Last Precious Metal Post

I left the best (by many measures) for last.

Justice Must Be Done.

The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.

Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.

Lawyer Appeasement Section

OK now for the fine print.

This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines,  here, with an addendum on 20191110.

We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.

And remember Wheatie’s Rules:

1. No food fights
2. No running with scissors.
3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns.
5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded.
5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty.
6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy.
7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.
8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.

(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)

Spot Prices

All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend).

Last week:

Gold $1745.20
Silver $25.35
Platinum $1205.00
Palladium $2700.00
Rhodium $27,000.00

This week:

Gold $1777.50
Silver $26.05
Platinum $1207.00
Palladium $2834.00
Rhodium $28,200.00

SIlver and platinum have been pretty steady. Palladium continues steadily climbing. Rhodium continues to bounce around like a yo yo. Iridium (not shown) has moved from $6000 to $6250. And gold is actually doing fairly well, breaking out of its range on the up-side.

I will have more to say about the gold market below.

Gold

Gold is the last precious metal on our list of nine.

To summarize/review, the precious metals are numbers 44-47 in the table below (ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, and silver), followed by the group right below them, 75-79 (rhenium, osmium, iridium, platinum, and gold).

It’s a nice tight group. Why isn’t 43 (technetium) on the list? Well, largely because technetium basically doesn’t exist. It’s naturally radioactive with a two million year half life. That means however much you’ve got right now, half of it will be gone in two million years. And since it has been 4500 million years since the earth formed, it has been 2250 half lives. If the entire world had been made of solid technetium when it started, that would have been 6 x 10²⁴ kilograms of Tc. And since ten half lives is enough to reduce the amount to 1/1024 {a number which we should name after Fauxcahontas) of what it was before–which we’ll round to 1/1000th, it would only take eighty half lives to be left with six kilograms of technetium. From the weight of the earth down to six kilograms in 160 million years; you can probably guess how much is left after the remaining 2,170 remaining half lives: zero, zilch, nada, nichevo, nichts. The last atom would likely be gone after only about another 200 million years. (99 grams of Tc-99 consists of 6 x 10²³ atoms of the stuff, that’s 1/60th of the 6 kilograms. You’ll notice how similar that number is to the number of kilograms the earth masses…so basically, just repeat the same time interval as before and it’s down to a handful of atoms, shortly after that, it’s all gone.)

We can make technetium ourselves (and a vanishingly small amount exists from uranium atoms fissioning in nature, but these aren’t left over from the formation of the earth). When you pile enough of it together to be visible…it’s a gray metal, just like all of its neighbors. I imagine if it weren’t radioactive, it’d be a useful alloy metal, perhaps a bit pricey, like silver. Or maybe not; I’m basing that last bit on the fact that rhenium (75) is a precious metal, and that’s because rhenium has no natural ores. But if technetium were around, it might have ores and rhenium could piggyback on it, just like hafnium (72) piggybacks on zirconium (40). So who knows?

But the larger point is, for a metal to be a precious metal, it first has to actually exist. So technetium, though it looks like it should be part of the precious metal “block” of the periodic table…isn’t. In both senses of that word.

But back to gold (79).

Gold has been known for thousands of years. Perhaps longer. And that’s because it sometimes shows up as a nugget. It didn’t have to be smelted to be discovered, unlike (say) iron, which never shows up as a native element on earth, though sometimes our ancestors got a free sample from a meteorite.

So our distant ancestors might well have found gold before they discovered any other metal. [Of the ones that had to come out of ores, copper is probably easiest to obtain. Besides being rarely (but not quite never) found native, some of its ores will release the copper if you heat them over an ordinary fire.]

Ancient Egypt used plenty of gold. In fact it was more common there than silver was; as near as we can tell, three ounces of gold were required to buy one ounce of silver in Ancient Egypt, oh say 2000 BCE. No, that’s not a typo. Egypt simply didn’t have much silver in it, and they didn’t know it was more common elsewhere. Certainly they figured that out as civilization spread throughout the Mediterranean and Near East and they learned more about the rest of the world.

Gold is heavy (dense)–it was the densest thing known back then, far more so than lead. Lead weighs almost twelve times its volume in water. Gold weighs 19.3 times its volume in water. But gold looks fantastic and lead is…meh. About the only thing you can do with lead is use it for weights. Even its use as bullets is primarily due to its weight–it has good momentum–followed by its relative softness and ease of melting and casting.

But gold can be used for jewelry, and was. Not only that, it would never tarnish nor rust nor corrode. Gold coins that have been on the bottom of the ocean for centuries still shine. So it became a symbol for purity and incorruptibility, unlike most politicians. Even modern chemistry has found few things that attack it. (This is largely true of the other precious metals as well, but they are Johnny-come-latelies in our minds. Gold got there first.)

So gold began to be prized in its own right.

Gold and silver are the only two of the nine precious metals whose main use is simply to be. They’re not valuable because of some industrial application, like the PGMs and rhenium are. They’re valuable because they are gold and silver, and their main use is to be formed into blocks and kept on a shelf somewhere.

Even back in the day when men were men and money was money, when gold was used as coins, the point of the coin was to be a certain amount of gold.

Although gold is used in jewelry, most gold today is in the form of 400 ounce bars that sit in bank vaults. I think I linked this video once before; I’m going to do it again.

The sole use of all that gold is to sit in that vault and be gold.

It has been estimated that all of the gold ever mined could fit in a cube 20 meters on a side. That’s 8000 cubic meters of gold, and each cubic meter is 19.3 tonnes. Given how vague the actual number is, we might as well round that to 20 tonnes per cubic meter, and declare that 160,000 tonnes of gold have been mined throughout all history.

A “tonne”, with the extra n and silent e, is a metric ton of 1000 kilograms, very roughly 2200 pounds. 160,000 tonnes sounds like a lot, but this is gold, which doesn’t take up very much room per tonne. it would barely fill three Olympic swimming pools.

Here’s another video. It’s mostly on the never-to-be-sufficiently-damned Federal Reserve System, but there’s a good bit in the middle about gold, and how it is traded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTYBp8AazN8

(In fact, National Geographic has done a number of different documentaries on gold, some focusing on the lengths we go to in order to mine it, others focusing on King Tut’s treasure, and so on.)

Gold, is of course, very widely traded. It’s probably traded more than any other commodity, at least in dollar terms. And those trades are how the “spot” price I quote comes into being.

Here’s another documentary, looking more at this aspect of gold:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqjhdpQIWTs

The spot price is sometimes derisively referred to as the price of “paper gold.”

“Paper gold?” Well, yes. You’re trading paper ostensibly tied to gold in the futures market. If you want to go buy an actual ounce of gold today, and walk away from the purchase with an actual bit of heavy yellow stuff, you will pay (on Apmex.com, as of Thursday April 15 at 8:30 PM Mountain TIme…”as low as” $1,949.29 per ounce, for an American gold eagle, a randomly chosen year.

Nearly two hundred dollars more. (And if you want just one ounce it will cost you twenty dollars more. You have to buy a hundred at a time to get the $1,949.29 price. Actually, that’s not a bad small-buyer premium; it’s usually much higher.)

You can check with your local coin shop, and more than likely they will want a little bit more. This is the real price of gold, though perhaps one should average it with the price a bullion dealer is willing to pay. Unfortunately Apmex doesn’t post their “buy” price, and neither does Kitco, they want you to call and request an offer. But I strongly suspect they aren’t paying much less than this. If so, then it’s rather unusual but you can actually sell your gold for more than spot right now.

I did find one place that would sell you a 100 gram bar (a bit over three ounces) at a rate about a hundred dollars an ounce lower than that. (And they will also buy it at that price. The catch is, you can’t sell their gold back to them in less than seven days, so you assume the risk the market will move against you.) https://www.bullionstar.com/buy/product/gold-bullionstar-100g

Why is there such a big disconnect between the “paper” price and the physical price?

“Conspiracy theories” abound, and I find them more plausible than most such theories. Most state that the price is being held artificially low. (I even attended a presentation in 2012 given by a man from GATA (Gold Anti Trust Action Committee, https://www.gata.org, and he said the “real” price should be about five thousand dollars. No doubt that man would say something even higher today.

But there are rumors galore that something really interesting is happening right now. To understand this I need to give a short, oversimplified precis of how the futures markets work.

Let’s say I promise to sell you an ounce of gold for $2000 in July. And you accept that promise. We sign a contract. I don’t even have to have an ounce of gold right now. But I had better have one by the time July rolls around or you take me to court. But I have an alternative! A couple of weeks later, someone else, call him Bob, might post an offer to sell me gold in July, at some price, and I can accept it. Now I don’t need the gold, because Bob will sell it to me just in the nick of time. If that contract was, say, for him to sell me an ounce of gold at $1980, then I just became the man in the middle, taking $2000 from you in July and pocketing $20, and giving Bob $1980. In fact, because all of these are contracts in July, the brokerage house that is keeping track of all these things can make it simple. They can simply give me $20 today, arrange for you to give them $2000 in July and to pay Bob $1980. And they’ll arrange for Bob’s ounce of gold to go to you on delivery day. I’m no longer involved, and never actually touched that ounce of gold, but I made a profit on it.

If gold had gone up instead, I would have lost money. But sometimes when the market goes badly, the best thing to do is take the loss and get out.

Notice that for me to make money, someone else has to lose it. I made $20, but you are going to pay $2000 in July for an ounce of gold that’s only worth $1980.

And if someone manages to manipulate the price the way they like it, someone else just got robbed. Wealth is not created in this kind of market; it’s transferred from a loser to a winner.

That’s basically the futures market. People are buying and selling pork bellies, silver, wheat, eggs, aluminum, or gold at some future date. And the vast majority of them are doing what I was doing…trading the contracts not because I actually care about the product, but just to hopefully make money when the price moves the right way. In fact, because all of the trades happen on a floor, with a broker doing the actual trade, you have no idea you bought your gold from Bob, or who I am. That’s kept track of by the commodity exchange.

In reality gold is traded in contracts for a hundred ounces (on some exchanges) or a kilogram (~32 ounces) on other exchanges. And sometimes there are so many contracts out there that the aggregate total of the contracts is bigger than many countries’ bank vault holdings. But most of this goes up in a puff of smoke about a month before delivery date as people make the opposite contract, cancel out the physical purchases, and pocket their profit (or take their beating). That chain I described from you to me to Bob is likely much shorter than the chains that develop in the futures market.

Some few people do actually buy a gold contract…and actually want the gold.

And this is what has been going on. The value of the contracts is in the mid $1700s per ounce right now. (Even though it’s a 100 ounce contract, the price is quoted per ounce.) Some people, wanting to buy gold and saying $1950 is bullshit when the spot price is about $200 less, are actually going into the futures market, buying a contract at $1750, and saying, “for delivery” which means “Oh and by the way I really do want the gold.”

Over the last couple of years, people have done this perhaps five to ten times as much as usual.

And what do they get? Do they get the gold?

No. At least, not immediately. They get a piece of paper saying that somewhere in a vault in New York or perhaps Delaware, there’s 100 ounces of gold with their name on it. And if they sell the gold via a contract, they are selling the piece of paper.

Which would have its advantages. You don’t have to worry about keeping it in your house and hoping no burglar ever finds it. Or putting it in a safe deposit box and hoping we don’t have a repeat of FDR’s gold heist.

But how do you know that brick of gold actually exists and isn’t the same block of gold some other poor dumb bastard is holding the paper for? In other words, does that piece of paper have a specific piece of gold allocated to it, and no one else?

You can order that vault to actually send you your gold, comma dammit. But they’ll make it painful. It take a lot of work to get this done, and pay who knows how much for shipping. Personally, rather than trust them to ship it to me when I suspect they’d rather pretend to lose it and give me paper money instead, I’d say, “Let me come pick it up.” (For an item worth almost $200,000 I’d make the road trip.) But they probably have rules against that.

There are signs of desperation in the brokerages. People are now being told their contract is good for a 1/4 ownership share in a 400 ounce bar. Which basically makes it impossible for you to actually lay hands on your gold. But at least if they can bring in a bunch of those bars, the paper actually means something.

Apparently last year, over 100 tonnes of gold had to be delivered. I don’t know whether it got physically delivered or people just wanted the receipts, but apparently someone was watching and they had to make sure those receipts were actually covered. Over 100 tonnes. That’s more gold than many major countries have in their central banks’ vaults!

If the commodity exchanges don’t have it in those vaults in Delaware and New York, they have to go get some. Last year about this time, apparently this did happen. They scrambled, but were able to cover it. And no doubt someone had to pay big bucks for gold right now. A lot of people are suspicious that a lot of gold isn’t where it claimed to be, and maybe it’s true. In some cases, a central bank might have leased its gold to someone who then turned around and sold it as jewelry. Meaning the gold is on your earlobes instead of in some vault somewhere, and they won’t be able to get it back. And who knows how many central banks leased their gold to cover this panic?

This sort of thing is apparently continuing to go on. Perhaps that is why you, you little person, you Deplorable proletarian, can’t buy one lousy ounce at the spot price.

If this trend continues, we might actually run out of physical gold; a lot of vaults presumed full will have to be opened and found empty, and futures markets might implode very scandalously. Gold might find its true price, which would make GATA very happy. As well as anyone who has the physical stuff, either in numismatic gold coins or current bullion bars and coins. If you’re holding a piece of paper, on the other hand, then you will be screwed. If you’re lucky some central bank might make “money” out of thin air to pay you for the gold you never actually owned but thought you did.

Or this could be a conspiracy theory in the bad sense of someone just making shit up and marketing it.

But if you think all of this is true, well: Don’t be that person holding a piece of paper. Get actual gold. And suck up the $200 premium over the price of “paper gold” if you have to.

I’ve got some links, some a bit older than others. I am not quite sure what to make of the combined set….are they having trouble now, or not? A lot talks about last year, when they apparently had to scramble to cover over 100 tonnes of deliveries…but they succeeded. Or at least it looks that way. Did someone just hang onto 100 tonnes of paper gold?

Here’s a website that describes the delivery process as it shows that over a hundred tonnes of gold was purchased through the commodities markets about a year ago:

https://www.bullionstar.com/blogs/ronan-manly/the-curious-case-of-comex-gold-deliveries/

Here are a couple of websites talking about this sort of thing–some of them talk of huge deliveries last year but they managed to cover them.

Entities Are Now Having To Take Delivery Of Gold From The Comex As A Last Resort

I can’t quite figure out when this next one was actually written. The charts at the top say yesterday (April 16, 2021). But a lot of the text seems to be suggesting 2017.

https://www.brrcc.org/comex-gold-delivery/

And OMG, here’s SGT report (who ever heard of them?), from back in September.

https://www.sgtreport.com/2020/09/comex-delivery-update/

As one final note, silver is also, similarly, unrealistically priced on the spot (paper) market, an indication that similar things may be happening there. The American Numismatic Association’s magazine, The Numismatist, ran an article this month (or perhaps last month) by one of their frequent contributors asking if there was some way we could derive a real “spot” price for silver that has nothing to do with the paper commodities market. I’m sure he’d say the same thing about gold if asked.

If you invest in precious metals, remember: Physical over Paper. Get your hands on the actual stuff. If you can’t drop it on your foot, don’t bother.

And Joe Biden didn’t win.

Obligatory PSAs and Reminders

China is Lower than Whale Shit

Remember Hong Kong!!!

中国是个混蛋 !!!
Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!!
China is asshoe !!!

China is in the White House

Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.

Joe Biden is Asshoe

China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.

But of course the much more important thing to realize:

Joe Biden Didn’t Win

乔*拜登没赢 !!!
Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!!
Joe Biden didn’t win !!!

This Sanctuary Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.

It is also a place to read, post and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.

In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.

We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.

Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name calling, ridicule, insults, baiting and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.

In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.

Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here: https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/

To Emmaus . . . and back again

Two disciples (Cleopas and one unnamed) of Jesus were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus (about 8 miles NW) on the day that Jesus rose from the dead. As they traveled, a man joined them—the resurrected Jesus, although they did not recognize Him. The man asked, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” (Luke 24:17).

The two disciples were surprised that the man had not heard of the recent events that had Jerusalem in turmoil. They proceeded to tell the stranger of Jesus’ crucifixion and the report of His empty tomb. Jesus responded, “‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25-27).

So, as they walked, Jesus taught what the Old Testament had predicted about Himself. When they arrived in Emmaus that evening, the two disciples stopped to eat, and they asked Jesus to join them. He did, and as He broke the bread and blessed the meal, “their eyes were opened” (verse 31), and they recognized Him. Jesus then vanished.

Their response? Luke reports, “They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord has risen’” (verses 33-34).

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus gave a lesson on the prophecies of the Old Testament which were fulfilled in His death and resurrection, making connections from Scripture to the events they had recently experienced.

The disciples’ reaction to Jesus’ lesson was one of deep conviction of the truth of what He was teaching. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked?” they ask each other (verse 32). Their physical eyes were blinded to the identity of Jesus, but their eyes of faith were being opened as Jesus opened the Scriptures to them.

Following this account, Jesus appears to His other disciples, removing all doubt that He was alive. Jesus had promised that He would show Himself to those who love Him (John 14:21), and this is exactly what He does on the road to Emmaus.

The story of the disciples on the Emmaus Road is important for several reasons. It provides an emphasis on the Old Testament prophecies related to Jesus, evidence regarding an additional appearance of Jesus, and a connection regarding the many eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus.

Luke 24 is often seen as a model of the journey that Jesus makes with many of us today, as He opens our eyes, points us to the Word, and reveals Himself along life’s walk as the resurrected Savior and Lord.

“the Holy Scriptures, . . . are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:15-17

*https://www.gotquestions.org/road-to-Emmaus.html

---

One aspect of the Road to Emmaus account stands out to me as a central part of this incident, Luke 24:27: “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”

Alfred Edersheim (1825 – 1889) was a preeminent Biblical scholar who counted 456 Old Testament passages which are considered Messianic by the Rabbis before the time of Christ. These 456 contain the passages in the Old Testament applied to the Messiah or to Messianic times in the most ancient Jewish writings. They are distributed as 75 from The Pentateuch, 243 from The Prophets, and 138 from The Writings, and supported by more than 558 separate quotations from Rabbinic writings.

According to Arnold Fruchtenbaum, a modern day noted Biblical scholar, there are about 200 to 400 (depending on who’s counting) Old Testament Messianic prophesies.

Many things in the Old Testament about the coming of the Messiah were not fully explained, and some predictions seem, but only seem, to contradict themselves. Some of the Jewish rabbis even thought there would be two Messiahs: Messiah ben Joseph, a humble, suffering Messiah and Messiah ben David, a conquering, reigning Messiah. No one thought the same Messiah would come twice, once to suffer and die, and once to reign.

At the time of Jesus, the expectation was for a Messiah who would rescue Israel from foreign domination. He would conquer and rule.  When Jesus didn’t declare Himself as King and start to raise an army to restore Israel, many that followed Him departed.

Jesus as conquering King restoring Israel? That didn’t happen 2,000 years ago, but . . .

It’s all in God’s Word for those that have eyes to see, ears to hear and an open mind to understand.

More on Messianic prophesies . . . next week.

---

On this day and every day –

God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up

---

Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.

“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Another week, another deluge of BS from the White House and from the Controlled Opposition. Not much has really happened, so with that noted, on we go.

Justice Must Be Done.

The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.

Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.

Lawyer Appeasement Section

OK now for the fine print.

This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines,  here, with an addendum on 20191110.

We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.

And remember Wheatie’s Rules:

1. No food fights
2. No running with scissors.
3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns.
5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded.
5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty.
6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy.
7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.
8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.

(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)

Spot Prices

All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend).

Last week:

Gold $1731.80
Silver $25.01
Platinum $1216.00
Palladium $2736.00
Rhodium $26,800.00

This week, 3 PM MT on Friday, markets closed for the weekend

Gold $1745.20
Silver $25.35
Platinum $1205.00
Palladium $2700.00
Rhodium $27,000.00

Gold has tested the $1760 level during the past week, apparently it’s trying to stage a rally.

Palladium

Two more precious metals to go.

This time, it’s palladium.

It, along with rhodium, are the two metals Wollaston discovered closely associated with platinum, shortly into the 19th century. Indeed, since it sits directly above platinum in the periodic table, it’s basically platinum’s little brother.

There’s one unusual property of palladium that attracts a ridiculous amount of attention: It absorbs up to 900 times its volume of hydrogen. It can even be used as a hyrdogen filter if it’s heated: The hydrogen will diffuse through it, other gases mixed in with the hydrogen will not.

People seem to imagine that this would make palladium a great way of storing hydrogen. But consider: It absorbs 900 times its volume of hydrogen, not 900 times its weight, or even half its weight. That’s basically equivalent to putting hydrogen in a very strong tank. But the tank is cheaper (and lighter) than the palladium would be. However, there is one last little quirk about this I’ll get to later.

Palladium, back in the days I first started noticing things, was sort of midway between silver and gold. Silver was perhaps five to ten dollars an ounce. Gold was $300. Palladium was $80.

A few years later, palladium spiked to $900 bucks an ounce…for maybe a year, then dropped back down to very roughly the $200 level. I thought about buying some, thinking it could spike to $900 again, and people basically laughed–it was a very special set of circumstances that had caused that spike.

Well palladium has been doing very well now, pushing towards three thousand dollars an ounce, higher than gold or platinum have ever been, and in fact its price rise preceded the rhodium/iridium madness we’re seeing now.

You can find palladium in solid form; back when it was 80 or 120 bucks I did buy an ounce in the mid 1980s…and it got burglarized away, not very long after that little event I alluded to. It had just shot up to $180/ounce overnight. Back then a precious metal wasn’t listed if you couldn’t buy a pretty little bar of it.

OK, what was the little event? The apparent discovery of cold fusion. In 1989, Pons and Flieschmann claimed that they had gotten hydrogen–deuterium, the stable heavier isotope of it in fact–to fuse at room temperature. How did they do it? They performed electrolysis on heavy water, using a palladium electrode.

Electrolysis is the process where one passes a current through water, and causes the water molecule to split up into its component hydrogen and oxygen atoms. When this is done to heavy water, the hydrogen, of course is actually the deuterium isotope–still hydrogen, but the nucleus contains a neutron as well as the proton, and it’s much easier to get it to undergo nuclear fusion.

So here’s hydrogen being released right next to palladium, right? And palladium is a hydrogen sponge, right? So basically the hydrogen is effectively very compressed, one of the things you’d need to do to it to get it to fuse.

Pons and Fleischmann claimed to have measured more heat being generated than could possibly have come from anything other than fusion, as well as fusion by products. Other scientists, however, failed to replicate their results.

It’s nonetheless an odd thing, because some people claim they do get unusual amounts of heat out of similar apparatuses (apparati?).

My gut feel–and it’s worth exactly what you are paying for it–is that something a little odd is going on here, but that it’s probably not fusion. Some people are still playing with this, but nothing definitive seems to have come out of it. It’s just barely an open question still, in my mind, though I am largely skeptical.

Which is a damn shame, because fusion would solve the energy crisis. It would avert the next ten energy crises. It is what makes the stars shine, and they can shine for billions or even trillions of years. If they were made out of coal that was being burned, instead of hydrogen being fused, they’d only last a few thousand years. Which tells you how very, very, energy dense fusion is.

Other than the usual catalyst uses, palladium is part of the alloy we know as “white gold.” Which must, therefore be more expensive than the regular yellowish-orange gold. Its melting point is actually under three thousand degrees Fahrenheit, no doubt a bit of a change after all of those metals that need to be melted by lightning bolts. It’s a bit lower than platinum’s melting point, and that was managed by the lime block furnace back in the mid 1800s.

Here’s a picture of a credit suisse palladium bar. This was pretty much the first form it came in for investing.

Credit Suisse now makes the PAMP bar, with a bit of artwork on the bar:

The Soviet Union made coins out of palladium back in the 1980s (when it was cheap), and the United States makes a one ounce eagle.

That eagle coin is given a face value of 25 dollars (and is worth a hundred times that!). The obverse is a blown-up version of the “Mercury” (Winged Cap Liberty) dime, while the eagle on the reverse strongly resembles the one on the Walking Liberty half. Instead of his head facing forward, the eagle’s head is bent downwards, grasping what looks like an olive branch.

As you can see the metal is just another silvery-white metal. When not frosty and lustrous it tends to look like stainless steel.

Obligatory PSAs and Reminders

China is Lower than Whale Shit

To conclude: My standard Public Service Announcement. We don’t want to forget this!!!

Remember Hong Kong!!!

中国是个混蛋 !!!
Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!!
China is asshoe !!!

China is in the White House

Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.

Joe Biden is Asshoe

China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.

But of course the much more important thing to realize:

Joe Biden Didn’t Win

乔*拜登没赢 !!!
Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!!
Joe Biden didn’t win !!!

This Sanctuary Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.

It is also a place to read, post and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.

In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.

We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.

Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name calling, ridicule, insults, baiting and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.

In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.

Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here: https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/

---

Because He Lives . . .

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” (Luke 24:5-7)

And with those words from the angel, the women at Jesus’ tomb found that Jesus had risen from the dead, just as He had foretold. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 

And after about 40 days, Jesus returns to the Father where He now sits at His right hand.

That’s it? That’s the end of the story? Not hardly! This is but the the beginning.

Jesus continues to act in His very unique and singular position with respect to our salvation and justification with God, the Father.

Jesus is the he ONLY way to Heaven.
John 14:6 – I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Jesus was the blood sacrifice that reconciled our sin and our sin nature with our Holy God.

Jesus is the ONLY Mediator between God and men.
1 Timothy 2:5 – For there is one God and ONE Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)

Jesus is the ONLY name given for Salvation.
Acts 4:12 – Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Jesus stands at the door and knocks. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20)

Jesus is the ONLY advocate for us.
1 John 2:1 – My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Jesus has already satisfied the demands of justice, so God accepts His Son’s advocacy on our behalf as part of their divine agreement, established before the world began.

Jesus is the ONLY Intercessor in heaven.
Romans 8:34 – Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
The promise of Christ’s intercession belongs to all for whom He died. All those who have found forgiveness in Him have the assurance of His intercession. 

Jesus intercedes for us in Heaven

Speaking of Jesus, the writer to the Hebrews says, “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). This verse (and others like it) tells us that although Christ’s work to secure the salvation of the elect was completed on the cross, as evidenced by His cry “It is finished!” (John 19:30), His care for His redeemed children will never be finished.

Jesus did not go to heaven after His earthly ministry and “take a break” from His role as eternal Shepherd to His people. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10, emphasis added). If when humble, despised, dying, and dead, He had the power to accomplish so great a work as reconciling us to God, how much more may we expect that He will be able to keep us now that He is a living, exalted, and triumphant Redeemer, raised to life and interceding on our behalf before the throne (Romans 8:34). Clearly, Jesus is still very active on our behalf in heaven.

After Jesus ascended to heaven and was seated at the right hand of God the Father (Acts 1:9; Colossians 3:1), He returned to the glory He had before His incarnation (John 17:5) to carry on His role of King of kings and Lord of lords—His eternal role as the second Person of the triune God. While this old earth continues to be “won” for Christ, Jesus is the Advocate for Christians, meaning He is our great Defender. This is the intercessory role He currently fulfills for those who are His (1 John 2:1). Jesus is always pleading our case before the Father, like a defense lawyer on our behalf.

Jesus is interceding for us while Satan (whose name means “accuser”) is accusing us day and night, pointing out our sins and frailties before God, just as he did with Job (Job 1:6-12). But the accusations fall upon deaf ears in heaven, because Jesus’ work on the cross paid our sin debt in full; therefore, God always sees in His children the perfect righteousness of Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross, His righteousness (perfect holiness) was imputed to us, while our sin was imputed to Him at His death. This is the great exchange Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 5:21. That took away forever our sinful state before God, so God can accept us as blameless before Him.

Finally, it is important to understand that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. No one else – no one – has the power to intercede for us before the throne of the Almighty. Christ alone is the God-man, and He mediates and intercedes between God and man. “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

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Savior, Redeemer, Mediator, Intercessor, Advocate, and finally, Righteous Judge – all this from the One Who loved us so much that He gave His life for our sins . . . to reconcile us with His and our Holy Father in Heaven.

Now, as God’s adopted sons and daughters in Christ, can we wholeheartedly . . .

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Hallelujah!

Maranatha!

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Christ Arose

Low in the grave He lay,
Jesus, my Savior,
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus, my Lord!

Vainly they watch His bed,
Jesus, my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus, my Lord!

Death cannot keep his Prey,
Jesus, my Savior;
He tore the bars away,
Jesus, my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

• Robert Lowry 1874

On this day and every day –

God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up

---

Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.

“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

For many people, perhaps most, Good Friday brings thoughts of Jesus’ physical suffering . . . being scourged to the point of where your internal organs may be visible through your flesh, having large spikes driven through your hands and feet, and then fighting in agony for every breath until death, while hanging from a cross. 

The willingness to subject other humans to this method of execution must be the epitome of the evil cruelty inherent in mankind.  For the Romans to carry out this crucifixion after finding no guilt in Jesus, even at the urging of a Jewish mob, speaks to that same cruelty.

I won’t view “The Passion of the Christ”, as I don’t want to experience the visual reality of that horror.  I suspect many others feel the same way, too.

So, why am I bringing up this issue in this manner?

As insanity inducing as the horror of a scourging followed by a crucifixion is, I don’t believe they represent what gave Jesus His greatest agony at Golgotha.

At the crucifixion, the only record we have of Jesus exclaiming something in agony is when He cried out in a load voice “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  What would have caused this?

I believe that since Jesus’ purpose was to become the one-time sacrifice for our sin, this moment was when the sin of humanity, past, present and future, was laid on Jesus’ head.  Since God can’t abide sin, He, the Father, took His presence away from His Son for the first time in eternity.

That’s what caused this agonized outburst, far greater suffering for Jesus than the physical pain involved.

My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, KJV). This cry is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:1, one of many parallels between that psalm and the specific events of the crucifixion.

In what sense Jesus was “forsaken” by God? It is certain that God approved His work. It is certain that Jesus was innocent. He had done nothing to forfeit the favor of God. As God’s own Son—holy, harmless, undefiled, and obedient—God still loved Him. In none of these senses could God have forsaken Him.

The prophet Isaiah says this about the Messiah: “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4–5).

Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). He was made a sin-offering, and He died in our place, on our account, that He might bring us near to God.

It was this, doubtless, that intensified His sufferings and part of why Jesus said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It was the manifestation of God’s hatred of sin, in some unexplained way, that Jesus experienced in that terrible hour. The suffering He endured was due to us, and it is that suffering by which we can be saved from eternal death.

In those awful moments, as evil men were allowed to do whatever they wanted to Jesus, our Lord expressed His feelings of abandonment. God placed the sins of the world on His Son, and Jesus for a time felt the desolation of being unconscious of His Father’s presence. It was at this time that “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

It has been paid in full . . . It is finished.

Of the last words of Christ on the cross, none is more important or more poignant than, “It is finished.” Found only in the Gospel of John, the Greek word translated “it is finished” is tetelestai, an accounting term that means “paid in full.” When Jesus uttered those words, He was declaring the debt owed to His Father was wiped away completely and forever. Not that Jesus wiped away any debt that He owed to the Father; rather, Jesus eliminated the debt owed by mankind—the debt of sin.

Just prior to His arrest by the Romans, Jesus prayed, asking the Father to glorify Him, just as Jesus had glorified the Father on earth, having “finished the work you have given me to do” (John 17:4). The work Jesus was sent to do was to “seek and save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10), to provide atonement for the sins of all who would ever believe in Him (Romans 3:23-25), and to reconcile sinful men to a holy God. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). None other but God in the flesh could accomplish such a task.

Also completed was the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecies, symbols, and foreshadowings of the coming Messiah. From Genesis to Malachi, there are over 300 specific prophecies detailing the coming of the Anointed One, all fulfilled by Jesus. From the “seed” who would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15), to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, to the prediction of the “messenger” of the Lord (John the Baptist) who would “prepare the way” for the Messiah, all prophecies of Jesus’ life, ministry, and death were fulfilled and finished at the cross.

Although the redemption of mankind is the most important finished task, many other things were finished at the cross. The sufferings Jesus endured while on the earth, and especially in His last hours, were at last over. God’s will for Jesus was accomplished in His perfect obedience to the Father (John 5:30; 6:38). Most importantly, the power of sin and Satan was finished. No longer would mankind have to suffer the “flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). By raising the “shield of faith” in the One who completed the work of redemption and salvation, we can, by faith, live as new creations in Christ. Jesus’ finished work on the cross was the beginning of new life for all who were once “dead in trespasses and sins” but who are now made “alive with Christ” (Ephesians 2:1, 5).

Hanging on the cross, Jesus suffered bitter agony and darkness while covered in our guilt, sin, and shame. When the act of purchasing our redemption was complete, nothing more was needed. Everything Jesus had come to do on earth was now finished. The Scriptures were fulfilled. Christ’s work was done, the battle was over, the victory was won. All that God had purposed and all the prophets had foretold was complete, and Jesus surrendered Himself to death.

Through Christ’s substitutionary and sacrificial death on the cross, the Lamb of God paid our debt and took away our sin. Our ransom complete, Jesus, with a resounding voice, wanted all people to hear these words—words that still ring strong today:

It is finished!

Yes. It is finished. And as one who is more than a conqueror through Jesus, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:38-39

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At the Cross

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?

Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine—
And bathed in its own blood—
While the firm mark of wrath divine,
His Soul in anguish stood.

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creature’s sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give my self away
’Tis all that I can do.

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!

Isaac Watts (1707)

This Sanctuary Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.

It is also a place to read, post and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.

In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.

We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.

Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name calling, ridicule, insults, baiting and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.

In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.

Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here: https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/

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Palm Sunday

When Jesus was about thirty years old, He started His three year ministry to the Jewish people. During His ministry He traveled extensively through what should be called Israel, and also into southern Lebanon and western Syria.

He performed many miracles: healing the deaf, blind and dumb, lepers, paralytics and the diseases of a very large number of people that the ensuing crowds brought to him. He ordered demons out of people and raised several others from the dead. He turned water into wine, calmed the storm, walked on water, fed thousands from a few loaves and fish, and caused large catches of fish. As per John, Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 

But Jesus did not come just to perform miracles.

Preaching the truth about the kingdom of God and how one may receive it by trusting only in Christ formed the bulk of His message, and this message of faith and repentance surpassed all of Jesus’ miracles in terms of importance. Note, however, that this message cannot be separated from His work of atonement. Jesus “came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:1–10), and this salvation comes through the pouring out of His blood “for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:26–29). In coming to preach the gospel of God, Jesus came to preach Himself. He came as both the messenger and the message—without the atonement, there is no good news to proclaim.

Jesus purpose in coming, then, was to proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near, and so all should repent and believe the good news. What good news? The news that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever trusts in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And He came to be rejected and die as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sin, and then rise again on the third day to give us our hope for our eternal future. Or, again, as reported by John, these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

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Palm Sunday is the day we celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, one week before His resurrection (Matthew 21:1–11). As Jesus entered the holy city, He neared the culmination of a long journey toward Golgotha. He had come to save the lost (Luke 19:10), and now was the time—this was the place—to secure that salvation. Palm Sunday marked the start of what is often called “Passion Week,” the final seven days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Palm Sunday was the “beginning of the end” of Jesus’ work on earth.

Palm Sunday began with Jesus and His disciples traveling over the Mount of Olives. The Lord sent two disciples ahead into the village of Bethphage to find an animal to ride. They found the unbroken colt of a donkey, just as Jesus had said they would (Luke 19:29–30). When they untied the colt, the owners began to question them. The disciples responded with the answer Jesus had provided: “The Lord needs it” (Luke 19:31–34). Amazingly, the owners were satisfied with that answer and let the disciples go. “They brought [the donkey] to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it” (Luke 19:35).

As Jesus ascended toward Jerusalem, a large multitude gathered around Him. This crowd understood that Jesus was the Messiah; what they did not understand was that it wasn’t time to set up the kingdom yet—although Jesus had tried to tell them so (Luke 19:11–12). The crowd’s actions along the road give rise to the name “Palm Sunday”: “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road” (Matthew 21:8). In strewing their cloaks on the road, the people were giving Jesus the royal treatment—King Jehu was given similar honor at his coronation (2 Kings 9:13). John records the detail that the branches they cut were from palm trees (John 12:13).

On that first Palm Sunday, the people also honored Jesus verbally: “The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ / ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ / ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” (Matthew 21:9). In their praise of Jesus, the Jewish crowds were quoting Psalm 118:25–26, an acknowledged prophecy of the Christ. The allusion to a Messianic psalm drew resentment from the religious leaders present: “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’” (Luke 19:39). However, Jesus saw no need to rebuke those who told the truth. He replied, “I tell you . . . if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40).

Some 450 to 500 years prior to Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, the prophet Zechariah had prophesied the event we now call Palm Sunday: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! / Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! / See, your king comes to you, / righteous and victorious, / lowly and riding on a donkey, / on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). The prophecy was fulfilled in every particular, and it was indeed a time of rejoicing, as Jerusalem welcomed their King. Unfortunately, the celebration was not to last. The crowds looked for a Messiah who would rescue them politically and free them nationally, but Jesus had come to save them spiritually. First things first, and mankind’s primary need is spiritual, not political, cultural, or national salvation.

Even as the coatless multitudes waved the palm branches and shouted for joy, they missed the true reason for Jesus’ presence. They could neither see nor understand the cross. That’s why, “as [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies . . . will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Luke 19:41–47). It is a tragic thing to see the Savior but not recognize Him for who He is. The crowds who were crying out “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday were crying out “Crucify Him!” later that week (Matthew 27:22–23).

There is coming a day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10–11). The worship will be real then. Also, John records a scene in heaven that features the eternal celebration of the risen Lord: “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9, emphasis added). These palm-bearing saints will shout, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (verse 10), and who can measure sum of their joy?

*https://www.gotquestions.org/Palm-Sunday.html

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Something I’d like to emphasize here from the above: Jesus came to save man spiritually. Mankind’s primary need is spiritual, not political, cultural, or national salvation. Jesus did not come to restore the political power that the Romans had wrested from the rulers of Israel. He did not come to restore and ensure the cultural heritage of the Jewish people. He did not come to save Israel as a nation and restore her to a place of prominence among the nations. Jesus came to reconcile sinful man with a holy God and to give man hope for his eternal future.

And so it is today. Jesus’ purpose does not include the correction of a fraudulent election that has stolen the political power that was intended to be of the people, by the people and for the people. He did not come to ensure the continuation of freedom, justice and what we have come to call the American Way. He did not come to restore America’s position as a leader for what’s right and good among the world’s nations . . . a position that the traitors in charge are trying to subvert to globalism and leftist corruption. God may yet have America’s political, cultural, and national restoration in His plan, but Jesus came to reconcile sinful man with a holy God and to give man hope for his eternal future.

And, as given in Matthew 6:33, we are to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness first, and what we need in life will be given to us as well. God must come first and God, at the last, wins!

On this day and every day –

God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up

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Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.

“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”