Category Archives: Prophecies for Our Time

Prophecies for Our Time, The Soon Return of Jesus

Part 7-Second Coming Predictions-The Spirit of the Antichrist

June 1, 2018 Eddie Leave a comment

He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,

Revelations 13:16

There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

Proverbs 14:12

I hope you appreciate our slow walk up to identification of the Antichrist. It is important to have the groundwork laid so that when we arrive, it will all make sense and be supported by scripture. There is so much confusion about this topic. But, it does not have to be so if we are using sound Biblical exegesis in our walk.

In previous studies, we were able to determine from scripture that the father of lies (Satan) works through deception. He creates delusion so great that more (rather than few) are deceived. If it were possible, the very elect could be deceived.

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Mark 13:6

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Matthew 24:24

Why are the elect not deceived? We discovered that it is because they love the truth, the righteousness of God, and have a personal relationship with Jesus. This passage expresses it well:

“….they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

2 Thessalonians 2: 10-11

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 17:3

In these last days, we can expect Satan to have perfected his system of deception. His work will mimic the work of God even in appearances.

For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

2 Corinthians 11:14-16

We cannot trust appearances… those things that appeal to the eye…things that are majestic and grand. It is only through the simple word of God and a trusting relationship with Him that we can count ourselves as the elect.

Had Satan revealed himself in his real character, he would have been repulsed at once, for Adam and Eve had been warned against this dangerous foe; but he worked in the dark, concealing his purpose, that he might more effectually accomplish his object. Employing as his medium the serpent, then a creature of fascinating appearance, he addressed himself to Eve.

Great Controversy, page. 532

We must compare what we hear and see what we know about God through our personal experience (testimony), but even more important through his written word (law).

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Isaiah 8:20

It is a noble thing to research scripture to see if your preacher or teacher is telling the truth as found in God’s word. In these last days, it will be critical in discerning and avoiding the way that seems right, but leads to destruction:

These (followers in Berea) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Acts 17:11

The Bereans loved the truth and compared the Tanakh (Old Testament) with the preaching of Paul to make sure he spoke truth. Shouldn’t we do the same?

Too many Christians rely heavily on preachers and teachers to spoon feed them with theories, ideas, and doctrines. Most have little knowledge of God’s word and practical experience. Further, we have the power of media, film, grand churches, and masses to help push us down a broad path, rather than seek the narrow path.

Here is a test….Which one of these pictures best represent how Satan will appear to deceive people?

We can be certain that Satan will not be obvious. He will appear as a sheep, but inside is a ravenous wolf…a lion seeking to eat and kill as many as possible. He is insane and self-deceived. He uses ministers.

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

2 Corinthians 11: 14-15

If we are looking for a mean-spirited ugly Antichrist that is easily identified, then we are already on a broad path of deception.

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The Real Antichrist

Hollywood and the” Left Behind” books have portrayed the Antichrist as a Romanian man named Carpathia leader of the world community and world government who rises to power after the rapture. After 3/12 years in power, he is assassinated, but then resurrected by Satan and seeks to destroy the followers of Jesus.

But the Bible paints and entirely different picture as we have learned in these series of Second Coming Predictions.

What the Bible has to say about the real Antichrist?

The word Antichrist is found only 4 times in the New Testament (King James Version). They are all in the books of 1 John (3 times) and 2 John (1 Time). Let’s read all four:

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

1 John 2:18

John warns us that by looking for one Antichrist, we miss the many that were already come. Is that true today? Yes!

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.

1 John 2:22

An antichrist that has already come is a liar and denies that Jesus is the Christ. Plain enough. Right?

and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

1 John 4: 3

So, we can know that the spirit of the Antichrist is already in the world.

For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

2 John 1:17

Again, deception is connected to the antichrists that are in the world already.

The disciple John (who would later write and warn us about a power described as a beast in Revelation 13) gives valuable information. but it is the tip of the iceberg: He states that the followers had been taught about the coming of “The Antichrist,” but there were already many that have gone out in the world. These antichrists work through deception. They are liars just like their father the devil. They deny that Jesus is the Messiah, that He came in the flesh and that He will return in the flesh. They deny the relationship between the Father and Jesus.

All of these antichrists can be overcome by an understanding and acceptance of God’s word as given to holy men who were moved by the work of the Holy Spirit. This includes the books and letters of the New Testament in addition to the Old Testament.

Paul warns us as well:

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 3: 13-15

Remember as we move forward, that the work of the Antichrist is not just one person, but the work of many including Satan himself. It will be deception that can only be unlocked through a comparison of their words with the words of God and a trusting relationship with the Lord.

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Paul compliments the words of John when he talks about how the work of the antichrists causes apostasy. Many will leave the truth because of the deception of the antichrists. In fact, he warns Jesus will not come until after the “falling away.”

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

2 Thessalonians 2:3

Here we learn more about the nature and personality of the Antichrist.”

There will be a falling away, not just people but many churches. They will fall away from plain teachings of Jesus and God’s word. Those that fall away, do so because they are deceived. They “loved not the truth.”

It has always been the work of Satan to take God’s word away from the people. ..to minimize it….to ridicule those who believe it and live by it. Because it is here where his hand is revealed and his plan made plain. His plan is to counterfeit the work of God. To sit in the temple of God and receiving honor as God himself. Despite this appearance as an angel of light, he not only is opposing God, but he makes it seem like he IS God or, at the least, represents God.

Paul tells us that the work of the Antichrist was already at work. Paul refers to him as “that Wicked” who would be revealed to the whole world. He tells us that when Jesus returns this system of deception by Satan and the one who he gives power to deceive will be broken and will be consumed by the brightness of Jesus coming. But for now, he works in the specific method of deceiving and counterfeiting:

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

2 Thessalonians 2: 8-11 (KJ)

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So we can understand from scripture that the Antichrist is referred to as “that Wicked.” But, we shall also see that this work of deception against God is through a power described as the beast. It will not be just one person, but many who support the work of deception. It is possible that the ones doing the deceiving think that they are doing the work of God by persecuting those who disagree with their teaching and power. Remember, the deception is not only towards others, but also the person doing the deception is deceived.

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

2 Timothy 3:13

“the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.”

John 16:2

Imagine killing someone and thinking you are doing God’s will. This is strong delusion. Remember Paul did this very thing before his conversion.

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To learn more about the work of the antichrists, we must move from the books of John to Revelation and Daniel. John also wrote Revelation and had more to say about the work of the deception caused by the Antichrist. But this time, he uses symbols that compare with the book of Daniel. They both saw the same vision even though they were separated by hundreds of years.

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The Beast of Daniel and Revelation

From comparing scripture with scripture, we will see the hand of Satan at work throughout the ages. It is he that gives the beast of Revelation his seat and great authority.

Many teachers and preachers read the following verses and make great sermons with plenty of opinion and twisting of scripture, but when we study the passages of scripture that bring us up to this point in earth’s history, we will know exactly who is the beast and therefore the Antichrist:

He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

Revelation 13: 16-18

We have many clues about the beast here, but unless we understand how we get to this verse, we will lack wisdom from God’s word.

Here are some of the clues: The beast has a worldwide influence regardless of a person’s position in life or income (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave)

There will be something (a mark) that will distinguish them from those under the control and power of the beast and those who have not been deceived. Persecution will come upon those who refuse to go along with the beast. They will not be able to buy or sell.

If we are wise, we will understand the number of this man.

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If we want to know the entire truth about the beast, we must go back and compare Daniel with Revelation. This we will do beginning next week.

Who is the real Antichrist?

Can you think of a world power rich in religious history whose authority on religious matters comes from a single man and has great influence on all both small and great, rich and poor? A power that looks like the real thing in angelic clothing living in a beautiful tmeple, but denies the words of God by putting the requirement of studying its book rather than the Bible for acceptance? In fact, this man is worshiped and adored.

Next week, we will begin our journey back to Daniel and Revelation so that we can come back to the present and understand the future…from the word of God.

I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

2 Timothy 1:12

Prophecies for Our Time, The Soon Return of Jesus

Part 6-Second Coming Predictions-The Basis for the Anti-Christ’s Strong Delusion

May 25, 2018 Eddie Leave a comment

“and all the world wondered after the beast..”

Revelation 13:3

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie

2 Thessalonians 2: 10-11

How can the beast of Revelation 13 (aka the Antichrist) convince an entire world to follow? In the coming studies, the Antichrist will be revealed through God’s word. Please understand it is not something I discovered. It has been known for thousands of years. Great men and women of God proclaimed it long before our generation. But, there is a counterfeit to this information as there is with all of God’s truth. The enemy uses deception because he is the father of lies and there is no truth in him.

There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

Proverbs 14:12 and Proverbs 16:25

So how can we know the truth about the Antichrist? Only one way. From our Creator through His written and inspired word.

“Thy word is truth.”

John 17:17

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When we begin our study on the Antichrist, we must understand the foundation from which this work of delusion operates. This delusion is so strong that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” The elect, are not deceived. Why? The answer lies (in part) in our opening passage 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11.

They received the love of the truth.

Over the years since my conversion to Christ from atheism (43 years), I have seen people come to Christ and receive Him. And, just as Jesus warns in the parable of the seed, there are many who receive the truth with joy, but for various reasons (e.g., cares of this life, riches and tribulation), they fail to grow roots in the soil of Christ to produce fruit into salvation See Matthew 13.

But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

Matthew 13: 20-21

Our passage in 2 Thessalonians 2, says, that because the truth is not loved, they are open to strong delusion and they will believe a lie.

Last week we studied how the religious people of Christ’s day did not accept Jesus because they were comfortable in their religious experience. They were self-deceived and felt no need of Jesus nor His words. Their world revolved around tradition. Change was not an option to them.

The religious people of the time of Jesus had the Tanakh (aka Old Testament) which was overflowing with prophecies about their Messiah Jesus, but Jesus didn’t fulfill the image they had formed in their imaginations. To this day, they continue to look for Him based on tradition and not the Tanakh (scripture). It was because of their traditions, the power of their peers, and false beliefs about scripture that caused them to be in a state of delusion.

This will happen again before the Lord returns, or should I say , it is happening!

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One of the first works of Jesus after His resurrection was to explain to His disciples about Himself as revealed in scripture (Tanakh). It was because of Jesus’ “Bible study” and the reality His resurrection that His followers built a stronger faith in Him. We are told in scripture that faith comes by hearing God’s word.

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Romans 10:17 NIV

If we desire more faith in Christ, then when need more of the word of God. Wouldn’t you agree? Revival in our hearts will come when we hear more of the word of God and less of our own word.

When talking with the Jews, Jesus said,

For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

John 5:46-47

Indeed, Jesus gave a “Bible study” to His disciples when he talked with them on the first day of the week after His resurrection. It was not a New Testament Bible study because this portion of scripture was yet to be written, Don’t misunderstand, the New Testament is just as much of scripture as the Old Testament because holy men spoke (and wrote) as they were moved by the Holy Spirit through the followers of Jesus.

“These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Luke 24:44-45

Peter compared the letters of Paul with scripture. Notice that the untaught and unstable “twisted” the meaning of his writings as they do with all scripture:

…and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

2 Peter 3:16

We miss the entire story of Jesus if we say, “Well, that is in the Old Testament. It has been done away with. I don’t have to listen to it.“ It is true that there is an old covenant that passed away, but it does not mean that the words of the Law of Moses (First five books of the Bible), the Prophets (Major and Minor prophets, Jeremiah, Daniel, Amos, etc), and the Psalms (poetic books) have no meaning for us today. To reason in such a manner as to minimize or reject the old testament is to reject the love of the truth and the teaching/encouragement that comes with God’s entire word. But, just as important It also means missing more about Jesus and having more faith and hope in Him!

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Romans 15:4 NIV

When Jesus prayed for His disciples and all believers in John 17, he prayed to the Father these words:

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

John 17:17

At the time Jesus prayed this prayer, the New Testament had not been created. Paul had not been converted. Jesus was referring to the Tanakh which contains all the books of what we call the Old Testament. Jesus used the Tanakh to help His disciples understand the scripture which spoke of Him.

The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

Psalm 119: 160

As the writers of the New Testament began to write about Jesus (the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and write letters to believers (writings of Paul, Peter, James, etc) they expounded on the Tanakh and their experience with Jesus. They encouraged the believers to trust in the entire word of God.

Notice that when Paul wrote an encouraging letter to young Timothy, there was no New Testament. He is referring primarily to the scripture or Tanakh:

“…and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:15-17

Did you notice that ALL SCRIPTURE makes the man of God complete? If we ignore any portion of our Bibles, we are in danger of being incomplete. For sure, we will miss learning more about Jesus.

It is unfortunate that we (Non-Jews) call the books of the Tanakh the “Old” Testament. It insinuates that it is not only ancient but irrelevant to those living after the cross.

Soon, I hope to write on the Old Covenant VS the New Covenant. This is, perhaps, where people become confused and throw out good doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. It is true there are things that are old and things that are new, but some things never pass away.

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

Isaiah 40:8

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If the Antichrist is going to be effective in the work of strong delusion so that the whole world follows (even some Christians), the word of God must be minimized and ignored. Tradition, pomp, and display should dazzle the eyes and ears so that God’s word becomes old and outdated. Public opinion (Unbelievers) and the professional preachers (Believers) must reign supreme. It must be in the hands of religious people who have an agenda of power and hide parts of God’s word that reveal their work of deception. All this must come together for the enemy to succeed in deceiving the whole world, so that the Antichrist may flourish. Sadly, it has already happened and continues to this very day.

“And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. ”

Matthew 15:9

We are instructed to beware of teachers, leaders, and false prophets both in and out of the church who teach something contradictory to the entire word of God.

The children of Israel were warned to stay away from mediums (where the dead would talk), and fortune tellers. Why? Because they placed themselves in a place where they could be deceived:

“And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?”

Isaiah 8:19

It was not the dead that talked, but satanic agencies appearing as a dead person. God appeals to them to seek Him and not things and places that would open them up to deception.

The next verse gives us a basis to avoid delusion in all situations, including those who speak without using God’s word:

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Isaiah 8:20

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be where there is darkness and not light to direct me. Rather, I desire the light of God’s word to direct my path. Don’t you?

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Psalm 119: 105

We can conclude from God’s word that the work of the Antichrist will use strong delusion on those who do not love God’s truth. The tools of the Antichrist are sights, sounds, and yes even miracles. The choice, in the end, is to acknowledge one or the other. God’s truth or the sights, sounds, and false teachings of the Antichrist.

The work of the Antichrist looks to take away the one thing that can unmask the work of the enemy. It is God’s word and the work of the Holy Spirit who guides people into truth.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth

John 16:13

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In times past, we have seen God’s word burned by the Nazi’s. During the Dark Ages, the reformation began when a single Bible written in a little known language (Latin) was found by Martin Luther chained to a monastery wall.

Today, in the 21st Century, there are countless paper Bibles in multiple languages. In the last few years, the Bible has been digitized so that the work of finding verses and understanding it even in it’s early languages of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic has become very easy. I use Bible Gateway and Strong’s Lexicon often in writing these studies.

Despite the availability of the Bible, many do not read it or study it. We are told an interesting prophecy related to the word of God and the end times:

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord”

Amos 8:11

This was fulfilled in the Dark Ages, but because we have the Bible so abundantly, we might be tempted to think this prophecy only applies to those in old times. But, read carefully. It is a famine of HEARING the words of the Lord.

This appears to make reference that the preachers and teachers of our time using less and less of the word of God, so the people don’t “hear” the words of the Lord.

If you have teachers and pastors who not only teach the word of God, but also handle it correctly, you are blessed especially if they encourage you to read for yourself. Never forget, reading and understanding God’s word is not just for those who have a PHD in religion. It is for you. If you are willing to follow God’s word, he will reveal more and more of His truth.

If anyone decides to follow God’s will, they will know the teachings, whether it is from God or not. If someone decides they don’t want to do God’s will, the opposite must be true. They will be confused and, perhaps, on the path to strong delusion.

“If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God…”

John 7:17

Who will God teach knowledge? What makes it easier to understand?

“Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?”

Isaiah 28:9 (first part)

The answer is simple:

“…them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.”

Isaiah 28:9 (last part)

Is this not a description of little children (infants)?

This is why Jesus said,

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 18:3

The context of this verse is when the disciples asked Jesus who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Verse 1). Jesus put a child in their midst to help them understand the great truth that we must have the faith of a little child. Jesus went on to say in the next verse:

“Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”

Matthew 18:4

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The work of the Antichrist was at work at the time of the disciples as well as at the time we are now living. This work was a perversion of God’s word (lawlessness) and even leading people away to a different teaching:

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.”

2 Thessalonians 2:7

This verse takes us back to our opening verse concerning strong delusion. Let’s read again:

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie

2 Thessalonians 2: 10-11

“…though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

Galatians 1:8

There is another gospel preached in these last days from a messenger who appears as an Angel of Light. The deceptive work of the Antichrist will first be upon those who choose sights, sounds, public opinion and the words of professional preacher, doctrines that they personally prefer instead of God’s word.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;”

2 Timothy 4:3

Have you noticed that the council and warnings from God’s word is not to unbelievers, but to believers who have become like the Scribes and Pharisees of old….Religions and comfortable in their traditions.

If we feel we are in need of nothing and we can never learn any more truth. If we feel our denomination has all the truth, we are setting ourselves up for strong delusion. It is God’s word that has all the truth!

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But, there is another work of the Anti-Christ that is perhaps even more important to understand The objective of the Anti-Christ is to come between you and Christ. It is not only what you know, but who you know. It is less about information and more about revelation and obedience to his will. If salvation was dependent only on knowing the scripture (head knowledge), then only those with a PHD in religion would be saved.

Joyce Meyer said something that is very relevant here,

“You see, there is a difference between information and revelation. No matter how much information you get, if it never turns into revelation it’s not going to do you a whole lot of good.”

That revelation must be about Jesus and His will. It is when we have a revelation of God and Jesus Christ that we make our election sure and we will never fall:

“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble”

2 Peter 1:10

What are “these things” that we should do to make sure we never stumble? The answer is found in its context which are the words preceding Verse 10:

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

2 Peter 1:5-9

Is this not a pattern of growth? But, notice the part I underlined. It is telling us that we will be “fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We actually begin to know more about Jesus by doing those things described through the power Jesus gives us.

This idea is expressed in the Old Testament when Jeremiah disclosed that Joaish (The last good king of Judah) knew Him because of what he did for others:

He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?”
declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 22:15-17 (NIV)

Jesus said the same thing in different words:

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent….We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

John 17:3, 1 John 2:3-6 (NIV)

Eternal life is dependent on who you know (Jesus). But to know him must come through both God’s word and a revelation about Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit. This will give you the heart to help others. If we are not willing to follow, the truth is not in us and we are deceitful to others and of little value in the work of God’s kingdom.

We may be like the Anti-Christ and have,

^“…. a form of godliness but deny its power”

2 Timothy 3:5

That power comes from God’s word and following it so that it affects your neighbor for his/her good.

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.

2 Corinthians 13:5

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I hope you have seen the need to base your faith on the word of God and not on sights, sounds, large crowds, and the influence of the world.

Also, knowing Jesus through a practical experience with Him day by day.

These two things will provide the basis for avoiding the strong delusion that is upon the earth now. Next time, we will move further into our study of the Antichrist and the plans to take away the one thing that will unmask the work of Satan behind the scenes….the word of God.

Blessings to you and your family until next time….Eddie

Prophecies for Our Time, The Soon Return of Jesus

Part 4-Second Coming Predictions-1,000 Years

May 11, 2018 Eddie Leave a comment

Many are tempted to view this topic as not necessary in their experience. They will ask, “Why study the 1,000 years? What does that have to do with my salvation?”

For sure, there are many people who have a saving relationship with Jesus that know very little (if anything) about this topic as well as other topics. But, as shown in the scripture below, all scripture is good for several things. This topic is good to understand too, otherwise, the Lord would not have inspired John to see it and write it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Wouldn’t you agree?

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2

Timothy 3:16

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

Romans 15:4

Pondering whether the 1,000 years is literal or symbolic is of little consequences because of the many facets brought forth about the nature of God contained in the topic.

A study of the 1,000 years is an important study for a couple of main reasons. First, it reveals further teachings about the 2nd coming and it provides clarity to things that are not clear in other passages. Secondly, it demonstrates how God deals with the sin problem, judgment, and justice.

For the purpose of this study, we will look at events only. We will assume the period is a literal 1,000 years. unless we find something that would lead us to a different conclusion.

There are clear related passages that let us know the start of this period; events in the middle; and finally events when the 1,000 years have passed and eternity begins.

If you are ready, let’s prayerfully begin.

_________________________________________________________

*Much thanks to Steve Wohlberg for the following material and its format.”

What is the truth about the thousand years?

To discover the answer, we must carefully examine the only authoritative source where it’s taught, the Bible, especially chapter 20 in the book of Revelation. Let’s see what Revelation 20 actually says, and doesn’t say.

Here’s Revelation 20 in its entirety:

“1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20, King James Version.

Following is a brief summary of each verse.

vs. 1 – An angel descends from heaven with a key and a chain.
vs. 2 – He binds Satan for 1000 years.
vs. 3 – During the 1000 years, Satan cannot deceive the nations anymore.
vs. 4 – Martyrs are resurrected to reign with Jesus Christ for 1000 years.
vs. 5a – The rest of the dead will be raised at the end of the 1000 years.
vs. 6 – Those in the first resurrection will reign with Jesus for 1000 years.
vs. 7 – Satan will be loosed at the end of the 1000 years.
vs. 8 – After the rest of the dead are raised, Satan deceives them again. There will be billions – like the sand of the sea. They are called Gog and Magog. Satan gathers them for a final battle.
vs. 9 – Satan and this host surround God’s City. A fire comes down and devours them.
vs. 10 – Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet end up in this lake of fire.
vs. 11 – Before this fire falls, a final judgment occurs.
vs. 12 – All the resurrected lost are judged.
vs. 13 – Another description of the resurrected lost being judged.
vs. 14 – Death and Hell [Hades-Grave] are cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
vs. 15 – All the resurrected lost are cast into the lake of fire.

To break it down even further: there is a ‘good resurrection’ (called “the first resurrection”) at the beginning of the 1000 years (vs. 4-6), whereas “the rest of the dead” are resurrected at the end of the 1000 years (vs. 5a). Satan is bound during the 1000 years (vs. 3), but is loosed “when the thousand years are expired” and “the rest of the dead” are raised (compare verses 5a and 7). Satan gathers the lost for a final battle against God’s City (vs. 8). A final judgment occurs, and then the lost are punished in the lake of fire (verses 9, 14-15). Then the old earth passes, and the new earth comes (Revelation 21:1).

The above points are undeniable, for this is exactly what Revelation 20 says. Two significant facts should be noted:

Revelation 20 doesn’t say there will be peace on earth during the 1000 years.
Revelation 20 doesn’t say Jesus Christ will rule during the 1000 years from the present city of Jerusalem.

These common doctrines are being taught worldwide but are not found in Revelation 20,the only place in God’s Word that specifically mentions the 1000-year period. Now let’s go deeper.

The Two Resurrections

There are two defining ‘bookends’ marking the beginning and the end of the thousand years, the two resurrections (vs. 4-6). Let’s see what else the Bible says about them.

Jesus Christ taught two resurrections.

“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation”

John 5:29.

The apostle Paul did too.

“There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust”

Acts 24:15.

Thus, both Jesus Christ and Paul taught two resurrections, the first being “the resurrection of life” for the saved, the second being “the resurrection of damnation” for the lost.

Revelation 20 revolves around these two resurrections. As we’ve already seen, verses 4-6 reveal that one takes place at the beginning of the 1000 years, the other at the end. The Word says,

“Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years”

(vs. 6)

This is the good, or “first resurrection,” at the start of the 1000 years. Those in it need not fear the second death.

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years where finished”

(vs. 5a).

This is the bad or second resurrection, at the conclusion of the 1000 years. Jesus Christ called it “

the resurrection of damnation”

John 5:29

Thus it is plain that there are two resurrections – one at the beginning of the Millennium, in which true believers in Christ are raised to eternal life; and one at the opposite end of the Millennium, in which the “unjust” awake to something else entirely.

The Second Coming

If the thousand years begins with the resurrection of the just, the question is, When does this good resurrection take place? When we find the answer, then we’ll understand what initiates the thousand years.

Scripture teaches that the return of Jesus Christ results in the resurrection of His saints. Paul tells us plainly that it is at “His coming,” when “the trumpet sounds,” that “the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

“But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming”

1 Corinthians 15:23:

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

1 Corinthians 15: 51-55,

Paul also wrote,

“The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

According to Paul, “the dead in Christ shall rise first.” This is the same as “the first resurrection” depicted in Revelation 20:6.

In summary, Revelation 20:4-6 begins the 1000 years with the resurrection of the saints. 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 teach that the resurrection of the saints, who are called “the dead in Christ,” occurs when Jesus Christ returns. Thus it is the return of Jesus Christ, when His saints are resurrected, that marks the beginning of the Millennium.

Left Behind

In Part 2, we studied about who was taken, who was left. We saw that those who are “left” are actually the saved who remain alive and those who are “taken” are the lost taken in death. Here is further Biblical support.

Jesus returns, the righteous dead are raised, and along with the righteous living they all are “caught up” to meet the Saviour in the air. This is great news for true believers!

But what about those who are not “caught up,” those who are left behind? Popular teaching says they will have a second chance during a “seven-year Tribulation,” an idea heavily promoted in the wildly popular Left Behind novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Though those books have sold by the millions, the important question for us should be, Is that theology truly biblical?

Immediately after Paul describes true believers being “caught up,” he then declares,

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. For when they shall say Peace and Safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them … and they shall not escape”

1 Thessalonians 5:2-3

Thus, according to Paul, those who are not “caught up” will reap “sudden destruction” and “not escape.”

Does this sound like ‘the second chance’ so graphically depicted in Left Behind novels and films? Hardly.

It gets worse. How widespread is this “sudden destruction”? Jesus Himself explained it. Note the comparison between the lost of Noah’s day and Lot’s day. Those left are those not destroyed. They remain alive. Those taken are those destroyed.

“As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed”

Luke 17:26 -30

In Noah’s day, all who refused to enter the ark were destroyed in the deluge. In Lot’s day, everyone except Lot and his family were consumed by falling fire. Jesus Christ said,

“Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”

Luke 17:30

Other texts make it clear that when Jesus returns, the lost will be destroyed, and they are not given another chance during some hypothetical “seven-year Tribulation” (which, by the way, is nowhere specifically referred to in the Bible). Here are just a few texts describing the global desolation that follows Jesus’ return.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 – When Jesus returns in flaming fire, the lost will be destroyed.
Revelation 16:17-18 – At Armageddon, cities crumble around the world.
Revelation 6:14; 16:20 – Every island sinks, and all the mountains disappear.
Jeremiah 4:23-26 – Planet Earth is totally devastated, with “no man” left alive.
Jeremiah 25:30-33 – Those slain by the Lord lie dead, unburied, all around the world.
Revelation 19:17-18, 21 – The birds eat the flesh of every human being worldwide.

These verses teach that those not “caught up” when Christ returns will be destroyed, and the destruction will encompass all the earth, as it did during Noah’s flood. Jesus Himself taught this.

“The flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the son of man be”

Matthew 24:39

From this verse, it is clear who got “took away” or who was taken.

The Rest of the Dead

The last sentence in Revelation 19 describes birds feasting upon “the flesh of all men” (vs. 21). Immediately following is Revelation 20, which depicts the binding of Satan so that he can “deceive the nations no more” during the 1000 years (Revelation 20:1-3). Why not? The answer’s easy–there’s nobody left alive on earth to deceive. Those in the first resurrection were “caught up” to be with Jesus, and the rest, those taken, were slain.

This helps explain what follows (Read carefully):

“that he [Satan] should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled”

(Revelation 20:3).

Notice these three words “no more until.” What do they tell us? They teach that those “nations” are entirely Satan’s nations. Satan is deceiving them now, but can’t continue deceiving them during the Millennium, “until” a certain time.

What time is that? When the 1000 years are over, obviously. Now put two and two together. At the end of the Millennium, “the rest of the dead” (who missed “the first resurrection”) are raised back to life. Then Satan deceives them again. Look again, and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise:

“The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished”

Verse 5a

“When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison”

Verse 7

At the end of the 1000 years, “the rest of the dead” are raised, and Satan is “loosed.” Therefore the raising of the “rest of the dead” is what “looses” the devil. Satan then swoops into these resurrected nations (now alive in the four corners of the earth), deceives them again, and then gathers them for the grand finale (verses 8-9).

What does all this mean? The answer will come shortly after we examine a few more crucial points. What should be clear so far however, that the common notion of the Millennium, reflected in Left Behind, leaves much to be desired. In fact, it’s completely bogus.

The Bottomless Pit

Crucial to understanding the Millennium are the first texts of Revelation 20, verses 1 and 2. According to these texts, Satan is bound with “a great chain” and confined to “the bottomless pit” for 1000 years. The expression, “a great chain,” doesn’t mean a literal chain. Even today, all of “the angels that sinned” with Lucifer are described as being in “chains of darkness” (2 Peter 2:4). These words do not refer to actual clinking and clanging metal, but to circumstances of darkness that these angels find themselves in after having been booted out of heaven.

During the 1000 years, Satan is represented as being bound with a chain because his new circumstances prevent him from deceiving the nations during the Millennium (Revelation 20:2). Again, what are those circumstances? Everyone left on earth is dead.

What’s this “bottomless pit”? In the Old Testament, the word “pit” often refers to a grave, a cemetery, or to the place of the dead.

Psalms 55:23 – Evil men will go “down into the pit of destruction.”
Numbers 16:32-33 – “the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up … into the pit.”
Ezekiel 32:22-23 – “his graves are about him … in the sides of the pit … all of them slain.”
Psalms 28:1 – David prayed not to “become like them that go down to the pit.”
Psalms 69:15 – “Let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.”

Isaiah 14 contains one of the Old Testaments clearest prophecies about Lucifer. He was cast out of heaven (vs. 12) for exalting himself (vs. 13). Yet he is to be brought down “to the sides of the pit” (vs. 15). Isaiah 14:18-21 perfectly parallels the prophecy in Revelation 20:1-3.

“All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house [the grave]. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet. Thou shall not be joined with them in burial”

Isaiah 14:18-21

These verses predict a time when all the nations are slain and lie in their graves, yet Satan will not join them in burial. He will be left, instead, to wander among earth’s ruins. Notice carefully:

“Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, thou inhabitant of the earth … The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be moved like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in prison, and after many days shall they be visited”

Isaiah 24:17-22

This is a prediction of a destroyed and devastated earth. Its inhabitants are gathered as prisoners in the pit [the grave]. When Revelation 20:1-3 describes Satan as bound with a chain for 1000 years, this means that a chain of circumstances will prevent him from deceiving the nations. The major circumstance is the return of Jesus Christ in “flaming fire” (2 Thessalonians 2:8), the “sudden destruction” of sinners (1 Thessalonians 5:3), the largest earthquake in history (Revelation 16:18), the global crumbling of cities (Revelation 16:19), the disappearing of mountains and islands (Revelation 16:20), and the total depopulation of planet Earth just like “it was in the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:37-39). This “great day of the Lord” will come “as a destruction from the Almighty” (Joel 1:15).

“And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be as dung upon the ground”

Jeremiah 25:33

Earth will then be like one gigantic bottomless pit, a huge cemetery. Jeremiah predicted:

“I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger”

(Jeremiah 4:23 -26).

As Satan and his angels behold their kingdom in ruins, they can only wonder about, counsel together, and contemplate with trembling the final events to occur at the end of the 1000 years.

Yet it doesn’t end here. We mustn’t forget the last section of Isaiah 24:17-22, which predicts that those who lie dead in their graves “shall be visited” (Isaiah 24:22). What could that possibly mean other than what we have seen in Revelation 20:5?

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” It’s what Jesus was talking about when He warned about the “the resurrection of damnation”

John 5:29

This occurs at the end of the Millennium.

Far, then, from being a time of earthly glory when Jesus reigns from Jerusalem, the Millennium is a time when earth lies waste, in desolate ruins, a prison house for Satan and his demons.

The Saints in Heaven

If this doesn’t sound inviting, it’s because it isn’t supposed to be inviting. It’s a time of chaos, desolation, and ruin, a time when sin takes another step toward its horrific ending. The Millennium is not some idyllic era of peace and goodness upon this old earth, with Jesus ruling from Jerusalem, but a time of utter devastation and judgment.

What about God’s people? What about those who participated in “the first resurrection,” who were “caught up” with Jesus as opposed to being left behind? What happens to them during the Millennium?

Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus told His followers that He was going to heaven, where He would be preparing mansions for His children (John 14:1-2). When He returns, He will take us to Himself, “that where I am, there you shall be also” (vs. 3). When He comes, Jesus will take us to the place where He is now, in heaven in the New Jerusalem (see Revelation 3:12; 21:10). As we saw earlier, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 tells us that at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ we shall be “caught up.” Thus we are going up to glory. In perfect agreement with this is Revelation 19:1-2, which teaches that immediately after the destruction of Babylon (Revelation 18:8-24), John beheld God’s saints in heaven.

“And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand”

Revelation 19:1-2

According to Revelation 20:4, 6, the saints will “reign” with Jesus for 1000 years. Contrary to popular opinion, Revelation 20 does not say they will reign on earth during that time. Why would Jesus and His people rule over a devastated and ruined world anyway? The Bible says we will soar upward when Christ returns (1 Thessalonians 4:17), that He will take us to the New Jerusalem (John 14:1-3), and that we will then be in heaven praising God (Revelation 19:1-2).

Some might ask, How can we “reign” for 1000 years if we’re in heaven? Don’t we have to be on earth to “reign” over others during this time? Not necessarily. The Bible also says the saints will “reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). Thus this “reign” idea implies we will be in some position of authority, just as Adam originally exercised dominion over the earth, that’s all.

Now, if planet Earth is depopulated, with no survivors (except Satan and his angels), and the saints are in heaven, then what is the purpose of the 1000 years? A few possibilities exist:

1) It gives the loyal universe an opportunity to behold the terrible results of Satan’s rule;
2) It gives the saints in heaven an opportunity to go through heaven’s records and to have all their questions answered about why some of their loved ones are there and some are not;
3) It provides a period of time when Jesus and the saints together can make decisions about the just punishments to be carried out upon the lost at the end of the 1000 years (see 1 Corinthians 6:2-3);
4) It also gives the saints a period of time to prepare mentally for the events at the end of the 1000 years, at which time many of their loved ones will be resurrected, judged, and sentenced to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:5a, 11-15).

The Resurrection of Damnation

Okay, we have seen that at the Second Coming, Jesus returns, the saved (both the resurrected dead and those alive at His return) are taken to heaven where they “reign” for a thousand years, the earth is destroyed–and Satan remains captive there for the allotted thousand years. What then happens at the end of the thousand years?

Revelation 20 (as we’ve already seen) is clear that two events occur:

1) The “rest of the dead” are raised to life (vs. 5a).
2) Satan is “loosed” (verses 3, 7).

Both events occur simultaneously. When the lost are resurrected, Satan now has people once again to deceive; thus he is, in effect, “loosed” from his chains. Satan then

“will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea”

(vs. 8).

The “sand of the sea” means myriads of people (all the lost–from the days of Adam down to the last person who experienced “sudden destruction” at Christ’s return). During the 1000 years, they remain in their graves; now, they are raised to life in “the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29).

Immediately after the lost are resurrected, Satan gathers “them together to battle.” What Hollywood movie producer could even envision such a scene: billions of lost people, including (no doubt) great military commanders, gathered together in one final burst of rebellion?

The next question is, Who will this terrible army attempt to fight? The Bible makes it plain: “They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city…” (vs. 9). This is the New Jerusalem, the home of the saved (Revelation 3:12; 21:10), which descends from heaven to the earth (Revelation 3:12; 21:2) right before the second resurrection. Then Satan and his macabre army surround the “camp of the saints” in a last-ditch effort to conquer God’s fortress.

Picture this scene: all the world’s lost and all the world’s saved are together for the first time–the saved inside the city, the lost outside. The lost will behold the reward of the righteous, the saved the doom of the damned.

This is Satan’s last stand, his final opportunity to conquer Jesus Christ, His New Jerusalem, and the redeemed of all ages. But he can never defeat the King of the Universe. He failed miserably when Jesus was a lowly carpenter in human flesh. What chance does he have against Him now as King of the New Jerusalem? None whatsoever!

Fire from Heaven

After Lucifer’s legions gather round God’s holy city to make war against it, what happens next? The Bible explains explicitly:

“[Satan] shall go out to deceive the [resurrected]nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them”

Revelation 20:8-9

Notice, “fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” That’s their fate!

Before the fire falls, a vast cosmic judgment scene unfolds.

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it … And I saw the [resurrected] dead standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it [another description of the resurrection of the lost], and Death and Hades [the grave] delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged each one according to their works”

Revelation 20:11 -13

This judgment occurs while Satan’s army is gathered around the city; it concerns only the lost, who are then judged “according to their works.” As books are opened above them, they are allowed to see the complete record of their lives. They are shown why they are lost, why they are outside God’s City, why they have forfeited eternal life with Jesus. As the Book of Life is opened, they discover their names are missing. Then Jesus will undoubtedly show them how much He loved them, how He tried hard to save them, and yet how by their own persistent efforts they resisted His tender appeals. Yes, they will see that Jesus Christ died for them, that on the cross He paid the full penalty for all their sins, and that they could have been inside the city with His saints; but now they are outside with another master, the master of their own choosing. They will see that, though Jesus willingly took upon Himself the punishment that was theirs, they spurned Him, and now they are forced to stand before His holy majesty in the shame of their spiritual nakedness, with every wrong thought, every wrong word, and every wrong deed bearing down upon their consciences to condemn them, and there is no longer any Mediator to represent them and intercede for them.

After sentence is pronounced, the fire of God brings final retribution upon the lost. By this time, all the unsaved understand why they are lost. This destruction is an act of justice, not cruelty. The book of Revelation is very clear about God’s uprightness. “Just and true are your ways, O King of the saints” (Revelation 15:3); “You are righteous, O Lord … Because you have judged these things” (Revelation 16:5); and “For true and righteous are His judgments” (Revelation 19:2).

The judgment at the close of the Millennium will be perfectly just, without any taint of imperfection chargeable upon God. By rejecting His love and mercy, and by a life of continued sinning, the lost have earned their just reward. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, holy angels, and the saints will all weep over the unsaved. But nothing more can be done. Now it’s too late.

Revelation 20:8 says the lost will march across “the four quarters of the earth” right before the fire falls upon them. Thus we conclude that God’s fire will descend all over planet Earth. This unquenchable downpour will become a “lake of fire” (14-15) boiling everywhere. Malachi 4:1, 3 says that entire fateful day will “burn as an oven.” 2 Peter 3:10 adds “…the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” Thus God will totally purify and cleanse our sin-polluted earth with flames. In fact, 2 Peter 3 parallels the destruction of the world by water in Noah’s day with the purification of the earth by fire at the end of the 1000 years (2 Peter 3:5-7). In Noah’s day, the whole earth was under ‘a lake of water’; at the end of the 1000 years, this planet will be wrapped in “a lake of fire.” In Noah’s day, God’s people floated in the midst of the water but were protected inside the ark; at the end of the Millennium, when a lake of fire envelops our planet, God’s saved “saints” will be right there, riding the storm safely inside the New Jerusalem.

The New Heaven and New Earth

Revelation 20 concludes with these solemn words, “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). Fortunately, that’s not the end of the story. The next verse reads: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1).

New heaven (sky), new earth! What happened to the old ones? We just saw. The lake of fire consumed them. When the Bible says, “…the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,” this must include the lake of fire! After God’s fire completely purifies this planet and its atmosphere, He will recreate the earth and sky, so long under the contaminating effects of sin. God will make “a new heaven and a new earth.” Eventually, the cleansing fire will disappear, after purifying this earth from every trace of sin, sinners, Satan, and demons, and in place of smoggy sky and a polluted earth, the Lord will create new ones.

“Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells”

2 Peter 3:13

Revelation 21 also adds,

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He that sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful’”

Revelation 21:4-5

“Write, for these words are true,” says God Almighty. When this finally happens, the lake of fire, death, sin, sorrow, crying, and pain will “have passed away.” There will be no more terrorists, no more tears over the World Trade Center, nor crying over a million other things like natural disasters, sickness, divorce, child abuse, or graveside services. These will all have “passed away.”

As Noah and his family finally walked out of the ark onto a cleansed world, so will God’s faithful saints finally step out of the New Jerusalem into a brand new world.

Conclusion

Contrary to popular opinion, the biblical Millennium is a time of desolation and ruin, followed by more rebellion, then judgment, and finally, re-creation–when the Lord who first spoke heaven and earth into existence (Genesis 1) repeats His creativity, “His wonders to perform”!

The most important issue, however, isn’t so much our knowledge of millennial details but our knowledge of the God who has revealed the truth about it. What this study shows us, perhaps more than anything else, is that there is no second chance, no middle ground, no neutrality in this Great War between Jesus Christ and Satan. Remember, the devil deceives “nations” (Revelation 20:3) in many areas, including this one. You will be on one side or the other. You will either be inside the city, safe and secure with Jesus, looking down on the hordes outside; or you will be outside, deceived by the Devil, looking up at what might have been yours had you only repented and given yourself fully to Jesus Christ for faithful obedience.

Jesus died for you! He died so that you could have a place with Him in that New Jerusalem and in the new heavens and new earth that are coming. Your final destiny, inside or outside, eternal life or eternal destruction, depends upon your choice. Will you give yourself to the One who gave Himself for you, and thus have eternity with Him, or will you continue resisting His pleadings?

Prophecies for Our Time, Reasons to Believe

Science, Sickness, and Death-Good Reasons to Doubt?

December 31, 2017 Eddie Leave a comment

Listen to my teaching, and you will be wise; do not ignore it.

Proverbs 8:33

A Brilliant Mind Falls Short

Albert Einstein was arguably one of the most brilliant minds of all times, yet he admitted his short-comings and “limited mind” on the topic of God. He did not believe in a personal God. He considered himself an agnostic or a “religious unbeliever.”

Einstein was not an atheist. He could see the work of a Creator in the order of the cosmos. He often complained about being put into the atheist camp:

“In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me for the support of such views.”⁵

“I’m not an atheist and I don’t think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangements of the books but doesn’t know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God.”⁶

Einstein also expressed his skepticism regarding the existence of an anthropomorphic God, such as the God of Abrahamic religions, often describing this view as “naïve”^[3] and “childlike”.^[11]

In a 1947 letter, he stated, “It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously.”^[12] In a letter to Beatrice Frohlich on 17 December 1952, Einstein stated,

“The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naïve.”^[13]

He also said, in an interview with the Saturday Evening Post (1929):

“As a child, I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene.”

When asked,

“Do you accept the historical existence of Jesus?”, He replied emphatically,

“Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.”⁷

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The Shortcoming of Scientific Intelligence-Lack of Knowledge

Here is the oxymoron of Einstein’s statements. It fits many who consider Jesus to be a wise teacher, but nothing more:

Albert had doubts about the existence of a personal God, but he found Jesus wise and appealing in many ways. That is personal. Despite all this, he would not follow God’s own instructions so that he could know him personally:

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

God, Himself, tells the reader of His word that it is possible to know and understand Him.

But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these, I delight,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:24

It is possible to have a personal relationship with One who delights in things. Being delightful is a very human emotion. It is an emotion that God possesses. There are human beings (like God) who are loving, kind, and always does the right thing for others, often sacrificing their own desires and comforts. They did not come to be this way by themselves. God is the author of these qualities! But, there is another author at work that has opposite qualities.

Here is the big hangup in the scientific mind. They won’t accept the fact that evil had a beginning and the flames of its passion are whipped up by this entity in the minds and hearts of people every day. He is the author of destruction and death.

The scientific mind can’t, or won’t, consider the Bible as a viable book to read and study; therefore they will not search for spiritual knowledge. And since they won’t search its inspired writers, their skepticism grows. The converted Paul said,

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.

1 Corinthians 2:14

They can’t see the order of the cosmos and life as did Mr. Einstein. They would rather attribute it to chance and billions of years of blind luck. But, let’s be fair. There are some very good reasons for people to doubt the existence of God or, at the least, a personal God.

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Religion and Jesus-Two Different Things:

Real followers of Christ (not the religious) have found that the key to understanding God is Jesus. It is all about Him from Genesis to Revelation:

1 Corinthians 2:14

You search the Scriptures,…. these are they which testify of Me.-Jesus

John 5:39

At another time, Jesus revealed to his disciples an important truth about the God of the Old Testament and Himself.

Luke 24: 44, 45

So if the scriptures are about Jesus, we can’t just say he is a “good teacher” or a “good moral man”….who suddenly and without warning appeared on the scene. He is the One who all the writers of the Old Testament wrote and sought over the millennia of time. But, when

the time was right, God sent his Son…..Galatians 4:4

So, why wouldn’t a scientific mind desire to have a knowledge of Jesus and scripture? It is because it is not science and does not fit into the comfortable world of science and its operational sterile paradigms. The Bible is not a book of science, but rather a book about the human experience and spiritual truths. If God is all that He claims to be, then He is the author of science and the scientists are merely the discoverers of His science. For example, scientists did not create the laws of gravity…they discovered them.

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Religion is Its Own Worst Enemy

Another couple of reasons for the scientific mind to dismiss the book that provides insight into many of the human experiences not addressed by science is the radical religionists and suffering.

The religious people are their own worst enemy! The ones who are not real followers of Jesus, but people who are re”religious” portray the God of mercy and loving-kindness and his truth into undesirable rounds of ceremonies, does and don’ts, eternal torment, and guilt trips. Some even feel God desires them to terrorize people into belief…and I am not just talking about our friends in the middle east. How often is eternal burning hell used as a weapon to scare the uninformed into belief?

You can’t blame unbelievers. For a long time, this was my main reasons for unbelief and disdain for churches. There are no answers or peace in such a religious world. But, there is a path to truth in Jesus who invites people into a one-on-one experience with Him.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

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Unbelief in God Because of Death and Suffering

Often I receive comments from readers of this blog and some of my Facebook sites who say that Jesus is “an imaginary friend.” While others ask, “Where was God’ when my (fill in a family member relationship) died from cancer or was killed in a car wreck, etc.

Einstein had similar feelings about the incompatibility of a caring God and the daily horrors of planet earth:

How many have asked….

“Why would God allow my family member to die of cancer?”

“Why has he allowed death and destruction to reign on this planet?”

“Where was God when...If there is a God, He is not in control.”

These questions pre-suppose that God should make our lives perfect and without sin, death, and destruction. To the uninformed, belief is contingent upon our feelings of what God should be like. But, this is not according to what is revealed in God’s word. This author captures my next thoughts exactly:

God made man perfectly holy and happy; and the fair earth, as it came from the Creator’s hand, bore no blight of decay or shadow of the curse. It is transgression of God’s law–the law of love–that has brought woe and death. Yet even amid the suffering that results from sin, God’s love is revealed. It is written that God cursed the ground for man’s sake. Genesis 3:17. The thorn and the thistle–the difficulties and trials that make his life one of toil and care–were appointed for his good as a part of the training needful in God’s plan for his uplifting from the ruin and degradation that sin has wrought.

God’s Love for Man. Page 9

When God made man as described in the opening chapters of Genesis, everything He made, He declared “good” or “very good.” There was not death, decaying, or the curse. But something went terribly wrong. Evil in the form of a rebellious angel called Lucifer began the journey of sin, death, and decay. He is the author of the bad things in this life not God for it is written:

Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same.

James 1:17 (ERV)

So when we blame God for the evil in this world, we demonstrate we do so without a knowledge of God and what He has revealed to us through his word.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55: 8, 9

Einstein’s failure to understand the motives of God are the result of his incorrect assumption that God intended this universe as His ultimate perfect creation. Einstein could not get past the moral problems that are present in our universe. He assumed, as most atheists do, that a personal God would only create a universe which is both good morally and perfect physically. Where Einstein erred was in that thinking that there was a god who designed the universe, but designed it in such as way as to allow evil without a purpose

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It would be too inconvenient or dangerous to the dedicated scientist and to their worldview to consider there might be more to existence than what can be explained through formulas, books, test tubes, and philosophies, or unbelieving professors that focus only on what can be seen and understood by “limited human minds.” Therefore, many won’t listen or follow any of Jesus’ words even though all are invited to follow Him down a path of discovery. So His words are chosen by unbelievers and religionists like fruit from the tree of knowledge to fit their own likeness of God, while other less palatable instructions are left to rot on the altar of narcissism and selfishness.

…while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

John 5:39

Ultimately, we cannot project limited human thoughts, philosophies, or reasoning upon God and create Him in our own image. He is supreme. We are not. He is omnipotent, we are not.

How can we intelligently base our decision to be an unbeliever based on cancer which is often the result of our own actions i.e. smoking cigarettes or runaway eating of anything and everything?

The order and intelligence of the design of the universe leave us will little excuse for unbelief.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Romans 1:20

Yes, you can know God personally, but you must search and desire to understand and gain knowledge unlike what you will gain from the textbooks or even blog sites like this. Being a scientist does not mean you can’t study and read the Bible. If you do, at the least, you will find wisdom. In fact, there are many scientists who are believers in Jesus and have faith in God’s word.

I have concluded that unbelievers are the uninformed! When I searched out Jesus through the Bible I found Him. He is there if you will just look.

Listen to my teaching, and you will be wise; do not ignore it.

Proverbs 8:33

If you want to begin your Jesus journey through the Bible, I invite you to click on the site below to begin a basic understanding of God’s word. These studies will lead you to a deeper and deeper to an understanding of spiritual things and the God who made the universe.

Free Online Bible School

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References

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” (Albert Einstein, “Science, Philosophy and Religion: a Symposium”, 1941)
“My position concerning God is that of an agnostic. I am convinced that a vivid consciousness of the primary importance of moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not need the idea of a law-giver, especially a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and punishment.” (Albert Einstein in a letter to M. Berkowitz, October 25, 1950; Einstein Archive 59–215; from Alice Calaprice, ed., The New Quotable Einstein, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2005, p. 206. )
Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman (eds) (1981). Albert Einstein, The Human Side. Princeton University Press. p. 43.
Cable reply to Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein’s (Institutional Synagogue in New York) question to Einstein, “Do you believe in God?”.
Prinz Hubertus zu Lowenstein, Towards the Further Shore: An Autobiography (Victor Gollancz, London, 1968), p. 156.
G. S. Viereck, Glimpses of the Great (Macauley, New York, 1930), quoted by D. Brian, Einstein: A Life , p. 186.
G. S. Viereck, “What Life Means to Einstein,” Saturday Evening Post, 26 October 1929; Schlagschatten, Sechsundzwanzig Schicksalsfragen an Grosse der Zeit (Vogt-Schild, Solothurn, 1930), p. 60; Glimpses of the Great (Macauley, New York, 1930), pp. 373-374.

Prophecies for Our Time, The Soon Return of Jesus

Second Coming Predictions-Details to the Secrets

December 3, 2015 Eddie 4 Comments

“I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things:

Daniel 7: 15:16

We skip through some important stories to come to the follow-up to the Daniel 2 prophecy which we studied last time:

Daniel 3: Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold and the experience of the fiery furnace for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.

Daniel 4: Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream about his pride in building the kingdom and his humiliation of grazing like an ox.

It seems Nebuchadnezzar was very reluctant to believe it was God who “sets up kings and removes kings.”

Daniel 5: Belshazzar’s Feast his fall to Cyrus as predicted by God.

Daniel 6: The plot against Daniel and his experience in the lion’s den.

The point is there are many years between Nebuchadnezzar’s image and the dream of Daniel in Chapter 7.

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In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts.

Daniel 7:1

Notice, Daniel wrote down the dream to tell the main facts of the dream.

The content of what he wrote down is found in verses 2-15.

I invite you to read these verses and consider the dream. I predict you will be confused just as Daniel. Here are the “main facts” of the dream. Care to give it a try on interpretation?

1.) 4 winds that stirred up the great sea

2.) 4 different beasts came out of the sea. They were different from each other.

3.) The first beast look like a lion and had eagle wings.

4.) The second beast was like a bear. But it stood up favoring one side and in it’s mouth were three ribs.

5.) The third beast looked like a four-headed leopard with four wings of a bird on its back.

6.) Next a very unique but terrible, fearful, and exceedingly strong 10-horned beast that was eating, stomping, and destroying.

7.) As Daniel continued to look at the 10-horned beast, he noticed that 3 of the horns were plucked up and a mysterious little horn came up where the 3 horns were originally. This little horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and it hand a mouth on it. That mouth said some “pompous” things.

8.) Daniel continued to watch. Then someone called the Ancient of Days appears. A million (thousand thousands) minister before “Him,” but 100 Million (ten thousand times ten thousand) stood before him. It is very likely these numbers are symbolic of countless numbers due to the roundness of the numbers the idea of expressing vast numbers related to an easier number to comprehend i.e., a thousand.

9.) After this multitude settles down, the books are open. What books?

10.) Daniel was concerned about he “pompous words of the 4th beast. He continued to watch until the the beast was slain and its body was burned up in the flames.

11.) The “fifth” power is one that will never be destroyed. God described its ruler as “one like the son of Man coming in the clouds.”

12.) All people, nations, and languages shall serve Him.

That is the framework of the dream Daniel wrote down. Do you understand it? Don’t worry. Daniel didn’t either.

Daniel admitted he didn’t understand the dream and after writing it down, he asked one of the attending angels for an explanation. This we will review, but first let’s review last week’s clear understanding of Daniel 2

Daniel 2 Review:

In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that he did not understand and it troubled him greatly. None of the wise men, I call the “Fakers,” were able to help the King. But God used Daniel and his three companions to both remind the king of his dream and give him the interpretation.

This interpretation comes straight from Daniel and needs “no private interpretation.”

Quite simply, Daniel told the king that four (4) great powers would arise. He identified the first two in scripture as Babylon, then the dual kingdom of the Medes and Persians. After Daniel’s time, the other two powers appear on the scene as history tells us: Greece (Belly and thighs of brass) and finally Rome (Legs of iron).

Rome was the ruling power when Jesus was on the earth teaching and dying for our sins. It was a Roman decree and a Roman cross upon which our Lord died. Rome continued to rule as the disciples went out in the power of the Holy Spirit and built up the church.

Also during this time, the church began to be persecuted as we will see later.

The king’s dream does not stop here. The legs of iron are followed by the feet and toes of iron and part clay. This identifies the fall of Rome into 10 divisions, partly strong and partly weak. Three division were wiped out and there are current countries that have roots in these tribes. The Heruli, Vandals and Ostrogoths were the 3 kingdoms eliminated by Rome.

The prophecy ends with these startling words:

And in the days of these kings (The old division of Rome or what we now call Europe) the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”

Daniel 2: 44-45

Over and over, the Bible talks of the 2nd coming as a time of destruction from the Lord. More specifically, it is described as follows:

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

2 Peter 3:10

It also includes the unsaved:

…turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;

2 Peter 2:6

“For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch.

Malachi 4:1

So when all the kingdoms of the earth is destroyed, God will create a new heaven (old destroyed) and new earth (old destroyed) and the “Rock” and God’s kingdom will fill the who earth. God will be our God and we will be his people.

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.”

Isaiah 65:17

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.God Himself will be with them and be their God.

Revelation 21: 3

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Daniel 7-Introduction

In Daniel 7, another dream or vision is given. But this time, it is given to Daniel. Like king Nebuchadnezzar, the dream troubles Daniel and he does not know what it means. But, it is interpreted for him by the attending angels.

Like Daniel 2, we will let the Bible interpret itself and then we will check it out through history.

In this vision of Daniel, we will see that God has a way of revealing truth and the future in a way as to prepare the heart to receive it. Daniel 7 is a principal of repeating and expanding. We will see the same four powers, but with more detail concerning the nature of the powers and we will see the introduction of a terrible power that comes from one of the powers described by Daniel 2.

A verse comes to mind as I write this introduction. Jesus said to His disciples the principal I just described of preparing the heart for truth:

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”

John 16:12

The apostle Paul said something very similar:

I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able

1 Corinthians 3:2

In the Christian walk, especially as we interact with new Christians, we should be careful to give truth only as they are ready to receive it. We are to be:

Be wise like snakes and gentle like doves.

Matthew 10:16

This vision of Daniel 7 is like meat. It will be new to many who read this and you might not be ready to receive it or digest it,, but the words are certain and can be supported through the Bible and history. As we begin, pray for the Spirit of Truth and let the story reveal itself to you. Keep in mind, you have a loving and forgiving Savior who desires you to find peace and comfort in Him and his revelation.

OK? Let’s begin.

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Daniel 7-Part 1

The book of Daniel is about 4 animals that give fear and wonder to Daniel. But, he is particularly interested in the fourth beast and the little horn power. The interpretation is given to Daniel and it goes way beyond the time he is living even until the coming judgment of planet earth.

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts.

Daniel 7:1

This first verse is important because it gives the time and Daniel’s dream. The first year of Belshazzar would be 540 BC.

Here is what Daniel saw that year:

“I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.”

Verse 2 and 3

As the beasts are described, they look something like below. Very strange! Wouldn’t you agree? They are animals with something unusual about each.

When we read and study the Bible, we should read it as literal unless there is some overall reason to apply symbolism. Here we have good reason to apply the rule of symbolism because of the description of the beasts, but even more important the interpretation given by the Bible itself for these symbols of great beasts. To do otherwise is to lose the message God is giving us. Is that a fair statement? I will explain as we go along.

To help us with the beginning of this prophecy, let’s look at some passages that unlock the symbolic meaning of this prophecy and others. In Daniel’s vision, he is seeing “the four winds stir up the Great Sea.”

What does the four winds and the Great Sea represent?

Revelation describes the four winds in this passage:

After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree…”Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

Revelation 7:1, 3

From this passage in Revelation, we can see that the 4 winds represent turmoil, strife, destruction. Another passage supports this interpretation:

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Behold, disaster shall go forth

From nation to nation,

And a great whirlwind shall be raised up

From the farthest parts of the earth.”
Jeremiah 25:32
Even more important is the self interpretation from this Chapter about the beasts.  In its interpretation we can see that logically the winds and sea would indeed represent nations arising out of turmoil and wars:
What are the four beasts?  Let’s let the angel of Daniel 7 tell us:
“Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth.”
Daniel 7:17
If four kings or kingdoms arise, where do they come from?  The sea of people and the winds of war.
So early in this prophecy, we can conclude that Daniel is seeing four kingdoms arise from the many people and the results of conquering wars.  It is interesting that King Nebuchadnezzar also saw four kingdoms:  Babylon, Medes/Persia, Greece, and Rome.  Then Rome is divided into 10 kingdoms.  It is in the days of these kingdoms that our Lord sets up his kingdom that shall never be destroyed by wars or strife.
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Daniel goes on to describe the four beasts in more detail:
 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
Daniel 7: 4

The wings represent the rapidity by which Babylon conquered its foes under king Nebuchadnezzar. But, the wings are plucked and a man’s heart is given to it. The boldness of the Lion wanes as it comes to a close of its earthly domination. The man’s heart compared to the Lion illustrates the weakness that came about as it lay dormant and exposed caused by wealth and luxury.

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It is now a perfect target for the next power to arise and take its place. This power is the dual kingdom of the Medes and the Persians and is represented by the bear that raised itself up on one side and had three ribs between its teeth.

And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

Daniel 7:5

Eventually the Persians dominated the kingdom and became stronger than the Medes. They came up “last” as we will see in the prophecy in the 8th Chapter. The Persians also become the dominant power. The command to devour much flesh was obeyed and it left nothing but three bones. These likely represent the three conquests of the Medes and Persians: Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt

This power represented by the bear ruled from the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus in 538 BC to the battle of Arbela in 331 BC. A time span of 207 years. It fell to the next kingdom represented by the four-headed leopard with four wings of a fowl,

After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

Daniel 7:6

If two wings represent speed, then 4 wings on the quick-footed leopard must represent a extremely rapid course of conquests for the next kingdom of Greece under Alexander the Great. This corresponds with the Daniel 2 prophecy and history.

Alexander have no parallel in historic annals for suddenness and rapidity.

Rollin, Ancient History, b.15, sec.2, gives the following brief synopsis of Alexander’s marches:-

“From Macedonia to the Ganges, which river Alexander nearly approached, is computed at least eleven hundred leagues. Add to this the various turnings in Alexander’s marches; first, from the extremity of Cilicia, where the battle of Issus was fought, to the temple of Jupiter Ammon in Libya; and his returning from thence to Tyre, a journey of three hundred leagues at least, and as much space at least for the windings of his route in different places; we shall find that Alexander, in less then eight years, marched his army upward of seventeen hundred leagues [or more than fifty-one hundred miles], without including his return to Babylon”

Alexander the Great died succeeded his father Philip II at age 20 and lived to reign only about 11 1/2 years more. He died at age 32. His life spent in the fast lane of wars and debauchery.

Alexander’s empire was divided among his four leading generals:

Cassander (Macedon and Greece in the west)

Lysimachus (Thrace and parts of Asia on the Hellespont and Bosphorus in the North

Ptolemy (Egypt, Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele Syria in the south)

Seleucus (Syria and all the rest of Alexander’s dominions in the east.)

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Next to arise on the world scene is Rome illustrated as the “dreadful” and terrible beast.” It was different from the other powers and it had ten horns corresponding to the 10 toes of Daniel 2:

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Daniel 7: 7

There is not a beast in nature that Daniel can use to describe this fourth beast and how “dreadful and terrible” it is. It’s great teeth devour and brake to pieces the other countries. The only that that has a recognizable feature is its 10 horns. Again, the same number of the 10 toes of part iron and part clay of Daniel 2.

The nature of Rome was cruel. They perfected the tortuous death of crucifixion believed to have been invented by the Persians. Death by crucifixion could last up to 6 days! It was on a cruel Roman cross that Jesus took the shamefulness of our sins upon himself. This act by the Creator was the ultimate demonstration of the sacrificial love for His creation. It was part of the good news. But, the fact that Jesus arose a victor over the death of the cross that the good news message is most nearly complete. The other part of the good news is that Jesus will one day return to change us and to rescue us forever from the pull and presence of sin. The good news cannot be captured by a list of events in the life of Jesus. it is an experience initiated and propelled by the Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit.

We will end Part 1 with a description by Daniel of the 10 horns and the little horn that arose:

And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.

Daniel 7:20

Who was this final power that captured the attention of Daniel? This horn had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things and was more stout than the others.

This horn displaces three horns and speaks great things. This power exists today! It will bring the final deception of many people on this earth. In the next post we will discover the identity of the little horn and how it is described in Revelation 13 as the Beast that the “whole world wonders after.”

Despite the little horn’s power, we can trust in the One who is greater. Terrible times will come, but we can find peace in our Lord both day and night.

“By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.”

Psalm 42:8

Prophecies for Our Time, The Soon Return of Jesus

Second Coming Predictions-God Reveals Secrets About The Future

November 20, 2015 Eddie 1 Comment

“When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Ezekiel 33:33

It has often been said that “hindsight is 20/20.” In our study, we will look back at prophecy found in Chapter 2 of Daniel and we will see the future beginning with Daniel’s time (6th Century BC) and moving forward through the first coming of Jesus and on through the years of ancient Rome to the time of modern Europe up to our time in 2014.

This prophecy is important because it makes some predictions about Europe that still holds true to this day, some 2,500 + years later. But it does not stop with modern times. It continues to the future to let us know what the future holds for this planet in rebellion.

Later, it will tie in with other prophecies by Daniel and Revelation. Actually, the Daniel 2 prophecy is the foundation and touchstone for other more detailed prophecies.

It lays out before the reader the great monarchies that affected God’s people. It demonstrates how these powers were to be temporary and victims of their own strategy of living by the sword and their own might without regard for the great and only true God who created them.

Finally, it ends with hope in a coming kingdom that will “fill up the whole earth” through out eternity-This is the soon coming of the kingdom of God-The return of Christ!

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“Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”

Amos 3:7

There IS a secret, God’s secret. But it is something He desires to reveal to those who would search or want to know. The way He chooses to reveal this “secret” is through His servants the prophets. It is not revealed through those who work for the enemy such as fortune tellers, psychics, soothsayers, and those with familiar spirits.

“Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 19:31

People, especially followers of Jesus, should seek God rather than the enemies who seek to deceive:

And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?

Isaiah 8:19

We often forget that there is an enemy of God and His creation. It has been the work of the fallen angel ,formerly called Lucifer, to confuse the mind of man through lies and deception.

Regarding the enemy called Satan or the devil, Jesus said,

“He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

Matthew 8:44

Jesus claimed the opposite:

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 14:6

Satan is a liar, Jesus tells the truth. The world has managed to twist this around. The work of the Holy Spirit also directs the seeker into truth:

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.“

John 16:13

It is the work of the third member of the Godhead to guide mankind into truth and to reveal the “things to come.”

This Spirit is given every person who comes in the world. It is through the Spirit we are given the desire to know the truth and to wonder about the future.

That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

John 1:9

The work of God the Father, Jesus, and The Spirit is to reveal or pull back the curtain of the future to show, to warn, and to save. This work is for every person who comes into the world. God gives each a measure of His Spirit, so truth can be revealed. Because of this work, the liar will be overcome and people will find peace in knowing the future God has planned….if they choose to seek and yield to the pulling or drawing of the Holy Spirit.

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Starting with this understanding, we will lay the ground work for studying Bible Prophecy. We will let the work of God impress upon our hearts the truth about the future and the character of God through the visions of Daniel and Revelation.

Today, we look at a basic prophecy found in Daniel 2 which will help us understand the framework for more complicated prophecies later in Daniel and repeated in Revelation. As we shall see, the two books go together and interpret each other. This is the goal, to let the Bible interpret itself. My personal desire is that you will be able to know this material and be able to explain it to others who “have an ear.” This prophecy turned my heart from unbelief and to searching the truth about Jesus.

Let’s get started. Much to cover, but I will try to make it as simple and quick as possible.

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Have you ever had a dream you could not remember? Did you feel that the dream was very important, but you just could not remember it?

This is exactly what happen to an ancient king. His name was King Nebuchadnezzar. It was in his second year as king that he “had dreams” that troubled him so much that he could not sleep. His story is found in Daniel 2.

He needed help in remembering his dream so he sent for the people who claimed to know about dreams and spiritual matters:

Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.”

Daniel 2: 2-3

This wise men tried to impress the king so they spoke in his language “Aramaic” and made a simple request,

“Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”

Daniel 2:4

Here is the first sign, these guys were fakes. If they were so knowledgeable of matters of the spirit, etc., then why did they not know ahead of time that the king did not remember the dream? They were not even good listeners because the king was anxious to “know the dream.” This meant he couldn’t remember the dream!

They were anxious to give an interpretation and get back to whatever they were doing, but they did not realize that the true God of heaven was about to reveal the true prophets from the false prophets.

These men had something new thrown at them. It is apparent that the king had never asked them to tell him the dream. Usually he would tell them a dream and they would interpret. Interpretation is easy. You can make it up so it sounds plausible,. Just ask my son. 🙂 But reading the mind of someone else is something altogether different. Only God has that ability.

“My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.”

Daniel 2:5-6

They couldn’t believe what they were hearing so they requested again that the king would tell them the dream,

“Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.”

Daniel 2:7

But the king was wise to their tricks and he said,

“I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.”

Daniel 2:8-9

The fakers then informed the king that his request was not fair. But, unwittingly they said a couple of things that were true:

“There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.”

Verse 10

Truth #1-There IS no man “on earth” who can help the king. Only the Omnipotent God of heaven has the answers about the future.

“…there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

Verse 11

Truth #2 -The “gods” do not dwell with flesh. Why? Because they are not real. They are not alive. They are dumb idols, but the Creator Himself would one day become flesh and dwell among flesh. In fact, He would come in the flesh:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

None of this mattered to the king. He was extremely angry. He was furious and made a decree to have all the wise men killed. In the king’s mind, he knew they were all fake, they would attempt to deceive him and therefore they were useless to him.

For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men;

Verse 12-13

In today’s world, there are many who claim to know more than they really do and surprisingly there are many who know the true God who are given wisdom by Him. They are confident and humble in their knowledge and wisdom. Daniel was such a man.

Daniel asked the king for more time, which was obviously granted even though the fakers wanted time too, but I think the king had heard of the God of Daniel and gave them extra time expecting they would deliver.

Daniel went back to his three friends and they had a prayer session and sought God.

“Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”

Verse 17-19

These four men, asked for mercies regarding the secret. The secret was revealed to Daniel. His first action? “Bless the God of heaven.” May we never be in such a haste that we fail to stop to thank our Creator for His “mercies.” There is a blessing for us when take time to thank God.

Daniel’s prayer of blessing to the God of heaven is below.

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
For wisdom and might are His.
And He changes the times and the seasons;
He removes kings and raises up kings;
He gives wisdom to the wise
And knowledge to those who have understanding.
He reveals deep and secret things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And light dwells with Him.

“I thank You and praise You,

O God of my fathers;

You have given me wisdom and might,

And have now made known to me what we asked of You,

For You have made known to us the king’s demand.”
Verses 20-23
Notice the things Daniel confirms about God:
1.) Wisdom belongs to God
2.) He changes “times” and “seasons”
3.) He sets up kings and removes kings
4.) He gives wisdom to the wise  (Notice who gets the wisdom.  It is the wise! Who gets the knowledge?  Those who have understanding!)
5.) He reveals secret things (This fits with our opening verse from Amos 3:17-He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets.)
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Next, Daniel intercedes for the wise men, even the fakers.  He could have just saved himself and his three friends, but the character trait of the person who knows the true God of heaven is to save life, not destroy it, even if the “wise men” are fakers.
Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wisemen of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.”
Verse  24

Daniel is taken in before king Nebuchadnezzar. The king asks,

“Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?”

Verse 26

Before Daniel answers the king, he demonstrates, with power, the comparison between the fakers and the true God in heaven.

“The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.”

Verse 27

Daniel has a mini-sermon before he starts to reveal to the king what he wants to know. The mini-sermon is this: There is a God in heaven (He is real). He reveals secrets or things that man on earth would not know. These secrets are given to man through God’s servants the prophets. It is not only for the prophets benefit, but also it is for the benefit of the ones who are hearing the message from God through His prophets.

I can image the king on the edge of his seat. He can sense through Daniel’s confidence that what he is about to hear is truth and there is no guile (falsehood or fakery) from the mouth of this prophet of God. It is one man (Daniel) and his God (Jehovah) in comparison to the many astrologers, magicians, and soothsayers.

Truth does not come through the majority. It comes from the God of heaven and His prophets. It has always been a testimony to the power of God, that one with God is stronger than the majority.

Daniel begins to explain the dream:

Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.

Verse 28-30

The dream is for the benefit of both the prophet (who makes known the interpretation) and the one who is receiving the interpretation so that the thoughts of the heart may be revealed. Notice the phrase:

“for OUR sakes…”

What a wise and powerful Creator! Daniel is telling the king that God’s revealing of the dream and God’s secrets is for both the speaker and the hearer!

As a speaker and writer for God, I am blessed as much or more than the hearer! Our great God blesses us both if we have ears to hear!

When I read Bible prophecy, it has a strange effect of letting me know where my heart stands with God. The effect can be fearful or it can be comforting. All people have the invitation to move from fearful (lost) to comforting (saved from the penalty of sin i.e., eternal death)

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Daniel tells they king the topic of the dream. It is about

“….what will be in the latter days.”

“The term “latter days” is simple to understand in context of the dream. Since this dream will be about the “latter days” of the kingdom of Babylon and its kings we can use it in that context. But, it is also about the end of all kingdoms as well. So the “latter days” can also refer to the end of time and this earth as we know it.

To the amazement of the King, Daniel begins to recount the dream for him. As he talks, the king begins to remember and cold chills run throughout his body:

“You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

“This is the dream.”

Verses 31-36

Graphically, this is the image the king saw:

The king must have been amazed as he recalled each detail. Before the king could say anything, Daniel began the interpretation. We will let Daniel interpret for us. Then we will look back at history to see if it was true. Finally, we will look into the future using the foundation of the interpretation.

Here is how Daniel interpreted the king’s dream as God showed it to him:

“Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold.“

Verses 36-38

So what does the head of Gold represent? Daniel said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “you are this head of gold.”

Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon is represented in both time and space as the “head of gold.” Could there be any other interpretation with something so plainly spoken?

The King must have been proud as he thought, even if just for a moment, that he was the top and the most valuable metal in the image. But, he was soon to be disappointed. Daniel continues with the interpretation of the great image,

But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

Verse 39

As great and wonderful as was King Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, it would fall to another. Not just another, but one that was inferior. Just as silver is of less value and strength as gold, the next kingdom was to be inferior.

Does the Bible tell us who this next kingdom was to be? Yes! The story can be found in Daniel 5. It is an interesting story about Belshazzar (The son of Nebuchadnezzar and current king of Babylon) The king and his subjects were having a feast with debauchery, and disrespect for things God had made holy. During the drunken sacrilegious feast, a man’s finger appears and writes a message on the wall.

This supernatural act made the king’s “countenance” change. Like his father Nebuchadnezzar, he was troubled as to what it meant so he called for the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. Remember them? They are the fakers. Just as they could not see Nebuchadnezzar’ s dream. They were unable to read the writing and make an interpretation. Sound familiar?

Fortunately for the king, the queen remembered Daniel. She told the king,

There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans,and soothsayers. Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.”

Daniel 5:11-12

Daniel’s interpretation confirms what he had told King Nebuchadnezzar with the image of God falling to an inferior kingdom,

And this is the inscription that was written:

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

Daniel 5:26-28

That night the king was slain and Babylon fell to the dual kingdom of the Medes and Persians led by Cyrus and Darius.

That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

Daniel 5: 30-31

The Medes and the Persians was represented by the arms and shoulders of silver. (Two arms-two kingdoms)

It is interesting and shows the fore knowledge of God as to how Babylon fell and the way the enemy was able to get into the walled city.

Also, before Cyrus was born, God called him by name as the conqueror of Babylon

Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut…

Isaiah 45:1

So how was Cyrus and Darius able to get into the walled city of Babylon?

*They dried up the river Euphrates (Sound familiar)! This diverted the river that ran under the walls and through the city. Along the river within the city was another set of walls with gates. The citizens were protected should someone swim in under the outer walls. The enemy swimmers would then need to get through a second set of gates. But on the night of Babylon’s fall, the gates had been left open due to drunken feast! So the Medes and Persians were able to walk under the walls and up the banks through the leaved gates and into the city!

God is so amazing! He knows the end from the beginning!

* See pages 265, 266 of Volume 1 of the book The Great Events by Famous Historians in the chapter on “Conquests by Cyrus The Great B.C. 538,” by George Grote. — University Edition, copyrighted 1905, by The National Alumni.
See also The Golden Age, as of June 7, 1922. page 572.

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But, there was to arise yet a third kingdom represented by the belly and thigh of brass.

“And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.”

Verse 39

The deciding point in the fall of the Persians
was
reached on the field of Arbela, B.C. 331, in which the Grecians, were entirely victorious; and Alexander
became absolute lord of the Persian empire.

More could be said on this third kingdom, but let’s move on. We will talk more about each kingdom as we study the prophecies that provide more detail.

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The events really pick up when the powerful fourth kingdom comes on the scene,

And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.

Verse 40

History tells us that this fourth power of legs of iron is none other than the “iron monarchy” of Rome. Rome became the world power after it crushed the third kingdom of Greece.

Rome was in power during the life of Christ on earth and continued on for hundreds of years afterwards.

But the prophecy does not stop there, there was to be a time when this iron would mix with clay (partly strong and partly weak substances)

It is interesting that Rome eventually was divided into 10 divisions by the invading nomadic tribes. These divisions became the modern day countries of Europe. Three of these 10 divisions were eventually annihilated so that there was only 7, but even those events are part of the prophecy were will study later in Daniel and Revelation. Those divisions of Rome are as follows:

10 Toes or Divisions of Rome

Heruli

Ostrogoths

Vandals

Franks

Visigoths

Burgundians

Lombards

Anglo Saxons

Alamanni

Seuvi

Daniel continues on and informs the king of something that stands to this day. These divisions of Rome would attempt to unite, but as iron does not mix with clay, they would never unite:

Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.

Verses 41-43

This 4th kingdom would be divided and would never reunite. Though out recent history there have been attempts to reunite the old divisions of Europe, but it has always failed and it always will because the God of Heaven has spoken. Those who have tried were:

Charlamagne, 8th Century;

Charles V l6th Century;

Louis XIV l5th Century;

Napoleon, l9th Century;

Kaiser Wilhelm and Hitler, 20th Century.

All of these men invested enormous
resources and countless lives in their efforts to unite Europe, but each one failed. Even today the leaders
of Europe are trying to unite as one, but God says this will never happen!

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Daniel ends the interpretation of the dream with a dramatic ending!

You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

Verse 34, 35

Jesus is the Rock that was cut out without hands.

For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

I Corinthians 10:4

Daniel takes the king and the reader of this chapter to a time when God would set up his kingdom that would never end:

And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

Verse 44

When Jesus returns the earth is melted and no trace of anything left on this earth will be found. Then He will make a new heaven and a new earth.

About 500 years before Jesus came to this earth the first time as a lamb to pay for the sins of a planet in rebellion, we see a prophecy concerning his second coming when he comes to “break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms.” It will stand forever!

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Matthew 24:30

When Jesus returns the earth passes away.

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Matthew 24:35

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

II Peter 3:10

And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

Mark 4: 62

When God destroys the earth, he creates a new heaven and a new earth that will last forever:

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

Isaiah 65:17

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Daniel tells the king,

“The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”

Verse 45

After hearing Daniels recalling of the king’s forgotten dream and the interpretation, there wells up in the heart of this heathen king both fear and joy!

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel

Verse 46

This is what each of us should do as we see that God is in control of the history of planet earth and of our own lives. He knows the exact number of hairs on your head. He is all powerful, but most important, He loves each one of us so much as to send His son to pay for the sin we have committed.

His law, that can never be changed, shows we are sinners and deserve to die for eternity, but God makes a substitutionary sacrifice (atonement) for us so that we might live and enjoy the greatest gift he could have given us: Life to the uttermost!

The king understood that there is a God in Heaven who reveals secrets

The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”

Verse 47

I hope you have been blessed by this study. Next we will look at a vision given to Daniel that repeats this dream, but expands it. He will receive other visions that will demonstrate that God knows the end from the beginning.

Prophecies for Our Time

Prophecies For Our Time-He That Has An Ear, Listen Closely!

November 14, 2014 Eddie Leave a comment

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

Revelation 2:7

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If you have an ear (I think that is all of us), then there is a message for you and me in all of the seven churches of Revelation 2. For these messages to be effective in our Jesus Journey, we should understand it is not for those who are unbelievers for it is to “the churches.” This is the body of people who made a commitment to Jesus and started their own Jesus Journey. But, as many of us have experienced, the journey is not always smooth. We make mistakes, we sin, we get side-tracked.

Do you think Jesus is interested in making our experience with Him the absolute best it can be? Is it critical if we limp along in our experience? What happens if we are not victorious and the sinful man in us dominates our spiritual walk?

Are there things in our life that we are doing that tarnishes our witness for Him? Are we willing to let Jesus tell us where we fall short and then to follow His council? If we are one of those followers who is content with our weekly attendance of church for a spiritual boost and we don’t have a desire to grow in our daily experience, then these messages will be boring and not applicable.

A friend of mine once told me that “going to church doesn’t make you a Christian even as going to a garage does not make you a mechanic.”

If I feel I am “rich and have need of nothing,” then my time is better spent enjoying my reward on earth for the short time assigned to me. But if I feel that soft knocking of Jesus at the door of the heart’s door, then I will see and feel the message Jesus has for me and all of us who profess the name of Jesus and call ourselves Christian. Are you ready? Let’s HEAR and DO what the Spirit has to say to the churches so that we might be Overcomers together in Christ.

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Hear, Do, and Overcome

Last time, we saw clearly that Revelation is a revealing of Jesus. If we fail to see Jesus in its pages, we have missed the whole point of this book and even the Bible itself.

In Chapter 2, the theme continues. The message that John was instructed to write to the 7 literal churches was not just for them. This truth is revealed to us in the opening verse (See above). Everyone (anyone with an ear) is to hear. Of course, hearing is only part of the message. To hear and not to react is a worthless exercise:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

James 1: 22-25

Did you notice that to hear only and not do the word creates self-deception. We worry about others being deceived, but we can deceive ourselves if we are not doing (obeying) what we hear. In fact, if we fail to “do” or obey, our walk in the light is hindered and we will understand less and less of God’s word.

Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.

John 12:35

How can anyone say that obedience is not what is expected of those who would claim to be followers of Jesus? How can “overcoming” not be the expectation in a life in Christ?

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Revelation 1:3

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Four Points to Seven Churches

As we read the messages to the churches, we see a pattern in the approach of Jesus:

1.) God’s recognition of their accomplishments or their character.

2.) God pointing out something lacking in their experience.

3.) Council for their shortfall/sin and an encouragement.

4.) The reward for overcoming.

Study this chart. Perhaps you will see yourself in one of the churches.

Church Name	Description of Jesus	Compliment	Jesus’ Observation and Council	Outcome if council not followed	Reward for overcoming
Ephesus	Holds 7 stars in right hand and walks among the candlesticks	Works, labor, patience, can’t bear those who are evil. Tested false apostles. Persevered, patience, labored and not weary.	Left First love. Remember where fell from. Repent and return to your first love.	Lampstand removed from its place.	I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

Smyrna	First and The Last. Was dead and came to life.	Works, tribulation, poverty, blasphemy of those pretending to be Jews	Do not fear suffering. You will be tested in prison. It will last for 10 days. Be faithful even unto death	None given!	Crown of Life

Pergamos	Has the sharp two-edged sword	Works. Even dwelling were Satan’s throne is. Despite this, they hold fast to His name and don’t deny His faith.	Some hold to the doctrine of Balaam. He taught Balak to put a stumbling block before God’s people so that they disobeyed God and became sexually immoral and disregarding God’s instructions. Some hold to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Repent!	Come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of His mouth	Give some of the hidden manna to eat. A white stone with a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.

Thyatira	Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire and feet like fine brass.	Works, love, service, faith, and patience. Last works are more than the first!	Allow Jezebel to teach and seduce. Commit sexual immorality eat things sacrified to idols. He gave her time to repent and did not! Repent and hold fast what you have till He comes	Cast into a sickbed, Great tribulation . Will kill her children with death.	Give to each one of you according to your works. Power over the nations. The gift of the morning star.

Sardis	Has 7 Spirits of God and 7 stars	Works that are not perfect, have a name, are alive, but dead.	Be watchful and strengthen things which remain, that are ready to die. Works are not perfect. Hold fast and repent. Few names not defiled their garments	Will come upon you as a thief	Shall walk with Me in white. Will be clothed in white garments. Will not blot out his name from the Book of Life Confess His name before My Father and before His angels.

Philadelphia	He who is holy and true. Has the key of David. He opens and no one shuts, shuts and no one opens.	Works. Have a little strength, have kept My word and not denied My name. Have kept His command to persevere. Will keep you from the hour of trial that comes upon the whole earth.	Hold fast to what you have that no one may take your crown.	those of the synagogue of Satan…will make them worship before your feet. To know that I have loved you. Will keep you from the hour of trial that will come upon the whole world.	Will make him a pillar in the temple of My God. Will not go out anymore. Will write on him the name of My God and the name of His city and a new name

Laodicea	Amen, Faithful and True Witness. Beginning of the creation of God.	Works. Rich, wealthy and have need of nothing!	Neither cold nor hot. Wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Buy gold refined in the fire. Buy white garments, anoint your eyes that you might see .	Will vomit out of My mouth.	Sit with Him on His throne.

Did you see yourself in any of these message? Is your congregation like one of them or a combination? Most important, are you willing to hear and do what Jesus directs to overcome those things Jesus points out as “(He) has against you?

It is with love and compassion that Jesus clearly identifies where we are in our Jesus Journey. Just over the hilltop is the reward He brings with Him when he returns. He does not wish that any should perish, but for all to come to repentance. In fact, almost all the churches here in Revelation are instructed to repent.

Repentance is the first step. As we recognize our need of gold tried in the fire, eye salve, and white garments, we will feel the Holy Spirit encouraging us to repent and turn to Jesus. You might ask yourself, “Is repentance a one time event? Is the one that I did at the start of my journey and have never had need since then sufficient?”

Did you notice that Jesus recognizes the good before He give His council? All of them had works of some sort. The Smyrna church was being persecuted which meant they were standing fast for the sake of Jesus. There were no council for them. I want to be like them! Don’t you? But, they had tribulation and poverty. Are we willing to give up everything for Him?

Which church was in the worst condition? Is it like me? Am I the worse one on the chart? Have I left my first love, like Ephesus or perhaps my doctrine or teaching is causing the people of God to stumble like the Pergamos church? Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.

Maybe our experience is like the Laodicea church. I am neither cold or hot. Perhaps I am comfortable with my experience and lot in life. Maybe I consider myself rich and in need of nothing both physically and spiritually. I go to church each week to be seen and let everyone know how wealthy I am. Perhaps I have all that you need and have worked hard for it, but my experience is lacking in many ways.

Wherever we might find ourself in our walk with Jesus, there is forgiveness and mercy available if we repent and turn and follow him.

Do you feel your need of Jesus today? Can you hear and feel the knocking at the door of your heart? This is the urging of the Holy Spirit to ask Jesus to come into your life.

If you hear, then do what the Lord urges upon you. Repent and become an Overcomer to the glory of His name.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

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A final word about Repentance

I have been a follower of Jesus for almost 40 years. My journey has not been smooth. I have often seen my need of a closer walk with Jesus and felt the knocking at the door to repent and turn back to Him. Remember, the messages to the churches are not for the unbelievers, but the ones proclaiming to be followers.

“Repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it. We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life.”

Steps to Christ, Page 23

“There are many who fail to understand the true nature of repentance. Multitudes sorrow that they have sinned and even make an outward reformation because they fear that their wrongdoing will bring suffering upon themselves. But this is not repentance in the Bible sense. They lament the suffering rather than the sin. Such was the grief of Esau when he saw that the birthright was lost to him forever.”

Steps to Christ, page 23

May our great Lord bless you until next time….Eddie

Revelation 3:20

Prophecies for Our Time

Prophecies for Our Time-The Revealing

October 31, 2014 Eddie Leave a comment

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Revelation 1: 1-3 NKJV

The very first words of John tells us many useful things to keep in mind when studying Revelation:

1.) It is a revelation of Jesus Christ (Verse 1)

It is a book with Jesus at its center and it reveals to us Jesus in all His glory and how He appears throughout its pages and therefore throughout the history of the church. It is interesting to note that the translators of the King James Version of the Bible have given this book the title, “The Revelation of St. John the Divine.” This is a contradiction of the very first words of the book, which declare it to be “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.”

2.) The message of the book came from God himself through an angel to John and John witnesses to both the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Verse 1 & 2)

John witnesses or tells us what he saw in both the word of God and particularly the words of Jesus that he personally heard as one of his disciples. He walked and talked with Jesus while upon this earth and knew him in a close spiritual way. As a called disciple, he was able to touch and feel the warmth of the human form of Jesus.

John’s resume is very impressive. He was so close to Jesus that he is often described as the beloved disciple. John was an evangelist and a gospel writer as well as an inspired letter writer. This is demonstrated in the epistles of 1, 2, and 3 John.

But now, we can add prophet to his record of experience.

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Because of John’s intimate knowledge of Jesus and the word of God, he draws upon this understanding of both in his writing. But, let us not forget the inspiration from the Holy Spirit and the visions given him. This is the supernatural aspect of this book.

Revelation is practically impossible to understand without a knowledge of Jesus and familiarity with the other books of the Bible, particularly the book of Daniel. Many of what John describes are in the book of Daniel and many other passages of scripture.

3.) The objective of the book is to show or reveal “the things which must shortly take place.” (Verse 3)

Our God wants us to know the truth. The world is full of lies, but there is truth available to all. He reveals his secrets to His prophets who in turn reveals them to us through what they saw. He will not do anything unless He discloses it ahead of time..

Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

Amos 3:7

4.) There is a blessing for reading and keeping the words of Revelation because it talks of the nearness of the time when Jesus will return (Verse 7). But it is of little value to us personally if we do not “read and understand.” (verse 3)

I have often been told that Revelation is a closed book. That no one can understand it, but the first few verses demonstrate the opposite. It is a prophecy, just like Daniel and others, that can be understood when comparing John’s words with other inspired writers he alludes to when he states he “bore witness to the word of God.” The word of God is the word contained in the Old Testament and those words written by his fellow disciples in the New Testament. It is here where we find the keys that unlock the symbolism and timelines of Revelation

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To support the premise, let’s compare the book of Daniel with Revelation. See the chart below:

We will study this comparison in the coming lessons. This charts is provided here simply to show the reader an example of the connection between the visions of Daniel with the visions of John.

This is important because there is much confusion today about the beast of Revelation 13 and the mark of the Beast. But, we will see that there is no need for any confusion. Once you see clearly from God’s word the identity of the beast, you are more likely able to see what the mark is or is not.

Last week, I heard a radio talk-show pundit saying that he believed the “mark of the beast” was the “Rainbow Coalition.” We have also heard that the bar code pricing system is the mark of the beast. But it is only in the Word of God where we can we find the correct interpretation. The prophecies are not dependent of the ideas of a talk-show pundit, regardless of how intelligent they may think they are.

knowing this first: that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in olden times by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2 Peter 1:20 – 21

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John begins to describe::

His audience:

“seven churches in Asia” Verse 4

The origin of the message:

“From the seven spirits which are before His throne;

and from Jesus Christ” (Verse 4 and 5)

The core message:

“Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also who pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so. Amen.” (Verse 7)

This is an important statement about the manner in which Jesus comes. When he left the earth and ascended to heaven, he left with clouds and returns with clouds. Clouds appear at many places when talking about the return of Jesus and of God.

And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

Acts 1:9

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.”

Daniel 7:13

We can cross reference this scene found in Revelation regarding the throne of God.

And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the living beings and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,

Revelation 5:5

These clouds are, perhaps the throng of angels that are so vast in number that they appear as clouds

But the point is this “Every eye will see Him.”

This includes the saved and the lost, but with two different responses:

The saved:

“Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

Isaiah 25:9

The Lost:

and they said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb!

Revelation 6:16

There is no room for the theory of a secret rapture in the book of Revelation and other books of the Bible for that matter, where people see driverless cars, empty churches and wonder why everyone disappeared. This is the work of Hollywood and makes for good entertainment, but it is not truth.

When Jesus returns heaven is emptied to come to our little planet that has been the stage for the great controversy between Christ and Satan. Christ comes as the victor.

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

Revelation 16:27

Is there anyone alive that cannot see this sight?

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John mentions that he was in the Spirit on a particular day:

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet,

Revelation 1:10

This appears to be a casual reference to which day John was “in the Spirit.” Many have tried to make this to be Sunday although there is no reference or context to make it so.

The context of this chapter would seem to indicate this as the “Day of the Lord” when Jesus returns, but even that statement is somewhat of an assumption. There is only one particular day of the week that God claims as his own. It appears in scripture and in connection with creation:

“the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”

Exodus 20:11

In the heart of the 10 commandments is the day that the Lord claims as his own because he is Creator.

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Exodus 20:11

Want a new testament version of this?

Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.”

Mark 2:28

If Jesus claims to be Lord of the Sabbath. Which day is the Lord’s day?

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On the Lord’s day, John hears a voice like a trumpet sound. It is the voice of Jesus, for He says,

“I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last,”

Verse 11

Jesus is the beginning and the end. He has always been and will always be. He was with God the Father in the beginning. Jesus is God and He is our Creator:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men.

John 1: 1-4

The instructions of Jesus to John is to write a book to the seven churches:

What thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.”

Verse 11

These are seven literal churches who will get a first look at John’s new book. The book will give them encouragement and direction, just as it will do for us.

As we will see, the book of Revelation is not just for these seven churches, but also for us. Perhaps we will see ourselves in the characteristics of a particular church.

As we move through Revelation, let us always remember that is a revealing of Jesus. The more we know about Him, the more security we can have in our own salvation because to know Him is to have eternal life:

And this is life eternal: that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.

John 17:3

Herein is our comfort that Jesus rose again:

I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen, and have the keys of hell and of death.

Verse 18

Our hope depends on this fact that Jesus rose a victor over death….that He is alive today and always….that he has power over death. If we want to get out of the locked room called death, Jesus has the keys and will let us out on that great Day of the Lord. Paul knew the importance of this when he said,

and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.But now Christ is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of those who slept.

1 Corinthians 15: 17-20

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Revelation 1 ends with Jesus repeating to John the instructions to write about things that John had seen (past) are now (John’s time), and the things in the future (from John’s time to ours)

Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.

Verse 19

In Verse 20 we are reminded of how the symbols represent something:

The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Verse 20

We can be assured that the candlesticks seen in the vision represent the seven churches. Those churches are at different points in their experience just as we are.

We will find encouragement and a revealing of Jesus as we study this great book that promises us blessings if we read and understand. By God’s grace and mercy may we do so.

Until next time, be blessed—Eddie

Prophecies for Our Time

Prophecies for Our Time-The Judgment

October 20, 2014 Eddie Leave a comment

“I watched till thrones were put in place,
And the Ancient of Days was seated;
His garment was white as snow,
And the hair of His head was like pure wool.
His throne was a fiery flame,
Its wheels a burning fire;
A fiery stream issued
And came forth from before Him.
A thousand thousands ministered to Him;
Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.
The court was seated,
And the books were opened.

I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame.

Daniel 7: 9 – 11

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Over the last few weeks, we have been studying the prophecies of Daniel 2, 7, 8, &9. Daniel watched in his visions a period spanning long periods of time. We saw a 70-year period that was “cut off” or a given to Israel to come to place in their experience, where they became the light to the world and welcomed in their Messiah. But Israel rejected their Messiah, The Just One who was foretold in the scripture.

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In 34 AD Stephen gave a powerful sermon found In Acts 7. This is an important date, for it ended the period of 490 years (70 weeks) for the nation of Israel as a whole. (Please see previous posts that brings us up to this point.)

Stephen described the history of God’s people (the Israelites) who constantly rejected God, His law, and His prophets who were sent to encourage them to turn from their evil ways. Now they were continuing that tradition by rejecting the truth from Stephen.

He spoke of their father Abraham and Moses and described how they rejected the prophets. He then begin to talk about Jesus. He quoted from Deuteronomy:

The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.

Deuteronomy 18:15

As Stephen began to describe the temple, the tone of his sermon changes abruptly and he quickly proclaimed,

You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?

Acts 7:51, 52

Their problem is clearly identified here. They resisted the work of the Holy Spirit just like their ancestors. The prophets whom God had sent were rejected and persecuted. They ignored the law given to them and now they had gone so far as to encourage the killing of the son of God of the Just One who was foretold in scripture:

And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.

Acts 7: 52, 53

Here their fate was sealed. The 70-week prophecy or 490 years came to an end. This was 34 AD. 490 years after the commandment went forth to “restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” Just as Daniel was shown in vision hundreds of years earlier.

A few years later, Paul and Barnabas would allude to this prophecy when they said,

Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

Acts 13: 46

Because of the truth, Stephen was stoned; sealing the rejection of Jesus whom Stephen saw standing at the right hand of God.

This 490 period given to the Jews in a special way was part of the of the 2,300 years that stretched to 1844, when the sanctuary was to be cleansed.

From 34 AD until now, there is not longer Greek or Jew, Male or Female. In fact, if we are in Jesus, we have become the new Israel and heirs of the promises given to Abraham:

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:29

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But, Daniel saw even further as described in today’s opening verses. Daniel saw until the 4th beast with the little horn was destroyed in the flames, when the earth is destroyed when Jesus returns.

“I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.”

Daniel 7: 11

As we will see in the coming weeks, this little horn power is also the Anti-Christ (The one who stands in the place of Christ). As mentioned, this beast is destroyed when Jesus returns:

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

2 Thessalonians 2: 8, 9

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So in summary, Daniel watched and saw:

1.) Kingdoms rise and fall (Babylon, Medio-Persian, Greece, Rome)

2.) The rise of a cruel and deceptive power we now know to be the Roman Catholic church and their system of Popes (Fathers) and priests that stand in the place of Christ

3.) The judgement scene (1844)

4.) The return of Christ

5.) The end of the little horn power at the return of Christ

6.) Judgment given to the Saints

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We have not talked about the judgement scene much. As described at the start of this study and repeated here. Daniel sees the “Ancient of Days” take His seat as thousands minister to him and the books are opened.

“I watched till thrones were put in place,
And the Ancient of Days was seated;…The court was seated, And the books were opened.

Daniel 7: 9, 10

John describes the same scene in Revelation 20

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Revelation 20: 12

Let’s notice something here. Everyone who has ever lived and died stand before God and are judged out of the Book of Life. Let’s also notice that this is taking place where God’s throne is located, the heavenly sanctuary. There is an investigation and decisions are being made based on what is being described in the books.

There is more than one book. The scripture describes at least two other books that are used in the judgement. Besides the Book of Life, there is the Book of Remembrance.

Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

Malachi 3:16

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There is much confusion and error about judgement. The typical view of judgement by many is that it occurs when you die and it is a passage of moving either to heaven or to hell. Once judged, you either pass through the pearly gates or are assigned a spot in hell. Of course, there is confusion about hell. For more information, see the post entitled

Of course, there is also confusion about hell. For more information, see the post entitled Did Jesus talk more about Hell than Heaven?. Also, see the post that follow it.

But, judgement is not that way at all. For next few moments, let’s explore some important verses and concepts about judgement.

1.) The final message of judgement to mankind is found in Revelation:

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Revelation 14: 6-7

This angel’s message (1 of 3 messages) is the everlasting gospel or the good news about Jesus. The angel (or messenger) gives a message that judgment is come. The judgement has started and worship of the Creator is contrasted with a world that does not believe in creation nor a Creator. Does that sound familiar to you? Yes, we live in that world where evolution is considered the source of life and order.

Yes, we live in that world where evolution is considered the source of life and order. The judgement has started and worship of the Creator is contrasted with a world that does not believe in creation nor a Creator.

There is a commandment that points to the great Creator. It is the 4th Commandment:

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Revelation 20: 11

Regarding the Sabbath, one author has said,

“Had the Sabbath been universally kept, man’s thoughts and affections would have been led to the Creator as the object of reverence and worship, and there would never have been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel.”

Great Controversy, Page 438

So in the last day, the angel is urging the people of the earth to return to honoring the Lord of the Sabbath and the Great Creator-Jesus. Along with this encouragement comes the proclamation that judgment has come or it has started.

2.) The standard of judgment is the 10 commandments:

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,”also said,“Do not murder.”Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

James 2: 10 – 12

3.) Our name can be blotted out of the book of life if we fail to be overcomers, but if we are converted our sins will be blotted out instead:

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

Revelation 3:5

Please keep in mind, that overcoming sins in our lives is the work of God in our life by faith. We can never be victorious without faith in the one who also redeems us! If we yield to the conviction and power of God, he will make us overcomers. Do not make the mistake that you have to focus on being good. Focus on Jesus only. In the end our sins will be blotted out and not our name.

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Acts 3:19

4.) We are not condemned if we are “in Jesus” and our lifestyle is to follow the urging of the Spirit.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:1

5.) Since Jesus is our mediator, He can save us completely. This means not only salvation from eternal death, but salvation from the power of sins in our lives now.

But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 7:24 – 25

If you have sin that pulls you down, have you turned to your high priest in heaven and asked for intercession? If not, maybe you are trying to overcome on your own carnal strength. This is an impossibility, for Jesus said,

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

John 15:5

Just like a branch gets its nourishment from the tree, we can our strength to overcome through the main tree-Jesus. How? By trusting in Him and remaining or abiding in Him! Abiding does not mean a casual once a week experience, but an ongoing one. The branch doesn’t detach itself and then reattach every weekend. It remains in Christ throughout the week!

6.) The work of Judgment by the Ancient of Days is complete before Jesus returns, because when He comes, He brings His reward with Him.

And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.

Revelation 22:12

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The judgment scene is described both in Daniel 7 and Revelation 20. It is a period just before Jesus returns. The Ancient of Days sits and thousands of angels attend Him. The books are open, not for God’s sake, but for the sake of those in attendance. These records are to demonstrate that God is just.

Again, here is the companion verse to Daniel as found in Revelation:

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books

Revelation 20: 12

Notice the dead are judged. Your spirit or body does not stand in front of the judge as the picture in this post suggests. It is those who are dead now.

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but afterthis

Hebrews 9:12

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There is also a period where we will be provided opportunity to see that God was just. The scripture tells us this about judgment:

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

1 Corinthians 6:2

It is during the 1,000 years after Jesus returns that the saints (us) will be able to understand fully that our God is just and fair. For more information on the Thousand Years, click see the post called Part 4-Second Coming-1,000 Years

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them.

Revelation 20:4

This is not a decision about who gets to have eternal life or not because the Ancient of Days or God has already made those decisions before Jesus returns. It is a determination about the mercy and grace of God. It will demonstrate that those who are lost were given every opportunity to repent and turn to God.

Our God is a just and fair God. His judgments are right and true. May you be blessed as you consider the things of God’s word.

Next time, we will begin to study another form of judgment. It is a judgment upon the wicked and evil of the earth. We will see that Revelation is only understood in the light of Daniel’s visions. We will discover more about the beast and his image.

Until then, may the Lord bless you and your family. – Eddie

Prophecies for Our Time

Prophecies for Our Time – 2,300 days

October 8, 2014 Eddie 1 Comment

Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

And he said unto me, “Unto Two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”

Daniel 8: 13 – 14

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A Quick Review:

To properly understand Daniel 9, the question in Daniel 8: 13 and the response in verse 14 must be kept in mind. Because all of the prophecy in Daniel 8 is explained except for verse 14.

The metals and the beasts previously described represented countries and powers that would arise and fall. History has proven these visions (almost 500 years before the birth of Christ) to be true.

But there was a beast “different from the rest.” It continued to fight against God in direct and cruel ways. It also used more subtle and deceptive methods. Daniel demonstrated much interest in this Little Horn power and its power. Even one of the angels wanted to know more about how long it would be against God’s people to “trod(den) them under foot.” This means to persecute them.; to lower their message.

This beast would also take away “the daily sacrifice.” As we will see, it is not just the temple sacrifice, but the unblocked direct availability of the Lord without the need for an earthly mediator. The desolations (no one present) are created by taking away that access or the sanctuary (both the earthly and the heavenly.)

This beast was different because it was against God and His followers, where the other powers were mostly secular and their wars were about land and power.

And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.

And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down. the place of the sanctuary was cast down.

And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered

Daniel 8: 9 -12

It practiced and prospered because of its opposition to the truth of God as found in His word and the work of the Holy Spirit.

It is because of work of this little horn that an attending angel asked another angel about the length of time the little horn would have power to:

1. be great to the host of heaven

2. cast down some of the host and stars to the ground and stomp on them

3. magnify himself (attempt to make himself more important than God)

4. take away the daily sacrifice

5. cast down the place of the sanctuary

6. cast down the truth to the ground

7. practice and prosper

The answer from the angel came:

“Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.“

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We saw in the last study, the 70 weeks of Bible prophecy was “cut-off” for the nation of Israel. We clearly saw that the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem went forth in 457 BC. From that point until the time of Jesus was 69 weeks or 483 years. This brought us to the fall of 27 AD when Jesus was baptized. Then he began a ministry to the nation of Israel for 3 1/2 years. He confirmed the covenant with the nation of Israel for 1 week or 7 years. During half of that time (3 1/2 years), the appeal went almost exclusively to the “house of Israel.”

“But he answered and said, I (Jesus) am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Matthew 15:24

To his disciples Jesus said,

“Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Matthew 10: 5:6

The disciples obeyed until the covenant was fulfilled 3 1/2 years after the crucifixion of Jesus. The one week (7 years) was complete through Jesus himself and the appeal of the disciples.

In the midst of the week (3 1/2 years after Jesus began his ministry) the sacrifices and oblations ceased. It was at this time that the vail or curtain between the holy place was torn in two signifying that not only was the system of sacrifices and earthly priests were finished, but also that we now had direct access to the Father through Jesus himself.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom

Matthew 27: 50 – 51

For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Ephesians 2:18

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession….Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4: 14, 16

in 34 AD. Paul confirmed the covenant had ended with the house of Israel and the way was open to the entire world and the gentiles to be partakers of the covenant.

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

Acts 13:46

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Galatians 3:29

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So, 70 weeks (490 years) of the 2,300 days (2,300 years) was used up or “cut off” from the long timeline of 2,300 years. That left 1810 years. Moving forward 1810 from 34 AD brings us to 1844. (See chart below:

What was to happen at that time? The attending angel clearly states that the sanctuary would be “cleansed.”

We can not assume what this means, we must let the Bible tells us what the cleansing of the sanctuary meant. In 1844, there was no earthly sanctuary, but there was (and has been) a sanctuary in heaven. In fact, the pattern for the earthly sanctuary God instructed Moses came from that place in heaven.

And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain.

Exodus 26:30

For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things,the copy and shadow of the heavenly things,

Hebrews 8:4

“We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.”

Hebrews 9:1

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

Hebrews 9:11

Notice that the heavenly sanctuary has a high priest called Christ and it was not made with hands. God created it himself.

This begs the questions:

“Why do we need a high priest in heaven? “ “What can the pattern of priestly services teach us about the lives and events of 21st century Christians?” “What is going on in this heavenly sanctuary now?” “What happen in 1844 regarding the cleansing of this heavenly sanctuary?

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To properly understand the book of Hebrews, the student of the Bible must understand the sanctuary services instituted by the Lord and explained to Moses. At the highest level, I think all would agree that this system given to those before the cross became a “school master” to teach the God’s people of promise the seriousness of sin (death of an innocent animal) and the solution for the sin: the perfect life and sacrifice of Christ.

When Jesus died on the cross, type met anti-type and the schoolmaster of the sacrifices ceased. Its job of teaching of the coming of Christ through actual practice was over. We no longer need to practice it, but we can learn much about the plan of salvation through it.

We now understand the seriousness and solution to sin looking back at the cross. We also learn about the great love and active work of our great God to reach out and save people from the death penalty of sin through the cross. The follower of Jesus no longer needs the slaying of lambs and the priestly services of an earthly mediator. We find it all in Jesus.

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Galatians 3: 24:25

However, just because we are not under the schoolmaster of those earthly sanctuary services, it does not mean that there is not an end-time implication in some of its services.

This we find in the annual Day of Atonement when the sanctuary was cleansed. If we can understand what happened on that day, we can understand what it means to our 2,300-day prophecy. Don’t you agree?

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The sanctuary services (both earthly and heavenly) were established to deal with the sin problem (not just the sin, but the sinner as well). The sacrifices of the old testament did not provide the sin solution, but rather taught the sinner the cost of sin. and provided a way for forgiveness, not through the animal, but in the faith of the coming Messiah (Jesus).

They received forgiveness the same we do. They looked forward in faith to the cross (payment for sin) and we look back to the cross in faith. All, both old and new testament sinners are saved by grace through faith.

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

Hebrews 10:4

^{By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all}

Hebrews 10:10

So when a sinner brought an offering to the sanctuary, a priest mediated the process. The sin moved from the sinner to the spotless sacrifice. The sacrifice died in the place of the sinner, but the blood of animals could not takeaway the sins. Only Jesus could do this.

The priest took the blood into the 1st compartment of the sanctuary and sprinkled it before the curtain to the Most Holy place. The sin (in type) remained in the sanctuary until the annual day of atonement

And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the Lord.

And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock’s blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:

And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord, before the vail of the sanctuary.

Leviticus 4:4-6

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What can we learn about the Day of Atonement from the Old Testament that is applicable to Christians today?

The day of atonement was very somber. The people were to stop their work and put all their attention on the services for that day.

“In the typical day of atonement, every man was required to afflict his soul before God. He was not to afflict the souls of others, but the work was between God and his own soul.” Signs of the Times, The Christian’s Hope 1884

Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God.

For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.

Leviticus 23:27 – 29

The high priest alone was to prepare himself to enter the Most Holy place where the shekinah glory of God dwelt ; to complete the work of moving the sin out of the sanctuary to a scapegoat. In type, the penalty for sin was moved from the sinner to the sanctuary and then to the scapegoat. Thereby, the sanctuary was cleansed, signifying the end of sin.

And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:

And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

Leviticus 16: 19 – 22

and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.

Exodus 29:36

Keep in mind, all of this was meant to demonstrate the final end of sin and what is taking place in heaven now. The writer of Hebrews could see this clearly and makes the connection between the services before the cross and those after the cross. Both have sanctuaries, high priests, and a work for the sinner. But it is Christ that works for us now, not an earthly priest.

Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Hebrews 8: 1 -2

So what is Jesus doing for us now? He is mediating for us.

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Hebrews 8:6

Many Christians do not feel a need of a mediator in heaven. But, if that were the case, why would Jesus identify himself as a mediator?

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

1 Timothy 2:5

This mediation, as with the first, deals with the seriousness of sin. Just because we have received Christ does not mean we do not sin. When we do sin, we have an advocate that mediates for us in heavenly places:

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

1 John 2:1

It is God’s desire that we do not sin, but we know that we often do. Jesus provides us a way to deal with the sin in our live AFTER we have received Him. Many think that once they have gone down front and are baptized that there is nothing more. But Jesus save us not only from the penalty of sin (i.e., eternal death), but the power of sin in our lives. We don’t have to be slaves to sin and bad habits! This is good news!. Jesus can save us completely! He does this through his work as a high priest in interceding for us.

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 7:25

I once gave a Bible study on the 4 P’s of salvation to demonstrate how Jeus saves us to the “uttermost.” He saves us from the:

Penalty of sin (When we receive Him, repent, and turn from our life of sin.)

Power of sin (This is the mediation he does for us in the heavenly sanctuary. Once we have been reborn, the liar stops the practice of lying, the adulterer becomes faithful to their spouse. In other words the born-again heart has a different view of sin….This is all the work of Jesus working in us.)

Presence of Sin (Often God will take us away from the temptations of sin, but one day when He comes, He will take us to the place where He is now (heaven). This place has not sin. We will no longer have it nearby to tempt us.)

Propensity of Sin (When Jesus wipes away all sin and we live in new glorified bodies, the propensity to sin will not be present. Although we will continue to have free will, we will not desire rebellion and sin because we have seen what it can do and we are constrained by the love God demonstrated. BTW, the Lord can do that even now!)

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As we will see next time, the cleansing of the sanctuary has to do with the final actions to rid the earth of sin. It has to do with judgement and sealing his servants. Because when He comes, Jesus brings His reward with Him.

Blessings until next time.

Answers From Scripture – A Jesus Journey

Category Archives: Prophecies for Our Time

Part 7-Second Coming Predictions-The Spirit of the Antichrist

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Part 6-Second Coming Predictions-The Basis for the Anti-Christ’s Strong Delusion

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Part 4-Second Coming Predictions-1,000 Years

The Two Resurrections

The Second Coming

Left Behind

The Rest of the Dead

The Bottomless Pit

The Saints in Heaven

The Resurrection of Damnation

Fire from Heaven

The New Heaven and New Earth

Conclusion

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Science, Sickness, and Death-Good Reasons to Doubt?

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The Shortcoming of Scientific Intelligence-Lack of Knowledge

Religion is Its Own Worst Enemy

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Second Coming Predictions-Details to the Secrets

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Second Coming Predictions-God Reveals Secrets About The Future

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Prophecies For Our Time-He That Has An Ear, Listen Closely!

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Prophecies for Our Time-The Revealing

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Prophecies for Our Time-The Judgment

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Prophecies for Our Time – 2,300 days

^{By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all}

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"He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. Colossians 1:28

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The Two Resurrections

The Second Coming

Left Behind

The Rest of the Dead

The Bottomless Pit

The Saints in Heaven

The Resurrection of Damnation

Fire from Heaven

The New Heaven and New Earth

Conclusion

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A Brilliant Mind Falls Short

The Shortcoming of Scientific Intelligence-Lack of Knowledge

Religion is Its Own Worst Enemy

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By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all

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"He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. Colossians 1:28

^{By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all}