Archive for the ‘Jesus Second Coming’ Category

The world misses the point about 9/11, death, and the End-Times

Sunday, September 11th, 2011

(September 11, 2011) It is heart-wrenching watching the documentaries about that tragic day ten years ago which became known as 9/11. As Pearl Harbor changed the world in 1941 and led to a World War so too 9/11 brought a worldwide war on terrorism. Approximately 2400 persons died at Pearl Harbor while nearly 3000 died on 9/11. World War II lasted seven years and resulted in the deaths of more than sixty million people. The War on Terror continues to this day and will continue as long as there are Islamic fundamentalists willing to kill innocent people to achieve their goal of the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate.

The problem is that the world sees this war in a temporal manner and how it affects the world. While we mourn with those who mourn, there is a deeper issue than the current state of geopolitical and “georeligious” affairs. Wars of all kinds have been fought since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden. Death and destruction have always been part of the human experience. The lesson to be learned is not how to solve the current state of global affairs but rather how each individual person reacts to the life God has given them. Jesus Himself made this point: “54 And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. 55 And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not discern this present time? 57 And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? 58 For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent. [13] 1 Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? 3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 12:54-13:5)

In the first part of this passage Jesus criticizes the Jewish religious leaders for not recognizing Him as their Savior and Messiah. The Old Testament had given many prophecies which said the Messiah would heal people and preach the Good News of salvation to them. That is exactly what Jesus was doing  yet they didn’t discern the times they were living in and rejected Him. In the next section Jesus tells a parable about a judge who in this story refers to God. The opponent who is dragging the person before God is the accuser and adversary of humankind, the Devil. The debt is the person’s sins. Unless that person has their debt paid for they will be cast into what amounts to eternal punishment. In the final part of this passage the multitude ask Jesus about the cause of the deaths of people who had died recently in Israel at the hands of Pontius Pilate. In His response Jesus includes the deaths of eighteen people who were killed when a tower fell. The Jews thought the deaths occurred because those people must have been worse sinners than most people. Jesus declared that their particular sinfulness had nothing to do with their deaths but rather all people are sinners and unless they repent and have their sin debt paid they will face the Judge and be incarcerated into eternal punishment. Therein lies the crux of human existence. No matter what kind of life a person leads they are going to die one day. Some will die in wars, others as the victims of crimes. Sickness, accidents, disease, natural disasters will take the lives of people. And some will die by terrorists acts such as those who died on 9/11. The point is everyone is going to die by some means. What matters is what we do before we die and Jesus told us what we should do: Ask God to grant us Godly sorrow for our sins which leads us to repent and to save us by receiving the sacrificial death of Jesus the Messiah and Savior as payment for our debt of sins. This will lead us to eternal life so that when we die we will be with the Lord forevermore.

Jesus rebuked the religious leaders for not discerning the signs of the times they were living in and for not acknowledging that He was fulfilling the prophecies of the suffering Messiah with His first coming. Jesus and the prophets gave signs as to what world events would take place leading up to His second coming.   The world mocks these End-Times prophecies as the apostle Peter said they would: “1 This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. 3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” 5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. 7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:1-18)

The world rejects the second coming of Jesus Christ while His followers believe God’s word which declares unequivocally that He is returning. The world needs to be prepared by repenting of its sins for they don’t know the hour of His return. This time when Jesus comes to earth it will be in judgment: “5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. 6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.” (2 Thessalonians 2:5-10) Death will come to the world’s population in many horrible ways at Jesus’ second coming. Whether or not Jesus comes again in our lifetime we will each face our own End-Times. Because we don’t know how we will die or when we will die we need to follow the admonition of Isaiah the prophet: “6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:6-9) If you do this then it doesn’t matter what the sinful, fallen world does to you because you will have more than this temporal life, you will have eternal life.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Archives 2011, Jesus Second Coming | No Comments »

Apocalyptic Fever

Sunday, May 15th, 2011


(May 15, 2011) I believe every generation since Jesus Christ walked the earth has believed they were living in the End-Times. The Thessalonian Church of the First Century was worried that their fellow Christians who had died would miss the second coming of Jesus Christ. Millennial fervor swept through elements of Christendom leading up to the year 1000 A.D. (here is a website with a list of apocalyptic dates in history) The current generation is no different from previous ones when it comes to some sort of Apocalyptic Fever. Last week someone at my job asked me about the news story stating that Jesus Christ would return on May 21, 2011. They had heard the women on the television show The View discussing it. Later in the week I heard the following commercial on one of our local secular radio stations:

YouTube Preview Image

It is amazing to me that Christians continue to set dates about the return of Jesus Christ.

The Millerites

In 1833 William Miller, a Baptist layman, was convinced that Jesus would return sometime during the years 1843-44. He gained a substantial number of followers. Eventually they came to the conclusion that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844 based on the 2300 day prophecy in Daniel 8:14. Some followers prepared for this event by getting rid of their possessions. When Jesus did not return the “Millerites” were understandably disillusioned while at the same time the general public ridiculed them. There were even some acts of violence perpetrated against Miller’s followers.

88 Reasons Why the Rapture is in 1988

More recently Edgar C. Whisenant, a NASA engineer, published a pamphlet titled 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. Once again elements of the Evangelical Church including Trinity Broadcast Network were caught up in Rapture fever. When Jesus failed to return that year Whisenant published a new pamphlet titled The final shout: Rapture report 1989. When that date passed he wrote more pamphlets predicting that the return of Jesus would occur in the early 1990s.

Harold Camping

Harold Camping is the president of Family Radio, a Christian broadcasting network based in California. In 1993, Camping wrote a book in which he said there was a “strong likelihood” that Jesus would return in 1994. Here is a partial audio recording of a debate between Harold Camping and John Noe on the Larry King Live show in 1993:

YouTube Preview Image

This would not be the end of Harold Camping’s date-setting.

May 21, 2011

On March 8, 2011 the Daily Mail newspaper website posted the following headline with the accompanying article which discusses Harold Camping’s latest foray into predicting the return of Jesus Christ: ‘Awesome, it’s the end of the world’: Doomsday campers travel the country preaching the Apocalypse…on May 21 The article states: “Most people like to push thoughts about the end of the world to the back of their minds, hoping that the apocalypse, if it ever comes, will be a long way off. But for one group of not-so happy campers, doomsday is a lot sooner…May 21 to be precise. According to the predictions of the Family Radio ministry, on that date a massive earthquake will shake the world apart, littering the ground with ‘many dead bodies’. Those who believe in Jesus will be carried into heaven, while the rest of humanity will endure 153 days of ‘death and horror’ before the world ends on October 21…Speaking to CNN the group’s leader, 89-year-old Harold Camping, is adamant that the date is accurate. He said: ‘I know it’s absolutely true, because the Bible is always absolutely true. ‘If I were not faithful that would mean that I’m a hypocrite.’ Despite his conviction, Camping has predicted the world would end before – on September 4 1994. That, he says, was a mistake, a misreading of the biblical codes used to decipher the exact date of the ‘rapture’. In order to get the warning out in time he fudged his calculations, a mistake he maintains he did not make this time.” [emphasis added]

The article then reports the calculations Camping used to come to the conclusion that the Lord would act on May 21, 2011: “According to the Church’s website, there are two ‘proofs’ that May 21 2011 is the judgement day. According to them, Noah’s great flood occurred in the year 4990 B.C., ‘exactly’ 7000 years ago. At the time, God said to Noah he had seven days before the flood would begin. Taking a passage from 2 Peter 3:8, in which it is said a day for God is like a thousand human years, the church reasoned that seven ‘days’ equals 7000 human years from the time of the flood,making 2011 the year of the apocalypse. In its second ‘proof’ the exact date is revealed by working forward from the exact date of the of the crucifixion – April 1, 33 AD. According to their reasoning, there are exactly 722,500 days from April 1, 33 A.D. until May 21, 2011 – the alleged day of judgement. This number can be represented as follows: 5 x 10 x 17 x 5 x 10 x 17 = 722,500. The church then argues that numbers in the bible have special meanings, with the number 5 signifying atonement or redemption, the number 10 signifying ‘completeness’ and the number 17 equalling heaven.”

Why?

Why do Christians continue to set dates concerning the return of Jesus? As I said at the beginning of this article, interest in the second coming of Jesus Christ began in the early church. I believe the desire to see His return is a God-given desire to those who believe in Him. The apostle Paul wrote, “12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Titus 2:12-14) Because of this desire I believe some people try to “help” the Lord fulfill His prophetic word. God had promised to give Abraham his one desire, a son. Instead of waiting on the Lord to fulfill His promise, Abraham tried to “help” the Lord out by sleeping with one of his wife’s handmaids. This resulted in the birth of Ishmael which eventually led to many problems for Abraham and his Jewish descendants. God, according to His timing, did fulfill His promise with the birth of Isaac. The problem with Christian date-setting is that it is clearly contrary to the word of God. Jesus said concerning His return, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matthew 24:36) In the article above Harold Camping stated, “I know it’s absolutely true, because the Bible is always absolutely true.” Therefore Mr. Camping and all the Christians throughout history should have known that the return of Jesus Christ will be in God’s timing and that we will never know the precise date of that timing. This truth notwithstanding, we will once again be subjected to Apocalyptic Fever next year as we approach the Mayan prophetic date of December 21, 2012.

What about this generation?

Is this generation different than all the previous generations when it comes to expectations about the return of Jesus Christ? Not in regards to Christian and biblical beliefs. I believe God has put in Christians today the same spiritual desire as all those who came before us. However, there is one extraordinary difference between us and those who preceded us. For eighteen hundred years the Jews as a people were dispersed throughout the world. Yet God promised in the Old Testament that one day He would bring the Jews back to the land of Israel and that He would never remove them from the land again. In 1948 God returned the Jews to their land. I believe the culmination of this prophecy will occur when Jesus does return and gathers the rest of His elect from the four corners of the earth and brings them to Israel.

From a non-biblical viewpoint, I wonder how long humanity can go on with the turmoil that is occurring around the world and is likely to continue. Islamic terrorists can never give up trying to regain control of Israel and therefore terrorism will not abate. With the advent of globalization in the 20th and 21st centuries, economies are so interdependent that an economic disaster to any segment of the earth’s governments can have an adverse effect on the rest of the world. Even the world has some sense of foreboding concerning the earth’s future. Three days ago bloomberg.com posted a story about Russians who were purchasing bunkers because they thought a global catastrophe was in the near future (Rich Russians Buy Bunkers on Apocalypse Angst). The first line of this article states, “Terrorism can be good for bunker builders. An apocalypse can be even better for business.” Last year there was a story of some Europeans fleeing to caves in order to protect themselves from some future calamity. I wrote an article last June concerning a Pew Research poll of Americans and the return of Jesus Christ. 41% of Americans think that Jesus will return by the year 2050. Of course these people have no way of knowing that but it does reflect a growing sense of pessimism about the earth’s current state of affairs.

Lastly, besides the rebirth of Israel there is one other biblical prophecy spoken by Jesus which may have some bearing on how soon He may return. His disciples asked Him a few days before His crucifixion and resurrection what the signs would be of His return and the end of the age. He gave them several signs but one in particular referred to the actual timing of His second coming: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) How close is this prophecy to fulfillment? Last year I did an article titled, “Bible translators hope to have every language covered in 15 years”. I am not saying that Jesus will return in the next fifteen years. What I am trying to do here and with this blog is illustrate that events have occurred, are occurring, and will occur that seem to indicate that Jesus’ return will be sooner rather than later. How much sooner I cannot say because “Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Archives 2011, Biblical prophecies, Jesus Second Coming | No Comments »

Darkness and Deliverance: The first Passover, the first Easter, the Second Coming

Friday, April 22nd, 2011


(Good Friday – April 22, 2011) God has revealed His purposes and His will for Creation in the Bible. The reason He created the universe and humankind is stated in the Book of Revelation: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4:11) We were created because it was God’s pleasurable will to create us in His image and to fellowship with Him. That God has a plan for the universe and humankind is revealed by Him through the prophet Isaiah: “9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.” (Isaiah 46:9-10) The plan begins with Adam and Eve in Genesis and ends (or begins again) with eternity in Revelation. Because He gave His human creations free will in relating to Him and because humans chose sin over God’s ways, His plan included corrective measures. There are three great deliverances that God ordained for humankind from before the foundation of the earth because He knew that humans would disobey Him and turn from Him. Two of these have already occurred and the third is yet in the future. Each of these deliverances has a common aspect to them. The darkness of God’s judgment preceded the light which radiated from each of these redemptive acts.

The First Passover

The first deliverance in God’s plan actually has its roots in His choosing of Abraham to bless all nations through his descendants. He told Abraham that he would have a son who would have a son who would become the father of the Jewish nation of Israel. But He also showed him that his Jewish descendants would suffer the bondage of slavery in another country before He brought them back to the land of Israel. As a result of a famine the Jews migrated to the land of Egypt where they eventually were enslaved for a few hundred years. At the time of God’s choosing, He sent Moses to deliver His people from their bondage to Pharaoh the king of Egypt. Pharaoh’s heart was hard even after God had brought ten plagues against Egypt. The eleventh plague preceded God’s final judgment on Pharaoh and his nation:

“21 Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt.’ 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.” (Exodus 10:21-23)

This darkness was unlike a natural darkness in that it could be felt! God’s final judgment fell immediately after this plague of darkness when the Angel of Death killed all the firstborn sons of Egypt who were not under the protection of the Passover lamb’s blood which was spread on the doors of the Jewish homes. Out of this judgment came a redemption for the Jews from the dark bondage of slavery to the Egyptians and resulted in their receiving the light of God’s law on Mt. Sinai: “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light.” (Proverbs 6:23) When the Jews obeyed God’s law they lived under His blessing. Eventually though, they repeatedly turned from His law and succumbed to the bondage of sin and suffered His painful judgment. However, the second deliverance God had planned would not only deliver the Jews but also the rest of the world.

The First Resurrection (Easter)

“4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5) In God’s plan, at the perfect time, He sent His Messiah to deliver the world from the bondage of sin and in doing so fulfilled His promise to Abraham to bless all the nations of the world. In the law God had ordained the Jews to sacrifice innocent animals to atone for their sins. In reality, these animal sacrifices only covered their sins. His plan was to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the sacrificial lamb who would take away the sins of the world and thereby restore fellowship between humans and God forever. The sacrifice was offered on the cross of crucifixion with His shed blood and death atoning once and for all for the sins of humanity. Once again the darkness of God’s judgment preceded the redemptive light of God’s grace and mercy:

“33 When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left…44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, Into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last.” (Luke 23:33,44-46)

During this darkness God laid every human sin ever committed or that will be committed on His sinless firstborn Son and poured out His wrathful judgment on Jesus. The veil in the Temple which separated sinful man from a holy God was ripped away because Jesus’ death made a way for humans to once again fellowship with God. In the light of Easter morning, the empty tomb where the crucified body of Jesus had been laid and now was resurrected to eternal life, confirmed that God accepted His Son’s sacrifice on behalf of humanity. The Light of the World redeemed humanity from the dark bondage of slavery to sin: “11 He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. 12 But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:11-12) However, as John wrote, not everyone receives Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Those who reject Him are still under the power of Satan, the ruler of this world as the apostle Paul wrote: “3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) The third and final deliverance in God’s plan will redeem the world from the power of the Devil and usher in Jesus’ kingdom on earth.

The Second Coming

After Jesus’ ascension to Heaven, God sent His Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus in order to guide them into all truth and to spread throughout the world the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ alone. When the worldwide preaching of the gospel is accomplished, Jesus will return to earth and reign from Jerusalem. Before that occurs however, the world will grow more and more rebellious in its attitude towards God’s authority and in its rejection of Jesus Christ as His Savior. Instead, they will turn to the Devil and his servant, the beast or Antichrist, to be their savior. This demonic leader will try to rule the world through the power of Satan. Initially he will have some success but ultimately he leads the world to destruction and the judgment of God. Jesus said the signs of the End-Times will be like labor pains. This means that at the very end, God’s final judgments, the seven bowl judgments, will occur quickly and close together. Darkness again is at the very end of this horrible time:

“10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.” (Revelation 16:10-11)

This darkness is followed by the culmination of the battle of Armageddon. During that battle the light of Jesus’ second coming appears: “8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonder.” (2 Thessalonians 2:8-9) Jesus destroys the Antichrist and his rebellious armies at His second coming. At long last the world is redeemed from the dark bondage of slavery to the world’s ruler and his wicked system. What Jesus said during His first time on the earth will once again be true when He walks the earth the second time and sets up His millennial kingdom: “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” (John 9:5) Though the world had been in darkness both literally and spiritually, the true light will reign on the earth.

The Conclusion of God’s Plan

After Jesus reigns for a thousand years the Book of Revelation declares what happens next:

“7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. 9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:7-15)

For reasons known only to God, He allows Satan one last chance and once again he leads a rebellion against God which is quickly put down. The Devil is thrown into the lake of fire for eternity. Then God judges those who rejected Jesus’ sacrificial atonement for their sins and they too are judged and cast into the lake of fire. What this eternal fire looks like is not known. However, it seems that this judgment includes darkness of some kind as Jesus stated: “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:30) This then is the final judgment of God in eternity. After the darkness comes the light of God’s eternal presence:

“1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away’. 5 And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’…21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:1-5,21-23)

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday, the day we commemorate our Lord’s crucifixion and sacrificial death for our sins. We need to understand that this was part of God’s plan from the beginning to the end. The end of the plan is only possible because “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If we confess our sins and repent of our sins and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior then He gives us the power to become sons of God. Then we will be part of the fulfillment of God’s plan which He made before the foundation of the world. Then as His children we can lovingly declare the final words of His plan:

“20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (Revelation 22:20-21)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Archives 2011, Jesus Second Coming | No Comments »

The Great Apostasy and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

(April 3, 2011) “8 When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8) I believe this is one of the most intriguing things Jesus said during His earthly ministry. To whom was He directing this question? Was He trying to motivate the Disciples to spread the faith? No, He knew they were going to preach the gospel throughout the Roman Empire and lead many to faith in Him (Luke 21:12-15). Was He trying to motivate future generations which would include us to spread the faith? No, because in Matthew 24:14 He stated as a fact that the gospel would be preached in all the world and then the end would come. Or was He asking a rhetorical question of Himself? I believe that He indeed was making a statement with this question indicating that true faith would be lacking on earth when He returns again. The context of this question begins in the last section of chapter 17 of Luke where He describes His second coming. He immediately follows this with a parable of the Unjust Judge and persistent prayer in the first seven verses of chapter 18. The meaning of this parable is that His followers should be persistently praying that His kingdom would come without further delay. He concludes this parable by asking if He will find faith on earth when He does come again. The answer to this question lies in biblical prophecy.

The Tribulation Period

The apostle Paul’s first written letters were to the Christians in the Church of Thessaloniki, Greece. He wrote them circa 50-52 A.D. which was about twenty years after the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. End-Times prophecy pervades these two letters and reveals that the early Church had a tremendous interest in the second coming of Jesus and the events leading up to it. In chapter four of 1 Thessalonians Paul explains the event that Christians call the Rapture or taking away of Christians from the earth. Chapter five discusses the timing of the Day of the Lord. In chapter two of 2 Thessalonians Paul speaks of the evil ruler (whom Christians call the Antichrist) and the events surrounding his ascension to power:

“1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-13)

Paul states that the Antichrist will come to power and enter the rebuilt third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and will declare himself to be God. Then Jesus will return and destroy him at His second coming. However, before that happens there will be an apostasy or falling away from the Christian faith which will cause the world to look for an earthly leader to rule over them. They will reject the truths of God’s word concerning His Son Jesus Christ and turn to Satan’s son for their earthly salvation. These events are corroborated in chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation which talks about how the beast or Antichrist will deceive the whole world.

Jesus also warned that many would be led astray from Him, the true Messiah, just before His second coming:

“3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’ 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many…21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 27 For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:3-5,21-27)

The Great Apostasy

In his second letter to Timothy and the last epistle he wrote, Paul issues two warnings about the apostasy coming in the last days:

“1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

and:

“1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

Jesus said that the signs of the last days would be like labor pains (Matthew 24:8), meaning they will get more and more intense in nature and come closer and closer together. Thus, the apostasy will also be great with those who turn away from the true faith of Jesus Christ just before His return. Paul described the beginning of the end of true Christianity by stating that people will have “a form of godliness but denying its power”. The Christian Church began its slide toward this final, great apostasy with the Age of Enlightenment beginning in the late 1700s. The world then was declaring that reason should triumph over superstition and religious authoritarianism. This led to the decline of the Church and to the denial of the supernatural aspects of the Bible while at the same time giving rise to secular humanism and liberalism. Although Protestant churches went on having a form of godliness, they denied the power thereof which eventually led to the near extinction of any Spirit-filled churches in Europe by the 21st Century. It appears that Islam is now filling the vacuum left by the exit of true Christianity in Europe.

Elements of the modern Christian Church in America seem to be fulfilling Paul’s final warning that “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” There are church leaders who teach that the orthodox doctrine of eternal Hell and torment is false and that a loving God would not punish someone forever. Consequently they support the heretical doctrine of Universalism which states that every human being will eventually experience salvation whether or not they receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Others teach that all religions have good aspects to them and that believing in Jesus is only necessary for those of the Christian faith. Therefore we can be united with those who have chosen to find God through other faiths. If Christians declare that Jesus is the only way to salvation then they are being intolerant of those of other faiths. If Christians state that homosexuality or abortion is sinful then they are narrow-minded bigots and hatemongers who don’t care about or love others. Experience, sentimentality, and relativity dominate the teaching of these modern church leaders while sound biblical doctrine is reinterpreted or dispensed with altogether. All of this leads many in the modern church movement to denigrate and disparage those Christians who maintain a belief in the doctrinal truths of God’s word. Tragically, I believe it will cause many in the future to participate in the great apostasy that is going to occur during the End-Times.

When the Son of Man returns will He find faith on earth?

There are a couple of other prophecies which have a bearing on the answer to this question. The first is the Rapture of the Christian Church. If the Rapture occurs before the Tribulation Period, there will be no Christians left on the earth at that time. However, God seals 144,000 Jews who will apparently lead millions to Christ during that seven-year period of Tribulation. But John sees many of those same millions of new believers in heaven after they had been martyred by the Antichrist and his followers. Thus, after the Rapture and the apostasy and the martyrdom of the Tribulation saints and the devastation of the earth because of God’s judgment, it appears that there will be few left who have faith when Jesus returns at His second coming. There will be more goats than sheep on earth at the time of His return (Matthew 25:31-46).

having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Archives 2011, Jesus Second Coming, Tribulation Period | 2 Comments »

God’s love for Muslims: A highway of salvation

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

(March 20, 2011) Jehovah, the God of the people of the Book, declares through His prophet Isaiah: “1 The oracle concerning Egypt: Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. 2 So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor, City against city and kingdom against kingdom. 3 Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead and to mediums and spiritists. 4 Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master, and a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts…18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the LORD of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction. 19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near its border. 20 It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. 21 Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. 22 The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them. 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:1-4,18-25)

This prophecy is speaking of the End-Times when the Antichrist (“a cruel master, and a mighty king will rule over them”) comes to power and subjugates Egypt under his oppressive reign. However, God will send them a Savior and He will deliver Egypt from the Antichrist. The Book makes it clear that this Savior is Jesus the Messiah who is called Isa in the Qur’an and whom Christian Arabs call Yasu:

“11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.” (Revelation 19:11-21)

When Jesus returns to earth at His second coming, the Egyptians, Syrians, Jews, and the rest of the world will know that He is the Messiah. The Muslim and Arab world along with the Jews will accept Him as the true and only Savior. There will be unity among Jews and Arabs in Jesus the Messiah which God calls a “highway from Egypt to Assyria”. This will indeed be a highway of salvation.

Jesus and the Qur’an

The Qur’an declares, like the Bible, that Jesus’ birth was miraculous and that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Him:

“19. He said: “Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.
20. She said: “How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?”
21. He said: “So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, ‘that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us’:It is a matter (so) decreed.”
22. So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place.” (Maryam sura 019:019-022)

Only Jesus’ birth was without human intervention (apart from Mary giving birth to Him). God miraculously placed Jesus inside of Mary as an unborn baby! Muhammad, Isaiah, Mary and every other human being who has ever lived was conceived with human seed.

The Qur’an also states that Jesus was full of the holy spirit:

“110. Then will Allah say: “O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favour to thee and to thy mother. Behold! I strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught thee the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel and behold! thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird by My leave, and thou healest those born blind, and the lepers, by My leave. And behold! thou bringest forth the dead by My leave. And behold! I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to) thee when thou didst show them the clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: ‘This is nothing but evident magic.’” (Al-Ma’idah sura 005:110)

Of course the Qur’anic perspective on the nature of these events is different from the biblical perspective. The biblical accounts are given to prove that Jesus is the Son of God and therefore the only one able to save humankind from its sins. He is more than a prophet: He is the Messiah! It is extremely important that you understand that the biblical accounts of Jesus were written primarily by those who knew Him personally. They wrote them down within a few decades of His ascension to Heaven. This means they were written five hundred years before the birth of Muhammad.

Balance Scales of Judgment: Good deeds vs. Bad deeds

The Qur’an teaches that people will be judged by how many good deeds they have done in their life versus how many bad deeds they have done:

“101. Then when the Trumpet is blown, there will be no more relationships between them that Day, nor will one ask after another!
102. Then those whose balance (of good deeds) is heavy, they will attain salvation:
103. But those whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls, in Hell will they abide.” (Al-Muminun sura 023:101-103)

Here again the biblical perspective differs on this issue of good deeds and the condition of the human heart:

God states through His prophet Jeremiah:

“9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

History has shown us just how evil and sinful humanity is through wars, hatred, racism, bigotry, adultery, lust, pride and all the other sins we each commit daily in our own lives.

The Book of Romans declares:

“9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin; 10 as it is written,”There is none righteous, not even one; 11 there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God…23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:9-11,23)

Again, the history of the human race has proven this to be true. Islam, like all the other religions of the world, believes that if we do enough good deeds we will earn a place in heaven. However, God disagrees:

“6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags [literally: garments of menstruation]; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)

Our good deeds or works are as useless as menstrual rags when done apart from the love of God. Thus, no matter how many good deeds we have done they will not take away our sins nor will they override our sinful nature. Our sins actually keep us separated from God:

“1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short that it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2)

The Good News

The good news is that we don’t have to be separated from God because:

“16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

God is not some distant deity sitting on His throne detached from His human creations waiting to sit in judgment on them. He loved the world and sent His Son to save it. The word “world” here means that Jesus died for all the sins of everyone who ever lived whether they were Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Christians, atheists, agnostics, or any other religion that has ever existed. Some of His followers saw Him die on the cross. They knew that it was Jesus and no one else who died on that cross. They also knew He was resurrected from the dead. They knew it so well that many of them died horrible deaths because of their belief in Jesus’ death and resurrection!

The Highway of Salvation

As I said at the beginning of this article, when Jesus returns to set up His kingdom on earth, Muslims and Jews will come together in their knowledge that Jesus is their Savior. Many Muslims today are not waiting for that to happen. They are already receiving Jesus as their Savior as the non-Christian Shiekh Ahmad Al-Katani said in an interview on Al-Jazeera television:

YouTube Preview Image

Ahmad Al Katani:
The reality is that these words say a lot less than they should. As we said in the beginning, everyone has the right to invite others to his religion; this is what is known as evangelism (or proselytizing). As for Christianization, no one has the right to take Muslims out of their religion, and you asked for references and the references are too numerous.

Islam used to represent, as you previously mentioned, Africa’s main religion and there were 30 African languages that used to be written in Arabic script. The number of Muslims in Africa has diminished to 316 million, half of whom are Arabs in North Africa. So in the section of Africa that we are talking about, the non Arab section, the number of Muslims does not exceed 150 million people. When we realize that the entire population of Africa is one billion people, we see that the number of Muslims has diminished greatly from what it was in the beginning of the last century. On the other hand, the number of Catholics has increased from one million in 1902 to 329 million 882 thousand (329,882,000). Let us round off that number to 330 million in the year 2000.

As to how that happened, well there are now 1.5 million churches whose congregations account for 46 million people. In every hour, 667 Muslims convert to Christianity. Everyday, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Ever year, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity. These numbers are very large indeed …

Maher Abdallah (interrupting):
Hold on! Let me clarify. Do we have 6 million converting from Islam to Christianity or converting from Islam and other religions?

Ahmad Al Katani:
Great (question)! The other religions are not placed on the list of Christianization; rather they are placed on the list of evangelization. The other religion in Africa is paganism; so it’s Islam, Christianity or paganism. There isn’t something similar to Asia for example where you have Buddhism or Zoroastrianism. In Africa it is just these three, so if you talk about Christianization then it targets the only other heavenly religion which is Islam. As for paganism, those people worship animals and planets and the like.

Maher Abdallah:
So 6 million Muslims a year convert?

Ahmad Al Katani:
Every year… In the African nations this century a tragedy happened. Take for example what happened in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is an Arab nation and I am not saying a muslim nation. If any student looks up the word Habasha (Ethiopia) in the book Ocean Dictionary written by Al-Fairuz Abady, he will find that the word Habashat means “people of different tribes” and this is what happened. Ethiopia was a place where Arabs from different tribes would go to live for a while. We all know that Islam entered Ethiopia before Islam entered the city of Medina. We all know that AL-Najashy (the ruler of Ethiopia) was a Muslim. It is mentioned by Al-Darkatny in his biography of the prophet “Allah’s prayer and peace be upon him ” that during the month of Rajab in the 9th year of the Hijra (Muslim calendar) that the prophet said to his companions: “Rise up and pray on your brother Al-Najashy.” From that year on the practice of praying on the absent was established. Therefore from the time of the prophet “Allah’s prayer and peace be upon him ” Islam entered Ethiopia. So what has happened to Ethiopia?
__________

God’s righteous judgment is coming upon the whole world in the last days. He is going to allow a “cruel master, and a mighty king” to rise to power who will attempt to rule the world as Adolph Hitler tried to rule Europe. The people of the world look to earthly rulers for their salvation while at the same time rejecting and spurning and mocking Jesus who is their true and only salvation. This leader is going to be exponentially worse than Hitler and he will lead the world to destruction. Jesus and the prophet Daniel said this will be a time unlike any other the earth has experienced or will experience again. Billions will be destroyed because of their wicked ways until Jesus comes again and sets up His earthly kingdom. He said there would be signs when this occurs. Whether it happens in our lifetime or is still yet in the future is unknown. What is known is that each of us will experience our own End-Times sooner or later. Therefore, every person should turn to God and repent of their sinful ways and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. It is the only hope we have because the world doesn’t care about you or me.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Biblical prophecies, Jesus Second Coming | No Comments »

The Kinsman-Redeemer and the Avenger of Blood

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

(March 13, 2011) In certain segments of the modern Church there is a misunderstanding and sometimes a denial of the biblical revelation of God’s nature. Some of those segments believe that traditional evangelicalism is ineffective or at least falls short in meeting the needs of the modern world. I suppose a case could be made that this is true of every generation since the Church’s formation two thousand years ago. It is true that Christians should be living the gospel of Jesus Christ and not just preaching it. The Books of James and 1 John among others talk about showing your faith to others by helping those in physical need as well as spiritual need. The problem as I see it is that experience, sentimentality, and relativity triumph over the truth of God’s word within areas of the modern Church: We are to love our neighbors by not offending them with the truth about complete salvation in Jesus Christ. If they are of a different religion, who are we to tell them their beliefs are wrong? Why not worship and pray together with them regardless of their religions? And certainly we have to stress only the love of God and never His judgment of sin or sinners!

Of course the Bible reveals God’s love for His human creations. He loved the world so much that He sent His Son to die for it. He wants His love to spread throughout the world among His human creations and makes it clear that this is accomplished by His children loving one another, “34 A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35) (Incidentally, disagreeing with someone is not necessarily unloving them). I could quote hundreds if not thousands of scriptures which speak of God’s love. However, that isn’t the problem within these segments of the modern Church. They apparently overwhelm their listeners with the subject of love and tolerance. It seems though that they neglect to talk very much, if at all, about the consequences of sin and a sinful lifestyle nor of a righteous God who is unable to tolerate sin in His Holy Presence (Hebrews 12:29). The purpose of this post is to illustrate two aspects of the nature of God.

End-Times prophecy, which this blog discusses, is full of both God’s love and His judgment. I realize that most of my articles deal with the coming judgment of God on all the world (I do have a few articles on the prophetic meaning of Easter, Christmas, and Palm Sunday which illustrate God’s love for the world). My purpose in making God’s judgment the focus of this blog is to warn people of what God says is in store for them if they continue in their rebellious attitude towards Him and His Son Jesus Christ. I’m sure there are plenty of blogs which focus purely on the love of God and I commend them for that as long as they are presenting God’s love in a biblical and truthful way. God is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33) but has ordained all existence: “4 For the word of the LORD is right and true; He is faithful in all He does. 5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of His unfailing love. 6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; He puts the deep into storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere Him. 9 For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm. 10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. 11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.” (Psalm 33:4-11) Likewise, the Bible is orderly and reveals the nature and purposes of God and His Son. The Old Testament sacrifices He commanded the Jews to offer point to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The feast days and holy days also had a purpose which was to teach us something about God’s plans as the apostle Paul wrote, “16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17) The great men of the Bible such as Joseph, Moses and prophets were types of Christ through their behavior and circumstances. The Bible is comprised of 66 Books written over a period of 1400 years by many human authors yet it presents an orderly account of the purposes of God because His Holy Spirit is the true Author of it. However, there is one Messianic type given by God in the Old Testament that I want to focus on which also has an End-Times prophetic aspect to it. It is an example of both the love of God for His people and also of His judgment which is coming upon the whole world.

The Kinsman Redeemer

One of the laws God told Moses to issue to the people was the law of the kinsman-redeemer or goel in the Hebrew language. The kinsman referred to a person’s relative who was to act on behalf of that relative. The first law is found in Leviticus:

“25 If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold.” (Leviticus 25:25)

The kinsman of a poor relative was to buy back any land this relative sold. The second law is:

“47 Now if the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family, 48 then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.” (Leviticus 25:47-49)

If a poor relative’s circumstances became so dire that he sold himself into slavery then his kinsman was to redeem or purchase back his freedom. The third law is:

“5 When brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.” (Deuteronomy 25:5)

Here the brother is to marry his brother’s widow. In the Book of Ruth we see that the kinsman who could marry a relative who is widowed is not restricted to just the deceased husband’s brother. Other eligible relatives could fulfill the role of kinsman-redeemer. The fourth law is:

“11 But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes him so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 You shall not pity him, but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you.” (Deuteronomy 19:11-13)

The Hebrew words for the name avenger of blood is goel haddam. Goel is the same word translated as kinsman in the above verses. This law meant that if a person murdered your relative, then you as his kinsman had to avenge his death by hunting down and killing the murderer.

Jesus Our Kinsman-Redeemer

Each of these kinsman-redeemer laws have either been fulfilled or will be fulfilled by Jesus Christ. His atoning death gave Him all rights to purchase back humanity and the earth. The first three laws speak of God’s love in caring for the poor and the widowed. The fourth law speaks of God’s coming judgment.

1) Redeeming the land – When Adam and Eve sinned by listening to Satan rather than obeying God they forfeited the right to till and cultivate the lush land of the Garden of Eden. They gave up humanity’s title deed to live on an uncursed earth to Satan. The apostle Paul acknowledges Satan’s current authority over the world, “3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (II Corinthians 4:3-4) Jesus said concerning Satan, “30 I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; 31 but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded.” (John 14:29-31) Jesus will redeem the land of the earth which His children sold with their sins to Satan during the End-Times and will reign over it:

“1 I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?’ 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. 4 Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; 5 and one of the elders said to me, ‘Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.’ 6 And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. 7 And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 ‘You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.’” (Revelation 5:1-10)

2) Redeeming the slave – By sinning, humanity sold themselves as slaves to sin and death but Jesus has redeemed us from our slavery to sin:

“You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.” (I Corinthians 7:23)

“5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:5-14)

3) Marrying a widowed relative – Through our sin we joined ourselves with Satan in an unholy bond, “8 The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” (I John 3:8) When the world system and Satan are destroyed during the End-Times, Jesus will take His Church to be His bride:

“7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’” (Revelation 19:7-9)

4) Avenging His relative’s blood – God is our Father: “12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13) Until the very end when Jesus returns, Satan and those who reject Jesus Christ will continue to kill God’s children. As our kinsman, Jesus will avenge the blood of His children and destroy the world during the End-Times:

“9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. 12 I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:9-17)

The Love of God and the Judgment of God

As you have just read God is both Love and Holy Judgment as those in Heaven attest to, “7 And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” (Revelation 16:7) No matter how hard those in the modern Church try to deny or explain away God’s judgment they cannot do it without erasing large portions of the Bible. They need to be faithful to all aspects of God’s nature. Although it is God’s desire that everyone be saved it’s not going to happen no matter how sentimental or watered down our teaching is. The truth is that there are those who will receive God and those who will reject Him, “1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. 7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning; The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.” (I John 3:1-10) Christians are to love others including their enemies, but denying the truth about God’s complete nature is not loving Him or loving those to whom you misrepresent Him. It always bothers me when I hear someone say “my Jesus” did this or “my Jesus” wouldn’t do that. He is not your Jesus nor is He my Jesus. Jesus is who He is. He is not who you want Him to be. You either receive Him on His terms or you don’t, but you cannot make Him into your image, He made you in His image. Be a loving witness to the world but also be a truthful witness to the world according to His Word!

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Archives 2011, Jesus Second Coming, Revelation | No Comments »

Rosh Hashanah and the End-Times

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

(September 8, 2010)  Tomorrow the Jews will celebrate Rosh Hashanah as the beginning of the New Year on the Jewish civil calendar.  Rosh Hashanah begins on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishri (which occurs during September-October of the solar calendar). The Jews celebrate Rosh Hashanah with the blowing of shofars or trumpets. That is because this holy day is actually the biblically ordained Yom Teru’ah or Day of Shouting or Raising a Noise. God commanded the Jews to blow trumpets (shofars) on this day:

“24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.” (Leviticus 23:24)

The seventh month in this passage refers to the religious calendar and the month of Tishri. Tishri is also the first month of the civil calendar. Thus, the Day of Blowing the Trumpets (Numbers 29:1) is celebrated on the same day as Rosh Hashanah. This day is one of seven biblical Jewish days/feasts that God commanded the Jews to observe every year. God gives no reason for the observance of the Feast of Trumpets except to say it is a “memorial of blowing of trumpets”. However, it is possible that this holy day has an End-Times prophetic significance.

The apostle Paul in his letter to the Church at Colossae may have given some insight into the holy days God commanded the Jews to observe:

“16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17)

Paul says that the feasts and holy days were a shadow of things to come or in other words Christians can learn something about God’s purposes and plans. There are seven feasts/holy days that God declared the Jews had to observe every year. The first three are Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Firstfruits which occur in the Jewish month of Nisan (also called Aviv) in the spring months of March-April. The fourth is the Feast of Weeks or Harvest (also called Pentecost) which occurs in the third Jewish month of Sivan or May-June. The final three feasts occur in the autumn during the seventh Jewish month of Tishri. They are the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and the Feast of Tabernacles.

What is significant in regards to the Feast days is that Jesus fulfilled the first four feasts on the exactdays of their observance. He was crucified on Passover, buried on Unleavened Bread, resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits, and baptized the disciples with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. This means that it is possible that Jesus will likewise fulfill the final three autumn feasts on the exact days of their observances.

The first is the Feast of Trumpets which, as mentioned above, is to be observed on the first day of Tishri and begins with the first sighting of the New Moon. In modern times, the Jews celebrate Tishri as the first month in their calendar. The first day of Tishri is now called Rosh haShanah which means head of the year. Hence, the Jews celebrate it as their New Years Day. In biblical times though, they called it Yom Teru’ah which means the day of the sounding of the shofar or trumpet.

Jews actually celebrate the Feast of Trumpets on the first and second days of Tishri. This is because the Jewish calendar is based on the lunar cycles. Each month begins on the new moon. In times past the Jews declared the new moon by observation. When the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling council) saw the new moon they declared that a new month had started. They then sent out messengers to tell people when the month began. However, they could not always notify those Jews who lived in distant communities in time to tell them that the new month had started. Since sending out messengers took some time these distant Jewish communities might not hear the announcement until the second day of the month. Therefore, the Jews celebrated the holidays on both days so that they would be faithful in obeying God’s Law.

All God says about the Feast of Trumpets is that it is to be celebrated as a memorial by the blowing of trumpets. The Bible gives no other reason as to why God told the Jews they must observe this holy day. I believe the answer could lie in prophecy.

Why then did God order the blowing of trumpets on the first (and now second) day of Tishri for a memorial?  I believe it was foretelling of the day that the Messiah would appear in the sky and sound the trumpet to rapture and gather together His followers in the sky:

“13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (I Thessalonians 4:13-17)

 If this is so then the Rapture may take place on the first or second day of Tishri. For two reasons this does not violate Jesus’ statement that “…of that day and that hour knows no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”  (Matthew 24:36) The first is that we still don’t know the year in which the Rapture will take place and therefore wouldn’t know the date. The second is that the Feast of Trumpets is celebrated on two successive days of Tishri. Thus, we would not know which of these days the Rapture would occur.

The second fall feast is the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur which occurs on the 10th of Tishri and is the only day every year when the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the Jewish Temple and atone for the sins of the Israelites by offering a sacrifice to God on their behalf. As a result of this offering God would forgive the Jews of their sins. Jesus’ second coming could therefore occur on the Day of Atonement. The prophet Zechariah speaks of that day as being a time of Jewish recogniton of Jesus as their Messiah and God then pouring out His saving Spirit upon them:

“9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced.” (Zechariah 12:19-10)

The apostle Paul may also be speaking of that Day in his letter to the Roman Christians:

“25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” (Romans 11:25-27)

The final autumn feast is the Feast of Tabernacles and occurs on the 15th of Tishri. That day the Israelites were to dwell in booths or tabernacles/tents in the care of the Lord. After Jesus’ return to earth He is going to enter into the rebuilt Temple/Tabernacle of God in Jerusalem and reign over the renovated earth from His throne. Thus He will be tabernacling with His people and thereby possibly fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles.

Of course Jesus could fufill these feasts in a different way than the ones I have speculated about here. For that reason Christians are always to be watching because we do not know when our Master will return.

YouTube Preview Image

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Archives 2010, Jesus Second Coming | 2 Comments »

2010 Pew Research Poll: 41% of Americans think Jesus Christ will return before 2050

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

(June 27, 2011)  The Pew Research Center released a poll last week which asked Americans their beliefs about what the next forty years may be like:

“These are among the findings of a new survey of attitudes and expectations about the future, conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and Smithsonian magazine in conjunction with the magazine’s 40th anniversary (see “40 Things You Need to Know about the Next 40 Years”). The survey, conducted by landline and cell phones April 21-26 among 1,546 adults, was informed by a 1999 survey on the future that explored many of the same topics (see “Optimism Reigns, Technology Plays Key Role,” October 24, 1999).”

The questions covered a myriad of subjects such as Science, Technology, Environment, America, Economy, Social Trends, War, Terrorism, and Global Trends. The article (Public Sees a Future Full of Promise and Peril Life in 2050: Amazing Science, Familiar Threats) also asked Americans about Apocalyptic scenarios:

“The public sees the next 40 years as a time of violent conflict, both globally and in the United States. Fully 58% see another world war as definite or probable over the next 40 years. Nearly as many (53%) expect the United States to face a terrorist attack with nuclear weapons…

On a very different subject, the public is divided over whether Jesus Christ will return to earth by 2050. About four-in-ten (41%) expect Jesus Christ to return while slightly more (46%) say this will definitely or probably not happen. Opinions about the return of Jesus Christ are little changed from 1999 when 44% said it would definitely or probably happen.

Most Americans do not expect the adoption of a single global currency in the next 40 years. And while the survey finds that the public sees many potential dangers looming in the decades ahead, there is not widespread concern about the possibility that an asteroid will collide with earth. Fewer than one-third (31%) say an asteroid will definitely or probably hit earth, which is unchanged from 1999.” (Section 3: War, Terrorism and Global Trends)

My first response to this report is a biblical one:

“36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)

With that understanding, Jesus did give signs to His followers to look for leading up to His return. Although we won’t know the day or hour I believe the Holy Spirit will stir Christian believers’ hearts as that day approaches. Just before Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection He reproved the Jews of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel for not knowing and recognizing the signs of His (the Messiah’s) coming or visitation to them:

“41 And when [Jesus] was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44)

There were many prophecies in the Old Testament that spoke of the coming of the “suffering” Messiah. However, the Jewish religious leaders focused on the prophecies that spoke of a “conquering and victorious” Messiah. Thus, as a nation Israel rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus was justified in reproving Israel because they ignored God prophesied plan for humankind’s redemption.

Likewise, God has given many prophecies that speak of Jesus the Messiah’s second coming. He gave these to His followers for a reason as the apostle Paul wrote, “12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:12-13) Paul also wrote concerning the End-Times, “17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (I Thessalonians 4:17-18) Christians are to look for the appearing of Jesus and to find comfort and hope in the fulfillment of End-Times prophecies. As I wrote in my previous blog article (As it was in the days of Noah and Lot…) God makes a distinction between believers and unbelievers. Believers will be looking for Jesus’ coming while the world will scoff at and be blinded to the prophetical signs.

As to the date of 2050 I cannot say whether Jesus will return before then. I do find the rebirth of the nation Israel to be prophetically significant. The Jews’ return to the land could only have happened by the will of God. Therefore, I don’t believe that God is going to let hundreds or thousands of years go by before He judges the earth and Jesus returns to set up His kingdom. That is why believers need to keep looking for the signs that God gave so that we won’t miss the “signs of the times” of Jesus’ approaching second “visitation”.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Archives 2010, Jesus Second Coming | No Comments »


Video & Audio Comments are proudly powered by Riffly