Jerusalem:
"A Burdensome Stone"
June 1990
"And in
that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all peoples; all that
burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the
earth be gathered together against it."
How ironic that
the "City of Peace" is the center of bitter world controversy! Not
only is East Jerusalem contended between Israel and the Arab world, but world
political and religious leaders also join in the fray. Christian leaders
continue to ignore this warning of the Lord by the Prophet. What should be the
"Christian attitude" now toward Jerusalem?
In March
President Bush-an avowed born-again Christian-berated Israel for building
Jewish "settlements" in East Jerusalem because, he claimed, the
status of East Jerusalem is negotiable in Israeli-Arab peace talks. This
statement was a startling change of U.S. policy-which many felt was the real
reason for the collapse of Israel’s coalition government. Jerusalem’s Mayor
Teddy Kollek, a solid moderate, observed that Bush’s comment resulted in an
increase of violence in East Jerusalem.
In April when a
group of Jewish families moved into the so-called Christian Quarter of
Jerusalem, some Jewish leaders questioned the wisdom of the timing. But the
media and church leaders whipped up world opinion into a hysteria. THE NEW YORK
TIMES called the building sublet by these Jewish families an "occupied
Greek Orthodox Church." The WASHINGTON POST spoke of it as "the Greek
Orthodox Church complex." But the following quote from a letter President
Chaim Herzog of Israel wrote to the U.S. Greek Orthodox Primate (JERUSALEM
POST, May 26, 1990) clarifies the issues:
"I do not
propose to go into the rights or wrongs of the action taken by those claiming a
right to residence in the building, following the payment of a considerable
amount of money. .. I am, however, very disturbed by the behavior of the Greek
Orthodox Church on this issue. It is extremely alarming. .. to note the manner
in which the neglected, abandoned, misused hospice, suddenly becomes a Holy
Site.
"I must
say that the sight of a priest in clerical garments standing on a ladder,
ripping down a Star of David from a Jewish residence, cheered by an enraged
mob, is a horrible reminder of what our people lived through in history. ...
"... the
building was described as being a few meters away from the [Church of the] Holy
Sepulchre. Any visitor to the site, with its enclosed streets, will confirm
that this assertion is false." In an interview with Jordan television,
Patriarch Disdoros, head of the Greek Orthodox patriarchate in Jerusalem,
described Jerusalem as being "under conquest." During a visit to
Greece he charged that this incident was part of an attempt by Israel to take
over the Christian Quarter of Old Jerusalem.
Of course, the
Vatican entered the controversy. THE NEW YORK TIMES reported that Pope John
Paul II, in an audience which included senior officials from Arab countries and
a representative of the PLO, "expressed ‘profound concern.’" Cardinal
O’Connor, however, reflected the hysteria of the Roman Catholic church over the
Jerusalem issue. In an article appearing in the CATHOLIC NEW YORK, he called
the move "obscene" and the Israeli government’s role in the incident
as "reprehensible." He characterized the move of 25 parents and 100
children and infants into the hospice as an invasion by armed men-part of
"a conspiracy to grab land all over Israel currently occupied by
Christians. ..[ and] a design to make it virtually impossible for Christians to
function anywhere in the land."
To put this
controversial incident in balanced perspective, it must be noted that Jews
formerly lived in this area until they were violently expelled by Arab attack
in 1936. In fact, it was during the same period of the British Mandate that the
Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem was drastically reduced. (Later the reduced segment
of the Jewish Quarter-including its many Synagogues-was destroyed during the
Jordanian occupation of 1948-1967.) Where was the Christian outcry then? Why is
there Christian silence when Jews are abused? While the hospice is owned by the
Greek Orthodox Church, the building was never used for religious purposes.
Furthermore, the building was leased to an Arab and the ground floor was
occupied by Moslem stores. Because the Christian Quarter is actually two-thirds
Moslem, a Mosque nearby serves this active Moslem population. ...
As Christian
and Moslem leaders gathered in the Greek Orthodox Patriarch’s offices, masked
intifada youths began waving PLO flags chanting anti-Jewish slogans. The PLO
flag was then placed at the top of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. (Who then
actually desecrated a Christian holy site?)
Why are
Catholics opposed to Jews living in the Christian Quarter yet are gladly living
together with Arabs? Why is the Vatican so opposed to Israel possessing Old
Jerusalem while insisting on Jerusalem’s internationalization?
When the world
community was finally ready to grant Israel statehood in 1947, the specter of
the Vatican loomed over the United Nations. Since Israel’s rebirth the Vatican
has never recognized it as a nation. New York’s Cardinal Spellman, used all the
powers of his office to keep Jerusalem out of Israeli control. Telegraphing the
Papal nuncios (ambassadors) in South American countries, he demanded that they
urge those governments to take an uncompromising stand at the U.N. for
Jerusalem’s internationalization.
The Vatican’s
apparent reason is that all three faiths will have free access to their holy
places. However, from 1948 to 1967, Jordan desecrated Jewish holy places and
destroyed synagogues while completely denying Jewish access to East Jerusalem.
In all those years the Vatican never raised a cry for internationalization.
Since acquiring Old Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has guaranteed and preserved for
all (Christians and Moslems as well) free access to their respective holy
places. Yet the Vatican is presently insisting on internationalization to
provide a right that these three religions already enjoy. Obviously, a more fundamental
reason for Vatican opposition to Israel’s possession of Old Jerusalem prevails.
The Roman
Catholic Church maintains Israel’s right to be the Kingdom of God ended forever
with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Roman Legion in 70 C.E.
Growing to world prominence, the Roman Catholic Church claimed to be the
rightful heir of the Kingdom of God with Rome as the "New Jerusalem."
But this claim of Rome to be the "eternal city," was deflated when in
1967 Jerusalem, "the eternal city," became Israel’s capital.
Why does the
Vatican act like a major world power-exchanging ambassadors with other nations,
etc.? No other Christian church claims this prestige.
The only excuse
the Vatican has to act as a world power is the claim that it is both the
spiritual and temporal Kingdom of God, the "New Jerusalem." Israel’s
repossession of the capital of its ancient kingdom is a galling challenge to
Rome-a challenge which Rome seems compelled to remove. When Jerusalem is
"internationalized," the Vatican plans to dominate its supervision
and thereby cement its claim to be the Kingdom of God on earth. The Vatican
will not rest until Jerusalem is wrested from Israel.
Other world
powers, including the United States, insist that Jerusalem is
"negotiable" in any Israeli-Arab peace talks. Jerusalem is not
negotiable. Remember Zechariah’s prophecy-all who contend in the Jerusalem
issue will be sorely hurt. National and religious leaders had better heed this
warning.
Christian
leaders who misrepresent Israel or Jews in issues such as this hospice rental
incident may be betraying latent anti-Semitic attitudes ingrained in their
organization. In any case, such leaders are certainly sowing seeds of bitter
feelings of anti-Semitism. Christians should not be trapped by media hysteria,
but should rationally consider the Scriptural and historical perspective
Jerusalem,
indeed, will be internationalized! But it will belong to the Jew forever.
People from all over the world will come to Jerusalem to worship, but it will
be to enquire about the God of the Jews and to praise His holy Name.
"Yea, many
people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem,
and to pray before the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it
shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the
nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We
will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you." Zec 8:22, 23
(See also Isa 2:2,3; 60:10-12; 66:18-22)
"And it
shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above
the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and
say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the
God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths;
for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem." Isa 2:2,3
"Prepare
War"
September 1990
"Proclaim
this among the Gentiles, Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men
of war draw near; let them come up"
The Iraqi
conquest of Kuwait touched off worldwide troubles. The current crisis in the
Middle East and its international implications provide the alert Christian with
fertile ground for thought. Thank God that we can turn to His unerring word to
guide us in the dark times. Truly "whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience
(perseverance) and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." Rom 15:4 We
are confident in our Heavenly Father’s "sure word of prophecy; whereunto
ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,
until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." 2Pet 1:19
The "dark
place" the Apostle Peter speaks of is this present world. Under the
leadership of the prince of darkness (2Co 4:4) humanity finds itself
shipwrecked on the reefs of tragedy. The Christian can rejoice regardless of
this world’s tragedies because of "the hope that is within us." We
have a hope of glory. We have a hope in Christ’s kingdom. We have a hope in the
eventual blessing of all mankind. Our hope, as Brothers Paul and Peter
testified, is taught by the Old Testament prophets. In them we find that our
great God was fully aware of what the conditions would be in our troubled
times. In them we see that our Heavenly Father is in complete control of world
events-shaping them to their grand culmination in the peaceable kingdom on
earth.
How is the
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait a fulfillment of Bible prophecy? Consider Joel the
third chapter concerning The Day of the LORD:
"Proclaim
ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the
men of war draw near; let them come up:
"Beat your
plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I
am strong.
"Assemble
yourselves, and come, all ye nations, and gather yourselves together round
about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
"Let the
nations be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I
sit to judge all the nations round about.
"Put ye in
the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full,
the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
"Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the
valley of decision." (Joel 3:9-14)
The conditions
of Joel’s prophecy are our headlines today. War preparations are supported with
hundreds of billions of dollars that the community of nations devote to them.
Especially interesting is the nature of war preparation. Joel 3:10 turns a very
familiar text around and, in so doing, gives us greater insight regarding the
Lord’s word. "They shall beat their swords into plowshares", but in
Joel plowshares are made into swords and pruning hooks into spears.
The lesson is
that sinful man will take the very tools that could make for peace and turn
them into devices of destruction. Ample testimony of this fact is given in the
use of nearly every "high-tech" development for military purposes.
Nuclear energy provides for power to run cities and medical treatment to heal
diseases. It is also fashioned into bombs that can vaporize a city and its
inhabitants in one efficient flash of light.
Chemists bring
forth from their test tubes miracle drugs that save lives, nutrients that
induce fabulous agricultural production and, as well, poison gases that kill
without conscience. Truly, our modern times are witnessing a profound
fulfillment of Joel 3:10.
Why do men
prepare so furiously for war? Why learn war at all? Invariably wars may be
traced to one underlying cause. One group of people realize that another has
more than they do and hence decide to "get their fair-share" by force.
Whether that "fair-share" is money, food, oil, land or commerce, the
problem comes down to one word-greed. Lust for wealth in some form or other has
seduced many nations into war. Saddam Hussein lusted after Kuwaiti money and
oil and therefore took it. That’s why he’s there now. President Bush saw the
need to "protect the American life style." That is why American
troops are awaiting war in the Middle East. Many other nations are represented
there-each for self-interest.
The gathering
together of the nations in the Persian Gulf is representative of a greater
gathering on a much grander scale. That greater gathering together is spoken of
in Joel 3:11,12,14. The nations of our time are being gathered together
economically. No longer do economic leaders think in terms of national economy
or even international economy. The current terminology is global economy.
Nations are
scrambling for advantageous position in a global economy. Formerly communistic
countries are shifting gears and converting to market economies. Why? To
survive in global commerce. This drawing together of all nations has brought
about a further fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. In Joel 3:10 the weak say
"I am strong." Nations which in time past were mere nobodies on the
international scene are now able to affect even superpowers. Iraq’s military
exploits have resulted in severe economic tensions of a worldwide scope.
Western nations slide into recession and stock markets plunge as a result of a
weak one, Iraq, saying "I am strong." We, as Christians, feel much
sympathy for the whole world and the problems that mankind faces. However, we
rejoice that the process of establishing God’s Kingdom on earth goes grandly
and surely onward. As a result of all nations being gathered together, the fulfillment
of God’s word is occurring in our lifetime.
Besides
allowing the weak to be strong, the LORD is accomplishing another purpose in
the gathering together of the nations. Zeph 3 reveals that purpose to Bible
students. "My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble
the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for
all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I
turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the
LORD to serve him with one consent." (Zeph 3: 8,9) After the fire of God’s
jealousy has done its work of destroying all the sinful and enslaving
institutions of man, the people will learn a pure language. That language of
love will enable all those who had not known or served the LORD to do so-after
the fire is over.
Re 16 parallels
Zeph 3 and explains further what the fire of God’s jealousy is. As does
Zephaniah, so also Revelation shows us that God is gathering the nations (Re
16:14,16) to a great battle. God pours out "all my fierce anger" in
Zephaniah and in Revelation he pours out the seven last plagues "for in
them is the wrath of God completed" (Re 15:1) The seventh plague results
in the battle of the great day of God Almighty-the great earthquake of Re
16:18.
In scripture,
an earthquake symbolizes revolution. On the basis of the earthquake which
toppled a tenth part of the city (Re 11:13), students of scripture predicted
the French Revolution (and many of its effects) 150 years before it occurred.
The lessons of prophecy fulfilled give us a firm basis for interpreting
prophecy yet to come. The great revolution of Re 16 will open the door to the
establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth.
"Yet once
more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven." (Heb 12:26,27) Once
more will God shake the earth (society) and heaven (ecclesiastical rulers) and
no more after that because it will not be necessary. "And I will shake all
nations, and the desire of all nations shall come." Hag 2:7 The true
desire of all nations is peace, health, prosperity. That desire surely shall
come because God has promised it.
In Satan’s
kingdom men have beaten plowshares into swords and pruning hooks into spears
(Joel 3:10), but the kingdom that the Lord Jesus Christ will reign over is
quite different. Micah, the fourth chapter, describes the good King’s reign. In
it all nations will walk in his paths and learn of his ways. Then shall they
beat their weapons into the instruments of peace.
Peace will be
possible then. Greed and the necessity for it will be abolished. We have an
insight as to the economic nature of God’s kingdom in Mic 4:4. "They shall
sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them
afraid." Apparently, each person in that kingdom will be economically
independent. Never again will they need to fear for their next meal, their
wages or land. None shall make them afraid and for this reason "neither
shall they learn war any more." Mic 4:3
That time will
be beautiful. God’s kingdom will be a blessing to all. In the meantime while we
groan and travail with war and its suffering, there is a paradoxical blessing
in it. Of God’s kingdom, the Psalmist says "He maketh wars to cease unto
the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he
burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be
exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." Ps 46:9,10 God
will cause wars to cease unto the ends of the earth. Therefore we, as
Christians, can rejoice. We rejoice because as long as there is war in this
world, that is a testimony to us that this world, AS IT NOW IS, is not God’s
kingdom. His reign of peace and righteousness and beauty and justice is coming
soon. Then shall the world be still and know that he is God.
Bible prophecy
is vital to us. It provides us a sure sense of direction. It gives us great
hope. It gives us great comfort. The 656 page book "The Battle of
Armageddon" presents 14 topical studies. These incisively examine the
scriptures relating to that great battle which will both destroy Satan’s
kingdom and establish Christ’s Kingdom. If you already have a copy of "The
Battle of Armageddon", look up the preceding scriptures in the index and
read the studied commentary on them. May the Lord bless you and comfort you as
he is also doing with us.
Ghosts:
Friends or Demons?
October 1990
Are the dead
really dead?
What possesses
a skeptical, educated Western society to hanker after ghosts and spirits?
The same kids
who grew up on "Casper the Friendly Ghost" now identify with
"Sam" (Patrick Swayze), the hero yuppie ghost. A celebrity like
Shirley MacLaine has elevated the pursuit of connecting with the spirits of the
dead from side-door parlors to a very sophisticated level. The going rate for
any respectable "channeler" runs in the thousands of dollars.
Why are people
so anxious to communicate with the spirit world of the dead? First of all, one
would naturally long to communicate with a deceased loved one for many
reasons... In the ad lines of the recent movie, "Always," now
available in video cassette, "They couldn’t hear him. They couldn’t see
him. But he was there when they needed him. Even after he was gone." But
is a human longing a basis for a legitimate hope for reaching the dead? Another
reason for expecting to communicate would be because most people have only a
vague understanding of what death really means.
Only truth
really satisfies-and comforts. The origin of death traces back to the Garden of
Eden... the first man... and sin. God linked Adam’s continuance of life on
earth on simple obedience. However, "In the day that thou eatest of the
tree, thou shalt surely die." Satan, using the serpent, contradicted this
stipulation, saying, "Thou shalt not surely die." When Adam did sin
and did die, Satan-being the "father of lies" that he is-perpetuated
his lie in every generation and to every people: "You don’t really die.
You only seem to die. You are more alive than ever when you die!" The
Egyptians believed it. Socrates and Plato taught it. And, unfortunately, many
Christians adopted it.
Just how dead
are the dead? And is there any precious hope for any life after death? When God
created Adam, "Man became a living soul." Ge 2:7 After God had
infused the "breath of life" in the body He prepared, Adam himself
was "made a living soul." But sinning plunged the soul itself into
death. Eze 18:4 The breath of life is not the soul. The breath of life is the
life energy from God which causes a body to live. Take away this life spirit
and the soul dies. True, Adam "died spiritually" in that his
fellowship was cut off immediately in that first 24-hour day. But Adam also
immediately began physically to die ("Dying thou shalt die"). And he
did die literally within God’s 1,000-year day. 1Pe 3:8
But even as God
pronounced the grim death sentence on Adam, a ray of hope pierced this
judgment. "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head..."
A fatal blow would fall on the great tempter, Satan. Later this
"seed" was identified as the "seed of Abraham." Ge 22:17
Christians are heirs to this promise as part of the seed which will bless all
families of the earth. Gal 3:29 They are with Christ, the "firstfruits of
them that have slept." 1Co
15:20 Then, during Christ’s
presence ("parousia," Greek), his 1,000-year reign with the church,
all the families of the earth will be the "afterfruits" in the
resurrection of the dead.
So the
legitimate hope for reaching the dead will be in the resurrection in the
"last day." Joh 11:24 If man
possessed an immortal soul, he would not need a resurrection. To say mortal man
is inherently immortal in some way is to disregard our need for Jesus Christ
who is our life and resurrection!
Communications
with the Dead?
If then, it is
impossible for the dead to communicate, what accounts for the apparent
communication with the dead? Aside from frauds, too many convincing experiences
suggesting extra-human contact have occurred.
The Bible
verifies the existence of positive spirit beings called angels. But they have
their counterpart. The Mosaic Law soundly rejects any meddling with spiritism.
De 18:10,11 The four Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life have no less than forty-two
references to negative spirit beings, fallen angels, called "demons."
Where did these demons come from?
The account of
Genesis 6 reveals that certain angels violated God’s law of keeping their own
spirit nature separate from man’s human nature. These angels who "left
their own habitation," (Jude 6, 1Pet 3:20) took wives of the women of
earth. Although not destroyed in the flood, they were constrained in a
condition where they could not return to heaven, nor could they materialize any
more on earth. This state, called "tartaroo" (Greek, see Footnote),
was to be endured until the Judgment Day.
In the
meantime, these fallen angels or demons have been limited to working through
willing human channels. They have operated through the bodies of these, instead
of bodies of their own. Such "mediums," or human channels were in the
past known as "fetishes," "shaman," "wizards,"
"witches," "necromancers," "medicine men." In
dark seances they endeavored to gain control of people’s minds and bodies. Not
able to materialize in bodies of their own making, they tried to possess the
bodies and minds of others. When this happens a fate as terrible as drug
addiction occurs. The individual enters a slavery to demons. They have
misrepresented God. They have misrepresented God’s plan. They have
misrepresented the dead. By claiming to be the dead speaking, they have
promulgated Satan’s lie in Eden,
"Thou
shalt not surely die."
The record
shows that the restraints that have been placed upon the fallen angels have a
time limit-"unto the judgment of the great day." As we now see about
us the evidences of the climactic events of the "Day of the Lord," it
should not surprise any that the chains of restraint on those evil spirits are gradually
being loosened. The upsurge of activity of the fallen angels in the form of
newly acceptable channeling sessions, devil worship, and spiritist inspired
movies and music is part of the result of the relaxing of the
"chains" of restraint. There is no question that Satan and his
legions are more energetic than ever to do all the mischief they can.
Despite the
clear warnings of Scripture regarding the occult, many Christians subject
themselves and their families to be entertained by demon inspired themes. Much
seems so harmless. Kindergarten children are taught, as part of a rigorous
school curriculum, the friendly side of ghosts and witches. A proper
understanding of the seriousness of the negative spirit world demands a healthy
distance.
While speaking
of the Lord’s return, the Apostle Paul (2Thess 2:8-12) says that although the
Lord will consume Satan with the "brightness of his presence"
(epiphania of his parousia), Satan will very energetically work deceptions
"with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness." So strong a delusion will it be that if it were
possible it would deceive even the true saints of God-those who would
"believe a lie," because they receive not the "love of the
truth."
Demons are by
no means our friends. But yes, we will see our friends and loved ones again-in
the resurrection. Then too, know ye not that the saints "shall judge the
angels?" Perhaps some of the fallen angels will have learned their lesson
and conformed to God’s will. But those who used their greater liberty to wreck
havoc on man will be destroyed in the second death. Re 20:10
Fotenote:
Tartaroo-The Word tartaroo, used by Peter, very closely resembles tartarus, a
word used in Grecian mythology as the name for a dark abyss or prison. But
tartaroo seems to refer more to an act than to a place. The fall of the angles
who sinned was from honor and dignity, into dishonor and condemnation, and the
thought seems to be-"God spared not the angels who sinned, but degraded
them, and delivered them into chains of darkness."
The Christian
is admonished to especially put on the "whole armour of God" in the
"evil day" that we live in today. "For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places." Eph 6:11-13
Is the U.N.
Anti-Israel?
November 1990
Dear Christian
Friend,
Once again
Israel made headlines, even temporarily pushing the Iraqi crisis from front
stage at the U.N. As Christians, we are deeply grieved by all the suffering and
shedding of blood in the Middle East. No doubt there have been wrongs on all
sides (Jer 3:11). Permanent peace will only come to the Middle East when the
principles of Christ, the Prince of Peace, motivate all human actions and
transactions (Isa 2:2-4).
The new State
of Israel has been a miracle of history in fulfillment of Bible prophecy (Jer
30:3,9,10,18). It is the work of the Lord, but an unfortunate pattern has
developed. The Arab nations, the United Nations and now the United States are
all opposing Israel. Jer 31:16 has a warning for all such: - "... and all
that prey upon thee will I give for a prey."
Rocks large
enough to kill rained down on 3000 Jewish worshipers and Israel was condemned
for defending its most sacred place of worship, the Western Wall. Was excessive
force used?
In 1987 Saudi
Arabia slaughtered over 400 Iranian Pilgrims at the Moslem’s most holy site in
Mecca. Of course, then it was open hunting season on Iranians; just as it was
open season on Jews during WWII. Allied powers then knew of the holocaust but
refused to bomb out the railroad tracks leading to the death camps. And
boatloads of Jews, like the St. Louis, were denied entry to the U.S. and sent
back to their doom in Europe. Unfortunately, 1989 and 1990 continue to be open
season on Jews. Anti-Semitic acts are on the rise to an alarming degree
throughout the world. Israel bashing by news media and world powers is a
popular pastime.
A Double
Standard
Where violence
is concerned, neither Israel or any other nation is above scrutiny; but the
persistency of the outcry against Israel by the international community is
suspect.
When the Arab
Legion defied the U.N. and seized East Jerusalem in 1948, Jordan desecrated
Jewish holy sites and banned Jews from the city. The world powers remained
silent. In 1970 Jordan massacred 20,000 refugees when it expelled the P.L.O.
out of its borders. In 1982 Syria destroyed the Moslem Brotherhood stronghold
in the city of Hama. Nearly 19,000 were slaughtered. There was no cry of
outrage by the international community about either carnage.
In 1985-86 the
Amal Arab forces waged total war against the P.L.O. camps in Lebanon. The world
viewed the limited television reports with indifference but now cry with
outrage at Israel’s handling of the Intifada. In the past year of the Intifada,
about 50% of Palestinians killed were killed by fellow Palestinians. Intifada
terror squads enforce Palestinian cooperation with the Intifada; a fact you
don’t hear about in the news media. A month ago, the Syrians killed 200
Christian Arab prisoners in Lebanon (US News & World Report, November 12,
1990). Where was the outcry?
The United
States helped Iraq defeat Iran, then courted the friendship of Saddam Hussein
while he slaughtered thousands of Kurds. But when Iraq invaded Kuwait, the U.S.
turned on Hussein. Why? The source of U.S. oil was at stake. Unfortunately, it
is often oil power and not moral power that motivates the U.N. Since most world
powers are dependent on Arab oil, the 21 Arab nations exert a dominant
influence on U.N. policies.
Facts Of
History
At the breaking
up of the Turkish Empire by the Allies at the end of WWI, both Arabs and Jews
requested independent states. The world powers were generous in the extreme to
the Arabs by granting them 21 independent Arab states, covering over 5,250,000
square miles. The Jews asked for only 3 percent of this vast territory and
finally received less than half of 1 percent.
In 1922 the
League of Nations recognized the legal, moral and historic right of the Jewish
people to a national home in Palestine, including Jerusalem. Since then, vast
oil reserves were discovered in Arab lands. If the Jews had a right to
Jerusalem in 1922, that right is valid today. But the nations are compromising
Israel’s rights for their own oil interests. Consequently, the U.S.
administration and the U.N. define East Jerusalem as "occupied territory."
This is why Israel refuses to cooperate with the U.N. Resolution. No part of
Jerusalem is "occupied territory." Jerusalem-indivisible-belongs to
Israel.
The nations of
the world would do well to heed the Biblical warning of Zec 12:3 -"In that
day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden
themselves with it shall be cut to pieces."
Historic Rights
During the
height of the Arab Empire’s rule over the land of Israel, the Arab geographer
Muqaddasi wrote in 985 A.D. about Jerusalem: "Everywhere the Christians
and the Jews have the upper hand, and the mosque is void of either congregation
or assembly of learned men." (KNOWLEDGE OF CLIMES, page 167) The first
recorded population census of Jerusalem was made in 1845 A.D. by Dr. Schultze,
the Prussian Consul. He recorded a Jewish majority of 7,120 compared to an Arab
minority of 5,000. From that year onward, the Jewish majority in Jerusalem
increased.
Although there
was a separate Jewish quarter in Jerusalem during the 1800s and early 1900s,
the Jews, Arabs and Christians lived throughout the Old City until the Arab
persecutions of 1929 and 1936. Then the Jews fled to the Jewish quarter or
outside the wall. In fact, a large section of what is now referred to as the
Moslem Quarter and Christian Quarter was called Hebron Square because so many
Jews were situated there. In both the Moslem and Christian Quarters, there are
many homes that evince a mezzuzah was removed from the front door post. Plaques
written in Hebrew with dates going back to the 1800s have been found inside
buildings, thus establishing their Jewish identity.
During the
final phase of the "time of trouble" prophesied by Jesus (Mt 24:21),
all nations will be gathered against Jerusalem (Zec 14:2; Eze 38-39). Then God
will fight for Israel as he did in the days of old (Zec 14:3). Christ will
reveal himself to Israel and there will be great repentance and mourning
throughout the land of Israel (Zec 12:9-14). Those that have the faith at that
time will share in Jerusalem becoming the capital of Christ’s Kingdom (Zec
8:22,23; Isa 60:10-12; 66:18-22).
Send for your
free copy of the essay RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. Written in 1890, it gives
remarkable insights about Israel today.
"And it shall
come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills;
and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye,
and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of
Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." Isa
2:2,3
Countdown to
ArmageddonùThen What?
March 1991
"And he
gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon the
kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them, to the battle of
that great day of God Almighty." Re 16:16, 14
The Communist
Bloc collapsedùand the cold war has seemingly ended. But the euphoria of peace
was soon eclipsed by the Iraqi War. The greatest array of armed forces since
World War IIùrepresenting a coalition of 28 nationsùgathered together in the
Middle East. What did this gathering portend?
Megiddo was the
great battleground of Palestine, on which were fought many of the famous
battles of Old Testament history. John in his symbolic book of Revelation
represents the final battle between right and wrong, truth and error, as the
Battle of Armageddon. Is this a symbolic battle? What significance is there in
the literal gathering of the nations in such close proximity to the Mound of
Megiddo?
Many expected a
ground war scenario of chemical and nuclear warfare in which Iraq would
"scud" Israel with chemical warheads. Israel would retaliate with
nuclear bombs. The Arab nations would unite against Israel. Israel would
soundly defeat her Arab foes and acquire more land. With Israel then dwelling
in the peace posture suggested by Eze 38:8, the stage would be set for the
battle of battlesùthe invasion of Israel by "Gog of Magog [Russia]"
and the allied armies of Eze 38-39.
Russia Bears
Watching
Whatever
follows the Iraqi War, the Russian "bear" is up to its old tricks.
Indications are that the makings for "Cold War" have broken out on
another front. The alliance between the Communist Party conservatives and the
army is thriving and gaining power as the bloody suppression of the Baltic
Republics testified. Censorship is tightening. Domestic opponents of the regime
are accused of treason in language all too reminiscent of the "bad old
days." Red Army troops patrolling the streets of major cities are
tightening control. Political liberals and advocates of economic reform are
being dismissed. These ominous events appear to be the echoes of Shevardnadzes’
warning of "a coming dictator."
In foreign
affairs, Russia is hedging on its troop withdrawal from Poland and East
Germany. On the "Hot War" front, Russian military advisors are still
in Iraq. A Soviet ship was caught with weapon parts destined for Iraq.
These alarming
developments have been countered by the withholding of promised aid by the
Western powers. The peace and arms control summit meeting was postponed.
The Countdown
The break in
the Communist Bloc between Russia and her former satellites was a necessary
prophetic shift. Poland, East Germany, Hungary, etc., will become a part of the
"European Community" while Papacy attempts to revive the old
"Holy Roman Empire" (Re 17:13-14; 13:14-17). [See NEW YORK TIMES,
April 22, 1990, observations on this subject.]
The Battle of
Armageddon will climax when the masses rise up and overthrow the
soon-to-be-attempted church-state folly of Europe (Re 16:13-19).
Meanwhile, in
the continuing "confederacy" of Psalms 83, Russia apparently will be
a force among the Arab nations. Eze 38:4-8 indicates that Russia’s specific intention
will then "turn" south to "Persia" (Iran),
"Togarmah" (Turkey) and to "Libya" and "Ethiopia"
(or Cush, parts of Africa) for an invasion "against the mountains of
Israel."
The Mustering
for Battle on the Home Fronts
Concurrent with
the gathering of armies, an unprecedented "time of trouble" (Da 12:1)
is mustering in the United States and around the whole world. Up to 15 million
people die of starvation annually. There are 30 million refugees and 100
million homeless. Each day 40,000 babies die of starvation in Third world
countries while Americans spend over $900 million yearly feeding dogs and cats.
Pollution:
Solid wastes, radio active and toxic chemical wastes are contaminating our
rivers, lakes and oceans. Air pollutants from car exhaust and industry are
killers. Deaths from respiratory diseases doubles every five years. Skin cancer
caused by the depleted ozone layer is rapidly increasing. Acid rain is
destroying our forests, which in turn is producing "global warming."
This "greenhouse effect" could melt polar ice caps causing oceans to
rise and wipe out hundreds of thousands of miles of densely populated coastal
lands (affecting 2 billion people). Also, it would dramatically increase
temperature variations. This would trigger life-threatening droughts and heat
waves turning "breadbasket farmland" (like our Midwest) into barren
desert. Severe food shortages would result.
Economic Chaos:
The U.S. entered the 1990’s with a staggering debt of $663.7 billion and a
perilous foreign trade imbalance. The S&L Associations waver on the verge
of complete collapse. Even the commercial banks are in serious trouble.
Insurance companies are failing while 1,300 companies claim bankruptcy per
week. Accentuating all of these problems, add a recession, which is affecting
not only businesses, but families.
One out of five
Americans (44 million people) are living below the poverty line of $9,435
yearly income. A third of Americans are "shelter poor." After paying
for housing, they have nothing left for other necessities. Three million
homeless wander the streets. Poverty drives people to desperation.
AIDS: Ten
million people throughout the world are infected with AIDS. By AD 2000, the
total number will reach 20 million. More than 3,000 new cases of AIDS are reported
in the U.S. every month. An estimated one million Americans are infected. AIDS
FAX (Vol. III, No. 1) claims ten million. Its death toll in the U.S. has been
83,000. By 1992 the cost of AIDS medical bills is likely to be $7.5 billion. It
is estimated that 20% of the hospitals in this country will financially fault
and close by 2000 AD when the medical needs of AIDS patients will peak.
Hospital beds will be filled with AIDS patients while people with regular
medical needs stand in line to wait for a bed.
Armageddon: a
Natural Consequence
Humankind has
sown the seeds of sin and reaped "the time of trouble" which will
finally knock them flat on their backs so that the only way man can look is up
to God. Man’s extremity will become God’s opportunity.
God’s side in
the coming Battle of Armageddon is the side of the people. The frustrated,
disillusioned massesùconscious of their weakness as compared with the
establishmentùwill rise up in desperation. Normally the majority of the poor
and middle class have no sympathy with anarchy but seek change by legislation
or other peaceful methods.
On the other
hand, wobbly governments will cling to some sort of stability offered by
Christian churches and try to maintain the "status quo." The unlikely
coalition between church and state in this very secular time will be a
last-resort effort to preserve this old order of selfishness and greed. With
this Battle erupts an "earthquake"ùa shaking and rising up from
beneath the crust of established society (Re 16:18).
The Final
Battle
The final
battle between Right and Wrong, Truth and Error, will occur in the Middle East.
What is left of the weakened governments of earth will focus their fury against
Israel, "when Gog shall come against the land of Israel" (Eze 38:16). The result of this Battle is stated clearly: "Thus
will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of
many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord" (Eze 38:23).
After
Armageddon: God’s Kingdom
Because Jesus
died as "a ransom for all," all will have an opportunity to learn of
God’s love in His Kingdom. God’s Kingdom will satisfy all the legitimate
longings of humankind. Think of the parched drought belt of Africa where
millions have starved to death. The climatic conditions of the Kingdom will
cause all the earth to bring forth in abundance. (Isa 35:1,7)
There will be
no unemployment, fear of automation, inflation, depression or other economic
problem. The Kingdom will assure equality and justice to all. The Psalmist
said, "He [God] will defend the cause of the poor, deliver the needy and
crush the oppressor." (Ps 72:4; Isa 9:7)
Our history is
one of bloody war, but in God’s Kingdom, "They shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (Isa 2:4) Neither will there be any more crime and violence. "They
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain [kingdom], for the earth
shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
(Isa 11:9)
There will be
no pollution or sickness, no crippling diseases. The blind will see; the deaf
hear, and the crippled walk. Even the dead will be restored to life. (Isa 33:4;
35:5; Hos 13:14)
Yes, the
nations are mustering internally and internationally for Armageddon, but true
Christians need not despair. They know by faith in the "sure word of
prophecy" that Armageddon’s chastening is the gateway into the Kingdom of
God on earth.
Seed of
Worldly Church!
April 1991
"An enemy
hath done this."
In few words
Jesus painted a broad panorama of Christian history. The parable of the wheat
and tares, found in Matthew 13, describes the course of Christianity from the
beginning, to its culmination in a harvest. The householder of the parable
sowed good seed in his field. The anticipated fruitage was corrupted by the
householder’s enemy. The enemy over sowed the wheat field with tare seed (false
wheat) while the householder’s menservants slept. When the blade was spring up
and brought forth fruit, the act of vandalization was manifest. The true wheat
was choked in the midst of the imitation wheat.
The menservants
asked if they should weed out the tares. The householder said, "Nay; lest
while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both
grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them into bundles to burn
them: but gather the wheat into my barn." Mt 13:24-30
The Parable
Explained
This lesson
greatly interested the disciples and so they asked Jesus to explain it. What a
great benefit to us that he did! The householder represented Jesus. The
fieldùthe Christian world with its fruitages. The good fruit represented
Christ’s true followers, his faithful disciples. Tares, which outwardly look
like wheat, were imitations planted by the enemyùSatan.
The tares were
not to be weeded out until the harvest. The harvest would take place in the end
of this world or age (Greek-aion). Jesus’ work at the end of the Christian Age
is as Chief Reaper. He will order his angels (messengers in the Greek), his
disciples, to harvest the wheat in his second advent just as he did in the
first. Lk 10:1-3; Joh 4:35,36
Two Seeds
The two
fruitages are the result of two different kinds of seed. Wheat, the true
Christian, springs forth from the Word of God. This is taught in the parable of
the sower. "The seed is the word of God...they which in an honest and good
heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with
patience." Lk 8:11,15 The apostles carried forth the ministry of Christ,
preaching the word of life, sowing seeds of the kingdom. The Father "begat
us with the word of truth". Jas 1:18 "In Christ Jesus have I begotten
you through the gospel," said the Apostle Paul. 1Co 4:15
A sinister turn
in church history occurred when the apostles fell asleep in death (compare Mt
13:25). In their absence Satan sought to corrupt the church. His weapon was
error. Just as truth produces a true Christian, so error produces an imitation.
Satan’s work of corrupting God’s truth in Christ began even during the apostles’
time. "Every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh is not of God; and thus is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have
heard that it should come; and even now is already in the world." 1Joh 4:3
That
anti-christian spirit spread throughout the Christian world sowing tares. Satan
hoped to choke the spiritual life out of God’s wheat by surrounding them with
tares. One of Satan’s principal instruments to sow bad seed were the
Neo-Platonist Christians. These were philosopher Christians who sought to apply
scientific methods in understanding scripture. Their methods were derived from
Plato, a great manùalso a pagan.
The unfortunate
result of bending scripture to fit human philosophy was the creation of bad
seed and its fruitùnominal Christians. Human science did no favor to the church
of God. How sad that the apostolic admonition was not heeded, "Avoid
profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which
some (believers) professing have erred concerning the faith." 1Ti 6:20,21
A False Seed
Close up
One such false
seed was the Grecian philosophy of eternal torment for the wicked. Neo-Platonic
concepts of the afterlife corrupted the simple truth of the Bible Hell. The New
Testament Hades and the Old Testament Sheol no longer were perceived as the
death state. They were instead transformed into a place of eternal conscious
torment. (Space does not here permit an adequately thorough discussion of death
and hell. We encourage you to order the booklet "Where Are The Dead?"
offered at the end of this letter. The scriptures on these subjects are fully
discussed in the booklet.)
The threat of
such enormous and eternal suffering was (and still is) held over the heads of
unbelievers. They converted to Christ under pressure. Thus many people, who
would not otherwise bother being burdened with Christ’s name, have made a
profession of faith.
God’s Purpose
in Christianity
Conversion
through coercion is not God’s purpose in Christianity. "True worshippers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in
spirit and in truth." Joh 4:23,24 In other words, God wants our hearts to
yield in willing love to Him and His truth. Many unwilling converts, motivated
by fear, have feigned obedience to Him. That is how a tare is created.
The purpose of
Christianity is to call out a people for God’s name. Those called out are God’s
elect. The elected ones, found faithful in this life, will serve in the office
of priests and kings. Their ministry will be to the remainder of humanityùthose
not called and willingly converted during the Christian Era. See Ac 15:14-17
and Re 5:10.
The confusion
brought about by doctrines of fear have clouded over many important Christian
doctrines. The doctrine of election, that God now calls a few to belief, is
made horrible by trying to fit it in with Satan’s doctrine of eternal conscious
torment. The great twists of mind, heart and conscience needed to grasp Satan’s
teachings on hell bear an empty fruit at best. At worst, those twists bear a
fruitage of hate, injustice and selfishness.
Hell in
National News
"The
Rekindling of Hell" was the featured cover article of U.S. News and World
Report for March 25, 1991. "Record numbers of Americans now believe in a
nether world and in a wide variety of after death punishments," it
claimed. According to a Gallop survey done in November 1990, three out of five
Americans now believe in hell. However, views of what constitute hell sharply
differ.
Some try to
understand hell philosophically and, through human wisdom, invent the hell of
their choice. Others fall back on creeds of human invention and hold forth the
hell of tradition. Some are returning to the Scriptures to study them anew. The
Scriptures are shedding light on hell. "Such highly regarded theologians
as Clark H. Pinnock, theology professor at McMaster Divinity College in
Hamilton, Ontario; John R.W. Stott, president of the London Institute for
Contemporary Christianity, and Philip E. Hughes, a noted Anglican clergyman and
author, contend that rather than suffering endlessly, those who ultimately
reject God will simply be put out of existence in the ‘consuming fire’ of
hell."
"Those who
subscribe to this viewùcalled ‘annihilationism’ùpoint to New Testament passages
that speak of ‘eternal destruction’ and ‘the second death’ for those who know
not God and to the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel’s declaration that ‘the soul
that sins shall die.’"( U.S. News and World Report, March 25, 1991, p.
63).
These men are
to be commended for looking back to scriptures to understand what the Biblical
hell is. Hughes interestingly observes "that the traditional belief in
unending punishment is linked to the erroneous belief in the ‘innate
immortality’ of the soulùa belief, he says, that is based more on Plato than on
the Bible."
On the other
hand, traditionalists "argue that annihilationism takes some of the punch
out of Gospel preaching. ‘To tell the unrepentant that the worst fate that
could befall them is extinction,’ says Harold O.J. Brown, a theology professor
at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, ‘makes continuing in sin seem less
risky.’" And that is the very point of the parable of the wheat and tares.
Wheat, the true Christian, rejoice to leave sin behind. They love righteousness
and hate iniquity. They are not coerced by terror, but by love and the beauty
of God’s Word.
Tares may look
back longingly at "the good old days" of sin or may yet practice
their old sins after coming to Christ. A popular phrase on T-shirts and bumper
stickers today is "How much can I get away with and still get to
heaven?" That is not the spirit that a true follower of Christ will have.
"Love rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." 1Co
13:6
Forewarned is
Forearmed
Our hope for
all God’s people is that they will be led on to full Christian fruitage by
God’s Word. We pray that His people will stand firmly for the truth even
against the majority public opinion or entrenched human creeds. Remember that
the tares in the parable are the overwhelming majority. Let us all, by the
grace of God, receive the Word of God into good and honest hearts, bringing
forth good fruit with patience.
"The
Only Begotten God"
May 1991
John 1:28
What does John
mean? Who is God? Of all the varieties of Christian beliefs, one centuries’ old
belief claims to stand beyond the reach of logic.
It also claims
to be separate from Scriptural interpretation. It also maintains it should not
be judged because of the decisions and reverses of councils in church history.
That doctrine is the belief that Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit is God, and
these three are mysteriously one, co-equal, co-eternal.
Although the
Holy Spirit is not mentioned, Joh 1:1 is called upon to establish the trinity,
"The Word (Logos) was with God, and the Word was God." But the common
translation contains a contradiction, for how can the Word both be God and with
God at the same time? Aside from logic, this contradiction is not supported by
the Greek text: "the Word was with God, and a god was the Word."
(EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT, INTERLINEAR)
Contrary to
some popular beliefs of his day, Apostle John was expressing the thought that
Jesus had a pre-human existence as "a mighty one" ("a
god"). The Everlasting God Himself had no beginning. "He is from
everlasting to everlasting." But "in the beginning,"ùthe Word’s
beginningùthe Logos was with God as the "only begotten God." (Vs. 18)
The common version hides the correct translation by rendering "only
begotten Son." But the Greek shows "only begotten theos"
("God"). Jesus in his pre-human existence, indeed, was "a mighty
one" who received life (was "begotten") from the Father.
Tertulian writing in the second century said, "There was a time when the
Son did not exist." THE EARLY CHRISTIAN FATHERS. P.21
Jesus, A Son
John’s account
of the Gospel is full of allusions to Jesus’ relationship to God as really a
Son. Jesus acknowledged his Father as greater and whose will Jesus continually
sought to do. Jesus was not God himself, but the obedient "only begotten
Son," sent of God (1Joh 4:9):
"I go unto
the Father, for my Father is greater than I" "I can of mine own self
do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not
mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" (Joh 14:28;
5:30)
Direct
scriptural statements like these show us God is greater than Jesus and that
Jesus was not God, but obedient to God who sent him. John also compares the
Christian’s relationship to God as being the same as Jesus’ relationship to
God:
"Holy
Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me, that they may
be one as we are" "As the Father hath sent me, even so send I
you" "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and
your God." (Joh 17:11,
22; 20:21,17)
Just think! We
are called to be part of this intimate oneness of God and His Son. Certainly,
we are not part of a trinity too.
When Jesus
claimed he was the Son, "The Jews sought the more to kill him, because he
said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God" (Joh
5:18, 19). Jesus, first of all, never claimed to be God, but God’s Son and that
was enough to infuriate the Jewish leaders of his day. They never assumed he
was claiming to be God, but "similar" (Strong’s Concordance 2470 for
"equal") to God as His Son. The Pharisees never said Jesus was "equal"
to God. The translators did! In fact, Jesus disclaimed his own authority and
rank saying, "The Son can do nothing of himselfà"
The Scribes and
Pharisees could not appreciate Jesus’ prehuman existence when Jesus proclaimed
he existed before Abraham. They took up stones to cast at him when he said,
"Before Abraham was, I am" (Joh 8:57-59). Jesus was saying "I
am" as the subject and verb of an ordinary sentence meaning simply that
from before Abraham’s time until the present he had had a continuous existence.
To make "I am" a title in this sentenceùas appears in Exodus 3:14
referring to God as the "I Am"ùis not possible. In any case, the word
"Jehovah" does not really mean "I am" but "He Who
Becometh," as J. B. Rotherham (a recognized Protestant authority) explains
in his translation of the Bible. The popular rulers of the day could not
tolerate Jesus’ claim that he existed before and was sent by God his Father in
Heaven.
God’s Mind
The Holy Spirit
was also sent of God. The Holy Spirit was not God Himself. The "Spirit of God,"
the "Spirit of Liberty," the "Spirit of Understanding" and
the "Spirit of Love" are a few of the scriptural terms used to
describe the one mind, the disposition or influence of God. These are not
titles of one or more Gods, any more than the opposite termsùthe "Spirit
of Bondage," the "Spirit of Fear" and the "Spirit of
Antichrist"ùare names of one or more devils.
The Holy Spirit
is the power that energizes the true Christian in the service of the Lord (Ro
8:11). Although Jesus had the Holy Spirit "not by measure" (Joh
3:34), we have impediments to the full working of the Holy Spirit in ourselves.
So we are encouraged to be "filled with the Holy Spirit"ùnot a
person, but the influence of God’s mind working in us instead of the "spirit
of the world." "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but
the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given
to us of God For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that may instruct him?
But we have the mind of Christ." (1Co 2:11-16).
The Holy Spirit
of God is vastly powerful, but its work in our hearts is a delicate operation,
subject to our willingness to be led by it. Therefore, we are exhorted by Paul
that we "quench not the Spirit," the influence of God in our hearts.
(1Th. 5:19) It is not God that we are not to quench. Could God Himself be
quenched? Rather, the influence or new mind of the one true God in our hearts
should not be killed, but allowed to dwell in us richly.
A Mystery
Those who hold
the trinity dear concede that the doctrine is out of the realm of logic to
explain how a person could be sent of God and be God Himself. .. how Jesus
could pray to God and be praying to Himself at the same time. .. and have Jesus
say his Father is greater and yet be equal, etc. The scripture, they say, that
says God and Jesus are oneùin the same way as Christians are to be oneùdoes not
simply mean that at all. This is called the "mystery" of the trinity.
But what does
the New Testament say about "mysteries" and Christian understanding?
Nowhere is the term "mystery" attached to the unexplainable doctrine
of the trinity. Rather, what is a mystery to outsiders, the Christian knows:
"Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it is not given" (Mt 13:11). Paul asked prayers for
help in preaching "that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the
mystery of the gospel" (Eph. 6:19). What a profound privilege to be given
the responsibility of understanding the mysteries of God: "Now to him that
is of power to stablish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus
Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since
the world began" (Ro 16:25).
Our faith is
reasonable and we accept scriptural language, unless symbolic, at face value.
When questioned on our faith, we should be able "to give an answer to
every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and
fear" (1Pe 3:15).
The History
If the trinity
is not reasonable, logical nor taught in the Bible, where did it begin? Then
what is the source of this doctrine? After the twelve apostles died, a gradual
falling away from the original faith occurred. Great numbers of Pagans entered
the Church, bringing with them Pagan ideas. The trinity is one of many Pagan
concepts which corrupted Christian doctrine during the early centuries of the
Christian Era. [Originating in Babylon, the "trinity concept" spread
throughout the ancient world and became a prominent feature of the Egyptian,
Persian, Grecian, Roman, Japanese and Indian mythologies.]
During the
early years of the fourth century, a heated controversy raged between the
Arians and the Trinitarians, led by Athanasius. The Arians maintained that
Jesus is a created being, pre-existent, though having a beginning in time, a
son in the normal sense of the word and subordinate to the Father. The
Athanasian party argued that the Son is fully God, co-equal and co-eternal with
the Father.
Fearing that
religious dissension might disrupt the political unity of the Empire, the
Emperor Constantine summoned a general council of bishops to settle the
dispute. The Council of Nicea in 325 AD chose the teachings of Athanasius and
formulated the Nicene Creed. Arius was excommunicated and banished with the
other bishops who resisted the decision of the majority. The decision was
reversed ten years later in 335 AD But the basic trinitarian position was
finally forged at the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD The question, rather
than settled by the Scriptures and sound reasoning by spiritual men, was
settled by those who had more political power and the means to physically
enforce a decision by use of arms.
Therefore, the
tradition of the doctrine of the trinity is not validated by church history
that would give one confidence to believe a doctrine, which is not reasonable
or scriptural. Jesus was a mighty God, begotten, created of Jehovah, truly the
Son of God.
Why are you
a Christian?
June 1991
2Co 5:14, 15
Some become a
Christian just to escape eternal judgment. But God saves us and forgives our
sins "for His name’s Sake"(ps 25:11; 106:8). Then there are those who
become Christians in order to gain health and prosperity, believing that faith
in a "secret kingdom" and its power will grant their reward. How sad!
The height of Christian concern should not be "what can God do for
me" but rather "what can I do to glorify God." Remember the
words of Psa 31:3ù"for thy name’s sake lead me and guide me."
Self-centered
vs. Christ-centered Christians
Evidently the
church at Corinth included many self-centered Christians. Paul had to chide
them in 1Co 4:8-14.
"You are
already filled, you have already become rich, you reign as kings without us;
and I would that you indeed had become kings so that we also might reign with
you... We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are
weak but you are strong, you are distinguished, but we are despised. To this
present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are
roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands;
when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are
slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the
dregs of all things, even unto now. I do not write these things to shame you,
but to admonish you as my beloved children." (NAS)
The Apostle
Paul expressed the essence of the Christ-centered life in 2Ti 2:11,12, "It
is a faithful saying: if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If
we suffer, we shall also reign with him." The Apostle Peter said,
"Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you"
(1Pe 4:12). In Mt 10, Jesus enumerates the trials, hardships and persecutions
that his faithful followers would suffer; then he says, "But he that
endureth to the end shall be saved."
The Secret
Kingdom???
The time in
which the Kingdom of God shall "rule from the rivers to the ends of the
earth" is, of course, future. Yet, at Jesus’ first advent it was declared,
"The Kingdom of God is at hand" (Mk 1:15). Some use Lk 17:21,
"The Kingdom of God is within you" as proof of the secret kingdom
concept. However, the Greek text literally means, "The King is in your
midst." Since the faithful followers of Jesus are to reign with him (Re
20:4,6), Jesus also called them the "Kingdom of heaven" (Mt 13). Mt
11:12 shows that "the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence." Jesus
and his church are to be the kings (Re 20:6) in God’s future Kingdom. The
sufferings of the Christian walk are the training grounds for reigning in this
future Kingdom (He 5:8,9; 2Ti
2:11,12).
Unknown to the
world, Christ-centered Christians are now being trained for their future work
of reigning with Christ in his Kingdom. They are not using prayer selfishly for
physical and material prosperity. Like the Apostles, they pray for strength to
endure privation knowing "that the trial of your faith being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried in the fire" (1Pe
1:7). By bitter experiences they are developing Christ-like love. "Love
your enemies, bless them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use
you, and persecute you." Mt 5:44
The Purpose of
the Kingdom
Most Christians
have overlooked the main purpose of the Kingdom. Jehovah’s Witnesses,
Seventh-Day Adventists, born-again Christians, Mormons, etc., believe that all
who do not accept Christ and/or the Gospel before "The Great
Tribulation" is over are lost eternally.
How sad that
Christians try to give God’s love a narrowness that He will not own. God has
not been trying to convert the world. In Mk 4:11,12, Jesus showed that he
purposely hid the Gospel from many "lest at any time they should be
converted and their sins should be forgiven." Joh 1:9 speaks of Jesus as
the "Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Yet
millions died before the time of Christ never hearing the only "name
(Jesus Christ) under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Ac
4:12). Despite all the missionary efforts since the time of Christ, other
millions died not hearing the message of salvation. God is not trying to
convert the world during the Christian Age. He is only selecting a little flock
(Lk 12:32).
Ac 15:14-17
shows that "God for the first time did visit the Gentiles to take out of
(not convert) them a people for his name (Christ-centered Christians, His
Church)... After this I will return (second advent) and build again the
tabernacle of David (Christ’s Kingdom)... that the remainder of men might seek
after the Lord." Jesus said in Joh 5:28,29, "The hour is coming, in
the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come
forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life (to reign with
Christùre 20:6); and they that have done evil (the vast majority of mankind),
unto the resurrection of krisis" (Greek for judgment or trial). Christ and
his church will enlighten the "remainder of men" in the Kingdomùtheir
crisis or probation, "for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the
Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isa 11:9).
This is the
great "restitution" (restoration) project foretold by all the Old
Testament prophets (Ac 3:19-21). This restoration of the willing of "the
remainder of men" (Ac 15:17; Re 22:17) to mental, moral and physical
perfection of life that was lost in Eden will not be completed until the end of
the 1000-year Kingdom of Christ. For this reason Re 20:5 states, "The rest
of the dead* ("the remainder of men" of Ac 15:17) lived not again
until the 1000 years were finished." All not mentally, morally and
physically perfect are dead in God’s sight. Thus Jesus said, "Let the dead
bury their dead" (Mt 8:22). It will require the balance of the 1000 years
to bring the willing up the highway of holiness (Isa 35:8) to perfect human
life.
*Some ancient
manuscripts do not contain the words "the rest of the dead."
The School of
Christ
How do
Christians develop the love, justice, sympathy, understanding, etc., to qualify
for a share with Christ as kings, priests (blessers), judges (Re 20:6; 1Co 6:2)
in His Kingdom? Christ-centered Christians learn Christ-like love through their
sufferings and privations (1Pe 1:7; 2Pe 1:5,6; 1Co 13:5,6). In that way, they
will know just how to help "the remainder of men" in their trial time
for eternal life. If you are a Christ-centered Christian, you might be
interested in the following ad:
WANTED: PECULIAR
PEOPLE for Unusual Position
Not necessarily
wise or noble, successful or socially accepted. Physical infirmities and heavy
personal burdens can be an asset. The training for this position requires a
commitment of all your time, all your effort for the rest of your life. Your
instructor will insist upon absolute obedience while causing you to lose
friends, reputation and personal fortune. These will be replaced by friends not
of your choosing, reputation not esteemed by society and personal fortune not
negotiable.
Your success or
failure will be measured by how carefully you follow the instruction manualùa
book which the greatest minds in the world cannot understand and have dismissed
as "foolishness." Your course will inspire many hatreds, for which
you will be obliged to offer a sacrificing love in return; and the more of this
love you master, the more of its servant you will become. Wages offered during
the training period consist of a few promisesùconsidered by most as highly
doubtful of fulfillment.
Anyone who
faithfully completes this course is guaranteed a position as an administrator
in the Kingdom of Christ which by Divine intervention will shortly bless all
the families of the earth. For further details, send for this free bookletùWHY
ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?
Russia! The
Nations! What Next?
September 1991
The eyes of the
world are on the Soviet Union. Unquestionably, the events occurring there in
the past few weeks are immensely significant. World leaders and the media are
watching these events hoping to decipher their impact on mankind. We are
blessed, as God’s children, to have His word of truth. The Scriptures have
opened our eyes to the real significance and impact of current events.
The Scriptural
Context of Today’s Events
The prophetic
time context of today’s events is that of The Day of the LORD. "The day of
vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come." "It
is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the
controversy of Zion." Isa 63:4; 34:8 Thus the prophet Isaiah refers to
that period which Da 12:1 describes as "a time of trouble such as never
was since there was a nation"; of which Mal 4:1 says, "Behold the day
cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly,
shall be as stubble."
This is the day
of the LORD wherein Jas 5:1-6 says the rich men shall weep and howl for the
miseries that shall come upon them; the day which Joel 2:2 describes as a day
of clouds and thick darkness; of which Amos 5:20 says is "darkness and not
light, even very dark and no brightness in it."
Our Lord Jesus
refers to this day in Mt 24:21,22 as a time of "great tribulation" so
ruinous in its character that, if it were not cut short, no flesh would survive
its ravages. But he will cut it short and flesh will be saved after the
tribulation. Then he will turn to them and teach them a pure language that they
may call on the LORD. Zeph 3:9
Nations
JudgedùNot Individuals
"Therefore
wait ye upon me saith the LORD, until the day that I rose up to the prey: for
my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to
pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth
(social order) shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy." Zeph 3:8
That the dark
and gloomy day thus described by the prophets is a day of judgment upon mankind
socially and nationallyùa day of national recompensesùis clear from many
scriptures. But, while noting these, we must bear in mind the difference
between national judgment and individual judgment. While the nations are
composed of individuals (who are largely responsible for the course their
nation takes and who do suffer greatly in the consequences of that course) the
judgment of the world as individuals is distinct from its judgment as nations.
The Apostle
Peter says that Jesus Christ will be raised up as a prophet to the world after
his second coming. Then during the times of restitution, when the Millenial
Kingdom will bring earth’s restoration, those individuals who "will not
hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people." Ac 3:20-23
Chief Cause of
National Judgment
The day of
vengeance stands naturally related to the benevolent object of its divine
permission. That objective is the overthrow of the entire present order of things
in preparation for the permanent establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth,
under Christ, the Prince of Peace.
The prophet Isa
63:1-6 viewing the present time saw a mighty conqueror clothed with authority
and power riding forth victoriously over his enemies, with whose blood his
garment is stained. "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments
from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness
of his strength?"
Edom is the
name given Esau after he sold his birthright to Jacob. Edom is an appropriate
symbol of a group in this age who similarly sold their birthright; and that too
for a reward as meager as the mess of pottage which influenced Esau. That
reward has been respect of men, comfort and earthly power in the present time
to the compromise of future rewards from God.
Edom is
frequently used by the prophets in reference to the present so called Christian
world or Christendom. By allying herself with the kings of earth, to
prematurely establish Christ’s Kingdom, the Church unfortunately played the
harlot. The result of this illicit union was the "Holy" Roman Empire.
The ensuing centuries of her reign were filled with ignorance, corruption and
bloodshed on a massive scale. Far from being the light that lightens the
Gentiles Isa 42:6,7) we refer to that period of history as The Dark Ages.
The prophet
Daniel gives a vision of five universal empires. Four are of this present evil
world. The fifth is God’s Kingdom in Christ. These empires rule earth
uninterruptedly. Each succeeding kingdom is present before it overthrows its
predecessor. In the seventh chapter of Daniel we see the rise of the "Man
of Sin." 2Thess 2:3, 8, 20 This man, the "little horn" of verses
8 and 20, speaks great things, changes times and seasons and persecutes the
true saints of the most high.
Notice that the
little horn, the "Man of Sin," is obviously not the fifth universal
empireùwhich is the true Kingdom of Christ. It is, however, part of the fourth,
the dreadful (Roman) beast. Da 7:19,20 God is judging the nations now, but with
particular emphasis on those that have claimed to be His kingdom. They have
been weighed in the balances and found wanting. This great sin of nations will
thus receive national punishment.
Russia and the
Baltic States
The prophet
Amos gives us a very exciting view of the past eighty or so years in a
remarkably encapsulated form. "Woe unto you that desire the day of the
LORD! To what end is it for you? The day of the LORD is darkness and not light.
As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house,
and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him." Amos 5:18,19
Those that
prematurely desired the day of the LORD, thinking to establish themselves in
power, will find a bitter fruitage awaits their actions. In our time we have
borne witness to the empire of the lionùthe universally recognized symbol of
Great Britain. During the height of colonialism the sun never set on the
British Empire. After World War I the British sun began to set. As men began to
flee that colonial arrangement the bear met them.
All recognize
the bear as Russia’s national symbol. Truly, with the demise of the British
Empire, the rise of communism out of Russia began. Now we see communism’s
collapse. The Soviet Union is dissolving. One by one the member states of the
USSR have proclaimed their independence. One by one they are fleeing into the
house. Nationalism is scripturally represented by a house. The various
republics are fleeing into their houses of nationalistic pride. As they lean on
the walls, as they put their trust in the strength of a nation, they are bitten
by a serpent. That old serpent, Satan, will deceive the nations.
What will the
deception be? Will it be the uniting again of church and state? Will the
nations succumb to creating another counterfeit kingdom of Christ? We must
watch and pray lest we also be deceived.
Our
Responsibility
We are espoused
to Christ as pure and holy virgins of faith. We lament the fall of the early
church into fornication (Re 17:12) with the kings of the earth. Yes, the Church
will reign with Jesus over all the earth, but it will be by God’s powerùnot the
power of earthly strength. The hope of our faith, to be joined with Christ and
bless all the families of earth, will soon come to pass. Let us keep our faith
and our patience in this hour of temptation. (Re 3:10) May we, by God’s grace,
stand strong in the promises of His word and His Divine principlesùthey are His
keeping power.
We encourage
you to read "The Battle of Armageddon" a powerful 656 page treatise
on the passing of this world and the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth.
Who will be
God’s Judges?
October 1991
"The
Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son." "The saints shall
judge the world... we shall judge angels!"
Spotlighting
the attention of the press and the public for the past several months is the
choosing of the right person to be an Associate Justice of the United States
Supreme Court. The selection has heartened some and divided and dismayed
others. The appointed candidate, his character, his background, his values, his
philosophy and even his loyalties to Constitution or "natural law"
have been rehearsed, questioned and mulled over before confirmation to that
respected position.
Simply said,
the people of the United States, their Congressional representatives and their
"watch dog" media have serious concerns about who will now sit in
judgment over them and decide on issues for the next thirty some years.
By contrast to
the recent hearings in this confirmation process and its media attention, a
process of confirmation of "associate judges" is going on that the
nation and even the world knows little or nothing about. More remarkable, this
selection has been in progress for almost 2,000 years.
From the Gospel
according to Joh 5:22,23, it is clear God’s supreme choice is His Son:
"For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the
Son, that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He
that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which sent him." While
God does not ask us to pass approval on his appointment, we are asked to join
God in honoring His Son!
God’s Supreme
Judges
But, Jesus will
not judge alone. God has determined to have other judges with Jesus. Who will
they be? "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world. Know ye
not that we shall judge angels?" 1Co 6:2,3
Who are these
associate judges who will seemingly have so much power? How can any be trusted
to "judge the world," let alone angels? The Apostle Paul himself says
he does not even have the capability of judging himself, "Yea, I judge not
mine own self." He chides the brethren for judging each other, "Why
dost thou judge thy brother?" (Ro 14:10)
Christians for
centuries have shamefully judged other Christians. The Papacy through the years
has judged and persecuted Protestants. In our own country Protestants have
persecuted Catholics. Where has God’s hand been?
Back when
Israel was an infant nation in the land of Israel, God "raised them up
judges, then the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of
their enemies all the days of the judge." (Jud 2:18) There was no king.
This system prevailed for longer than U.S. American historyù450 years. The
people prospered with their judges. One of their greatest judges was Samuel.
However, his sons, who were also judges, abused their authority. Instead of
waiting for another appointment of a judge after Samuel, the people in their
frustration chose another system. They wanted a king just like all the other
nations around them. The new kings over Israel were a mixed blessing.
The question
remains, how will the Church whom Paul is addressing, judge the world and
angels? Where will these judges come from? What will be their background? Will
they have weaknesses? What will be their "record"? Their
qualifications? On what Law will their decisions be based? Then, just what will
be their responsibilities?
"Brothers,
you see God’s way of calling you. There are few among you who are wise as the
world counts wisdom; there are few who are influential; there are few of
aristocratic birth." (1Co 1:26) Even Jesus, "though he was rich, yet
for your sakes he became poor." (2Co 8:9) The
background of God’s judges is evidently humble. Why is this so? God wants
sympathetic judges to represent Him, ones who understand because they have
plumbed the depths of human experience. These first-hand experiences with the
needs and frustrations of life will make them sympathetic when finally reaching
a position of judicial authority. They will not forget.
However, simply
being poor and exposed to trials "common to man" (1Co 10:13) will not
automatically qualify a person to be a good judge. The Christian who is being
prepared to "judge the world" in God’s Kingdom is sensitive. He is
sensitive because through his life’s ordeals he or she has not become bitter or
vengeful. These overcoming Christians will be qualified judges because they
have fought against their own fallen conditions. They have learned compassion
and are effective in their sympathy because they understand human nature.
Will Christians
who are to be judges with Christ have a perfect record? If "perfect
record" means no mistakes, No! There will be dark corners in their lives,
seeming inconsistencies. But in those dark corners and inconsistencies, the
struggle against sin will be obvious. There may be failures, but there will be
no hypocrisy.
Natural
LawùHigher Law
By what Law
will these overcoming Christians judge in the future? Will it be their own
lawùor interpretation of God’s Law?
One of the
recent concerns aired during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings has been
the question of "natural law." The position taken by many has been
that a judge should be responsive to the U.S. Constitution and not to his own
conception of a higher "natural law." In American judicial history,
"natural law" has been cited to justify decisions. "Natural
Law" was cited to affirm that slaves confiscated from a pirate ship should
be freedùwhile in another case "natural law" was cited to affirm that
a slave, as property, should be returned to his owner! No wonder Senators were
concerned about the nominee’s comments about "natural law." We should
not be surprised that men not governed by God’s Laws would be nervous about
someone’s interpretation of "higher laws."
God’s judges
will understand His Laws. Their interpretation and application of those Laws
will be consistent with God’s wisdom, justice, love and power. God’s judges
will be nurtured on his Law while they walked the earth. "O, how love I
thy law! It is my meditation all the day. I have not departed from thy
judgments: for thou hast taught me I have sworn and I will perform it, that I
will keep thy righteous judgments." (Ps 119:97,102,106)
Just what is
God’s Law? Jesus summarizes the whole Law, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, mind, soul and strength and thy neighbor as
thyself." But that Law has been the farthest from man’s experience. How to
apply it? How to enforce it?
Sensitive
Judgment
How sensitive
is God to the suffering of humanity? He is described as the God of the widows,
the fatherless, the needy and poor. (Ps 68:5; 72:4) Yet the widows, the
fatherless, the needy and poor have suffered long centuries with barely any
justice at all. Indeed, the whole groaning creation waits "for the
manifestation of the sons of God." (Ro 8:19,22) They are waiting for God’s
judges.
They will share
authority under Jesus, who is God’s "Holy arm." "Let the heavens
rejoice, and let the earth be glad before the LORD for he cometh, for he cometh
to judge the earth. His right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory
for he cometh to judge the earth with righteousness shall he judge the world,
and the people with equity." (Psa 96-98) This time has not come yet.
Valiant have been the attempts of man to dispense justice and judgment. Sad has
been the success.
How will this
righteous judgment be established in the earth? Each man deserves dignity and
just rights. "Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord
from Jerusalem." (Isa 2:3) God’s judges in heaven will have their visible
representatives on earth. Addressing Israel, God says, "And I will turn my
hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross and take away all thy tin: And
I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the
beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The City of Righteousness, the
faithful city." (Isa 1:25,26)
These judges
will be Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the worthies of old. They are fathers of
faith to the Christian. But they will be children of the Church in the Kingdom:
"Instead of thy [the kings daughter’s] fathers shall be thy children, whom
thou mayest make princes in all the earth." (Ps 45:12-16)
Finally, one of
the closing promises of Jesus to his followers will be fulfilled. The Church
will be able to render equitable judgment to the groaning creation crying for
justice. "Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And
I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father has appointed unto me, that ye may
sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Lk 22:28-30) Then no
citizen of the Kingdom need fear an unfair decision when God’s judges represent
Him.
"And I saw
thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them and they
lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." Re 20:4
Manna for
the Christian
November 1991
"What is
it?"
Israel in the
wilderness of Sinai what a striking picture! Egypt behind them. Canaan before
them, and the sand of the desert around them. The wilderness afforded not one
blade of grass for the Israel of God. Manna: The "bread from heaven"
alone was their portion. "Manna" literally means, "what is it?"
What was "manna"? How essential was it?
Israel in the
wilderness was a graphic illustration of Christians in this wilderness world.
They have nothing here. Their life being heavenly can only be sustained by
spiritual things. Though "in the world, they are not of it" for
Christ has chosen them out of it. Christ can only sustain the new life in the
believer. "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so
he that eateth me, even he shall live by me." Christ is the "bread
from heaven "
The manna was
so pure and delicate that it could not remain for long in contact with the
earth. Manna fell with the dew (Nu 11:9) and had to be gathered before the sun
was up. Each Israelite, therefore, had to rise early and seek his daily
portion. So it is with the people of God now. The heavenly manna many be
gathered fresh every morning. We must feed upon Christ our primary object. We
must seek him "early" before other things have had time to take
possession of our hearts. Many of us fail in this sorting out of priorities. We
give Christ a secondary place, and the consequence is we are left feeble and
barren.
Another lesson:
With the exception of the Sabbath, the manna would corrupt if an Israelite
gathered more than his daily portion. Manna could not be hoarded up for the
days ahead. There is a danger of the Christian’s intellect outstripping his
heart. Paul tells us that "knowledge puffeth up but love buildeth
up." We should always remember that Christianity is more than a system of
doctrines. Christian theory must become a living realityùa personal, practical,
powerful force, revealing itself in all the circumstances of life shedding its
influence over the entire character and imparting its love to every
relationship which one may be called of God to fill.
From Nu 11 we
learn that Israel grew tired of the manna and longed for the "fleshpots of
Egypt." But they seemed to have forgotten the lash of the taskmaster and
the toil of the brick kilns.
Unfortunately,
this longing for the world can happen to the Christian. When "first
love" declines when Christ ceases to be our satisfying portion when the
Word of God and prayer lose their thrill and become heavy, dull and mechanical
then the eye wanders back to the world and the heart follows the eye. We
forget, at such moments, what the world was to us when we were in it and of it.
We forget what toil and slavery, what misery and degradation we found in the
service of sin and Satan and think only of the gratification and ease, the
freedom from those exercises, conflicts and anxieties which attend the
wilderness path of God’s people.
Some allow the
world to determine for them what they will do and what they will be. They
conform to the influences about themùthey can rise no higher because they have
looked no higher. All too often this is the only goal parents want for their
childrenùjust a good job and financial well-being. In this pursuit countless
people are trampling upon others while they try to claw their way to a
"mythical" financial top. How much of the human spirit is being
trounced and how many are left wounded and discouraged from the modern
oppression of human competition! Are you committed to never-ending toil, to
uncomforted mourning, to a meaningless succession of nights and days consumed
with just eating, drinking and breathing? Is this what you are seeking?
What Seek Ye?
Jesus once
asked one of the most searching of questions: "What seek ye?" (Joh
1:38) Is it pleasure you are seeking, the desire to be entertained, to have
others take care of your mind, to let them fill it with what they wantùonly to
sense inwardly you are shriveling in mind and heart? Most people would not like
to think this is true of themselves, but their actions demonstrate this is
indeed what they are seeking. But "What seek ye?"
For those
seeking faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with
self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with
godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with
love, the place to find it is in God and Christ Jesus His Son (2Pe 1:5-11).
Here is where our search will begin and end. If we seek these things of God, we
must do so with a fixed purpose and determination. The world is not going to
assist us here. We must feed on things of the Spirit of God. Like the
Israelites who gathered manna (Ex 16) every day to sustain them, so we must
seek to feed upon the Word of the Lord.
Heroes of Faith
Daily,
consistent devotion to God has characterized the outstanding men and women of
the Bible. Out of their devotion a rich life of faith resulted and out of their
faith, the result was evident in their actions. Heb 11 presents the record of
their faith.
-ABEL offered a
sacrifice "which pleased God." (Heb 11:4)
-ENOCH had such
great faith he could be said to "walk with God." (Ge 5:22; Heb 11:5)
-"By faith
ABRAHAM obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive
an as inheritance; and he went out not knowing where he was to go."
Abraham believed God, which is considerably different than believing in God. He
believed not only for himself, but his faith grew to the point where he was
willing to offer his own son in sacrifice at God’s request. God acknowledged
his faith saying, "For now I know that you fear [reverence] God." (Ge
22:12)
-"MOSES"
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share
ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of
sin. He considered abuse suffered for the Christ greater wealth than the
treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the reward." Heb 11:26
The list could
go on telling of the devotion of these heroes of faith Both their great and
small acts of faith were embedded in a daily walk with God, a daily fellowship
with their God.
The Christian
must daily gather his "manna." Morning devotions are a must for every
Christian. To help you gather the "bread from heaven" early each
morning, we recommend the daily devotional entitled, Daily Heavenly Manna. Of
the numerous daily devotionals available, many Christians have found this
companion to be the most complete and balanced diet for morning meditation.
Goat Helps
Save World
January 1992
The headlines in
the daily news are very troubling. The collapse of the Soviet Union has
resulted in the outbreak of civil wars. More unrest looms in the future. In the
West concern is generated by the vast stockpile of Soviet nuclear weapons. Who
really is or will be in control of "the button?" The plight of the
common people of the former USSR does not leave us unmoved. Our hearts are
troubled by the forecasts of riots and impending starvation.
Domestic crises
face us in this country also. Lingering economic recession has resulted in
massive layoffs. The list of corporations going bankrupt, restructuring or
cutting work forces grows daily. Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost. Tens
of thousands of families are undergoing severe hardship. Recent surveys show
that the mood of the country about its economic future is darker than at any
time since the Great Depression.
Drug and
alcohol abuse are claiming increasing numbers of lives. The spread of AIDS is
mushroomingùwith no sure hope of a cure in sight. The environment is staggering
under the weight of decades of reckless abuse. Forests are steadily being
gouged off the face of the earth. The ozone layer, which protects us from the
sun’s harmful rays, is being destroyed.
In these stormy
times great leaders are needed to guide the nations to security. Ironically,
just when the need is so great, many leaders are now being judged incompetent
or ineffective. Others are caught in scandal. But there is one leader, soon to
be revealed to the world, who is more than capable of solving all of Earth’s
ills. Jesus Christ who in his times will show who is the King of those who
reign as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords. (1Ti 6:14,15, NAS margin)
The government
of the world will at long last be upon the shoulders of Jesus (Isa 9:6) and his
associates. Those who have suffered with him in the present time are the ones
who will be kings and lords with him at his appearing. 2Ti 2:11,12; 3:12 (NAS)
The Sufferings
Foretold
Jesus said,
"Moses wrote of me" (Joh 5:46). After his death and resurrection he
spoke to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. "Ought not Christ to have
suffered these things and then to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things
concerning Himself."lk 24:26,27
Moses wrote
prophetically of Jesus in the Tabernacle worship services. There, in the drama
of the Day of Atonement sacrifices, a type or picture of Christ’s sufferings
was portrayed. The blood of a bullock and a goat was used to make atonement for
the sins of the people. (This "the Lord’s goat" should not be
confused with the "scapegoat" which was not sacrificed as was the bullock.)
The blood of the
bullock was taken into the Most Holy of the Tabernacle first. It opened the way
for the blood of the Lord’s goat which would follow. Then, after the blood of
the goat was offered, the fat of the bullock and goat were burnedùa sweet
savour. The carcasses of those animals were burned outside the camp. This gave
off a pungent and highly objectionable odor to the Israelites.
The bullock
obviously represented our Lord Jesus. Why was a goat also offered? Who did the
Lord’s goat represent? The Apostle Paul helps to clarify these questions in the
book of Hebrews.
"We have
an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the
bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high
priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us
go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach." Heb
13:10-13 The Apostle shows that we (who are serving in the antitype of the
Tabernacle) can partake of the spiritual altar. Those who served in the type
could not partake of the true altar while offering typical sacrifices. The
bodies of the typical sacrifices were burned outside the camp. The stench of
their burning was a reproach unto these dwelling in the camp of Israel. Paul
reveals that Jesus fulfilled the Day of Atonement sacrificeùbearing the
reproach. "The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me."
Ro 15:3 Paul also teaches that we bear the reproach with Jesus. "Let us go
forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach." Heb 13:13
The Lord’s Goat
Typifies the Church
Christ’s
brethren, the true Church, bear the same reproach that he bore in fulfillment
of the type. Therefore, we are represented in the picture of the offering of
the bullock and goat. Our role was pictured by the Lord’s goat and Jesus’ role
by the bullock.
Many scriptures
are brought to a full clarity when we perceive the role of the Church in the
sin offering picture. Referring to his life of sacrifice and impending
crucifixion Jesus said "The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not
drink it?" Joh 18:11 Christ’s followers drink of that same cupùthe cup of
sharing in his sufferings. "Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink
of." Mk 10:39 "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the
communion (the participation) in the blood of Christ?" 1Co 10:16
The stench of
the burning bodies of bulls and goats pictures how the world (which knoweth us
not) views our life of sacrifice. "We are unto God a sweet savour of
Christ, in them that are saved and in them that perish. To the one we are a
savour of death unto death, and to the other a savour of life unto life."
2Co 1:15,16
Hard sayings
are opened up and made plain. "Fill up that which is behind of the
afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake." Co 1:24 Jesus’
sacrifice as the bullock was perfectùcomplete. What then was behind or lacking
in the afflictions of Christ? It was the fulfilling of the goat picture by
Jesus’ body members. "For as we have many members in one body, ...so we,
being many (individual members) are one body in Christ. Now ye are the body of
Christ, and members in particular." Ro 12:4,5; 1Co 12:27 We thus are to be
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him;
that we may be also glorified together. Ro 8:17
The Goat Helps
Jesus Save the World
All the present
troubles that plague mankind will be thoroughly corrected by the rule of
Christ. Jesus the head and the church as his body will rule with strict justice
and tender mercy. God will make his covenant with mankind through them just as
he made a covenant for the blessing of Israel. After the bullock and goat were
completely offered the people were blessed. After Jesus and his body members
are completely offered the blessings of God will be bestowed upon the remainder
of men.
2Co 6 is
thrilling from this perspective. "For he saith, I have heard thee in a
time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold now is
the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." vs. 2 Commonly the
emphasis on this scripture is that now is THE accepted time, now is THE day of
salvation. Looking at the original Greek, the word "the" is not
found. The proper rendering should be "now is an accepted time, now is a
day of salvation." Now is the accepted time to call a few to a spiritual
reward. The rest of mankind will have their day of salvation during Christ’s
earthly Kingdom. Isaiah confirms both the proper language and thought of 2Co
6:2.
"Thus
saith the LORD, in an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of
salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a
covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the
desolate heritages." Isa 49:8 The apostle’s application of this scripture
to us proves that we, Christ’s followers, are given to establish a covenant of
the people.
As the goat
shared with the bullock in renewing the Covenant of Israelùso we share with
Jesus in establishing the covenant of blessing for the world (Isa 49:8). By
working with Jesus we will help establish the earth. By assisting Jesus in the
conquest of sin those heritages desolated by death will be re-inherited. Thus
it is that a lowly "goat," by God’s grace, helps save the world.
When Grace
Is Not Grace
February 1992
Eph 1: 6, 7
If not for
God’s infinite, inscrutable grace, where would we be? We would be nowhere. We
would be nothing. Nowhere. Nothing.
Christianity
begins with an admission, an admission of undoneness. This undoneness is called
sin. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God..." (Ro
3:23) This frank admission is the beginning of real wisdom and progress.
Humanist
theories may propose that manùby just one more peace conference, one more
breakthrough in scienceùcan pull himself up. Evolutionists mayùvery
unscientificallyùhypothesize that man is getting "better" now than at
any time in the past. New Agers may dream-with old Eastern thought-that man is
on the dawn of a better day-if only we can do just a little better ourselves.
But the
Christian is free to admit that we are at the mercy of God’s plan of grace.
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Being justified
freely by his [God’s] grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus." (Ro 3:23, 24)
How then could
anyone think of adding anything to God’s grace? Would there be anything a
Christian canùor mustùdo beyond being justified simply by faith because of the
grace of God? The Apostle Paul says, "For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not by works lest any
man should boast." On the other hand, in another place Paul does say,
"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." And, of course,
the Apostle James says, "Faith without works is dead." (Jas 2:20) Are
these scriptures contradictory to clear teaching that we are saved by God’s
grace by faith in Jesus Christ? Not at all.
Faith, Works
and Salvation
Most of the
Apostles’ arguments seemingly against "works" are taken from the
context of keeping legalisms of the Law of Moses, the Law Covenant. The
Apostles dealt extensively in this area, showing how once justified by faith,
we cannot please God by works of the Law. Needless to say, one could not be
justified before God in the first place by works of the Lawùinstead of faith in
Jesus.
What does it
mean to be "saved by faith"? Furthermore, how are we to understand
"salvation"?
First, one is
saved from the condemnation, which rests heavily, and squarely on all Adam’s
posterity, "As in Adam all die." (1Co 15:22) There is nothing anyone
can do to save himself from this predicament of sin and its consequence of
death. "Our righteousness is as filthy rags" Only God’s merciful
grace alone can provide a recovery from this no-way-out situation.
Paul adds a
further dimension to "salvation" when talking to the Church at Rome,
"For now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed (Ro 13:11).
If a Christian had salvation when he first believed, how could salvation be
said to be "nearer" at any point after that time? Also, Jesus himself
taught, "He that endureth to the end shall be saved" (Mt 10:22). Paul
too warns, "Ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I have preached to you,
unless ye have believed in vain" (1Co 15:2).
It is evident
that after a Christian receives justification by faith, he or she must
"show his faith by his works" (Jas 2:18). Justification is not
eternal life. Salvation from condemnation is one thing. And salvation to life
is another. The Christian must grow in Christ-like character and serve God with
his whole heart, mind, soul and strength. Once we become "branches"
in the true vine of Christ, we must bear fruit. If a branch does not bear
fruits of spiritual development, it is "cut off." Joh 15:1-8
The Justified
Must Bear Fruit
Where then is
God’s grace? God’s graceùthrough Jesusùenables the Christian to grow and
mature. "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do
nothing" (Joh 15:5). A Christian must do his part after he is freely
justified by God. To expect grace to continue without growth is to
"receive the grace of God in vain" (2Co 6:1). One must not presume on
the grace of God. Grace received without responsible living is grace received
in vain.
What kind of
fruitage must a Christian bear? Peter says we are to add to our faith,
knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and finally
love. How necessary is fruitbearing? "If ye do these things, ye shall never
fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2Pe 1:3-11).
God’s grace
does not stop with justification; but God’s grace enables the Christian to
grow. "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye,
always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good
work" (2Co 9:8). Christians must do their part.
Too many
Christians feel all they need to do is acknowledge Jesus died for them and they
are guaranteed passage to heavenùregardless of what they do or fail to do. In
Christianity Today, January 14, 1991, p. 28, David F. Wells says, speaking of
evangelistic revivals, "They prove hollow, and when a mere 10 percent of
the professed converts in a crusade are still faithful after a year,
evangelists and pastors pronounce it a great success. What happens to the
substantial number of people who ‘decide’ for Christ but find their decision
was apparently empty of spiritual reality?" Has the 90 percent
"received the grace of God in vain"? Or perhaps they never accepted
grace in the first place. In any case, if they have not born fruit, they could
not be abiding in the grace of God.
Some of the
same Christians who believe expecting "works" on a Christian’s part
is demeaning God’s graceùalso believe countless billions will be lost forever
because they do not accept God’s grace now. Consider this question: Which of
these two views is demeaning to God’s graceùwe can do nothing now or God can do
nothing later?
The Gospel of
the Grace of God
What did Paul
mean when he so eloquently referred to the "Gospel of the grace of
God" (Ac 20:24)? Paul himself identified the "gospel" as given
to Abraham, "In thee shall all nations be blessed" (Gal 3:8). He goes
on to explain, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He
saith not, And to seeds as of many; but as of one. And to thy seed, which is
Christ" (Ga 3:16). Is the "seed" from Abraham only Jesus Christ?
Paul does not leave us to wonder. "Ye are all one in Christ. And if ye be
Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise"
(Ga 3:28, 29). Which promise?
"By myself
have I sworn, saith the LORD that in blessing I will bless thee, and in
multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea shore...and in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed" (Ge 22:17, 18).
Does the
"gospel of the grace of God" teach that the Christian church, the
seed of Abraham, would alone be blessed? No! The gospel is this: In Abraham’s
seed all nations would be blessed. Truly, the "seed" would be blessed
by being a blesser to the nations. "So then they which be of faith are
blessed with faithful Abraham" (Ga 3:9). Abraham will be blessed because
he will be a blesser! If we are to be blessed "with Abraham," not
specifically by him, we are to share the same type of blessing he does. The
Christian Church will be the bride of the "king" and Abraham will be
among the "princes of all the earth" (Ps 45:14,16). Abraham and his
"seed" together will be blessersùof the nations.
The gospel of
God’s love and grace has been "preached [virtually] in all the world for a
witness unto all nations." (Mt 24:14) Are we to believe that if the
nations have had the gospel "preached" to them, the promise to
Abraham is fulfilled? A "witness" does not mean a conversion of the
world. The gospel was sent out to "take out of them [the Gentile nations]
a people for his name" (Ac 15:14). Is this preaching alone all there is to
the blessing of the nations? Certainly it could not be so. Although the gospel
has been printed in every language of the earth, precious few of earth’s
billions have really been able to hear or believe.
God’s Grace to
the Nations
Might the
promise to Abraham so long ago, then, have been an overstatement? Or is the
promised blessing thisùthe future "healing of the nations" (Re 22:2)?
For the Christian who has been blessed by believing the gospel, the promise may
seem to be fulfilled. But not so for the vast majority of people blinded by
Satan.
[Satan]"the
god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine
unto them." (2Co 4:4) Thus the gospel has not been understoodùif even
heard at all by the manyùbut it will be in "due time" (1Ti 2:4-6).
The only
opportunity for believing the gospel will come when Jesus binds Satan a
thousand years "that he should deceive the nations no more" (Re
20:2,3). Christ’s thousand-year Kingdom is when God’s grace will bless the
nations.
"And in
this mountain [Kingdom on earth] shall the Lord of hosts destroy the vail that
is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord
God will wipe away tears from off all faces. And it shall be said in that day,
Lo, this is our God we have waited for him, and he will save us we will be glad
and rejoice in his salvation" (Isa 25:6-9).
To say God’s
grace will only save a few now while Satan is the "god of this
world"ùis not grace at all. To say God’s grace does not require that a
Christian must grow and show his faith by his worksùis not grace at all. But
God’s grace does enable the faith justified Christian to grow. And God’s grace
has planned blessings for all others as wellùblessings that "eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1Co 2:9).
This grace is
grace.
The Holy
Alliance
March 1992
Ronald Reagan
entered the office of President in January 1981 on a crusade against the
Communist Empireùor as he characterized itù"that evil empire." Pope
John Paul II had an implacable hatred of Communism. These two crusaders met for
the first time on June 7, 1982, in the Vatican Library.
The February
24, 1992, issue of TIME under the article, "The Holy Alliance,"
details the incredible story of their meeting and agreement to undertake a
clandestine campaign to hasten the dissolution of the Communist empire. The
following are some quotations:
%"One of
his earliest goals as President, Reagan says, was to recognize the Vatican as a
state ‘and make them an ally’" [emphasis added].
%"Both the
Pope and the President were convinced that Poland could be broken out of the
Soviet orbit if the Vatican and the U.S. committed their resources to
destabilizing the Polish government and keeping the outlawed Solidarity
movement alive after the declaration of martial law in 1981."
%"A free
non-communist Poland, they were convinced, would be a dagger to the heart of
the Soviet empire; and if Poland became democratic, other East European states
would follow."
%" the
objective was akin to creating a Christian Democratic majority in Poland with
the church and the overwhelmingly Catholic membership of Solidarity as the
dominant political force in a post-communist Poland."
%"Both
sides agreed that the Soviets must become the focus of an international
campaign of [Economic] isolation and the withholding of Western and Japanese
technology from Moscow."
%"The key
Administration players were all devout Roman Catholics’ CIA Chief William
Casey, Allen, Haig, [Vernon] Walters, William Wilson, Reagan’s first ambassador
to the Vatican. They regarded the US-Vatican relationship as a holy alliance:
the Moral force of the Pope and the teaching of their church combined with
their fierce anti-communism"
%Archbishop Pio
Lashi said: "It was a very complex situation But I told Vernon, ‘Listen to
the Holy Father [Pope]. We have 2,000 years’ experience at this.’"
%"Step by
reluctant step, the Soviets and the Communist government of Poland bowed to the
moral, economic and political pressure imposed by the Pope and the
President."
We can
appreciate the idealism of Reagan and the Pope to rid the world of that
"evil empire." Aside from the issue of how involved a Christian
should be in the governments of this world, we want to probe the prophetic
implications of this incredible drama. Therefore, we will be discussing
prophetic organizationsùand not making value judgments of individuals.
Quotations 1
and 7 (above) from the TIME article are revealing. In Quotation 1 Reagan refers
to the Vatican as a "STATE." The Roman Catholic Church claims to be a
civil government in addition to being a Christian Church. Why? It claims to be
God’s Kingdom on earth. As such, it claims the right to civil power and
consequently actually functions as a world powerùexchanging ambassadors with
other nations, etc. What’s wrong with claiming to be both the spiritual and
civil Kingdom of God?
Who is the
Virgin?
The faithful
church is spoken of as a chaste "virgin" engaged to the Lord, eagerly
awaiting the return of her heavenly bridegroom (2Co 11:2; Mt 25:1-13). After
the Lord’s return, the marriage takes place and only then does the bride
(faithful church) and the bridegroom (Jesus Christ) set up the Kingdom of God
on earth (Re 19:7; 21:1-5; 22:17). Conversely, Re 17:1-5 symbolically describes
a woman who is called "the mother of harlots" because she
"committed fornication" with "the kings of the earth." This
fornication is symbolic of a scripturally unlawful union with the governments
of the world. This woman is not symbolic of individual Christians, but of a
religious organization that did not wait for the bridegroom’s return and the
marriage. Rather, she broke her vows of engagement to Christ by uniting with
the kings (governments) of the world to set up the counterfeit Kingdom of God
before the Bridegroom’s return. This is spiritual harlotry in God’s sight. And
if there is a "mother of harlots," there are also daughters.
Who is the
Harlot?
Quotation 7
refers to the Vatican’s experience of 2,000 years influencing and manipulating
governments. Two thousand years is a bit presumptuous. It was not until 533 AD
that the Bishop of Rome was recognized by the Emperor Justinian as the head or
Pope of the Church of the Roman Empire. After 539 AD the Pope of Rome exercised
temporal power over Rome and its environs. In 744 AD Emperor Charlemagne made
the Pope ruler of much of Italy. In 800 AD Papacy was officially recognized as
the Kingdom of God when Charlemagne had Pope Leo III crown him Emperor of the
Western Empire and/or Holy Roman Empire. For centuries this Papal counterfeit
Kingdom of God held the masses in chains of superstition and crowned and
uncrowned kings and emperors.
Luther and
other reformers identified the Papacy as the "little horn of Daniel 7
& 8 and the antichrist beast of Revelation 13."[1] The civil power of
Papacy was relatively unchallenged until Napoleon downgraded the Papacy in
1799. Later in the 1870’s with the unification of Italy, Victor Emmanuel
liberated the Papal States leaving the Pope Vatican City. Then the Marxist
philosophy of Communism eclipsed Papacy’s influence after 1917.
In the
Reagan-Pope John Paul battle against communism, Papacy might look like
"Mr. Clean" compared to Communism. But look at another scenario
recorded in Paul I. Murphy’s book, La Popessa. In Munich in 1919 Adolf Hitler’s
nationalism was born. Archbishop Pacelli, later to become Pope Pius XII,
already lived in fear of atheistic communism because of its professed aim to
annihilate Catholicism. He presented Hitler with a large amount of Church money
to "help his small, struggling band of anti-communists. ‘Go quell the
devil’s works,’ Pacelli told Hitler."[2]
In 1933 Pope
Pius XI signed a concordat with Hitler. "It ordered the Holy See’s clergy
to swear fealty to Hitler and the Third Reich. It further ordered that prayers
be said publicly for the Fuhrer and Germany by Catholic bishops and priests.
The Church, in effect, pledged never to oppose Hitler’s dictatorship." A
similar pact, the Lateran Treaty, was signed with Mussolini. The Papacy
considered the Nazis and Fascists as their best defense against communism.[3]
In German
Catholics and Hitler’s Wars, by Gordan Zahn, the author, a Catholic sociologist
and professor of sociology at Loyola University, explains that almost all
German Catholics completely supported Hitler’s wars of raw aggression and
ruthless conquest because of formal direction given by Catholic Church leaders
and the Catholic press. [4]
In late 1942
the Vatican learned of the Holocaust but chose to remain silent so as not to
offend Hitler.[5] Again we can sympathize with the good intentions of
individuals. But Re 17:1-5 shows a church system that continued to unite with
the governments of Europe and calls it harlotry.
There is a
current demand that the Vatican open its files on its post-war activities to
probe whether the "escaping Nazis ‘had many protectors in the Vatican,’
where prelates hope they would be useful allies in the coming fight against
communism."[6]
A Secret Agenda
With the
collapse of Communism, seemingly the crusade of Reagan and Pope Paul was
accomplished. But the Vatican had a secret agenda unknown to Reagan. The fall
of "that evil empire" was only the beginning of this agenda.
Pope John Paul
II revealed the Vatican’s complete agenda in a statement on April 21, 1990,
"A united Europe is no longer a dream. It is not utopian memory from the
middle ages [emphasis added]. The events that we are witnessing show that this
goal can be reached."[7]
The Pope wants
to revive the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages when no one dared question
the Papacy’s claim to be the Kingdom of God on earth. That glorious hour of
Papal Rome was written in lood. Historians call it the Dark Ages.
A controversial
book, The Keys of this BloodùPope John Paul II Versus Russia and the West for
Control of the New World Order was written by Dr. Malachi Martin, a Vatican
insider, friend and advisor to Pope John Paul. Martin, a priest who writes from
a Catholic perspective, credits the Pope for coining the phrase, "New
World Order"ù before President Bush.
Whose New World
Order?
"John Paul
had taken on not merely a national regime but an international system of
government. He had opened the first effective challenge to the political order
of the Soviet satellite system and of the Soviet Union itself. Just as he said
he would in his earliest speeches after his papal election, he had indeed
called for the beginnings of ‘a New Order’ in Central Europe and in the international,
political and economic order enlaced with it."
Martin
predicted first the fall of Gorbachev then President Bush, after which Pope
John Paul would bring in a united Europe.
"John
Paul’s goal is a geopolitical structure for the society of nations designed and
maintained according to the ethical plans and doctrinal outlines of
Christianity as taught and propagated by the Roman pontiff as the vicar of
Christ. There can be no compromise with the dialectal materialism of that
‘East’ or with the capitalist materialism of that ‘West.’
We are living
in prophetic times. Europe will be ruled by a short duration church-state
system just before the returned Christ fully destroys man’s perverted "New
World Order (a revised old Holy Roman Empire)" and replaces it with God’s
truly New World Order, the Kingdom of God on earth.
ENDNOTES
1. Lutheran World, September, 1960, pp. 128-129.
2. Paul I. Murphy, La Popessa, Warner Books (N.Y. 1980), p.
52
3. Murphy, p.198.
4. German Catholics and Hitler’s Wars by Gordon Zahn, Sheed
and WardùNew York, 1962, p.56.
5. Murphy, pp. 193-202.
6. Star Ledger, February 21, 1992.
7. New York Times, April 23, 1990.
A Chaste
Virgin
April 1992
2Co 11:2
The current
divorce rate is more than one in three. Sensuality prevails despite the deadly
risk of sexually transmitted diseases (recent reports are that 1 in 250
Americans are HIV carriers). Homosexuality is militantly promoted as an
"alternate lifestyle." For the Bible believing Christian, this is a
sad commentary on the world’s condition. Today the saying is often true that
"as goes the world so goes the church." Indeed, some churches are now
making theological adjustments to compensate for the needs of their worldly-wise
membership.
The Roman
Catholic "mother church" has greatly modified its standards in recent
years. "Since Vatican Council II, the traditional grounds for obtaining an
annulment ùin effect, a declaration that one or more of the requirements of a
sacramental marriage was missing in the first placeùhave been more liberally
interpreted. In 1990, Catholic marriage tribunals in the United States accepted
45,000 petitions for annulment. Nearly 37,000 were granted. Since 1983,
however, the church no longer excommunicates divorced and remarried Catholics,
which may be why only 10 percent now bother to seek annulments."
(Newsweek, March 30, 1992 p.60)
These are
staggering statistics. Fully 82% of all annulments applied for were granted.
Also, if 45,000 annulments represents only 10% of those needing one, a half
million American Catholics are divorcing annually with the church’s tacit
consent!
A recent
Associated Press release detailed the intent of several mainline Protestant
churches to modify their position on sexual morality. Why are they modifying
their position? They want to remain relevant. Today’s society, which they
serve, is rapidly changing. Traditional values are constantly being challenged.
If these churches don’t "keep up with the times" their support would
wither away. If their popular support dies; their organizations would also die.
A large segment of today’s church membership is involved in adultery,
fornication or homosexual relations. These, however, some Protestant churches
would pardon. The modern theological concept by which pardon could be given is
called Justice Love.
Justice Love,
in brief, is defined as a sense of mutual caring and commitment between
partners. It can exist whether the partners are married or not. Extramarital,
premarital and homosexual relations would be permitted so long as Justice Love
was present. The Protestant church leaders advancing this viewpoint believe
"justice love" is the real object of Jesus teachings. They consider
the physical acts committed in these relationships of little eternal
consequence. They feel that the love behind them is what God wants for
humanity. Instead of being transformed by the faith of Christ; these churches
are conforming the faith of Christ to this world’s standards. Ro 12:1,2
Legitimate
Questions
We cannot agree
to their sophistry. We affirm that love is the greatest of God’s gifts to
mankind. Love, however, does not contradict other teachings of God’s Word.
Jesus said,
"Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and
shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put
away doth commit adultery." Mt 19:9 The council of Apostles and elders in
Jerusalem (Ac 15:4-29) admonished the brethren of Christ to abstain from
fornication. "Be not deceived," said Paul, "neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves,
nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the
kingdom of God."( 1Co 6:9-10) Paul is obviously not excluding those who
formerly practiced those things. He goes on to say "And such were some of
you." ( 1Co 6:11)
We legitimately
ask, have the standards of discipleship changed? Are those who practice
Scripturally prohibited sexual acts better people than those who practiced them
in the days of Jesus and the Apostles? Are today’s sinners more deserving of
God’s grace than those of ages past? The answer to all three questions is no.
The Word of God has not changed in regard either to standards of discipleship
or God’s perception of the fallen human race. "Thy word is true from the
beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever." Ps
119:160
A Worldly
Church
A popular
phrase is "I’m too bad for heaven and too good for hell." Many now
involved in Scripturally unauthorized sexual relationships are otherwise very
good people; perhaps better than we are in some respects. They may be
noble-minded co-workers, neighbors or even family members. Surely these are too
good to be doomed to an eternity of ceaseless suffering! Yet, according to
God’s Word, such shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. 1Co 6:9-10
Failing to see that
the Scriptures teach two salvations (for Christians now and the remainder of
mankind in Christ’s kingdom) has resulted in a theological disaster. To save as
many as possible the worldly masses, the tares of Matthew 13, have been
squeezed into the church. To fit the masses in, the standards of discipleship
were reduced to the lowest possible common denominator. The narrow way and
straight gate of the high calling in Christ Jesus have been trampled by trying
to fit the whole world into it. Mt 7:13,14 The masses who practice immorality
will not inherit the kingdom of heavenùthat reward is reserved for Christ’s
"little flock." Lk 12:32 But Jesus has other sheep beside his little
flock. He has those who will be his at his coming (Greek "presence").
These will be blessed in Christ’s earthly kingdom. Joh 10:16; 1Co 15:23; Mt 25:34
The Biblical
standards of Christian discipleship are very high. Jesus said, "You have
heard that it was said by them of old time ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery:’
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart." Mt 5:27,28 Far beyond
merely avoiding fleshly acts of immorality, the true Christian is to avoid
spiritual adultery. In other wordsùto avoid illicit union with the spirit of
the world. 1Co 2:12
The Apostle
James said, "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the
world is hostility toward God?" (Jas 4:4 NAS) James called the brethren
(male and female) "adulteresses." Why? They were courting the carnal
values of this world. They were in grave danger of committing spiritual
adultery, of leaving their first loveùJesus the Bridegroom.
The woman
described in Re 17 represents a false church. Her main characteristic is that
of being an adulteress. She is guilty of committing fornication with the kings
of the earth. She "sold out" to the kings of the earth in order to be
relevant to this world. The result was unfaithfulness to her espoused
husbandùthe Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of waiting to reign with King Jesus at
his appearing and kingdom; the false church of Re 17 united with the kings of
the earth.
That adulterous
alliance brings temporal power now! They have reigned as kings without us. (see
1Co 4:8) The urge to wield temporal power in this present life has been a great
test for the church. Changing Biblical standards of morality to oblige worldly
values is a test now. The hour of temptation which shall come upon all the
world (Re 3:10) will also try the faith of Christ’s brethren.
The Chaste
Bride
Will we remain
chaste, or become adulteresses? Will we look to the world for our standards or
will we choose the narrow way? Will we bravely go forward in the old paths
against the strong contradiction of sin? By God’s graceùwe will remain
spiritually chaste.
"I have
espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to
Christ." (2Co 11:2) The pure and simple faith that Paul had imparted to
the Corinthian church, and to us by his epistles, can only be maintained by
holding fast the doctrines as they were originally taught. "For if one
comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a
different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you
have not accepted, you bear this beautifully." 2Co 11:4 NAS
Bearing the
tests of moral and doctrinal purity magnify the beauty of Christ’s brideùhis
true church. How lovely she looks to him as she stands in faithful obedience to
his teachings. Relevance to the world and its subsequent approval will be
meaningless to the true Christian. All who are Christ’s will look to him for
guidance. All who are Christ’s will seek his approval.
The Gospel
of Health
May 1992
Lk 6:19
When Jesus
walked the face of this sin-sick and groaning earthùwith great compassion he
healed many who were sick. By God’s power, he also miraculously fed
thousandsùon more than one occasion. He even raised the deadùthree of them.
Did Jesus
succeed in establishing Judea and Samaria as an oasis of health and freedom
from hunger in the earth? The hungry he fed, no doubt, hungered again and the
sick once healed, no doubt, in most cases, fell sick again and Lazarus, in the
end, died again. Did Jesus lack enough of God’s power to accomplish real success?
Healing and
Faith
When Jesus
healed the woman, who was seriously sick for twelve years, he said, "Thy
faith hath made thee whole" (Mt 9:22). When Jarius’ daughter died, Jesus
said, "Believe only, and she shall be made whole" (Lk 8:50). Did lack
of belief and faith alone stand in the way of Jesus healing everybody? Why did
Jesus tell Jarius and his wife, "Tell no man what was done" (Lk
9:56)? To the healed leper, why did Jesus say, "See thou tell no man"
(Mt 8:4)?
Although Jesus
performed thirty-six miracles during his ministry, physical healing was
incidental to his main mission. Although on some occasions Jesus may have
healed "all" in a particular crowd, he certainly did not heal all in
the land of Israel.
At the Pool of
Bethseda, there were a multitude of sick, but Jesus only healed the one
"invalid" man (Joh 5:1-9). There is no record that this man had more
faith in the Lord than had the others. On the contrary, the context shows that
he had no faithùthat he did not even know who Jesus was and did not learn until
afterward who had helped him! Did Jesus then call the others to step up to be
healed? He quietly slipped away anonymously in the multitude. Why?
Jesus did not
wish to over-stimulate the popular support of the people by these miracles of
healing. But with tender yearning, Jesus desired to heal the hardness of heart
of his Jewish brethren which causes spiritual "blindness," but they
would not be healed (Joh 12:37-40). "But though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on him." In reality, the
physical miracles were merely a means to an endùspiritual healing!
Jesus’ main
purpose on earth was to preach the Gospel and die on the cross as a
"ransom for all." The miracles were designed to serve as a testimony
to his messiah-ship and as a token illustration of what his Kingdomùwhen
establishedùwould actually do for all people.
Healing and the
Early Church
In the
Apostles’ day, gifts of the spiritùincluding healingùwere given to establish
the earth church in its infancy. But Paul pointed to the more superior
("best") giftsùthe fruits of the spirit of love (1Co 12:28-31; 13).
Speaking in the first person as representing the growing church, Paul said,
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, but when
I became a man, I put away childish things." The gifts of tongues (foreign
languages) and healing (physical) were as "toys" of childhood in
comparison to the fruits of the spirit belonging to the mature Church of later
years. Just like tongues, healing was a "sign" to unbelievers, not to
believers (1Co 14:22).*
Paul’s dearest
spiritual son, Timothy, was frequently very sick. Did the Apostle lay hands on
him and heal him? Surely Timothy had sufficient faith. No, Paul suggested
Timothy "use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often
infirmities."
The great
Apostle Paul himself asked the Lord three times if he could be relieved of his
great handicap of bad eyesight (Gal 4:14,15). Surely the Lord could have
blessed this sincere request so that Paul’s ministry in the gospel would not be
hampered. But Paul was denied this request. Instead, the Lord told him,
"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in
weakness" (2Co 12:7-9). Paul saw clearly the reason for suffering:
"Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the
power of Christ may rest upon me." He gloried in his infirmities. He saw
God’s power in a way he could never have experienced if he had been physically
healed.
No one likes
pain and suffering. Naturally, we appreciate and long for physical health for ourselves
and our loved ones. God can and does overrule in some cases to give remarkable
health and strength for labor in His service. The Christian way, though, is a
walk of sacrifice, not of bodily preservation and prosperity. Spiritually
minded Christians know the purpose of suffering and desire spiritual healing
and growth. In Jas 5:14, the Apostle encourages those who are spiritually
"sick" (Gk., asthaneo, "without strength, weak") to go to
spiritual leaders for prayer. Unresolved sins cause spiritual sickness. Or
these sick may simply go to other Christians and confess their sins "that
they might be forgiven him" (Jas 5:15). Who that has experienced healing
of the soul has not realized it of more value than the healing of any earthly
disease?
* Related to
the subject of healing, tongues speaking is another popular phenomenon of our
day. For an in-depth treatment of the subject, send for the booklet offered
with the coupon.
Healing in Our
Day
Many today
claim to be healers in Christ’s name. Many even claim to be healed. How do we
account for this phenomenon?
There are
several possible explanations: Medical science today has demonstrated a very
vital link between a positive mental attitude and good health. The body
naturally has wonderful immunity and recuperative powers. From THE HEALING
BRAIN, Dr. Ornstein says, "The brain communicates with and controls the
body through this continuous flow of chemical messages. In this sense each
nerve cell and the brain itself, is like an internal pharmacy dispensing a
stream of powerful drugs to influence and control moods, thoughts and bodily
functions."
Many who
present themselves to healers believe so intently that they can find relief and
recovery, that they actually do by their own positive attitudeùif even
temporarily.
Another
explanation is a sad one. A lot of fraud exists. Investigative reporting has
recently uncovered some of the sensationally "successful"
healersùboth on and off television. In a recent ABC broadcast by
"Primetime Live," Diane Sawyer identified several frauds perpetrated
by popular evangelical faith healers.
The third
explanation lies in the possibility of the fact that people are so desperate to
be healed that they would be glad to be healed even if they were assured the
cures were performed by Satan himself. Satan and his fellow fallen angels, in
fact, do transform themselves into "angel[s] of light" and
"ministers of righteousness" (2Co 11:14). Especially in these
"last days" can we expect such increased activity. The time of Jesus
return is marked by "the working of Satan with all power and signs and
lying wonders" (2Th 2:9).
Jesus intimated
this very turn of events: When accused by the Pharisees that he was casting out
devils and healing by the power of Satan, Jesus replied, "Can Satan cast
out Satan unless his house be divided?" (Lk 11:15) He not only silenced
their logic, but gave us a prophecy. In the future when Satan’s house of fallen
angels would be "divided," Satan would actually revert to healings
and miracles. Satan has had considerable power over death, including disease.
When he does do good and blessesùas an angel of lightùhis purpose is to delude
Christians and counterfeit God’s plan. Such apparent healings detract from real
spiritual healings and growth for Christians. They are also Satan’s pseudo
attempt to rival the incoming blessings of God’s Kingdom.
Therefore,
regarding episodes of healing that cannot be explained by natural healing or by
fraud, the power, alas, is attributable to Satan and his crumbling house. In
these last days before God’s Kingdom, Satan’s house is to be divided before it
falls.
The Gospel to
Abraham
Who can blame a
poor groaning creation for desiring that the sorrow, sighing and tears of
sickness and death be alleviated? All have received a heritage of sin and the
penalty of sin laid upon father Adamù"dying thou shalt die"ùwhich has
made us all heirs of suffering as well as death. Fortunately, the Kingdom for
which we pray, "Thy Kingdom come," is very close.
"And God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more Pain"(re
21:1-4).
The time for
permanent, universal healingùspiritual and physicalùis when the "river of
water of life" flows from the "throne of God" in Christ’s
Kingdom.
"And he
shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of
the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on
either side of the river, was there the tree of life which bare twelve manner
of fruits and the leaves of the tree [grove] were for the healing of the
nations." (Re 22:1,2)
When this
"New Jerusalem," God’s Kingdom, comes to earth, then all peopleùnot
just a fewùwill have an opportunity to be healed of their spiritual, mental and
physical sicknesses. Then the "eyes of the blind will be [literally]
opened and the ears of the deaf shall be [physically] unstopped" (Isa
35:1, 5).
The Gospel
originally preached to Abraham was that "In thee shall all nations be
blessed" (Ga 3:8) How are all to be blessed? This Gospel of the Kingdom
given to Abraham and confirmed by Jesus actually embraces all in the Gospel of
Healing and Health.
Christians
Must Remeber the Holocaust!
June 1992
A Plea from
Christians
Jews all over
the world commemorated YOM HASHOAH, Holocaust Remembrance Day, on April 30th.
But do Christians remember that insane night of death camps, gas chambers,
crematoriums, smokestacks belching the horrible stench of burnt flesh...that
sadistic night during which 6 million Jews were slaughtered?
The word
"holocaust" primarily denotes a sacrificial offering that is wholly
consumed by fire. Monstrously evil men contrived that diabolical Nazi
ideologyùthe destruction of the Jewish people is a necessary sacrifice to solve
the economic ills of Germany and Europe. This Jewish massacre was unprecedented
in numbers and purpose. Though many other people were tragically affected, the
Nazi "solution" was aimed at exterminating a particular family of
man...a single bloodline, a single gene pool. It was genocide.
Holocaust
Revisionism
Why are many
Christians uncomfortable that the Jewish community keeps insisting that we
remember something that happened fifty years ago? Some Gentiles are so
disconcerted that they are driven to rewrite history denying the holocaust ever
happened. But their "revisionist facts" are exploded as fast as they
are manufactured. Perhaps their own latent anti-Semitism motivates them to
forget or deny the Holocaust. After all, who were the actors in that nefarious
drama?
Who informed on
their Jewish neighbors? Who charged into Jewish homes...knocked on false
walls...dragged out terrified families? Who pulled the beards of old
men...violated young Jewish women...demeaned poor bewildered souls in every
conceivable way and herded them into cattle cars? Who stripped innocent crowds
of their clothes and their dignity forced them naked into mass shower rooms and
turned on the gas as pandemonium filled the rooms? Who ordered bodies to be
stacked in huge pyres like cords of wood? Who fired the furnaces? Who were
these predators of human life? For the most part they were professed Christians
who celebrated Christmas, Good Friday and Easter. On Sunday they worshipped in
cathedrals and churches. But during the week, they engaged in one of the most
heinous crimes ever perpetrated against humanity. Christians must not forget
the Holocaustùbecause Christians were there too.
The Holocaust
is an indictment of so-called Christian Europe. Both Catholic and Protestant
sociologists observed that the Nazi extermination of six million Jews was
impossible without the active cooperation of the public. The suppressed Gentile
anti-Semitism surfaced in that atmosphere of self-preservation. Although some
Christians objected, thousands of professed Christians turned informant or
cooperated in a thousand indirect or silent ways.
The Holocaust
could have been stopped. Hitler could have been halted. Hitler would have been
paralyzed if Catholics and Protestants refused to cooperate with the Nazis.
Bible Students in Germany did refuse and suffered the consequences. Being a
small minority, they ended up in prison or were put to death themselves.
Roots of
Anti-Semitism
"We must
never forget," observed Christianity Today (March 9, 1992), "that
anti-Semitism had its roots in the theology and practice of the Christian
church, from the writings of the early Church Fathers [100-350 C.E.] through
the Inquisition, even in the comments of Martin Luther." The Church
Fathers taught that as "Christ killers," the Jews must be kept in
degradation as living witness to the truth of Christianity. Also the Land of
Israel, they felt, should be rendered a desert and the Jews forbidden to go to
Jerusalem. This was confirmed by Saint Thomas Aquinas, the most authoritative
thinker of the Roman Church. As a consequence, popes, cardinals, bishops and
priests who initiated anti-Semitic acts saw themselves as carrying out
Christian teaching.
Hitler told
German Bishop Berning and Monsignor Steinman that he was merely going to do to
the Jews "what the Church had done for 1,500 years." Hitler also took
great satisfaction in quoting Martin Luther’s vicious anti-Semitic statements.
Swiss Catholics
Admit Guilt of the Church
Timed to
coincide with the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of Jews from Spain (April,
1992), the Swiss Catholics issued a nine-page declaration that said in part,
"Through misguided preaching and catechisms, the church contributed to the
creation of the climate that allowed the murderers of the Nazi regime to carry
out their crimes against the Jews."
Where was the
Indignation of Our Christian Civilization?
By 1942 leaders
of the Christian West were well aware of the Holocaust. The Vatican was
counting on the Nazis to defeat atheistic Communism, therefore, made no public
outcry (La Popessa, Paul I. Murphy). The Protestant Churches were little
better. Thank goodness, individual Christians did speak out. But where was the
International Committee of the Red Cross that was supposedly investigating the
Nazi concentration camps? Following a six-year study of 350,000 Red Cross
documents, Swiss Professor Jean Claude Favez wrote in his book, Silent Witness,
"The ICRC knew what was happening, that is quite clear. It did not dare
confront the Germans." The ICRC in a statement to the Jerusalem Post
(August 31, 1988) admitted that it could have saved more Jews from the Nazis.
The delayed
condemnation and action of the British and U.S. governments was feeble indeed
(The Abandonment of the Jews, David S. Wyman). Jews were being brought to death
camps by train. The U.S. refused to target any railroad tracks leading to the
death camps while carrying out bombing missions on nearby areas.
For several
years U.S. newspapers hid the facts of the Holocaust by burying them in small
vague articles in the back of the paper (Beyond Belief, the American Press and
the Coming of the Holocaust, 1933- 1945, Deborah Lipstadt).
After promising
in 1917 to provide a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine, Britain in
1939 shut the doors of Palestine to Jewish immigration. Jewish refugees jammed
on dilapidated ships were turned back to the death camps of Europe or perished
at sea.
The American
Public
In 1938 four
polls showed that up to 85% of the American public was opposed to increased
immigration quotas which would have allowed Jewish refugees to escape Nazi
Germany. On May 13, 1939, a refugee ship, The St. Louis, sailed from Europe
with 937 Jewsùdestination Cuba. Arriving there, they were refused entry. For 36
days The St. Louis sailed to every port in the free world including the United
States. No room was made for the Jews either in the United States or anywhere
else in the free world. The ship was ordered back to Germany and the weary
cargo to their doom in the death camps. The U.S. "Closed Door Policy"
to the Jews remained essentially the same for the duration of WW II.
After WW II
As incredible
as it might sound, Nazi war criminal hunters and U.S. government officials
claim that Vatican and International Red Cross representatives aided Nazis with
documentsùenabling them to escape to South America. Why? They hoped they would
be useful in the future battle against Communism. (Department of State, Office
of American Republic Affairs, July 14, 1947, Subject: "Illegal Emigration
Movements in and Through Italy." The New York Times, Jan. 26, 1986, "Vatican
Is Reported to Have Furnished Aid to Fleeing Nazis")
While
immigration restrictions were keeping Jewish Holocaust survivors out of the
U.S., Nazi war criminals were given entry in exchange for information on
Communist activity in Eastern Europe (Nazi War Criminals in America: Facts and
Action, Charles R. Allen: The News Tribune, May 13, 1987; The New York Times,
Jan. 26, 1984). A Department of Justice 1983 report stated that Klause Barbie,
Nazi war criminal, had been employed and protected by the U.S. intelligence
agency.
Anti-Semitism
Today
The annual
"Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents" in the U.S. for 1991 revealed an
11% increase over 1990. The nature of these incidents, furthermore, were more
vicious than in the past. Anti-Semitism is increasing worldwide and is at its
highest level since World War II.
Unfortunately,
religious bigotry is the worst bigotry of all. Until the Christian churches
modify their theology that makes the Jew an object of disdain and until they
recognize that the Jewish people have a glorious Divine destiny separate and
distinct from the Christian Church, anti-Semitism will continue to plague this
nation.
The Bible
Students’ answer to "Holocaust Revisionists" is personal experience.
Nine-tenths of our Bible Students in Germany were wiped out by the Nazis. The
Holocaust did happen.
Bible Students
urge our fellow Christians to remember that "he that toucheth you [Israel]
toucheth the apple of his (The Almighty’s) eye" (Zec 2:8). How can we as
Christians forget God’s unconditional promise to Abraham, "I will make of
thee a great nation...And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that
curseth thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed"
(Ge 12:2,3). To learn about Bible prophesy being fulfilled in Israel and our
responsibility as Christians, read the online booklet: The Time to Favor Zion
is Come.
The Source
of True Promotion!
September 1992
The American
public is in the throes of another election year. From the Presidency to local
offices, candidates are doing "whatever it takes" to get into office.
With the insurmountable problems facing leaders today, we are glad that some
are still willing to take the responsibility of public office. This world
desperately needs good leadership. Sadly though, the tactics of successful
political campaigns call for tough assaults on the character and competence of
the opposition.
The
Presidential conventions provided a national forum for what the Scriptures
declare to be evil speaking, malice, strife and anger. How sad this is!
Representatives of both political parties claimed to be stalwart Christians,
yet used "the works of the flesh" to accomplish their goals. (see Ga
5:19-21) It is unseemly for a professed disciple of Christ to use such tactics
for political success. Those who would provide "Christian leadership"
for our country must not do so at the expense of Christian principles.
At the
Democratic convention Mr. Clinton, lifting a phrase from the Bible, promised to
provide "a new covenant" for the American people. The declaration of
this noble goal was followed by repeated assaults on the competency and
character of the Bush administration. The Republican convention took an even
more strident toneùslandering the democratic candidate and his family while
quoting scriptures and calling for a "Holy War." Similarly across the
country political campaigns are getting uglier with each passing election.
Christian
people, concerned about the decline of morality in our time, feel that they
must grasp the reigns of power and restore order. Some feel compelled to save
our country by making it a "Christian nation." The drive to subdue
the world for Christ is not a new idea. By war or Inquisition,
"Christian" leaders have tried for centuries to do this. Their lack
of success is copiously noted in volumes of bloody history.
Christians Not
To Rule Now
Sad to say,
professed Christians have labored under a thorough delusion respecting God’s
plan for mankind. They once claimed that Christ set up his Church in Kingdom
power at the first advent. They also claimed that the Church has since been
reigning on earth as his representative. Western civilization referred to
itself as "Christendom"ùan abbreviated form of "Christ’s
Kingdom." On the strength of this delusion so-called heretics, the
"heathen" and the Jewish people have been persecuted to death as
opponents of Christ’s Kingdom. However, using the "ends to justify the
means" cannot win the world for Christ. Inquisition tactics of torture,
murder or confiscation of property are totally at odds with the principles of
Christ’s true Kingdom!
The belief that
Christ’s disciples would make this world his Kingdom contradicts Jesus’ words.
"Jesus answered and said, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom
were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be
delivered to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from hence." Joh 18:36 If
the world would be won for Christ, the "god" of this present evil
world (the real leader) must be conquered. That leader is Satan! He will be
bound during the thousand year Kingdom of Christ, that he may deceive the
nations no more. 2Co 4:4; Re 20:2,3 Meantime, Christ’s true
followers must walk as he walked and not carelessly ignore his commands.
Christ’s Disciples
Must Bear Fruit
If potential
leaders want to benefit from proclaiming their relationship with him, they
should bear the fruits of that union. Jesus left us a beautiful lesson about
this before his crucifixion. This lesson was to help believers grow in their
faith until Jesus’ return. He would seek his fruitage (faithful believers) at
the harvest of the Christian age. "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He
that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit Herein is
my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."
Joh 15:5-8
Notice that it
is by bearing fruit that we shall be his disciples. What fruits did our Master
expect us to bear? "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such
there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts [the works of the flesh]. If we live in the Spirit, let us
also walk in the Spirit." Ga 5:22-25. These are the elemental
characteristics of any who would be faithful disciples.
Christ’s
followers have little chance of gaining the world’s submission while in their
present humble condition. It is unlikely that the world, by popular vote, will
accept the rulership of Christ. "And now we call the proud happy; yea,
they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even
delivered." Mal 3:15 Should the Christian use wrath or brute force to
conquer the proud, wicked or tempters? Will we do evil that good may come? No!
Not by any means! Walking against the course of this present evil world brings
forth the fruits of the spirit!
"Be not
overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Ro 12:21 Faithful
Christians must be tried and developed through faithful obedience to Christ.
They must wait until he [Christ] shall reign to subdue all his enemies.
Deliverance To
Come Soon
Rather than
seeking to fight this world on its terms the Scriptures admonish us to
"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of
him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices
to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to
do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD,
they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not
be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place and it shall not be. But the
meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of
peace." Ps 37:7-11
Proper
Christian Weapons
God’s way of
bringing the world into submission to Christ is not through the strength of the
flesh or carnality. "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after
the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every
high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2Co 10:3-5
The weapons of
our spiritual warfare are to give us the victory over personal sinùwhat the
Scriptures call, "the old man." Eph 4:22-24 Rather than using
worldly-wise leaders to take this world by force, "God has chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the mighty; and base things of the world, and
things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to nought things that are." 1Co 1:27-28
The things that
now are, this present evil world, will be "brought to nought" by
something that doesn’t exist yet! That "something" will be the
completed body of Christùa body that has many members. The disciples of Christ
who are victorious in overcoming will receive the crown of life. Those who
suffer with him in the present time will reign with him in his future kingdom.
"And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly."
Yes, it is God who will do the work of conquering this unrighteous world and
subduing it in righteousness. He will do this great work through the agent He
has chosenùthe glorified Christ, Jesus the Head and the church his body. 1Co
12:12; Jas 1:12; Ro 8:17; Re 20:4,6; Ro 16:20
The Present
Reality
We would love
to help the world out of its present sin-sick condition now! But we also
realize that this will be accomplished in God’s chosen way and time. Therefore,
do not expect world leaders to be recognized as high profile Christians. The
scripture is still true that "the world knoweth us not, because it knew
him (Jesus Christ) not." 1Joh 3:1 The true body of Christ is a mystery to
the world and its princes. "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even
the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Which
none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory." 1Co 1:7,8
The world still
does not recognize those who are diligently following Christ. The world and its
leadership still do not recognize his humble servants. They are still generally
considered to be foolish, weak or base.
Not To Be
Deluded
The idea that
Christ has already set up his kingdom through the established churches is a
false doctrine. This false doctrine deluded many during the heyday of
Christendom’s power. The Scriptures symbolically refer to this delusion as
drunkenness. All the nations of Christendom were drunk with the wine of this
false doctrine. Re 17:2 Christians gave assent to the power of the church,
while thoughtlessly praying, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth
as it is in heaven."
The prophetic
Word of God shows us that we may expect this deluding doctrine to become a
force in the world again. Our prayer is that Christ’s followers will not be
deceived by that "strong delusion." 2Th 2:11 May we all resist the
offer of power and glory in this present world. May we resist the use of carnal
weaponsùthe "works of the flesh"ùto accomplish the works of God.
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the spirit reap life
everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall
reap, if we faint not." Ga 6:7-9
Our desire is
that all who profess Christ will give diligence to make their calling and
election sure. 2Pe 1:10 Jesus and his bride (the true church), as the elect of
God, will rule over the earth. Then there truly will be a "new world
order" that today’s leaders can only dream of. God’s election will result
in blessings for all under the reign of His Christ.
"...the
Poor Ye have with You Always"
October 1992
"There
came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment and
poured it on his head but when his disciples saw it, they had indignation,
saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold
for much and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them,
Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have
the poor always with you; but me ye have not always." Mt 26:7-11
"Always"
has been a long time for the poor to be poor. Was Jesus being insensitive to
the poor? Was he who came to save the poor concerned about his own comfort
above the poor? What did Jesus mean? The recent Census Bureau announcement
revealed a sobering fact about the poor: In the USA the ranks of the poor have
reached 35.7 million the highest percent since 1964. The number of the world’s
poor is also escalating beyond all proportions.
Who are the
Poor? Why are they Poor?
The homeless:
five to six p.m. is the guiltiest hour of the day in big cities across the
country. That is when most working people walk to parking lots, bus stops, or
subway stations, heading home. That is when those without homes thrust out
their hands in hope of getting quarters or dollar bills before heading back to
their shelters or make-shift beds. That is when most of the better-off avoid
eye contact with these most visible poor. A recent USA Today headline stated,
"For Homeless, Streets are Meaner: Public Fed Up, Frustrated."
The refugees:
In the eastern German town of Hoyerswerder, youths chanting nationalist slogans
attack an apartment complex filled with refugees. Neo-Nazis break into a
refugee home and club an Albanian youth to death. Since German reunification in
the fall of 1990, there have been over 2,000 such attacks on foreigners.
England’s streets see racial attacks on Indian people, while Haitian refugees
are turned back from attempts at immigration by the country which says,
"Give me your tired, your poor." The war-torn: In Somalia the
"poor man’s war" has left it in the grip of starvation. The UN is
trying to find a way to save more than a million helpless people from staring
to death.
The diseased:
The devastating impact of AIDS will slam hardest the poor countries that can
least afford it because their economies are already so small and their living
standards so low. The virus hurts stricken countries by forcing them to divert
precious capital from investment to health care. By the year 2000 those
expected to have HIV will be 40%.
What Has God
Done About the Poor?
Under the Old
Testament Law, the poor were to be provided for: "And thou shalt not
gather every grape of thy vineyard, thou shalt leave them for the poor and
stranger: I am the Lord your God." (Le 19:10) "And six years thou
shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: But the seventh
year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may
eat." (Ex 23:10,11) "Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy
brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." (De 15:11)
The Scriptures
say, God loves and hears the poor: "For the Lord heareth the poor."
(Ps 69:33) "For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth: the poor also,
and him that hath no helper. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and
violence and precious shall their blood be in his sight." (Ps 72:12-14)
"Who is like unto the Lord our God. He raiseth up the poor out of the
dust, and lifteth the needy." (Ps 113:5-7)
But the poor
are still poor. When will God raise them "out of the dust"?
When Jesus
Walked on this Earth, He Loved the Poor
Jesus read in
the temple: "He hath sent me to preach the gospel to the poor." (Lk
4:18) Jesus taught: "Sell that thou hast and give to the poor." (Mt
19:21) The ones not rich in this world’s goods are most often those who are
poor in spirit. The first beatitude Jesus taught was, "Blessed are the
poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven." (Mt 5:3) Jesus
praised the poor widow who gave all that she had, only a mere two mites.
But Jesus did
not help all the poor of Israel. He mostly healed those who came near to hear
the Gospel. Did he lack the power to help the rest?
What is Now
Being Done for the Poor?
A lot, but with
frustration. Many noble efforts have been thwarted by man’s selfishness. A
200-ton delivery of U.N. food was hijacked in Mogadishu. "The shooting
starts at the exit gate and continues along the way and at the distribution
centers" says a worker from the relief agency CARE. The International
Committee of the Red Cross has delivered more than 80,000 tons of food to
Somalia, but they warn food they are bringing must be more than doubled and
they themselves don’t have the capacity. Preoccupation with the nationalist’s
crises in what was formerly Yugoslavia is blamed for the West’s failure to act
on the needs in Africa.
The Churches
are Doing a Social Work Too
The churches
are involved in helping the poor on many levels. One Protestant radio program
solicited volunteers for the recent Florida hurricane victims: "We need
volunteers who know house construction! Fax us your offer to come down and
help. Here’s the Fax number." The Catholic Church runs a boarding school
in Illinois for children who have been variously exploited. Many are street
kids, runaways and throwaways, with considerable experience in the most
degrading facts of life.
What is the
motivation behind the Christian churches, which are trying to help the poor on
an organized, concerted basis?
A good part, no
doubt, is due to love of fellow man and a noble desire to help. But the other
part, no doubt, is a sense of urgency to save souls feeling now is "the
only day of salvation." But what about those miserably overdosed drug
addicts who slipped through our fingers or the thousands who died in Somalia
who never heard of the Name of Jesus or those Moslems who died on the frozen
mountains of Iraq. Is God’s arm short?
Did Jesus do a
Social Work?
Jesus did not
engage in a work of uplifting the downtrodden, sick and hungry. Why? What
prevented him from taking on that task? Apparently, he had the power. What
stopped him? Truly, he had compassion upon them because when he saw the
multitudes who had come to hear him, he healed them of all their diseases. So
what stopped him from going further?
When Satan
tempted Jesus, "If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be
thine" (Lk 4:7). Evidently when Jesus was offered the kingdoms of this
world by the tempter, he understood that Satan wanted him to divert his
attention from God’s plan. The Devil wanted Jesus to cooperate and take his new
directions. "Worship" is not the thought of bowing down, but of
service to follow Satan’s plan. Compromise with the Adversary meant
establishing a kingdom without Jesus’ having to suffer and die i.e., without
the cross. Satan himself did not want a poor sick race. He thought he could
make a deal with Jesus to skip the dying on the cross and set up the Kingdom of
blessings immediately.
Did Jesus
succumb to this temptation? No he did not. Jesus realized that any immediate
worldwide program for blessing the poor dying race of Adam would only be
temporary, partial and in the end frustrating. By taking the long hard course,
was Jesus disinterested in humanity? Of course not! He was soon to give his
life fully for the lives of all. Was he shirking the responsibility to help the
poor and needy? Not at all!
His commission was
to reach the "poor in spirit" with the Gospel to take out from men a
"people for his name." Afterwards "the residue of men"
would be blessed in the Kingdom (Ac 15:14-17). That is also why Jesus did not
ask his disciples to systematically go through the countryside helping, healing
and feeding all the poor. Jesus knew that the time for blessing the world’s
poor was near but not yet. In the Kingdom, he would not just heal temporarily.
He would not only feed a few for a short time. He would not only up lift the
spirit of the poor for a day or week or month, but he would feed, heal and
comfort the poor with the everlasting blessings of the Kingdom for which he
taught us to pray.
"Sell All
that thou Hast and Give to the Poor"
But still what
did Jesus mean when he said, "Sell all" (Mt 19:21) That young man he
spoke with took him literally and went away sad. We understand that Jesus was
asking him to give up all as a sacrifice. He was advised not so much about the
care of the poor as about full surrender of his earthly possessions and full
submission to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.
The lesson for
us is that the young man was asked to understand the "spirit of
sacrifice," the "spirit of consecration." Jesus was not
discussing what to do for the poor, but being ready to relinquish his great
possessions even as Jesus did. "Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he
became poor, that ye though his poverty might be rich" (2Co 8:9). To
"inherit the Kingdom" one must use his possessions for glory of the
Lord. He could no longer cling to them.
Overcoming
Materialism
We too cling to
our possessions as if we could "take them with us." Jesus told his
disciples that he had "no where to lay his head." Jesus had given up
his earthly home for the sake of the Gospel. His example was to do those things
which would "lay up treasure in heaven," not on earth.
The end-time
church is particularly tested with the temptation of materialism and spiritual
poverty. "Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and
have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind and naked" (Re 3:17). Many Christians are sucked into
the frenzy to acquire material possessions. After all, we live in a society,
which makes its living by the sale of material things. So we are bombarded by
temptations to see, want, desire and buy.
What is the
solution to materialism and spiritual poverty? "I counsel thee to buy of
me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich" in spiritual things!
(Re 3:18) By "seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven" in all of our
choices each day, our hunger for spiritual things increase. Material things
lose their taste. We see through them. They are fragile. We must only use our
possessions as a means to an end of serving God, not self.
What Poor are
we Responsible for Now?
When Jesus
scolded the others for chiding Mary’s loving gesture, he said, "For ye
have the poor always with you, but me ye have not always." He knew that
literally there would be no time for anointing his own body for burial after he
died on the cross. But he was also thinking of his body members needing loving
attention and care.
James says (Jas
2:15-17) that we should help our "destitute" brother or sister and
thus demonstrate our faith by these works. Paul collected money for the
"poor saints which are in Jerusalem" who were in straits from famine
and persecution (1Co 16:1-3; Ro 15:25,26). By distributing "to the
necessity of saints" (Ro 12:13) we are bestowing of our means on Jesus.
The Poor will
Be Always, but not Forever.
When Jesus said
"the poor you have with you always," we might still wonder, did he
really meant always forever? We think not. Elsewhere, when Jesus was comforting
his disciples he promised, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of
the age." We rather think that it is in this sense of until the end of the
age that the poor will remain poor. The promised "kingdom of God"
will raise the "poor out of the dust" because there will be no
politics in distribution. "Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all
nations shall serve him. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the
poor also, and him that hath no helper." (Ps 72:11, 12) There will be no
homeless, no refugees, no hungry, no war-torn because the causes of poorness
will be removed. "For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the
expectation of the poor shall not perish forever" (Ps 9:18).
We believe that
the poor will be with us always, but "always" is not forever.
If you would
like to know more about this Kingdom which is coming soon, read the online book
THE DIVINE PLAN OF THE AGES. We will be happy to communicate with you and
hopefully answer questions you might have. Please write us. And, do not stop
praying for the Kingdom! It is the complete answer on the poor.
The Wonders
of God
November 1992
How quickly the
seasons go by! As the warm days of summer wane into autumn, we reflect upon the
greatness of creation’s architectùour Heavenly Father. Our spiritual minds
perceive and our spiritual hearts receive great lessons from nature. Surely the
character of our Creator is stamped indelibly upon all His works.
Ponder the
season of harvest and be blessed by its testimony to God’s love. Through the
miracle of seed and its fruitage, He provides abundantly for our nourishment.
Notice the deepening richness of the autumn sky’s blue. This blue, a symbol of
faithfulness, reminds us that the killing cold of winter will surely be followed
by the new blooming life of spring. Indeed, the swiftness with which the
seasons roll by impresses the brevity of sin blighted human life upon our
minds. At the same time we grow in appreciation of our human life upon our
minds. At the same time we grow in appreciation of our God’s eternally enduring
Being. He truly is "the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity."
(Isa 57:15) The Psalmist has well said, "My days are like a shadow that
declineth; and I am withered like grass. But thou, O LORD, shalt endure
forever; and thy remembrance to all generations." Psa 102:12,13
The lesson of
our God’s enduring Being, His enduring love, faithfulness, and mercy, greatly
strengthen our faith. We, who depend on Him for the issues of life, have a
different perspective from the world in general. Surely He "hath raised us
up together, and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
" See Eph 2:1-6.
From our
spiritual point of view we feel, as the Apostle Paul felt, that "the
things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal." (2Co 4:18) Realizing this we "henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind." (See Eph 4:17-24) That is, our
lives focus on spiritual growthùlaying up for ourselves treasure in heaven. (Mt
6:19-21) The Christian mind resists the lure of the world’s transitory fashions
and fads.
Fashion and fad
fuel popular culture and then swiftly burn out. Popular culture’s appetite for
things new and different is insatiable. What a contrast this is to the
Christian’s spirit of "tell me the old, old story!" Popular culture’s
superficial nature often causes the loss of important lessons that may be
realized by those who seek the enduring eternal things. One example of this is
to be found in the Great Pyramid of Egypt.
A decade ago
popular culture fixed much attention on that enduring stone monument. Wild
speculations were brought forth. "It was a landing base for extra
terrestrials!" "It sharpens razor blades!" "It preserves
fruit!" However much truth may have existed in any of these statements,
they missed the real lesson of the Great Pyramid. Popular culture had satisfied
itself for a season upon the Great Pyramid and then moved on.
In sheer mass,
the Great Pyramid dwarfs all other buildings in the world. Its ninety million
cubic feet of solid rock weigh 6,840,000 tons. That is enough stone to build a
sidewalk 3 inches thick, and 2 feet wide, around the world. The number and
weight of the Great Pyramid’s stones would be comparable to a pile of 3 million
automobiles. The Great Pyramid is as tall as a 40-story building, and the
circuit of its base is over 1/2 mile. Clearly, whoever built the Great Pyramid
wanted it to remain!
The Great
Pyramid is the most unusual building in the world. The scientific knowledge of
its builders is startlingùand as an engineering feat it is unmatched. The
solutions to many scientific and mathematical problems were monumentalized in
the Great Pyramid forty-one centuries ago. Could the Pyramid builders have been
four thousand years ahead of their time? Or did God Himself instruct them in
the secrets of the Universe?
We read in Isa
19:19-20,
"In that
day shall there be an altar unto the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt,
and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD. And it shall be for a sign and
for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt."
This scripture
has caused many Christians to consider carefully the lessons that the Pyramid
has to teach.
It is located
in the exact center of the land surface of the earthùcalculated by its Builder
over 3,000 years before Columbus discovered America. Though built over 4,000
years ago, its measurements indicate the circumference of the earth, the
distance from the equator to either pole, the sun’s distance from the earth,
the length of the solar year, the length of the precessional cycles, the value
of pi, etc. The Great Pyramid witnesses, not by hieroglyphics or drawings, but
symbolically by it location, construction and measurements. It is a symbolic
(not sacrificial) altar, and a storehouse of historic, prophetic and scientific
truths, in perfect accord with, and a corroborative witness of, the Bible and
its Divine Plan of the Ages.
Just as we have
traced God’s plan for mankind through the Scriptures, so may we trace it in the
Pyramid. Its architectural features portray the Divine Plan of the Ages in a
dynamic way.
For over forty
centuries the seasons of man have whirled by this altar to the LORD. In that time
few have seen the blessed confirmation of the plan of God that is to be found
there. Foreknown to God are all His works, and the testimony in stone given by
the Great Pyramid confirms this fact. Portrayed in stone is mankind’s
catastrophic fall into sin, sickness, and death. There, too, we see the grand
designs of our Heavenly Father in the Great Flood, the works of the Jewish Law
Age, and the Christian era of faith. Salvation, first of Christians to be
spiritual sons of God and secondly, to the remainder of humanity as natural
sons, is taught in the Pyramid’s passages.
For those who
love God and are inspired by the grand vision of His Plan of the Ages, the new
videotape program, "The Great Pyramid" will be a faith building
refreshment. We invite you to order your copy of this exciting presentation and
see that the Great Pyramid truly is an altar, a pillar, for a sign and a
witness unto the LORD our enduring God.
"His name
shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall
be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the LORD God,
the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious
name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and
Amen." Ps 72:17-19
"I Will
Come Again"
February 1993
Reissued for
May of 1999
When this
age-abiding promise was first uttered by Jesus to his Apostles, it did not make
sense. To the then "natural minded" men who followed Jesus, they
assumed that Jesus’ next logical move would be to take charge as a King, throw
off the yoke of Roman bondage, exalt the Jews and bless the world. Why should
he leave now? There was work to be done here. When Jesus spoke of his death and
strangely of his leaving, the idea simply did not fit into their expectations.
But as they wended their way along the path to Gethsemane, Jesus had assured
them, "if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again." Joh
14:3
Dazed, these
words made little impression on his little band. But forty days later on Mount
Olivet, huddled together in amazement with eyes turned heavenward, straining to
catch the last glimpse of their ascending Lord, this promise came alive,
"I will come again!" Yes, their beloved Master would return. The
Apostles wove that glorious theme into the fabric of their ministry and their
very lives.
Christ’s Second
Coming is the most frequently discussed doctrine in the New Testament over one
third of its writings deal with this momentous event! As Christians our hearts
thrill at the hope of being united with the returned Lord Jesus, our heavenly
Bridegroom, seeing him as he is, living with him and experiencing his love
forevermore and the reality of reigning with him (Re 20:5) in a kingdom that
extends to the ends of the earth, bringing "peace like a river and the
glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream." Isa 66:12
Long have
faithful Christians prayed with the Apostle John, "Even so, come, Lord
Jesus." Long centuries passed during which, seemingly, nothing happened.
But our day is suddenly charged with an atmosphere of great expectancy.
However, in
order to appreciate the reasonableness of the Bible’s prophetic teaching on
this deeply interesting subject, it is necessary that we have clear views of
both the object of our Lord’s second coming, and of the manner in which he will
be revealed.
The Manner and
Objective of the Second Advent
As we have
observed, the object of his coming is to reconcile "whosoever will"
(Re 22:17) of the world to God, by a process of ruling, teaching and
disciplining. This is called judging and blessing. The manner of our Lord’s
coming and appearing is of paramount importance, as the student of prophecy
strives to determine what manner of time the Holy Spirit does signify for the
establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth.
The Bible
Student must hold clearly in mind the object, while studying the manner, of our
Lord’s return and both of these, when studying the time. This is needful to
offset erroneous views, already preoccupying many minds, based on false ideas
of the object and manner of our Lord’s coming.
Grasp and hold
in mind as firmly as possible the fact that God’s plan is one harmonious whole,
which is being wrought through Christ. Hold in mind that the work of the second
advent stands related to the work of the first as effect to cause: That is,
that the great work of Restitution at the second advent follows the work of
Redemption accomplished at the first advent as a logical sequence according to
God’s divine plan.
Therefore, the
Lord’s return is the dawn of hope for the world, the time for bestowing the
blessings secured by the redemption. The Gospel Age has been merely a
parenthesis, during which the Bride of Christ is selected, to be associated
with her Lord in the great work of restitution, which he comes to accomplish.
Signs of His
Coming
Few would
question that we are living in an era of human history, which is without
precedent. Most Bible-believing Christians feel we are living in the very time
the Bible says Christ is to return. There is a surge of interest in prophecyùa
revival of interest in the second advent. Many speak of the imminent coming of
Christ.
Their
expectations are based on our Lord’s Great Prophecy recorded in Mt 24, Mk 13,
Lk 17, 21. Many believe that the nearness of Christ’s return is indicated by
such signs as the following: Israel restored (Mt 24:32; Jer 16:13-18); knowledge
and travel increased (Dan 12:4); evils exposed as never before (Lk 12:2; 1Co
4:5); infidelity rampant from university to pulpit (Lk 18:8; 2Ti 4:1-4); men
seeking pleasure, morality rotting (2Ti 3:1-5, 13); strikes, walkouts (Jas
5:1-4); racial strife, riots (Zeph 1:7-9); juvenile delinquency (2Ti 3:2); wars
and war preparations intensified (Joel 3:9-11); men crying fearfully for peace
(1Th 5:3; Lk 21:26); trouble everywhere (Mt 24:21,22).
Coming or
Presence
Let us take a
closer look at our Master’s words and see what these signs really prove.
"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him
privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the
sign of thy coming [Greek, parousia], and of the end of the world?" Mt
24:3
The Greek word
here translated "coming" is parousia. It really means
"presence." Therefore, if parousia means "presence," then
the fulfillment of the signs given by our Lord in His prophecy would not mean
that he is coming soon, but that he is already secretly presentùas "a
thief in the night." Remember, the Scriptures teach that Christ’s initial
return would be a thief-like, secret presence before "every eye shall see
him." (See 1Th 5:2; 2Pe 3:10 ; Re 16:15)
Rotherham’s
Emphasized Bible, Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words, Young’s Analytical
Concordance, and many other standard works in fundamentalist and evangelical
bookstores confirm this definition of "presence."
The Bible
Definition
However, we are
not confined to dictionary definitions. The Lord has graciously provided His
people a Scriptural definition for the Greek word parousia thus leaving us in
no doubt as to its true meaning.
Parousia occurs
in Mt 24:37 where it is mistranslated "coming." The following chart
compares its parallel citation in Lk 17:26 and, in so doing, the Bible provides
its own definition for parousia.
Mt 24:37 Lk 17:26
But as the
days = As it was in the days
of Noah
were, of Noah,
so shall also
the = so shall it be
parousia of
the in the days of the
Son of man
be. Son of man.
The phrase
"parousia of the Son of man" in Mt 24:37 means the same as the phrase
"in the days of the Son of man" in Lk 17:26. The "days of the
Son of man" in Lk 17:26 refers to the time that Christ is present, just as
the "days of Noah" refers to the time when Noah was present among his
wicked generation. Therefore, parousia in Mt 24:37 should be translated
"presence of the Son of man" instead of "coming of the Son of
man."
The Scriptural
definition of parousia is further confirmed by the Apostle Paul’s use of it.
The thought of "presence" is plainly shown by the contrast with
"absence" in Php 2:12. "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always
obeyed, not as in my presence [Greek, parousia] only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
While no
doctrine is mentioned more frequently in the New Testament than Christ’s second
advent, few doctrines have been as greatly fragmented into such diversified
concepts. Much of the beauty of this doctrine has been wrested from the grasp
of God’s people. All secular Greek dictionaries define parousia,
"presence." Most Bible dictionaries likewise define parousia,
"presence." Most current fundamentalist and evangelical writings on
the second advent usually begin by correctly defining parousia, "presence."
Then something strange happens. Somehow the word "coming" replaces
"presence." Incorrect theology requires parousia to be translated
"coming," but Scriptural harmony requires that it be translated
"presence."
The Main Point
If, as we have
seen, parousia means "presence," then all the signs that our Lord
gave us in Mt 24, Mk 13 and Lk 17, 21 do not indicate his imminent coming-they
indicate his secret thief-like presence. We see those signs being fulfilled all
around us.
The Scriptures
show that the first stage of our Lord’s parousia, presence, will be secret.
"The day of the Lord will arrive [will be here, Greek, hekoùsee Strong’s,
Young’s or Vine’s] as a thief." (2Pe 3:10, Rotherham) A thief enters a
house quietly, doing a secret work. Consequently, the first works of our returned
Lord are during a secret presence. The world will, at first, be unaware that
Christ has returned. "But ye brethren are not in darkness that that day
should overtake [implies a period of overlapping] you as a thief." 1Th 5:4
Later, his
presence will be made manifest to all. The Scriptures use another Greek word,
apokalupsis, to describe this revealment to all. "The Lord Jesus shall be
REVEALED [apokalupsis] from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance." 2Th
1:7-8 It is in reference to this revealment to all, that Scriptures like Re 1:7
apply; "He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him."
Christians, who are not overcharged with the cares of this life, will
experience the joys of discerning the signs of his secret presence (Lk 21:34-36),
before they are "caught up together" with him.
When Does the
"Parousia" Begin?
A number of
Christian writers are publishing works which propose the date of Christ’s
return. The fulfillment of the "signs" which our Lord gave us
indicate that we should be looking for his secret presence now. Space does not
permit a complete discussion of Bible time prophecy nor a harmonization of
seemingly conflicting scriptures [such as "every eye shall see him"]
regarding the second advent. We encourage you to read the online book The Time
Is At Hand which contains detailed studies of the time prophecies pointing to
our Lord’s return. You can also write to obtain a hardcover copy of this book.
Also read the online booklet, I Will Come Again.
The Shout
for Freedom and Rights
March 1993
Le 25: 13, 14
Serbians,
Croatians, and Bosnians are embroiled in a struggle, which ranks with the most
bitter this world has seen. Even the control of inches of land has brought out
the deepest of hatreds that could be expressed by one group of people against
another.
In another part
of the world, Somalia, warlords of clans are fighting incessantly for chunks of
land and power.
At home in
America, it is twenty-eight years since the major civil rights legislation of
the Sixties was passed. It is thirty years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
spoke the famous "I have a dream" speech at Washington’s Lincoln
Memorial. He quoted from scripture:
"Every
valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of
the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." (Isa
40:4,5)
It is now 130
years since the Emancipation Proclamation started the process of freeing people
owned by people in America. And it is 217 years since the Declaration of
Independence asserted that all men are "created equal." Yet, all
people have not been able to share in the "dream." While civil rights
laws are difficult to legislateùlegislating attitudes is impossible.
What do these
struggles throughout the world have in common? The resounding theme rising from
every continent of the earth today is the cry for freedom from oppression and
abuse. The echoing cry reverberates for the inherent rights of every man,
woman, childùborn and unborn, even for the whale, the owl and the tree. They
represent the oppressed crying for their rights. But who hears?
God’s Laws of
Restitution
When it comes
to human rights and dignity, there is a set of laws which God legislated for
ancient Israel almost 3,500 years ago. These laws are the Laws of the Jubilee.
They are the most unique set of laws the world has ever known. Not only did
they provide for equity in the distribution of land, but they even provided for
leveling out inequalities that might arise between people.
Moses’ law
provided for a restitution every fiftieth year-the Jubilee year. This law
prevented the accumulation of property, for whatever reason, in the hands of a
few. (Le 25:9,13-23,27-30) If a man became involved in debt, he might be
obliged to sell a part ùor even all of his propertyùand then, with his family,
go into servitude. But God made a bountiful provision for the unfortunate. He
arranged that such adverse circumstances might not continue forever, but that
all their accountsùcredits and debtsùmust be reckoned only to the Jubilee Year.
At that time allùland and peopleùmust be freed from old misfortunes to make a
fresh start for the next cycle of fifty years.
The system did
not work perfectly, but it helped. Equality could not be legislated back then
either. But what was important was that this Jubilee system served as a model
of a greater reality when all people would have equal rights and fair
distribution of properties and privileges. Paul calls the features of the
Jewish Law "a faint outline of the good things to come" (Heb 10:1,
Good News Bible). Jesus also explained, "Remember that as long as heaven
and earth last, not the least point nor the smallest detail of the law will be
done away withùuntil all its teachings come true" (Mt 5:18, GNB).
What does the
Jubilee Law teach? It teaches that equal property rights and equal rights of
personal liberty will some day be reinstated. Because of sin, man has lost his
right to life. He is a slave to death. Because of sin, he has lost equality as
far as his property rights. Through the centuries of man’s history the few have
oppressed the many by taking away their rights and dignity. How long will this
continue? When will the Jubilee’s "teachings come true"? After all,
Jesus died almost two thousand years ago.
When is this
time of Restoration?
It is the
purpose of Jesus Christ’s second advent to restore everything lost in Adam.
"And he
[God] shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the
heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God
hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."
Ac 3:20, 21
"Restitution"
is indeed the object of his return! What does "restitution" mean?
[The same word was translated "restore" earlier in the Book of Ac 1:6
when the disciples were asking about restoring the nation of Israel to its
former status.] "Restitution" literally means "to reconstitute
in health, home and organization" (Strong’s Concordance 605, 600). Since
it is the "times" (plural) of restitution, this implies various
stages in a process of restoration. Since it is the "times of restitution
of ALL things," this also implies a very comprehensive restoration
process.
How did
"all the holy prophets" talk about the "times of restitution"?
They did not mention the word "restitution" in spite of the fact that
the Apostle Peter says they all "spoke" about it. But the prophets of
the entire Old Testament, in fact, pointed to this time of restoring everything
man lost in Adam-his home, his health and his life rights. Moses, also a
prophet, verbalized this time of restoring in the Law. On Mt. Sinai, he
received the Jubilee law too from God Himself. This time of restoration is the
Kingdom of God in the hands of the Christ Messiah. This Jubilee for the world
is not a year but a thousand years longùit is the Kingdom of Christ so long
prayed for by Christians. For the world of mankind this will mean a release
from the bondage of the tomb and all the misery leading to it.
How Did the
Jubilee System Work?
When the
fiftieth year came around in Israel, could one imagine that everyone was happy
to give back the lands to the rightful owners? Was it a joyful occasion to
release their bond servants? No, rather, there must have been considerable
resistance to this equalizing process. On the other hand, might it be imagined
that those demanding their lands back might be asking for perhaps a little more
than their due?
Legislation is
one thing. Human nature another. No doubt, the Jubilee year was a clamorous,
agonizing period of time. No doubt, disputes needed in many cases to be brought
to courts of law. Counter claims, no doubt, complicated the real issues. The
entire year must have been required to arrive at any state of equality for all
of Israel.
Regarding the
time for the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth in the hands of the
returned Lord Jesus, the prophets spoke extensively about a time of trouble.
The era of blessing and restoring of rights and life will have its inauguration
in a heated social struggle and violent political strife. The cry for Jubilee
rights against inequalities and oppression have already ascended to a crescendo
in these last days. The Book of James speaks of a particular cry concerning a
particular kind of oppressionùthat is, the oppression of the laborer by the
rich.
"And now,
you rich people, listen to me! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming
upon you! Your riches have rotted away, and your clothes has been eaten by
moths. You have piled up riches in these last days. You have not paid any wages
to the men who work in your fields. Listen to their complaints! The cries of
those who gather in your crops have reached the ears of God, the Lord Almighty.
Your life here on earth has been full of luxury and pleasure. Be patient, then
my brothers until the Lord comes." Jas 5:1-6 (GNB)
Labor unions
emerging at the end of the nineteenth century did much to address the needs of
the common laborer. But these unions have their limitations and have brought
with them their own abuses and are not the answer by any means.
The yoke of
colonialismùand more recently communismùthroughout the world has been broken
off the necks of oppressed peoples. Each little ethnic subgroup is demanding
its right to a place under the sun and its own separate identity. The
minorities within each country are no longer quiet, but are rising up to demand
both their just and fancied rights.
As might be
expected, there are excesses. There are imagined rights as well as legitimate
rights. While no human has a right to oppress another human being, the time of
change has seen nations which claim to be "Christian" taking
affirmative action for the fancied rights of homosexuals.
The clashing
cries for the rights of the unborn verses the rights of the woman over her own
body ("Pro Life" and "Pro Choice") are a very heated
controversy. So important are these claims that they have continually become
presidential campaign issues. Where does the Christian stand on these issues?
Our sympathies lie, of course, with the whole groaning creation crying for just
rights and justice. But the Christian was not asked to throw his or her efforts
into social reform, improved legislation or political issues. Jesus said,
"My kingdom is not of this world, else would my servants fight." (Joh
18:36) The Christian really cannot condone the methods advocated and employed
to right some of these wrongs. Often they are inappropriate or violent. But far
from being disinterested in these issues, the Christian longs for the time that
these injustices will be fully and fairly addressed in God’s Kingdom.
What we see
today is the beginning of the Jubilee cry. THE TIME IS AT HAND states that the
Jubilee "will open with sweeping reforms, with recognition of rights,
liberties and possessions long lost sight of; but the work of completely
restoring (to the obedient) all that was originally lost will require all of
that age of restitutionùa thousand years." (p. 179)
Then truly the
"dream" of all mankind will be realized. All will be given an equal
opportunity to find eternal life and happiness in Christ’s Kingdom. The
"valleys" of the oppressed will be elevated and the formidable
"mountains" of the oppressors will be made low in this kingdom. (Isa
40:4,5)
You may already
have a copy of the book THE TIME IS AT HAND. If so, or if you recently
requested one, please read the chapter on "Earth’s Great Jubilee,"
which treats precise lines of scriptural reasoning on the exact timing of the
Jubilee system. Also available is an article, "The Jubilee of
Restoration," which we will be happy to send you for your study of this
important subject in greater detail.
The Golden
Thread of Salvation Proves the Bible is Inspired
April 1993
If you read 66
different books, written by over 40 different authors with no contradiction
between them, you could only conclude there was collusion between the different
authors or one person was supervising them all. But what if these 40 authors lived
over a period of 1600 years and there was still no contradiction between them.
Impossible! Unless, a miracle happened.
There were 66
books written by over 40 different authors, whose lives did span 1600 years and
their writings on diversified subjects didn’t contradict each other. Collusion
was impossible. But a miracle happened. One person supervised their writings.
That one person was God. This collection of 66 different books is usually
printed in one volume entitled THE HOLY BIBLE, which is divided into two major
sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament.
How do we know
these 66 books are harmonious? How do we know the Bible is the inspired Word of
God? There are many ways of proving the internal harmony of our 66 books of
Scripture, but tracking the promised "seed" of salvation is doubly
inspiring. It is the golden or Divine thread that weaves through the whole
Bible, binding it together in its glorious promise of eternal life.
The first three
chapters of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, describes the creation of
Adam in the "image of God" dwelling in an Edenic paradise, with the
assurance of this eternal home if they obeyed the laws of God. Disobedience
would be penalized by death. "Dying thou shalt die." (Ge 2:17) The
laws of God are necessary for the eternal well being of the human race. Satan
tempted our first parents. They disobeyed and were banished from Eden. As a
result of Adam’s fall into sin and death, the whole race is "born in sin
and shapen in iniquity." By one man’s (Adam’s) offense all became sinners
and were condemned to death. (Ro 5:16-19)
The last three
chapters of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, prophesies that mankind
will be restored to life in an Edenic paradise, which will be his eternal home,
while Satan is destroyed. All the books of the Bible in between describe the
process of redemption and reconciliation by which man and his earthly paradise
are restored.
Who is the
Seed?
The golden
thread of the promised "seed" of salvation begins in Ge 3:15 when
Adam fell from God’s favor of life. God promised that the "seed" or
descendant of Eve would bruise the serpent’s head (representative of Satan, 2Co
11:3). A blow to the head can be fatal. Here was a glimmer of hope. If Satan is
destroyed then man’s lot would be improved. But who is this "seed" or
descendant of Eve that would accomplish this? Ge 22:17-18 reveals that the
"seed" would come through the lineage of Abraham and it would consist
of two classes. Abraham’s "seed" would be "as the stars of heaven"
(a heavenly class) and as "the sand upon the seashore" (an earthly
class). Now the glimmer of hope becomes bright. "And in thy (Abraham’s)
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
In Ge 26:1-4,
when God repeats the promise of the "seed" to Isaac, God only likens
it to the "stars of heaven" (a heavenly class) with no reference to
the sands of the seashore. Again God promises that the "seed" or
descendant of Isaac would bless "all the nations of the earth." Then,
at the death of Isaac, the lineage of the "seed" of promise that was
to bless "all the families of the earth" was narrowed to Jacob. In Ge
28:13-14 Jacob’s "seed" or descendants was likened to the "dust
of the earth" which like "sand of the seashore" symbolizes an
earthly class. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. The promised
"seed" would be Israelitish.
The Isaac or
Heavenly Seed
Now skipping
over to the New Testament, Paul finally identifies the promised
"seed" or descendant that is to bless "all the nations of the
earth." In Ga 3:16 it states, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. And to thy seed (singular), which is Christ." Yes, Jesus
Christ is the "seed" or descendant of Eve, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
(Israel) that is to bless "all the nations of earth." But Paul
expanding on his lesson of 1Co 12:12 that the body of Christ is composed of many
members yet is one body, makes a startling statement in Ga 3:27-29. "For
as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are
ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."
All those in
Christ are Abraham’s "seed" and heirs of the promise. But remember
the promise was not that the "seed" would receive the blessing but
that the "seed" would do the blessing, that is, bless "all the
nations of the earth." Remember Ge 26:4, Isaac symbolized the "stars
of heaven" or heavenly phase of Abraham’s "seed." In Ga 4 Paul
shows that Isaac pictured Jesus and his church, the Christ, head and body.
Similarly, in
Ro 4:13-14, Paul teaches that through righteousness (justification) by faith
Christians become the seed of Abraham who are the heirs of the world. The world
thus inherited will be blessed by the church in Christ’s kingdom. Re 20:4
Remember Ge
3:15. The "seed" of the woman was to destroy Satan and He 2:15
informs us that Jesus will destroy the devil who brought the whole human race
under the power of death. Now comes the conclusive proof that faithful
Christians (spiritual Israel) are part of the "seed" of the woman. In
Ro 16:20 Paul states that "the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your
feet shortly." Although the second advent of Christ and his kingdom, when
all of this would be accomplished, was nearly 2000 years future, yet from God’s
perspective of time it would occur "shortly."
The Jacob
(Israel) or Earthly Seed
Remember
Genesis 28:14 shows that Jacob (Israel) pictured the earthly seed. The nation
of Israel will play an important role in God’s kingdom (Zec 8:20-23; Isa 2:2-4;
Eze 16:55-63) when human-kind are restored to perfect life in a worldwide
Edenic paradise. Thus Ro 4:17 reveals that when God said to Abraham (Ge 17:5)
"I have (past tense) made thee a father of many nations," He in His
foreknowledge could speak of it as an accomplished fact. That is because God
even then intended to resurrect the dead to fulfill His promise to Abraham.
Just as the
sand of the seashore is innumerable, so the literal Hebrew of Ge 22:18 reveals
that all the nations of the earth will become a part of the earthly
"seed" as they come into the Israelitish Kingdom of God (Zec 8:20-22). Ge 22:18 "In becoming that ‘seed’ shall all the
nations of the earth bless themselves." Thus Re 20:8 refers to all the
nations at the end of the 1000 year Kingdom as the sand of the sea. Those who
overcome the test of the Little Season will receive the blessings of eternity.
Re 21:4-7
The golden
thread of the "seed" of promise begins in Ge 3. It weaves through all
the books of the Bible and its glorious fulfillment is prophesied 65 books
later in the third chapter from the end of the last book of the Bible
(Revelation) which was written 1600 years after Genesis. Yes, the Bible is the
inspired Word of God. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, 66 books are
transformed into one harmonious book. No other book gives such a reasonable
explanation for the permission of evil. No other book gives man such a
wonderful hope.
"No Way
Out"
July 1993
Lk 21: 25, 26
In plain
television view of the Bosnian killings, the Christian West has a dilemma. Both
military intervention and milder economic sanctions promise terrible
consequences. Allowing the violence repeats the shameful do-nothing failures of
World War II.
On June 28,
1914, the spark that ignited the Great War was lit by a Serbian anarchist in
Sarajevo, Bosnia. Later, to fix things the so-called "peace of
Versailles" provided for an amalgamation of Southern Slavic
peoplesùSlovenians, Croats, Bosnians, Montenegrins, Macedonians and Serbs. This
threw Ottomans and Hapsburgs togetherùa mix of Catholics, Orthodox and Moslem.
During World
War II, Croatians cooperated with the Nazis against their Serbian neighbors.
Post war Communists held all these factions in check. Now with the Communist
suppression broken, strong latent nationalism has erupted as "ethnic
cleansing" producing new large-scale rapes and murders.
In desperation
to keep some semblance of "world peace," the nations are gathering in
such alliances as the United Nations. But the "peace-keeping" forces
have no peace to keep. Committing forces means the risk of getting caught in an
inescapable "black hole" conflict. What to do? There are no simple
choices. There seems to be no way out. No human way out.
Who Said There
was ‘No Way Out’?
When Jesus
talked about the nations reaching a point of "no way out," he was
actually answering a question (Lk 21:7).
His apostles
were asking about the destruction of their temple which they associated with
the end of their age and mistakenly with Jesus’ return. In order not to
discourage them about the long time that would pass before he would returnùlong
after the destruction of their temple, he simply described many events that
would have to take place before he would return. In this way he prepared them
(as well as later Christians) for the long wait. After vividly portraying this
period of waiting, he concluded by encouraging them, "In your patience
possess ye your souls" (Lk 21:8-19).
Then Jesus
addressed their specific question about Jerusalem and the temple (Lk 21:20-24).
The Great Teacher realized his disciples would not be able to comprehend that
while the collapse of the temple and Jerusalem was imminent, their destruction
would also portray the destruction of an anti-Christ system at the end of the
age. But Jesus encouraged a way for Christians to flee Jerusalem. "When ye
shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation
thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the
mountains...." Many Jewish Christians did escape Jerusalem in an
extraordinary but temporary lull while Titus laid siege to Jerusalem 67-70 A.
D. Prophetically, Jesus was also suggesting a way of escape for Christians from
the false Christian system at the end of the age. Then they do not flee to
literal mountains, but to Christ’s kingdom (see also Mt 24:15-19). Christians
have a way out by faith.
A Nation with a
Separate Destiny
Even in such an
awful prophecy about literal Jerusalem being destroyed and people being
scattered, Jesus explained that Jerusalem would be "trodden down"
only until "the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Mt 24:24). Not
only would there come a time when Jerusalem would cease to be under Gentile
domination, but that Israel as a nation would "shoot forth" (revive)
as the "fig tree" (Mt 24:29,31). Israel’s restoration would be a sign
that "summer is nigh," that the Kingdom is being established (Mt
24:32-33).
The "times
of the Gentiles" did expire with World War I. The church-state ruling
houses of Europe were broken. One of the few positive results of World War I
was the Balfour Declaration (1917) which gave support to the creation of a
Jewish State. But the regathering and restoration of Israel have been arduous
and painful. Still it would appear that Israelùwith enemies without and
conflict withinùalso has "no way out."
But the
Scriptures are clear that though Israel would experience difficulties in the
end times, it would not be destroyed as a nation. The other nations of the
world, however, would come to their national end in great tribulation.
"For I am with thee [Israel], saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make
a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a
full end of thee..." (Jer 30:11).
In fact, while
anarchy will pull the nations down, armed forces from those nations, intent on
destroying Jerusalem, will actually be destroyed themselves because God will
fight for Israel. "Then shall the LORD go forth and fight against those
nations, as when he fought in the day of battle" (Zec 14:1-3).
The ironic
twist is that the peoples of those same nations which were destroyed will later
come back to worship the Lord in Jerusalem (Zec 14:16). When the
"mountain," the Kingdom of God is fully set up, "all nations
shall flow unto it." They will come to Jerusalem to seek the God of Israel
and learn of God’s ways (Isa 2:1-4).
"The
Powers of Heaven Shall be Shaken"
Jesus pointed
out that when he would return at the end of the age, the nations of earth would
not only find themselves in such a "no-way-out" predicament, but that
the very heavens would shake (Lk 21:26). How would the heavens
"shake"?
When Jesus
spoke of the "fig tree," "the sun," "the moon,"
"the stars" and his coming on a "cloud," it is important to
understand that he was speaking in figurative language. That was his method (Mt
13:13-17). The "heavens" represent the religious element of this
world order as opposed to the "earth," the secular element. At the
same time that the secular world is in troubleùso too is the religious,
Christianity.
The religious
world is "shaken" of public confidence. The religious element no
longer offers the stability and security it did in the past. The Gospel light
of the "sun" appears darkened and obscured. The reflective light
("moon") of the Old Testament is no longer considered a guiding light
by many. Both the true Gospel and false gospels have fallen into disrepute. In
ancient maritime navigation, stars told the captains of ships where they were
and where to go. "Stars" are teachers. Today true Christian teachers
are fallen from honor. False Christian leaders also are continually being
exposed and viewed with disdain.
Notwithstanding
the illusion that Christians will soon convert this nation or other nations of
the world, Christianity is being "shaken." The most rapidly growing
religion in the world is Islam.
Pseudo Christs
Offering a Way
In the parallel
account of Jesus’ prophecy found in Mt 24, there are two distinct references to
false [pseudo] Christs. Not only would false claims be made throughout the
Gospel Age (Mt 24:5), but at the end of the age (Mt 24:24), many would also
make such preposterous claims. Many false Christ’s have rallied a small
following for a short period of timeùwhile the rest of the world would look on
in appalled amazement. A most recent false Christ, cultist David Koresh, while
adhering to the traditional Christian beliefs of the trinity and hell fire,
added a few deranged claims of his own.
However, there
have also been anti-Christs [not against Christ but attempting to take the
place of Christùa counterfeit Christ]. Great church systems have claimed holy
authority and have used their power through the might of kings and leaders to
control both believer and unbeliever alike. The damage they have done in the
name of Christ is horrifying. Such has been the recent triangle of maniacal
behavior in the BalkansùSerbian Orthodox against Croatian Catholic against
Bosnian Moslem. It is very odd that while Jesus said, "My Kingdom is not
of this world else would my servants fight for it," the followers of
mainline Christian churches see no conflict and have regularly taken up arms to
kill and be killed, much the same as the "Davidians" and other
"cults."
"Men’s
hearts failing them for fear"
The "sea
and the waves roaring" (Mt 24:25) represent the restless, clamorous masses
of humanity. The breakdown of the Communist monolith has spawned new-nation
states in response to long dormant nationalist aspirations. Despite the
excitement and satisfaction of nationalist desires, such as the unification of
Germany, frustrations are frightening. Economic inequity in Germany has caused
recent labor disputes and ethnic hostilities against immigrants. Tens of
thousands of dissatisfied eastern Europeans trek west in search of a better
life. They too will be welcomed with hostility.
Thus while
Jesus predicted there would come a time when the nations would have "no
way out," the "powers of heaven shall be shaken" also. The
result: "Men’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be
shaken" (Lk 21:26). It is not on a literal "cloud" that Jesus
returns. When "he cometh with clouds," they are the clouds of trouble
(Re 1:7). Eventually the world of mankind will "see"ùperceiveùthat
behind the trouble in the world is Christ setting up his Kingdom of
righteousness.
"Rejoice
when you see"
True Christians
are asked by Jesus to not despair when they see the trouble in the world, but
to look up in faith and rejoice. But Christians do not "look up" if
they are "overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness and cares of this
life" (Lk 21:34-36). If they are too involved in worldly priorities, they
will be too busy to search the Scriptures and notice the significance of world
conditions. The "day" is here and many are "unawares."
Christians are to "watch" when "these things begin to come to
pass."
The "way
out" is the Kingdom. Faithful, watching Christians with Jesus will be
there to help the peoples of the nations into that Kingdom (Re 21:24).
There is
Hope
October 1993
The carefree
days of summer and vacation time are behind us. Somehow, we hoped that by Labor
Day the U. S. economy would be jump-started, that the horrors and evils of
Bosnia would be behind us and our soldiers would be out of Somalia. Instead,
massive layoffs by major corporations continue to stagnate the economy, the
stark horrors of Bosnia remain and our soldiers continue in the quagmire of
Somalia with 400 more troops ordered in- not out.
Actually, if we
review the events of the last two months, there seems to be little to give us
much hope. Yet the extreme severity of the problems is the one thing that gives
real hope. Dan 12:1-2 and Hag 2:7 reveal that just before God’s Kingdom, when "the
desire of all nations shall come," conditions on earth would mark us in
"a time of trouble (or "shaking of the earth") such as never was
since there was a nation." The noted historian, Arnold Toynbee, designated
our era as "an unprecedented time of troubles." The events of this
not so lackadaisical summer confirm that the "time of trouble" of Dan
12:1 is upon us.
Our Economy
Will Yet Collapse
(Eze 7:19; Zeph
1:18)
Unprecedented
floods in the Midwest and the scorched earth drought in the farmlands of the
Southeast resulted in crop destruction that will haunt our frayed economy.
Flood recovery will cost over 20 billion dollars while we are still strapped
with paying off Hurricane Andrew. Massive layoffs continue. How many more
disasters can our crisis ridden economy absorb?
Unprecedented
Crime, Violence, Hate-in "the Last Days"
(2Ti 3:1-3)
In July, the
Report To The Governor On The Disturbances In Crown Heights revealed that there
were three days of uncontrolled violence against Jews simply because they were
Jews. The only disagreement is who was responsible for not taking steps to
quell the violence immediately. Acts of anti-Semitism are at an all-time high
throughout the world. Will the "hunters" rise again (Jer 16:16)?
There is an alarming increase in skinheads and violent murders of members of
all minorities by skinheads (Time, August 9, 1993).
The abortion
battle has reached a new high in violence. It has been bloody. Now it is
deadly. Doctors who perform abortions have been shot or murdered. Those who
pulled the trigger are considered heroes by some.
Violent
car-jackings have instilled a fear of driving in some parts of the nation.
(Time, August 16, 1993). And what about our youth, the flower of any nation?
"They’re armed, dangerous and live next door. From inner cities to quiet
suburbs, America’s youth have developed a fatal attraction to firearms"
(Time, August 2, 1993). In addition to gang killings and crime, the latest
craze of youth is drive-by shootingsùaiming mostly at cars and houses. Thus far
this year, New York City has experienced an average of 28 deaths a month from
random shootings. But even quiet towns like Omaha, NE and Lexington, KY are
being shot up by young punks.
Immorality
Marks Us in "the Last Days"
(2Ti 3:1-5)
Thanks to the
new morality, sexual activity of teens is on the increase. The National Center
For Disease Control and Prevention reported that 7 out of 10 high school
seniors are sexually active (Newark Star Ledger, August 22, 1993). More than a
million teenagers become pregnant each year. Most alarming is the increase in
pregnancy among girls 10 to 14 years old. HIV (AIDS virus) infections continue
to spiral at an astronomical rate. The greatest increase is now among
heterosexual relations. Our society is so pleasure driven that the simple
Biblical solution to these sex oriented problems, premarital abstinence, is
considered impractical.
July Fourth
Fireworks
Fortunately
Americans just missed the greatest July 4th fireworks explosion in history. It
was sheer luck, not FBI or police prowess, which the UN, Holland and Lincoln
Tunnels, etc. were not blown up the week of July Fourth. Only because a member
of the terrorist gang turned informant were we spared. This doesn’t bode well
for the U. S. in the future. Terrorist acts are extremely difficult to prevent.
Egypt can well attest to that. Islamic fundamentalists are determined to
overthrow President Mubarak and they just may succeed. To the South, Sudan has
become the haven, training ground and launching pad for the Islamic
fundamentalist militants. Meanwhile, in Southern Sudan, the Islamic Government
has been waging a campaign of genocide against black Christians that would make
Bosnia look like a picnic. Two million have been killed since 1989 (Jewish
Press, August 27, 1993). Where is the news media?
Europe is No
Better
Europe is in
the throes of its severest recession since the "great depression" of
the 1930s. Ethnic hatred and violence in Germany and elsewhere has become so
common place that it doesn’t make headlines anymore. And then there is Bosnia,
the shame of every Western leader. Joel 3:9-10 speaking of the end time,
predicted that "weak" nations will say, "I am strong."
Despite President Clinton’s threats, the little Serb army in Bosnia has defied
the UN and bullied its forces all over the countryside. The peace treaty that
is being brokered by the UN appears to be a sell-out to ethnic cleansing and
violence.
Also, the
breakup of the Communist Empire and nations into smaller ethnic nations is a
remarkable fulfillment of Amos 5:18-19. The end-time would find mankind fleeing
from a "lion" (British Empire) only to meet the (Russian)
"bear." With the fall of Russian Communism each segment is going into
its "house" of ethnic nationalism. First we saw the dividing of the
Soviet Union into ethnic republics, then Czechoslovakia divided into two
republics. Now the former Yugoslavia is splintering into ethnic nations. This
threatens a domino effect of further ethnic splintering in the former Soviet
Republics.
Pope’s Trip to
Denver
The most
significant event of the summer was not the Pope’s trip to Denver, as colorful
a media event as it was, but President Clinton’s anxiousness to travel from
Washington to Denver to welcome the Pope as he stepped off the plane. Then he
had a private meeting with him. Would Clinton do the same for the head of any
other church? No. But all heads of State are eager to meet with Pope John Paul
II (Time, August 23, 1993). Why? Because he is not just the head of a church,
the Vatican is the capital of a church-state government, the Papal State. For
centuries the Papal State has claimed to be the Kingdom of God on earth.
Remember when Popes crowned and uncrowned kings? Historians refer to that era
as the "Dark Ages."
The Pope has
1.5 billion followers worldwide. They might differ with him on abortion, birth
control, celibacy of the priesthood, but they revere him as the head of the
Papal State. Through his priesthood he has an intelligence gathering network
that is the envy of every government. It reaches down into almost every town
and villa over much of the globe. Nations are anxious to exchange ambassadors
with the Vatican. John Paul II plays power politics with a skill that awes
world leaders. John Paul and former President Reagan successfully plotted the
downfall of the Communist Empire (Time, February 24, 1992). His ultimate
political agenda is revealed in the following statement he made April 21, 1990.
"A united
Europe is no longer a dream. It is not utopian memory from the Middle Ages
[emphasis added]. The events that we are witnessing show that this goal can be
reached." The Pope wants to revive the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle
Ages.
The Scriptures
(Re 13, 17, 19) indicate just such a church-state union will result in the
final downfall of our civilization. But there is hopeùfor upon these ruins God
will set up His Kingdom that will rule from the rivers to the end of the earth.
Man’s extremity will be God’s opportunity. Da 2:44; Zeph 3:8-9; Ps 46:6-10
The newly
updated booklet "What Is This World Coming To?" shows that today’s
headlines were prophesied over 2,000 years ago in the Bible. The booklet
"Church Union and Anti-Christ" focuses on the "man of sin,"
"Anti-Christ," and "false prophet" prophecies. Together
they will give you a guide through the thrilling prophetic times in which we
are living.
Health and
Well Being for All
November 1993
Recent
headlines present the Bible-believing Christian with a wealth of points to
ponder. The declining economy of Western nations, wearisome civil war in Bosnia
and prospects of peace in the Middle East are just a few current events leading
to the fulfillment of prophecy. But two seemingly unrelated news items
especially caught our attention. One is the National Health Reform bill and the
other, an insidious insight into hell.
National Health
Insurance
President
Clinton’s idealism and enthusiasm are nurturing the work of national health
reform. Though we do not agree with all of Mr. Clinton’s positions, we do
appreciate the fact that he has thrown himself so energetically into serving
the needs of the people he leads. For his personal sacrifices of time and
energyùhe has our respect. The basic idea of health reform, medical care for
all Americans, is an excellent one. The majority of Americans feel that health
care for all is humane and just.
Daily, the need
for national health care is becoming more painfully obvious. Too often common
people are faced with the uncommon experience of losing health insurance.
Businesses large and small are reeling from the current economic crunch. In
order to cope they are either laying off thousands of workers or reducing, even
canceling, the health benefits employees formerly took for granted. Every day
wrenching news stories of uninsured families stricken with a catastrophic
illness and medical bills amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars reach
our earsùand hearts. The burdens of such debts have driven many to despair.
Such suffering
arouses tender concern in most people, and should definitely touch the hearts
of God’s people. The benevolent spirit manifested in the health reform plan is
heart warming. The human race needs comfort. Remove the gloss of television’s
entertaining fantasies and the short-lived comforts of materialistic pursuits
and a basic truth is revealed. That truth is that the human race has groaned
and travailed in pain together throughout history and, truly continues to
suffer today. Wars, disease, crime, drugs, old age, poverty, physical abuse,
prejudice, loneliness and many other woes have not left a single person on this
planet unaffected. This fact leads us to appreciate every just effort to
alleviate human suffering in life’s brief season.
Yet, while some
are calculating the means to comfort this short life, others have calculated
the probability of eternal conscious torture for most Americansùand for the
world! What a contrast!
Headlines Cause
Heated Response
The New York
Times (Monday September 20, 1993) reported that Southern Baptists are receiving
intense criticism for a report published on the front page of Alabama’s The
Birmingham News. That report was a county-by-county breakdown of who was bound
for eternal salvation or eternal damnation. The Southern Baptists have
calculated that 46.1 percent (1.86 million) of Alabama’s citizens are bound for
an eternity of hell’s unimaginable horrors. Intense furor rose in Alabama.
National
figures were also calculated by the Southern Baptists but, presently, are not
going to be made available. We don’t wonder at this. If 46.1 percent of a
Bible-belt state’s population is probably "unsaved," many more may be
considered "unsaved" in the other states. The national numbers of
those the Southern Baptists believe will be eternally lost would raise a
tremendous controversy.
An Emotional
Issue
Merely
mentioning hell raises intense emotions. Perhaps it is fear that, for the most
part, causes many to respond so frenetically. But, "God hath not given us
the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." And
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear
hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." 2Ti 1:7; 1Joh
4:18 In full love and trust we come to the Lord through His Word. A topical
study of hell and other related subjects (immortality in particular) gives us a
Biblical concept of hell dramatically different from the concept taught through
the dark ages.
Sources of
Thought
Reading any
objectively written history of Christianity will reveal the source for much of
what we once considered the teachings of Scripture. That source of thought was
primarily focused through one manùSt. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. Augustine was
a brilliant man who ardently admired the doctrines of Plato (the noted Greek
philosopher) and the Neoplatonists. Their ideas of good and evil, of the
"immortal soul" and of eternal punishment greatly appealed to
Augustine’s fertile mind. However, Augustine also fell in love with the Bible
and its story of God’s Anointed OneùJesus Christ. It was unfortunate that he
did not choose one or the other. Augustine’s genius was able to fuse the simple
faith of the Bible with the philosophical ramblings of the Greeks.
The pagan
Greeks viewed the cross of Christ as foolishness. Despite their great
philosophical "wisdom" they did not know God! (see 1Co 1:21-23) Yet,
when the foundations of orthodoxy in Christian doctrine were established,
Augustine embraced the teachings of pagan Greeks as the guidelines. Confusion
has reigned ever since. Despite Luther’s bold declaration against the
immortality of the soul (point 27 of the 95 Theses), the other Reformation
leaders embraced Augustine’s Grecian philosophy. Luther’s Biblical truth on the
"soul" was lost to and in the Protestant Reformation. This sort of
theology became the intellectual weapon of church scholars by which they ruled
the ignorant massesùin fear. Today we are able to read the Bible in simple
faith, trusting that the words actually mean what they say.
Scriptures On
"Immortal Soul"
There are no
Scriptures using the phrase "immortal soul." We must turn to Plato if
we want information on that. The Bible teaches that immortality is conditional.
That is, if we want it, we may obtain it on certain conditions. We must be
Jesus’ disciples. Immortality will be given "to them who by patient
continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal
life." "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality." Ro 2:7; 1Co 15:53
Those who do
not seek for immortality continue under the sentence of death pronounced upon
Adam. The death sentence is the wrath of God. "The soul that sinneth, it
shall die." "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Eze 18:4; Ro 1:18
Those who die
go to sheolùthe Hebrew word translated hell, grave and pit in our Bible. A
concise definition of sheol is framed by this scripture, "Whatsoever thy
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor
knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave [sheol], whither thou goest." Ec 9:10
The point is
that if human beings really are dead they know nothing. They feel nothing. They
do nothing. The "unsaved" (another word we don’t find in the common
version of the Bible) do not experience eternal conscious torture. They
experience deathùthe cessation of existence. Even many of Christ’s disciples
would experience the condition of death. Paul, speaking of brethren who had
seen Jesus after his resurrection, noted that "He was seen of above five
hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present,
but some are fallen asleep." 1Co 15:6
When would they
be raised from the dead? At the second advent of Christ. "For this we
declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left
until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For
the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the
sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will
rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the
clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with
the Lord forever." 1Th 4:15-17 (NRSV)
HeavenùBy
Invitation Only
The call to
become one of Christ’s body members is not being extended to everyone. The
scriptures speak of God’s invitation to the heavenly spiritual reward as
"the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Php 3:14 The invitation is
selective. God’s saints are noted in the book of Revelation as being
"called, and chosen, and faithful." Re 17:14 We thank our God,
"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the world began." 2Ti 1:9
The Destiny of
the Majority
While the
scriptures clearly teach the present election of comparatively few, this does
not imply that the rest of the groaning creation has been cast off by an
uncaring God. Those who do not go to heaven as members of the body of Christ
will not suffer eternal agony. Neither will they pass out of existence
eternallyùdoomed or forgotten by God. It is Satan who desires mankind to
believe that God would condemn a living creature to an eternity of suffering,
without hope of ever being freed, for whatever sins they committed during their
threescore and ten years on earth.
Mankind will
experience a call to God’s kingdom on earth when Christ reigns over it.
"And the Spirit [Jesus] and the bride [his church] say, Come. And let him
that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely." Re 22:17
God’s grace to
the few who are called with this holy calling is wonderful. In speaking of this
grace, Paul gives us a clue as to the purpose of the call. "We then, as
workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of
God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the
day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.)" 2Co 6:1-2 The Greek language reads
"now is an accepted time, behold, now is a day of salvation." The
Christian era is not the only day of salvation nor the only acceptable time.
Proof of this is supplied by the scriptures themselves.
Paul quoted Isa
49:8-10 "Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and
in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give
thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit
the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to
them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and
their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst;
neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall
lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them."
Those that Paul
urges to receive the grace of God not in vain are Christians. These are given,
by God, "for a covenant of the people." That covenant will provide
the rest of mankind an opportunity to be freed from the prison-house of death.
It will lead the willing and obedient to the waters of life eternal as human
beings. If we are faithful to our Lord we shall reign with him. The privilege
of helping to deliver the groaning creation from the bondage of sin and death
will be oursùas kings and priests over the earth. That is the purpose of our
heavenly calling. (What a marvelous solution to the question of universal
health care!) What a great vindication of the righteous character of our God.
Ro 8:16-21
"And I
heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he
said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." Re 21:3-5
For a detailed
study of the scriptures on hell and immortality send for the 105 page booklet,
"Where Are The Dead?"
Arab-Israeli
Peace???
December 1993
Despite the
euphoria over the Israeli-P.L.O. peace accord, the road to actual peace between
Israel and the Arabs is full of difficulties. Bible-believing Christians view
this startling development with great prophetic interest. Those who have a
short prophetic time frame expect a peace that will prophetically position
Israel in the setting of Eze 38:11 - dwelling "at rest,"
"without walls and having neither bars nor gates." Then Gog and his
associates would invade Israel resulting in the destruction of our world order
(Eze 38-39). We, however, are inclined to believe that other prophetic events
have to develop in Israel, Europe, and the United States before the drama of
Eze 38-39 can unfold. Therefore, whether or not peace is attained, this peace
process will set in motion a series of events that will precipitate another
Arab-Israeli war.
Regardless of
our prophetic view, Christian attitudes toward Israel and its land are all
important. Sometimes attitudes contradict. For example, some Christians who
believe God used the Holocaust to punish the Jewish people for not having the
faith to return to their promised land, feel it is now right for Israel to give
up land which they claim the Jews were punished for not having the faith to
occupy in the first place.
Whose Land?
This raises the
questionùwhose land are the world powers pressuring Israel to give to the
Arabs? During the period of the prophetic development of Israel, before God’s
Kingdom is set up in Jerusalem, God refers to the land as "His land."
Eze 38:16; Isa 11:11. Joel 3:1-2 reveals that one of the reasons the Lord
punishes the nations is first they scattered His people Israel among the
nations and then they "parted (partitioned) My land." In 1917 Britain
declared the Jews had a right to a National Home in Palestine. The League of
Nations in 1921 gave Britain a mandate to implement this Jewish State on both
sides of the Jordan River. In 1922 at the urging of Britain, three-quarters of
Palestineùall of Palestine east of the Jordan River was given to the Arabs and
is now known as the nation of Jordan. In 1947 the UN reneged further on the
world’s promise of a Jewish State in Palestine by partitioning the remaining
one-quarter of Palestine into a Jewish State and an Arab State. Despite the
Arab boast to push the Jews in the sea, in the ‘67 War Israel captured the West
Bank and Gaza and now had one-quarter of the land promised to them in 1917 and
1921. Ever since, the World powers have been pressuring Israel to give up the
West Bank and Gaza and now, seemingly, they have succeeded. The LORD is angry
with the nations for these efforts to partition His land to appease the oil
rich Arab nations.
Expanding
Borders
The
Rabin-Arafat agreement is at variance with Mic 7:11 (NAS, NIV) which identifies
our time as "the day for extending your (Israel’s) boundaries." This
peace agreement actually shrinks Israel’s boundaries, consequently it will not
last. There is only one nation on earth that has its boundaries decreed in the
Bible. That nation is Israel. Ge 15:18-21 declares that Israel’s ultimate
boundaries are from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates River. These boundaries
will be fully attained in God’s Kingdom after the "time of trouble"
or "great tribulation" which terminates our world or age (Dan 12:1;
Mt 24:3, 21-22; Zeph 3:8,9). We will content ourselves here with identifying
the minimum territory Israel will occupy before the "time of trouble"
is over, and incidentally deal with the immigration of Russian Jews to the
extent that that immigration is tied into the "land issue"
scriptures.
Ps 83 deals
with the Israeli-Arab conflict. It contains a prayer for the defeat of the Arab
nations. The following scriptures reveal how this defeat is accomplished.
After Mic 7:11
speaks of our day as "the day for extending your (Israel’s)
boundaries," Mic 7:13-17 describe the "time of trouble." For
example, Mic 7:13, "And the earth (symbolic of the social order) will
become desolate because of her inhabitants. On account of the fruit of their
deeds." Mic 7:14, sandwiched in this "time of trouble" setting,
speaks of the Lord feeding (Hebrew "ruling," Strong’s 7462) over
Israel in a territory that includes Bashan (the Golan Heights-De 3:3,4; Nu
21:23-25; Jos 21:27) and Gilead. Gilead is a part of the East Bank of the Jordan
River. The current peace process in the Middle East is negotiating the status
of the Golan Heights and the West Bank.
What man proposes, God disposes. If Israel is forced to compromise land for
peace, Mic 7 indicates that Israel will again acquire the Golan Heights, and
not only the West Bank, but the East Bank as well, before the time of trouble
is over.
Zec 10:10,11,
speaks of an immigration of Jews from Assyria and Egypt that is so large that
it will fill the land of Gilead and Lebanon. Jos 13:5,6, reveals that at least
southern Lebanon belongs to Israel by divine right. Israel already occupies a
buffer zone in southern Lebanon. An immigration from Assyria and Egypt will be
so numerically great that it will fill the land of Gilead (East Bank) and southern
Lebanon.
Literal Assyria
is Iraq. There are fewer than a thousand Jews in Iraq and Egypt. This is hardly
enough to fulfill Zec 10:10. Mic 5:5-7 is an example that "Assyria"
is symbolic in other prophecies concerning Israel. Here Assyria invades Israel
just before Israel becomes a blesser nation (Mic 5:7), and "Assyria"
is repelled. This is evidently a parallel account of Gog’s invasion recorded in
Eze 38-39. It is generally agreed that Gog and some of his associates mentioned
in Eze 38:3-7 refers to Russia and at least some of the republics of the former
Soviet Unionùincluding the Moslem republics. Therefore, the massive immigration
from Assyria may be a reference to the
current wave of Jews from Russia and the CIS (former Soviet Union) republics.
Symbolic "Egypt" is the Christian world. There are over 5 million
Jews in the United States alone.
Eze 20:32-38
identifies Israel’s ancient exodus from Egypt as a picture of the exodus of
Jews from all nations back to Israel at the end of the Gospel age. In this
picture Israel had to cross a "sea" and a "river" in order
to enter the promised land. The sea and the river (Hebrew word here does not
mean the Euphrates but merely a river) in Zec 10:11 seem to be symbolic of
removing the obstacles that prohibited the Jews from leaving the former Soviet
Union. That obstacle was Communism. With its removal the massive exodus began.
Nearly a half-million have immigrated to Israel.
Peace, Peace
When There Is No Peace
Isa 11:14-16
also speaks of the smiting of a sea and a river (again in Hebrew not the
Euphrates) in connection with a large immigration of Jews from Assyria to
Israel. Isa 11:13 parallels Jer 3:18 the "house of Judah" and the
"house of Israel" become one in Diaspora and return "together"
to the Promised Land. Isa 11:14 shows any peace agreement will explode in a
two-front war on Israel’s southwest and eastern borders. "They (Israel)
shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west (Gaza strip on
the southwest Mediterranean coast where the Palestinians now reside)." The
Hebrew literally means a flying attack from behind. The picture becomes even
more vivid as the Hebrew for "shoulders" in Nu 34:11 refers to a
maritime coastù"the side (shoulder) of the sea." Any Palestinian
state or self-rule on the Gaza Strip will be short lived. Eventually, Israel by
missiles or planes will circle out into the Mediterranean and attack the
Palestinians from behind. Then the war shifts to the eastern front and Isa
11:13 (NAS) continuesù"they (Israel) will plunder the sons of the east.
They will possess Edom and Moab. And the sons of Ammon will be subject to
them."
These Old Testament nations occupied territories that are now within the Arab nation of Jordan on the East Bank of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. A war in which Israel defeats Jordan and occupies p