Is Today the Day?

Thursday, October 10, 2019

How Long O Lord

I am away this weekend but as most everyone knows by now, this past week may have seen a very large sign pointing to just where we are on God's calendar in regards to the events which will herald His return. This article is one which I wrote a few years ago concerning the Kurds and their place in end-times prophecy. One might wonder how or why such a relatively small group of people without a country manage to find themselves mentioned in the Bible, but they do, in fact, play a very large part in the period known as the Great Tribulation. I have also included some links at the end of the article that you might find interesting. I know I certainly did.

Revenge of the Kurds

“The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. “Lift up a banner on the high mountain, Raise your voice to them; Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger— Those who rejoice in My exaltation.” The noise of a multitude in the mountains, Like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts musters The army for battle. They come from a far country, From the end of heaven— The LORD and His weapons of indignation, To destroy the whole land. Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man’s heart will melt, And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the LORD of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger. It shall be as the hunted gazelle, And as a sheep that no man takes up; Every man will turn to his own people, And everyone will flee to his own land. Everyone who is found will be thrust through, And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished. “Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, Who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it. Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces, And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; Their eye will not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, Nor will it be settled from generation to generation; Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches will dwell there, And wild goats will caper there. The hyenas will howl in their citadels, And jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, And her days will not be prolonged.” Isaiah 13 NKJV

The news this past week that the United States has decided to pull its troops from the country of Syria has taken many by surprise. Our presence there has quite obviously helped allay the fears of the nation of Israel, as well as contribute to the stability of the region. The decision to remove ourselves and allow the leader of Turkey to embark on what he has described as a simple exercise to ensure "peace", is completely unprecedented and has almost no support from not only other nations, but our own politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Turkey, which many understand is a partner in the coalition of nations which will rise against Israel in the Gog Magog prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39, has embarked in the past on a war to exterminate the Kurds living in Northern Syria using the excuse that they are “terrorists” which threaten the sovereignty of Turkey. This past week, the leader of Turkey has made it plain he intends to continue to pursue this end. The Kurds have been supported by the US government in the past, but our intent to pull out raises some serious questions about their future. One would hope that the United States would not abandon these people, but in any case, my personal belief from what we read in the Bible is that the Kurds are the last people on earth anyone should consider taking on.

All of the nations which are foretold to rise against the nation of Israel, before and during the seven year tribulation, are currently present and positioned exactly as predicted in scripture. A new mid-east peace treaty is being proposed, and of course, rejected, setting up the possibility of this being the covenant of peace between Israel and its enemies which the coming man of sin “enforces”. As often said, the Middle East is a tinderbox and all that has to happen is for someone to light the match. Could this conflict between Turkey and the Kurds be that match? Only time will tell.

Many of you will recognize this passage from Isaiah as the prophesied destruction of Babylon which we are told about in the Book of Revelation. Other references to it can be found in Isaiah 14, and Jeremiah 50 and 51. When speaking on the end times, and speculating on how close we may be to the events in Revelation, a popular quote we often hear is this; “when you see the Christmas decorations going up, you know that Thanksgiving is near”. So too, we can recognize the signs of the nearness of the rapture by the preparations going on all around us for the events we are told will occur during the tribulation.

Over time I have found that there are many things taking place that at first glance are so small that they somehow escape notice. One of those might well be found in this passage from Isaiah, and we could do well to consider it in regards to current events. I am speaking of the mention towards the end of the passage of the group of people called the Medes which are described as having “no pity” as God uses them to implement His judgment on Babylon. So how can it be that Isaiah tells us that they are present during the tribulation when they no longer exist today? Or do they?

In the region of the Middle East where the countries of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey co-join, there is a relatively small group of people known as the Kurds. These people number approximately ten million or so, and at present find themselves in much the same position as Israel was before 1948 in that they have no country of their own and desperately desire one. Also, much like the Jews, they have been persecuted in every country in which they have tried to live. Yet unlike the Jews, the vast majority of Kurds are Muslim, which begs the question; why are they being persecuted in the Muslim part of the world?

In fact, it appears that the Kurds are descended from the ancient Medes, who at one time partnered with the Persians to form the Medo-Persian Empire, which was revealed by Daniel to be the second of the four great empires which were to rule that part of the world. Cyrus the Great, whom we meet during Daniels’ time, was part Mede and part Persian. He captured the city of Ecbatana (the modern day city of Hamadan in Iran) which was the capital of Media, and created the greatest empire to rule in the sixth century before Christ.

Eventually Alexander the Great arrived on the scene and defeated them as part of his campaign to conquer the known world at that time, and slowly the Medes disappear from the annals of history. Yet many of today’s Kurds believe they are descended from the ancient Medes, and although there is some disagreement among scholars as to the validity of this claim, the important point is that God tells us they will exist at the time of Revelation. The obvious conclusion then is that they are alive and well today, and considering the venom of their revenge on Babylon, they must believe they have a serious ax to grind.

As I have studied this prophecy, that is essentially the conclusion I eventually arrived at; it is revenge which motivates these people to destroy Babylon in the way that they do. The Kurds of today wish desperately for a homeland they can call their own, but the countries of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Russia and Turkey will not allow that to happen. You see, in order to do so the land would have to come from one or all of these countries and none of them are willing to allow that to happen. So the situation as it exists today is that there are ten million ethnic people descended from the ancient Medes who desperately wish to have a land they can call their own. However, not only is that dream being denied, they are under the threat of extinction because of the hatred of the countries surrounding them, especially Turkey.

You could make the point that the total destruction of Babylon during the tribulation period is one of the most significant events to occur in those seven years. That city will be Satan’s capitol on earth and the center of the anti-Christ’s power. Although its destruction is at the hands of many nations, only the Medes are mentioned by name. I believe that this is God’s way of telling us that this is personal for them. It is a logical assumption that revenge is a very good motivation for the total lack of compassion and extent of destruction which this passage describes as not being seen on this earth since God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Kurdish army goes by the name Peshmerga, a term you will often find in the news today. They are excellent, determined fighters as opposed to many other so called armies in that region and would fight to the death for their country. They have a history of fighting as professional soldiers and mercenaries, with a reputation as the fiercest fighting force in that part of the world. Are the seeds of their desire for revenge being sown right before our eyes? Will the persecution they are receiving from the surrounding countries provoke their desire to strike out at the center of the anti-Christ’s power during the tribulation? According to Isaiah it will, and if God said it, I believe it.

Keep watching.

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/138243/us-pulls-out-troops-from-syria-in-preparation-for-turkish-incursion-kurds-claim-they-were-betrayed/

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/269872

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/syrian-kurdish-official-slams-us-pullout-move/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-turkey-military-syria-criticism

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/As-US-leaves-Syria-Netanyahu-reiterates-Israel-can-rely-only-on-itself-604175

https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/analysis-is-israel-preparing-for-war-with-iran/

https://www.debka.com/netanyahu-israel-ponders-pre-emptive-operation-to-prevent-iranian-cruise-missile-strike/

https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-News/Iran-could-attack-Israel-just-as-it-did-the-Saudi-oil-fields-Galant-604055

http://www.end-times-bible-prophecy.com/the-prophetic-impact-of-a-us-withdrawal-from-syria.html

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Blood in the Water

Thus says the Lord GOD: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: “You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’—“to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. Ezekiel 38:10-12 NKJV

Many of you will recognize the passage above as the description of the motivation for the attack on Israel by the coalition of nations in the conflict known as the War of Gog/Magog revealed to us by Ezekiel the prophet. While many Bible scholars, commentators, and teachers are rightly pointing out the convergence of events pointing directly to the imminent fulfillment of this prophecy, it surprises me to find that even the secular press is referring to this account from Ezekiel in relation to the current events in the Middle East.

One of the questions I get when discussing this topic concerns the belief by this coalition that they can actually succeed in an attack on the nation of Israel when it is generally acknowledged that not only is the Israeli Defense Force one of the best armies in the world, the worst kept secret is that Israel also possesses nuclear weapons. Of course, lets not forget to mention that since its inception as a nation in 1948, Israel has resoundly won every war inflicted upon it by its enemies. So the question remains, why would these nations feel that they could succeed?

smell blood

1. To recognize or detect a weakness or vulnerability (especially a new one) in an opponent, adversary, or subject over which one is trying to gain an advantage. The phrase implies that such a weakness will then be acted upon to gain victory or advantage. Likened to the literal presence of blood in water detected by aquatic predators, such as sharks.
2. To be ready, willing, and eager to attack or fight.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Will We Know When We Go?

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first." 1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV

At sunset today in Israel, the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah arrives, which is a celebration of their New Year beginning just as the western world does on January first. It is a holiday that many believe has serious rapture possibilities written all over it for a number of reasons. Although I believe the rapture could happen at any time, and is not reliant on occurring on a Jewish holy day, it is certainly a possibility.

While Rosh Hashanah is set to begin at sundown today in Israel, I feel I should also mention that it is also called the day which no one knows because in Biblical times, the calendar was set by the sighting of the New Moon at sunset. So although on the calendar it begins today, many believe that technically we should wait to see if the moon is sighted before the celebration begins.

Concerning the rapture of the Church, however, I thought I would share some thoughts I have concerning what we might experience when that blessed hope finally occurs. As I studied the question of the rapture, I was surprised to find that some of the teachers I highly respect do not necessarily agree with some of my thoughts. Although I suppose that should not come as a surprise, it still was a disappointment to me because I believe that the Bible is pretty clear on the events surrounding our deliverance. So enjoy reading today and decide for yourself if those who choose to believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, will in fact, know when we go.

One of the things I enjoyed most when teaching young people were the questions I often got from them concerning the things we were studying in the scriptures. One of my favorites, and one I got repeatedly when teaching the rapture of the Church is if we will know or be aware that we are being raptured, or do we simply find ourselves suddenly in heaven without a clue that it was about to happen? That really is a great question and one I think many of us have thought about at one time or another, so I thought we might take a little time this morning to look closer at the event we call the rapture.

This verse in Thessalonians is probably the best one we can use in describing exactly what God says will happen on that day. If we look closely at what it says, we find that we are told there are actually three distinct things which will occur in sequence when Jesus returns for His Church. These are a shout by the Lord Himself, the voice of an archangel, and the sound of the trumpet of God. So let's look closer at each of these three and see if there is a clue to the answer to our question “will we know”?

The Shout. In this verse we are told this shout is from the Lord Jesus Himself. Now at first, it would seem understandable that Jesus might want to shout since He has been waiting over two thousand years to come get His bride, yet there may be more to it than that. We are also told here that “the dead in Christ will rise first”. So there is a sequence of events, and the first is the resurrection of the bodies of those believers who have already died to be reunited with their souls which went to be with Lord at the time of their death.

"We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV

When a believer dies, his soul goes to be with the Lord in Heaven while his body is left behind. At the time of the rapture, the Lord apparently commands their bodies to rise from the grave just as He did with Lazarus.

"Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" John 11:43 NKJV

So the first thing to happen at the time of the rapture is the resurrection of the dead in Christ. While teaching this during Sunday School, one of my students said “dude, wouldn’t it be cool to be in a cemetery when that happens?” We laugh, but I just wonder if he is right? Everybody present saw Lazarus rise, so I just wonder if we will see the dead in Christ rise?

The Voice. The only angel in the Bible to receive the title of archangel is the angel Michael, so I think it is safe to assume that is who is being talked about here. As opposed to the Lord's “shout”, we are told that we only hear the “voice” of Michael, so we are left to wonder exactly what his role here is. If you have studied this passage in the past, or study it further, you will find there are a few opinions as to what might be going on. Although any of them might be right, I am going to go as far as to suggest a new one which may or may not be accurate, but feels the most comfortable to me. As I sat and thought about why Michael might be involved, I decided to look at the other occasions where he is mentioned in the Bible. A very interesting place I found is in the book of Jude where we are told this;

"Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Jude 1:9 NKJV

Now I certainly found it curious that here we find a situation involving Michael that, along with the account of the rapture, is concerned with a body belonging to a believer. In this account in Jude, the only explanation that makes any sense is that Satan was disputing “possession” of the dead body of Moses. We can find an account of this in the non-canonical Book of Enoch, which Jude is obviously referring to. In that account Satan laid claim to the body for two reasons. The first was that Moses was a murderer because he took the life of an Egyptian, and the second was that Moses body was buried on earth, and he, Satan, is the lord over the things of this world.

So my thoughts are these; if Satan has in the past disputed over the ownership of the body of one believer, just what will his reaction to the resurrection of all dead believers bodies be? If in fact this is what happens, doesn't it make sense that the same scenario will repeat itself and the voice of the archangel is Michael again saying “The Lord rebuke you” to Satan? As I said, there are other ideas concerning this portion of the verse, but since both of these accounts of Michael concern the ownership of believers bodies, to me this seems to be a reasonable conclusion.

The Trumpet. Actually, we are told here that what we hear is the "trumpet of God". Just what exactly is this trumpet sound and what if anything makes it special? In another account of the rapture, Paul tells us this;

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:52 NKJV

Here Paul refers to this trumpet as the "last trump". This helps us identify it for from studying rabbinical sources we see that this use of the term "last trump" means it is the shofar, or ram's horn which is being used. The shofar is related to the account of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, and rabbinical tradition regards the left horn as the "first trump" and the right horn as the "last trump". There are two ways to blow the shofar, with the first being a series of short blasts which signify an alarm or bad news, and the second being one long blast which is meant to signal victory or good news. It is this last long blast which is identified as the "last trump". According to rabbinical sources the "last trump" or "tekiah gedolah" lasts as long as the blower has the lung capacity to blow. In this case, where the "trumpet of God" is being blown, one has to wonder just how long the blast will be? My personal opinion is very, very long.

The shout of Jesus calling for the resurrection of all dead believers bodies to rise, Michael rebuking Satan in the Lord's name for possession of the bodies, and the tekiah gedolah which lasts as long as the blower has breath, certainly gives rise to the thought that the answer to our original question might well be; yes! Yes we will know that the rapture is occurring because there is a sequence of three events which must take place before we go. I suspect the last trump will last long enough for all believers to know and understand that the time has come for the bride to go with the bridegroom and to rise and meet Him in the air. Come quickly Lord Jesus!

Keep watching. (and listening)

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Days of Noah or the Days of Lot?

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: “They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; “but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. “Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Luke 17:26-30 NKJV

I'm willing to bet that most of us in the Church, the body of Christ, have heard the expression "just as in the days of Noah" in regards to the rapture of the Church and just how close so many believe we are to that event occurring. It has been used by numerous people to describe where the world seems to be today, the direction our society is going, and the needed judgment this world deserves. Yet while I would not disagree with those thoughts, I feel it important to point out that when discussing these times, Jesus felt the need to use two examples for illustration and a closer examination reveals that there is an important difference between them.

While it might be safe to say that believers in the world today are in the minority, I think it is also safe to say that most everyone, including unbelievers, are familiar with the story of Noah and the Flood. Somehow the judgment of the entire world by a flood is a story that is almost universally understood and recognized. You will, of course, notice I did not go so far as to say "believed", yet somehow this story is still talked about today, and even referenced at times in the secular world. Not so much, though, is the story of Lot and his family. While still familiar with many, it is not given as much attention as Noah's story, yet Jesus chose to use it and include it when revealing what is to about to occur.

The context of Jesus' words in Luke 17 refer to answering questions from the Pharisees in regards to the coming kingdom of God. Jesus tells them simply that the kingdom they are looking for is not an external one, but one that lives within. He then turns to His disciples and seemingly changes the subject by beginning to speak about the days of the Son of Man, which is a direct reference to Himself as the Messiah. Jesus tells them the day will come where they will long to see Him, but His immediate future is to be rejected by His people and to suffer at their hands.

Jesus then refers to the days of Noah and the days of Lot to illustrate the future time when their desire to see Him will be fulfilled. While at first glance many would say that they are the same because they both speak of a time of judgment, the truth is that the two accounts are actually quite different and I believe there is a very good reason. As I looked closely at the two references, something I recognized almost immediately is that in verse 26, when speaking of the "days of Noah" Jesus refers to them as "the days of the Son of Man". In verse 30, when speaking of "the days of Lot" Jesus refers to them as "the day when the Son of Man is revealed". The question that immediately came to my mind is could it be that Jesus is talking about two different events?

Although both events, the flood of Noah and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, involved judgment, I believe it's important to note that they were also different in that in Noah's case a small group was preserved through God's judgment where in Lot's case a small group was removed before God's judgment occurred. When looking at these words of Jesus it seemed to me that the only logical conclusion was that on the one hand, Jesus was revealing a prophecy of Israel's future during the tribulation (Noah) while also revealing the future of the Church's rapture before the tribulation (Lot).

The late Chuck Missler was fond of saying that when you see the Christmas decorations going up, you know Thanksgiving is near. He was, of course, referring to the events which foreshadow the coming tribulation, which at this point in time most everyone who watches would agree are occurring in greater and greater frequency. The point of all of this is simply that when so many see and believe we are staring the rapture of the Church in the face, wouldn't it be wise to be sure we are going to be part of the family that Jesus takes away on the day He appears?

If you have never done that, I encourage you to do it today. All you need to do is pray a simple prayer like this and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sin, and begin a new life with the Lord as your Savior.

Jesus I know I am a sinner. I have sinned against you, but I know you loved me enough to send your Son, Jesus Christ to die for my sins and then rise from the dead so that I may live forever with You. Lord forgive me of my sins and come into my life and help me to begin to live for You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Hebrews 10:25 NKJV

Keep watching...for "the day when the Son of Man is revealed".

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Live Defensively

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:10-13 NKJV

Forgive me if I continue to use football analogies to illustrate some of my points in today's blog, but the truth be told, love it or hate it, most people are familiar with the game and it's rules. For those who follow the game, there is an ongoing debate that never gets resolved and that is the question "do great teams win with offense or defense"? I'm sure most would say both, but it is a question that many fans enjoy arguing about, simply because there are those who love watching a great offense at work, and others who would rather watch a great defense. In the fight against Satan which all Christians participate in, we really don't have the option to choose because God tells us exactly how we can win, and that is with a good defense
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We have been looking at Ephesians 6, and learning how God has prepared us for battle with Satan and his angels. One of the most important points Paul makes here is in verse 11 where he tells us that what is expected of us as believers is simply to "stand". He repeats this in verse 13 where he tells us that after doing everything, we stand firm. In his way, God is telling us through Paul that all that He expects from us is to play defense, not to play offense.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints Ephesians 6:14-18 NKJV

We see in verse 14 that Paul tells us we can stand firm if we remember those parts of God's armor we have already put on when we made the decision to follow Christ. Those were reminding ourselves of the truth of Christ in which we believe, remembering our position before God thanks to the righteousness of Christ, and resting in the peace that is ours from the knowledge of the first two which was promised to us in the gospel of Christ.

So where do we go from here? Well, in verse 16 Paul introduces us to the most practical piece of our armor, the one that we will need to use the most, and that is the shield of faith. Now personally I like this picture because to me, it really illustrates well what Satan is trying to do to us as believers, and the way he tries to attack. First of all, an arrow is not all that large, and if one is coming straight at you I expect it is pretty hard to see. Second, I have watched people shoot arrows with the compound bows used today and I can tell you for a fact that those arrows fly very fast. Third, they are pretty quiet. You can look at an arrow as the first of the stealth weapons, because the first time you hear them is when they hit you, and obviously by then it's too late to do anything about it. Fourth, and even more important is the kind of arrow Satan uses. It's not your everyday arrow, but a flaming arrow which not only wounds you, but starts a fire that will continue to burn until put out.

As a result, God tells us that we need to take up the shield of faith. Hopefully like me, you have had the opportunity to watch a movie that illustrates the use of a shield to defend against an attack by arrows. I know I have seen a few that have done a great job showing what it must have been like to be in a battle like that. You have an army marching forward, carrying their shields which are almost as big as they are tall, and the opposing army launching their arrows. As soon as they fire the defenders kneel down and hide behind their shields as thousands of arrows fall from the sky. As the attacking army continues to fire their arrows, the defending army simply waits behind their shields until the advancing army is out of arrows, and then they begin their attack. God tells us something in verse 16 that I think is very critical for us to remember. He says that if we take up the shield of faith we "will" be able to "extinguish all the flaming missiles of the "wicked one." Not some, but all. That to me, is a winning defense!

Since we know we can win with God's help, it is also important to understand what these arrows will look like so we can recognize the "stealth" attack by Satan. I think the clue is in how God describes them when He says they are "flaming". Obviously a flaming arrow will start a fire, which then burns until put out. How does Satan "burn" us inside? I think these arrows will have two characteristics no matter what form they may come in. Remember they are coming from Satan, and we already know his method of attack. Satan want us to doubt the truth from God in which we have believed, so first of all these flaming arrows will come out of our own thoughts. It's a sneak attack that seems to come from nowhere when we begin to doubt what we believe in. Secondly, the arrows will attack our position in Christ, the faith in Him that we have, which has already been described in the first pieces of armor we put on. You see, the key to overcoming a good defense is to first create doubt in the mind of your opponent that he is capable of defending himself. That works in any sport you can think of as well as our fight against Satan, and that is his favorite tactic.

Most important to us, though, is to understand the difference between what we believe, and the shield of "faith" which we are instructed to take up. What is faith? The best answer I can give you is faith is "acting" on your belief. You see, belief is one thing, but making decisions, taking action, demonstrating your belief in what you do is faith. Faith is always action. I can say I believe that the airplane will fly, but unless I get on board I won't be demonstrating faith. The fact that you may have doubts proves that you have faith. So apply your belief to everything, every situation you find yourself in, and you will be demonstrating faith and defeating Satan and his arrows. We need to be "active" believers, Christians who are "doing" not just "believing". Ever notice how the defensive players in football are always moving around before the snap? That's what we need to do as believers, be moving targets that make it harder for Satan to hit.

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." James 4:7 NKJV

Here in the book of James we are told that if we "resist the devil", (another way of saying take up the shield of faith and act), the devil "will flee from you". We can win this battle. God has not only told us how, but given us the tools. We only need to follow His instructions to be successful in our fight. But the best part of all is knowing we only have to play defense.

Keep watching.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Preparation is Key

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:10-13 NKJV

I'm sure most of us are familiar with the picture of a coach giving his players a pep talk before the big game. I know I've seen many examples on the television, as well as experiencing some back in the days when I was active in sports. Everyone is suited up, ready to go out and do battle, and the coach calls everyone together for a last minute talk before they enter the playing field. How many of us though, have ever really given that picture a lot of thought? I mean, just why does the coach do that? Haven't they done all the preparation in the preceding week? Obviously, if so many coaches do it there must be a good reason and purpose behind it. Even more so if you look at the passage in Ephesians and see that Paul essentially does the exact same thing.

Earlier in the book, Paul introduces us to our adversaries, and warns us of what we should expect as far as the their tactics. Now, in Ephesians 6:13-15 Paul in reality gives us a little pep talk before we go out and reminds us of the reasons we need not fear. In these verses Paul makes the point that there are three things God has already done for us that have prepared us for the battle we face.

At first, for the second time we are told to put on the whole armor of God, which, if you think about it, obviously is very important or Paul would not have repeated himself so quickly. But there may be another reason as well, and that is that we are being reminded because it is something that may be easily forgotten! I guess sometimes the simple things are the first to be forgotten, so Paul here is simply reminding us not to forget. From here Paul goes on to describe the first three pieces of our armor.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Ephesians 6:14-16 NKJV

I think it is important to note that when Paul reveals these three pieces, he introduces each with the past tense verb "having". In other words, we have already put these three on and he is simply reminding us that we are already wearing them. When was that you ask? Well, I believe what Paul is telling us is that we put these three on when we made our decision to allow Christ to come into our lives and asked forgiveness of our sins. In other words, when we became Christians, we were issued these pieces to wear once and for all, and Paul is simply reminding us that we are wearing them.

The first is the "girdle" of truth. I know, you really are surprised to find you are wearing a girdle, but let's see if I can explain this in a way you can understand. In the Roman Army, soldiers wore short skirts not unlike a Scottish kilt. Over this, they wore a longer cloak which was cinched at the waist by a girdle, not unlike a wide belt. When they prepared to go into battle they would tuck their cloak up under the girdle to free up their legs for quick movements. It was the first thing they did before battle, so what Paul is saying here is the first thing we need to do before battle is be reminded that we are fighting for the truth! When we made our decision to follow Christ, we decided Jesus was truth embodied, and we believe in His promises. We are not fighting for something that is false, but we fight for the truth of God, and His message to us. This is usually where Satan attacks us first, trying to get us to doubt the truth in which we have chosen to believe.

The second thing Paul tells us is that when we first believed, we put on the "breastplate of righteousness". Now it's easy to see that the breastplate protects our "vital" organs. These are the parts of our bodies that ensure our very lives. But what is righteousness to the believer? It is our standing before God, and the assurance that we are an acceptable sacrifice to Him. How often does Satan attack us with doubts about our worthiness to approach God? He points out our weaknesses, shortcomings and failures, hoping to cause us to doubt. What Paul is reminding us here is that when we believed, Christ became our "righteousness"; in other words although we can never do anything on our own to approach God, Jesus did it all by sacrificing Himself for us. It is His sacrifice, His righteousness, that allows us into the presence of God.

The third piece of armor Paul tells us about is the shoes we wear called the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. Now as someone who spent many years running, I can tell you that good shoes are one of the most important pieces of equipment you need to run a race. How often does Paul describe our Christian lives as a race? And we are talking about a long one, not a quick sprint, so the shoes we wear need to go the distance. But the word translated "equipment" or "preparation" depending on your translation, actually means "readiness" in the Greek. So what Paul is telling us here is that the third piece of our armor is actually a mental one. It is the knowledge and confidence in the Gospel that gives us a "peace" or calmness and courage. In other words, there is no need to be afraid of anything Satan can throw at us because we are at peace with the knowledge of the Gospel we believe in.

How like a good coach Paul is being here. We are getting ready to go into battle for our Lord, and Paul takes the time to remind us that we are already prepared to do battle because we are wearing three pieces of armor that were gifts from God when we first made the decision to believe. All three of these are designed to give us confidence and peace going into battle. It has become painfully apparent to most believers today that the attacks we face are increasing dramatically. Many have shared that not only are these attacks coming from our enemies, but from those close to us as well. Since we have been warned that this will occur, even more so as we approach our deliverance from this earth, there is only one question we should ask ourselves. Are you ready?

Keep Watching.

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Why We Watch

As we approach the time of the fall feasts in Israel, many believe we are entering the season of the rapture of the Church. Although I tend to believe that the rapture could occur at any time, a position called immanency, there are reasonable arguments supporting the rapture happening on or around the feast days. There are those, however, who choose not to believe in the rapture of the Church and/or confuse it with the Second Coming of Christ which occurs at the end of the Great Tribulation. The following article caught my attention this past week and I thought it very well written and wanted to share it with you today.

7 Reasons Why the Rapture is Not the Second Coming

by Jonathan Brentner

Is the rapture unique or just another way of describing the second coming?

Pastors, teachers, and Christian writers have differing opinions on this. One assistant pastor at a Bible-believing church once told me he did not believe in the rapture. Along with such denials, many today assert that the book of Revelation is mostly allegory or past history, which necessitates that the rapture and second coming be the same event.

When I look at Scripture, I see two unique events separated by a period of time. The New Testament teaches Jesus will appear to take believers back to His Father’s house in heaven.

As I separate these two future events, I assume a premillennial belief. A time of great tribulation is coming upon the world just as Jesus taught in Matthew 24 and Revelation 6-16 describes. After that, Jesus will rule for a thousand years seated upon the throne of David just the Scriptures proclaim. After that, He will usher in the eternal state of Revelation 21-22.

If premillennialism is true, and it absolutely is, then then the following differences between the rapture and second coming passages argue strongly for regarding them as totally separate events.

1. The Place of the Resurrection in the Order of Events

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul tells us the “dead in Christ will rise first.” After raising the dead saints, Jesus catches up living saints to meet him in the clouds. We see this same sequence in 1 Corinthians 15:52: When Jesus comes for us, He raises the dead in Christ first.

During the rapture, the resurrection of the saints occurs before anything else; it happens immediately.

In Revelation 20, however, the resurrection of the dead tribulation saints occurs after Jesus’ triumphal return to earth, His defeat of the vast armies gathered against him, His destruction of the false prophet and antichrist, and the imprisonment of Satan. After all of these time-consuming events, the Lord sets up thrones on the earth and raises the dead tribulation saints from the grave (Rev. 19:11-20:6). The resurrection of saints happens late in the sequence of events in Christ’s return to earth, perhaps not even the same day.

The place of the resurrection in the order of events is totally different in passages dealing with the rapture versus those of the second coming. How can they be the same event?

2. The Participants of the Resurrection

Not only does the place of the resurrection differ in the order of events, but so is the identification of its participants. John identifies those Jesus raises from the dead at His second coming as those killed during the tribulation (Rev. 20:4). When Paul writes about the rapture, he says Jesus will raise up all the “dead in Christ,” rather than a subset of believers as John specifies in Revelation (1 Thess. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52).

John Walvoord made this point about the difference in participants in the two resurrections of the saints:

It is most impressive that when the resurrection is mentioned in Revelation 20:4, it is specifically limited to the tribulation saints as contrasted to the church. If the tribulation saints were a part of the church, why was not the expression “the dead in Christ” used as in I Thessalonians 4? The fact that this group is singled out for resurrection, as if they were a special body of saints, points to the conclusion that the church had been previously raptured.[i]

When Jesus comes for his church, he raises all the dead in Christ. After his return to earth, he only raises those saints who perished during the tribulation.

3. The Place Jesus Gathers the Saints

In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Paul states that believers who are alive will be “caught up” along with the resurrected saints to” meet the Lord in the air.” Jesus does not come to the earth, but gathers us to Himself in the clouds. He meets us “in the air.”

This differs significantly with passages related to the second coming. Rather than catch believers up to meet him in the air, Jesus returns to the earth with much fanfare, signs in heavens, and defeats all His enemies in a great battle. He then sends out his angels to gather living believers and unbelievers for judgment (Matt. 25:31-46). Notice that He gathers both believers and unbelievers to a place on the earth, not in the air.

Do you see how this differs significantly from the rapture passages? Rather than meet believers in the clouds as Jesus does during the rapture, with the second coming He sends out His angels to gather His elect to a place on the earth.

4. The Transformation of Living Believers

In Paul’s 1 Corinthian 15 description of the rapture, Jesus transforms the bodies of living believers as well as those already in the grave; He gives both imperishable bodies (vv. 53-54). We also see this emphasis in Philippians 3:20-21, where the apostle again states that when the Lord comes for us He “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.”

In passages that speak of Jesus’ second coming, we do not find such a transformation of living believers. Yes, after his return to earth Jesus sends his angels to gather the elect, but the text does not say anywhere that He gives them imperishable bodies.

To the saints who survive the tribulation, Jesus invites them to “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Mat. 25:34). Jesus does not mention any transformation of their bodies.

Furthermore, Scripture tells us people will enter His kingdom with natural bodies.

5. The Presence of People in Natural Bodies During the Millennium

When Jesus returns to earth, He judges all those alive at the time. Matthew 25:31-46 depicts Jesus separating the sheep from the goats, believers from those who are not. The former group enters the kingdom while Jesus sends the others away to “eternal punishment.” Believers enter the kingdom in natural bodies as noted earlier.

If the rapture and second coming are the same the event, all the believers would already possess glorified bodies before this judgment. Jesus would not need to separate the goats from the sheep because everyone that remained would be goats. Everyone with a glorified body would automatically be a part of God’s kingdom while all others would face condemnation.

If the rapture and second coming are the same event, no one would enter the thousand year reign of Jesus in natural bodies; everyone would possess immortal ones. This, however, is far, far different from what both the Old and New Testament tell us about the millennium, Jesus’ kingdom.

John MacArthur says this about the distinction:

If God raptures and glorifies all believers just prior to the inauguration of the millennial kingdom (as a posttribulational Rapture demands), no one would be left to populate and propagate the earthly kingdom of Christ promised to Israel. It is not within the Lord’s plan and purpose to use glorified individuals to propagate the earth during the Millennium. Therefore, the Rapture needs to occur earlier so that after God has raptured all believers, He can save more souls—including Israel’s remnant—during the seven-year Tribulation. Those people can then enter the millennial kingdom in earthly form.[ii]

Zechariah 14:9-19 refers to people during the millennium that have the capacity to sin. At this time when Jesus rules over the nations of the earth, people rebel against Him by refusing to come to Jerusalem to worship Him in Jerusalem. At the end of the millennium there will be a massive uprising against the Lord as described in Revelation 20:7-9.

These scenarios cannot exist if the rapture and second coming are the same event or even if one happens shortly after the other because all who are left would have glorified bodies and thus be incapable of sinning.

Isaiah 65:19-20 speaks of a time after Jesus’ glorious return when there will be infants signifying marriage and reproduction. The passage also says death and sin will exist, things not possible if the rapture and second coming occur at the same time. Living believers at the end of the tribulation must enter the millennium in natural bodies, which tells us there must a significant amount of time between the two events.

6. The Destination of Believers

The accounts of Jesus’ second coming in the Gospels and in the book of Revelation do not include any return to heaven either for the Lord or for us. This differs from the passages related to the rapture. In John 14:2-3, Jesus promises to take us back to “place,” the physical dwelling he is preparing for us in his “Father’s house.”

Jesus’ assurance in John 14 consists of taking us back to heaven. Why mention His Father’s house in heaven in this context if he does not intend to take us there when he comes for us? What’ the purpose of mentioning the place He’s preparing for us if not to take us there?

The meeting in the air of 1 Thessalonians 4:17, foreign to passages dealing with the second coming, also implies a return to heaven.

Paul says this in Colossians 3:4, “When Christ who is your life appears, they you also will appear with him in glory.” Once the rapture occurs, we will be in glory rather than the earth; our destination is heaven!

The feet of those on the earth at the time of second coming never leave the ground; there is no meeting in the air. The angels gather the “elect” to a place on the earth (Matt. 24:31; 25:32). The same with the resurrected tribulation saints, they meet Jesus on the earth and remain there.

But with the rapture, we meet Jesus in the air and He takes us home.

7. The Rapture as a Mystery

In 1 Corinthians 15:51, the apostle Paul begins his description of the rapture with these words, “Behold! I tell you a mystery.” Last year, my wife and I saw the movie Murder on the Orient Express, a depiction of the novel written by Agatha Christie. This story is a mystery; we do not know who murdered the man on the train until the end of the movie. This is what we typically think of when we hear that something is a “mystery.”

The use of the word “mystery” in the New Testament differs much from this definition. The word as the apostles used it designates something new, a truth God did not reveal in the Old Testament. When Paul introduces the Lord’s return for his church in the book of 1 Thessalonians he says, “For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord . . .” (4:15). He was telling the Thessalonians something new.

On the other hand, we find references to the second coming all through the Old Testament. We even see from the book of Jude that God revealed the Lord’s second coming to Enoch who lived before the flood of Noah (see Jude 14-15). The second coming was definitely not something new in the church era; God revealed the second coming to his people long before the birth of Jesus.

Why all the fuss in separating the rapture from the Second Coming? It matters because it relates to our expectation of what comes next for us.

If the two represent the same event, then our immediate prospect is not Jesus’ appearing but seven frightful years of devastating tribulation on the earth. On the other hand, if they are distinct events separated by seven years, we live in anticipation of suddenly being in Jesus’ presence.

The New Testament never tells us to prepare for the tribulation. It does, however, teach us to wait expectantly for the Lord’s return as something that could happen at any moment. Our expectation and hope is Jesus’ appearing to take us to His Father’s house in heaven (John 14:2-3).

This also argues strongly for the rapture occurring before the time of the tribulation. If the two cannot be the same event, as shown above, and must be separated by a significant amount of time, it seems logical to place it before the tribulation.

https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/https/jonathan-brentner-g8fgsquarespacecom/config/2019/8/26/7-reasons-why-the-rapture-is-not-the-second-coming

It should come as no surprise to those who follow my blog that my belief is that the rapture is the event we as believers are commanded to watch for. Furthermore, to those who choose to do so, it seems readily apparent we are on the verge of our departure. My hope and prayer is that you have made the decision to believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior so you too can meet Him in the air when He returns to take us home.

Keep Watching