If Justification Comes to All Can it be Rejected?

On March 27, 2025May 5, 2025 By TimIn Justification, Romans 052 Comments

How much more then, being now justified by His blood, shall we be saved from wrath through Him.
Romans 5:9

Some do not believe this. They think they can abandon Jesus at whim. One cannot undo their justification. I do like the hint of surety of a pre-tribulation rapture of believers, but that is for another time.

The teaching of traditions produces a shallow understanding of justification. The very fact that a person lives after they sin is proof that they are indeed being justified freely and unconditionally. Paul wrote this plainly.

But first, it is necessary to know that the wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is not eternal. It is not being remanded to Hell. It is not eternity in perdition. From the beginning, God was clear on what happens when a person sins. He (or she) dies. The wages of sin death is the same death that God declared would happen to Adam… “In the day you eat you shall die.”

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16–17

Because Adam did not die that day, it has led to incorrect traditions being applied. These are commonly named original sin and spiritual death. These things are not real at all. Adam lived after sinning because of the justification that came with Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. Perhaps you object that He wouldn’t even be born until some almost 4,000 years later. But He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)

When a person sins and lives to draw another breath is certain proof of justification upon them. This is clearly what Paul taught. It is also patterned in the Torah at the exodus with Passover, and again in the ordinances of Yom Kippur.

Because people don’t die immediately on setting off to sin, clearly indicates that a stay of execution is in place.

It is the death of Jesus that saves all from the wages of sin. It is the resurrected Savior Who gives righteousness and eternal life to any who believes. Those are two different ideas. One is unconditional, while the other is conditioned upon the exercise of faith. The ones that believe this are justified, accounted as righteous, and receive eternal life.

All Are Being Justified Freely

This is one of the simplest ideas to understand, yet it is hidden away with religious nonsense and tradition.

Paul spoke plainly… All fall short, whether saved or not. But those same all that fall short are being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God has set Him forth to be a propitiation through faith, in His blood. This is a demonstration of His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins previously committed. This is in Romans 3.

That comes after Paul’s explanation that nobody is justified by the works of the law. That is, you are not justified by doing good things. In fact, nothing one does or does not brings justification.

So it follows that all are being justified freely, and to say that it is proven by the fact that they live after they sin. It is right there.

One may object to the idea that people are being justified, which means they are not justified yet. The verb tense is purposefully present and passive, because justification is always with a person as long as they are alive. In fact, it is what keeps them alive. If it were not a present thing, none could live long enough to believe and seek remission of sins.

It is important to note that the verb tense is passive. It is happening to the people because of something outside of them and what they do. This justification comes to everyone who falls short, and that unconditionally.

When God spoke to Adam about the consequences of eating from just one tree, He told Adam that He would die immediately for sin. God said to Adam, “You shall surely die.” Those words indicate the certainty of death for the action; they do not indicate immediacy. But that is not all that God said. The phrase includes the immediacy with “in the day you eat from it.” Adam did not die in the day he ate from the tree, though his death was certain.

Adam was being justified freely by something (really Someone) external to him. It is pictured in the fact that God covered his nakedness. This is the pattern being established. It is ultimately demonstrated by the work of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Justification is freely and unconditionally given to all. One cannot reject it. One can ignore it or oppose it, but those still live because Jesus died. If people really wanted to reject it, they would have to remove themselves from this life. As one lives, it is impossible to reject it.

All who live live because of Jesus Christ giving them life at birth, and justification of life after they sin. The unbelieving benefit and the believing do, too. Even Christians need that just to live after sin.

Though Paul is writing to Jewish brothers in Rome, we can learn from his words. What follows contains a profound idea in how the free justification that comes to all turns into righteousness.

Now to him who works, wages are not given as a gift, but as a debt. But to him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. Even David describes the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness without works: Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
Romans 4:4–8

Abraham did it. He believed God, even in his own sin, his belief was credited as righteousness. Justification doesn’t come with belief. Righteousness does.

Therefore just as through the trespass of one man came condemnation for all men, so through the righteous act of One came justification of life for all men. For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One the many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:18–19

Paul is saying that the entire lot of humanity is being made righteous outside of the constraints of the law and morality. Many balk at that, even some Christians who think they are justified and righteous by what they have done.

Yet there are many who purposefully ignore what Jesus has done for them. They perish in perdition, just as Jesus said: “Unless you believe I am He, you will die in your sins.”

Think about that. One is freely given life, and it is not acknowledged and even ignored. What would be the consequences of such actions?

That is why people go to perdition. It isn’t because they’ve sinned. That problem has been handled resoundingly. They go because they really don’t appreciate life and the One Who gives it freely.

This is Directed to You

Whether you believe this or not is irrelevant to its beauty and its veracity. The simple fact that you’re alive today is because Jesus died. To not consider and acknowledge that in this life has eternal consequences. Those who believe have eternal life. And if the opposite of life is death (not non-existence,) then the opposite of eternal life is eternal death. That is the reality.

It’s time to believe what God says. It is time to praise Him alone for that work done.

It is also time to teach the pure word of God… Not the gunked-up traditions of men imposed onto it.

Why Did God Take His People Out of Egypt?

On March 10, 2025September 12, 2025 By TimIn Exodus 29, Holy Spirit, Israel1 Comment

That’s a question that reveals much more than one thinks.

I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.
Exodus 29:45–46

God took His people out of Egypt because He could not dwell with them there. This was revealed to Moses as he was given instructions for the people to build the tabernacle. That tent would be the place where the presence of God dwelt among the people.

As Israel wandered in the wilderness, God did dwell with them. When they crossed into the Promised Land, God dwelt with them there. When Solomon built the Temple, God’s presence dwelt in Jerusalem among the people of Israel.

Knowing the Tanakh, it is clear Israel as a nation stumbled much. The struggles Israel had with sin eventually made it impossible for God to dwell among them. It’s not so much that He couldn’t or wouldn’t… It’s that their sin made them forget about Him.

I’m not saying they forgot He was there or even Who He is, they forgot to maintain that intentional relationship with Him. As even we are prone to do today, even with His presence inside of us. The corrupting influence of sin is real. It suppresses the Truth.

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth through unrighteousness.
Romans 1:18

Unrighteousness has a dangerous way of interference. With it we tend to forget about the goodness of God. In the place of that comes the reminder of the wrath of God. That knowledge can become burdensome if left to fester. As I said before, this can and does happen to believers today. We become caught in things, forgetting to maintain that relationship, and then procrastinate. The enemy uses it to shame us.

But… There is always a quick cure. Stop and fix it. Run to Him and confess your sins. Keep the tally sheet blank.

The patterns associated with this had some real consequences for the Israeli people. When the advent of their expected King came, they didn’t even know the time of visitation.

When He came near, He beheld the city and wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had known even today what things would bring you peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
Luke 19:41–42

Eventually they were given over to their blindness. Just as the Temple and Jerusalem were sacked and the people taken captive to Assyria and Babylon, it would happen again just as foretold in Daniel.

Though Israel’s lament would eventually become a blessing to the entire world. In the day of her expected visitation, Jesus taught a parable of the vineyard and vinedressers. He used it to show how the leaders of Israel were actively plotting to kill Him. They clearly understood what He said. The relationship between the vineyard owner and the vinedressers was broken, despite all that the owner had done for them. With that in mind, Jesus followed was this declaration to them.

“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing its fruits.
Matthew 21:43

What did Jesus mean by that?

Well, just as God called His people out of Egypt, He is calling another people out of the nations of the world. All of the privileges of Israel would be taken away and given to another. Paul addressed this.

I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers, my kinsmen by race, who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises, to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom, according to the flesh, is Christ, who is over all, God forever blessed. Amen.
Romans 9:1–5

One of those privileges is that God dwelt among the people. Another was that they had the privilege to share God with the whole world. The early church in Jerusalem knew this.

God, who knows the heart, approved of them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, and made no distinction between them and us, and purified their hearts by faith.
Acts 15:8–9

But unlike in Israel of before the death of Jesus where the presence of God dwelt in a physical place, the presence of God would now be in the individual believer. Each of us is now the temple of the Living God.

He calls all of us out of the world. Egypt is idiomatic of the world. He does that so that He may dwell with us. The Holy Spirit is ours forever. Jesus said it.

I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, that He may be with you forever: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, for it does not see Him, neither does it know Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you, and will be in you.
John 14:16–17

Daniel 9 and Holy Week

On March 6, 2025 By TimIn Daniel 09, Last Days, Prophecy1 Comment

I will endeavor to look at Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks in a new way to me, as it intersects Holy Week. The center crux of the prophecy is the presentation and then cutting off of the Messiah. That single event is precisely foretold.

It comes as Daniel is praying for his people. He knows the end of exile is near, as he pondered the writings of Jeremiah. His intercessions for the nation called for Hod to be merciful and restore the people. Before he could finish praying, Gabriel swiftly arrived and gave an interpretive answer to Daniel’s prayer.

It is my opinion that since Daniel was interceding for his people, that the answer involved Israel. I also think that the interpretation is solely for Israel, which means the 70 weeks would accomplish the restoration of Israel. In the entire prophecy, the odd thing is that Israel is not completely retired until the end. A second temple would be rebuilt and the city destroyed. Then it is foretold that the restored city and sanctuary would be destroyed yet again. I think it will be clear that the final week of years for Israel to come at the end, sometimes yet future.

Seventy weeks have been determined for your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make atonement for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
Daniel 9:24

At the start, Israel’s weeks are established and the summary of accomplishments for those are given. At the close of the 70 weeks, there are six things determined to be completed.

Finish the transgression
Make an end of sins
Make atonement for iniquity
Bring in everlasting righteousness
Seal up the vision and prophecy
Anoint the Most Holy Place

I will note that these things are to be accomplished in Israel and not some task or extended program for Gentiles, or that the universal church is the completeness or replacement of Israel. It is clear from some New Testament writings l that the first three of these things were accomplished by Jesus’ death in Jerusalem. The last three have not yet happened. Yet it follows that they will, and they will most likely happen in Jerusalem.

The list also provides the first hint of a division here. (There are more divisions or gaps in the prophecy.) It’s something that must be kept in mind, as three of the above list have not yet seen fulfillment. It points to something yet to come. As it does point to the future, the fact that the Most Holy Place being anointed one can assume there is a need for a physical temple. It is a real suggestion that a temple must then exist. One in need of cleansing, perhaps say from an abomination of the Most Holy Place.

Previous chapters in Daniel have outlined the abomination by Antiochus. Daniel was written far before that event occurred in 164 BC. The precision of that prophecy leads to the precision timing Gabriel gives of a seminal event in history, the first advent of Messiah. If this list is ordered, then the anointing of the Most Holy Place in the Temple happens last.

Sunday 10 Nisan

The seven-day week was established by God at creation; six days of work, followed by the seventh day of rest. As that week of days was established, it then follows that a week of years in the same pattern can be established. And it is.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruit, but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. That which grows by itself from your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your unpruned vines, for it is a year of complete rest for the land.
Leviticus 25:1–5

The natural extension of the pattern of a week also seems to extend and apply to millennia (a thousand years.) Some hold that the amount of time given to Earth before makeover is 7,000 years. (A week of millennia.) 6,000 years of work, and 1,000 years of rest, the Millennium. As Biblical types go, the Promised Land is an analog to the Millennium. Well, the Millennium is the fulfillment of the Promised Land of rest.

I think those things are an important concept to keep in mind. The patterns have real significance. And if the significance is real, could there be a similar starting reference?

What I mean is, that this pattern of a week of days has a starting reference. It is Sunday. In the same way, so does a week of years, it is Nisan.

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: This month shall be the beginning of months to you. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: On the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a household.
Exodus 12:1–3

As the month of Nisan becomes the first month of the year, attention is drawn to the significance of the tenth day of that month. It is the day that the Passover lamb was chosen and brought into the household. It is also the day that the Israelis entered the Promised Land. When Joshua led the camp into and out of the Jordan River, the priests and the Ark remained. When all had crossed, Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan!” This is another significant pointer to Nisan and specifically the tenth day.

Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped at Gilgal, on the eastern border of Jericho.
Joshua 9:19

The Israelis were instructed to begin counting their weeks of years “When you come into the land that I give you.” That happened on 10 Nisan. It follows that the starting reference for a week of years will be 10 Nisan. This date is foundational in discussing these weeks of years. Just as Sunday is the first day of the week, 10 Nisan becomes the first day of the year.

The Triumphal Entry of Messiah

“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.
Daniel 9:25

Gabriel gives a starting reference. He also provides a breakdown that involves the first 69 weeks of years. It is broken into two segments… 7 weeks and 62 weeks. These are weeks of years. Generally, the first is one group of 49 years and encompasses the time it took to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. There is another period of 434 years following when exiled Israelis returned to Israel.

From the reference and the year count, there is a precise day foretold. It is the advent of the Prince Messiah. Using the 360-day lunar year of the ancients, 483 years total 173,880 days until the Messiah comes. We know Jesus entered Jerusalem. We commemorate that day as Palm Sunday. Some scholars think the day of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem was on 6 April AD 32.

Gabriel clearly says to Daniel that the interval between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem until the presentation of the Messiah as King would be 173,880 days. The commandment to restore Jerusalem was given in the month of Nisan by Artaxerxes Longimanus. No exact date is given, which is taken to mean the first day of the month of Nisan. That date is 14 March 445 BC on the solar calendar. Note that the command is the one to rebuild Jerusalem, not just the temple.

Now, do some mathematical calculations from 14 March 445 BC. From that date to 14 March AD 32 is 476 years. 476 x 365 days in a year = 173,740 days. Correcting for leap years adds another 116 days. From 14 March to 6 April is another 24 additional days. The math works out precisely, 173,740 + 116 + 24 = 173,880 days!

That precision is remarkable. Remember the discussion of weeks?

The Holy Spirit offers us another degree of precision. In the Gospel of John, we are provided a reckoning of the date Jesus came into Jerusalem. He says that six days before passover, Jesus went to Bethany. Passover is 15 Nisan, six days before is 9 Nisan. The next day, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, making the date 10 Nisan. We can also count the days backward from the resurrection of Jesus, which was Sunday, 17 Nisan. 10 Nisan, the first day of the week and the first day of the week of years all coincide. By the reckoning of Daniel’s prophecy, this was to be the beginning of the 70th week of years.

So many things coalesce on this day. It is precisely the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, really the unwieldy colt of a donkey. The signs were unmistakably precise to the astute person.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! And cry aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king is coming to you; he is righteous and able to deliver, he is humble and riding on a donkey, a colt, the offspring of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; and the bow for battle will be cut off. He will speak peace to the nations; and his dominion will be from one sea to another, and from the Great River to the ends of the earth. And as for you, because of the blood of your covenant, I will send your prisoners from the empty, waterless pits. Return to your stronghold, prisoners who now have hope. Today I declare that I will return to you a double portion.
Zechariah 9:9–12

Jesus did ride into Jerusalem in exactly that way. And He came on the colt. It is with a double portion just as Matthew records it.

When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go over into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them.’ And he will send them immediately.”
All this was done to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying:
“Tell the daughter of Zion,
‘Look, your King is coming to you,
humble, and sitting on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their garments on them, and He sat on them. A very large crowd spread their garments on the road. Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went before Him and that followed Him cried out:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest!”
Mathew 21:1–9

The First Pronouncement of Delay

As Jesus prepared to ride into Jerusalem, we are given an aside, He wept over Jerusalem. Because of their unbelief and rejection of Him, the truth was hidden from their eyes. They didn’t know the day. He foretells destruction over the city and by extension the Temple, the same that Daniel’s prophecy will foretell.

When He came near, He beheld the city and wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had known even today what things would bring you peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you and surround you, and press you in on every side. They will dash you, and your children within you, to the ground. They will not leave one stone upon another within you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Luke 19:41–44

The Israelis were expected to know the signs indicating the importance of this day. Yet they did not. Jesus then proceeded to the Temple. The daylight was then quickly fading away.

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. When He had looked around at everything, as the hour was now late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Mark 11:11

Monday 11 Nisan

Now that blindness had come over the city and the people for their rejection of Jesus, the next day as Jesus returned to Jerusalem, He encountered a fig tree. Here the fig tree is a Biblical type representative of the nation of Israel.

On the next day when they had returned from Bethany, He was hungry. Seeing from afar a fig tree with leaves, He went to see if perhaps He might find anything on it. When He came to it, He found nothing except leaves, for it was not the season for figs. Jesus said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And His disciples heard it.
Mark 11:12–14

It can seem trivial to the disciples who heard it as recorded here. Mark will later add more information to show the significance of this. Jesus is showing yet again, that the kingdom would be delayed because of the fruitlessness of Israel. Other Gospels record the tree withering.

As the day progresses, Jesus again goes to the Temple. He cleanses the place of money changers. Then He and His disciples leave the city.

Tuesday 12 Nisan

Returning to Mark for his recording of the events of the next day.

In the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter, calling to remembrance, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
Mark 11:20–21

The fig tree is dried up, unable to produce fruit. The message being conveyed is that Israel is dried up. That the ministry and privileges it now enjoys are gone.

To compound the problem, the people don’t recognize the One they’ve been waiting to see. The days interlaced with the underlying intrigue of the leaders of Israel. It is overtly revealed that they are looking for an opportunity to kill Jesus.

As the day progresses, Jesus is questioned as to the origin of His authority. His interlocutors are hoping to trip Him up. Jesus answers that question with another to them.

Jesus answered them, “I will also ask of you one question. Answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”
They debated among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they feared the people, for everyone held John to be a real prophet.
So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.”
Jesus answered them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Mark 11:29–33

They could not answer, so Jesus did not answer their question of the origin of His authority. They remain in the dark

Jesus teaches through many questions designed to trip Him up. Amongst the answers are parables. Each has significance as it pertains to the Holy Week and what Daniel wrote. I leave that for the astute reader to explore. But I draw attention to one of these that is necessary to understand.

The Delay of the Kingdom

“Listen to another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and built a wall around it. He dug a winepress in it and built a tower. Then he rented it to vinedressers and went into a distant country. When the season of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers to receive his fruit.
“The vinedressers took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did likewise to them. Last of all, he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
“But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ So they caught him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”
Matthew 21:33–40

I know most understand this parable. The season of fruit drew near. The Messiah was presented as King. The parable reveals that Jesus is also prophesying of Himself and His impending death. It is the answer to the question that becomes fascinating.

They said, “He will severely destroy those wicked men and rent his vineyard to other vinedressers who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
Matthew 21:41

Jesus has their answer that they knew the vineyard will be given to another. So He continues to show them from their Scriptures exactly what is happening right before them.

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing its fruits. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces. But on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
Matthew 21:42–44

They didn’t know their visitation. They didn’t know the Messiah on the day they were to expect Him. They didn’t know He would be killed at their hands. They didn’t know the Kingdom would be delayed. Yet they knew Jesus was talking about the nation of Israel in the parable.

When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. But as they tried to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, because they held Him as a prophet. In the midst of the Holy Week, Jesus is meticulously showing that the double-portion kingdom coming to Israel will be delayed.
Matthew 21:45–46

The Destruction of the Temple

As the day wound down and Jesus and His disciples exited the temple. Even His disciples had not really caught many of the things Jesus was saying.

As some spoke of how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts, He said, “As for these things which you see, the days will come when not one stone shall be left on another that will not be thrown down.”
Luke 21:5–6

Jesus then teaches those disciples present about what will happen in the coming end of days. This private briefing is known as the Olivet Discourse. It is recorded in the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke.) It is Luke’s version where a short synopsis is given, followed by an interruption.

“But before all these things, they will seize you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for My name’s sake. It will turn out as a testimony for you. Therefore resolve in your hearts beforehand not to practice your defense. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your opponents will be able to neither refute nor resist. You will be betrayed by parents and brothers and relatives and friends. And they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all men for My name’s sake, but not a hair of your head shall perish. In your endurance you will gain your souls.
Luke 21:12–19

While this is yet future for the disciples hearing it, the fulfillment of that is recorded for us in history and the Bible. These friends of Jesus endured some severe persecution. Along with the foretelling of that persecution is the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple of God. This is also part of the prophecy of Daniel.

“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you know that its desolation has drawn near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter it. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led away captive to all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Luke 21:20–24

For the astute reader, it is clear that there is an extended period of time that comes with the last phrase, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. This also tracks with everything Jesus taught in that Holy Week, that the program for Israel will be delayed and given to another.

Following as if this were narrative, is what happens next:

“There will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men fainting from fear and expectation of what is coming on the inhabited earth. For the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption is drawing near.”
Luke 21:25–28

The ideas conveyed here are often confused. But make note of the distinctions. First is between the groups of people… They and your. What they witness is going to be perplexing. The second is the before and after these things begin to happen. Jesus says clearly that when these things begin to happen, redemption comes for believers.

Why aren’t the fearful and perplexing happenings the hallmarks of the nearness of redemption?

Jesus clearly states that it is before these things happen. So as redemption comes for believers, concerning and foreboding disasters will follow for the world. Everything will be shaken, and then Jesus comes in judgment. In another place, the people mourn His return.

The Delay of the Kingdom Will Be Revoked

Coupled with the idea of before the bad stuff happens, is that the withered fig tree Jesus cursed. It is going to produce leaves.

He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are sprouting leaves already, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So in like manner, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
Luke 21:29–31

This is the precursor to the restoration of the kingdom. The culmination of which will be the fulfillment of the last three items from the list above.

“Truly, I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things are fulfilled. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
Luke 21:32–33

Those in the generation that witness the new budding of the tree will not pass away before these things are done.

Wednesday 13 Nisan

Now the feasts of the Passover and of Unleavened Bread were two days away. And the chief priests and the scribes looked for a way to seize Him secretly and kill Him. But they said “Not on the feast day, lest there will be an uproar among the people.”
Mark 14:1–2

The narrative now enters the days of Passover and the Feast. The days before, people are to prepare. They are to remove leaven from their homes.

The Betrayal

As with the underlying tension in all of the accounts of Holy Week, there is the intrigue of those in power. They are looking for an opportunity to seize Jesus and kill Him. Enter the one to betray Him. This will be by one of those He chose to be His friend.

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them. When they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him silver. So he looked for how he might conveniently betray Him.
Mark 14:10–11

Now the plot is afoot. I will not give a comprehensive account, but the crucifixion of Jesus is central to this discussion, as are some of the events that immediately precede it.

The Preparation for Passover and the Feast

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”
Mark 14:12

Here is where we encounter some blurriness. Each of the Gospels relates details that are not always chronological nor identical. I also think that some other details that are lost in translating from Aramaic to Hebrew and then to English. What is known is that the day Passover Lambs are slaughtered is 14 Nisan. The first day of Unleavened Bread is 15 Nisan. This means that given the word for word translation above, it may be a loose account of an idea. Maybe even a type of synechdoche. The underlying Greek can mean something like, “Now at the beginning of the time of Unleavened Bread.” In my mind, this makes a bit more sense.

When looking to the other Gospels, they do not alleviate the seeming confusion, either. The word day is inserted but can be left out.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will You have us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”
Matthew 26:17

There are other contextual problems. Passover, as originally instituted, is on 14 Nisan with the celebrations being kept in homes. Later provisions added to Passover required it be kept in Jerusalem. This presents a logistical problem. According to Josephus, he records that over 250,000 lambs were sacrificed for Passover in 4 BC.

So He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you there. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it as He had told them. And they prepared the Passover.
Mark 14:13–16

In my mind, it would seem that there may have been a Passover season. One in which people prepared for Passover and then the Feast of Unleavened Bread. These texts may indicate that. Nevertheless, it is my speculation. If some seders were kept in homes, as the one Jesus held, it could be the day before with a private slaughter of the lamb. Though noticeably absent are the other traditional items at a Passover meal like lamb and bitter herbs. So I like to think on Wednesday, they prepared for the meal, which would occur that evening. Others speculate that because of the sheer number of lambs needed, it could not all happen on that one day, 14 Nisan.

Thursday 14 Nisan

Remember the days for Israel begin at evening. Jesus would sit with His disciples for a seder meal, the Passover meal in the evening. That means the Last Supper would come on Wednesday, 14 Nisan after sunset.

The Passover With the Disciples

In the evening He came with the twelve. As they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, one of you who is eating with Me will betray Me.”
Mark 14:17–18

There are other accounts of the events that happened at that meal. I will leave that for another time.

Judas did betray Jesus. He was led away, and questioned by many. The people of Jerusalem were adamant on having Jesus executed even though the governor did not find anything He could assign guilt to Jesus. At least no guilt worthy of capital punishment.

Messiah Shall be Cut Off

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.
Daniel 9:26

As it has come to that point in the week where the Messiah is betrayed, and then cut off at Golgotha. Many times Jesus told the Jewish people present with Him that the kingdom for them is delayed. It will be given to another. They understood this, and in their blindness did not see the prophetic patterns in play. Jesus did indeed die with nothing.

When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, “Listen, He is calling Elijah!”
One man ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on a stick, and gave it to Him to drink, saying, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”
But Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the spirit.
Mark 15:33–37

Beyond Holy Week

After the death of the Messiah, the city and the Temple would be destroyed. History informs us of this as happening in AD 70. What I hope is clear, is that the patterns in Daniel 9 have not yet all been completed. There are still three things that remain from the list:

Bring in everlasting righteousness
Seal up the vision and prophecy
Anoint the Most Holy Place

The New Modern Temple

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
Mark 15:38

After Jesus died, the veil in the sanctuary that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was torn. This signifies that the presence of God is no longer veiled. It foreshadows that God’s dwelling place and temple will now be in men’s hearts.

What? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own?
1 Corinthians 6:19

Though the temple of God exists today in every believer, there will be a future building in Jerusalem called the Temple of God. That is overwhelmingly attested to in prophetic writings. Things are going to happen in that temple, namely sacrifice and offering, which will cease. This will be clear from what Gabriel spoke to Daniel.

The Prince Who Shall Come

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 9:27

After this other prince arrives, he will make an agreement with many. Many is often a rhetorical device used to mean the nation of Israel. The unspoken idea is that Israel accepts this impostor as Messiah. He makes an agreement. One which allows Israel to make sacrifices and offerings. Presumably, it is the reinstitution of the Mosaic system. With those things comes the necessity of a sanctuary. The Temple is necessary to the Mosaic system.

A sudden change in situations occurs as this prince reveals his true self. He stops the offerings and sacrifices. Gabriel offers a reference to abominations that make desolation. The Tanakh tends to describe the idols of other nations as abominations. It follows that this abomination is an object for worship. It is not unlike before where Antiochus stops the sacrifices. The appalling event becomes another pattern. One that is dastardly reenacted in history and culminates at some future point. Paul foretells the same event to the church in Thessalonica.

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

I believe that the resumption of the Mosaic law is part of the covenant established with the impostor prince. I hold that the falling away described here is not an apostasy of believers from the universal church. The gist of that is Paul’s use of the Greek word apostasia. It is used only twice in the Scriptures. The only other occurrence is in the New Testament is here. It is used in the context of forsaking (or abandoning) the law of Moses. So it follows that when the man of lawlessness is revealed, it will come with a breaking of the covenant, and the compulsory forsaking of the Mosaic Law. He won’t allow sacrifices, but to himself as he sees himself to be God to worship. These multiple abominations reveal the desolator. And with this event is the defilement of the sanctuary. Precision timing markers indicate this happens in the middle of a week of years.

He was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And he was given authority to wage war for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to speak blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to wage war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe and tongue and nation.
Revelation 13:5–7

For One Week

The covenant made is for one week. It is the final missing week of years from Daniel’s prophecy. It doesn’t go with the first 69 weeks. It is not Holy Week. It comes after Messiah is cut off. It comes after the city and the sanctuary are destroyed. It comes after the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles.

One week of years is 84 months. The prince who shall come breaks his word in the 42 months into the final week. He was given authority to wage war with the saints for 42 months after. The timing markers are precise, to help identify the time, place, and person. Yes, there will be saints in the last week of years. But because this is Israel, these will primarily be Jewish in nature. This is deduced from this text, and in that last week of Daniel 144,000 evangelists are revealed from the twelve tribes of Israel.

Don’t be tricked into thinking God gave or granted the authority this false prince. He comes with the work of Satan and that power, signs, and false wonders. It is the dragon who grants his authority.

One Week Yet Future

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 9:26–27

The decreed destruction poured out on the desolator is the end when Jesus returns and destroys this appalling abomination. It is the end of the war. Jesus consumes those who oppose Him with the breath of His mouth. This is the underlying answer to Daniel’s prayer. His prayer included petitions to God to restore Israel. Israel’s restoration comes after the war is ended and the desolator is gone.

The restoration of Israel is the Millennium. In Gabriel’s answer to Daniel’s prayer, there is no real revelation of the restoration for which Daniel interceded. The foretelling of the deliverance of the people seems to come a bit later in the book, though in the same time-frame as the first year of Darius. Daniel 9 is written to have occurred in the first year of Darius. The deliverance of the people comes after a time of great trouble.

“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. 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. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
Daniel 12:1–4

The premillennial nature of this is difficult to ignore. Yet, as we’ve witnessed Jesus attest to the delay of the Kingdom. Just as it was foretold to Daniel. The Kingdom is restored to Israel, which is also foretold to Daniel. One of the best witnesses of the premillennialism comes as a dispute arose among the early church holy ones.

The controversy being addressed was whether Gentiles needed to be circumcised. Paul and Barnabas were dispatched to Jerusalem. Leave it to the Pharisees’ legalism to point us in the right understanding. And it is not about circumcision.

Then some believers of the sect of the Pharisees rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”
Acts 15:5

There was much discussion on the matter. There was no lack of dissension.

After much disputing, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that some time ago God decided among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, approved of them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, and made no distinction between them and us, and purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why test God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”
Acts 15:7–11

After Peter spoke, Paul and Barnabas relayed what God had done with the Gentiles. The matter was heavy and amidst some silence, James spoke up.

After they had become silent, James answered, “Brothers, listen to me. Simon has declared how God first visited the Gentiles to take from among them a people for His name.
Acts 15:13–14

James is retelling a specific encounter Peter had. Most know of the account in Acts 10. When Peter returned from Caesarea, it was not without controversy. As many had heard that the Gentiles also received the word of God. As Peter expounded on what occurred in Caesarea, this is the conclusion:

“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as He fell on us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?”
When they heard these things, they were silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then God has granted to the Gentiles also repentance unto life.”
Acts 11:15–18

I thank God that He has chosen to take a people for Himself from the Gentiles. When the Jewish elders of the church heard that these were baptized with the same Holy Spirit that came upon them, there was silence. They did glorify God, but why was there silence?

Perhaps they had suddenly recalled Jesus’ words from Holy Week, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing its fruits.” Yet it was James who made the connection of this to what the prophets say, and he cites Amos:

With this the words of the prophets agree. As it is written:
‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tabernacle of
David, which has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will set it up;
that the rest of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,
says the Lord who does all these things.’
Known to God are all His works since the beginning of the world.
Acts 15:15–18

After This

God says, “After this I will return.” After what?

All of what is ascribed in the answered prayer, then interpreted as prophecy, and given to Daniel by Gabriel.

Prince Messiah came first, precisely at the end of the 69 weeks of years. After Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Holy Week, He spoke many times of how the kingdom was going to be delayed, and even given to another people. Then Messiah was cut off with nothing.

The city and sanctuary would then be destroyed. And until the end of the war, the desolation of Israel will remain. The many will then fall for a charismatic leader who will give them a covenant for one week of 7 years. He will allow them to build a new temple and reinstate the Mosaic sacrifices. In the middle of that covenant week, this leader will make an appalling move that desolates the temple. These things culminate in the determined complete destruction of the desolator. At which time, the people would be delivered.

After this… I will return, says Jesus. The throne of David will be restored with the rightful promised King. He will bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up the vision and prophecy, and anoint the Most Holy Place.

Intentions, Speaking, and Truth in Love

On March 3, 2025March 2, 2025 By TimIn Ephesians 04, Prayer, RelationshipsLeave a comment

He gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, and for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, into a complete man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so we may no longer be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, by craftiness with deceitful scheming. But, speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into Him, who is the head, Christ Himself, from whom the whole body is joined together and connected by every joint and ligament, as every part effectively does its work and grows, building itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:11–16

The desire of God is for all to grow to maturity. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 5 to be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Perfect meaning to be mature or complete. Teachers and leaders help, but we must ourselves be diligent in the Word and also to speak the truth in love. Every part of the body of Christ is necessary to Its proper function. But there is something a bit deeper here. It is the intentionality that is needed to move on to maturity.

I started this post years ago and set it aside many times. I think it may have been a bit fearful in ways. However, the gist of the idea is not just using words, but the intentionality that comes with them. There are many other things I have encountered in the meantime that resoundingly reinforce the ideas here.

This post will be long and definitely drift into the blurry. Let’s set the groundwork.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Ephesians 1:3

As believers, our reality interfaces with eternity. Not only does the eternal God love in us, transcending time and space, our blessings do, too.

As Paul moves a bit further ahead, this idea is even clearer.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and He raised us up and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4–7

It’s laid plain right there. Paul says that Jesus raised us up and seated us in heavenly places. The verb tenses used for raised and seated is aorist, meaning the action is done and carries forward to present and beyond. It’s not undone. We are already seated together in a way that transcends space and time. The verbs also convey the truth that that situation cannot change.

He’s teaching us an important idea, I keep repeating it. I want it known that there is more to reality than what just meets the physical senses.

Transcending Dimensions

The first idea I want to communicate is rather grandiose. It is this idea of transcending dimensionality. What we know of our physical reality (space and time) is that it consists of four dimensions. Most understand three dimensions, height, length, and width. These are all physical properties, but there is a fourth physical property to consider. One that Einstein discovered. It is a fourth dimension called time. A proper description of the things we normally experience is the four dimensions of space-time. that is, the properties of three-dimensional objects change as time progresses. This fourth dimension gives room for movement. The three-dimensional object can move because of transdimensionality in the fourth dimension of time.

Time being a physical property of our existence also provides some peculiarities. Take looking up at the stars in the night sky. It is done in the present time, but the inescapable reality is that we are peering into the distant past. The light we see has traveled vast distances.

Consider also that the passage of time is affected by other things… Like gravity and velocity. It gets somewhat weird, but the tick-tock passing of time is contingent on the perspective of the observer. Time at sea level passes measurably slower than time on a mountaintop. It is called gravitational time dilation. This is a real observed proof of Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Granted, it is a big concept to grasp. I am certain my description is far from comprehensive, and I am trying to make the concept easier to understand. What is important to know is that the Bible has nodded to this truth long before it was affirmed by science. God stretched out the heavens. Keep all of this in mind.

It leads me to a question… Did Paul have peculiar knowledge about our four dimensions long before Einstein did?

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would give you, according to the riches of His glory, power to be strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14–19

I didn’t intend this to be a study in Ephesians, but it is looking like that. But this is where we leap off into this truly mind-blowing thing. Just ponder that paragraph and what Paul is conveying. First of all, don’t ever think that being called Christian is something to be denied or avoided as if it is watered-down in meaning. Paul says it is the identity of the whole family in heaven and earth. We are named for and bear the name of Jesus Christ. That, too, transcends dimensionality.

There is more. The gift we receive personally from His riches is the Holy Spirit. He gives us the power to be strengthened in our innermost parts. Remember, Christ dwells in our hearts rooting us and grounding us in that love of His.

Now the kicker… Paul is telling us to think really big thoughts. And he is calling us all to consider the vast magnitude of the love of God. He says it surpasses knowledge. He uses four-dimensional language; breadth and length and depth and height. Paul is saying that the love of Christ fills all of space-time we can experience in this physical universe. It covers our lifespan and more. It covers all lifespans in this physical world. It’s at least that BIG. If it occupies all of that, isn’t it then transcendent?

Now… For love to be that big to fill our space-time requires a space beyond what we can now perceive naturally. The scientifically minded call these hyperspaces. For a resource that explains the concept of hyperspace far more practically, read this article from Koinonia House.

While I mention Koinonia House, they have many well-written articles that expand on this subject. Save this list for future reference. Remember, what you already have now transcends space and time.

Our conversation now takes us to what seems to be an unrelated topic.

Soulish Versus Spiritual

We will examine both parts, but now, let’s consider the soulish part first.

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things. Yet he himself is not judged by anyone.
1 Corinthians 2:14–15

Here Paul uses a Greek term translated into our English word natural. Like English, this is an adjective in the Greek language. It is formed from the Greek word for soul which is psuche. The derived adjective is psuchikos, which sums up the action initiated by the soul. Psuchikos is translated in a variety of different ways: sensual, worldly, worldly-minded, unspiritual, without the spirit, following natural instinct, and natural. Without a direct English equivalence, I will logically use soulish to convey the meaning of that word.

The soul without the Spirit of God is disconnected from the original pattern of creation. The spirit of man came directly from God (Genesis 2:7.) That spirit related directly to God. There was a perfectly ordered relationship with God. God worked in a person’s spirit, the person’s spirit worked in the soul, which directed their body. With Adam’s rebellion pushing God out of the way, the spirit relationship of a person toward God was now compromised. The human had turned away from his direct relationship with God. Adam then became controlled by the soul, which is the will, the intellect, and the emotions. This hobbling of a person is described in another place by Paul as being dead. That is, it is useless to the purposes of God as they were established. We became enslaved to the governing powers of this world and to the desires of the carnality… soulish.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the age of this world and according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among them we all also once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Ephesians 2:1–3

I want to avoid a lot of the loaded language about soulishness, but it may not be possible. Given that, I do not embrace spiritual death as it is often employed. The spirit of man did not die, which is already clear. This truth will become plainly obvious as we progress.

These soulish men can still pursue real spirituality. Spirituality is not to be confused with godliness. Correct spirituality is the spirit acting on the soul, which then acts on the body. Without the spirit leading, the soulish person operates differently. His soul must use the body to operate spiritually. This practice is obvious. Some take substances to alter their consciousness. Others may employ various disciplines on the body; transcendental meditation, yoga, regulated breathing, and relaxing exercises. This list is not comprehensive.

When one disciplines the body to enter spirituality, it’s an altered form of consciousness. It is as effective as using mind-altering substances. The practice of entering spiritual realities from soulish practices leaves the body and the mind vulnerable to all sorts of shenanigans from familiar spirits. Read those spirits as NOT the Spirit of God nor from God. Remember, the soulish person does not discern the spiritual things of God. Those are foolish. If the Spirit of God is not operating in one’s spirit, danger is afoot.

The spiritual person is markedly different. We have already encountered this in Ephesians 2. The true spiritual person is saved (and sealed) by the Holy Spirit. At that moment such has been made alive together with other believers in Christ. He has raised us up and seated us together with them in the heavenly places.

You and I know this because of the indwelling Spirit of God. (That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.) It’s that grounding in love that surpasses all things. With Him, we are given truthful discernment in spiritual things. When we let His Spirit operate our spirit, we can overcome the soulishness that comes from the corruption of sin. It requires submission in faith. So we ought to let Him operate in us.

Also, understand that all believers are knit together in the body of Christ. Past, present, and even future believers are included. This too, necessarily transcends space and time, heaven and Earth.

What I am saying is that you and I as believers operate in the spiritual realm because of our connection to God through His indwelling Spirit. That is why intentionality becomes so very important.

The Science

I spoke about Einstein before. His discoveries, at first unbelieved by even him, have become the foundations for quantum physics. It is when looking in that things in that quantum realm get really strange, nevertheless, it is reality. Quantum physics gives rise to quantum mechanics. There is an even narrower field of study called string quantum mechanics.

This is where we leap off into how big God is. String quantum mechanics theorizes that 10 dimensions are inadequate to contain the hinted-at reality. There is even a field of string quantum mechanics that “operates consistently in 26 dimensions.” And those 26 dimensions do not account for consciousness or intentionality. With that, I will use that to briefly summarize a published PubMed article called Retroactive prayer: a preposterous hypothesis? It is a fascinating read even though it may be technical.

Our reality is so much more than we think. In the physical universe, matter, energy, and time are interrelated. This is the basis of E=mc². If something doesn’t have mass, it ceases to have time. It is a property called non-locality. Time and distance basically become irrelevant. The study cited above indicates this, clearly.

Sending Thoughts and Prayers

We have all said that at one time or another. And maybe we actually followed through on it. The modern culture in the United States ridicules this notion, often in light of mass casualty events. Sending thoughts and prayers is said to do nothing to help. Comedians make fun of it. The theophobes (my word for atheists) deny it. There are even some Christians who mock it. But what does the science reveal?

Well, thoughts and prayers do work. I am going to say that again. Thoughts and prayers do work. It has been measured.

Wait, there’s more.

The title of the paper I mentioned says retroactive prayer. It references a scientific experiment conducted on over 3,000 patients with sepsis. These patients were hospitalized between 1990 to 1996. Some years later, the patients were randomized and separated into either a control or intervention group. Prayers were then offered for those patients in the intervention group. (You can read the paper here: Effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients with bloodstream infection: randomised controlled trial.)

In the experiment, there was a measurable difference in better mortality, shorter length of hospitalization, and the lessening duration of fever in those patients randomly assigned to the intervention. This happened even though the prayer was offered years in the future.

Let that sink in. The conscious and intentional prayer for these patients not only transcended distance (space,) but it transcended the time. As strange as it might sound, it coincides with what we know of reality through the Bible and quantum physics.

Granted, I don’t know if those ones offering thoughts and prayers were operating soulishly or spiritually. The reality is the measured effect it had. (At the time I originally wrote this, a mass casualty event just happened in Philadelphia. Take a moment to pray for those affected even after the fact.)

Your intentions do have an effect on reality. Your consciousness affects this world physically. And that with no restriction on time and space.

Now, I will offer some ideas that may raise the hairs on your neck.

Not New Age

Long before finding any of this, I had considered the idea in my mind and realized that God is not confined by time and space. He is present in all those places and times. Think of the psalmist saying “Where can I go from your Spirit.” There is no place or time where God is not present. If that is true, and it certainly is, it follows that I can pray for Paul on his missionary journeys today. Those prayers are heard by God Who is not encumbered by time and distance. They really do accomplish things.

This is not to ‘name it and claim it.’ It’s not ‘manifesting one’s reality’ by speaking it into existence. At least not how many consider it, though it seems those things have a foundation in reality. What those things have in common is that they operate in soulishness. In some ways, these are real concepts. Practiced in this way, it is selfishly soulish and will have unintended consequences because of the addled way it is accomplished. It is not done with the Spirit of God.

A believer who submits his spirit to the Spirit of God can be led by God. The believer is set free from the bondage of soulish desires. It doesn’t mean that such will not have them, but that they do not have to have control over the believer. Instead, we can believe God let His Spirit work in our willing spirits. The Bible uses the phrase mixed with faith. When we send thoughts and prayers to someone, it is mixed with our faith in God. It really does things!

Remember those Israelites long ago…

Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest remains, let us fear lest any of you should seem to come short of it. For the gospel was preached to us as well as to them. But the word preached did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed have entered this rest
Hebrews 4:1–3a

In the same way, our prayers are made in faith. We know God hears and answers.

Let me help… As believers, we are to enter His rest. His rest is not necessarily heaven. But it is the place where we can be of use to Him. It’s that maturing to completeness, be perfect as He is. It takes faith. It takes submission. Sometimes we wander in a wilderness of sin. When we hear the Word, it needs to be mixed with faith to have any benefit in our lives before it can touch those of others.

It goes deeper.

But above all things, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by the earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No” be “No,” that you do not fall into condemnation.
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone merry? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.
James 5:12–16

What we might gloss over in this passage is the strong intentionality James challenges us to have. Yes, we are to be careful in the things we might say. I know this is very verbose, but the idea is important. Our communication needs to be truthful, not necessarily curt. In the life circumstances James lists, he instructs us to give an intentional offering to God in the midst of them. Then he uses one word… Energoumenē. That gets translated to the English words… Effective and fervent. Everything about that word conveys intentionality.

As is clear with Einstein’s relativity… One’s perspective matters. (I think that is a pun.) It follows, that one’s intentions also matter.

This Principle is Hidden in Plain Sight

This is not new knowledge. And like most good things, the enemy counterfeits it and exploits it. Did you know the English word grammar comes from an old French word gramaire?

That French word is translated into English as grimoire. A grimoire is a book of magic, incantation, spells, and other mumbo-jumbo. Think hidden magic words that have power when used.

Given that, it could be said that writing with proper grammar is akin to scrying and speaking with proper grammar as casting spells. That might surprise everyone.

Consider how propaganda is readily employed in many cultures. Tell a lie long enough and it eventually changes reality. It is even more pernicious… The political left and the culture of the world have an inherent belief that language creates reality. They use it skillfully. Just think of the entire lot of moral issues that have been politicized. Marriage and abortion are but two. Change the language one uses and eventually the reality shifts.

The practices of what is ‘New-Age Modalism’ also employ this. It’s mindfulness that teaches people they can manifest their realities into existence. Some Christians embrace this as “name it and claim it.” There is even an adventure app based on this mindfulness concept that is growing popularity, even though it has real dangers.

The powers-that-be love to redefine words and terms. They use them to demonize, control, and subdue people. In other words, they are using grammar to make magic and cast spells. The brazen attempt is to change and control our reality as they want us to see it. They create reality by controlling language.

Casting Spells?

While writing this, I stumbled upon another interesting tidbit. It has to do with the magicians’ word abracadabra. The origins of this word are sketchy. Many theories are offered. One prevailing theory states it is from Hebrew evra ke-adaber, which means I will create as I speak. Another claim is an Aramaic source, evra ke-davra, which means I create like the word. These are surprising enough. But the earliest use comes from a second-century Roman physician named Quintus Serenus Sammonicus. In his work Liber Medicinalis, the word abracadabra was written in such a way that one letter is subtracted on each iteration. This created a triangle of the word that was then worn as a talisman or lucky charm to remove illness.

When reading through the writings of these fringy-ragged edges of the culture one collects thoughts that are salted away in the back of the mind. Pagans and Satanists use magic incantations to change reality. Sometimes these words are used to summon other entities from hyperspaces. They are now using these soulish practices to map out, subdue, and attempt to control the hyperspaces of spirituality. It’s by this manipulation they think they exercise power. Though the power is not theirs.

It is also in this kind of research where I have heard the charge from the ritualistic that Christians have a very powerful form of magic but don’t use it effectively, if at all. I have always wondered what that meant… But now I think I know. I will let the Bible explain this.

What and How

God worked powerful miracles by the hands of Paul. So handkerchiefs or aprons he had touched were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists invoked the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We command you to come out in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.” There were seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva doing this. The evil spirit answered, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was jumped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled from that house naked and wounded.
Acts 19:11–16 (MEV):

I love that. No, not that someone got hurt. But that the responsibilities God gives to the believer are really real!

The sons of Sceva witnessed Paul performing miracles. They also saw exorcisms in the name of Jesus. For those, it was just a form of more powerful magic that they wanted. Their thinking was this is magic that can be exploited and used to manipulate others. Thus giving them the perception of great power. It backfired.

Was it Jesus that failed?

No. It was the soulish desire that the sons had to use His name for their own gain and notoriety. Also note that there is a very important lesson about order. People are subject to and yield themselves to spiritual powers. Engaging with them without circumspection may extend rights. Yet finally (and thankfully,) all powers yield to the Name above all names… Jesus Christ.

It’s crucial to understand that what we say is as important as how we say it. What I mean is that the intentions of what we say have real power. The sons of Sceva stand as a lesson. They knew there was power in the name of Jesus. Their intentions didn’t match.

The Lesson from James

See how we put bits in the mouths of horses that they may obey us, and we control their whole bodies. And observe ships. Though they are so great and are driven by fierce winds, yet they are directed with a very small rudder wherever the captain pleases. Even so, the tongue is a little part of the body and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles. The tongue is a fire, a world of evil. The tongue is among the parts of the body, defiling the whole body, and setting the course of nature on fire, and it is set on fire by hell.
All kinds of beasts, and birds, and serpents, and things in the sea are tamed or have been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring yield at the same opening sweet and bitter water? Can the fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a vine, figs? So no spring can yield both salt water and fresh water.
James 3:3–12

James tells us that the power of what we say defiles the body and it sets the course of nature on fire. Could it be that James is hinting at the ideas we have encountered?

It used to be in this country, that people were in church on Sundays. The vast majority of people gathered to sing praises to God together! Is it any wonder that this country flourished under that?

There is the power of collective voices and the power of collective wills united. In that proper way, it protected nature. Families flourished, the economy was the envy of the world. That was an old-fashioned idea called temperance. People exercised self-control of their own volition. Then something happened.

I don’t think it was one thing. I think it was a well thought-out campaign by dark powers. It came with the modern conveniences. It centered on changing language to steer the heart.

Convergence

At the beginning of the twentieth century, English was a single homogenous language in two flavors, American and British. American English users outnumbered the British. Enter the push for globalization and English became more diversified. By the end of that century, English had become the de facto language for commerce led by technology.

The lexicon grew, the rules of grammar relaxed. Word meanings changed and expanded. Slang terms entered. Restrictions on what is tolerated also came. With political correctness, words were now considered weapons.

There was massive growth in art. It became more accessible and with radio and television, folks had instant access. Advertisers learned how to control emotions with many techniques.

Church attendance began to wane. The mention of God and Jesus in the public square is less tolerated. Atheism and paganism began to grow.

Paganism also entered homes and minds of the unsuspecting through the media consumed. Music changed. The praises of God became the ballads of love. Love turned to promiscuity and pursuit of altered consciousness. People sang lyrics that at first glance seemed angsty, but closer inspection reveals a ritualistic aspect to them. People were subtly led to participate in mass rituals called concerts.

Television became a perfect vehicle to have these rituals brought into the home. By turning the channel and watching, people unknowingly gave permission for all sort of shenanigans in their homes. Listen to the sounds of the words, tell a vision. Where programs (think propaganda) are transmitted by channels (think as mediums channel spirits.)

Today, evil doesn’t hide. It’s welcomed almost everywhere.

This comes as no surprise to those who know their Bible. The world has converged on language and technology. Global communications are instant. Globalization charges forward a united planet-wide government. Populations are being readied for the man with a plan. One who is smart, charismatic, and worthy of worship.

What Do We Do?

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 first step is to go back to God. Repent of whatever shenanigans have sidetracked your mind and will. We are not to be conformed to the patterns in this world. That means we have to stop willingly participating in the rituals. That is going to require some discernment. And if we inadvertently do, we have to renounce any attachments they may bring.

Next, is renewing your mind. That starts with Scripture. You are going to have to spend time with God in His Word. Thankfully, God makes it easy to participate in the things that further His cause.

The enemy counterfeits that, and uses subtle manipulation to keep you from God. We have every excuse, “I have to watch Survivor.” “I will do it after the game.” “My friends want to go out.” “Let’s go fishing.” It’s the subtle things that don’t seem like distractions… Yet they are.

And yes, I am talking to myself, too.

Spend some time meeting with other Christians. Sing praises to God together. If the enemy can use words and intentions to further his cause, our God can trounce him in that. And we are extended the privilege to work with our God!

Ask!

In the looming shadow of Calvary, Jesus left His friends many instructions. Among them can be considered what is discussed at length. See if you catch it.

Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me. Or else believe Me on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me will do the works that I do also. And he will do greater works than these, because I am going to My Father. I will do whatever you ask in My name, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
John 14:11–14

Using the name of Jesus is not a magic spell to be cast. His name has real power. Power to raise the dead, do you believe that?

I do. Jesus is not sharing that He is going to meet our felt needs. He is telling us we will have all that we really need.

Want to slow the incursion of evil?

Want to change the feel of your local community?

Want to change hearts and minds?

Ask Him, expecting results!

When Philip asked to see the Father, Jesus gently chastised him and said:

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority. But the Father who lives in Me does the works.
John 14:10

The Christian has a Helper. When we petition God, we don’t do it in our own authority. It is not a soulish exploit to satisfy carnal desires. The words we speak have great power, in His Name. This is how the work of ministry gets done.

We need the Spirit of God in us to do it right. And when we do, it transcends all of reality.

Intentions matter. Words matter.

The Concluding Principle

God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:3

God’s Word has power. Real power to create, and real power to destroy. Our Bible teaches us the reality of the power in the words. The universe came to be by spoken word. It is held together by spoken word. Our redemption is also by the Word.

As we are created in His image, it follows that our words can also create realities. It is everywhere around us. Politics, media, music, news… You name it. Though their intentions most likely work in opposition to God’s.

Our words and the intent behind them have a real effect on reality. One that transcends time. With that in mind, I keep going back to that text in James, and the intentionality needed in the way we do things. I also think that people speak out of the treasures of their innermost person.

Be very careful what you speak over someone. Whether they can hear it or not, you are changing their reality. I know from my own experience. The things people spoke to me as a child became my inner voice. It became the lens through which I viewed myself. Someone else’s words became my reality. And the enemy craftily employed it as a tool to hobble me for much of my life. (He still does, and sometimes I am not cognizant enough to catch it.)

Yet, I am ever grateful for Jesus. He gently reminds me I am not what was spoken over me a lifetime ago. I’m not what someone thinks of me in secret. I am His. He is my Brother. I am a son of God. Not just because I say it, but because I know it.

Our words matter greatly. The intentions behind those words have great power. Use your intentions and then your words wisely.

The Last Trumpet (Yobel) and the Jubilee!

On March 2, 2025 By TimIn Exodus 19, Rapture1 Comment

As I was reading and studying to the previous post, something caught my attention.

The Lord said to Moses, “Indeed, I am going to come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and always believe in you.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
Exodus 19:9

In discussing the rapture, it is not overtly apparent that the meeting of the people of God with Him at Mount Sinai is the first occurrence of that type of event. God coming in the clouds and meeting His people. Them being called out as a people to meet with God.

There are some things one is going to be required to understand when I say that. The people of God here are not just Israelis. They are a mixed multitude of people. Most of them are Israeli having lineage from Abraham. God is coming to them in a thick cloud to meet them… Not as their Judge nor is it in judgment. This kind of spoils the usual narrative employed about the ancient idea that coming in the clouds an indicative of judgment. This idea of first mention of God coming in the clouds indicates much.

In the text, Moses serves as a type playing the role of Jesus. These types and shadows are almost always incomplete. Those things can and do get blurry, because Moses also plays a type of the body of Christ. I will leave that for another time.

Anyway, Moses is instructed by God to do many things to prepare the people for Him. They are to set themselves aside, wait, and be ready. What do you think is going to be the signal for them to leave camp and go meet God?

When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.
Exodus 19:13b

It’s a fascinating thing that the call to assembly for the people of God is by trumpet. This is a reality played out many times in the law that Moses gave. Trumpet calls were also used to transmit commands on a battlefield. They also proclaimed the presence of God.

The conspicuous thing is something called the law of first mention. What it entails is that the first time an idea or word is used in the Bible, it has significant foundational meaning to the latter occurrences.

Here, the English word for trumpet is first used. Yet the Bible was not written in English. The Hebrew word for trumpet as used here is yobel. That is the first time that that Hebrew word is used in the Bible.

It seems to me there are many firsts occurring in this particular account. God is assembling His people to meet with them, and the sign is the blast from a trumpet.

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.
Exodus 19:16

The third day seems to be significant. There is nothing in the Bible that is insignificant. We know Jesus rose on the third day, so the reference seems to loosely reference resurrection. I think there’s more here, and I have previously hinted about it. In the close of Hosea 5, the last verse God is speaking of His withdrawal from His own people. Eventually the people respond with a call to repentance. There are some significant numbers mentioned.

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.
Hosea 6:1–2

After two days and on the third day revival comes. What if these were not the typical 24-hour day?

Could it be a precise indicator of something else that may be significant?

Could it be that a day is like a thousand years as Peter states in his second epistle?

Some may object to that as it is a New Testament reference. I think there’s evidence that the people of that time could understand the concept.

For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a night watch in the night time.
Psalm 90:4

It seems as if this may have some significance. Especially considering some other things like the seventieth Jubilee coming quickly. There is a convergence of ideas from the Bible coalescing to a point of time that is just near future to now. If the two days is as two thousand years, as I write today puts the two-thousandth anniversary of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem just a bit over seven years away in AD 2032. Perhaps that would be the third day when all Israel is restored under a rightful King from David’s lineage. It sounds like a Millennial Kingdom to me.

But nah! That couldn’t be.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was received as King on the traditional day for the beginning of the electoral year. Israeli kings were crowned on Passover just as Jesus was. 10 Nisan would be the presentation of the King on a donkey, that first time remembered as Palm Sunday. The patter would hold that Jesus comes into Jerusalem the next time on a horse. Kings rode donkeys in peace, and horses to war. As there is a seeming pattern, wouldn’t that coming prince counterfeit such a thing?

That means the antichrist would ride into Jerusalem on a horse. This would need to be at least seven years prior to Jesus’ return as King. This points at the next 10 Nisan.

Let that sit. Back to Exodus, and that really loud trumpet and the gathering clouds on Mount Sinai. God comes on those clouds and settles on the mountain, the people are called by the sound of a trumpet.

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 19:17–19

This is one of my favorite passages in the Scriptures.

Now, what is obscured by the English word translated as trumpet is another Hebrew word sopar. This, too, is the first occurrence of the word sopar, and it appears twice in the passage. Sopar usually references the ram’s horn or shofar it English. It is also used to convey the sound the trumpet makes. The meanings of the word sopar and yobel can overlap. Sopar is rather commonly used throughout the Tanakh. Yobel is significantly more rare.

Yobel is translated elsewhere as either ram’s horn or jubilee. But is is translated as trumpet for the first time it is used in the Tanakh, and only once at that in Exodus 19. It is apparent that this connects to the Jubilee.

Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. (Leviticus 25:2, MEV)

On entering the Promised Land, the Israelis were given specific instructions. One of the involved the establishment of a sabbath year of rest for the land. They were to count six years, and the seventh was a year of rest. The other inextricably linked to the sabbath year is the Jubilee.

You shall count seven sabbath weeks of years, seven times seven years, and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the horn blasts on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall make the sound of the horn throughout all your land. You shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee to you, and each of you shall return to his possession, and every person shall return to his family. That fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you. You shall neither sow nor reap that which grows by itself, nor gather the grapes of your unpruned vines. For it is the Jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You shall eat the produce of the field.
Leviticus 25:8–12

Israel was to make the sound of the shofar to proclaim the Jubilee. It seems that these ideas of rest, Jubilee (setting captives free,) and a call to assembly are intertwined.

The Hebrew word yobel translated for its first usage in the Bible as to be the sign of assembly. It is also translated elsewhere as jubilee. The English word jubilee has its roots in the Hebrew word yobel. As it is used in Leviticus , it is referencing the 50th year when the land returned to rightful owners and indentured servants were released.

When Israel entered the Land, they were to keep a Sabbath for it to the Lord. It followed that would also be the first Jubilee as the start of the 49-year count until the next 50th year. It is a very similar count to the one that establishes the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost.) That also causes my mind to pay attention to this.

In a not-so-roundabout way, Pentecost hints of the body of Christ, the universal church.

As has previously been explored, the next Jubilee for Israel will most likely be the 70th. The number seventy conveys the meaning of a complete set or all of them. If that holds true, this coming Jubilee is the last one. If it is the last one, the trumpet announcing it would be the last trump.

As a teacher says, if 1446 BC, then 14406 BC. If 1406 BC, then 2025 AD. But always 10 Nisan. It is the intertwining Biblical themes introduced with the gathering at Mount Sinai. There are patterns that can be dually applied to the return of Jesus to Israel, and the return of Jesus for His bride the church. As Moses draws near to God at Sinai the people remained at a distance. Moses and some of the elders go up to the mountain and sup with God.

That trumpet-Jubilee proclaims liberty and restoration. It signified the year the Israelis entered the Promised Land and eating of the food some forty years later. That being the first Jubilee and the fulfilling of the promise God made for rest.

Some 3,430 years after Israel entered the Promised Land 10 Nisan in 1406 BC, the seventieth Jubilee comes on 10 Nisan (AD 2025.) Are we to soon expect that last trump call to gather and meet God?

Do Not Be Ignorant of the Rapture

On February 28, 2025February 28, 2025 By TimIn 1 Thessalonians 04, Rapture1 Comment

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 Jesus1.
1 Thessalonians 4:13–14

Yes, this will be yet another post on what the rapture is and what it is not. To begin, take a look at how Paul introduces the concept. First, this is for those who hope in the goodness of the Lord. It is not hope like one thinks contemporarily, that is that all things will work out. The hope here is that confident expectation that God will do what He promises to do. It is the same confidence the believers who have already passed held. And they will see the real promises of God come to be. The certainty of the Christian’s resurrection rests on Jesus Christ’s resurrection.

Contrast that to those who have no hope. People will perish and their bodies will rot in the grave. Perhaps that is the idea that is being considered, as it is probably the case that these Thessalonians knew that the dead bodies of people rotted away. With that knowledge, would come the expectation that these would miss out on the Jesus coming for them and instantly changing their bodies into incorruptible ones. The believers’ dead bodies would have become altogether corrupt. Paul explains that the dead in Jesus have the same sure end… Incorruptibility.

He also connects this hope to resurrection. The text is clearly saying that God will lead away with Jesus Christ those who sleep in Jesus. This tracks in a similar explanation of what the promise of resurrection is in the first part of 1 Corinthians 15. Thought scholars believe this epistle predates the ones to the Corinthians. Where it differs though, is the promise of the sudden change and relocation of the living Holy Ones when Jesus comes to lead them away. That is, this is primarily a relocation event commensurate with Jesus’ promise.

“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

This is all commensurate on that promise Jesus would come and take believers with Him. I know many believe this to be a rapture text. I think it is far more than just that. Jesus promises to receive any believer to Himself. Not only to receive, but to come get them. What I mean is that when someone is dying, Jesus is there to receive that person. The unspoken part between Jesus’ words and what Paul writes in one of his first epistles is the idea that living holy ones would see the coming of Jesus. The other unspoken part is that they would be taken away with Him.

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

I will again make the case that this is not a resurrection event. Even though predeceased believers are given incorruptible bodies to go with Jesus, it is not the resurrection at the end of the age. Those passed on before have the privilege of being first. There are precise distinctions between what is promised to Israel and church- age holy ones. (That is explored in this post: The Surprising Way that Resurrection Proves Futurism and the Rapture Before the Hour of Testing)

If the resurrection is at the end of the age, those alive in the nations at His second advent enter the millennium. They will be the population of Earth dwellers that Jesus will reign over. They will be believers in human bodies like we have now. They will not be incorruptible. They will be primarily Israelis. Yet believers nonetheless.

Those will not be led away with Jesus, to be with Him. And the world will be ruled from Jerusalem with a rightful King until His enemies have been vanquished. Again, these are two distinct programs. One is for the body of Christ. The other is for Israel.

No Bible passage says there is only one second coming. Likewise, no Bible passage calls Jesus’ return the second coming. The term is coined, and it comes loaded with some baggage. The baggage leads some to ridicule the relocation of the body of church-age holy ones as if it were some secret. Though Paul called it a mystery, it is no secret. The meaning of the Greek word translated as mystery in 1 Corinthians 15:51 is Paul overtly and publicly explaining something that is henceforth no longer hidden. It’s no secret. When someone calls it a secret event, it is for ridicule. It is also to sow seeds of doubt in the mind. It is being dismissive to the text, it is okay to dismiss what they say and correct them.

A real conundrum exists if the rapture occurs at the second advent. The enemies of Jesus consisting of principalities and powers are sequestered away. The living human servants of those powers on earth are summarily vanquished and their souls sequestered away. If believers are glorified, pulled up to meet Jesus and return with Him then… Who populates the millennial kingdom?

To consider the two events as the same one is going to result in some form of replacement theology. Replacement theology teaches that the universal church has replaced Israel. All of the promises of Israel belong to the church. Most use a passage in Romans 9 as the basis of the error. Rest assured, the universal church has not replaced Israel. And praise the Lord for that!

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

The shout and the voice of the archangel is the command to assemble. It is signified by the trumpet call. It is not helpful to examine the usual apocalyptic literature in the Bible to understand this. Perhaps it has more to do with the first mention of trumpet in the Bible. It is in Exodus. It is connected with Israel at Mount Sinai.

When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”
Exodus 19:13b

The trumpet blast is a call to assembly. This pattern was established then. It is also iterated again… This time with a shout!

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 19:16–19

Note how Moses, typifying Jesus, led the people out to meet God where He is. This idea tracks with exactly what Paul is saying.

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.
1 Thessalonians 4:17

Believers are called out to a meeting with the Lord in the air.

At this point, I have to say that there is an external context applied here by some scholars. It has to do with the Greek word translated into English meeting. The Greek word is apantēsis. It is said it could be used to describe the arrival of a visiting dignitary and the custom of the citizens of a city to go outside and meet them.

According to the ancient customs, citizens left the city to meet the honored one and escort him back to their city amidst great celebration. It is said that Paul may have used this image because it would be familiar to his audience. The custom is then used to imply that believers escort Jesus back to earth. In the text, there is no explicit description of either a procession to earth or to heaven. Just the promise that holy ones will be forever with the Lord.

Paul says believers will meet the Lord in the clouds, that space immediately above the earth. To further help this imagery is the implication that Jesus is arriving in the ancient style of god warriors. That is, He is coming in or on the clouds as if believers were meeting Him in His battle space.

While fancy, that cannot be the case. First, Jesus is not mentioned as coming in the clouds in 1 Thessalonians 4. We meet Him in the clouds. Second, Jesus’ battle space is clearly on the Earth.

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. On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice to all the birds flying in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather for the supper of the great God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of strong men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great!”
Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to wage war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. But the beast was captured and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone. The remnant were slain with the sword which proceeded out of the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.
Revelation 19:11–21

Third, if all believers are glorified and all unbelievers vanquished… Who populates the Millennial Kingdom?

Taking an external context and imposing it onto the Bible can be troublesome. And in these days when the rapture is mocked and scorn, it is imperative to study the entirety of the text of the Bible. It is going to require comprehensive diligence, but remember the Bible provides the best explanation and context for Itself.

It is easy to learn to parrot a line because it sounds like a plausible way to explain away the pre-trib rapture. In this case, the pre-tribulatioin rapture is introduced amidst some form of ridicule. It’s secret, or it has only been taught for 150 years in the church. As shown, both of those ideas are really lies. Speculation is then added to the Bible to make it say something it does not. This is long before someone produces a Bible text or two.

Often, it is the usual proof texts… Like in Matthew 25 when the bridegroom comes. The bridegroom comes to take those ready away, not to bring them back with him. Or in Acts 28 when Paul is greeted on his way to Rome to be executed. What the text does not say is that the people who met him were taken anywhere else by anyone, let alone with Paul who was in custody.

The rapture is not about us meeting Jesus Christ in the air to escort Him back to earth. It is for the church-age holy one to be forever with Jesus Christ where He is. As demonstrated, the timing necessary to the post-trib rapture does not work. That makes it heterodoxy in nature.

This event outlined by Paul in 1 Thessalonians is not the second advent of Jesus to the nation of Israel. It is the second advent of Jesus to church-age saints. And it is well before He comes at the end of the age..

Cain Draws Back

On February 19, 2025 By TimIn Genesis 04, SinLeave a comment

Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived, gave birth to Cain and said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” Then she gave birth again to his brother Abel.
And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Genesis 4:1–2

After the creation of the first man and woman, and their fall into sin, these first two humans have relations and conceive. The narration now moves to the first two procreated people… Cain and Abel. For now, there is no mention of any other progeny from the first couple. Yet this account is probably familiar to many.

In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel also brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had respect for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and for his offering, He did not have respect. And Cain was very angry and his countenance fell.
Genesis 4:3–5

These boys grew up to farm and shepherd as is implied in the text. It is also clear they grew up knowing the Lord personally. They also probably learned to bring offerings to God. Cain, a farmer, brought an offering of what he grew. Abel, a shepherd, gave to God of his flocks. There was an obvious difference in the attitudes behind the offerings. Abel gave the first and best portions of his increase. Because of the heart behind it, God preferred Abel’s offering.

Sometimes, knowledge of the Law of Moses blurs this issue. The law provides for both produce and blood offerings. For that reason what is spoken here may be missed. A cursory reading may also prevent one from understanding that Cain was not careful in what he offered to the Lord. At least he was not as caring as Abel. This made Cain angry. As the account goes, it is clear who bears the focus of his anger, even though Cain’s actions were the source of his own anger.

The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4:6–7

Of course, the Lord approaches Cain and asks him why he is angry. It is not as if God needs information. It is an opportunity offered to Cain for introspection and confession. As it is, Cain has already drawn back from God. This is not unlike the same thing that happened to both Adam and Eve after they sinned. They turned away from the Lord, and the Lord sought them. In like manner, God had some questions for them. But there is a not-so-subtle inference that may be a bit controversial.

When Adam was asked by God, “Have you eaten?” He seemingly blamed the woman God gave to Him. I don’t think of it as all that. I see something else that is clearly there. Adam confessed exactly what happened. He said, “I ate.” In effect, he confessed his sin.

In the same way, God asked the woman, “What have you done?” Her answer also seems to be a total passing off of blame. Yet she too, confessed her sin, “I ate.”

In the Lord’s patient questions to Cain, he never once fessed up to what he did wrong. He could have been more careful in preparing his offering. He now has an opportunity to draw close to God and confess. But it is the goodness of the way the Lord does things, He encourages Cain to do better. He doesn’t coerce a response. This is the same gentle way the Lord leads me at times. It is as if I can really hear the words, “Tim, let’s do better.”

It’s that leftover unconfessed sin. It hampers Cain’s relationship with God. It does not hamper God’s relationship with Cain. The shame of the sin festers. The effect of that sin causes Cain to draw away from God.

Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Genesis 4:8

That gnawing canker erupts. Cain kills his brother in the field. I was drawn in with the question, what did Cain tell his brother?

The Bible translation I prefer is based on the Masoretic text. As is the King James Version. In fact, the Modern English Version tracks really well with that mainstay translation. What was said seems to be left out of that manuscript collection perhaps by copyist error. Leave it to the Septuagint… Which includes what was said. Cain told Abel, “Let us go out into the field.”

They did go into the field, and then Cain’s anger led him to kill his brother.

Now, as it would be, I have always been told that sin separates one from God. In the way I was led to understand is that God withdraws Himself from sin. I just don’t see that at all in these first few accounts of the Lord walking with His creations. They sin, and He comes to them as they move away. That’s been encountered at least three times in just two chapters of Genesis. It is like a pattern is being established.

The Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”
He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Genesis 4:9

God approaches Cain with another thought-provoking question designed not to accuse or shame, but to get confession. Confessing sin is for Cain’s sake. It’s to remove the enmity that keeps him from going to God.

Cain’s asinine response was not a confession. But I think there is something more here. It seems Cain knew that God knew already. His response was a pushback on God. The sin that separated him from the Lord continued to work. It pushed Cain further away, increasing the width of the gap. The gap did not exist from God’s side, but it did on Cain’s. And it grew wider. Sin tricks people with shame, deceiving them that God is so far away, and the gap shame makes is insurmountable. This gives us another pattern. One of ungodliness and its effects that Paul expounded upon.

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth through unrighteousness. For what may be known about God is clear to them since God has shown it to them. The invisible things about Him—His eternal power and deity—have been clearly seen since the creation of the world and are understood by the things that are made, so that they are without excuse.
Romans 1:18–20

Sin pushes people away from God. Cain actively suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. As his sin compounded, his own knowledge and experience of God became suppressed. I mean, imagine that Cain talked to God face-to-face. Yet he still pushed himself away. It is kind of like what happened to the Israelis at Mount Sinai. God wants to draw nigh, but people push themselves away.

As the conversation continues, God lays out the consequences of sin to Cain. I will also point out another controversial point. Just as God did not curse Adam or Eve, He does not curse Cain.

And then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. Now you are cursed from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
Genesis 4:10–11

It is the ground that cries out for vengeance. This introduces a principle reality that will come to light later in the Torah.

So you will not defile the land which you are in, because blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him that shed it. So do not defile the land which you are dwelling in, where I am residing, because I the Lord am residing among the children of Israel.
Numbers 35:33–34

Blood defiles the land. It cries for vengeance. All this talk of patterns, and there are several to explore. The blood points directly to Jesus. The penalty for sin is death. We know that. It is God Who renders justice. Jesus’ blood was spilled on the ground to satisfy the vengeance.

In another way, it is God Himself Who gives and takes life. There are accounts in the Bible where God is clearly the One responsible for shedding blood. If the ground cries out for vengeance of blood shed on it, how does God bleed to satisfy that? Jesus on the cross answers that question as He reveals Himself uniquely to John.

Revelation 1:17–18 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though I were dead. Then He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, though I was dead. Look! I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Here is Jehovah God saying He died. That is not me saying it.

Back to the topic, the Lord explains the reality to Cain, sin is lying at the door. The enmity Cain has grows. It comes with the shame of sin. But instead of confessing it, he embraces the condemnation. This is clear in his response to the Lord.

Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. You have driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from your face will I be hidden; and I will be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”
Genesis 4:13–14

Cain could not farm anymore. He is driven from the face of the Earth. He blames God for that when it was the ground itself that cursed Cain. Could it be that Cain would have to find something else to gainfully provide for himself?

That is a question to ponder. In the entire account of Genesis so far, we have been introduced to four people, and one is dead. Cain attests to other people being around by saying anyone who finds him would avenge his brother. There are obviously far more people around than for what the author accounts. What is also unspoken but very apparent is the avenger of blood has to be a kinsman. He would have to be related to Abel. This comes from Deuteronomy 19 and the cities of refuge. The avenger of blood, which is the Hebrew word goel also translates to kinsman and redeemer.

The ideas are right there. Other people exist, and they are brothers (and sisters) of Abel. That answers a common skeptic’s question. Intentionally, there is yet another pattern given that points to the Goel, Jesus.

Cain knows that death haunts him for his sin. Does he confess?

So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” Then the Lord put a mark upon Cain, so that no one finding him would kill him.
Genesis 4:15

Here is yet another pattern pointing to Jesus. The Lord gives Cain a stay of execution! This points directly to the cross. Jesus spilled His Own blood into the ground satisfying the vengeance sin requires and extending a respite of punishment to all.

It is like Jesus says to all, “You are free to go.” To Cain He did, and Cain took up that freedom.

Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Genesis 4:16

Cain walks away from God. He walked away from every single time the Lord came to him. This meta-narrative is explained by Paul.

All this is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them, and has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:18–19

The proof that God is reconciled to men through the work of Jesus Christ is evident even in the beginning. God approached people amid their sin. He extends the opportunity for them to restore fellowship in an instant. Adam and Eve did, but Cain did not.

Consider all that with this seemingly ominous passage from the writer of Hebrews

Therefore, brothers, we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way that He has opened for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and since we have a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse them from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us firmly hold the profession of our faith without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to spur one another to love and to good works. Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but let us exhort one another, especially as you see the Day approaching.
For if we willfully continue to sin after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, which will devour the adversaries.
Anyone who despised Moses’ law died without mercy in the presence of two or three witnesses. How much more severe a punishment do you suppose he deserves, who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded the blood of the covenant that sanctified him to be a common thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine,” says the Lord, “I will repay.” And again He says, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 10:19–31

That is exactly where Cain is, fearing vengeance. Cain resisted God and let that fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation push him away from God. He didn’t reconcile himself to the Lord. God did His part, and patiently tolerated Cain’s sin to pursue Him. It wasn’t for vengeance. Cain left himself to the roaring lion who devours the adversaries.

The Lord is showing there is a way out. It is patient endurance in faith. Cain could have confessed at any time, instead, he chose to draw back into a dark place.

Remember the former days, after you were enlightened, in which you endured a great struggle of afflictions. In part you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and afflictions. And in part you became companions of those who were so abused. For you had compassion on me in my chains and joyfully endured the confiscation of your property, knowing that you have in heaven a better and an enduring possession for yourselves. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which will be greatly rewarded.
For you need patience, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive the promise.
Hebrews 10:32–36

Cain threw away his confidence in God because of his sin. He didn’t think he could ever get back into the graces of the Lord. His claim to fame was to run from the presence of the Lord. He wanted to rely on himself. That’s what sin does.

For, “In yet a little while,
He who is to come will come, and will not wait.
Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who draw back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.
Hebrews 10:37–39

If you are still reading, can I say… You are not like Cain. When God approached Cain, he drew back every single time. That’s not what the Lord wants of anyone. He wanted Cain, just as He wants everyone… Including you and me.

Be bold. Be confident. You can approach the Lord anywhere and at any time. Why wait? Sin is always going to draw you away.

Jesus Christ, Whom You Have Sent

On February 11, 2025September 12, 2025 By TimIn Jehovah, Jesus, John 17Leave a comment

This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
John 17:3

This is one text taken from the prayer that Jesus offered to God on the night before He was crucified. The real need for people is to have eternal life. Many use the term being saved, but that term has some baggage. Eternal life is a gift given to believers by God Himself. That gift comes by knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ.

There is a point often debated, “Did Jesus really say He was God?“

Yes. He certainly did.

The idea is clearly laid out in His Own words. As it is said, oftentimes the Pharisees lets us know when He does that. They took up stones to kill Him.

This eternal life is knowing God and Whom He sent… Jesus Christ. Back during Jesus’ ministry, there was one of those episodes where the Pharisees took up stones. It was then that Jesus said:

My Father and I are one.”
John 10:30

The Jewish leaders tell us exactly what Jesus said:

Again the Jews took up stones to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
The Jews answered Him, “We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, claim to be God.”
John 10:31–33

The Pharisees have verified Jesus’ saying He is God. Look back up to the introductory text from John 17. Keeping that in mind, I want to consider other ways that plainly show Jesus as God. To know God is to know Jesus, Whom He sent and it is to have eternal life.

Jesus often used words that echoed those expressed in the Tanakh. I know that might be shocking. Yet Jesus knows the words of the prophets, and He knows the writings of Isaiah.

Listen to Me, O Jacob
and Israel, whom I called:
I am He;
I am the First, and I am the Last.
My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth,
and My right hand has spanned the heavens;
when I call to them,
they stand up together.
Assemble, all of you, and listen.
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord has loved him;
he will do His pleasure on Babylon,
and His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
I, even I, have spoken,
and I have called him;
I have brought him,
and his way will prosper.
Come near to Me, hear this:
I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
from the time that it was, there I am.
And now the Lord God has sent me
and His Spirit.
Isaiah 48:12-16

Already, it may be clear to see some familiar phrases that we know are applied elsewhere to Jesus. I will start with the first, “I am He.” Jesus said that.

Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
John 8:24

In the context of this passage, Jesus is speaking of the Father Whom the Jewish folk know as God. The text is clear, that unless one believes “I am He,” they do not have eternal life. For clarity, those that do not have eternal life will perish in their sins. Jesus is unequivocally saying, that one cannot have eternal life unless that person believes He is God.

The next has many witnesses. Here is the first…

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a great voice like a trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and “What you see, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
Revelation 1:10–11

While in exile, the apostle John is caught up in a vision where he meets God. God calls Himself Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. Most know that this Person is Jesus Christ.

Part of the reason for this post comes from a conversation over whether Jesus is now God. He is, but the protagonist in the conversation believes Jesus was God and is not now because of His location at the right hand of God. I get that these types of discussions are difficult for our minds to comprehend. God is like no other. That is why, there are none like Him. We have no frame of reference except what He says of Himself. It then becomes important to understand Him as He reveals Himself.

We know Jesus is Alpha and Omega. He offers something else about His identity. These are the key things to remember.

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though I were dead. Then He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, though I was dead. Look! I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
Revelation 1:17–18

This Person addressing John says, “(T)hough I was dead, Look! I am alive forevermore.” This is an indicator to identity. He identifies Himself again as First and Last. Putting both together with He died and rose again, there is only One Person that matches. It is Jesus.

Which leads to another objection that my protagonist scoffs at. He denies the idea that God has died. Clearly, Jesus as God says He died and lives forevermore.

There is one more witness from Revelation to examine.

“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

Once again, this Person identifies Himself as Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, First and Last. It has already been established Who is speaking. Yet another witness to identity is this One is coming again. We know the One Who returning to Earth again is Jesus Christ!

Back in the passage of Isaiah 48 above, it says I am He, the First and Last. From the context, Jehovah is being spoken of in third person. Yet clearly the One narrating is God. Israelis in the day would know this well. They were very familiar with the Tanakh. Note, when connected from Isaiah to the Gospel of John and then Revelation, the idea coalesces. It is clearly conveyed that when Jesus says “I am He,” He is saying He is God.

But as it is in the Bible, things get a bit blurry…

Come near to Me, hear this:
I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
from the time that it was, there I am.
And now the Lord God has sent me
and His Spirit.
Isaiah 48:16

This is the same invitation from Jesus in the New Testament. The God of the Tanakh is the same God that Jesus is. And He is this same God that sent Jesus Christ. Keep in mind, the same God that sent Jesus is the First and the Last.

In my mind, it seems there can only be One Who identifies as Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. The phrase leaves no room for others. That’s God and He is Jesus.

Jesus is not-so-secretly declaring that He is Jehovah. That same Jehovah Who sent Him!

This testimony of the Alpha and the Omega in the last book of the Bible connects it to one of those books in the rough middle of It, Isaiah. The text seems to draw the reader to closely examine the beginning. It is there that yet another witness identifies that Jesus is indeed Jehovah God.

All things were created through Him, and without Him nothing was created that was created.
John 1:3

John testifies that all things were created by Jesus. And God testifies in Isaiah that He spoke very clearly from the beginning. What does that mean?

Well, if all things that were created were created by Jesus… Jesus is not created. Which means He is the One Who created all things. Once again, in my mind that leaves no room for another creator.

Thus says the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel and his Maker:
Ask Me of things to come
concerning My sons,
and you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.
I have made the earth
and created man on it.
I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens,
and I have ordained all their host.
I have raised him up in righteousness,
and I will direct all his ways;
he shall build My city,
and he shall let My captives go,
neither for price nor reward,
says the Lord of Hosts.
Isaiah 45:11-13

Thus says Jehovah, that is the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) translated as Lord. He testifies He has made the Earth. All this was spoken by the Lord of Hosts (Jehovah of Hosts.) That’s the military title of Jesus Christ. He is Jesus, the Son of God, and He is God.

It is like everything is pointing to the beginning. It might just be beneficial to check it out.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1

I assume most are familiar with this verse. What many may not know are the not-so-secret things hidden just behind the translation into English. Here is the verse in transliterated Hebrew.

Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz

I tend to be a bit nerdy. I’m no Hebrew scholar. But I’m certain many see the word Elohim. It is well known as one of the names of God.

It is that two-letter word et, which is not translated into any English Bibles. There is much controversy over what the ‘word’ means. I am one that does not think it is a word, but is more of am identifying signature.

See, that two-letter et, in the Hebrew alphabet is also two letters, those being the aleph and the tav. The significance of those two letters is like the signature. It is as if it is literally saying, “In the beginning created God Aleph-Tav.”

The aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The tav is the last letter. Has God spoken not in secret from the beginning?

Yes!

Jesus the Son, is the Creator God. The same Elohim Aleph-Tav Alpha-Omega Who spoke creation to be. The same God Who died and lives forevermore!

Kept from the Hour of Temptation

On February 5, 2025 By TimIn Rapture, Revelation 03Leave a comment

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

There are two pertinent things that need to be clearly understood in Jesus’ words here.

First, the hour of temptation comes upon the entire Earth, there will be no place to escape it on Earth. And it will test those who dwell on Earth. The language indicates that every individual on the Earth will be tested.

Second, Jesus promises to keep the ones who believe in Him from that hour of temptation. Which means those kept from it are necessarily not on Earth.

The text clearly indicates that believers are relocated off of the Earth before trouble begins.

The Truth About Idols

On January 28, 2025January 28, 2025 By TimIn 1 Timothy 03, Spiritual WarfareLeave a comment

Without question, great is the mystery of godliness:
God was revealed in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit,
seen by angels,
preached to the Gentiles,
believed on in the world,
taken up into glory.
1 Timothy 3:16

Paul’s charge to his son in the faith Timothy is to reassure him that he knew how to conduct himself in the house of God. Amidst the instructions for overseers in the local church is this sentence which most think was a hymn or creed of those early Christians. It speaks of the mystery that we now know.

God is revealed in the flesh. The speaks of the incarnation of Jesus. Not that God changed places, but that He is revealed in flesh. This speaks to the Son’s existence before His virgin birth. As Paul wrote in Philippians 2, He being in the form of God. He is the brightness of His glory and the express image of God (Hebrews 1:3.) The Son is Spirit being revealed in the flesh. Jesus taught us that God is Spirit (John 4:24.)

That’s part of the mystery. It continues. Jesus was not justified in the flesh, but justified in the Spirit. That is attested to in His resurrection. When He came back from the dead in a new body, it proved there was no other entity that could lay hold on Him.

He is preached to the Gentiles, basically the truth is being spread to all nations. He is believed on in the world. Many people are saved because He is preached. We know He is taken up into glory. He sits at the right hand of the Father, as God.

Seen by Angels

It is this idea that Jesus was seen by angels, that draws me in. Jesus being seen by the angels means they could identify Him as God readily. But does it entail that He is known by them before being manifest in the flesh?

There seems to be testimony to that fact. It occurs in one of the earliest accounts of Jesus’ ministry in Israel.

Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great crowd followed Him from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan. And those from Tyre and Sidon, a great crowd, when they heard what great things He did, came to Him. He told the disciples to have a small boat ready for Him because of the crowd, lest they should crush Him. For He had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed on Him to touch Him. When unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him, crying out, “You are the Son of God.” But He sternly ordered them not to make Him known.
Mark 3:7–12

If we take Mark’s Gospel chronologically here, this incident occurred before Jesus selected any of His inner-circle of twelve disciples.

What is clear is that the people around Jesus are the time did not really know they were in the presence of God. Let alone that He is made flesh. Yet those unclean spirits know and testify to the fact right. They could apprehend the spiritual reality readily. But a question comes to mind. Where did they come from?

So many details are not included. I think it safe to assume that Jesus was casting unclean spirits out of people. Those spirits identified Him immediately. And He commanded them to not reveal Who He is. Did the crowd present hear and what did they understand?

I don’t know. I know there were spiritual beings present by witness of the text. Are there any indications that some of those were angels?

The text lends itself to that idea. The Bible reveals that there are two kinds of unclean spirits, fallen angels and demons. Demons are the disembodied spirits from the progeny of some fallen angels, the Nephilim.

The Disembodied Spirits Called Demons

When men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair and took as wives any they chose.
Genesis 6:1–2

Way back toward the beginning of it all, Moses reveals that angels took wives. The language used is not pleasant, and it isn’t without controversy. The term Sons of God is used sparingly in the Tanakh. As it is used in other places, it always means angels. That is direct creations of God and this by that same title given to Adam in Luke 3:38. (There are other resources that delve into this concept, the tag cloud can help in that pursuit.)

The progeny of the fallen angels and their taken human women were called Nephilim. They were the mighty men of old.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:4

It is my opinion that the corrupted human bloodlines from these strange flesh unions were the vast majority of people that died in the flood. That idea comes from the Septuagint translation where it says that Noah was perfect in his generations. The Greek word translated is where the English word generations comes. It reveals a relationship to Noah’s genetics.

In fact, the entire incident of the ark hints that there were corrupted genetics in the human and animal kinds. God chose all the occupants of the ark. If Noah was perfect in his generations, it follows that the animals selected were perfect in theirs.

Now, it becomes a bit clearer that there are many unclean spirits, and kinds such as fallen angel and the disembodied spirits of angel/human hybrids known as demons. It follows that the unclean spirits (both angelic and demon) would see God as He is and readily identify Him in the flesh.

Before the Time

There is another encounter Jesus had with unclean spirits that is important to understand. It reveals yet another concept.

When He came to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two men possessed with demons, coming out of the tombs, extremely fierce, so that no one might pass by that way. Suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
Matthew 8:28–29

These unclean spirits are specifically identified as demons. They identify Jesus’ divinity readily. Yet it is those two questions. Apparently they knew of certain timings. And they knew of torment, and their consignment to it. One might ask, is there punishment spoken of in the Bible?

It takes a bit of sleuthing to get it out of the Tanakh. So the first stop is the last book of the Torah, Deuteronomy. This particular Chester is full of details on the spiritual reality of Things.

They made Him jealous with strange gods;
with abominations they provoked Him to anger.
They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
to gods whom they knew not,
to new gods that recently came along,
whom your fathers did not fear.
Deuteronomy 32:16–17

Israel went to worship stage gods. These were actually demons. The Hebrew word is shedim, it appears only twice in the Bible.

The Israelis sacrificed to the demons. The text says these were new gods that recently came along. It seems to indicate that these came after creation. This is especially clear as it follows Genesis 6 above.

It bears mentioning that the mythological Golden Age hearkens back to the time when gods lived with humans. This would be before the flood. There is a stark difference between the mythological understanding and what God thinks of the days of Noah. There is a contemporary popular mantra announcing a new Golden Age. The Bible does tell us that the end days will be like the days of Noah. The gods will once again live with men.

There is a definitive judgment coming. And this is what the demons were alluding to about Jesus coming to them before the time. Jeremiah prophesied the demise of those gods.

Thus you shall say to them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.
Jeremiah 10:11

Remember, in the encounter above that those demons also alluded to torment. That is a reference to eternal fire. Jesus told us the how and what for in that.

“Then He will say to those at the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
Matthew 25:41

Eternal fire is made for the devil and his angels. By the testimony of the demons in the vicinity of the Gerasenes, they knew of their fate in torment. It follows that eternal fire is for the devil, fallen angels, and demons.

To come full circle, we are still before the time. The time comes in the judgment of the great day. The one reserved for all of the enemies of God, the Great White Throne of Revelation 20.

Idol Talk

This may shock the sensibilities of some. The idols of the Old Testament are real beings. They are not simple creations of carved wood and hammered metals. They are not figments of active imagination. They were and are real entities that take worship to themselves. They have a clear destination.

The loftiness of man shall be humbled,
and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day;
the idols He shall utterly abolish.
Isaiah 2:17–18

I know that many think idols are the creation of vivid imaginations. They are not. This truth gets further confused because of the allegorization of the idea of an idol. One that reinforces the notion that they are figments of the imagination which take us away from God.

I think that this allegorization has led to many folks putting their guard down. In other words, the west has been trained not to see these things. That makes it harder to understand the stark reality of the enemies against us as a race.

For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12

The truths revealed in the Bible don’t always lend themselves to a personal application. Sometimes, that might obscure the reality. It then seems a bit silly to say that something like football or food becomes an idol for people. It may seem to lend itself that way, but the idols of the Old Testament are clearly real entities. Ones who do not want humans to flourish.

Changing Allegiance

The purpose for this lengthy article is to expose the reality. The hope is for the body of Christ to shake off the silly thinking that idols are imaginary things that keep us from God. The truth is these are real entities who have real power, that is if one extends it to them. When Jesus went to the cross, He removed the bondage. People can be free of these besetting and disabling influences in Jesus’ name.

In the Tanakh, there is no sinners’ prayer. Though the invitation is there as a call to change one’s mind… To repent. The reality is that to leave idols is to change allegiance. To come to God is to change allegiance.

Which leads to an important biblical principle. One that many do not quite grasp. The spirit world tends toward the legalistic. They cannot go where they do not have rights. From the beginning, this principle is laid out. Adam yielded rights to the dominion he was given by God.

This point is personally extended and explained in the New Testament. One yields their members, thus giving rights and permissions to the unclean spirits. Jesus spoke of this in John 8. Paul shows all exactly what it is.

Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but yield yourselves to God, as those who are alive from the dead, and your bodies to God as instruments of righteousness.
Romans 6:13

God does not work in anyone until one lets Him do it. Ephesians 1:13 clearly demonstrates this principle. It is a truth that clobbers some fatalistic lies taught by some circles of Christianity. The Bible is clear, one serves who one yields to serve. That is why the Bible uses the term servants and slaves, as these have masters.

I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for just as you have yielded your members as slaves to impurity and iniquity leading to more iniquity, even so now yield your members as slaves to righteousness unto holiness. For when you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. What fruit did you have then from the things of which you are now ashamed? The result of those things is death. But now, having been freed from sin and having become slaves of God, you have fruit unto holiness, and the end is eternal life.
Romans 6:19–22

The problem is that all have sinned. Universally, it is before anyone can know the requirements of the moral law. When that’s explained, the reality is all have missed the mark of perfection necessitated.

The ugly underbelly of that is a person who sins yields themselves to a master. Sin brings more sin, which brings death. Death brings judgment.

Jesus frees all from having to be bound to sin. When anyone repents and believes, God deposits His Spirit in that person freeing them from condemnation. The Spirit becomes a permanent presence and mark in them forever.

Indwelling Unclean Spirits

Another interweaving theme in the Bible suggests that the enemy counterfeits the things of God. It follows that those unclean spirits could also enter a person. There are many such cases detailed in the Scriptures. Consider what Jesus says about that from a different perspective.

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through dry places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it be also with this evil generation.”
Matthew 12:43–45

Even though the principle Jesus is teaching is not necessarily about demon possession. He is using that truth to explain the activities of those who questioned and mocked His divine authority. It is a stern warning against the real dangers of stubborn disbelief. The important consideration being taught is that rejecting Jesus lends one to be more open and vulnerable to the principalities and powers of the air.

Think back to Jesus’ ministry, and the early days of the apostles. Possession of a person by indwelling unclean spirits was real. Jesus, the apostles, and even some others did cast demons out of folks. But did that problem just go away?

From present reality, no. It certainly seems foreign to many in western Christianized nations. It is as if the enemy has subtly hidden himself and his tactics. The activity of unclean spirits recessed in a way to not really be detectable. In modern times, demon possession is really just fodder for ghost stories and scary movies.

It did not just disappear. I see the evidence more frequently than I want to encounter it. And I’ve had personal encounters. I think there is a marked increase as the time quickly approaches. It is a last hurrah.

There are some immediately discernible behavioral indicators of influence and even possession by unclean spirits. These behavioral indicators have increased exponentially in contemporary populations because of the late hour. So… How does this happen?

It certainly does not without a person presenting themselves for the very purpose. Sometimes those rights and permissions are coerced by trauma, whether the trauma is purposed for that or not. Sometimes they are granted when one willfully ingests hallucinogenics into their body. It doesn’t matter if using those substances is legal or not. Others present themselves purposefully, knowing exactly what it is they are doing.

The language I use is indeed nuanced for various reasons. Mainly, I am not yet led to write in further detail on the subject. The point is that there are real unclean spirits and they attempt to influence the world in the same ways they did at the time of Jesus.

Humans are in a real spiritual war!

The Turning Point

There’s a reason why much of this has slipped under the proverbial radar. It is to avoid detection. But why?

Well, that leads to one of my favorite things about what Jesus did at the cross.

He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us and contrary to us, and He took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed authorities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them by the cross.
Colossians 2:14–15

It was the law that empowered sin because it exposed sin in everyone. At the cross, Jesus took the handwriting, really He took the certificate of indebtedness to sin and destroyed it. In effect, freeing the entire race of humanity from the bondage of sin. The enemies had to go underground. In light of the truth that nobody is bound to yield themselves to their influences.

It is the other part that is more important. He disarmed the authorities and powers. These unclean spirits really have no power, other than what anyone may be extended to them. Because Jesus removed the indebtedness, they have only whatever is willfully volunteered. The truth is that anything given can also be revoked by will. It is done in the name of Jesus Christ. It is by Him that folks are set free.

Concluding Thoughts

This is not meant to elicit fear. On the contrary, because Jesus died there is nothing to fear. As the introductory citation shows, His resurrection is proof of that.

For those who are reading, it may be that God is revealing some things to you. You may have extended rights and privileges you no longer want to do. That is easy to fix. You can revoke them at any time in the name of Jesus.

For those who have never really believed or changed allegiances, you can do that, too. Set your mind to serving God. Believe that Jesus did die. In so doing, demolished the certificate of indebtedness that shackled you. The proof is, He rose again. Believing that is what pleases God.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6

All Are Being Justified Freely

This is Directed to You

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Sunday 10 Nisan

The Triumphal Entry of Messiah

The First Pronouncement of Delay

Monday 11 Nisan

Tuesday 12 Nisan

The Delay of the Kingdom

The Destruction of the Temple

The Delay of the Kingdom Will Be Revoked

Wednesday 13 Nisan

The Betrayal

The Preparation for Passover and the Feast

Thursday 14 Nisan

The Passover With the Disciples

Messiah Shall be Cut Off

Beyond Holy Week

The New Modern Temple

The Prince Who Shall Come

For One Week

One Week Yet Future

After This

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Transcending Dimensions

Soulish Versus Spiritual

The Science

Sending Thoughts and Prayers

Not New Age

This Principle is Hidden in Plain Sight

Casting Spells?

What and How

The Lesson from James

Convergence

What Do We Do?

Ask!

The Concluding Principle

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Seen by Angels

The Disembodied Spirits Called Demons

Before the Time

Idol Talk

Changing Allegiance

Indwelling Unclean Spirits

The Turning Point

Concluding Thoughts

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