Devour the Book - Rumor notes 65

 Assignment: examine the parallels between chapters 5 and 10 before starting this study

Devour the Book (Revelation 10)

8 The voice which I heard from heaven, again speaking with me, said, "Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land." 9 I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. He said to me, "Take it, and eat it up. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." 10 I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth. When I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 11 They told me, "You must prophesy again over many peoples, nations, languages, and kings."

The voice which I heard from heaven, again speaking with me

Clearly this is the same voice we were introduced to previously.

When the seven thunders sounded, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from the sky [heaven] saying, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders said, and don't write them." (Revelation 10:4)

What should be noted again is how this narrative involving the sea/land angel was interrupted by the outburst of the 7 thunders but is now continued. We move on to the rest of the story about this angel.

Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land

What does this remind us of in our previous studies? Notice the strong parallels.

I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed shut with seven seals. (Revelation 5:1)

I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. Then he came, and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. (Revelation 5:6-7)

The parallels between these two passages is stunning. It appears that what we are finding here is a rerun of the plot line seen in chapter 5, only this time John is asked to do something similar to what the Lamb does there. The main difference here is that this time the book is open while the one the Lamb took was sealed shut. Of course it is open this time, because the Lamb has already unsealed the book entirely, so when it is John's turn to take the book it is now fully open and ready for use.

What is interesting to note here is that John is simply told to go take the book from the angel's hand. That is all. The rest of the instruction as to what he is to do after taking the book come from the other angel, not the voice from heaven. What meaning might this have? How might this apply to us?

Let's do a quick comparison between these two stories.

Revelation 5	Revelation 10
A book sealed shut	An open book
The book is in the hand of the One on the throne	The book is in the hand of an angel who looks a lot like Jesus
No one in heaven or earth or under the earth can be found worthy to open the book	The angel stands with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land
A mighty angel narrates	A voice from heaven instructs
The hero is introduced as a lion	The angel cries out like a lion's roar
The Lamb has 7 eyes which are the 7 spirits of God	The 7 thunders give expression of the 7 spirits
After the book is taken there is a New Song all about the worthiness of the Lamb hero	Before the book is taken, 7 thunders resonate just like the New Song in chapter 14
The right hand of the one on the throne holds the shut book	The right hand of the angel like Jesus is lifted up to heaven
No one in heaven or earth or under the earth can be found worthy to open the book	The angel swears by the Creator who made heaven, earth and seas along with everything in them
A crisis caused from the inability to find anyone worthy to open the sealed book	No longer be delay
The sealed book produced great distress in John because of what was locked inside the book	In the days of the 7th angel the mystery of God is finished
The Lamb takes the book from the hand of the One who sits on the throne	John takes the book from the hand of the one who stands on the sea and the land

Let me ask another question at this point. What might it actually mean to take the book? What did it mean for the Lamb of God to take the book and to break open the constricting seals that locked it shut? If we come to appreciate what it meant for Jesus to take the book, we might begin to appreciate how the same principle might apply in this symbolic scenario that may be directly linked to our own experience right now. In the process we may discover even more about what it means for the mystery of God to be finished.

I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. Then he came, and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. They sang a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on earth." (Revelation 5:6-10)

What does this really mean? In what way did Jesus take the book? Was this only about salvaging God's reputation as indeed it certainly involved? Yes, but far more than that, for saving God's reputation necessarily involves revealing the truth about the principles of God's kingdom which are the revelations of what constitutes love itself. For the principles of reality properly understood and appreciated are the laws that define how love operates. It is the lies, slander and insinuations of the enemy about God's motives and methods and principles that has alienated and estranged us from being able to trust His heart and believe that He is purely love and nothing less at all.

The Lamb is the intermediary between God and fallen humanity, not for the purpose of altering in any way the thinking or feelings of God towards us but to accomplish two complimentary objectives. Jesus came to reveal the truth about God's heart to change our thinking about God and simultaneously to identify so completely with us that He could displace Satan as our representative in the assembly in heaven as fully human, our certified Adam. This is why His favorite title while on earth was Son of Man, for as both Son of Man and Son of God He was able to qualify to be inaugurated as our High Priest forever and displace the accuser who has usurped that position from our first Adam.

Taking the book involves far more than we have considered previously. It has to do with identification, one of the most important aspects of salvation. In chapter 5 we find the Lamb taking the book by identifying so tightly with humanity that it got Him killed, but in doing so He achieved purchasing all humanity with His blood so that He could tear open the lies that were keeping the truth sealed inside the book of truth. We learned that the scroll or book that was sealed being held in the right hand of the One on the throne, was likely the evidence needed to vindicate God's reputation, and only the Lamb had the qualifications, courage and credibility to take on that task and win. The immediate response of those watching this happen declared that His qualification was due to His being killed as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is all about how Jesus identified with sinners and was made to be sin on our behalf. The key factor here is willing identification.

He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we didn't respect him. Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn't open his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn't open his mouth. (Isaiah 53:3-7)

For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This last verse is the formula that links together the two versions of taking the book. What we read in Isaiah is a description of having the book thrown at Him to put it in modern parlance. But the book was not thrown at Him by God as the stern, unforgiving judge looking for a scapegoat. No, it was our false system of justice invented by Satan and embraced by the whole world that indicted and condemned the innocent Son of God and declared Him worthy of torture and death for simply loving His enemies and thus exposing the corruption and fraud hidden under the darkness by His light of love and truth.

Yes, God laid on Him our iniquities. But God's motives were not what Satan has led us to imagine but were reflected in the disposition of the Lamb, for it is the Father's heart that the Lamb came to show us. The Father made Jesus to be sin on our behalf by placing in the psyche of Jesus the full effects that sin has in our psyche so that Jesus could absorb the full extent of the venom of the Serpent and neutralize it forever. And what constitutes the toxic venom of the great Serpent? It is the lies that God is the one upset and eager to punish us because our sins have offended Him and someone has to pay. This is the essence of the big Lie that keeps us in bondage by the fear of death. By absorbing death itself into His own soul and allowing it to take Him into the grave, Jesus defeated all the slander and deception of the enemy that is used to manipulate and control us with fear. This is the price Jesus paid to set us free, not a price paid to God but the cost of His own comfort, safety and reputation in order to break every lie that the enemy uses to seal the truth from being exposed.

Part of The Lie that was deposed at the cross was that if God were to suffer injustice like we experience, He would certainly react with desire for revenge, retaliation or at least punishment of those treating Him with evil. This is all rooted in belief that the foundation of justice is represented as a balance between good and evil, and that justice demands that every sin must have punishment executed or righteousness is a charade. This is why the Lamb was violently tortured and slaughtered, for it had to be proven that God's kind of justice is like our kind of justice. Yet the spectacular failure of Satan to entice Jesus to even entertain the slightest thought of payback became the death knell for his kingdom of darkness and opened the way for the second half of this formula to have its effect in the lives of all who will choose to embrace the truth brought to light by the Lamb.

in him we might become the righteousness of God

This is what correlates to the symbol of taking the open book from the hand of the one whose appearance is exactly like that of Jesus. It is no coincidence that this being looks just like Jesus, for it represents the spirit of the Lamb who is the hero throughout this book no matter what form He appears in, which is quite varied. The symbols used to portray Jesus throughout this book all reveal key truths about God's heart and the methods God relies on to win this war that are in stark contrast with the methods and motives of His enemies. Jesus identified with us in our sins by allowing Himself to be identified as a sinner and receiving the full punishment of the law of sin and death, not a punishment imposed on Him by God. That is key to appreciate, for so long as we imagine God as behind the punishments imposed by the law of sin and death, we remain trapped in The Lie that fuels fears about God, which means we are not allowing ourselves to be made perfect in love.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

How are we made perfect in love that sets us entirely free of the power of fear in our hearts and minds? We escape the tyranny of fear by choosing to identify with the Lamb, not with sin. This is the same way the Lamb chose to identify with us. The Lamb took the book, meaning He identified with us and endured everything we could give Him to intimidate Him to react like we feel like reacting. But it is impossible to defeat pure love, for love is more powerful than death and endures forever. Love cannot be dissuaded by fear, and when we embrace the truth and reality that God is love and that He loves us personally and passionately, His love is what casts fear out of us and sets us free to live full of joy in the truth.

This is what it means to take the open book and to eat it. The book has forever been opened and can never again be effectively resealed by lies of the enemy, for once the truth is made known, it can never be unknown. Once we see the truth about God's love and have tasted it for real, there is no possibility of being ignorant of it again. We will either choose to live in that love no matter how much the enemy throws at us like he did at Jesus, or we will reject that truth to return to the vomit of lies that will destroy our conscious and deface the image of God in our soul forever.

For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

What does this mean – to crucify the Son of God again? It means to reject the truth about God's heart in our own heart which leads us to view God through the eyes of His enemy the father of lies. When this is done after knowing and tasting the joy and goodness of God that already convinced us that the lie was a fraud, the choice to re-embrace the fraud has an entirely different impact on the soul than simply being ignorant of the truth as we were previous to knowing God.

But, beloved, we are persuaded of better things for you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we speak like this. (Hebrews 6:9)

I now see how this invitation to go and take the book is far more than simply an interesting reference to a historical event that transpired over a hundred years ago that fulfilled a prophecy in Daniel. This is an invitation to every one of us to embrace fully the book opened by the Lamb, the book containing compelling evidence exposed by the Lamb who was violently slaughtered for exposing The Lie but in doing so also exposed the surpassing power of Love so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but enjoy life eternal with the Godhead in sweet fellowship and joy.

No wonder beings surrounding the throne broke out spontaneously with the New Song when the Lamb took the book by taking on humanity. They sang this New Song to humble shepherds on the hills of Bethlehem when the Lamb first arrived as a baby and was sheltered in a sheep stable. The New Song continues to resonate in the hearts and lives of all who believe and embrace it for themselves. This means that you and I are being invited to embrace our true identity brought to us through our eternal High Priest who represents us and who is empowered to authoritatively assign us our true identity in place of the false identity we have believed about ourselves all our lives. When we choose to believe this truth that sets us free, we too can learn the New Song and sing it with others so boldly that our voices take on the power of thunder that resonates with the thunders of the 7 spirits of the Lamb. This amplifies the glory of God in our reflections of His love as our lives become transformed to reflect the righteousness that is already our identity that we now embrace.

I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!" I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!" The four living creatures said, "Amen!" The elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:11-14)

This is the very essence of the New Song that came from the voices of the 7 thunders. This is the stunning revelation of the true nature of God's heart as revealed by the Lamb who showed us His heart explicitly. This is the true gospel, the startling good news that has the power to save us from our sins, our fears, our doubts, our darkness brought on us by lies the enemy has used to keep us in bondage to fear. Will we choose today to embrace this as our theme song? Our hope? Our source of identity?

give me the little book

We might be able to conclude after all this that maybe this is a little hymnbook containing all the lyrics and score of the New Song. Maybe that is the name of the hymnbook – The New Song Hymnal. The accompaniment to enhance our singing of this music includes harps, thunders and angels among other options. But it is vital we do not spurn this invitation for ourselves.

How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation--which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard; God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will? (Hebrews 2:3-4)

See that you don't refuse him who speaks. For if they didn't escape when they refused him who warned on the Earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven, whose voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens." This phrase, "Yet once more," signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can't be shaken, let us have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

(Hebrews 12:25-29)

Take it, and eat it up. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey

Your words were found, and I ate them; and your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by your name, Yahweh, God of Armies. (Jeremiah 15:16)

But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: "Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you. For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.... (Isaiah 43:1-3)

I am the One who created you. This ties right back into what this angel standing on the sea and land cried out, for he swore in the name of the One who created all things. But why would eating this book make the stomach feel so bitter if it tastes so sweet in the mouth?

You, son of man, don't be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: don't be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious. But you, son of man, hear what I tell you; don't be you rebellious like that rebellious house: open your mouth, and eat that which I give you. When I looked, behold, a hand was put forth to me; and, behold, a scroll of a book was therein; He spread it before me: and it was written within and without; and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe. He said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the scroll. He said to me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. He said to me, Son of man, go, get you to the house of Israel, and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel; not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can not understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they will not listen to me: for all the house of Israel are of hard forehead and of a stiff heart. Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: don't be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. Moreover he said to me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. (Ezekiel 2:6 – 3:10)

Wow! So many parallels to what we are finding in Revelation. Living among scorpions – from the 5^th trumpet. A scroll written inside and out – from Revelation 5 and the introduction of the hero Lamb. Eat this scroll, my words – from here in chapter 10 with a nearly identical description. And the source of the bitterness experienced in the stomach? The rebellious resistance of the people who are most favored by God but who are immersed in fear, dark views of God and rebellious resistance to the truth of God's pure goodness.

Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God; (Romans 2:4-5)

Eating the open book, meaning we embrace what Jesus says about God as the only valid way to perceive and think about how God feels about us, will inevitably cause violent reactions from all who have vested interests in maintaining views opposite this. It means if we choose to obey God and share the amazing good news with those who hate it, persecution, disappointment and deep emotional suffering will surely become part of our experience. Yet we are not alone, for some of the most famous messengers in history have encountered this same opposition, even if their own versions of God were far from what we are privileged to receive in our time.

I haven't gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? What his soul desires, even that he does. For he performs that which is appointed for me. Many such things are with him. Therefore I am terrified at his presence. When I consider, I am afraid of him. For God has made my heart faint. The Almighty has terrified me. (Job 23:12-16)

Job could have benefited from reading Ezekiel's message. Of course that did not come until centuries later. When today we have confused and conflicting ideas about God as we all surely do, the dissonance created by these immature and seeming contradictions can cause us great distress and bitterness. But like Job we can choose to trust God even in our immature capacity to understand and appreciate Him more fully, until the truth finally emerges more clearly as God did with Job.

But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4)

Jesus therefore said to them, "Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don't have life in yourselves. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven--not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever." (John 6:53-58)

It is easy for some to imagine that the words God wants them to speak to a rebellious house of God's children are harsh words, hard words, stern words, even threats and accusations and fault-finding. I know about this all too well, for I was raised by a father who had this mindset that caused all too many wounds in the hearts of many who encountered his zeal to obey what he believed was God's commands to him. One of his favorite texts he often quoted was this one:

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. (Isaiah 58:1 KJV)

Coupled with this he also liked to quote another one to justify confrontations (condemning) anyone he believed was sinning while trying to be a member of God's church.

When I tell the wicked, You shall surely die; and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand. (Ezekiel 3:18)

These two passages were indelibly imprinted into my mind as I heard them so often as reasons he believed it was his God-appointed duty to point out the faults and transgressions of all around him. I do not say this to fault or condemn him, but simply as an example that not everything we may imagine is obedience to the word of God is obedience in harmony with the Lamb's revelation of God. What my father seriously lacked was a personal experience of agape love, because for him, anything he imagined God as doing, no matter how ugly, had to be wrapped into his definition of love. This lead to terrible distortions and even abuse in the name of God that caused untold damage to his children as well as many others. It also conditioned me to live under constant condemnation and even suppressed hatred of God, all the while repressing it deep inside for fear that to even admit it to myself would result in punishments by God far more severe than what I already experienced from my earthly father. What both of us needed (and God's mercy and kindness brought at last) was a fresh revelation of the true meaning of what it means to eat God's word and then speak it out to others.

The problem my dad had that nearly ruined his entire life and many others around him, is all too common. It was caused by his resistance to believing in the true goodness of God, resistance to embracing the truth that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Because he despised God's goodness, kindness, graciousness and unconditional love, he could not experience it and was unable to reflect that love to his family, friends or to his enemies.

Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.

Do you think this, O man who judges those who practice such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:1-4)

This is the curse of false religion, for it is linked to the very root of The Lie that denies the saving truth about love and is the cause of all rebellion. Truly the axe needs to be laid to the root of the tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil from which we too long continue to feed. This is why we must eat the book opened by the Lamb, for only the Lamb's version of truth about God has the power to save us from our sins, deliver us from our fears and fill us with true joy that is everlasting and undiminished.

It is dissonance between dark versions of what God must be like, and the real truth of God that originates with the Lamb, that results in bitterness and heartache in the lives of those who obey God's command to speak the truth about Him with holy boldness. Our boldness is not like that of those who believe that confrontation is God's delight, but a boldness than comes from assurance and affirmation that the God of love the Lamb portrays and demonstrates is the only truth that has power to attract and reconcile us back to full trust in His heart, a power that is completely free of all fear. Yes, this incredibly beautiful view of God and His unfailing and everlasting passionate love is hated by those who cling to the dualistic views of God, for such teachings provide them a sense of power over others. Only the truth is genuinely sweet to the palate, even though in our experience of seeking to share it with others too often results in terrible sadness as we watch hearts harden against it because they despise kindness as being weakness, not allowing it to lead them to repentance.

This is where we find ourselves in the flow of the prophecy of Revelation. We are passing through a transition phase in this book, where increasing polarization is becoming more complete. The locusts and scorpions have been released with all their tormenting views of God, along with the unleashing of the four chief angels of the kingdom of darkness whose goal is to wreak as much havoc as possible while blaming it all on God as being the cause of all suffering and destruction as we will see in future chapters.

Yet even now we are being invited to go forward and, along with John, take the open book from the hand of the angel who is just like Jesus. We too can eat it up and savor its sweetness, even while knowing full well that the outcome will be different as we digest it and share this love from our gut.

They told me, "You must prophesy again over many peoples, nations, languages, and kings."

What happens inside us when our sharing of beautiful truths we are learning about God and about what the Bible is really telling us is repulsed, and we suffer for the sake of Jesus and His gospel? We must keep fresh in our minds the words of heaven reminding us that we should not faint, but to continue speaking on behalf of God's truth. That is the true definition of what it means to prophecy.

Haven't you known? Haven't you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, The Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't faint. He isn't weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might. Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.

(Isaiah 40:28-31)

He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up, (Luke 18:1)

Don't be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don't give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let's do what is good toward all men, and especially toward those who are of the household of the faith. (Galatians 6:7-10)