded eyes and their deaf ears; raised them from their spiritually deaf condition, and brought, or dragged them to realize that they were in desperate need of a savior. Here are those who will fill the seats at the wedding supper:

Mat 11:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Why were these people blind, lame, leprous, deaf, dead and poor? The answer is because they are being dragged to Christ. These are all absolutely incurable conditions that require a “road to Damascus” experience to be cured of them. We sometimes think “if I were struck to the ground, saw a bright light, heard a voice and became blind for three days, I too, would be a dedicated disciple.”

God tells us of our walk with Him:

· “Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth EVERY son who He receiveth” (Heb 12:6).

· “…We must through MUCH tribulation enter into the kingdom of God (Act 14:22).

· “If…we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Rom 8:17).

· “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him…” (2Ti 2:12).

Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus is not given to tell us how unique Paul was, rather it is for our admonition. Anyone, who truly knows Christ, knows Him not because he has been a zealous disciple of some organized church, as Paul was. Those who truly know Christ read His word for themselves. Jesus Christ Himself strikes them down and “chastens…and scourges EVERY SON He receiveth.” He brings them to see how blind they have been while in their service to the organized church. While being made aware of our blindness, we are assured that we will be given sight.

We must be brought to understand that we are, of ourselves as good as dead; we must see ourselves as incurably lame and leprous and deaf. Now we have been ‘dragged’ to Christ. Now we have a personal experience and relationship with the only head of the church. We eventually see ourselves as the temple of God for He now dwells in us. The beast of Ecc 3:18 has been cast out of the temple. We no longer serve the beast. We have overcome his mark for “here is wisdom, let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man…” (Rev 13:18).

There may or may not ever be a physical temple built in earthly Jerusalem. Neither the temple, nor the beast with which God concerns Himself, are built with hands. “He that hath understanding” will see that our warfare is spiritual (Eph 6:12). Knowing the time of the appearing of some man, his date of birth and his name and street address will do one no spiritual good if the spiritual beast is still demanding one’s wholehearted worship in the only true temple of God.

“To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom 8:6). The true temple is a spiritual temple, not made with hands. It is occupied by the beast from the moment of birth. That’s why John, two thousand years ago could say “the time is at hand” (Rev 1:3). “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads” (Rev 13:16). Two thousand years ago Christ said “the time is at hand”.

We all belong in at least one of those groups: either small, great, rich, poor, bond or free.

Who are those who stand on the sea of glass mingled with fire before the throne of God?: “…and them that had gotten the victory over the beast [ in themselves – Ecc 3:18] and over his image [ churches claiming to be Christian that are truly in the image of the first beastly Adam] and over his mark [ in their right hand and their foreheads] and over the number of his name [“it is the number of a man…”] And they sing the song of Moses” (Rev 15:2-3).

Why do they “sing the song of Moses”? It is because like Israel of old, they have been dragged toward God. Israel did not ask to be delivered from Egypt. “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. As they [ Moses and Aaron] called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images” (Hos 11:1-2). Israel was constantly wishing they had never left Egypt. At the first opportunity, when Moses was in the mount forty days, they returned to the idol worship to which they were so accustomed.

The point is that Israel did not choose God; God chose “Israel according to the flesh.” And “as [ He] called them so they went from [ Him].”

Is it the same under the new covenant? “Now ALL THESE THINGS happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world [ Greek word aion or age Strong’s #165 -] are come” (1Co 10:11).

So why did all these things happen to “Israel according to the flesh”? “Now these things were [ for] our example…now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [#5179 – Greek word is tupos or types] and are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends [ Greek – telos #5056 – the predetermined end or outcome] of the world [ aion #165 – age; a long or short lifetime or a long or short period of time]. Never in scripture used to mean eternity or endless time. More on this later…] are come” (1Co 10:5 and 11). Where in the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James or Jude is there even a hint at “free moral agency”?

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