Mark 13: 4-37 parallels Matt. 24. The first few signs are an exact repeat.
Warning #1: don’t be deceived.
False christs.
Wars and rumors of wars.
The end is not yet.
Nations and kingdoms rise against each other.
Earthquakes.
Famines.
These are the beginning of sorrows.
Martyrdom.
The gospel goes out into the world.
When taken and delivered up, don’t try to think ahead what to say. The Holy Spirit will speak through you. This is a new instruction. Christians will be brought before courts of law, kings, etc. because of their faith. They will be filled with the Holy Spirit to answer to the accusations.
Brother will betray brother, fathers their children, children their parents, to the death. .
Those that endure to the end shall be saved.
The abomination of desolation spoken of in Daniel stands where it shouldn’t.
At that time those in Judea should flee.
Then there will be affliction (the tribulation) such as has not been since the creation.
The days of tribulation are shortened for the elect’s sake (so that there will be someone left to rapture).
2nd warning: don’t be deceived.
False christs and false prophets arise showing great signs and wonders.
If possible, the elect will be deceived. Again, the elect are still there.
3rd warning: We have been told in advance so as not to be deceived. He is telling this to believers, that they shouldn’t be deceived by the great signs and wonders of the false prophet.
After the tribulation the following signs will occur:
The sun is darkened.
The moon won’t give its light.
The stars will fall.
The powers in the heavens will be shaken.
(Signs of the Day of the Lord)
Then the Son of man comes in the clouds with great power and glory.
He will send his angels to gather his elect (from the four winds and uttermost parts of the earth).
The parable of the fig tree. (Already discussed)
This generation won’t pass till all these things have happened. (Already discussed)
Nobody knows the day or hour. (Already discussed)
Keep watch. A warning to believers.
There is a parable about the man on a journey who has told his servants to watch. (Servants are Christians. They are told to watch).Then another parable warning us to watch for his 2nd coming. So Christians are expected to be around when that happens.
Another warning to watch. Christ keeps telling us not to be deceived and to keep watch. This was extremely important to Him, yet there are some who say we won’t be here, so no problem. Not according to Christ.
We can see how Mark, with a few exceptions has the same information in the same order as Matthew. We only need to keep it in that order and understand it as they did.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Second Coming Pt. 5 More End Times Parables
There are more parables in Matthew about the gathering or harvest at the end of days. At first glance it would seem that these parables are in opposition to what the scriptures have said thus far, but in actuality, they aren’t.
Matt. 13:24-30, 37-43 The parable of the wheat and tares.
An enemy sows tares among the wheat. The owner says for the servants to not try to separate them until the time of harvest, as they may uproot the wheat. When harvest comes, the reapers are told to gather the tares and throw them in the fire, but to gather the wheat into the barn.
Christ explains this as the field being the world and the wheat are the children of the kingdom. The tares are the children of the devil. The harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels. At the end the tares will be gathered and burned in the fire. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun.
Matt. 13:47-50. The parable of the net.
The kingdom of heaven is like a net that when cast into the sea collects all sorts. When brought to shore the good is gathered and the wicked is cast away. That is how it will be at the end. The angels will sever the wicked from among the just and cast them into the furnace of fire. (Lake of fire).
These would at first glance seem to indicate that the Matt. 24 passage was indeed speaking about gathering the wicked for the flames. That the one taken is the wicked one. But we have to check out all of scripture and try to make sense of the apparent discrepancy, rather than just taking these two items and building a theory that doesn‘t account for the scriptures that say the opposite. First we have to go back to Matt. 24. It clearly says that the gathered ones are the elect. This is not the tares. There can be no argument on this. Now we need to go to Rev. 14:14-20. The Son of man takes a sharp sickle and harvests the earth. Then another angel comes and harvests that which is left and throws it into the winepress of God’s wrath. In both of these cases, the Son of Man or Christ harvests the elect. And according to Revelation His harvest comes before the harvest of the wicked. So how do we reconcile these scriptures which seem to be in opposition? Well, there is a way. It would seem that the Matt. 24 passage and the Rev.14 passage working together indicate that the elect are harvested first. (This will also be found in Mark and Luke) Even Matt. 13 starts off with the same order, the good, then the wicked. But then, the same passage reverses the order. Why? And chapter 13 reverses the order. This can be explained in two ways. When the harvest occurs, there are actually three groups. The elect, which are the bride of Christ, then the wicked, but then there are more chosen ones who will still be left behind. The Jews and those Gentiles who have not taken the mark, but are not of the bride of Christ, will be left after the harvest of the wicked to go into the kingdom. This explains it in part. There will be a harvest of the elect, followed by a harvest of the wicked, and then those that are left will enter into the kingdom. But once again, there is more to the story. At the end of the millennium there will be a repeat of Armageddon. At that time there will be no harvest of the elect. For a second time during the millennium the wheat and tares will grow together. Only this time the harvest will only be of the wicked to be thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath. This time the righteous will be left to shine. The Bible is not just for our age alone, it is for the millennium. There is still more to be fulfilled. The Gog/Magog war in Ezekiel may describe Armageddon, but that (as so many prophecies that seem to have two fulfillments) is not the only fulfillment. It also describes what will happen at the end of the millennium, when all the nations of the world once again gather against Jerusalem. To accommodate multiple meanings, sometimes God deliberately changes things up to make us realize that there must be more to it than we are initially seeing in the passage. To make the same parables fit the end of the millennium, He changes the order in some of them. In the one in Matt. 13, he uses both orders. First the elect, then the wicked, then the wicked followed by the elect. This would seem to be contradictory unless you understand the dual fulfillment. Once you understand that, it makes perfect sense that they can seem to be in opposition, yet are both accurate. In order to know how each order applies, you have to look further, and that is why we were given other passages such as Rev. 14, which clearly delineates what will happen at the end of this age. Rev. 14 is not about the millennium’s end, nor is Matt. (or Mark or Luke) so we can see that the elect harvested first, wicked second is the order we are supposed to use for this age. The other order will apply to the millennium. It also applies to the three groups of this age. It is just these sort of “contradictions” that people who don’t believe the Bible like to point out. It isn’t that they are contradictions, it is that we have to search further to understand what appears to be a contradiction.
Here is an example of a well-known contradiction. How did Judas die? This is a big one that anti-Christian people love to use. Matthew said Judas hung himself. Luke said he threw himself headlong (supposedly off a cliff, as that is the only thing that would fit the description) and burst asunder with all his organs coming out. This is an obvious contradiction as it stands, but that is because we lack understanding. The truth of the matter is, they are both accurate. The place mentioned in Acts (by Luke) has a gorge running through the fields (reported to me by an eye witness who has toured over there). Apparently what transpired was the following: Judas bought the field wherein lay a part of the gorge. At the top of this gorge there are trees that grow out and hang over the edge. (Seen by my informant). Judas (lacking a nice chair off which to jump or ladder to get to a high enough branch) tried to hang himself by tying a rope to a tree branch that hung out over the gorge. He then jumped over the cliff, expecting to hang himself. The problem was, apparently, the branch didn’t hold. It broke, throwing him headlong down into the gorge, where upon hitting the bottom, his body….well you get the picture. His intent was to hang himself. That is what Matthew reported, his intent. Luke on the other hand was a physician, and as a coroner, would have wanted to be accurate as to the cause of death. Technically Judas might not have broken his neck when the branch broke, so he didn’t die by hanging. He certainly did die by hitting the bottom of the gorge. There are no discrepancies in scripture; there is always an explanation. There is only a lack of understanding or knowledge on our part. We just have to ferret out the explanations. In the case of the parables above not lining up at first glance with Matthew and Revelation, we just have to dig further, and when we do we see that it is quite clear what is meant. The important thing that we need to learn from these parables is that the gathering of the wheat and tares takes place at the Coming of the Lord with his angels, just as it says in Matthew. This is where the rapture will occur.
Matt. 13:24-30, 37-43 The parable of the wheat and tares.
An enemy sows tares among the wheat. The owner says for the servants to not try to separate them until the time of harvest, as they may uproot the wheat. When harvest comes, the reapers are told to gather the tares and throw them in the fire, but to gather the wheat into the barn.
Christ explains this as the field being the world and the wheat are the children of the kingdom. The tares are the children of the devil. The harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels. At the end the tares will be gathered and burned in the fire. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun.
Matt. 13:47-50. The parable of the net.
The kingdom of heaven is like a net that when cast into the sea collects all sorts. When brought to shore the good is gathered and the wicked is cast away. That is how it will be at the end. The angels will sever the wicked from among the just and cast them into the furnace of fire. (Lake of fire).
These would at first glance seem to indicate that the Matt. 24 passage was indeed speaking about gathering the wicked for the flames. That the one taken is the wicked one. But we have to check out all of scripture and try to make sense of the apparent discrepancy, rather than just taking these two items and building a theory that doesn‘t account for the scriptures that say the opposite. First we have to go back to Matt. 24. It clearly says that the gathered ones are the elect. This is not the tares. There can be no argument on this. Now we need to go to Rev. 14:14-20. The Son of man takes a sharp sickle and harvests the earth. Then another angel comes and harvests that which is left and throws it into the winepress of God’s wrath. In both of these cases, the Son of Man or Christ harvests the elect. And according to Revelation His harvest comes before the harvest of the wicked. So how do we reconcile these scriptures which seem to be in opposition? Well, there is a way. It would seem that the Matt. 24 passage and the Rev.14 passage working together indicate that the elect are harvested first. (This will also be found in Mark and Luke) Even Matt. 13 starts off with the same order, the good, then the wicked. But then, the same passage reverses the order. Why? And chapter 13 reverses the order. This can be explained in two ways. When the harvest occurs, there are actually three groups. The elect, which are the bride of Christ, then the wicked, but then there are more chosen ones who will still be left behind. The Jews and those Gentiles who have not taken the mark, but are not of the bride of Christ, will be left after the harvest of the wicked to go into the kingdom. This explains it in part. There will be a harvest of the elect, followed by a harvest of the wicked, and then those that are left will enter into the kingdom. But once again, there is more to the story. At the end of the millennium there will be a repeat of Armageddon. At that time there will be no harvest of the elect. For a second time during the millennium the wheat and tares will grow together. Only this time the harvest will only be of the wicked to be thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath. This time the righteous will be left to shine. The Bible is not just for our age alone, it is for the millennium. There is still more to be fulfilled. The Gog/Magog war in Ezekiel may describe Armageddon, but that (as so many prophecies that seem to have two fulfillments) is not the only fulfillment. It also describes what will happen at the end of the millennium, when all the nations of the world once again gather against Jerusalem. To accommodate multiple meanings, sometimes God deliberately changes things up to make us realize that there must be more to it than we are initially seeing in the passage. To make the same parables fit the end of the millennium, He changes the order in some of them. In the one in Matt. 13, he uses both orders. First the elect, then the wicked, then the wicked followed by the elect. This would seem to be contradictory unless you understand the dual fulfillment. Once you understand that, it makes perfect sense that they can seem to be in opposition, yet are both accurate. In order to know how each order applies, you have to look further, and that is why we were given other passages such as Rev. 14, which clearly delineates what will happen at the end of this age. Rev. 14 is not about the millennium’s end, nor is Matt. (or Mark or Luke) so we can see that the elect harvested first, wicked second is the order we are supposed to use for this age. The other order will apply to the millennium. It also applies to the three groups of this age. It is just these sort of “contradictions” that people who don’t believe the Bible like to point out. It isn’t that they are contradictions, it is that we have to search further to understand what appears to be a contradiction.
Here is an example of a well-known contradiction. How did Judas die? This is a big one that anti-Christian people love to use. Matthew said Judas hung himself. Luke said he threw himself headlong (supposedly off a cliff, as that is the only thing that would fit the description) and burst asunder with all his organs coming out. This is an obvious contradiction as it stands, but that is because we lack understanding. The truth of the matter is, they are both accurate. The place mentioned in Acts (by Luke) has a gorge running through the fields (reported to me by an eye witness who has toured over there). Apparently what transpired was the following: Judas bought the field wherein lay a part of the gorge. At the top of this gorge there are trees that grow out and hang over the edge. (Seen by my informant). Judas (lacking a nice chair off which to jump or ladder to get to a high enough branch) tried to hang himself by tying a rope to a tree branch that hung out over the gorge. He then jumped over the cliff, expecting to hang himself. The problem was, apparently, the branch didn’t hold. It broke, throwing him headlong down into the gorge, where upon hitting the bottom, his body….well you get the picture. His intent was to hang himself. That is what Matthew reported, his intent. Luke on the other hand was a physician, and as a coroner, would have wanted to be accurate as to the cause of death. Technically Judas might not have broken his neck when the branch broke, so he didn’t die by hanging. He certainly did die by hitting the bottom of the gorge. There are no discrepancies in scripture; there is always an explanation. There is only a lack of understanding or knowledge on our part. We just have to ferret out the explanations. In the case of the parables above not lining up at first glance with Matthew and Revelation, we just have to dig further, and when we do we see that it is quite clear what is meant. The important thing that we need to learn from these parables is that the gathering of the wheat and tares takes place at the Coming of the Lord with his angels, just as it says in Matthew. This is where the rapture will occur.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The Second Coming of Christ Pt. 4
Getting back to Matthew 24, in verse 37 it gives us more information to allow us to understand that the end is near. We have studied Genesis, now we see why knowing the Bible right from the first book is important.
As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be on the Day Christ returns. Before the flood people were living their lives with no thought to imminent destruction. They were eating and drinking, marrying and carrying on as usual right up to the day Noah entered the ark. All of his preaching was completely ignored and they were totally oblivious to what was about to overtake them. They didn’t realize anything was amiss until the flood came and killed them all. So it will be on the day the Lord returns. There may be things happening (the Day of the Lord signs are pretty dramatic), there may be people having warned them, but they are deaf and blind to the signs and the warnings that they have received, just as the people in Noah’s day were.
Possibly more things, that are similar to Noah’s day and are not so readily apparent, can be extrapolated from knowing the story in Genesis In Noah’s day wickedness was at an all time high. Violence filled the earth. We have that today. Children kill children. Parents abuse and kill children. People kill for the most trivial of reasons. People lie, steal, and cheat. Immorality is a way of life for the majority of people. People call evil good, and good evil. (Is. 5:20) In these ways we are like Noah’s day. And there is more. Fallen angels were openly interacting with, in fact cohabitating with humans. I believe we are paralleling Noah’s day in this way too. While fallen angels and their offspring nephilim do not pose as gods in the same way they did back then (this is where some of the myths of the Roman and Greek gods and the stories of the offspring of the gods like Hercules (men of renown) came from - stories of the nephilim were no doubt handed down by Noah’s sons having been remembered from before the flood, as well as the stories of the nephilim who lived after the flood), they are interacting with us on another level. Today fallen angels, nephilim, and demons pose as aliens and spirit guides for people to channel. They use whatever is the prevalent thing of the moment, and today it is belief in evolution and life in outer space as well as belief in evolved beings who guide us. Mythology and/or Babylonian (occult) history also says that Atlantis (the land that was sunk under the sea - or the antediluvian world) was highly technologically advanced. This is not totally reliable information, but quite probably true given that angels would have knowledge well beyond man. This would explain some of the archaeological paradoxes- the gigantic stone monuments and cities, the incredible building techniques. These massive stone ruins may have survived the flood. Why are there ruins of a port city high up in the mountains in South America nowhere near a sea? Egyptian and Mayan ruins show drawings of flying ships and even small toy models of them have been found in the ruins. It is not impossible to believe that if we have them today, that they, with their demonic help had them back then. It is believed that some of our technology today is in fact coming from demons, who are showing people things through channeling, dreams, and visions, at least that is how people are saying they are getting these ideas. People were probably much smarter back then too. We have deteriorated, not improved. That’s the curse at work. So, when it says as it was in the days of Noah, there is more to it than just eating and drinking and being oblivious to God’s judgment being about to fall. They were probably highly technologically evolved. They may have had a space program just as we do. Ancient drawings show supposed “astronauts”. If we can go to the moon, and our technology can't begin to figure out theirs, why couldn’t they? Although only myths survive to give us the speculation (and remember it is speculation) that these things may be true, it is logical to believe that people who were probably much smarter than we are, and openly had demonic help, had a space program too. In fact, since we know that either fallen angels or nephilim came back to cohabit after the flood, maybe it explains why God was so angry about the tower to take them to the stars that Nimrod was building at Babel. We assume it was just a building of religious worship, and that is the usual interpretation, but we have skyscrapers today that God allows us to have. And plenty of people believe in astrology. Why was it so imperative to make them be unable to communicate and continue the project? Could it be that they were building a launching pad to literally take them to the stars, not just a tower of worship? If Satan could get us off this planet colonizing other planets or moons, God could not fulfill the prophecies in the Bible. His return wouldn’t be for everyone, and all of mankind couldn’t be punished. So Satan would really want us out there in space literally, not just spiritually worshiping the heavenly bodies, in order to make God a liar. God has to keep us on this planet. Granted this is tremendous (although I find it interesting) speculation, but it would explain far better why God would say that anything that they could even imagine, they could do, much better than just believing they were building a tall building. But I digress. As it was in the days of Noah, so it is today. Wickedness will abound and they will be oblivious to what is about to hit them.
Going back to the next verses in Matthew, two people can be side by side and one will be taken and the other won’t. Some people try to make this mean that the one taken will be thrown in the fire and the other is left behind safe, but this is not what Christ just said. Even though he has just referenced Noah, he was making that comparison for the effect of the wicked not expecting judgment. In speaking of the two side by side, He says that when the Son of Man comes two will be side by side and one will be taken and the other left. We have to reference back to where He spoke of His coming and gathering His elect. He takes the elect, not the wicked. This time he is not taking away the wicked and leaving the righteous, he is taking away the righteous and leaving the wicked to endure the flames. To make it mean anything other than what He said is to twist His words around to suit a pre-conceived theory. We need to stay true to what the scriptures say, not make them fit a created theory. We have to always compare ideas or interpretations to scripture. Scripture interprets scripture. Christ said that the elect are taken. Here people are taken away. Therefore it is the elect of whom he speaks.
The warning comes to watch for you know not what hour your Lord will return. Notice the word your, meaning we are the ones being warned, not the unbeliever. This is aimed directly at us, not unbelieving Jews. Christ is not their Lord at the moment. He is ours. This is speaking of the 2nd coming, where he comes for us, as that is what the previous passage was describing. It only reinforces that this is exactly how that passage must be interpreted, as the 2nd coming where Christ gathers the elect (us). We are warned to watch for His coming, His visible 2nd coming, as that is what is being spoken about. How can we watch for something if we aren’t going to be here? We can’t. Therefore He expected His people (those who haven’t been killed by antichrist) to still be here when He returns and to be watching so that they may be gathered. This cannot be made to mean the unbelieving Jews. It simply won't work. It cannot be believing Jews after a pre-trib rapture, as the scriptures clearly teach that they will believe when they see Him whom they have pierced, at His 2nd very visible coming. If a pre-trib rapture is secret, they have no reason to believe that Jesus is the Christ, their Messiah. They would not see Him. It's totally illogical. It cannot be believing Gentiles who have come to Christ after a pre-trib rapture, as we are told that those who have refused the truth will be deluded and won't believe the truth. Nothing works here except for the gathering of us when Christ visibly returns.
Now the warning is made more clear for us through parables. If the Goodman of the house had known what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and his house would not have been broken up. So we are to be ready in the same way, as in an hour that we don’t think He will come (some will have given up hope), He will finally make His appearance. And many will be unprepared for it (having given up hope and starting to live as the world does, figuring it was all a lie). We are talking Christians here, not unbelievers. If the Christian has some idea of when the thief (the Lord) is coming, he will be watching and his house (he himself) will not be lost. Some Christians will have given up when He doesn’t make His appearance to rapture them when they think He should. This will destroy their faith. Only by intense study of scripture can we see what the signs are and what to expect before He comes, so that the thief can’t break into our house.
The wise and faithful servant is that one whom the Lord finds doing what he is supposed to be doing when He returns. Again, this is speaking of His 2nd coming. That is the context. For those who think the Lord isn’t coming after all (have given up because of a false belief perhaps) and don’t care anymore and start to live as the world lives; he won’t be expecting the Lord anymore and when the Lord does come that servant (Christian - servant, not unbeliever) will find his place is with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (let’s just say it isn’t heaven).
Now Christ gives the parable of the ten virgins. All of the virgins went out to meet the bridegroom. All of them are virgins, i.e. all of them are Christians. All of them go out to meet him. Five are wise, and five are foolish. Those that were foolish took their lamps, but no oil. The wise took oil along with their lamps. Christians who think that just accepting the Lord and leaving it at that point is fine, are sadly mistaken. We must keep oil in our lamps. We need to be walking with the Lord and studying his word. Salvation is not a final thing until we have passed from this life. The bridegroom (Christ) tarries. He didn’t come back in time for the disciples. He didn’t come back for two millennia, and He still hasn’t come back. The virgins all fall asleep. When the bridegroom suddenly makes his appearance, the virgins with oil are prepared, but those without aren’t. They don’t have time to get oil as time has run out. When they try to get oil and catch up, it is too late. They get shut out of the marriage. When they are asked to be let in, Christ says he doesn’t know them. These are people who believe they are Christians, who don’t make it to the marriage. It isn’t enough to say that these are just people who go by the name Christian, but have never known the Lord for real. These are virgins. This implies Christians. They did know the Lord, but they weren’t prepared. Then we are given another warning to watch. This is speaking of the 2nd coming. It cannot be used to speak of a pre-trib rapture simply because pre-trib says that the rapture is not here. That it is a mystery. Again, I believe the scriptures say it is here, because I put it where Christ put it, at the 2nd coming.
Then there is the parable of the talent. The servant, [yes he is a servant (Christian)] doesn’t use his talents for the Lord. What is the outcome? He is cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is not being left for the tribulation or Day of the Lord. Outer darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth is associated with eternal damnation in the scriptures. Again, this is a servant (a Christian) that ends up in the very wrong place, because he is not doing the works he was given to do, investing in a heavenly reward.
In the last parable we are told that when the Son of Man comes with His angels, He will sit upon the throne and gather all the nations for judgment. He will separate them as sheep and goats. The normal way of interpreting this passage is that the sheep are the ones who haven’t taken the mark of the beast, (we’ll learn about that in Rev.) and while not being Christians may have been good to Christians under persecution. (Remember how in Daniel it said that when the saints fell they would be helped, but not by people who are doing it out of a sincere belief?). The ones who have taken the mark and have persecuted Christians (the goats) will be thrown into the everlasting fire which was prepared for Satan and his demons. Lately I have begun to wonder if that is what this is really saying. The other parables are about Christians, not Christians and unbelievers. In the temple sacrifices, both sheep and goat kids were interchangeable for sacrifice. Is this another parable about Christians? If it is, then Christians had better beware, as a Christian who has not been doing the good works he was supposed to be doing is in serious trouble.
As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be on the Day Christ returns. Before the flood people were living their lives with no thought to imminent destruction. They were eating and drinking, marrying and carrying on as usual right up to the day Noah entered the ark. All of his preaching was completely ignored and they were totally oblivious to what was about to overtake them. They didn’t realize anything was amiss until the flood came and killed them all. So it will be on the day the Lord returns. There may be things happening (the Day of the Lord signs are pretty dramatic), there may be people having warned them, but they are deaf and blind to the signs and the warnings that they have received, just as the people in Noah’s day were.
Possibly more things, that are similar to Noah’s day and are not so readily apparent, can be extrapolated from knowing the story in Genesis In Noah’s day wickedness was at an all time high. Violence filled the earth. We have that today. Children kill children. Parents abuse and kill children. People kill for the most trivial of reasons. People lie, steal, and cheat. Immorality is a way of life for the majority of people. People call evil good, and good evil. (Is. 5:20) In these ways we are like Noah’s day. And there is more. Fallen angels were openly interacting with, in fact cohabitating with humans. I believe we are paralleling Noah’s day in this way too. While fallen angels and their offspring nephilim do not pose as gods in the same way they did back then (this is where some of the myths of the Roman and Greek gods and the stories of the offspring of the gods like Hercules (men of renown) came from - stories of the nephilim were no doubt handed down by Noah’s sons having been remembered from before the flood, as well as the stories of the nephilim who lived after the flood), they are interacting with us on another level. Today fallen angels, nephilim, and demons pose as aliens and spirit guides for people to channel. They use whatever is the prevalent thing of the moment, and today it is belief in evolution and life in outer space as well as belief in evolved beings who guide us. Mythology and/or Babylonian (occult) history also says that Atlantis (the land that was sunk under the sea - or the antediluvian world) was highly technologically advanced. This is not totally reliable information, but quite probably true given that angels would have knowledge well beyond man. This would explain some of the archaeological paradoxes- the gigantic stone monuments and cities, the incredible building techniques. These massive stone ruins may have survived the flood. Why are there ruins of a port city high up in the mountains in South America nowhere near a sea? Egyptian and Mayan ruins show drawings of flying ships and even small toy models of them have been found in the ruins. It is not impossible to believe that if we have them today, that they, with their demonic help had them back then. It is believed that some of our technology today is in fact coming from demons, who are showing people things through channeling, dreams, and visions, at least that is how people are saying they are getting these ideas. People were probably much smarter back then too. We have deteriorated, not improved. That’s the curse at work. So, when it says as it was in the days of Noah, there is more to it than just eating and drinking and being oblivious to God’s judgment being about to fall. They were probably highly technologically evolved. They may have had a space program just as we do. Ancient drawings show supposed “astronauts”. If we can go to the moon, and our technology can't begin to figure out theirs, why couldn’t they? Although only myths survive to give us the speculation (and remember it is speculation) that these things may be true, it is logical to believe that people who were probably much smarter than we are, and openly had demonic help, had a space program too. In fact, since we know that either fallen angels or nephilim came back to cohabit after the flood, maybe it explains why God was so angry about the tower to take them to the stars that Nimrod was building at Babel. We assume it was just a building of religious worship, and that is the usual interpretation, but we have skyscrapers today that God allows us to have. And plenty of people believe in astrology. Why was it so imperative to make them be unable to communicate and continue the project? Could it be that they were building a launching pad to literally take them to the stars, not just a tower of worship? If Satan could get us off this planet colonizing other planets or moons, God could not fulfill the prophecies in the Bible. His return wouldn’t be for everyone, and all of mankind couldn’t be punished. So Satan would really want us out there in space literally, not just spiritually worshiping the heavenly bodies, in order to make God a liar. God has to keep us on this planet. Granted this is tremendous (although I find it interesting) speculation, but it would explain far better why God would say that anything that they could even imagine, they could do, much better than just believing they were building a tall building. But I digress. As it was in the days of Noah, so it is today. Wickedness will abound and they will be oblivious to what is about to hit them.
Going back to the next verses in Matthew, two people can be side by side and one will be taken and the other won’t. Some people try to make this mean that the one taken will be thrown in the fire and the other is left behind safe, but this is not what Christ just said. Even though he has just referenced Noah, he was making that comparison for the effect of the wicked not expecting judgment. In speaking of the two side by side, He says that when the Son of Man comes two will be side by side and one will be taken and the other left. We have to reference back to where He spoke of His coming and gathering His elect. He takes the elect, not the wicked. This time he is not taking away the wicked and leaving the righteous, he is taking away the righteous and leaving the wicked to endure the flames. To make it mean anything other than what He said is to twist His words around to suit a pre-conceived theory. We need to stay true to what the scriptures say, not make them fit a created theory. We have to always compare ideas or interpretations to scripture. Scripture interprets scripture. Christ said that the elect are taken. Here people are taken away. Therefore it is the elect of whom he speaks.
The warning comes to watch for you know not what hour your Lord will return. Notice the word your, meaning we are the ones being warned, not the unbeliever. This is aimed directly at us, not unbelieving Jews. Christ is not their Lord at the moment. He is ours. This is speaking of the 2nd coming, where he comes for us, as that is what the previous passage was describing. It only reinforces that this is exactly how that passage must be interpreted, as the 2nd coming where Christ gathers the elect (us). We are warned to watch for His coming, His visible 2nd coming, as that is what is being spoken about. How can we watch for something if we aren’t going to be here? We can’t. Therefore He expected His people (those who haven’t been killed by antichrist) to still be here when He returns and to be watching so that they may be gathered. This cannot be made to mean the unbelieving Jews. It simply won't work. It cannot be believing Jews after a pre-trib rapture, as the scriptures clearly teach that they will believe when they see Him whom they have pierced, at His 2nd very visible coming. If a pre-trib rapture is secret, they have no reason to believe that Jesus is the Christ, their Messiah. They would not see Him. It's totally illogical. It cannot be believing Gentiles who have come to Christ after a pre-trib rapture, as we are told that those who have refused the truth will be deluded and won't believe the truth. Nothing works here except for the gathering of us when Christ visibly returns.
Now the warning is made more clear for us through parables. If the Goodman of the house had known what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and his house would not have been broken up. So we are to be ready in the same way, as in an hour that we don’t think He will come (some will have given up hope), He will finally make His appearance. And many will be unprepared for it (having given up hope and starting to live as the world does, figuring it was all a lie). We are talking Christians here, not unbelievers. If the Christian has some idea of when the thief (the Lord) is coming, he will be watching and his house (he himself) will not be lost. Some Christians will have given up when He doesn’t make His appearance to rapture them when they think He should. This will destroy their faith. Only by intense study of scripture can we see what the signs are and what to expect before He comes, so that the thief can’t break into our house.
The wise and faithful servant is that one whom the Lord finds doing what he is supposed to be doing when He returns. Again, this is speaking of His 2nd coming. That is the context. For those who think the Lord isn’t coming after all (have given up because of a false belief perhaps) and don’t care anymore and start to live as the world lives; he won’t be expecting the Lord anymore and when the Lord does come that servant (Christian - servant, not unbeliever) will find his place is with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (let’s just say it isn’t heaven).
Now Christ gives the parable of the ten virgins. All of the virgins went out to meet the bridegroom. All of them are virgins, i.e. all of them are Christians. All of them go out to meet him. Five are wise, and five are foolish. Those that were foolish took their lamps, but no oil. The wise took oil along with their lamps. Christians who think that just accepting the Lord and leaving it at that point is fine, are sadly mistaken. We must keep oil in our lamps. We need to be walking with the Lord and studying his word. Salvation is not a final thing until we have passed from this life. The bridegroom (Christ) tarries. He didn’t come back in time for the disciples. He didn’t come back for two millennia, and He still hasn’t come back. The virgins all fall asleep. When the bridegroom suddenly makes his appearance, the virgins with oil are prepared, but those without aren’t. They don’t have time to get oil as time has run out. When they try to get oil and catch up, it is too late. They get shut out of the marriage. When they are asked to be let in, Christ says he doesn’t know them. These are people who believe they are Christians, who don’t make it to the marriage. It isn’t enough to say that these are just people who go by the name Christian, but have never known the Lord for real. These are virgins. This implies Christians. They did know the Lord, but they weren’t prepared. Then we are given another warning to watch. This is speaking of the 2nd coming. It cannot be used to speak of a pre-trib rapture simply because pre-trib says that the rapture is not here. That it is a mystery. Again, I believe the scriptures say it is here, because I put it where Christ put it, at the 2nd coming.
Then there is the parable of the talent. The servant, [yes he is a servant (Christian)] doesn’t use his talents for the Lord. What is the outcome? He is cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is not being left for the tribulation or Day of the Lord. Outer darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth is associated with eternal damnation in the scriptures. Again, this is a servant (a Christian) that ends up in the very wrong place, because he is not doing the works he was given to do, investing in a heavenly reward.
In the last parable we are told that when the Son of Man comes with His angels, He will sit upon the throne and gather all the nations for judgment. He will separate them as sheep and goats. The normal way of interpreting this passage is that the sheep are the ones who haven’t taken the mark of the beast, (we’ll learn about that in Rev.) and while not being Christians may have been good to Christians under persecution. (Remember how in Daniel it said that when the saints fell they would be helped, but not by people who are doing it out of a sincere belief?). The ones who have taken the mark and have persecuted Christians (the goats) will be thrown into the everlasting fire which was prepared for Satan and his demons. Lately I have begun to wonder if that is what this is really saying. The other parables are about Christians, not Christians and unbelievers. In the temple sacrifices, both sheep and goat kids were interchangeable for sacrifice. Is this another parable about Christians? If it is, then Christians had better beware, as a Christian who has not been doing the good works he was supposed to be doing is in serious trouble.
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Second Coming of Christ Pt. 3
Nobody knows the day or hour except the Father. This verse is clearly speaking about the 2nd coming, which Christ has just described in some detail, yet people use it to speak of a rapture that precedes the 70th week. This is incongruous. If, as they say, the rapture is secret and not mentioned here in Matthew, then this verse cannot be speaking about the rapture. And yet, this verse is used to defend a secret rapture. It is clearly speaking of the 2nd coming, and that needs to be kept in mind, as there are associations that go with this phrase that do point to it being the rapture, but a rapture that is at the time of Christ’s 2nd coming.
Actually while some people have said that it can’t be known when Christ will come, that it could be at any minute, that is not accurate. We need to look at Scripture more carefully and see what He was really saying. First of all, we have already seen that the tribulation, and Day of the Lord signs have to happen first. So we know it can’t be at any minute. As to more than that, once those signs have occurred, is there any way to know when He will come? Yes, there is. First we need to acknowledge that we have been told that we should have an idea as to when He will come.
Luke 21:34 “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” In other words, only by being totally living an indulgent life with no attention to God’s Word, would this take you unaware. So we are to be aware that it is upon us.
1 Thess.5:2-6. “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” We are not to be overtaken as the rest of the world. The only way that is possible is for us to know when it is about to happen.
Matt. 24:36-44. We have been told we will not know the day nor the hour. The day and the hour. Vs.43 indicates though that we should know the watch. In those days, there were four watches a day, each six hours long. To know the watch, we should know the “time of day” or the relative time it is coming. We have studied the festivals and know that the fall festivals are all about the 2nd coming, therefore we know that the Lord‘s return will be in conjunction with the fall festivals of Rosh ha Shanah and Yom Kippur. We know the watch. It will be in the fall.
So we know from what we have previously learned that Christ cannot return until the temple is built, the abomination of desolation occurs, the tribulation comes to an end, and the signs of the Day of the Lord occur. We know that these events occur in the second half of the 70th week, so there are only a few years in which this could happen. Now on top of that, we know that it must happen at the time of the fall festivals, so we will know the season (fall) or watch in which Christ will return. Is there a way we can know which year it will be? Actually when we get into Revelation, we will see that God has even given us enough information to pinpoint that. It is said we will not know the specific day nor specific hour. There are reasons why this will be so, partly because we don’t follow the Jewish calendar, so we don’t know when these festivals will occur. Plus there are reasons to believe that the rotation of the earth around the sun (orbit) will be changed, which will change the calendar (probably back to a 360 day year). All of this, plus the fact that the Jewish month is begun based on the new moon (which will no longer give its light) will make it impossible to know exactly what day it is in the Jewish calendar. However, there is still more to understanding this scripture verse. And it is the following that reinforces the fact that the gathering of the elect when Christ returns is indeed the rapture.
The marriage ritual of the Jews at the time of Christ gives us a picture of what Christ was trying to get across when he said that nobody but the Father would know the day or hour. It seems impossible, given that the Father and Son are one, that Christ wouldn’t know the hour. The marriage ritual explains why this is so. And the disciples would have immediately referenced this tradition when Christ used the phrase “nobody knows the day or the hour” as it was a commonly used phrase of the day in conjunction with the marriage ceremony.
Many marriages were arranged by the parents from the time the children were infants. Others were arranged in one of the following ways. The young man might want a particular girl, or his parents may choose her for him. The arrangements could be arranged in one of the following ways: the father would make the arrangements for his son, an agent would arrange it on behalf of the father, or an agent could arrange it on behalf of the son. Using the last example, this is how the ritual of Christ’s time took place. The young man went to the home of his potential bride-to-be. He carried three things with him, a large sum of money to pay the bride price, a betrothal contract, and a skin of wine. After approaching the father and possibly the brothers, the contract was put forth and the bridal price discussed. Then a glass of wine was poured. If the father approved, the girl was called in. If she approved, she would drink the wine. That would commit her to the man and the contract was now signed and binding. They were called husband and wife, however it was called a betrothal instead of a marriage. Some research I came across (Jewish in origin) said that another way she could accept the contract was to have sexual relations with him, as they were considered husband and wife once the contract was signed. That is why scholars always say that a betrothal was much more than an engagement and required a divorce to end it. This would mean Mary being pregnant before she was considered married to (living with) Joseph would not have been a problem as far as the community was concerned. It was only a problem for Joseph, who knew he had not slept with her. If this information about the custom is accurate, and I have no reason to suppose it isn’t, it was not a shameful thing for her to be pregnant before the ceremony actually took place, so she would not have been shunned or considered a sinner and no shame would come upon her for having a baby less than nine months after the wedding ceremony. To dissolve the contract required a divorce. Back to the marriage. After the contract was secure, the young man would state that he would go to his father’s house and prepare a place for her. This place was known as the chadar (chamber) and the chupah (honeymoon bed). From the time the contract was ratified, the young woman was consecrated or set apart for her husband. She was bought with a price. She was then to spend her time preparing herself to be his wife and a mother. She spent her days in waiting, learning how to please her husband. In the meanwhile, the man returned to his father’s home to start constructing the chamber and bed. They would retire here after the wedding ceremony. When asked when that ceremony would be, he was to reply “no man knows (the day or hour) except my father.” In Israel the father had to be satisfied that all was ready before he would give his son permission to go and get his bride. However one look at the young man’s work would show how close he was to being done and how soon the girl could be expecting him to come. There were “signs” of his being about to come and get her. But the young man could not actually leave until the father gave permission.
All of Christ’s listeners were Jewish and very familiar with this ritual. In saying what he did, Christ was indicating that he was the groom of those who would follow him. This was not made as a statement to make us think that there was no way at all that we could ever even suspect that Christ’s coming was near. We are told that we should know the watch. We are told the signs. It is simply that the particular day and hour are up to God to give His permission for Christ to come get us. So even Christ, who knows the mind of God, can’t say when the day or hour is, as he has to actually wait for the Father to verbalize the command for Him to go. Christ was letting them know that the same ritual that they used was basically what was going to happen when He returned. It wasn’t that there were no indications. The construction being done by the groom and the signs that it was near its completion were easy to see. In the same way, Christ gave many signs that were to herald His return. What was required was the permission of the father to go forth and claim his bride (at which time the ceremony and wedding feast would take place). This is how the disciples would have interpreted what Jesus said. Especially when added to the other statements Christ made. In John 14:2-3 “In my father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also.” This is the bridal chadar and chupah. In 1 Cor. 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit which are God’s.” 1 Cor. 7:23, “Ye are bought with a price, be not ye the servants of men.” The bride is bought with a price and set apart to prepare herself for her husband. We were bought with a price and set aside for our groom, Christ. He said He was returning to His Father’s house to prepare a place for His bride, (us) and then He would return and get us. When the groom, who doesn’t know the day or the hour that his father will actually say, “Okay, go get her,” even though all is ready, returns to get his bride, there is a wedding ceremony and feast. This is what we are told will happen when Christ returns for us - a wedding feast. THE “Feast” the Feast of the Lord. (Feast of Sukkoth) All of this helps us to understand better the Second Coming of the Lord. Our job is the job of the bride to be preparing herself to please her groom. And look how we fail. Seeing how the marriage ceremony developed to pattern what Christ will do with His bride, does it seem logical that the groom would leave and secretly run off with his bride? That wasn’t the way the ritual was done, and I don’t think elopement is what God had in mind for us. The getting of the bride will follow the marriage traditions. Since the phrase nobody knows the day or hour clearly refers to the Second Coming (if you don't believe a rapture is spoken of in Matthew, you have no choice but to accept this), and if the phrase nobody knows the day or hour clearly refers to the son being released by his father to go get his bride, then you have to acknowledge that this is speaking of Christ getting his bride at the time of his return, which nobody knows the day or the hour. It is simple deductive reasoning.
Actually while some people have said that it can’t be known when Christ will come, that it could be at any minute, that is not accurate. We need to look at Scripture more carefully and see what He was really saying. First of all, we have already seen that the tribulation, and Day of the Lord signs have to happen first. So we know it can’t be at any minute. As to more than that, once those signs have occurred, is there any way to know when He will come? Yes, there is. First we need to acknowledge that we have been told that we should have an idea as to when He will come.
Luke 21:34 “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” In other words, only by being totally living an indulgent life with no attention to God’s Word, would this take you unaware. So we are to be aware that it is upon us.
1 Thess.5:2-6. “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” We are not to be overtaken as the rest of the world. The only way that is possible is for us to know when it is about to happen.
Matt. 24:36-44. We have been told we will not know the day nor the hour. The day and the hour. Vs.43 indicates though that we should know the watch. In those days, there were four watches a day, each six hours long. To know the watch, we should know the “time of day” or the relative time it is coming. We have studied the festivals and know that the fall festivals are all about the 2nd coming, therefore we know that the Lord‘s return will be in conjunction with the fall festivals of Rosh ha Shanah and Yom Kippur. We know the watch. It will be in the fall.
So we know from what we have previously learned that Christ cannot return until the temple is built, the abomination of desolation occurs, the tribulation comes to an end, and the signs of the Day of the Lord occur. We know that these events occur in the second half of the 70th week, so there are only a few years in which this could happen. Now on top of that, we know that it must happen at the time of the fall festivals, so we will know the season (fall) or watch in which Christ will return. Is there a way we can know which year it will be? Actually when we get into Revelation, we will see that God has even given us enough information to pinpoint that. It is said we will not know the specific day nor specific hour. There are reasons why this will be so, partly because we don’t follow the Jewish calendar, so we don’t know when these festivals will occur. Plus there are reasons to believe that the rotation of the earth around the sun (orbit) will be changed, which will change the calendar (probably back to a 360 day year). All of this, plus the fact that the Jewish month is begun based on the new moon (which will no longer give its light) will make it impossible to know exactly what day it is in the Jewish calendar. However, there is still more to understanding this scripture verse. And it is the following that reinforces the fact that the gathering of the elect when Christ returns is indeed the rapture.
The marriage ritual of the Jews at the time of Christ gives us a picture of what Christ was trying to get across when he said that nobody but the Father would know the day or hour. It seems impossible, given that the Father and Son are one, that Christ wouldn’t know the hour. The marriage ritual explains why this is so. And the disciples would have immediately referenced this tradition when Christ used the phrase “nobody knows the day or the hour” as it was a commonly used phrase of the day in conjunction with the marriage ceremony.
Many marriages were arranged by the parents from the time the children were infants. Others were arranged in one of the following ways. The young man might want a particular girl, or his parents may choose her for him. The arrangements could be arranged in one of the following ways: the father would make the arrangements for his son, an agent would arrange it on behalf of the father, or an agent could arrange it on behalf of the son. Using the last example, this is how the ritual of Christ’s time took place. The young man went to the home of his potential bride-to-be. He carried three things with him, a large sum of money to pay the bride price, a betrothal contract, and a skin of wine. After approaching the father and possibly the brothers, the contract was put forth and the bridal price discussed. Then a glass of wine was poured. If the father approved, the girl was called in. If she approved, she would drink the wine. That would commit her to the man and the contract was now signed and binding. They were called husband and wife, however it was called a betrothal instead of a marriage. Some research I came across (Jewish in origin) said that another way she could accept the contract was to have sexual relations with him, as they were considered husband and wife once the contract was signed. That is why scholars always say that a betrothal was much more than an engagement and required a divorce to end it. This would mean Mary being pregnant before she was considered married to (living with) Joseph would not have been a problem as far as the community was concerned. It was only a problem for Joseph, who knew he had not slept with her. If this information about the custom is accurate, and I have no reason to suppose it isn’t, it was not a shameful thing for her to be pregnant before the ceremony actually took place, so she would not have been shunned or considered a sinner and no shame would come upon her for having a baby less than nine months after the wedding ceremony. To dissolve the contract required a divorce. Back to the marriage. After the contract was secure, the young man would state that he would go to his father’s house and prepare a place for her. This place was known as the chadar (chamber) and the chupah (honeymoon bed). From the time the contract was ratified, the young woman was consecrated or set apart for her husband. She was bought with a price. She was then to spend her time preparing herself to be his wife and a mother. She spent her days in waiting, learning how to please her husband. In the meanwhile, the man returned to his father’s home to start constructing the chamber and bed. They would retire here after the wedding ceremony. When asked when that ceremony would be, he was to reply “no man knows (the day or hour) except my father.” In Israel the father had to be satisfied that all was ready before he would give his son permission to go and get his bride. However one look at the young man’s work would show how close he was to being done and how soon the girl could be expecting him to come. There were “signs” of his being about to come and get her. But the young man could not actually leave until the father gave permission.
All of Christ’s listeners were Jewish and very familiar with this ritual. In saying what he did, Christ was indicating that he was the groom of those who would follow him. This was not made as a statement to make us think that there was no way at all that we could ever even suspect that Christ’s coming was near. We are told that we should know the watch. We are told the signs. It is simply that the particular day and hour are up to God to give His permission for Christ to come get us. So even Christ, who knows the mind of God, can’t say when the day or hour is, as he has to actually wait for the Father to verbalize the command for Him to go. Christ was letting them know that the same ritual that they used was basically what was going to happen when He returned. It wasn’t that there were no indications. The construction being done by the groom and the signs that it was near its completion were easy to see. In the same way, Christ gave many signs that were to herald His return. What was required was the permission of the father to go forth and claim his bride (at which time the ceremony and wedding feast would take place). This is how the disciples would have interpreted what Jesus said. Especially when added to the other statements Christ made. In John 14:2-3 “In my father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also.” This is the bridal chadar and chupah. In 1 Cor. 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit which are God’s.” 1 Cor. 7:23, “Ye are bought with a price, be not ye the servants of men.” The bride is bought with a price and set apart to prepare herself for her husband. We were bought with a price and set aside for our groom, Christ. He said He was returning to His Father’s house to prepare a place for His bride, (us) and then He would return and get us. When the groom, who doesn’t know the day or the hour that his father will actually say, “Okay, go get her,” even though all is ready, returns to get his bride, there is a wedding ceremony and feast. This is what we are told will happen when Christ returns for us - a wedding feast. THE “Feast” the Feast of the Lord. (Feast of Sukkoth) All of this helps us to understand better the Second Coming of the Lord. Our job is the job of the bride to be preparing herself to please her groom. And look how we fail. Seeing how the marriage ceremony developed to pattern what Christ will do with His bride, does it seem logical that the groom would leave and secretly run off with his bride? That wasn’t the way the ritual was done, and I don’t think elopement is what God had in mind for us. The getting of the bride will follow the marriage traditions. Since the phrase nobody knows the day or hour clearly refers to the Second Coming (if you don't believe a rapture is spoken of in Matthew, you have no choice but to accept this), and if the phrase nobody knows the day or hour clearly refers to the son being released by his father to go get his bride, then you have to acknowledge that this is speaking of Christ getting his bride at the time of his return, which nobody knows the day or the hour. It is simple deductive reasoning.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
The Second Coming of Christ Pt. 2
Continuing from where we left off last time (Matthew 24:23) , we were going through the list of events that Christ said would occur before His 2nd coming.
2nd warning: don’t be deceived by false christs. Why should we worry about being deceived if we aren't going to be here? We are, that's why we are told to not be deceived.
False christs and prophets showing great signs and wonders (again we will see this in Rev.).
If possible they shall deceive the elect. First of all, how can they deceive the elect if the elect aren‘t here? So Christians are still here. If Christians are still here, the Holy Spirit is still here. Is it possible to deceive them? I believe there will be some who will be deceived. I think it may be possible for some who are unaware of what is going on because they have listened to false teachers, false doctrines, who have let their itching ears determine what they want to hear or what is comfortable to hear, and/or are living lives that resembles the world‘s to be deceived. The delusion will be great. Those who will not acknowledge the truth, [and that includes more than acknowledging Jesus Christ is who He is, it includes acknowledging that antichrist is who he is and that the tribulation has begun] will choose to believe the lie as it will be easier, plus it says that God will make those who have refused to accept the truth, believe the lie. Those who don’t accept the lie (believers) will have to suffer horribly. And some people will not have been prepared for that. I know many an American Christian who think they could never be asked to die for Christ. They simply aren’t prepared to do it, as other Christians around the world are. Just as a question to those who would say that we won’t have to suffer this, is it not arrogance of the highest order to believe that we in this generation and in this country especially, are too good for suffering? We know that this is the apostate generation. We have been told that. Look at the rest of the world. Christians are being persecuted, tortured, and martyred for Christ’s sake. What do they think of Christians living a life of luxury and worldliness in America who so self-righteously and arrogantly say, “We will be gone. We will not suffer. God doesn’t want (and I quote someone on this) a battered and bruised bride.”? He doesn’t? Tell that to the thousands and millions of Christians who have been martyred since the time of Christ. Christ wants a pure bride and that is going to take some refinement of the Christians in this country. That may sound hard, but it is the truth.
3rd warning: Again Christ has told us beforehand to not be deceived. Again I have to ask, how on earth can we be deceived if we don't have to worry about being here?
As lightning shines from the east to the west, so shall the coming of Christ be. (Even the west can see the lightning flashing in the east. Christ’s coming will be seen by everyone as it will light up the sky like a lightning flash. There will be no missing it. No secret here. And it will be sudden.)
Wherever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. I have heard that this was a common saying of Christ's day. I don't know whether that is true or not. This verse is a puzzle to many. Some say it should say vultures instead of eagles as eagles are not carrion birds, but according to my Greek translation, the word is eagles and I believe God has kept the meaning intact when it was translated into English (KJV). The second thing is, when we get to Luke’s parallel passage, it will be seen that the word used there is body, not carcase. Now therein lies a dilemma, for the Greek word for carcase does mean dead body, but the Greek word for body means a sound body. In other words a healthy body. This changes the meaning of the saying. So we must reconcile the two. How could there be a dead body, but a living healthy body? And what or who are the eagles? I have heard of two interpretations for this verse. The first is one with which I found I had already come to, based on scripture, and was grateful to see someone else had come up with that thought too. In Isa.40:31 it says “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” We are compared to eagles in this verse. Christ died, yet lives. He is the body to which the eagles would flock. It says that Christ will return to Zion (Zech. 14:4 “and his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives”) and as we studied the signs of the Day of the Lord we see that he gathers his elect and deliverance comes for them in Zion. This is where Christ (the body) will return and this is where the eagles (we) would go to await His return. The other interpretation that I have heard uses the word vultures and dead body to say that it means that people who are vultures will flock after the false preachers and prophets (comparable to the Pharisees who were white sepulchers - repositories for dead bodies.) I have no other interpretation for this verse, and I don’t say categorically that either of the ones I presented is the absolute right one, so if anyone has another feel free to add it in the comments.
Immediately after the tribulation the following heavenly signs occur:
The sun will be darkened.
The moon doesn’t give its light.
The stars fall.
The powers of the heavens will be shaken. The word powers means miraculous powers - possibly this is referring to the demonic powers that live in the heavens. Christ’s coming would certainly shake them up. And the heavenly bodies will be shaken and moved. These signs should now look familiar having gone over them numerous times while studying the Day of the Lord. These are the signs heralding the Day of the Lord. Take note that these signs come after the tribulation. Many teach that the 70th week, the tribulation, and the Day of the Lord are all the same thing, and it is because of the interchanging of these phrases that they have come up with the theory that they teach. It is dangerous, and in this case erroneous, to build a belief upon false interpretations. It only leads to further false interpretations and beliefs. The Day of the Lord is not the tribulation, which has now been stopped or cut short. It is not the 70th week, which began before the abomination of desolation. This (the Day of the Lord) begins after the tribulation according to what we have studied in the O.T. and Christ‘s teachings here. Remember Christ would have expected the disciples to immediately recognize these signs as the Day of the Lord, as they would have studied the scriptures too. They would have immediately made the connection that Christ was speaking about the Day of the Lord and that was His intent, which is why He tells them these particular, specific, unmistakable signs that would only occur once. This is the way we need to understand it also. I often think God must shake His head when we take what He meant to be so easily understood and twist it all out of whack to come up with ideas that He never intended. He meant it to be easily understood. We can’t listen to the approach that so many since the early church have taken, that only the scholars have enough intelligence to understand God’s Word. He meant it to be easy enough that anyone could, with the help of the Holy Spirit, understand what was being said. People tend to complicate it in ways God never intended.
[This is why the Hebrews were chastised for still needing milk, when they should have been on the meat (the O.T. scriptures are where a lot of this information is - remember, the N.T. wasn‘t compiled for them as it was for us, and Revelation hadn‘t been written until the end of John‘s life so he is speaking of the O.T. as the meat). This is why it is so important to study the O.T. So that you can correctly divide the Word of Truth by comparison. God says that His people are destroyed for their lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” This is a frightening condemnation, yet Christians blithely go their way not studying God’s Word which just might save them in the Day of Trouble. (Pr.22:3, 27:12).]
So the order according to Christ and Daniel is: the 70th week begins, the abomination of desolation occurs, the tribulation begins, the tribulation is cut short of the 3 ½ years, (we shall see how in Rev.) and the Day of the Lord begins (and will finish out the 3 ½ years), after which the Lord returns, which is in the next few verses.
Now at some point after the Day of the Lord signs, the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven. As Christ will be bringing New Jerusalem with him and that will be lit by the Shekinah glory of God, it might look like another sun in the sky. (See Rev. 21, esp. vs. 23-24) Possibly this is the sign of His appearance - a new “sun” (New Jerusalem).
The tribes of the earth will mourn. (this is the Jewish tribes - Zech. 12:10, Rev. 1:7)
The Son of Man will be seen coming in the clouds with power and glory. The 2nd coming will involve several identifying features. The first is clouds.
There will be a trumpet blast. This is a second identifying feature.
Christ will send the angels to gather his elect. These are the third and fourth identifying features. There are angels with him, and they gather His elect. They are not gathering people to throw into the winepress of God’s wrath, although the wicked will be thrown into the winepress afterward. This clearly says they are gathering His elect. They are gathering up Christians. (We have already given scriptures to show that Christians are the elect). So the 2nd coming involves Christ coming with 1) clouds, 2) a trumpet blast, 3) angels in attendance 4) who gather His elect to Him. Now, just as God gave us specific signs to identify the Day of the Lord, we are given specific signs to identify His coming and gathering us up. Anytime He speaks of our gathering, we should find some if not all of these mentioned signs. God wants us to understand and He is trying to make it easy.
Parable of the fig tree. When we see all of these things, we are to know it is at the door. This generation will not pass before these things are all fulfilled. Many interpret this as saying that the signs began when Israel became a nation as the fig tree is a symbol by which God called Israel. (Joel 1:7) and that its putting out leaves was when it started to gain back its land, especially Jerusalem in 1967. This is a possibility as Israel is now 61 years old (at the time of my writing this) and a generation is 70 years. From 1967 when it began to put out “leaves” would be 42 years, a generation by reckoning of the 40 year’s wandering in the wilderness. So two types of generations would end about the same time. It is easy to believe that things are about to begin, so it could easily be done before the generation that was born and saw Israel become a nation passes away. Another way to read this is that when we see the events occur that Christ tells us are the start of the end (vs. 15), it will be accomplished before another generation passes away. Given that in Luke it is not just the fig tree, but when the leaves of all the trees are put forth, the generation will not pass. As the fig tree is not the only tree, it now becomes irrelevant to Israel and just means that when you see the start of this, know that summer (Christ's coming) is near.
2nd warning: don’t be deceived by false christs. Why should we worry about being deceived if we aren't going to be here? We are, that's why we are told to not be deceived.
False christs and prophets showing great signs and wonders (again we will see this in Rev.).
If possible they shall deceive the elect. First of all, how can they deceive the elect if the elect aren‘t here? So Christians are still here. If Christians are still here, the Holy Spirit is still here. Is it possible to deceive them? I believe there will be some who will be deceived. I think it may be possible for some who are unaware of what is going on because they have listened to false teachers, false doctrines, who have let their itching ears determine what they want to hear or what is comfortable to hear, and/or are living lives that resembles the world‘s to be deceived. The delusion will be great. Those who will not acknowledge the truth, [and that includes more than acknowledging Jesus Christ is who He is, it includes acknowledging that antichrist is who he is and that the tribulation has begun] will choose to believe the lie as it will be easier, plus it says that God will make those who have refused to accept the truth, believe the lie. Those who don’t accept the lie (believers) will have to suffer horribly. And some people will not have been prepared for that. I know many an American Christian who think they could never be asked to die for Christ. They simply aren’t prepared to do it, as other Christians around the world are. Just as a question to those who would say that we won’t have to suffer this, is it not arrogance of the highest order to believe that we in this generation and in this country especially, are too good for suffering? We know that this is the apostate generation. We have been told that. Look at the rest of the world. Christians are being persecuted, tortured, and martyred for Christ’s sake. What do they think of Christians living a life of luxury and worldliness in America who so self-righteously and arrogantly say, “We will be gone. We will not suffer. God doesn’t want (and I quote someone on this) a battered and bruised bride.”? He doesn’t? Tell that to the thousands and millions of Christians who have been martyred since the time of Christ. Christ wants a pure bride and that is going to take some refinement of the Christians in this country. That may sound hard, but it is the truth.
3rd warning: Again Christ has told us beforehand to not be deceived. Again I have to ask, how on earth can we be deceived if we don't have to worry about being here?
As lightning shines from the east to the west, so shall the coming of Christ be. (Even the west can see the lightning flashing in the east. Christ’s coming will be seen by everyone as it will light up the sky like a lightning flash. There will be no missing it. No secret here. And it will be sudden.)
Wherever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. I have heard that this was a common saying of Christ's day. I don't know whether that is true or not. This verse is a puzzle to many. Some say it should say vultures instead of eagles as eagles are not carrion birds, but according to my Greek translation, the word is eagles and I believe God has kept the meaning intact when it was translated into English (KJV). The second thing is, when we get to Luke’s parallel passage, it will be seen that the word used there is body, not carcase. Now therein lies a dilemma, for the Greek word for carcase does mean dead body, but the Greek word for body means a sound body. In other words a healthy body. This changes the meaning of the saying. So we must reconcile the two. How could there be a dead body, but a living healthy body? And what or who are the eagles? I have heard of two interpretations for this verse. The first is one with which I found I had already come to, based on scripture, and was grateful to see someone else had come up with that thought too. In Isa.40:31 it says “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” We are compared to eagles in this verse. Christ died, yet lives. He is the body to which the eagles would flock. It says that Christ will return to Zion (Zech. 14:4 “and his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives”) and as we studied the signs of the Day of the Lord we see that he gathers his elect and deliverance comes for them in Zion. This is where Christ (the body) will return and this is where the eagles (we) would go to await His return. The other interpretation that I have heard uses the word vultures and dead body to say that it means that people who are vultures will flock after the false preachers and prophets (comparable to the Pharisees who were white sepulchers - repositories for dead bodies.) I have no other interpretation for this verse, and I don’t say categorically that either of the ones I presented is the absolute right one, so if anyone has another feel free to add it in the comments.
Immediately after the tribulation the following heavenly signs occur:
The sun will be darkened.
The moon doesn’t give its light.
The stars fall.
The powers of the heavens will be shaken. The word powers means miraculous powers - possibly this is referring to the demonic powers that live in the heavens. Christ’s coming would certainly shake them up. And the heavenly bodies will be shaken and moved. These signs should now look familiar having gone over them numerous times while studying the Day of the Lord. These are the signs heralding the Day of the Lord. Take note that these signs come after the tribulation. Many teach that the 70th week, the tribulation, and the Day of the Lord are all the same thing, and it is because of the interchanging of these phrases that they have come up with the theory that they teach. It is dangerous, and in this case erroneous, to build a belief upon false interpretations. It only leads to further false interpretations and beliefs. The Day of the Lord is not the tribulation, which has now been stopped or cut short. It is not the 70th week, which began before the abomination of desolation. This (the Day of the Lord) begins after the tribulation according to what we have studied in the O.T. and Christ‘s teachings here. Remember Christ would have expected the disciples to immediately recognize these signs as the Day of the Lord, as they would have studied the scriptures too. They would have immediately made the connection that Christ was speaking about the Day of the Lord and that was His intent, which is why He tells them these particular, specific, unmistakable signs that would only occur once. This is the way we need to understand it also. I often think God must shake His head when we take what He meant to be so easily understood and twist it all out of whack to come up with ideas that He never intended. He meant it to be easily understood. We can’t listen to the approach that so many since the early church have taken, that only the scholars have enough intelligence to understand God’s Word. He meant it to be easy enough that anyone could, with the help of the Holy Spirit, understand what was being said. People tend to complicate it in ways God never intended.
[This is why the Hebrews were chastised for still needing milk, when they should have been on the meat (the O.T. scriptures are where a lot of this information is - remember, the N.T. wasn‘t compiled for them as it was for us, and Revelation hadn‘t been written until the end of John‘s life so he is speaking of the O.T. as the meat). This is why it is so important to study the O.T. So that you can correctly divide the Word of Truth by comparison. God says that His people are destroyed for their lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” This is a frightening condemnation, yet Christians blithely go their way not studying God’s Word which just might save them in the Day of Trouble. (Pr.22:3, 27:12).]
So the order according to Christ and Daniel is: the 70th week begins, the abomination of desolation occurs, the tribulation begins, the tribulation is cut short of the 3 ½ years, (we shall see how in Rev.) and the Day of the Lord begins (and will finish out the 3 ½ years), after which the Lord returns, which is in the next few verses.
Now at some point after the Day of the Lord signs, the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven. As Christ will be bringing New Jerusalem with him and that will be lit by the Shekinah glory of God, it might look like another sun in the sky. (See Rev. 21, esp. vs. 23-24) Possibly this is the sign of His appearance - a new “sun” (New Jerusalem).
The tribes of the earth will mourn. (this is the Jewish tribes - Zech. 12:10, Rev. 1:7)
The Son of Man will be seen coming in the clouds with power and glory. The 2nd coming will involve several identifying features. The first is clouds.
There will be a trumpet blast. This is a second identifying feature.
Christ will send the angels to gather his elect. These are the third and fourth identifying features. There are angels with him, and they gather His elect. They are not gathering people to throw into the winepress of God’s wrath, although the wicked will be thrown into the winepress afterward. This clearly says they are gathering His elect. They are gathering up Christians. (We have already given scriptures to show that Christians are the elect). So the 2nd coming involves Christ coming with 1) clouds, 2) a trumpet blast, 3) angels in attendance 4) who gather His elect to Him. Now, just as God gave us specific signs to identify the Day of the Lord, we are given specific signs to identify His coming and gathering us up. Anytime He speaks of our gathering, we should find some if not all of these mentioned signs. God wants us to understand and He is trying to make it easy.
Parable of the fig tree. When we see all of these things, we are to know it is at the door. This generation will not pass before these things are all fulfilled. Many interpret this as saying that the signs began when Israel became a nation as the fig tree is a symbol by which God called Israel. (Joel 1:7) and that its putting out leaves was when it started to gain back its land, especially Jerusalem in 1967. This is a possibility as Israel is now 61 years old (at the time of my writing this) and a generation is 70 years. From 1967 when it began to put out “leaves” would be 42 years, a generation by reckoning of the 40 year’s wandering in the wilderness. So two types of generations would end about the same time. It is easy to believe that things are about to begin, so it could easily be done before the generation that was born and saw Israel become a nation passes away. Another way to read this is that when we see the events occur that Christ tells us are the start of the end (vs. 15), it will be accomplished before another generation passes away. Given that in Luke it is not just the fig tree, but when the leaves of all the trees are put forth, the generation will not pass. As the fig tree is not the only tree, it now becomes irrelevant to Israel and just means that when you see the start of this, know that summer (Christ's coming) is near.
answer to comment
The comment was sent to me:
"At the time of the Olivet discourse the church was a mystery. ...It is a mistake to read anything of the Gentile church in [it].....Jesus was speaking....to Jews about Jews. "
I made no mention of the church. I have simply been going over what Christ taught. You have superimposed that idea onto what I have said. I have mentioned the rapture only in the context of saying that some say it is a secret and is not here in Matthew, when in fact it is. Jesus is speaking to His followers about His return for them, (not as Jews but as His followers. We call them Christians today (His followers that is) and know it more commonly as the church in our terminology and era, which was an unknown term to the disciples (they had no idea how big Christendom would become), but that doesn't change the fact that the targeted audience of his discourse were followers of Christ not unbelieving Jews. It is this sort of twisting of simple interpretation that leads to errors. Gentiles may be the greater number of believers, but there has always been a remnant of believing Jews. At the time of this discourse, there were both believing Jews and Gentiles. So Christ's discourse, although only addressing the disciples at that moment, would have been taught by the disciples (in the gospels and in person) to the other followers (who read the gospels) and that (their teachings) applied (and still applies) to all of His followers including Gentiles. This is just plain common sense understanding and straightforward exegesis. Saying that He was addressing Jews about Jews (meaning unbelieving Jews, for this is how you have interpreted this) is simply inaccurate. Their Jewishness is a moot point in this case as there is no Jew or Greek in Christ. He does not make that distinction in His followers, and He is addressing His followers, which includes all of us.
As to the church being a mystery, it wasn't to Christ. He knew whom He was addressing. He was addressing believers in Him, (whom He knew would be reading His Word for centuries to come) not unbelieving Jews (who never read the N.T.). While the disciples may not have yet quite understood the full implication of who He was and what was yet to happen at that time, they still believed He was the Son of God, their Messiah. And while the Holy Spirit may not have been poured out yet, they still were followers of Christ, which is the definition of a Christian. When Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote these gospels, they hoped unbelievers (both Jew and Greek) would read them and be saved, but they were written from the standpoint of believers telling other believers what the truth was. This discourse was not aimed at unbelieving Jews, no matter how much someone may want that to be the case. Christ is not returning in glory just for the unbelieving Jews to have a nation. He is returning to gather us to Himself. It is when they see (when they look upon Him whom they have pierced) His wondrous return that the unbelieving Jews will finally accept Him, after they see His return in glory and splendor (at the 2nd visible coming). Christ was addressing His followers here in the Olivet discourse, and if you are a follower that includes you. I realize that flies in the face of what you want to believe, as that is what you were taught. Believe it or not, so was I, but the discrepancy in what was being taught compared to the scriptures started to really bother me, and I started to study with the Lord's guidance instead of man's and realized that I had to throw away all pre-conceived ideas and start fresh. To find truth you have to let go of all pre-conceived ideas and doctrines and pray to learn truth. The problem is, the truth is extremely hard to take, so many cannot accept it. I Cor. 3:2. God cannot reveal truth to those who are unable to bear it, and it is very hard to bear.
Second comment:
"Please note that it was not Paul's trouble. No, it was trouble related to the Jews."
First, Christ does not label it Jacob's trouble. He does not specify that it will only apply to the Jews. He calls it the great tribulation for a reason. It was to apply to all of us. It will be a time of trouble related to the Jews, yes, but it will also be a time of great tribulation for the entire world including us. Antichrist is not a nice guy. Again, if the believers of Christ's day were told to expect to suffer through THE tribulation (and the disciples were), why on earth should we expect that it would no longer apply to us? Why should we get a free pass? Judgment begins with the house of the Lord. That is us and judging from the state of apostasy of Christendom, we deserve exactly that, don't we? God says He will purge and refine us to make us acceptable. Christians are not acceptable to God these days. He has said that Himself. Sorry if that is insulting, but it is the truth. I include myself here. It is a hard thing to walk righteously in this country and in this day and age, and we all struggle to maintain that walk. If someone is not struggling, then I would have some doubts, because even Paul struggled.
Third comment:
"Paul was the ONLY apostle that received revelation knowledge about the rapture."
Only if you deliberately choose to ignore the clear teachings of Christ, so that you can accommodate your belief system. The mystery about which Paul spoke was the fact that the gathering of those still alive is not an O.T. concept. Remember that the O.T. was really all these people had to study. So it was a "mystery" or a newly revealed secret in the sense that it had only been taught by Christ, not in the O.T. But it is clearly taught in the gospels. One will be taken, one left. After telling them that the angels would gather His elect, Christ told the disciples that people who were alive side by side would see one taken away. Gathered up to Christ. That is the rapture. Clear and simple. Unless you believe there is more than one rapture.
Fourth comment:
"God in His great mercy showed John the great crowd in heaven, too large to number, just before the 70th week is to begin, exactly when Paul tells us the rapture would take place.'
We haven't gotten to Revelation yet, and I don't like jumping ahead to address issues that would confuse people, but simple exegesis from all that we have gone over will show that the 70th week takes place a while before the multitude in heaven is shown. Actually Paul said that our gathering (the rapture) comes after the 2nd coming, which he then goes on to say will happen sometime after antichrist is revealed at the abomination of desolation. You need to reread that passage and keep it in the order given. Paul laid out an order of events which you will see, if you will be patient to wait until they are addressed, will fit perfectly with all other scriptures.
Fifth comment:
"This is no mystery, but it takes rightly dividing the word of God."
As to rightly dividing the Word of Truth. I agree, it is important to do so. And I believe I am, as I am not trying to superimpose a belief system onto the scriptures, but instead take my belief from the scriptures in the most literal, simple reading.
"At the time of the Olivet discourse the church was a mystery. ...It is a mistake to read anything of the Gentile church in [it].....Jesus was speaking....to Jews about Jews. "
I made no mention of the church. I have simply been going over what Christ taught. You have superimposed that idea onto what I have said. I have mentioned the rapture only in the context of saying that some say it is a secret and is not here in Matthew, when in fact it is. Jesus is speaking to His followers about His return for them, (not as Jews but as His followers. We call them Christians today (His followers that is) and know it more commonly as the church in our terminology and era, which was an unknown term to the disciples (they had no idea how big Christendom would become), but that doesn't change the fact that the targeted audience of his discourse were followers of Christ not unbelieving Jews. It is this sort of twisting of simple interpretation that leads to errors. Gentiles may be the greater number of believers, but there has always been a remnant of believing Jews. At the time of this discourse, there were both believing Jews and Gentiles. So Christ's discourse, although only addressing the disciples at that moment, would have been taught by the disciples (in the gospels and in person) to the other followers (who read the gospels) and that (their teachings) applied (and still applies) to all of His followers including Gentiles. This is just plain common sense understanding and straightforward exegesis. Saying that He was addressing Jews about Jews (meaning unbelieving Jews, for this is how you have interpreted this) is simply inaccurate. Their Jewishness is a moot point in this case as there is no Jew or Greek in Christ. He does not make that distinction in His followers, and He is addressing His followers, which includes all of us.
As to the church being a mystery, it wasn't to Christ. He knew whom He was addressing. He was addressing believers in Him, (whom He knew would be reading His Word for centuries to come) not unbelieving Jews (who never read the N.T.). While the disciples may not have yet quite understood the full implication of who He was and what was yet to happen at that time, they still believed He was the Son of God, their Messiah. And while the Holy Spirit may not have been poured out yet, they still were followers of Christ, which is the definition of a Christian. When Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote these gospels, they hoped unbelievers (both Jew and Greek) would read them and be saved, but they were written from the standpoint of believers telling other believers what the truth was. This discourse was not aimed at unbelieving Jews, no matter how much someone may want that to be the case. Christ is not returning in glory just for the unbelieving Jews to have a nation. He is returning to gather us to Himself. It is when they see (when they look upon Him whom they have pierced) His wondrous return that the unbelieving Jews will finally accept Him, after they see His return in glory and splendor (at the 2nd visible coming). Christ was addressing His followers here in the Olivet discourse, and if you are a follower that includes you. I realize that flies in the face of what you want to believe, as that is what you were taught. Believe it or not, so was I, but the discrepancy in what was being taught compared to the scriptures started to really bother me, and I started to study with the Lord's guidance instead of man's and realized that I had to throw away all pre-conceived ideas and start fresh. To find truth you have to let go of all pre-conceived ideas and doctrines and pray to learn truth. The problem is, the truth is extremely hard to take, so many cannot accept it. I Cor. 3:2. God cannot reveal truth to those who are unable to bear it, and it is very hard to bear.
Second comment:
"Please note that it was not Paul's trouble. No, it was trouble related to the Jews."
First, Christ does not label it Jacob's trouble. He does not specify that it will only apply to the Jews. He calls it the great tribulation for a reason. It was to apply to all of us. It will be a time of trouble related to the Jews, yes, but it will also be a time of great tribulation for the entire world including us. Antichrist is not a nice guy. Again, if the believers of Christ's day were told to expect to suffer through THE tribulation (and the disciples were), why on earth should we expect that it would no longer apply to us? Why should we get a free pass? Judgment begins with the house of the Lord. That is us and judging from the state of apostasy of Christendom, we deserve exactly that, don't we? God says He will purge and refine us to make us acceptable. Christians are not acceptable to God these days. He has said that Himself. Sorry if that is insulting, but it is the truth. I include myself here. It is a hard thing to walk righteously in this country and in this day and age, and we all struggle to maintain that walk. If someone is not struggling, then I would have some doubts, because even Paul struggled.
Third comment:
"Paul was the ONLY apostle that received revelation knowledge about the rapture."
Only if you deliberately choose to ignore the clear teachings of Christ, so that you can accommodate your belief system. The mystery about which Paul spoke was the fact that the gathering of those still alive is not an O.T. concept. Remember that the O.T. was really all these people had to study. So it was a "mystery" or a newly revealed secret in the sense that it had only been taught by Christ, not in the O.T. But it is clearly taught in the gospels. One will be taken, one left. After telling them that the angels would gather His elect, Christ told the disciples that people who were alive side by side would see one taken away. Gathered up to Christ. That is the rapture. Clear and simple. Unless you believe there is more than one rapture.
Fourth comment:
"God in His great mercy showed John the great crowd in heaven, too large to number, just before the 70th week is to begin, exactly when Paul tells us the rapture would take place.'
We haven't gotten to Revelation yet, and I don't like jumping ahead to address issues that would confuse people, but simple exegesis from all that we have gone over will show that the 70th week takes place a while before the multitude in heaven is shown. Actually Paul said that our gathering (the rapture) comes after the 2nd coming, which he then goes on to say will happen sometime after antichrist is revealed at the abomination of desolation. You need to reread that passage and keep it in the order given. Paul laid out an order of events which you will see, if you will be patient to wait until they are addressed, will fit perfectly with all other scriptures.
Fifth comment:
"This is no mystery, but it takes rightly dividing the word of God."
As to rightly dividing the Word of Truth. I agree, it is important to do so. And I believe I am, as I am not trying to superimpose a belief system onto the scriptures, but instead take my belief from the scriptures in the most literal, simple reading.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Second Coming of Christ Pt. 1
We will now be studying the scriptures that concern the Second Coming. We have already seen one in Thessalonians, and there is a Psalm which speaks about God coming in His glory. We will examine that first and then we will go to the gospels to see exactly what Christ has to say about His return. Again, it is necessary to have your Bible in hand and to read the passages before reading the comments.
In Psalm 18 David is crying out to the Lord for deliverance from his enemies. The Lord’s coming in this passage deserves close examination as it is quite similar to what we have already studied. The pertinent verses are 7-15.
When God comes the following events occur:
The earth trembles and quakes.
The foundations of the world are moved (not only earthquakes, but this parallels the Day of the Lord verse where the earth is moved out of its place in the heavens).
He is angry
There is smoke and fire.
The heavens are bowed (moved out of the way or parted - rolled back like a scroll).
There is darkness under Him.
He is attended by cherubs.
There are dark waters and clouds about him .
His presence is brightness.
He thunders in the heavens.
There are hailstones and coals of fire (burning hailstones) and lightning.
The channels of water and foundations of the world are discovered (implies that something happens to the seas and lands of the earth.
Notice how these events correspond to the Day of the Lord signs. There are some here which will also correspond to events in Revelation.
Matthew 24 & 25
In this crucial discourse, the disciples ask Jesus “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” When they asked Him, it was with the understanding that they were asking Him when He was going to come back to remain and reign. They wanted to know what the signs were that they could look for to signal them that the end of the age had come and that His return was about to take place. It is important to realize what their expectation was and what Christ told them so that we don’t read things into what He says that aren’t there. They did not conceive of a separate coming for believers apart from His Coming as King of Kings to punish the world and reign. This is very important to understand so that you understand these scriptures in context. Christ in His answer never indicates a separate event from His coming. He does not indicate in His answer that they are in any way wrong in their understanding of just one appearance. He instead gives them a list of signs to tell them what will lead up to His coming, and then He tells them what will happen when He does make His appearance. He will gather His elect. Some say the rapture is secret. Secret from whom? The disciples? Why would it need to be secret in the first place? Once He has come, it is too late for the rest of the world anyhow, so why would it need to be secret? It makes no sense. And would it be secret if a lot of people suddenly disappeared? Everybody has heard about this rapture theory. It is no secret. Why would He not tell the disciples about the rapture if it were separate from His coming? It’s illogical to think that he wouldn’t, and in fact He does tell them about the rapture. It is just that people refuse to accept that He is speaking about the rapture when He says He will gather His elect. If one stops and thinks, this is exactly how the disciples would have understood it. In the simplest possible way. Just exactly the way Christ says it, without interpreting it to mean anything other that what it says. The disciples would have understood that when Christ says He will gather His elect, He is speaking about them (or Christians). They would not have understood it in any other way, and neither must we. We have to understand it the way Christ intended them to understand it. And if one understands it in this way, it will be seen that it goes along with every other scripture on this subject without having to manipulate them.
These signs are given in a chronological order and must be kept in that order.
1st warning: Do not be deceived.
False christs will arise. There are numerous false christs in our generation alone.
Wars and rumors of wars. There are always wars going on somewhere.
This is not the end yet. In other words, we aren’t in the 70th week yet.
Nations (the word ethnos means nations and ethnic groups) and kingdoms will rise against each other. We certainly see that happening on an ongoing basis around the world.
Famine. We have seen terrible famines in places around the world.
Pestilences. Right now there is a panic about Swine Flu.
Earthquakes. They keep happening more often and are more severe all the time.
All of the above are called the beginning of sorrows. They are NOT the Day of the Lord, nor are they the time of Jacob’s trouble (tribulation such as the world has never seen).
Martyrdom of Christians. This has been happening since Christ died.
People will betray each other. This has been going on for a long time also.
False prophets will arise and deceive. Again, nothing new here.
The love of people (for each other) will grow cold. This is increasing as wickedness increases.
He who endures to the end will be saved. Notice that Christ says that the Christian will have to endure to the end to be saved. The very end is when Christ returns. Endurance (spiritual as well as physical ) is required as the times will be so horrific. The kind of endurance Christ is speaking about isn‘t just our living our selfish little lives in America in the lap of luxury while we escape any sort of trials and tribulation. 1 Pet. 4:17-18 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" We are warned that at the end judgment will begin with us. So what makes people think they will escape this purging and refining fire in which Christians will scarcely be saved. This does not speak well of Christians.
The gospel is preached in the entire world. Today with television and the internet there are few places on the earth where it hasn’t been, however apparently this is not complete yet as the next step which hasn’t occurred yet (at least to the best of my knowledge) is……
THEN the end will come. This is where Christ is telling us the 70th week will begin. So what follows is within the 70th week.
The abomination of desolation, spoken of in Daniel, stands in the holy place. We now know from Daniel exactly what and when that is. An image of antichrist is set up in the temple and he proclaims himself God. Notice that Christ never mentions a seven year peace agreement. Why would He not mention this if it were to be so public and so identifiable? Chances are, it might not be. The first sign that He indicates will be within the 70th week is the abomination of desolation. So indeed the rebuilding of the temple might be the first sign we see, as was speculated when we studied Daniel.
Those in Judea need to flee. Jews will flee for protection from antichrist, we will see this again in Revelation.
There will be great tribulation such as has never been since the beginning of the world to that time, nor shall there ever be again. Here is Jacob’s trouble. Take note that by Christ’s definition, the Tribulation begins after the abomination of desolation, the same as we found in Daniel. Therefore the Tribulation does not run seven years. It is not the same thing as the 70th week of Daniel. It is within the 70th week. Specifically it begins at the midpoint of the 70th week. This is according to definition by the scriptures themselves, not by my say so. So to call the 70th week the Tribulation period is an inaccurate use of the word. This inaccuracy leads to confusion and misinterpretation.
The days of the tribulation will be shortened. (won’t last for the entire 3 ½ years) for the sake of the elect. Christians are the elect. Rom. 8:33, Col. 3:12, Titus 1:1, 1 Pet. 5:13, 1 Thess. 1:4, 2 Pet. 1:10. We will see how and why the days are shortened in Revelation. This means that Christians should expect to be around during the tribulation. The disciples would have had no other understanding than this, that they were to expect that they might have to go through the tribulation or Jacob’s trouble if they survived that long. This is not because they are Jews. They are Christians, just like us. In realizing that the disciples would have accepted that they might have to go through the tribulation, we must accept that this understanding also applies to us. It doesn’t wash to say that it was a secret that wasn’t revealed to them. Paul’s understanding would have been the same as theirs. And what he writes goes along with this belief if one will approach the scriptures with a logical and straightforward exegesis.
In Psalm 18 David is crying out to the Lord for deliverance from his enemies. The Lord’s coming in this passage deserves close examination as it is quite similar to what we have already studied. The pertinent verses are 7-15.
When God comes the following events occur:
The earth trembles and quakes.
The foundations of the world are moved (not only earthquakes, but this parallels the Day of the Lord verse where the earth is moved out of its place in the heavens).
He is angry
There is smoke and fire.
The heavens are bowed (moved out of the way or parted - rolled back like a scroll).
There is darkness under Him.
He is attended by cherubs.
There are dark waters and clouds about him .
His presence is brightness.
He thunders in the heavens.
There are hailstones and coals of fire (burning hailstones) and lightning.
The channels of water and foundations of the world are discovered (implies that something happens to the seas and lands of the earth.
Notice how these events correspond to the Day of the Lord signs. There are some here which will also correspond to events in Revelation.
Matthew 24 & 25
In this crucial discourse, the disciples ask Jesus “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” When they asked Him, it was with the understanding that they were asking Him when He was going to come back to remain and reign. They wanted to know what the signs were that they could look for to signal them that the end of the age had come and that His return was about to take place. It is important to realize what their expectation was and what Christ told them so that we don’t read things into what He says that aren’t there. They did not conceive of a separate coming for believers apart from His Coming as King of Kings to punish the world and reign. This is very important to understand so that you understand these scriptures in context. Christ in His answer never indicates a separate event from His coming. He does not indicate in His answer that they are in any way wrong in their understanding of just one appearance. He instead gives them a list of signs to tell them what will lead up to His coming, and then He tells them what will happen when He does make His appearance. He will gather His elect. Some say the rapture is secret. Secret from whom? The disciples? Why would it need to be secret in the first place? Once He has come, it is too late for the rest of the world anyhow, so why would it need to be secret? It makes no sense. And would it be secret if a lot of people suddenly disappeared? Everybody has heard about this rapture theory. It is no secret. Why would He not tell the disciples about the rapture if it were separate from His coming? It’s illogical to think that he wouldn’t, and in fact He does tell them about the rapture. It is just that people refuse to accept that He is speaking about the rapture when He says He will gather His elect. If one stops and thinks, this is exactly how the disciples would have understood it. In the simplest possible way. Just exactly the way Christ says it, without interpreting it to mean anything other that what it says. The disciples would have understood that when Christ says He will gather His elect, He is speaking about them (or Christians). They would not have understood it in any other way, and neither must we. We have to understand it the way Christ intended them to understand it. And if one understands it in this way, it will be seen that it goes along with every other scripture on this subject without having to manipulate them.
These signs are given in a chronological order and must be kept in that order.
1st warning: Do not be deceived.
False christs will arise. There are numerous false christs in our generation alone.
Wars and rumors of wars. There are always wars going on somewhere.
This is not the end yet. In other words, we aren’t in the 70th week yet.
Nations (the word ethnos means nations and ethnic groups) and kingdoms will rise against each other. We certainly see that happening on an ongoing basis around the world.
Famine. We have seen terrible famines in places around the world.
Pestilences. Right now there is a panic about Swine Flu.
Earthquakes. They keep happening more often and are more severe all the time.
All of the above are called the beginning of sorrows. They are NOT the Day of the Lord, nor are they the time of Jacob’s trouble (tribulation such as the world has never seen).
Martyrdom of Christians. This has been happening since Christ died.
People will betray each other. This has been going on for a long time also.
False prophets will arise and deceive. Again, nothing new here.
The love of people (for each other) will grow cold. This is increasing as wickedness increases.
He who endures to the end will be saved. Notice that Christ says that the Christian will have to endure to the end to be saved. The very end is when Christ returns. Endurance (spiritual as well as physical ) is required as the times will be so horrific. The kind of endurance Christ is speaking about isn‘t just our living our selfish little lives in America in the lap of luxury while we escape any sort of trials and tribulation. 1 Pet. 4:17-18 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" We are warned that at the end judgment will begin with us. So what makes people think they will escape this purging and refining fire in which Christians will scarcely be saved. This does not speak well of Christians.
The gospel is preached in the entire world. Today with television and the internet there are few places on the earth where it hasn’t been, however apparently this is not complete yet as the next step which hasn’t occurred yet (at least to the best of my knowledge) is……
THEN the end will come. This is where Christ is telling us the 70th week will begin. So what follows is within the 70th week.
The abomination of desolation, spoken of in Daniel, stands in the holy place. We now know from Daniel exactly what and when that is. An image of antichrist is set up in the temple and he proclaims himself God. Notice that Christ never mentions a seven year peace agreement. Why would He not mention this if it were to be so public and so identifiable? Chances are, it might not be. The first sign that He indicates will be within the 70th week is the abomination of desolation. So indeed the rebuilding of the temple might be the first sign we see, as was speculated when we studied Daniel.
Those in Judea need to flee. Jews will flee for protection from antichrist, we will see this again in Revelation.
There will be great tribulation such as has never been since the beginning of the world to that time, nor shall there ever be again. Here is Jacob’s trouble. Take note that by Christ’s definition, the Tribulation begins after the abomination of desolation, the same as we found in Daniel. Therefore the Tribulation does not run seven years. It is not the same thing as the 70th week of Daniel. It is within the 70th week. Specifically it begins at the midpoint of the 70th week. This is according to definition by the scriptures themselves, not by my say so. So to call the 70th week the Tribulation period is an inaccurate use of the word. This inaccuracy leads to confusion and misinterpretation.
The days of the tribulation will be shortened. (won’t last for the entire 3 ½ years) for the sake of the elect. Christians are the elect. Rom. 8:33, Col. 3:12, Titus 1:1, 1 Pet. 5:13, 1 Thess. 1:4, 2 Pet. 1:10. We will see how and why the days are shortened in Revelation. This means that Christians should expect to be around during the tribulation. The disciples would have had no other understanding than this, that they were to expect that they might have to go through the tribulation or Jacob’s trouble if they survived that long. This is not because they are Jews. They are Christians, just like us. In realizing that the disciples would have accepted that they might have to go through the tribulation, we must accept that this understanding also applies to us. It doesn’t wash to say that it was a secret that wasn’t revealed to them. Paul’s understanding would have been the same as theirs. And what he writes goes along with this belief if one will approach the scriptures with a logical and straightforward exegesis.
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