Tag: End Times

The Future for Jerusalem

On By TimIn Isaiah 29, Jesus, ProphecyLeave a comment

Isaiah 29:1–4 (ISV): “How terrible it will be for you, Aruel, Aruel, the city where David encamped! Year after year, let your festivals run their cycle. Then I’ll besiege Aruel, and there will be sorrow and mourning; she will become to me like an altar fireplace. Then I’ll encamp against you like David, and I’ll lay siege to you with towers, raise siege works against you, and you will be brought down. You will speak from the ground, and your speech will mumble from the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the ground, and your speech will whisper from the dust.

(I used the ISV here to introduce the text because of the clarity of the ideas as expressed.)

Prophecies are fascinating. Often times we tend look at them incorrectly. That is we see a single fulfillment of them like it’s once and done. I am one that looks at them as patterns.

Isaiah was written to Judah and Jerusalem to warn of invasion. Assyrians were being prepared as the rod of God’s anger. In this portion of text, God is warning of the imminent calamity to come to Jerusalem. I think it has patterns that also reach to contemporary times and beyond.

Jerusalem was to be made like an altar fireplace. That’s where the fire is in the place they burned the sacrifices. If you think that’s kind of dark, it is. Jerusalem was going to fall to the invading Assyrians.

But… What if this particular prophecy seems to have a fulfillment much later as than the times of Isaiah.

When the Romans began to squeeze on revolting Jerusalem in 70AD, the temple was burned to the ground. It became like the place of fire in the altar. Weeks after the temple was burned, the upper city was then besieged and overrun. At that time, Jerusalem fell and Israel ceased to exist.

Furthermore, for almost 2,000 years, Israel was a distant memory of ancient days. It was ghostlike in that way. It was hard to reconcile a future destiny for Israel when it was gone and its inhabitants scattered like dust. Dust brings to mind diaspora. Like dust, Jewish folk spread everywhere. With them came their traditions. But when the temple was destroyed, Judaism changed. Eventually there was nothing passed on that honors God as the law taught. Judaism embraced the Talmud, and became a rabbinic tradition, eviscerating the ordinances of the law with no sacrifices.

Think about that. For almost 2,000 years Judaism lacked the power of God in its teachings. The word used for speech in the passage above can mean the word of God. What they taught was ghostlike without the power of God.

Yet, something else flourished after the destruction of Israel.

Isaiah 29:5a (ISV): “But the hordes of your enemies will become like fine dust, and the hordes of tyrants like flying chaff.

Even though Israel was a vestige from the past, her enemies continued to multiply and spread. Fine dust gets everywhere… Even in places where the particles of regular dust don’t go. That flying chaff comes from being lifted into the air by a winnowing fork. It darkens the sun for just a moment in time and then caught by the wind, it is spread far and wide.

Long before the Balfour declaration that created the modern state of Israel… Her enemies still existed. They were widespread. That opposition even invaded the church in the guise of what is known as replacement theology. Opposition to Israel spread like fine dust, into the most unlikely of places.

But then there’s something that is inferred in the text. A new setting is quickly introduced.

Isaiah 29:5b–6 (ISV): Then suddenly, in an instant, you will be visited by the Lord of the Heavenly Armies—with thunder, an earthquake, and great noise, with a windstorm, a tempest, and flames from a devouring fire.

Like lightning flashes, Jesus comes into Jerusalem. He doesn’t seem to be alone as the referenced title indicates. He is the Lord of the Heavenly Armies (Lord of Hosts.) The last thing we read of Jerusalem is its fall. But this speaks to when Jesus comes to their rescue. Unwritten things that can be inferred are Israel once again becomes a nation and Jerusalem is part of Israel.

I would offer speculation of something more, the temple would most likely exist. As like the first invasion and fall, repeated with the Romans, the temple was there. Once again, Jerusalem would be a place that draws the attention of enemies.

And that brings a fourth inference from the third… That because Jesus returns as Victor, He fights against her enemies. So she must be besieged yet again at some future time. A time when Jesus returns. In fact, He spoke of these things.

Let’s look at it from a different perspective.

Zechariah 12:2–5 (MEV): I am going to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling before all the surrounding nations. And when there is a siege against Judah, it is also against Jerusalem. And it will be on that day that I will set Jerusalem as a weighty stone to all the peoples. All who carry it will surely gash themselves, and all the nations of the land will be gathered against it. On that day I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness, but for the house of Judah I will keep My eyes open although I will strike with blindness every horse of the peoples. Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, “There is strength for us with those residing in Jerusalem by the Lord of Hosts, their God.”

Jerusalem is going to be the focal point of the world one day.

Zechariah 12:6–9 (MEV): On that day I will set Judah like a fiery pot among wood and as a flaming torch among cut grain. And they will devour to the right and left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem will still reside in her place, the place of Jerusalem.
The Lord will deliver the tents of Judah as before, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of those dwelling in Jerusalem will not eclipse Judah. On that day the Lord will defend those residing in Jerusalem; and even the one who stumbles among them will be as David on that day. And the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord going out before them. On that day I will seek to destroy all the nations who come out against Jerusalem.

There is only one side that is victorious…

Zechariah 12:10 (MEV): And I will pour out on the house of David and over those dwelling in Jerusalem a spirit of favor and supplication so that they look to Me, whom they have pierced through. And they will mourn over him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as a firstborn.

This is the time that is yet future, when the enemies are vanquished. They alas asunder by the Lord of Hosts.

Matthew 24:29–30 (MEV): “Immediately after the tribulation of those days, ‘the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’
“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory

The Son of Man and the host of heaven…

Revelation 19:11–15 (MEV): I saw heaven opened. And there was a white horse. He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written, that no one knows but He Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood. His name is called The Word of God. The armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Out of His mouth proceeds a sharp sword, with which He may strike the nations. “He shall rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury and wrath of God the Almighty.

Jesus comes to rescue Jerusalem. It’s not difficult to find Bible references of what happened to those enemies. They will be whisked away to certain death.

Matthew 24:28 (MEV): Wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

Much insight is provided in Luke 17:22-37. It’s needed to decode that phrase. This is when the enemies of Jesus are whisked away to their fate.

But back to Isaiah. He had a fanciful way of describing that.

Isaiah 29:7–8 (ISV): Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Aruel, all that attack her and her fortification and besiege her, will become like a dream, with its visions in the night—as when a hungry man dreams—he eats, but wakes up still hungry; or when a thirsty man dreams—he drinks, but wakes up faint, with his thirst unquenched. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.

The real enemies of Jerusalem become like things in a dream when a person awakes. They’re gone instantly.

It’s the plan of those who would destroy Israel to establish their kingdom and rule over her. That’s the dream they all want to be, annihilate Israel and place her in subservience to their whims. Jesus steps in. All those who would attack her are gone. It’s like their existence was just a dream. What they had planned was so real to them, it satisfied completely. But in reality, it and they came to nothing.

But as it is, the prophecy is given in layers.

Isaiah 29:9–10 (MEV): Be delayed and wait, blind yourselves and be blind. They are drunk, but not with wine. They stagger, but not with strong drink. For the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, the seers.

This is speaking to the period after the fall of Jerusalem. Isaiah is chiding the Israelis for blinding themselves. They rejected the Anointed One, which brought a hardening. Because of that rejection, God removed His influences on them. The prophets and seers would no longer understand the things of the Lord.

Isaiah 29:11–12 (MEV): The whole vision will be to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which when they deliver it to one who is learned, saying, “Read this, please,” he shall say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” Then the book shall be delivered to him who is not learned, saying, “Read this, please.” And he shall say, “I cannot read.”

This is the reality we see today. Israel has the Torah and the prophets. They read, but don’t understand. Is it any wonder that Isaiah chapter 53 is not ever read in synagogues that they might understand?

It is a self-imposed blindness. And God gives them that desire that they not see. At least until the proper time.

Remember about those inferences above?

I think those are validated in the text. It will become clearer as we move forward.

Isaiah 29:13–14 (MEV): Therefore, the Lord said: Because this people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips,
but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is tradition by the precept of men, therefore I will once again do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.

Even though the people give Him lip service their hearts are far removed from Him. Things will change. God will once again move among this people. The traditions that didn’t honor God will then be forgotten. Just as above in Zechariah 12, the Israelis will again see.

Isaiah 29:15 (MEV): Woe to those who deeply
hide their counsel from the Lord and whose works are done in the dark, and they say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”

What’s done behind closed doors will be made plain to all. The enemies of God cannot hide. There is no way to do that. He sees it all.

Isaiah 29:16 (MEV): Surely you turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the potter’s clay?
Shall what is made say to its maker, “He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

It is futile to mock God. There is no way to do it and win. Those that hate God and refuse to acknowledge Him without fear, will have the tables turned on them.

When that happens, the land that is the inheritance of God will flourish. As will its people.

Isaiah 29:17–21 (MEV): 17 Is it not yet a very little while before Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be counted as a forest? And on that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the ruthless shall come to nothing,
and the scorner will be consumed, and all who are intent on doing iniquity shall be cut off—those who cause a man to be indicted by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the righteous with meaningless arguments.

This is the Day of the Lord. Most of you would think it’s all about destroying the enemies of God. It is. But that’s a part of it. The better part of that day is the rightful reign and rule of the Anointed One. It comes with the restoration of Jacob. The Earth is now resting with humanity. As the enemies of God and creation are sequestered away.

Isaiah 29:22–24 (MEV): Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale; but when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they shall sanctify My name and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel. Those also who err in spirit shall know the truth,
and those who murmured shall accept instruction.

Israel will no longer stray. They will no longer be blind and unknowing of the things of God. They will listen and receive instruction.

The Surprising Way That Resurrection Proves Futurism and the Rapture Before the Hour of Testing

On By TimIn 1 Corinthians 15, Rapture, Resurrection3 Comments

But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came by man, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward, those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end when He will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He will reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

1 Corinthians 15:20–26

In these verses, there are two resurrection events plainly described. Hints at others are veiled. Resurrections are specific events defined in the Bible. Most are easily identified by the word resurrection being used.

Resurrection

Resurrection, in essence, is basically coming back to life from being dead. It is a demonstration of the power of God. It is He Who gives life and has the power over death.As will be seen, it is Jesus Who is given this authority to exercise.

The Bible mentions types of resurrections. One is a resurrection to life. Believers are resurrected into new bodies just as Jesus is. There is also a resurrection of judgment that occurs before the final judgment. There are also other resurrections back into these bodies like what happened to Lazarus. The primary focus here will be on the resurrection to life.

Do not Marvel

“Do not marvel at this. For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

John 5:28–29

The thing that most don’t understand is that every human will be resurrected. They will all be resurrected by Jesus. It is clear as He says “all who are in the graves” will hear His voice and come out. Some will be resurrected to life, other to judgment. But all will hear His command. Remember these things as more is revealed.

Now is Christ Risen

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul explains the importance of resurrection to Christianity. That brings us forward to the founding passage above where a brief outline of resurrection events is given. The first resurrection event mentioned is that of Jesus. This is not to be confused with what will later be encountered, what the Bible calls the first resurrection. Paul is using the resurrection of Jesus as a foundation for Christianity, calling it first fruits. He is the first to be raised in the new body. This is symbolic as the event came on very day of the Feast of First Fruits.

The second of the two resurrections is then mentioned and coincides with His coming. It is intimately tied with His coming. Also in the text of our passage, we can deduce when this coming is and what it is for. The timing of the second resurrection according to verse 24 above is before the end. As it says about that resurrection with His coming… Then comes the end.

This tells us that this particular resurrection event is yet future because it has not yet happened. Therefore the end has not yet come. This resurrection is before the time when He puts an end to all rule, authority, and power. It is at His coming back to Earth to establish His Kingdom of rule. This places the event at the end of a yet future period of time the Bible calls Jacob’s Trouble.

Alas! for that day is great, so that no one is like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Jeremiah 30:7

It is a seven year period that is also called Daniel’s 70th Week. That week is given by God to and for Israel.

“Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until the Prince Messiah shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. It shall be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of trouble. After the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the troops of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall come with a flood. And until the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.”

Daniel 9:25–27

It may come as a shock and as will be shown, this is the resurrection promised to Israel and not the church.

This period of time at the end is all very much centered on Israel. Daniel’s 70th week is the end of the Israeli age of 490 years as wash shown to him. 69 weeks of years have already passed, and Messiah was cut off. The temple and the city were destroyed. But one week of years remains.

Jesus speaks of this time period in the Olivet Discourse. This happened because four of His disciples asked Him to expound on the end of the age and He did. This end of the age is these last seven Israel-centric years. I won’t include that here, but it can be found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.

The End or the Last Day

This is the will of the Father who has sent Me, that of all whom He has given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:39–40

Most of us are familiar with these verses. There are some segments of Christianity that make a claim of exclusivity of this promise as applicable only to chosen believers. That is not true. These verses are Jesus demonstrating the power of God over death. He also says that all will be hear His voice and come out of the graves. Some will have eternal life, yes. That is only to those who see the Son. Which means to see Him as He is, God Who defeated death.

The importance of Jesus and His authority over life will be witnessed twice more in John 6.

Understand that when Jesus says last day, the Greek word for last is eschatē. It is from where we get the English word eschatology. Eschatology is the study of the end times. This witnesses of this to our text in 1 Corinthians speaks to something yet future. When Jesus is saying the last day to His intended audience, He is speaking of the end of the age. Watch how important the last day is the time of this resurrection.

No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day

John 6:44

Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day

John 6:54

What is Jesus saying?

First, we know that He is going to call all humans to resurrection, some to life and others to judgment. This will be on the last day. Second, consider this:

Truly, truly I say to you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given to the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.

John 5:25–27

The power of life and death belongs to God. Jesus claims that power as His own. Therefore, the passages in John 6 about resurrection are proclaiming that He is in fact God.

Jesus gives us timing for this raising up. It is the last day or the end. I am saying it time the end of the Israeli age. Is that true?

To help us understand, let’s consider the final two usages of the term last day by John. John records it twice more, once by Martha and another usage of it by Jesus.

Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

John 11:24

Martha affirms the idea that the resurrection of life comes for believes at the last day.

He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him. The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

John 12:48

We know the timing for the term the last day used in all of these passages is found back in John 5:28-29. It points to the hour of what we now see as two resurrection events, those to life and those to damnation. The hour and the last day are often used as collective terms for the entire end times.

The Sharp Edges Blur

“But every man in his own order.” There is an order to things. “Christ the first fruits.” He comes first. “Afterward, those who are Christ’s at His coming.”

Does that mean Jesus only comes once… Or is this a pattern?

And from which reference point do we measure once and is defined by context?

There is much controversy. Some say that a Jesus only has one second coming. That is there cannot be a coming for Israel and a coming for the church. It is my contention and understanding that every person will experience on more coming of Jesus. Here is what I mean.

Jesus promised to the believer to come to them and receive them to Himself. I believe He fulfills this to everyone. The saint that passes before the end of times won’t miss Jesus coming to them and receiving them to Himself. Likewise those alive at the end, He likewise returns to gather them.

From an individual perspective, Jesus comes to all once more. From a collective human experience Jesus comes again many countless times.

The text also seems to indicate that there are layers to last day. It would be incorrect to consider it constructively a singular expression coving just one moment in time. It is both and, it requires context for clarity.

It follows that there are layers to this second resurrection. We’ve encountered two… The resurrection of the Jewish saints and the end of the Jewish age after the completion of Daniel’s 70th week. The resurrection of life Jesus is speaking to in John 6 is a promise to Jewish believers. It occurs at the end of the age. This is the end of the Israeli age of 490 years.

There is also be another resurrection to judgment for those who reject Jesus. This occurs at the last day, by necessity the end of a different age.

It gets messy to nail down dogmatically.

Now, not intending to be controversial… But the Gospels are often misapplied. Many think because they are in the New Testament, they apply to the church. But that is not the case, the church had not yet come into existence. The words and actions of Jesus then were to and for Israel. Yes, we church saints can and do benefit from them. But they are primarily Jewish in nature and audience. Grasping that helps to understand many things.

That said, the last day points to the things at the end of the age. It is many layered.

The Resurrection Events in the Last Day

We know the those at His coming resurrection occurs at the coming of Jesus. This is His physical return to Earth when He protects Israel and vanquishes her enemies. This is the competed promise to the Jewish folks in John 5 and 6. It is also the fulfillment of the promise given to Daniel and others.

“And at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.

Daniel 12:1–2

Clearly, we also see that the resurrection events described in the last day match what Daniel received. They are also patterned here:

Come, let us return to the Lord, for He has torn, and He will heal us. He has struck, and He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us. On the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain;
like the spring rains He will water the earth.

Hosea 6:1–3

These were the promise of resurrection given by the prophets. It would come in the last days.

Daniel aligns with how Jesus speaks of resurrection in the last day. He shows the two-fold nature which hints at the layered aspect of it.

The Third Day

I find the mention of two days rather intriguing. If we consider elsewhere that God says to Him a thousand years is like a day. It’s been about 2,000 years since Israel as a nation was abandoned and forgotten. Hosea instructed the Israelis to return to the Lord, and it follows that the resurrection of these Israeli saints would come on the third day. That is the 1,000 year Millennial Kingdom.

Is it coincidence that resurrection comes on the third day?

As I mellow in age, I see that Scripture is often a pattern. One to match to reality. Jesus rose on the third day. These Jewish believers will be raised up by God on the third day. I can see the pattern.

Do with that what you wish. I don’t think it is insignificant. I’ve learned that no detail in the Bible is insignificant. If it appears strange, it’s important to look deeper into it.

What we know is that His second coming, it will be Jewish saints raised as the Jewish nation receives the Messiah they abandoned.

All of this comes at the end of a period of time unprecedented in disaster. This period of time has another name in the New Testament.

The Hour of Temptation

Because you have kept My word of patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation which shall come upon the entire world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Revelation 3:10

We have already referenced John’s Revelation. When one approaches the book of Revelation, one important note to understand is given at the outset. John was instructed to write about things you have seen, the things which are, and the things which will take place. Chapters 2 and 3 are the things which are part. Chapter 4 begins the things which will take place.

With that understanding, the hour of temptation points to that which will take place. The promise Jesus gives to the church of Philadelphia is to keep them from the hour, not to keep them through it. That’s an important distinction to understand.

Daniel’s 70th week is not for the church.

This is shown clearly in Daniel 12 and Hosea 6 as previously cited. One can also clearly see it in Jeremiah 30. I hope you read these and more on your own. Daniel’s 70th week is not a time where God randomly judges folks arbitrarily or throws wrath at them. This period of time has a very specific purpose. It is a test that the church of Philadelphia has already passed simply deducing they are kept from it.

What is the test?

I know your works. Look! I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it. For you have a little strength, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

Revelation 3:8

This is a good report of those who have not denied His name. It indicates the nature of the testing. Would you deny Jesus?

There are only two viable answers, people either will be for Jesus or they will deny Him. That is not a test for the church nor any believer alive today.

The Martyrs

The test has two major outcomes. Those that do not believe will be destroyed by God. There is no escaping that. Those that believe will most likely be martyred. There will be some that remain alive when Jesus comes and will enter the Millennial Kingdom.

The martyrs are resurrected.

I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and the authority to judge was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness of Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Revelation 20:4

This part of John’s revelation points to the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom. The text tells us that there is a resurrection commensurate with that. It is fitting that this would also be a fulfillment of the resurrection promised by the prophets to the Israelis. Why?

The martyrs died in the time of Jacob’s Trouble which is Daniel’s 70th Week. Those names relate solely to Israel. They would be primarily Jewish believers. These folks will also reign with Jesus along with the previous resurrected saints.

The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who takes part in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Revelation 20:5–6

First resurrection is a resurrection to life. It is the first one mentioned in the Revelation of John. It is not the first resurrection meaning none others come before.

Again, I am not trying to be controversial. This is where the text leads. Jacob… Another name for Israel will be saved out of Jacob’s Trouble. It is not the church.

I think there is another pattern established on this. Here is why. We know that there will be elect folks who survived Jacob’s Trouble who are ushered into the Millennium. These will be joined by resurrected saints who will reign with Jesus. Keep this in mind.

The Resurrection at the End of the Millenium

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His face the earth and the heavens fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. Books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to their works as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one by his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:11–15

I think the language in this passage tells us that there is something different about this resurrection. It’s not really called that outright. But what is clear is that those that did not participate in the prior resurrections will be brought to life. This bringing to life ends in condemnation. That is, to those who rejected Jesus and will experience the second death.

This is the last day. The next thing that comes after all of this is the new heaven and new earth. It also is the conclusion of resurrections discussed in 1 Corinthians 15 there are no more.

The Rapture

The first task in using this word is to do some disgronification. That means I want to clear up the backward notion many have over the word. They say it is not in the Bible as if that somehow negates the entire idea.

I use the word rapture deliberately. It immediately reveals those who scoff, mock, and scorn. It is said that doctrine divides. And this one certainly does. Much noise and misinformation exists surrounding the word.

The word rapture is a proper description of the event described in the Bible. The word in English means a violent taking and carrying away. Violent in this manner conveys the sense of surprise and quickness.

The English word rapture comes from a Latin word rapio. Which means to seize or snatch from one place to another. It comes into English via the Latin Vulgate translation of the Greek word harpazo. Harpazo is what is usually translated into English as snatched or carried away in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

To those who mock, scoff, and/or scorn at the word… You are responsible for your own triggers. We see you.

A Mystery

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible will put on incorruption, and this mortal will put on immortality.

1 Corinthians 15:51–53

In all the talk of resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul discusses our need for a new body. I have touched on that idea recently in this post. Paul goes into great detail as to why a change to a new body is needed. The conclusion is that these corruptible bodies must put on the incorruptible.

Paul then unveils a mystery. The Biblical meaning of mystery is not like the English definition. When the New Testament calls something a mystery, it is saying what is revealed was once hidden… But not anymore. What Paul is describing is no longer mysterious.

Since the birth of the church, it is a unified body. The church is a chaste virgin bride of Jesus Christ. She is not Israel, the promiscuous divorced wife of God. In the church, there is no distinction between Israelis and Gentiles. All are equal and equally welcome. The church is one body.

Unlike Jesus addressing Jewish folk, Paul is addressing the church, and by extension church age believers. He is telling these believers that not all of them are going to die. When Jesus comes, there will be an immediate change in the body. It will happen so fast as to be imperceptible Corruptible bodies will be made incorruptible. Before our instant change, the dead will be resurrected in like incorruptibility.

This rapture is not a resurrection event like the rest we have seen. But like other resurrection events, it comes at the end of something. This would be the end of the church age. It also fits the pattern of believes at the end of Jacob’s trouble being ushered into the millennium with resurrected saints.

The rapture of the church includes a resurrection but is foundationally a relocation event. If this is so… How do we know?

Before we move on, I think it is worth noting that the word mystery connects many things together in and for the church-age believers. Church itself was a mystery now revealed. The things for the church are necessarily going to be patterned in Israel.

The Trumpet of Assembly

Change happens in the twinkling of an eye… Instantaneously… At the last trumpet that sounds. People are whisked away to a new location.

That last trumpet presents a stone of stumbling to some. (I was there in that. I know.) The mention of this trumpet is not to be confused with the last trumpet blown on Yom Tehurah (the Feast of Trumpets. It is not connected at all to any Jewish feasts, though it may fit a pattern.) It is certainly is not connected with the any of the trumpet judgments in Revelation.

I speak of patterns. There is one in Exodus that fits clearly. When we consider a biblical explanation for a thing, it’s sometimes important to look at first mention of a word. This idea was reinforced when I began to look at the meeting of Israel with God outlined in the exodus. It was quite a surprise to discover that the word trumpet is first mentioned there in the Old Testament.

In Exodus 19 it is clearly demonstrated that the trumpet is a call to assembly. Paul would have known this. It is the reference for his writing. Like that call to assembly was for the people of Israel, this trumpet call of Hod is to assembly for the people of the church. In fact by definition, it’s the last call to assembly for the church.

Let’s look at the first usage of the word trumpet in the Bible in Exodus 19.

The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes, and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai. You shall set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves so that you not go up onto the mountain or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death. No hand will touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through, whether it be beast or man. He shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

Exodus 19:10–13

Not that it pertains to the subject at hand, it is interesting that the Israelis were given two days to be sanctified. On the third day they were called to assemble. Think of what it says in one of Peter’s epistles, 1,000 years is like a day to the Lord. Is it a pattern given to us that like Israel was given two days to be sanctified with washing and then called to assemble on the third day?

Does it have application to a mystery body hidden at the time which would have two days (2,000 years) to be sanctified, then being called to assembly by God on the third day?

Not that it fits exactly… Without atomic clocks, how does one definitively know the exact moment a day starts?

Using Bible references… Is it at the exact moment the sun disappears on the horizon, is it the start of twilight, or when twilight fades to black?

It is another reference to the third day connected with resurrection. I don’t believe in coincidences. Nor do I believe prophecy is for the church. But there is definitely a pattern demonstrated here. And it caught me quite off guard when studying for this. (That is not a bad thing.)

The Assembly

So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.” So on the third day, in the morning, there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet. All the people who were in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because the Lord had descended upon it in fire, and the smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice.

Exodus 19:14–19

As already attested to, so much here makes my mind explode. There are patterns that seem to apply to our age apart from Israel. God came down in a cloud (of smoke.) The sanctification involved washing. The people were brought out of the camp at the sound of the trumpet to meet with God.

That long trumpet blast is God’s call to assembly. Moses was given instruction by God to give to the people. And when they heard the blast they were to assemble. The trumpet call here resulted in a relocation event from the campy to the mountain.

Is this prophecy being patterned?

The trumpet call of God is to assemble the people. As this is patterned once by Israel, it seems to hint at something more. If it is that, it is not a pattern that points to the second coming of Jesus Christ. How can we tell?

This is for the mixed-multitude people of God. it is not God coming down to judge them. It is a good thing, not a time to mourn.

Our Hope

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Will it not even be you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?

1 Thessalonians 2:19

To this end may He establish your hearts to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

1 Thessalonians 3:13

The crowning jewel for the believer is to be with Him at His coming. For church age believers, this can only happen by prior intervention. We don’t meet Him at His coming. We are already in his presence when it happens. That is because we come with Him.

On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is to the east of Jerusalem. And from east to west the Mount of Olives will be split in two halves by a very great valley so that one half moves to the north and the other to the south. And you will flee to my mountain valley, for the mountain valley will reach to Azal. You will flee just like you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all His holy ones with you.

Zechariah 14:4–5

Jesus comes with His holy ones. This is not just angels, nor is it just humans. It is all inclusive to the hosts of heaven. And I am going to tell you, if you are believer now… You are part of the host of heaven. Jesus comes with all of the inhabitants of heaven… All His holy ones.

(For background on that read this: The Divine Council in the Tanakh. Then this: Sons of God in the New Testament.)

It’s Relocation

The call of assembly is not a resurrection. It is a relocation event that by necessity includes a resurrection. Just as the definition of the word rapture entails, it is a quick relocation. People are instantly moved from Earth to heaven to be where Jesus is.

The corruptible bodies will have to be changed in an instant for those alive. And those who have passed before are likewise raised incorruptible.

The word harpazo is not the same as resurrection. It is better understood as a sudden relocation. In Acts 8:39, Phillip was suddenly relocated by the Spirit of the Lord. In the same way, when the word rapture is used, think suddenly relocation.

This is the facilitative relocating of believers to heaven so that they may return with Him at His coming. and remove a restraining pressure on evil.

Putting it All Together

But I would not have you ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and arose again, so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14

Paul is going to give a framework of how things are going to happen. Pay close attention. Read it all together. Note the apparent concern of dead saints not having the same experience. Paul is assuring the Thessalonians that God will also bring those with Him.

I think when reading the epistles to the Thessalonians, it wasn’t necessarily the rapture they were focused on. It is the Second Coming of Jesus. It is their hope, joy, and crown of rejoicing. That is the goal, the victory… To be counted a part of all His holy ones that come with Him when He vanquishes His enemies.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who are asleep.

1 Thessalonians 4:15

Think back to what Paul wrote of the mystery of the sudden change to all believers who will be relocated. That is what he is referencing here. Specifically that those who have passed on already will be included.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

1 Thessalonians 4:16

Jesus comes with a shout. Remember His promise that those in the graves would hear His voice and come out?

He will have the voice of the archangel signifying ultimate authority. And there will be the trumpet call of God.

This is the call to the people to assemble before God. Those in the graves are called first, and the people assemble before the presence of God in the clouds. It was patterned at Sinai when God descended in the cloud of smoke with a trumpet blast and all Israel came to Him. In like fashion, this church body will be called to assembly in whole and in order.

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall be forever with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:17–18

The body of Christ is relocated to His presence forever.

Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that I write to you. For you know perfectly that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.

1 Thessalonians 5:1–3

Since the body of Christ has been relocated, there is no need for a chronology of events that lead to a specific time, the day of the Lord. The rapture does not start Daniel’s 70th week, though it is necessary for the body of saints to be relocated. This is a framework for what is going to happen.

The coming as a thief in the night is not about the rapture. It is a reference to those during Jacob’s Trouble who deny Jesus. At His return will come as a total surprise. They will not know until it happens.

When they say… Destruction will come upon them… They shall not escape. There are the three witnesses that this is not for the body of Christ. The body will not be there.

But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all the sons of light and the sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.

1 Thessalonians 5:4–5

We are not darkened in mind like unbelievers. We will not be overtaken by this day.

Concluding Thoughts

As long as this is, it is not definitive. My goal is to help provide a framework for thinking. First, that there are yet future events in store for the nation of Israel and the world as a whole.

There are also future events for the church saints.

Paul also provides definitive proof that the church and Israel are not the same. They do not have overlapping programs. God was never finished with Israel, but set them aside for a time. He will again come to them when they call to His Anointed One. They cannot do that if the Holy Spirit working in the church is in the way.

Now you know what restrains him that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already working. Only He who is now restraining him will do so until He is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His presence, even him, whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all deception of unrighteousness among those who perish, because they did not receive the love for the truth that they might be saved.

2 Thessalonians 2:6–10

I also hope that your mind has been expanded to look at the patterns given in Scriptures. There are many patterns encountered that demonstrate how some seeming unrelated Scriptures interweave these patterns and enlighten understanding.

Resurrection ends one thing. After the end of on thing another begins. Resurrection is connected to the third day.

Jesus is risen and He is coming again!

The Red Heifer

On By TimIn Jesus, Numbers 192 Comments

And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying:

Numbers 19:1

As it is, we cannot begin to understand the significance of a passage without examining the surrounding context. Remember, never read a Bible verse alone.

Moses is given instructions by God for a specific offering. This offering presents some peculiarities. It is the strangeness that emphasizes significance that ought draw our attention. There is something important here to discover. If it is weird, it’s important.

Rebellion

Working backward from Numbers 19 to Chapter 15, Moses gives some additional background detail about what is offered here. The significance of the tithe is also remembered. There is one law for both Israelites and foreigners in the camp.

Remembering the Torah, laws were given for unintentional sins and the remedy for those. For those whose sin is intentional, removal from the camp was the remedy. Then there is the penalty of some sin that requires removal from the camp and immediate execution.

With this basis, things become onerous. I think the response of the people to these will reveal that burden they carry. Understand… The place of sin is outside of the camp and outside the fellowship with the people of God.

As Moses continues to provide some context The institution of tzitzit or the tassels worn by Israelites is detailed. Simply put, these symbolized someone who was under the covenant. (There is a post on the significance of these here: Tassels on Garments.)

As rebellion is, some of the Levites rose up in opposition to Aaron and Moses. They wanted part of what they perceive as the glory of leadership. It seems they wanted the opportunity to lord over people, as they clearly misunderstood the roles of Moses and Aaron. Moses instituted a way to verify whom God had chosen as leaders.

As the rebels chose to participate in the way Moses offered, he then proclaimed judgment on them. They are separated and the ground opened up and swallows them. The rest of the rebellious were consumed by fire.

The next day the people complained about all of the death around them. Remember, they had laws given to them about avoiding dead bodies. The significance of the death around them was caused by deliberate sin.

Moses stands between the rebels and the judgment of God. Before it was stopped by the atonement Aaron provided, the ensuing plague killed 14,700 people. Almost all in the camp would be close to a dead body and in danger of becoming unclean.

Moses then commanded that each leader of the 12 tribes bring a rod on which the name of the tribe was written. These were placed before the Lord. God would signify His choice by the rod budding. Aaron’s rod budded and it brought forth fruit. This rod becomes a testimony to any who would revel in like fashion.

I have provided a summary. Please read the chapters for yourself for details. See what God leads you to find.

Moving forward, the Israelites understood that there was a really big problem. They are now afraid to approach the tent of meeting and to draw near to God. They saw those who approached the Tabernacle before and had died swiftly.

The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we expire, we perish, we all perish. Anyone approaching the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all to perish?”

Numbers 17:12–13

Is there a remedy for death?

This results in a new lesson.

The Red Heifer

And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: Tell the children of Israel that they will bring you a healthy red heifer, which has no blemish, and on which a yoke has never gone, and you will give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will bring it outside the camp, and it will be slaughtered before him.

Numbers 19:2–3

Moses instructs them to bring a healthy red heifer. This is the first time that a sacrifice is specified to not be male. That is something significantly different that beckons our attention. In my opinion, this hints back to the first rebellion recorded. It came by way of Eve. She fell prey to the same rebellious desire, coveting something that was not hers.

For God knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasing to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:5–6

In the way God works, watch as every single detail of sin is undone.

Not only is the sacrifice female, it is to be unblemished. The additional qualification of the color red narrows the availability. This is also the first time that the color of the animal to be sacrificed is specified. Hidden just behind the English the Hebrew word for red. It is adom. It comes from the same Hebrew root word that is the English Adam. And it points to the rebellious nature of Esau whose descendants are called Edom.

The heifer was not to have been yoked. That means, the animal must not have been placed under subjection to anyone or anything. This offering did not have a burden. This conveys the idea that the offering is innocent. The yoke is also a symbol of slavery.

This heifer was given not to Aaron the High Priest, but to his son Eleazar. He was to take it outside of the camp where it was to be offered. As we’ve learned, the place of sin is outside of the camp. It’s also the place where the wages of sin are collected… Death.

What we are encountering is a picture of something significant. God is giving Moses a picture of the remedy for rebellion. With the Hebrew word parah (translated to heifer) we have a nod to offspring (fruitfulness.) Think seed and by cow female seed. The age of the heifer entails that it did not have progeny. (To be honest, this part hurts my brain. I mean, I see the connection, but I also see that it may be contrived. Nevertheless, the ideas are in play just under the surface of what is written.)

Now consider the assent to purity, and one removed to the place of sin. This was a sin offering by the significance of it being out of the camp (Exodus 29:14, Leviticus 4:12.) Yet the high priest did not perform this… His son Eleazar did.

And Eleazar the priest will take from its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of its blood directly before the tent of meeting seven times. Then it will be burned in his sight. Its hide and its flesh and its blood, with her dung, will be burned.

Numbers 19:4–5

For those who have read through the Torah, there is a significant derivation from other sacrifices. This one stands alone, and being in the Book of Numbers provides yet another.

The sin sacrifices spoken of in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 4 were young bulls slaughtered at the entrance to the Tabernacle. In Numbers 19 the red heifer was removed to the place outside the camp and where she was offered. The blood was then sprinkled at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

Another difference with the previously instituted sin sacrifices the priests placed their hands on the head of the sacrifice. From Leviticus 16:21, this is an indicator of imputation. That is placing sins from the person (people) onto the sacrifice. Without that conditional gesture, we clearly see the notion of unconditionality here.

All of this sacrifice was consumed. It was burned whole… Except for the few precious drops of blood sprinkled at the entrance to the way to approach God.

This sacrifice is outside of Leviticus where the rest are given. Leviticus outlines the use of bulls, goats, oxen, sheep, and doves for sacrifice. It provides the methods and uses. These laws never employ the sacrifice of a female. Oddly, no sacrifice was established for intentional sin. And our Israelites knew this.

Other Unique Facts

And the priest will take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet and throw it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

Numbers 19:6

Cedarwood, hyssop, and Scarlett thread have been mentioned before in the Torah. It is in the purifying ritual for a cleansed leper (Leviticus 14:1-32.) This is a significant reminder of what has already been established. These three are used with blood and running water to purify. In contrast with the red heifer ritual, these three are thrown into the fire to be consumed.

As leprosy is symbolic of sin in the Bible, this is yet another indication that the red heifer is to be a sin sacrifice. The ritual for purifying the leper connects to another with some more significance for us, and that is detailed in Leviticus 16 on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In both rituals, there is a dead offering and a live offering. The simplistic deduction from both is that something has to shed blood for the other to be free.

In other words, something had to become sin and then be obliterated. The significance of being free from sin is the release of the live offering.

The Puzzle of the Red Heifer

As mentioned, this sacrifice is one ordained outside of Leviticus. It has intricate connections to the purification of the cleansed leper and atonement. Its placement seems to defy logic. It is radically different from every other sacrifice in the Bible.

Then the priest will wash his clothes, and he will bathe his body in water, and afterward he will come into the camp, and the priest will be unclean until evening. He who burns it will wash his clothes in water, and bathe his body in water, and will be unclean until evening.

Numbers 19:7–8

Encountering this, a question ought to come to mind. How did these men become ritually unclean?

Of course, they came into contact with a dead carcass. I think there is a bit more. With the entirety of this heifer appointed to be consumed in fire, and the fact that the slaughter happened outside the camp, this heifer came to embody rebellion.

A man who is clean will gather the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and it will be guarded for the assembly of the children of Israel for water of purification. It is for purifying from sin. He that gathers the ashes of the heifer will wash his clothes and be unclean until evening, and it will be for the children of Israel and for the foreigner that lives among them, for an eternal statute.

Numbers 19:9–10

The weirdness continues. These ashes have some importance that would cause them to be guarded well. Just as Jesus in the tomb was guarded well. These ashes must be kept pure. Yet everyone who came into contact with them became unclean. The ashes were for the people of Israel, God’s chosen portion. (Which context demonstrates is a mixed multitude with one law.)

These ashes would be for water of purification. Yet oddly, the person gathering them would then also become ritually unclean.

Waters of Purification

He that touches the dead body of any man will be unclean seven days. He will make himself clean on the third day, and on the seventh day he will be clean. But if he does not make himself clean on the third day, then the seventh day he will not be clean. Whoever touches the body of any man that is dead and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord, and that person will be cut off from Israel. Because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him, he will be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him.

Numbers 19:11–13

Now we get a hint as to what is being accomplished.

This is the law, when a man dies in a tent. Each person who comes into the tent and all that is in the tent will be unclean seven days. Every open vessel which has no covering fastened on it is unclean. Whoever in the field touches one that is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave will be unclean seven days.

Numbers 19:14–16

These ashes would be used to purify the unclean person after such is cleansed.

For an unclean person they will take from the ashes of the burnt sin offering, and running water will be on it in a vessel. A clean person will take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and splash it on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on the people who were there, and on him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave. The clean person will splash on the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day. And on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water; and he will be clean at evening.

Numbers 19:17–19

A bit of the ashes of the heifer is mixed with running water, which is another similarity to the purifying ritual for the leper. This mixture is then sprinkled on the unclean objects and persons on the third day. However the person must finish his cleansing by washing himself and his clothing.

But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person will be cut off from among the assembly because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him. He is unclean.

Numbers 19:20

With all of the connections here, I must also draw attention to the unconditional parts of this and the conditional parts of it. The unconditional part is that this sacrifice is done once outside the camp, the ashes gathered are to provide a perpetual cleansing. One that did not require assembling the tent of meeting. The entire animal was consumed by fire save a precious few drops of blood that were used to secure the opening of the Tabernacle (or the way to the presence of God.)

The unconditional part is that the presence of God is open to all, and one doesn’t need the Tabernacle. Conditional, one must present themselves for the sprinkling of the water of purification, and then cleanse themselves. The way to the purification is open. They were to not fear approaching God.

The one who does not do the conditional part has no fellowship with God’s people. Sin is outside the camp.

It will be an eternal statute to them.
He that sprinkles the water of purification will wash his clothes, and he that touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening. Whatever the unclean person touches will be unclean, and the person that touches it will be unclean until evening.

Numbers 19:21–22

Even the person performing the ritual becomes unclean by touching the waters. It is important to understand that all those who come into contact with the heifer become unclean. It is as if this heifer is the embodiment of sin itself. There is a point here that Paul makes. It is also this very thing about the red heifer that points to Jesus.

He Became Sin for Us

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21

That red heifer was perfect, no blemishes. She was ruddy and red like men are. She was chaste. She had not been yoked to anything and was sinless.

Yet she was removed from the camp as a detestable thing. She was red like rebellious Edom. She was slaughtered without mercy and not in the presence of the High Priest. In other words, she became detestable.

Jesus is perfect. He is adom. He is chaste. He was not yoked to sin. He was removed from the presence of the people as a detestable thing. He was slaughtered in the absence of the High Priest who sent his minions, the Chief Priests. A sprinkling of His blood secured the way to the presence of the Living God. He rose again on the third day, His old body was consumed and given a new body. He gives living water to any.

The Tenth Heifer

As I write, the significance of the red heifer is in the news. I think the importance of this has now been adequately demonstrated.

The traditions of the red heifer go back to the first offered by Moses. There were eight more throughout the times of Israel. Since the destruction of the second temple in 70 AD, no red heifers have been offered.

According to those traditions, there is a tenth heifer to be offered. It is needed for the ashes. The ashes are used to make the water of purification which is then used to purify the temple, the implements, and the priests.

Rabbinical tradition indicates that this tenth and final red heifer would be sacrificed by Messiah Himself. This was first taught by the rabbi Maimonides. To the futurists, we see the significance of not only the future temple but the coming of the Messiah.

It is this rabbinical tradition that came about in the late twelfth century that intrigues me. A tenth heifer, tied to Messiah… Israel is patiently waiting for Him to arrive. How is it that rabbinical tradition that came a millennia after the resurrection of Jesus conjoins the sacrifice of the red heifer with the Messiah?

Jesus IS that tenth red heifer.

This is the picture to the Israelites. There are remedies to unintentional sin. But what of the intentional things we do and how is death remedied?

It was not practical for the wandering Israelites to stop every single time someone sinned or encountered a dead body. Stopping would involve unpacking and setting up the Tabernacle to perform sacrifices. God is connecting the purifying of the leper with the Day of Atonement in a ritual that demonstrates sin is destroyed outside of the camp. There is a way to be purified for anyone who needs it at any time. One had to avail themselves of it.

If that worked for them… How much better do we have it?

But Christ, when He came as a High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies so that the flesh is purified, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 9:11–14

Rest assured, you and I never have to be afraid of approaching God. The way to His presence is unconditionally secured and open to anyone who would avail themselves of it. It is there we are washed with the waters of purification from the Word Himself.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Ephesians 5:25–26

The Contract with Abraham

On By TimIn Genesis 12, Israel, SalvationLeave a comment

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your family, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless them who bless you and curse him who curses you, and in you all families of the earth will be blessed.”

Genesis 12:1–3

This is the covenant made with Abram. It is God calling Abram to leave all that he knows. He is to go to the place that God shows to him. This covenant, or to understand better contract, comes with all sorts of stipulations. We could bullet point them.

  • Made a great nation
  • Receive blessing
  • Have a well-known reputation
  • For you to be a blessing

Of course, Abraham believed God and went as he was asked. This is plainly evident in the next verse, “So Abram departed.” He had no proof of anything other than what God told Him would happen. God said “Go.” And Abram left with no discernible delay.

Looking toward the New Testament and the great Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, we read the retrospect.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out into a place which he would later receive as an inheritance. He went out not knowing where he was going.

Hebrews 11:8

By faith Abram obeyed. His faith was not part of the contract. His obedience was not part of the contract. God’s promises were His alone to keep. And Abram believed God would indeed keep them.

Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had accumulated, and the people that they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. They came to the land of Canaan.

Genesis 12:5

He took all of what he had and set out to the place God wanted him to go.

The Land Promised

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 12:7

In addition to the promises detailed at first, God will give to Abram the land to which he was sent.

Now, I know in today’s political climate there is much controversy over this land. Some say it doesn’t belong to Israel, but to Palestinians. But does it really?

Drawing up the Contract

After this the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
“Do not fear, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Abram said, “Since You have not given me any children, my heir is a servant born in my house.”
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but a son that is from your own body will be your heir.” He brought him outside and said, “Look up toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So will your descendants be.”
Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:1–6

I think with this text, we can get a sense of the business acumen of Abram. His negotiating skills are proficient. It might give us a hint as to what his family and business were like in Ur.

That aside, God promised a blessing, many descendants… meaning Abram would have heirs. The negotiations continue:

He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess it.”
But Abram said, “Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?”

Genesis 15:7–8

The terms are given. And they’re pretty one-sided… I would say… Exclusively one-sided.

Establishing the Contract

So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Then Abram brought all of these to Him and cut them in two and laid each piece opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half. When the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Genesis 15:9–11

As it was in those ancient days, this is how a contract was made. The Hebrew word for covenant is karath, which means to cut. Animals were cut in half and lain upon the sides of a small ravine. The blood from the animals would drain into the ravine, and the parties to the contract would walk through the collected blood to signify the effectiveness of the contract. The terms for breech… Let this blood be on the one who breeches to contract.

So what did Abram do?

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and terror and a great darkness fell on him.

Genesis 15:12

Well, he did nothing. He went to sleep. The word terror doesn’t describe a feeling Abram had. It is used to describe the darkness of the deep sleep. There is no way Abram could have awakened to be privy to what would happen. It’s a subtle, yet important emphasis that applies today.

Then He said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will live as strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. But I will judge the nation that they serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace and you will be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation, your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Genesis 15:13–16

It’s fascinating to consider that Abram was oblivious to this bit of prophecy. It is recorded for his posterity.

Now, this is important to understand.

When the sun went down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot with a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates River—the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Genesis 15:17–21

It was God alone Who walked amidst the blood of covenant. He alone made the land contract. The terms to honor it are all agreed to by God alone. Abram is asleep.

The Ramifications

If Abram did nothing to ratify the contract. He can do nothing to nullify or void the contract.

This is an important thing to understand. God alone promised the land to Abram. God alone promised an inheritance to Abram. God alone promised blessings to Abram. God alone promised a great name to Abram. God also promised Abram would be a blessing to the world.

We know Abram’s name was changed to Abraham. We know Abraham had an heir of his own bloodline with Sarah. (She was included in that blessing.) We know the blessing to the world came from Abraham… Jesus.

But, Abraham’s descendants took possession of some of the land promised.

God Keeps His Promises

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, look, the house of Israel says, “The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off.”
Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: There shall none of My words be prolonged anymore, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, says the Lord God.

Ezekiel 12:26–28

God will do what He says He will do. But it happens in His timing, not ours nor when we expect it. We got a glimpse into that in the word spoken by God to Abram while he slept deeply.

Abram wasn’t privy to the struggles of the future. He believed God, and that God would do as He said, working it all out.

It’s this simple fact that God keeps His promises that led Paul to say this:

I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6

You Know the Way

“Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also. You know where I am going, and you know the way.”

John 14:1–4

As Jesus spoke to His disciples, He promised them He would return. He promised them a place. He gives a blessing that you share it with others.

Partakers of the Root

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and became a partaker with them of the root and richness of the olive tree,

Romans 11:17

The Bible teaches us in Romans 11 that we believers are grafted into the Root, Jesus. It says we believers take part in all the promises given to Abram. The same things promised to Abraham are ours and serve as a template or pattern to what God gives the believer.

That’s why you can believe what Jesus says. Our God keeps His Word!

Do You Hear?

Look at how the promises made to Abraham are the template for the promises given to believers by the Risen Savior Jesus.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give permission to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

Revelation 2:7

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.

Revelation 2:11

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except he who receives it.

Revelation 2:17

“To him who overcomes and keeps My works to the end, I will give authority over the nations—
He ‘shall rule them with a rod of iron; like the vessels of a potter they shall be broken in pieces’— even as I myself have received authority from My Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 2:26–29

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. I will not blot his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 3:5–6

He who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 3:12–13

“To him who overcomes will I grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Revelation 3:21–22

Abram had an ear to listen. He heard and did as God asked. He believed. His faith led to obedience to what God asked. Yet it wasn’t his obedience that was counted for righteousness. It was his faith.

I will say that if you are saved, God will never not keep His promises to you. Even if you think in some moment of weakness or rebellion… You might walk away… But really?

In Him you also, after hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and after believing in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:13–14

It’s that indwelling Spirit that is His promise to us. He cannot be taken away.

If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

2 Timothy 2:13

Like Israel gets the land, and it is theirs by promise He is going to fulfill, your salvation is yours, by the promise He is going to fulfill.

Stars: The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius

On By TimIn Last Days, Numbers 24Leave a comment

“I will see him, but not now; I will behold him, but not near; a star will come out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel, and will crush the borderlands of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. Edom will be a possession, and Seir, a possession of its enemies, while Israel does valiantly. One out of Jacob shall have dominion, and destroy the survivors of the city.”

Numbers 24:17–19

It is clear that from the inception of the nation Israel, the promised Star would come. The Sceptre would conquer the world. This is speaking of a particular Man… We know Him as Jesus Christ, Son of the Most High. He is the promised Messiah.

I can foresee the question… What does He have to do with a popular song from the 20th century?

The Hand of God is on Human History

I’m not making a case for determinism or fatalism here. By saying the hand of God is on history, I point to those times when God undeniably inserts Himself into the affairs of men.

There are certain portions of Scripture that have been threaded throughout this series. We open with a prophecy from numbers that was cited in the first post. Likewise, a passage from Isaiah 40 was also included. It seems fitting to revisit the prophet.

O Zion, bearer of good news, get yourself up onto a high mountain; O Jerusalem, bearer of good news, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Lord God will come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; see, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40:9–11

This is yet another prophetic announcement of the coming Messiah. In this particular passage it is difficult to envision two advents of the same person. Yet I think there is. The first announcement is to Judah, “Here is your God.” That was accomplished at Jesus’ first advent. He proclaimed Himself as God. The next instance… He comes with strength and shall rule. That has yet to happen.

History shows us that there is a partial working of the pattern. Even up to the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Israel on that first Palm Sunday. He was welcomed as King. But then, Like Daniel 9:26 says… He was cut off. He didn’t rule. The phrase that follows means His death was not for Himself.

His Reward, His Recompense

This is a repeated theme in Isaiah.

The Lord has proclaimed to the ends of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “See, your salvation comes; see, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”

Isaiah 62:11

It’s fitting that we are talking about Jesus. Really look at what is said. There are three persons identified. The first is the Jehovah. Next is the daughter of Zion who is the personified name for the people of God. The Third is named, too. He is identified by the pronouns His and Him. It’s Jesus.

Knowing a bit about Hebrew is helpful. In this instance, the English word salvation is translated from a Hebrew word that is closely related to Yeshua. It’s a handy thing to remember when encountering the word salvation in the Tanakh, think Jesus.

For brevity, I left out the next verse. It speaks of Jerusalem being a place sought out. We have been a witness of that very thing in our lifetime. Check it out for yourself.

What this is saying this is that God is going to intervene in history in an undeniable way. God will save Israel… Bringing His reward with Him. One might ask, what is His reward?

Therefore God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9–11

There is hardly any other way to think of it. Jesus’ reward comes from His humble service to God. He is exalted above all. He is the King of Glory as David sang:

Lift up your heads, O you gates; and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, that the King of glory may enter. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift up, you everlasting doors, that the King of glory may enter. Who is He—this King of glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah

Psalm 24:7–10

As I write this, I cannot help but sing this particular thing. Our former music pastor wrote some beautiful music. One of the things I will even be grateful for from Clay Hecocks… He had us memorize Scriptures by singing them in worship. Have a listen. Worship sharpens our focus to Jesus.

Back to the subject… Jesus is the King of Glory. He is the Lord of Hosts. That is a military title. These titles are part of His reward. When He comes with His reward, it will be with the completion of what Isaiah wrote in chapter 40.

I saw heaven opened. And there was a white horse. He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written, that no one knows but He Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood. His name is called The Word of God. The armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Out of His mouth proceeds a sharp sword, with which He may strike the nations. “He shall rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury and wrath of God the Almighty.

Revelation 19:11–15

Jesus comes with His reward. It’s those saved now. We believers are part of the armies of heaven. The saints in the body of Christ will ride in on flying horses dressed in His righteousness. His reward is those who are His now.

Jesus says this about that event:

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me to give to each one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

Revelation 22:12–13

Look back at Isaiah, He comes with His reward. But the recompense is before Him. Recompense is the awarded compensation for something. In other words, recompense can be considered synonymous with wages, something earned.

In the most obvious sense… Israel is before Him and the one He comes to rescue. He will gather those lambs like a shepherd and defend them. Remember one of the earliest promises to Abram.

I will bless them who bless you and curse him who curses you, and in you all families of the earth will be blessed.”

Genesis 12:3

This is God’s promise that is to be fulfilled. People will be receive recompense for their work. Those that bless Israel will receive blessing. Those that don’t won’t.

It is hard not to also see the judgment Jesus promised in Revelation 22 above. This is the recompense from Jesus’ own witness of this event. He will award each according to his work.

The Bible calls the wages or recompense of sin as death. When Jesus fulfills this prophecy in Isaiah 40, the rebels will be quashed handily. Read around the texts cited for a witness to the terrible event. Jesus has a robe dipped in blood. It’s a reference to the judgment at the end. One may call it the battle of Armageddon, recent scholarship shows that may be a misunderstanding. The battle is for the Mount of assembly (har moed,) that is Mount Zion.

This is going to be a gruesome scene. I tend to think of this as the great bird feast… Not quite the Thanksgiving we know.

He comes with His reward, and His recompense is before Him… Both what He receives and He repays. I am very grateful I do not get what I deserve.

The End of the Age

As He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

Matthew 24:3

Here is the reference for the phrase end of the age. Matthew 24 is generally considered the Olivet Discourse. It’s Jesus giving a private briefing to four disciples answering the question about the end of the age. Clearly, we see lots of things bundled together here. The sign of the coming of Jesus is at the end of the age.

I know these posts are quite long. I am trying to mind the gaps and help folks along. Consider some context into the mindset of the Israelis of the day.

To the Jewish mind of that day, the end of the age was commonly associated with the intervention of God into human history by means of the personal return of the Messiah. Today two thousand years have come and gone since those questions were first asked, making the need for clear answers even more relevant.

Charles Caldwell Ryrie, The Best Is yet to Come (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1981), 21.

It is the markings of the end of the age that became the impetus for this series, in particular this post. I had harmonize the three accounts of the Olivet Discourse. I subtly inquired of God for help in understanding that long ago. The phrase end of the age seemed to hover at the forefront of my mind.

We’ve encountered some of the prophetic writings that point to Jesus specific to the end times. We clearly see that the end of the age is when God intervenes.

“Unless those days were shortened, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.

Matthew 24:22

Jesus says God intervenes to save Israel (the elect.). Things will be so bad that God has to intervene. It’s hard to ignore how bad things seem to compound every day now.

But Ages…

I used to think that the end of the age was the end of the church age. That is what I was taught. It did not seem to make sense. Particularly because Jesus was speaking privately to a few Jewish folk about the end of the Jewish age. That is an inescapable conclusion. But is He speaking of the end of the Church age or the Jewish age?

I don’t think so, as the quotation of Charles Ryrie leads to a different conclusion. One that is going to shock some.

The Precession of the Equinox

Remember from Genesis 1 the sun is used as a timekeeper. There is one particular function of the sun marking the passage of time known as the Precession of the Equinoxes. This is an observable phenomenon pointing to the rotation of the heavens. That rotation spans 25,920 years.

Form our vantage point, the constellations exhibit a slow rotation over the Earth. This is not to be confused with the diurnal motion of the Earth rotating on its axises that shows the stars moving from east to west every day. Likewise, it is not the movement of the stars due to Earth’s annual orbit around the sun.

There is a way to mark periods longer than centuries or millennia. The phenomenon is measured on the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox is the marker of which day is chosen for Easter. Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

The vernal equinox occurs when the sun appears to move northward at the moment it crosses the equator. On that day, an imaginary line is extended from the center of the Earth to the sun when it rises above the horizon. That line points to a particular constellation in the sky. As the years progress the line moves westward through the constellations.

Now, I know that some of y’all are gonna complain that this is astrology. I hear you. But it is not. Astrology has to do with making personal subjective predictions based on the movement of the stars and letting them govern our lives and behavior. We are using the constellations to mark time.

Here is Where it Gets Blurry

The precession is marked by twelve constellations. When we divide the 25,920 years by twelve, we get a period of 2,160 years. Though the math is exact, it doesn’t easily line up with reality. The reality is that the precession is thought to change approximately every 2,000 years. There is no hard and fast rule.

The move from one precessional age to the next comes with some vagueness. These are astronomical distances being used. We can measure with arcs dividing the heavens into twelve compartments. The blurriness comes in the disagreement on the exact year one moves from one age to the next.

I am going to exploit that vagueness.

The Age of Aquarius

Some of us know the song. We sang it. “This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.“ That was a mid-to-late 20th century anthem.

The lyric of the song leads one to the dawning of a new age. That is a longing for a return to the Golden Age, the time before the flood when the gods ruled the earth. In reality it was a brutal time for humans, but a Golden Age for gods. (Thats a part of the delusion of the end times.)

The song is sun worship. The powers-that-be worship the black sun… Saturn. They actively call for a Great Reset to a Golden Age. But such as it is, God reworks all of the mess that the enemy makes.

The move into the Age of Aquarius is said by some to have already happened. There is much sloppiness. For what it’s worth, read the article here. Many date setters claim we’ve already moved into it, others claim it happens in 2030. (Which is kind of convenient, given those same powers-that-be have an Agenda 2030 for a New World Order. Out of chaos, they want to implement order… Utopia. Which is to be the Golden Age.)

Is this the End of the Age?

Perhaps. I cannot go further without a bit of conjecture. I know I am leaning into zodiacal information. The coincidences are real.

As the precession goes, we will be moving into the Age of Aquarius. That means we are currently in the Age of Pisces. Before the Age of Pisces was the Age of Aries. And coming before Aries is the Age of Taurus.

Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini

These great ages have some interesting characteristics that are pertinent to this discussion. To the world powers, the Age of Aquarius symbolizes a Utopian Golden Age. One in which humanity flourishes. Aquarius represents the progress from the old system of tradition to a new age. It is seen as an escape from the prison of tradition.

The Age of Pisces began about 2,000 years ago. As we know, there is no consensus on the exact start conclusion of these ages. To the astrologers, Pisces represents the battle between religion and science. These astrologers connect the Age of Pisces with the birth of the church. The duality of Pisces certainly seems to point to a struggle between secular science and spiritual matters. It also points to a single body made of two distinct parts.

Before Pisces is the Age of Aries. This age is represented as the Age of Law. It is signified by the introduction of the Code of Hammurabi. (I know these ideas have there root in Babylon.) The Vedas were introduced in this time, as were the Ten Commandments and other laws governing Israel.

Aries came out of the Age of Taurus. This age encompassed the birth of civilization. It is when the Sumerian culture arose. This time period also saw the establishment of the Egyptian culture. Introduced in this age are the great epics and myths of history which have carried forward to the present.

Preceding Taurus is the Age of Gemini. The symbolism is twin in nature. Yet the age is thought to have seen the birth of cities, art, skills, and trade, which became the underpinnings of civilization.

What I see in this precession is a precision indicative of the spiritual significance of the age. For example, look at this quick outline working backward from the future:

Aquarius: The age of the One Who gives Living Water freely.

Pisces: The current age of fish, a longstanding symbol of Christianity. It speaks to one body consisting of two parts; Jew and Gentiles.

Aries: The age of the ram that began with the call of Abram and the ram provided in place of Isaac, Passover, and the Exodus.

Taurus: The age of bull worship like the golden calf. Think bull as in Bull El and the many names he is honored with in the pantheons of the ancients.

Gemini: The age of duality. As I see it, this is the introduction of another god, an impostor who would usurp the Most High.

To Close

The characteristics of these long ages seem to align loosely with the major ideas of spirituality people. These seem to be differentiated by points of reset. What I mean by reset, think the flood of Noah, scatter of nations, the call of Abram and his progeny emerging as a nation, the advent of Jesus and birth of the church, and the second coming. It’s not a conclusive list at all, but the roughly coinciding points in time draw attention.

We have the Bible which gives us detailed history both looking backward and forward from our present perspective.

I think the powers-that-be also tell us their plans for the evolution of the world well in advance. The art of the culture are meant to provide accoutrements to prepare the rank-and-file to go along.

It seems that science and culture are converging and finally catching up to what the Bible says about the future.

Editing Note:

I do know the enemy is hard at work. I also think that technology is his tool to bring about his will on earth. It is great to have the tech, but comes with pitfalls.

I do apologize that the last part of this post got jumbled and lost. I have tried to reconstruct it from memory. I hope it conveys the ideas accurately and concisely.

Sons of God in the New Testament

On By TimIn Luke 03, Resurrection, The Divine Council2 Comments

In the last post, we learned of the Divine Council and the members that comprise it as it is explained in the Tanakh. These are specifically called the sons of God. We also learned that the sons of God are angels.

As always, the Tanakh provides hints to a yet future reality. Such things are often labeled as prophecies. There is part of one from Daniel that lends itself as a perfect place of transition.

Daniel was given a panoramic vision of the future. Some minute detail was given and as we’ve witnessed in history, matches exactly. In that vision, there is a group of people called the wise. This seems to be a euphemism that applies to believers. The wise will instruct many, and be persecuted for what they do. This activity will continue until the end at the appointed time. It culminates here:

Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who turn the many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.

Daniel 12:3

Tuck this away as we move forward in our studies. Perhaps what is said might have a deeper meaning than it does now.

Son of God

Now let’s turn our focus onto the same term sons of God as written of in the New Testament. With it, our understanding is going to become even more refined.

We will begin in the first words of the New Testament. It is the first chapter of Matthew where he records a genealogy of Jesus, the Anointed One. He is the Seed of the woman that the fallen angels worked to stop. Matthew writes after the fact to establish the identity of Jesus as that Seed. The genealogy starts with Abraham and ends at Jesus through Joseph.

In like manner, Luke provides a similar genealogy of Jesus. One that differs from Matthew’s in many ways. It is found starting at Luke 3:23. Luke begins with Jesus and works His ancestors all the way back to Adam. It is how Luke describes Adam that is essential to understand.

who was the son of Enosh, who was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam, who was the son of God.

Luke 3:38

Adam, the son of God, stands out as a contrast to what we know from the Tanakh. Luke calls Adam the son of God. It’s almost as if what is written in the Tanakh didn’t matter. Perhaps it is better understood as a clue to a new reality.

Back to the Beginning

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were created through Him, and without Him nothing was created that was created.

John 1:2–3

The introduction of Jesus in John’s Gospel contains many truths. Some are overt, in that Jesus is not a created being. Others are subtle, Jesus could not have been created because He is the One creating. The things that exist that are not God have been created by the Word, Jesus.

He is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of every creature. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:15–17

Paul uses similar language to describe Jesus. He also tells us Jesus created spiritual beings. The Tanakh seems to use the word elohim as a catchall type for spirit being. At least, I understand it that way. Elohim are sons of God, and by the witness of the New Testament they are direct creations of God. Just as Adam is a direct creation of God. It’s not too difficult to think that the term son of God means one created by God. Can that be tested?

Born of God

He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, He gave the power to become sons of God, to those who believed in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:10–13

I love that text. It pretty much needs no other explanation. He came into the world, even to His own portion, the people He chose. He was rejected by those.

But… To any who received Jesus, these He gave authority to become sons of God. This was to those who believed, and are born of God. This is where the term born again has its foundation. A believer is reborn as a son of God.

It also occurs to me that the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) all use the first instance of Son of God as a title or descriptor of Jesus Christ. Luke (the Gentile) applies the same descriptor to Adam after applying it to Jesus. I think there is some highly technical meaning there, in that Jesus had to also be a Son of God like Adam.

John calls Him the unique Son of God. The term son of God couples Jesus and Adam.

John ventures from that applying the term not to Jesus, and not to Adam… But to born of God believers. Aren’t sons of God then direct creations of God?

New Creation

It’s the Bible that best explains the Bible. Angels and Adam are called sons of God. The trait they share is being direct creations of God. Believing humans have been given the right to become sons of God. Let the Spirit lead your mind ahead.

And He died for all, that those who live should not from now on live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
So from now on we do not regard anyone according to the flesh. Yes, though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet we do not regard Him as such from now on. Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Look, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:15–17

Paul brings us full circle. A born again believer is a new creation. The text I cited has the word creature. Other texts use new creation. The idea is the same. We are made new creations when we believe.

Therefore, a born again believer is a direct new creation of God. This satisfies the idea of meaning intrinsic to what a son of God is. And it answers both questions.

I don’t mean to exclude any of the ladies from this by the language used. My goal is to laser-focus the terms to avoid ambiguity. What God has given is open to all. Though the text is silent, Eve is also a daughter of God being directly created by Him from His son Adam.

Anyone who so desires to become a child of God can be one. Children of God, male and female, are newly born-direct creations.

New Heavens and New Earth

It is throughout the Bible that we learn the corruption of creation came through human doing, but not without seditious acts and interference by some of the sons of God. Certainly, we know that the members of the old Divine Council failed. Others did not procreate, yet failed in other ways. The ones that fell all failed God. They failed themselves. They failed creation itself. But that does not mean that God failed.

Interspersed through the Bible is the promise of renewal. The New Yesrament is not excluded from that. Creation is to be restored to the way God had originally intended it to be.

But, according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3:13

That restoration is to happen at a particular appointed time.

Therefore repent and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the One who previously was preached to you, Jesus Christ, whom the heavens must receive until the time of restoring what God spoke through all His holy prophets since the world began.

Acts 3:19–21

It will be at the end of the age which Jesus spoke to in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24.) It is a recurring theme throughout the Scriptures.

The Appearance

Believers are new creations. Believers are sons of God. Paul gives us a glimpse into the future renewal of creation. But before that, he helps us to identify the sons of God. It is not only the fact of being led by the Spirit, but that we’ve received Him inside of us. This is the same language that is used throughout many passages as it pertains to being saved. It is a new birth and new creation with a new identity.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of slavery again to fear. But you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him.

Romans 8:14–17

The Holy Spirit is the Means of adoption. It is He that brings us into that intimate relationship of a father and his children. One in which we can know our Heavenly Father just as we know our own dads.

The eager expectation of the creation waits for the appearance of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but by the will of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Romans 8:19–21

God has a plan. He subjected creation to futility. To use a scientific term, creation was subject to entropy. That is the tendency of things to devolve toward chaos. He did it with the hope that creation would be set free from that bondage. Not that He hoped in something, but it is for all of creation to look toward the certain freedom for now which it can only anticipate.

So, there seems to be a new Divine Council in the future. One that is to do things rightly. There will be a new group of regents set with the task to watch and judge creation.

What Shall We Be?

I know that the apostle John wrote that it has not been yet revealed what we will be, but John says we shall be like Him when He appears.

Beloved, now are we children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

1 John 3:2

That fascinates me that we do not know what we will be, as believers when that time comes… I think it is far beyond our imaginings. But these are some fantastically mind-blowing hints.

Concluding Thoughts

As always, when studying, so many connections come into the mind. I hope Daniel 12:3 has a bit of new meaning for you.

This whole series will culminate, I promise. What set out to be one post, then became three, then two plus two plus two. There will be one more additional post on proving a son of God before returning to the stars and angels.

The Day of the Lord, The Day of Christ, and the Great Day of the Wrath of the Lamb

On By TimIn Last Days, Revelation 06Leave a comment

I watched as He opened the sixth seal. And suddenly there was a great earthquake. The sun became black, like sackcloth made from goat hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when it is shaken by a strong wind. Then the heavens receded like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the commanding officers and the strong and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. They said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath has come. Who is able to withstand it?”

Revelation 6:12–17

The Bible is clear and precise. As the seals on the scroll are removed… We come to the sixth seal. As it opens, unmistakable apocalyptic events come to earth. Many of these events seem to line up with what the world is preparing for now. Something happens to the sun and moon that impels the rich and powerful into underground bunkers. They implore those bunkers to fall on them… Why?

They tell us. It’s is the great day of the wrath of the Lamb.

Alas! for that day is great, so that no one is like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Jeremiah 30:7

But is that great day the same as the Day of the Lord?

‘In the last days it shall be,’ says God, ‘that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even on My menservants and maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.
And I will show wonders in heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
And whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Acts 2:17–21

That is Peter referencing the same thing… Sun into darkness and the moon turns to blood. This is the harbinger of the Day of the Lord.

Already we derive some facts…

  • The Day of the Lord is when the wrath of the Lamb is poured out.
  • The Day of the Lord is the time when Jesus comes.
  • It is not limited to a single 24-hour day.
  • Even unbelievers recognize it for what it is.

In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will enter into judgment with them there regarding My people and My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.
They have cast lots for My people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute; they have sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

Joel 3:1–3

It is a day distinctly Jewish in nature. It is the restoration of Israel. It is also a terrible time of judgment for unbelievers. Note that even the Holy Spirit drops a hint to the trafficking of children as part of the injustices.

Reading a bit further in Joel brings us to something unmistakable.

Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of the decision.
The sun and moon darken, and the stars withdraw their radiance.
The LORD roars from Zion, and sounds His voice from Jerusalem, and heaven and earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge for His people, and a stronghold for the children of Israel.

Joel 3:14–16

The Day of the Lord is the Day of wrath and the coming of the Lamb. That is unmistakable.

Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that I write to you. For you know perfectly that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.
But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all the sons of light and the sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as others do. But let us be alert and sober.
For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we should live together with Him. So comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, just as you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

Paul describes the Day of the Lord to the Thessalonians. It comes like a thief in the night. They say, peace and safety… These are not believers who are going to be surprised.

Paul then uses the idea of some escape from that day that these cannot do. The believers he is addressing are not in such peril. Why?

Because believers are not appointed to this time of wrath. That is, believers are removed as previously testified immediately before.

But I would not have you ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and arose again, so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who are asleep.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall be forever with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

This means the above happens as a way of escape BEFORE the day of the Lord. Now, examining the second epistle we can clearly understand what is said.

Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and concerning our gathering together unto Him, we ask you not to let your mind be quickly shaken or be troubled, neither in spirit nor by word, nor by letter coming as though from us, as if the day of Christ is already here.

2 Thessalonians 2:1–2

Paul uses the term “Day of Christ.” He is assuring his readers that it is not here. The “Day of Christ” is not the moment we are snatched away. That is spoken of as happening before the Day of Christ. Modern-day saints are snatched away before the wrath comes.

As we can see… The Day of the Lord, the Day of Christ, and the Day of the wrath of the Lamb… These are all the same period of time with different names.

If that is not enough to point to Who is taking vengeance… Let’s rewind back to Revelation 6.

When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had held. They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers should be completed, who would be killed as they were.

Revelation 6:9–11

The ones who are asking for vengeance are the folks who have died for their testimony in the tribulation. They ask for their blood to be avenged.

Remember back in Numbers, where Moses instructed the Israelites to make sanctuary cities to protect from the avenger of blood?

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you are crossing over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall designate cities as your cities of refuge, so that a manslayer who unintentionally kills a person may flee there. The cities will be for you a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer does not die until he stands trial before the assembly. The cities which you designate shall be your six cities of refuge. You will give three cities across the Jordan, and three cities you will give in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge. For the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the foreign sojourner among them will be six cities. These will be for a refuge. Everyone that unintentionally kills any person may flee there.

Numbers 35:9–15

The Hebrew word for avenger is goel. It is the same word used in the book of Ruth for the redeemer… The Kinsman Redeemer. That’s Jesus.

Jesus is the Avenger of Blood and the Kinsman Redeemer.

Apostasia: What Does it Mean?

On By TimIn 2 Thessalonians 02, Apostasy, RaptureLeave a comment

Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and concerning our gathering together unto Him, we ask you not to let your mind be quickly shaken or be troubled, neither in spirit nor by word, nor by letter coming as though from us, as if the day of Christ is already here. Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For that Day will not come unless a falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself as God.

2 Thessalonians 2:1–4

That falling away has always been taught that is an abandonment of faith. In our text, the words of faith are assumed to be there. They are not. In fact, some scholars think it’s better translated as a departure. But from what is not specified. Nevertheless, this leaving comes first… Then the man of sin is revealed.

A lot of people are confused by this already. They’ve always been taught that apostasy is falling away from faith or orthodoxy. That is what the word has come to mean in English. In our text above, it’s there is no object supplied to the word that means abandon.

Many will teach that the order of events established here are… First, there is a great abandonment of Christianity. Second comes the revealing of the antichrist.

Is that right?

Let’s take a deeper look at what Paul wrote.

Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? Now you know what restrains him that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already working. Only He who is now restraining him will do so until He is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His presence, even him, whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all deception of unrighteousness among those who perish, because they did not receive the love for the truth that they might be saved. Therefore God will send them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie: that they all might be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

2 Thessalonians 2:5–12

Paul elaborates on the timetable. I like to think that it is noting something important to understand, like Jesus saying, “Truly, truly.” It’s said twice. Pay attention.

The first thing that is important to note, Paul uses the word ‘He.’ It is a “He” that is to be removed. That is a pronoun pointing to a person. He has to be taken out of the way. Then the lawless one comes.

But… Who is that He?

It has to be God. Hod is the only one able to restrain this being.

How does God get taken out of the way?

It is God the Spirit working in the Body of Christ that must be removed. He is the One restraining evil, for now.

I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6

God works in us until a certain point when the work is finished. It’s the day of Jesus Christ. That verse has hints to our text that will be covered in the next post. What is important is that the work of the Spirit is in believers and will be completed at some point.

So going back to this section, it is the Spirit working in believers that is first removed. The Spirit can’t be removed or taken away from believers. Now, the Scriptures tell us in Acts 2:38 that the Spirit is a gift to believers. The Scriptures also tell us in Romans 11:29 that God does not take back His gifts. So it must be that believers are removed with the Spirit!

The New Testament body of Christ leaves this Earth. It abandons the authority of earthly rulers and structures. The antichrist then comes with power and signs to deceive. God, in removing the influence of the Spirit at work in and through church saints takes out His influences on the planet. This results in a hardening of the hearts to those remaining. Then deception comes, without God’s help people succumb to the deception.

This doesn’t have good tidings for their future conversion. For those not saved, it’s not gonna be good.

Yet we give God thanks for the heads-up.

The end to all of this is Jesus redeeming the Earth. That is the Day of Christ, when He returns.

One thing I had not ever noticed before… Jesus slays the antichrist with the breath of His mouth. It’s an interesting and thought-provoking phrase. It’s very down to earth… Only nephesh (OT word that includes all creatures with blood) have the breath of the mouth. He is kinsman with all humans, but this the very thing that makes Him kin to all earth-dwellers, breathing. By that very breath the creation is set free, too.

For the eagerly expecting creation awaits eagerly the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation has been subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of the one who subjected it, in the hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its servility to decay, into the glorious freedom of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans together and suffers agony together until now.

Romans 8:19–22 (LEB)

Creation is ready for the freedom of the children of God that comes the very moment creation is freed. These are the ones that ride with Jesus as part of the armies of heaven. The children of God are direct creations of God (not procreation by human reproduction.) Church-age believers are new creations. Born of God, children of God. The ones who availed themselves of the right given by God to become children of God.

Paneas and You

On By TimIn Matthew 16, Spiritual WarfareLeave a comment

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

Matthew 16:24

In as much as Jesus is talking to His disciples present at Banias, He is also talking to you and me. This is the walk of the Christian. We are to take up our own cross.

Therefore, since we are encompassed with such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and your hearts give up.

Hebrews 12:1–3

Jesus despised the shame of the cross… Yet endured the suffering. He is now lifted up and seated in glory. The writer of Hebrews uses this as encouragement. The idea of taking up the cross may come with an expectation of suffering. But I choose to think of it as an expectation of victory.

Jesus did not fear what would happen. He set His mind beyond the momentary suffering. Though I don’t think any of us could even begin to imagine the things He endured, it is not about death, but life.

This is Spiritual Warfare

Jesus has already told His disciples that the Gates of Hell will not prevail against His church. The church, which is built upon the resurrection of Jesus as the chief Cornerstone. We, as living stones, are told to take up our part in the building of the church. Not a physical building, but the activity of building up. We do that, just as Jesus did… By denying our desires and seeking to do the will of the Father.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 16:25

Paul would put it this way.

Let this mind be in you all, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. But He emptied Himself, taking upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in the form of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5–11

If there is any that had the right to hold onto themselves and their position, it is the Creator of the universe. Yet as our working through Matthew 16 and the account at the Grotto of Pan shows, He took on the form of a servant. He became obedient to the curse of death. It was through that cross that He really had life.

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Matthew 16:26

Here is that idea of binding and loosing spoken of before. It is iterated in a different way. One may continue to serve self and gain all of the wealth and power in this life. Yet cannot take the power and prestige into the next life. Such would be remanded to an eternity of languishing in the futility of self-pursuit. That one loses his soul in perdition hot, needy, and alone.

Yet if we loosen our grip on pursuing our own positions in life, just as Jesus did we gain our soul. Life is not living for oneself but for others. Those others include the Savior Who led by example.

It is exactly that mindset where the victory of the Gates of Hell is. There is a real battle for you and your soul. It happens in your mind and among your thoughts.

Paneas is about looking beyond ourselves and beyond our circumstances. It is about taking our thoughts captive. That means identifying those thoughts that come from outside our minds.

Peter provides a poignant glimpse into this. At the beginning he rightfully identifies the Son of Man. Jesus says this thought arose outside of Peter’s mind being revealed by the Father. In the same way, when Peter denied Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jesus attested to the origin of that thought.

Likewise, being born of the Spirit and with His help, we can identify the thoughts in our mind. These thoughts come from our own inner voice or a prompting of the Spirit.

And sometimes they come with a heavy dousing of brimstone. These are the ones that discourage, shame, accuse, and condemn. Throw them out. Don’t bring them inside. Don’t entertain them.

The battle in the mind can hinder. The prescription Jesus gives us to deny ourselves. Deny a focus on our thoughts, even looking to encourage and better the welfare of others.

Taking up your cross is not to focus on suffering. It is to focus on victory. It is about shedding the fear that comes with sin and death and look toward life, everlasting life.

Speaking to that, we do life with other believers, in fellowship. We encourage each other, being accountable. We do this in local bodies called churches. Remember Jesus’ words, the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against His church.

Looking for Jesus

For the Son of Man shall come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay every man according to his works.

Matthew 16:27

Our focus is always on Jesus. We look forward to His return when justice is delivered. This is the sure victory all will see clearly.

For some it won’t be a good thing… Especially for those waiting to be judged for their works.

Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Matthew 16:28

Now, this verse has confounded many. Some say this is about the transfiguration which happens on Mt. Hermon recorded in the next chapter of Matthew.

I think this is speaking to something a bit more practical. When Jesus was taken up in the first chapter of Acts, He gave instructions to His disciples to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the promise or power.

So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them, “ It is not for you to know the times or the dates, which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:6–8

The disciples ask Jesus if the kingdom would be restored to Israel. Jesus said it’s not for them to know the times, as if there seems to be a pause to the restoring of the kingdom to Israel. He promised them they will receive power and be witnesses to all. That was the calling to Israel, who failed to attain that. It’s not a far stretch to see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom is a reference to the birth of the church. The same church-kingdom to which the Gates of Hell have no way to answer.

John,
To the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 1:4–6

John attests that we have been made kings and priests. It is a theme repeated in Revelation.

And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
and to open its seals;
for You were slain,
and have redeemed us to God by Your blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
and have made us kings and priests unto our God;
and we shall reign on the earth.”

Revelation 5:9–10

Blessed and holy is he who takes part in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Revelation 20:6

I encourage all to read a few verses before the last verse in chapter 20. There is a previous post explaining who the judges are. Keep in mind that the term first resurrection is probably not indicative of a one-time event. It is a classification, think first class, which doesn’t necessarily mean the first class of the day.

Back to the text… We see clearly that this New Testament body is peculiar in nature. It is a body of judges, kings, and priests who will serve in His Millennial kingdom. John said we’ve already been made kings and priests. It’s my contention that His kingdom did come with the birth of the church at Pentecost.

Peter seems to witness to this truth in his sermon, too.

God raised up this Jesus, of which we all are witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which you now see and hear. For David has not ascended to the heavens, yet he says:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I make Your enemies
Your footstool.” ’
“Therefore, let all the house of Israel assuredly know that God has made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Acts 2:32–36

That’s where we get a hint to what the kingdom. Jesus Christ did indeed ascend to heaven. He sat down, taking His seat as Lord and Christ. He sent His promised Spirit into those who believe. It is those who are of the kingdom of the Son of Man. One that has not yet been restored to Israel yet nevertheless exists in a body of believers now. That is the body of Christ.

The importance of Paneas is not to be taken lightly. The exact workings of the kingdom were revealed there. Jesus would die, and rose again putting His Spirit in believers. In that Hell is defeated now. It has no business with believers, including you.

Don’t give it entry into your mind, your life, or your church. Pray daily revoking rights and permissions given to any spirit other that that of God and Jesus, whether those are down intentionally or accidentally. You and I have that power, in Jesus’ name!

Paneas and Sacrifice

On By TimIn Matthew 16, Resurrection, Spiritual WarfareLeave a comment

But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things that are of God, but those that are of men.”

Matthew 16:23

This is a startling and sharp rebuke to Peter. It is evidence of His emotionally humanistic conception. Because of that, Peter is aligning himself with Satan’s plan. One that would deter Jesus from fulfilling His mission. The rebuke is harsh and demonstrates to us the focus Jesus had on His mission. He was sent to die.

Peter’s fear is revealed at the thought of Jesus dying. That fear also gives an opportunity for offense. Peter stumbles. This Foundation the church is built upon is not Peter, but it is the Rock of offense. In the last post, the idea of the Rock Jesus spoke of would be Himself. Testified to previously by Peter himself.

Long after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Peter expounds on this theme by cutting the Tanakh.

Coming to Him as to a living stone who is rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house as a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:4–6

Peter now understands the issue clearly. Jesus is the Rock chosen by God Himself and would give the greatest sacrifice. Jesus is the Foundation the church is being built upon. Peter is one of those living stones, as is every believer. Like every believer, we are like Jesus, kings and priests working for God.

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 1:5b–6

The Acceptance of Obedience

Just as Jesus laying down His life was a spiritual sacrifice; we believers are called to do the same.

I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:1–2

The idea of sacrificing ourselves to the work of Jesus is the same as that of living stones in a spiritual house. Like Murray’s, or denial of ourselves comes with gifts for service to Him and others. Paul explains it this way.

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sound judgment, according to the measure of faith God has distributed to every man. For just as we have many parts in one body, and not all parts have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and all are parts of one another. We have diverse gifts according to the grace that is given to us: if prophecy, according to the proportion of faith; if service, in serving; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:3–8

Just as each stone is selected and purposefully cut to fit into the overall structure, the same is with the spiritual house (or body of Christ.) A stone crafted to be a lintel does not fit as a doorpost or wall stone. Each has a carefully crafted purpose. This is the idea, that we yield ourselves to be conformed to the purposes God has chosen for us. In this, we prove His perfection.

The Rejection of the Disobedience

For also it is contained in the Scripture, “Look! I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes in Him shall never be put to shame.”
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious. But to those who are disobedient, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and, “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they are disobedient to the word, to which also they were appointed.

1 Peter 2:7–8

As believers, we will never be put to shame no matter what we may do. That is a simple truth.

The same is not valid for those who disobey and never believe. These are offended at the thought that the Anointed King would have to die. Let alone Him dying for their sins. Obedient belief is appointed to Israelis. Yet they reject it stumbling in their own disobedience.

Jesus calls all of us to a living sacrifice, just as He did. We know He died and rose again. And we can expect the same for us because of His promises.

Sacrifice at the Gates of Hell

The sacrifices offered at the Gates of Hell stood in stark contrast. The pagan gods worshipped there completely consumed the dead sacrifices offered to them.

The Grotto of Pan is a cave. It was the reason the nearby sanctuary was built. A natural spring gushed water into what is now called the Banias River. This river feeds the Jordan River. In ancient times, water entered the cave and disappeared into a deep fissure in the rock. It is estimated to have been over 800 feet deep. Subsequent seismic activity destroyed much of the features of the cave.

When a sacrifice was made, the dead carcass was thrown into the mouth of the cave. The waters carried it into the natural abyss at the back of the cave. The victim disappeared into the water. If no blood appeared in the nearby springs, the offering was thought to be accepted.

Panic and the Cure

It is fitting in this setting to speak of these things as a rich backdrop to what Jesus is saying and doing. This is the Gates of Hell, the Grotto of Pan. Pan is considered by some to be one of the first deities. He is a fertility god and is the embodiment of nature. He is also known for enticing fear with panic. The word panic is derived from his name.

Way back in the garden, the idea of death was whitewashed by the shining one (serpent.) Even was persuaded to partake of the forbidden, and in turn, gave to her husband. Something changed. They knew they were naked and covered themselves. When God called, they hid in fear. Death came to humanity, and with it came fear. Death became the bondage of Adam’s race.

Yet Adam was not supposed to know death. This bondage to death is the very thing the enemy has used to shackle people. When people are confronted with sudden death, fear and then panic take hold. The shining one brought war to God through humans. The mythologies of old subtly obscure the truth.

Jesus in rebuking Peter, hoped to shock him from panic. It was Jesus on His mission to end the war of the gods and free humanity. Jesus was going to do it by dying. His resurrection destroyed the power of death. Fear and panic are decimated. We know that by hindsight. Think of how many times the Bible tells us to not be afraid, even in the presence of God.

So then, as the children share in flesh and blood, He likewise took part in these, so that through death He might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver those who through fear of death were throughout their lives subject to bondage.

Hebrews 2:14–15

It is my opinion that the eventual devastation of this grotto is proof that God destroyed the power of death. The sacred places of the old gods are in ruins now.

That fear of death that binds no longer has power. Jesus died to give us precious respite from the justice due to us for our sins. He rose again to give us victory over sin. It is in that freedom we have an opportunity to be reconciled to God Himself.

Rest assured, though… If one dies in their sins, the destiny is everlasting perdition.