4. CHAPTER 1, "THE POWER OF THE ZERO-POINT FIELD" BY JUDY FRANKLIN (pages 1-9). I'll quote what Franklin says at the beginning of this chapter. Here again we are confronted with a serious misinterpretation of the New Testament that is being used (I trust it is being sincerely used) to try to give Biblical support to a dominant idea being presented in this book, that here at the end of this age God is calling us to a spectacular revival that requires us to learn truth and receive transforming miracle-working power through science and the New Age/occult world. "Have you ever read a passage in the Bible and found yourself coming back to it again and again? It's like there is something in those particular verses that somehow latches on to your spirit and you just have to understand what they mean. [Yes, but, as we will discuss, she seriously misunderstands what these verses mean.] 

That's the way it was with me several years ago when I read Romans 8:18-22. [These are very important verses, in a very important chapter, in a very important book (one of the most important books, if not the most important book, in the New Testament) written by the apostle Paul. I'll quote the verses she mentioned and add the next three verses, 8:23-25, which are relevant to our topic. Romans 8:18-25, quoted from the NASB.] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. [As we discussed above (in Section 3 of this paper), when discussing 1 Cor. 15:46, "the glory that is to be revealed to us" is the glory that will accompany our being resurrected and glorified (if we have died) and glorified if we are still living on the earth when the Lord Jesus returns, and our beginning to reign with God the Father and His Son. The apostle confirms this interpretation as he continues with these verses. Franklin, however, interprets these prophetic words of the glory we will begin to appropriate in the end times, before the Lord Jesus returns, through the truth, power, etc. that will come to us in part through quantum physics and the "natural," physical dimension. That's quite a difference! Verses like Phil. 3:20-21; Col. 3:4; and 1 Pet. 5:4 confirm the totally widely accepted interpretation that I am giving here. I believe it is totally clear what the apostle Paul is saying here.] (19) For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. [We will be revealed (manifested) when we are glorified at the return of the Lord Jesus, not before. The "anxious longing of the creation" is based on its knowing that when Christ returns at the end of this age and we, the sons of God, are glorified, it signals the time when the creation itself will be glorified, first in the millennial kingdom, then in a much fuller sense in the eternal state that follows the millennium.] (20) For the creation was subjected [by God] to futility [This includes all of the curses that came on the creation through the rebellion of man (cf. Gen. 3:17-19), very much including the fact that Satan became the god of this world. This includes everything like animals killing one another and sometimes killing people; the weather yielding too little rain and too much rain, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, too hot and/or too cold; germs, viruses, bugs that attack people, and animals that kill one another and people.], not willingly [the creation, being personified here, did not will for these things to happen, quite the contrary], but because of Him [God] who subjected it, in hope [The primary point here is that the creation knows that these curses are temporary. The creation hopes ("hope," as the word is used here, and often, doesn't include any doubting) that the desired transformation will be initiated when Christ comes to glorify His people and remove the unrepentant by judgment, which will lead to the millennial kingdom (cf., e.g., Isa. 11:6-9; 65:25).] (21) that the creation itself will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (22) For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. [The good news is that the "pains of childbirth" will yield, will give birth to, the glorified creation at the right time. (As I mentioned, I'll add verses 23-25 to the verses Franklin quoted; they are relevant to our topic.)] (23) and not only this [that is, it isn't just the creation groaning and suffering the pains of childbirth throughout this age, we Christians have to endure some suffering the pains of childbirth too as we await our birth into the fullness of eternal life, when we will be glorified at the return of the Lord Jesus.], but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit [We have the glorious first fruits of the work of the Holy Spirit now, during this present age, which includes the new birth and the authority and power to live for God now in His righteousness and holiness, which includes the fruit (Gal. 5:22-23) and gifts (cf. 1 Corinthians chapter 12) of the Spirit. Now we have the "first fruits of the Spirit," but we will experience a much fuller dimension of His work when we are glorified and begin to reign with the Father and the Son.], even we ourselves groan [note that verse 22 spoke of the creation groaning] within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons [It is clear that we have already become the children of God in a preliminary sense in that we have been born again, but much of our salvation is reserved for the time of our glorification, when the Lord Jesus returns and we will be born into the fullness of eternal life and glory. So much of our salvation is reserved for the future that the apostle Paul can speak of our only having the "hope of eternal life" now (Titus 3:7) and 1 Pet. 1:5 speaks of "a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." There are a large number of verses that make this same point.], the redemption of our body. [And it is clear that our bodies will be redeemed when we will be glorified, including our bodies.] (24) For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? [You wouldn't hope that you might be glorified, including your body, if you had already been glorified. At the present time all we can do is hope for that reality, but hope does not infer that there is any doubt about it, assuming, of course, that we stay faithful by the grace of God through faith until the end.] (25) But if we hope for what we do not see [that is, we do not yet see and experience having been glorified], with perseverance [which includes persevering to stay faithful now by God's sufficient grace by faith] we wait eagerly for it. We obviously have to wait for God's time to glorify us. Franklin offers a totally different interpretation of these verses. She believes that these verses prophesy of the change that will take place that will lead to a gigantic revival that is spoken of often in the Physics of Heaven before the Lord returns. This change will supposedly take place to some extent through the sound, light, energy, frequencies, vibrations and quantum physics that are spoken of in the Physics of Heaven. I'll include some excerpts from this chapter to demonstrate how she interprets Rom. 8:18-22: 

"The next thing the Lord told me was that soon He would release a sound [Based on what I have read, this would be a natural/physical sound.] from heaven that will literally change the structure of how we think. This new sound will transform us like the transformation spoken of in Romans 12 [cf. Rom. 12:2]. Our minds will be renewed so we think like Him and are no longer conformed to this world but conformed to the will of God. [[According to Rom. 12:2 (and other verses, very much including Rom. 8:5-9) we are called, and enabled, to think this way now. I'll quote Rom. 12:2, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing [better, "renewal" (see the BAGD Greek Lexicon and the Greek Lexicon/Dictionary in the back of the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament under anakainosis)] of the mind [or, "of the way of thinking"]." Romans 8:5-9 show that we are called, and enabled (by the Holy Spirit), to think right in our hearts now, and therefore to live right, in the truth, righteousness, and holiness of God now. We don't have to wait for God to do something new in the end times, but many of us need to begin to fully think and walk by the Spirit, in agreement with the Word of God, as we are called, enabled, and required to do [cf. Gal. 5:16]. 

I agree, of course, that we will continue to grow in knowledge as we live for the Lord Jesus (and to grow more like Him), but if we walk by the Spirit on a continuous basis, by grace though faith, in agreement with the basics of the gospel that we can and should know even as recently converted Christians, we will be living with the victory over sin. I'll quote Gal. 5:16, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the [sinful] desire of the flesh. Also see Romans chapter 6, for example. The apostle Paul didn't just write these words to those who had been Christians for a long time. I'm certainly not suggesting that victory over sin is automatic or always easy, but God has provided a lot more sanctifying grace than most of us have been appropriating by faith. God hates sin, and He paid an infinite price in the Sacrifice of His Son to set us free from sin, spiritual death, and demons. I'm sharing good news, very good news! See my books Holiness and Victory Over Sin: Full Salvation Through the Atoning Death of the Lord Jesus Christ and Righteousness, Holiness, and Victory Over Sin.]] ...  

I began thinking about the day of Pentecost. One hundred and twenty believers were in an upper room in Jerusalem when they heard a sound [a natural/physical sound] like a mighty rushing wind. It wasn't a wind [there could have been a literal wind too], it was a sound. And when that sound ended, the thinking of those men and women was completely changed. [IT BEGS TO BE SAID THAT IT WAS THE WORK OF THE NOW INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT THAT ENABLED THEM TO THINK RIGHT, NOT THE SOUND.] Instead of hiding themselves in an upper room, they spilled out onto the streets boldly preaching about Jesus. 

This whole idea about a transforming sound has been mulling around in my spirit for years and I have been studying everything I can find about sound, vibration, and frequency [which are "natural" things; remember she believes first the "natural" first, then the "spiritual"]. I don't understand all that it means, but I feel like the Lord has told me if we will place our hearts in an upper room posture, He is again releasing a sound that will transform the way we think. I believe that sound is going to empower us to do greater works than He [Jesus] did. 

The more I studied, the more I became convinced God is preparing to reveal kingdom insights about sound; and if we will embrace these insights and revelations, we will finally become the children of God that creation has been eagerly awaiting. [This last sentence is built on her misinterpretation of Rom. 8:18-22.]" (pages 2-3). 

Franklin goes on for several pages to present the idea, the idea that is theoretical and confusing, that our universe is packed with unseen "zero-point field" light/energy. "I was stunned. We live in a God-created universe sustained by an 'underlying sea of quantum light' of immeasurable energy. One square yard of the zero-point field contains enough energy to boil all the water in the world. [There are many unknowns, but it seems there is widespread agreement that this energy, if it even exists, is not available to use.] I believe that energy, that power, that light released by God at the beginning of time [the time that began when God created our universe.] is what is in us and around us right now. That's God's power. [My primary concern here is that natural/physical power is not what we need, even if this energy exists and could be harnessed, which is totally unlikely. We need the power of God's Spirit, which is already available for us to use to accomplish His will.] 

The Bible tells us, 'If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain "be removed" and it will be removed' [Yes, and this has always been available to Christians. The power of God (by the infinite Spirit of God) moves these mountains, and we didn't have to wait for end-time discoveries re. sound, light, energy, frequencies, vibrations and quantum physics (or anything we can learn from the New Age/occult world) for us to move the mountains that need to be removed.]" (pages 6-7). 

"We have the zero-point field within us. [In the sentence right before this sentence (which was the last sentence of the preceding paragraph), Franklin spoke of the power of "this 'sea of quantum light' that undergirds everything."] ... So we truly have the power within us and around us to move many mountains" (pages 7-8). The power to move mountains is in God. It was in God for the early Christians and that same power is still available to us today to move the mountains that need to be moved by faith, faith in God. We don't need some special end-time insight about zero-point field energy to move mountains by the power of God, by grace through faith. This seems totally clear to me. 

Lastly, I'll quote the last paragraph in her chapter: "In this book, you will not only learn about the mysteries of sound, light, vibrations, frequencies, and energy [don't forget quantum physics, and the book also puts a strong emphasis on our need to take back what the New Age/occult world has supposedly stolen from the kingdom of God.], but you will also read the experiences of Bill Johnson, Beni Johnson, Cal Pierce, and others who were shaken by vibrations from God in such a way that they literally changed the way they thought." I agree that God can change the way we think in significant ways through interacting with us in spiritual experiences, but we need to be careful that we don't interact with demons and the kingdom of Satan. We must always think in line with the Bible.  

5. CHAPTER 2, "EXTRACTING THE PRECIOUS FROM THE WORTHLESS," BY ELLYN DAVIS. I'll quote her first paragraph: "In Jeremiah 15:19, God says [God says to Jeremiah], "If you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become [or, "you will be"] My spokesman. [[Davis just quoted the third of the verse that she was interested in. SHE TOTALLY MISINTERPETED WHAT GOD SAID TO JEREMIAH HERE IN THIS CONTEXT. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT! A PATTERN OF MISINTRPRETATIONS IN THIS BOOK IS BEING ESTABLISHED. (For one thing, those who put the emphasis on experiencing the supernatural are sometimes weak in understanding the Bible. We need both, but the Bible, rightly interpreted, must be our foundation.) I'll quote the entire verse later and discuss this verse in some detail in its context. She quoted from the NASB.]] We may have to delve into areas we previously considered off-limits to extract the 'precious' from the 'worthless' and recover lost truths that belong to the people of God" (page 11). I believe the Bible makes it clear that these "areas" always were, and always will be, "off-limits" to the people of God, and I believe I will say enough here to demonstrate that Davis doesn't offer any valid scriptural support for her viewpoint. 

I believe I will be able to demonstrate to your satisfaction that Jer. 15:19, in its context, offers ZERO scriptural support for the way Davis interprets the words she quoted from Jer. 15:19. She uses these words in Jer. 15:19 to try to demonstrate that it is proper for Christians to go looking for the truths and help that we need by extracting those precious things from the New Age/occult world and quantum physics, while rejecting the worthless things she admits you find there - she admits there are some demonic things there (page 15). "I decided to examine New Age thought and practice for anything 'precious' that might be 'extracted' from the worthless. ... At that time, I could not find a single Christian leader who shared a similar interest in finding out if there were truths hidden in the New Age" (page 15). Of course the New Age movement has some truth mixed in with the error, but there isn't anything there that we need, and I don't believe God gives us liberty to go looking there. In fact, throughout the Bible He strongly forbids His people to go looking elsewhere, than to Him, for the things we need and He provides. He didn't tell those listening to Him that the other religions and occult world didn't have any reality and power, but that any supernatural reality and power there came from the kingdom of evil and evil spirits. 

I have to totally disagree with what Davis said after she began to look to the New Age to see if she might find some "precious" things that we Christians need: She said, "The strange thing was, much of what I saw and heard embodied biblical principles [It's true for example that the New Age likes to speak of "Christ"; they speak of "faith"; they are big into "healing," and they like to quote verses of the Bible as long as they don't lead to the truth] and could be backed up by Scripture" (page 14). The widespread serious error in what they teach isn't backed up by a proper interpretation of the Scripture. As I mentioned, the Bible forbids us to look to all forms of the occult world. "This book just touches the tip of the iceberg of what is being discovered about sound, light, energy, frequencies and vibrations" (page 19). It could be relevant to some extent that Davis was fully immersed in the hippie culture before she became a Christian. 

One dominant point that I want to emphasize in this Book Review is that God has provided everything we need to be what He calls us to be and to do what He has called us to do. I'm speaking especially about spiritual things that deal with salvation, truth, righteousness, holiness, guidance, etc. He also wants us to look to Him for the things we need like healing, a place to live, food, and clothing, but it is clear that it is proper for us to function as part of this world as we look to God and stay faithful to Him. We are in the world but not of it. It is totally inappropriate for God's people to look to the world (which includes other religions, the New Age/occult world, secular science, and the philosophy of men [cf. Col. 2:8]) for learning the truth or receiving the authority and power that we need to live as we are enabled and required to live in His truth, salvation, righteousness, and holiness. It is totally inappropriate for us to try to supplement what God has already supplied for us in new-covenant salvation, which includes the outpoured, indwelling Spirit of God.  

Many Christians in our day have many needs. We especially have a need to appropriate the grace that God has made available for us to faithfully live for Him in His truth, righteousness, and holiness. We must understand that the things we need have been provided for already, including direction, wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and the gifts of the Spirit. It is totally inappropriate, and serious sin, for us to look to the world (which includes all of the things that don't come from God) for the help that we need. Many need to repent and become what God has called us to be and to do what He has called us to do. When we do things God's way, by His grace through faith, in agreement with His Word, we are enabled to live in the center of His will and to glorify Him.        

As I mentioned, Davis takes a line from Jer. 15:19 (If you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become [be] My spokesman) out of context and totally misinterprets these words in an attempt to give Biblical support for what she says in this chapter and for much that is written throughout this book. (I'm not questioning her motives or her intelligence; I believe that she is sincere and intelligent; but I am saying that she seriously misinterpreted these words.)  

We will look at Jeremiah 15:19 in its context. I'll quote from the NASB: Therefore, thus says the LORD [Yahweh in the Hebrew], If you return [repent], then I will restore you - Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become [or, You will be (with the NIV, for example); Jeremiah had been God's spokesman for a long time already.] My spokesman. They [the people of Judah that Jeremiah was commissioned to prophesy to] for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them [[Jeremiah must repent as required and be faithful to God; he must not alter the message(s) God has given him in any way ((He must not proclaim anything other than what God has given him to proclaim; God certainly wasn't telling Jeremiah to gather a lot of information from the world (including the many false prophets in Judah) and extract that which was precious to add to his message; the prophets were called to deliver God's message(s).)) or to back off from delivering the unaltered message(s) that God had given him, trying to satisfy to some extent the people he was sent to minister to, who were in serious rebellion against God and not open to serious repentance. Many hated Jeremiah, and some wanted to kill him.]]. 

The NIV translation of Jer. 15:19 is helpful: Therefore this is what the LORD says: 'If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you [with repentance toward God], but you must not turn to them. Jeremiah must stay faithful to God by His grace no matter how difficult this proved to be. We need to settle it in our hearts that the only legitimate option we have is to stay faithful to God no matter how difficult this proves to be. Sometimes this is quite difficult, but we must do it by His grace through faith. The more difficult it is, the more we glorify Him. 

Jeremiah had been a prophet of God for a long time by the time we get to chapter 15, but he had become discouraged, was doing a lot of complaining, and had become unfaithful in his very difficult, very important ministry. God was calling him to repent and be faithful to Him in his ministry. Jeremiah needed to faithfully speak the things God had given him to speak, and only the things God had given him to speak. No more backing off from speaking the message(s) God had given him to speak; no more complaining, etc.  

THERE WAS NO IDEA HERE WHATSOEVER THAT JEREMIAH WAS TO GO SEARCHING FOR TRUTHS, POWER, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT HE NEEDED TO FAITHFULLY FULFILL HIS MINISTRY, AS DAVIS MISINTERPETED THESE WORDS OF JEREMIAH 15:19. There was no idea whatsoever that he needed to go searching among the "worthless" to find the "precious." He just needed to repent and become faithful to God by His grace, which required him to drop all of the "worthless" things he had been saying and stick with the precious message(s) God had given him. He certainly didn't need to listen to the many false prophets who were contradicting him or the people who were rebelling against God, including those with occult powers. The precious that Jeremiah needed to faithfully proclaim was the word that God gave him to proclaim. Jeremiah always understood that, but he backed off some under pressure.  

A prime example of "worthless" things Jeremiah had begun to say is found in the preceding verse (Jer. 15:18): Why has my pain been perpetual And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? [Jeremiah is complaining about the "pain" and "wound(s)" that had resulted from his proclaiming the message(s) God had given him to proclaim.] Will you [God] indeed be to me like a deceptive stream with water that is unreliable? These last words are a very serious charge to bring against God, that He seems to be unreliable, "like a deceptive stream" that has no water. Jeremiah was seriously doubting God and his assigned ministry at that time. We cannot be doubting the reliability of God and stay faithful to Him, especially when what He is calling us to do is quite difficult and continues for a long time. We must determine in our hearts in advance that we are going to stay faithful to God by His grace through faith no-matter-what happens. There is no other reasonable option! 

We must understand that the ministry that God called Jeremiah too was very difficult. Year, after year, after year Jeremiah was required to proclaim that very intense judgment was coming to Judah, especially the ultimate destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Essentially everybody hated Jeremiah (hating him was easier than repenting) and many wanted to kill him. One factor that made his ministry all the more difficult was that, although some judgments took place throughout the years Jeremiah was prophesying (including, for one well-known example, the exile of some Jews to Babylon, which included Daniel and his three friends, by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC), God withheld the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple until the end, which made Jeremiah look bad for a long time and he was mocked for his supposed obvious false prophecies along with being hated. Jeremiah was hated first and foremost because he kept prophesying the intense judgment of Judah. Didn't Jeremiah know that they were God's special people? God's special people cannot get by with continual rebellion against God without serious repentance!  

The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple finally took place through King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in 587/586 BC, but Jeremiah was called to be a prophet in 627 BC. That's forty years! See Jer. 1:2, and Jeremiah chapter 1 shows that from the beginning of his ministry his prophetic message included God's coming intense judgments of Jerusalem and Judah. A large number of false prophets continually mocked Jeremiah saying he was a false prophet and an enemy of the people of God. For some very serious complaining, see Jer. 20:14-18, for example. Jeremiah was called to a very long, very difficult ministry, but God always provided the grace for him to remain faithful, as He will always provide that grace for us to be faithful too, but sometimes it is quite difficult, but never too difficult. 

I'll quote one last paragraph from Davis and make a few comments: "I was familiar with the principles that 'whenever you see a counterfeit, it means that a real exists' [[That principle works OK when you think of counterfeit twenty-dollar bills for example. Nobody would make counterfeit twenty dollar bills if genuine twenty-dollar bills did not exist. However, when it comes to Satanic occult powers/workings, at least most of them have not been counterfeits of powers/workings of God. Consider powers/workings of Satan's kingdom like necromancy (having demons spirits impersonate those who have died), the different types of divination used by the occult, including killing animals and inspecting their inward parts to discern the future, or using Ouija boards, for example, or putting curses on people, or the different modes of healing. In some, if not many, cases of occult healing it just involves removing sicknesses that they had caused to come on people. So, at least many or most occult powers/workings that have been manifested throughout the history of man aren't a counterfeit of something that God had done or was doing. I will further discuss this very important point as we continue with this paper (see Chapter 7 of this Review/paper).  

I strongly suggest (as I discussed in my paper on Genesis chapters 1-3) that Satan tempted Eve with occult powers/workings. God was not offering similar supernatural things to man at that time, but He made it very clear that for them to eat of that forbidden fruit was full-scale rebellion against Him and would result in their death. Such occult powers are very tempting to man, thousands of times more tempting than an apple. I can't believe that Eve and then Adam would have rebelled for an apple, or anything equivalent to an apple. (Now continuing with Davis' sentence)]] and that a lie just proves the existence of the truth" [I don't believe it is reasonable to say that a lie proves the existence of the truth, but it is true that a lie is the absence of the truth. The truth comes from God and exists. We didn't need the devil's lies to prove the existence of the truth. God is true and what He says is the truth.], so I decided to investigate what was going on [with New Age/occult world miracles, etc.] and bring my scientific background and my faith in Jesus Christ into the mix of my search for truth. I decided to examine New Age thought and practice for anything 'precious' that might be 'extracted' from the worthless." I don't believe we have any Biblical basis to do this, and that we have been warned not to do this. 

6. I'll JUST COMMENT ON ONE PARAGRAPH OF CHAPTER 3: "VIBRATING IN HARMONY WITH GOD," BY BOB JONES (pages 21-27). He doesn't say much that is directly related to the things I have been discussing. I'll just comment on Jones' last paragraph that includes another obvious misinterpretation of a verse:

"Isaiah 66:2 says, 'I will look to him who trembles at my word.' The word 'trembles' in this verse can be vibration. And everything vibrates. But when we get in harmony with God everything will vibrate in tune with us. Total authority was given to man. [[God gave Adam authority over all the earth to "rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth" (Gen. 1:26), but that wasn't "total authority." Anyway, that changed with the fall of man.]] Do you have any idea what everything vibrating in harmony with God would do in the earth?" However, it is clear what the word "trembles" means in the context of Isa. 66:1-6, and Isaiah was not speaking of a vibrating in the sense that everything is vibrating: For one thing, when we read this word in context with all that is said in the second half of Isa. 66:2 the meaning of this verb is rather obvious. We always need to study words and sentences in their contexts:  

I'll quote the second half of Isa. 66:2: "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite, and who trembles at My word." The one who is humble and contrite, and who trembles at God's word, unlike the large number of rebels in Israel who are spoken of in Isa. 66:1-6, have a reverent, humble and contrite submission to God and His word. For one thing, they have a reverent fear of sinning against God. The use of this Hebrew verb (chared) here is comparable with its use in Ezra. 9:4 and 10:3.   

We will continue this Book Review/Paper in Part 4.

http://www.karlkempteachingministries.com Karl Kemp worked as an engineer in the space field throughout the 60s. He became a born-again Christian in 1964. He received an MA in Biblical Studies in 1972. He has been a Bible teacher for 45 years. See the website for more info on his books, papers, etc.