Summary of Bible references on the Rapture
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John 5:44 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?
This is a good verse to examine our heart with. Are you seeking honour that comes from God only or from one another? If you believe then you would only be concerned with honor that comes from God.
This is a good verse to examine our heart with. Are you seeking honour that comes from God only or from one another? If you believe then you would only be concerned with honor that comes from God.
So one of the key concepts concerning the tribulation is that it is seven years long, the length of one full Shemitah. Now it makes sense that if it is seven years long that it is a Shemitah because this is a Biblical concept and after seven Shemitah's the next year is the Jubilee year. Now think of the implication of this.
First, it reduces the possible years that the tribulation could begin on to one seventh and it reduces the possible days the tribulation could start on by one 365th.
We may not know the day or the hour, but we can certainly use the Bible to eliminate days, and years that are not aligned.
Please note, this does not apply to the rapture. It is unlikely for the rapture to take place the same day the tribulation begins. There are many, many Biblically based reasons to say this, but suffice it to say the rapture will probably occur 6 months to two weeks before the tribulation begins. Personally I think it will have to be at least a month before the tribulation begins. The two biggest typologies are the wedding of Jacob with Leah was seven years before the wedding of Rachel. However, it is highly unlikely it was exactly, to the day because that would mean that both women had the same wedding anniversary. The second type is David reigning in Hebron (heaven) for 7 1/2 years before coming to Jerusalem. So even if we know that the 70th week refers to a shemitah and the day that a Shemitah begins and which years are the first year of a Shemitah it does not mean we know the day or hour of the rapture.
Anyway, I say all that because this brother does a very strong job of showing how 2024 is the beginning of the next Shemitah (Rosh Hashanah) and if you subscribe to this idea then that means if the tribulation does not start this fall that it will not start for another seven years.
First, it reduces the possible years that the tribulation could begin on to one seventh and it reduces the possible days the tribulation could start on by one 365th.
We may not know the day or the hour, but we can certainly use the Bible to eliminate days, and years that are not aligned.
Please note, this does not apply to the rapture. It is unlikely for the rapture to take place the same day the tribulation begins. There are many, many Biblically based reasons to say this, but suffice it to say the rapture will probably occur 6 months to two weeks before the tribulation begins. Personally I think it will have to be at least a month before the tribulation begins. The two biggest typologies are the wedding of Jacob with Leah was seven years before the wedding of Rachel. However, it is highly unlikely it was exactly, to the day because that would mean that both women had the same wedding anniversary. The second type is David reigning in Hebron (heaven) for 7 1/2 years before coming to Jerusalem. So even if we know that the 70th week refers to a shemitah and the day that a Shemitah begins and which years are the first year of a Shemitah it does not mean we know the day or hour of the rapture.
Anyway, I say all that because this brother does a very strong job of showing how 2024 is the beginning of the next Shemitah (Rosh Hashanah) and if you subscribe to this idea then that means if the tribulation does not start this fall that it will not start for another seven years.
This is a strange fire they have
4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
There are subversives in our midst, that is not up for discussion, that is what Jude tells us. What are they doing? They are trying to peel us away from the faith by denying the words of the Bible, either by taking something away or by adding something to it. The goal is to pervert the word of God and thus to deny Jesus Christ our Lord. In brief there are tares among the wheat. The sower sows the word of God, an enemy sows the weeds among the wheat. This is why the book is written.
Paul says the same thing. Galatians 2:4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.
Think about that, the goal is not simply to peel you away from the faith but to make you slaves. What is the very clear and obvious goal of the world's celebration of Christmas? To make everyone go out and buy junk, to be a slave of this economy. To do this they had to spy out our gospel, and then fashion a false gospel that would then be used to manipulate all the Christians. Once again this isn't up for debate, we are told repeatedly in the gospels and the epistles that wolves will come in among the sheep. This is particularly true in the latter times. Enoch, the father of Methuselah warned us of this.
Apostasy is not simply error or even getting tangled up in a heresy. It signifies a rejection of the truth of God. The examples are Judas, Cain, Balaam and Korah. These four are Biblical examples of apostates, false prophets. Think about that, we have had apostates since Cain and Abel. All of the world was founded by an apostate. Cain was part of the family of Adam. Balaam was a prophet of God, Korah was a priest, and Judas was one of the twelve. False prophets have an impressive resume.
These people have "secretly slipped in beside you". They are ungodly, like Cain. The world was started by Cain, he had a mark on him, he was a murderer. He is out to annul the word of God. This is what the world has done with Christmas becoming Xmas. They could care less about the babe of Bethlehem, in fact they eliminate all of that because "it could offend some". All they care about is having kids sit on Santa's lap and beg their parents for junk being sold at the store. Look at the Thanksgiving day parade, they are not celebrating the birth of Jesus. Ungodly means they don't have a reverential awe of God. That describes the world. They have the form but deny the power. They will take various "Props" like these floats in the parade, they'll put up a poster that says "Peace and good will" but they will refuse to put up anything about Jesus Christ, the power of our celebration. They are happy to have the outward appearance of celebrating the Lord without the inward reality.
19 Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
Did you catch that? They are accusing Jesus of being a bastard. This is what the world thinks of Jesus birth. Don't tell me that the world is celebrating Jesus birth at Christmas. These guys are supposed to be religious leaders and yet Jesus says they don't know God.
44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
They are descended from Cain. The whole Santa Claus story is a lie, the ones who came up with this it was easy, like speaking their native language, the whole thing comes from a liar, and the father of lies. How many lies come forth from the whole "Santa Claus story"? You have reindeers, red nose reindeers, snow men that come to life, elves, grinches, Charlie Brown, etc.
They will pervert the grace of God like Balaam. Read Balaam and he was legitimately a prophet of God who knows God's word but he perverted it. He thought that he would sell his ability to speak God's word to the highest bidder and instead of using it to build up he would use it to destroy. They push this celebration as a "Christian celebration" when in fact it is a thinly veiled Saturnalia celebration. Balaam taught the believers to commit fornication and idol worship. He teaches that grace allows you to do anything, doesn't matter whereas Titus tells us the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Loyalty to anything other than the word of God perverts the grace of God.
And they deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ just like Korah who rebelled against Moses. Some of us are pointing out that the Christmas tree is not in the Bible, it is not in our covenant with God and that this is a pagan practice. We are saying this is strange fire that they have.
4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
There are subversives in our midst, that is not up for discussion, that is what Jude tells us. What are they doing? They are trying to peel us away from the faith by denying the words of the Bible, either by taking something away or by adding something to it. The goal is to pervert the word of God and thus to deny Jesus Christ our Lord. In brief there are tares among the wheat. The sower sows the word of God, an enemy sows the weeds among the wheat. This is why the book is written.
Paul says the same thing. Galatians 2:4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.
Think about that, the goal is not simply to peel you away from the faith but to make you slaves. What is the very clear and obvious goal of the world's celebration of Christmas? To make everyone go out and buy junk, to be a slave of this economy. To do this they had to spy out our gospel, and then fashion a false gospel that would then be used to manipulate all the Christians. Once again this isn't up for debate, we are told repeatedly in the gospels and the epistles that wolves will come in among the sheep. This is particularly true in the latter times. Enoch, the father of Methuselah warned us of this.
Apostasy is not simply error or even getting tangled up in a heresy. It signifies a rejection of the truth of God. The examples are Judas, Cain, Balaam and Korah. These four are Biblical examples of apostates, false prophets. Think about that, we have had apostates since Cain and Abel. All of the world was founded by an apostate. Cain was part of the family of Adam. Balaam was a prophet of God, Korah was a priest, and Judas was one of the twelve. False prophets have an impressive resume.
These people have "secretly slipped in beside you". They are ungodly, like Cain. The world was started by Cain, he had a mark on him, he was a murderer. He is out to annul the word of God. This is what the world has done with Christmas becoming Xmas. They could care less about the babe of Bethlehem, in fact they eliminate all of that because "it could offend some". All they care about is having kids sit on Santa's lap and beg their parents for junk being sold at the store. Look at the Thanksgiving day parade, they are not celebrating the birth of Jesus. Ungodly means they don't have a reverential awe of God. That describes the world. They have the form but deny the power. They will take various "Props" like these floats in the parade, they'll put up a poster that says "Peace and good will" but they will refuse to put up anything about Jesus Christ, the power of our celebration. They are happy to have the outward appearance of celebrating the Lord without the inward reality.
19 Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
Did you catch that? They are accusing Jesus of being a bastard. This is what the world thinks of Jesus birth. Don't tell me that the world is celebrating Jesus birth at Christmas. These guys are supposed to be religious leaders and yet Jesus says they don't know God.
44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
They are descended from Cain. The whole Santa Claus story is a lie, the ones who came up with this it was easy, like speaking their native language, the whole thing comes from a liar, and the father of lies. How many lies come forth from the whole "Santa Claus story"? You have reindeers, red nose reindeers, snow men that come to life, elves, grinches, Charlie Brown, etc.
They will pervert the grace of God like Balaam. Read Balaam and he was legitimately a prophet of God who knows God's word but he perverted it. He thought that he would sell his ability to speak God's word to the highest bidder and instead of using it to build up he would use it to destroy. They push this celebration as a "Christian celebration" when in fact it is a thinly veiled Saturnalia celebration. Balaam taught the believers to commit fornication and idol worship. He teaches that grace allows you to do anything, doesn't matter whereas Titus tells us the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Loyalty to anything other than the word of God perverts the grace of God.
And they deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ just like Korah who rebelled against Moses. Some of us are pointing out that the Christmas tree is not in the Bible, it is not in our covenant with God and that this is a pagan practice. We are saying this is strange fire that they have.
You need both a green thumb and a black thumb
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
We have two gardens, one is the flesh, the other is the spirit. You want to have the spiritual garden to grow but you want the fleshly garden to wither and die.
This is easier done than you might think. First cut off anything that is feeding or watering the flesh garden. When I was baptized as a freshman in college I cut a lot of things off. I was living on campus, I moved off campus into a brothers house with several other Christians. I stopped working as a bartender at the schools bar (back then 18 year olds could drink). We had no TV at the brothers house. I also quit the Rugby team. You may think that these things "aren't bad", that isn't the issue. They are branches that don't bring forth fruit. This freed up hours, maybe twenty hours a week.
Then you need to spend that time sowing to the spirit. When I would study every hour I would stop and spend 5 minutes in the Bible. Over the course of the day I would often read 20 chapters in the Bible. I went to five meetings a week with the church. I had CDs where they would sing the books of the Bible. I would listen to these while on the bus going to and from school. There was an older brother that lived near me and I'd go to his house often for fellowship. Also I did some odd jobs to supplement my income, working with various brothers.
You cannot simply say "I'm going to spend more time in the word". More time doing one thing means less time doing something else. This is what the Lord meant when He said
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Is there a loss when you cut these things off? Did I lose something by not having a TV? Probably, in a profit and loss statement there would probably be a huge profit but also a very small loss by not having that TV. The same thing with the Rugby Team and my job at the bar. You can point to things about those activities that were "profitable". But in the grand scheme of things they were a net loss. The question is not whether they were "bad" or "unprofitable" but was I sowing to the spirit? Because if not it is an opening to the flesh. The world is a river, it is flowing downhill, either you are swimming upstream or you are floating downstream. So it isn't good enough to simply cut these things off. If you do that you will be bored, lonely, and make it seem like being a Christian has made you into a stick in the mud. You have to replace that time with time that is sowing to the spirit.
This was over 40 years ago. Today I am retired. My schedule is two hours in the word of God every day, another two hours listening to various people expound the word of God. In addition about 2-3 hours listening to the news concerning current events. I also spend about 3 hours a day involved in some kind of ministry or church service. In addition I will put about 10 posts a day in this blog. All of these activities keep me busy with things that are sowing to my spirit.
This is why I say you can't simply have a green thumb, you need the time to spend sowing to the spirit and that means cutting off things that are not profitable. As a result your fleshly pursuits will dry up, wither and turn brown. That is a good thing, not something to mourn over.
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
We have two gardens, one is the flesh, the other is the spirit. You want to have the spiritual garden to grow but you want the fleshly garden to wither and die.
This is easier done than you might think. First cut off anything that is feeding or watering the flesh garden. When I was baptized as a freshman in college I cut a lot of things off. I was living on campus, I moved off campus into a brothers house with several other Christians. I stopped working as a bartender at the schools bar (back then 18 year olds could drink). We had no TV at the brothers house. I also quit the Rugby team. You may think that these things "aren't bad", that isn't the issue. They are branches that don't bring forth fruit. This freed up hours, maybe twenty hours a week.
Then you need to spend that time sowing to the spirit. When I would study every hour I would stop and spend 5 minutes in the Bible. Over the course of the day I would often read 20 chapters in the Bible. I went to five meetings a week with the church. I had CDs where they would sing the books of the Bible. I would listen to these while on the bus going to and from school. There was an older brother that lived near me and I'd go to his house often for fellowship. Also I did some odd jobs to supplement my income, working with various brothers.
You cannot simply say "I'm going to spend more time in the word". More time doing one thing means less time doing something else. This is what the Lord meant when He said
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Is there a loss when you cut these things off? Did I lose something by not having a TV? Probably, in a profit and loss statement there would probably be a huge profit but also a very small loss by not having that TV. The same thing with the Rugby Team and my job at the bar. You can point to things about those activities that were "profitable". But in the grand scheme of things they were a net loss. The question is not whether they were "bad" or "unprofitable" but was I sowing to the spirit? Because if not it is an opening to the flesh. The world is a river, it is flowing downhill, either you are swimming upstream or you are floating downstream. So it isn't good enough to simply cut these things off. If you do that you will be bored, lonely, and make it seem like being a Christian has made you into a stick in the mud. You have to replace that time with time that is sowing to the spirit.
This was over 40 years ago. Today I am retired. My schedule is two hours in the word of God every day, another two hours listening to various people expound the word of God. In addition about 2-3 hours listening to the news concerning current events. I also spend about 3 hours a day involved in some kind of ministry or church service. In addition I will put about 10 posts a day in this blog. All of these activities keep me busy with things that are sowing to my spirit.
This is why I say you can't simply have a green thumb, you need the time to spend sowing to the spirit and that means cutting off things that are not profitable. As a result your fleshly pursuits will dry up, wither and turn brown. That is a good thing, not something to mourn over.
The word that we wash up in is also the word that we stand on.
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.
Do you remember the amazing delivery of Israel from all kinds of enemies in Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy? Pillar of fire, Pillar of cloud, the Red Sea parts, the Earth splits and swallows up the rebellious. 1 million leave Egypt, 2 made it into the good land. It was an 11 day journey that took 38 years. Were those 1 million who didn't make it, were they saved? What is the issue? Apostasy, falling away, the destruction that comes upon them because of that.
Read the history and it is very clear, God reserves the right to destroy that people if they become guilty of certain forms of unbelief, or other sins to which unbelief leads. Now we can certainly remember the Lord's promise that we shall never perish and no man shall pluck us out of the Lord's hand. It is the same Bible and the same God. You can have eternal security and still suffer destruction.
Those Israelites who were destroyed had eaten the Passover, they had put the blood on the doorpost and they passed through the Red Sea typifying the waters of baptism. Repeatedly God calls them "my people". Now there were some who snuck in there, the "mixed multitude" so it is reasonable to think that not all, not 100% were saved, but the vast majority were. Remember of all those who crossed the Red Sea none ended up back in Egypt.
So then to understand the unbelief that caused them to be destroyed we have to turn to Numbers 14. The spies come back with an evil report and they lift up their voice and cry "would to God that we had died in the land of Egypt or in this wilderness"! God responds "as you have spoken in my ears so will I do to you"! Their destruction in the wilderness was an answer to their prayer! In their prayer they say their little ones were going to be a prey so God says all those you said would be a prey, them I will bring in.
Paul, the same guy who said we are saved by grace, and we are justified by faith, this same guy said "Now all these things happened unto them for ensample: and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come". Nothing in scripture is extraneous. Everything is for our learning. So I ask you if we were to look at the Israelites in the wilderness would it be the 999,998 that were celebrating Christmas according to the world or was it the 2 (Caleb and Joshua) who were and the 999,998 were saying no way? Who was crying about we can't follow God because our children will become a prey? Some will argue that there was nothing in the OT about Christmas. Paul says "with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were for our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted". OK, no "Christmas" in the wilderness. Do we have "evil things" in the celebration of Christmas? Any chance God was not well pleased with some of this?
There are a lot of types in this story: Egypt a type of the world, Pharaoh a type of the Devil and his armies, Moses a type of Christ, Red Sea a type of the Baptism, Manna a type of the bread of life. So what do you think the destruction of all these Israelites who were destroyed due to unbelief is? Jude tells us clearly it is a type of the apostasy. The people who were overthrown were out of Egypt but not in Canaan. Look at the seven churches and especially at Sardis, a name that you are alive and yet you are dead.
Returning to Paul's word -- "we should not lust after evil things, as they lusted, neither should we become idolaters as it is written they sat down to eat and drink they rose up to play. The New Testament tells us to flee from idolatry. John tells us to keep ourselves from idols. An idol is anything that you put between you and the Lord, anything that displaces the Lord. Once again, let's ask, how many of the Israelites were involved in Idolatry? Moses and Joshua weren't, but apart from them who wasn't? Who wasn't involved in the golden calf idolatry? Neither commit fornication -- Novels, movies, cable TV, modern music is all involved in fornication. Consider those who died by being bitten by the snakes. They said they loathed the manna, that was the word of God that we need for our daily sustenance. If they had been in the word daily they would not have been bitten by the fiery serpents. Think about Christians today who got the jab and now regret it. I wonder what their time in the word was like prior to that?
What is the lesson? We are under constant attack from the great serpent and the word protects us. Once the church leaves the word of God they open themselves up to attack. The only cure is to look on the crucified Jesus.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall
In Revelation they stand on the glassy sea. The laver where we wash in the word is called a glassy sea. The word that we wash up in is also the word that we stand on.
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.
Do you remember the amazing delivery of Israel from all kinds of enemies in Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy? Pillar of fire, Pillar of cloud, the Red Sea parts, the Earth splits and swallows up the rebellious. 1 million leave Egypt, 2 made it into the good land. It was an 11 day journey that took 38 years. Were those 1 million who didn't make it, were they saved? What is the issue? Apostasy, falling away, the destruction that comes upon them because of that.
Read the history and it is very clear, God reserves the right to destroy that people if they become guilty of certain forms of unbelief, or other sins to which unbelief leads. Now we can certainly remember the Lord's promise that we shall never perish and no man shall pluck us out of the Lord's hand. It is the same Bible and the same God. You can have eternal security and still suffer destruction.
Those Israelites who were destroyed had eaten the Passover, they had put the blood on the doorpost and they passed through the Red Sea typifying the waters of baptism. Repeatedly God calls them "my people". Now there were some who snuck in there, the "mixed multitude" so it is reasonable to think that not all, not 100% were saved, but the vast majority were. Remember of all those who crossed the Red Sea none ended up back in Egypt.
So then to understand the unbelief that caused them to be destroyed we have to turn to Numbers 14. The spies come back with an evil report and they lift up their voice and cry "would to God that we had died in the land of Egypt or in this wilderness"! God responds "as you have spoken in my ears so will I do to you"! Their destruction in the wilderness was an answer to their prayer! In their prayer they say their little ones were going to be a prey so God says all those you said would be a prey, them I will bring in.
Paul, the same guy who said we are saved by grace, and we are justified by faith, this same guy said "Now all these things happened unto them for ensample: and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come". Nothing in scripture is extraneous. Everything is for our learning. So I ask you if we were to look at the Israelites in the wilderness would it be the 999,998 that were celebrating Christmas according to the world or was it the 2 (Caleb and Joshua) who were and the 999,998 were saying no way? Who was crying about we can't follow God because our children will become a prey? Some will argue that there was nothing in the OT about Christmas. Paul says "with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were for our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted". OK, no "Christmas" in the wilderness. Do we have "evil things" in the celebration of Christmas? Any chance God was not well pleased with some of this?
There are a lot of types in this story: Egypt a type of the world, Pharaoh a type of the Devil and his armies, Moses a type of Christ, Red Sea a type of the Baptism, Manna a type of the bread of life. So what do you think the destruction of all these Israelites who were destroyed due to unbelief is? Jude tells us clearly it is a type of the apostasy. The people who were overthrown were out of Egypt but not in Canaan. Look at the seven churches and especially at Sardis, a name that you are alive and yet you are dead.
Returning to Paul's word -- "we should not lust after evil things, as they lusted, neither should we become idolaters as it is written they sat down to eat and drink they rose up to play. The New Testament tells us to flee from idolatry. John tells us to keep ourselves from idols. An idol is anything that you put between you and the Lord, anything that displaces the Lord. Once again, let's ask, how many of the Israelites were involved in Idolatry? Moses and Joshua weren't, but apart from them who wasn't? Who wasn't involved in the golden calf idolatry? Neither commit fornication -- Novels, movies, cable TV, modern music is all involved in fornication. Consider those who died by being bitten by the snakes. They said they loathed the manna, that was the word of God that we need for our daily sustenance. If they had been in the word daily they would not have been bitten by the fiery serpents. Think about Christians today who got the jab and now regret it. I wonder what their time in the word was like prior to that?
What is the lesson? We are under constant attack from the great serpent and the word protects us. Once the church leaves the word of God they open themselves up to attack. The only cure is to look on the crucified Jesus.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall
In Revelation they stand on the glassy sea. The laver where we wash in the word is called a glassy sea. The word that we wash up in is also the word that we stand on.
Example of the Corporate punishment of the Angels, part 1
Jude 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
Three views of this passage, part 1
1 -- Not intended to know any more than is here even though the other two examples given (Israel and Sodom and Gomorrah) expect you to know in great detail what is there. This is something of a cop out view, "let's not talk anymore about this".
2. -- The second view is that these angels which sinned had to do with the Fall of Lucifer and so we can explore a lot more on that subject from the Old Testament and even from the New Testament.
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" Isaiah 14:12
This chapter is about the king of Babylon and yet it turns in the discussion to where he is talking about Lucifer. This shows that Lucifer was the power behind the king of Babylon. The source of his error was 5 "I will" statements.
I will ascend into heaven
I will exalt my throne
I will sit also upon the mount
I will ascend above the heights
I will be like the most high
Now let's see how this relates to Christmas. This is about the Son of God, Jesus being born and the whole first half of this celebration is all about Jesus being born of a virgin to be God with us, our savior.
So what does Satan do? He creates a story to rival the story of Jesus birth. His throne is in the world, and this story is to exalt worldly commerce. He sits this story right next to the account of Jesus birth. The airways promote this story of Santa Claus every bit as much if not more than that of the birth of Jesus. He makes his story like the most high. The Lord will rapture saints all over the Earth in the twinkling of an eye, well he can visit every single house on earth in a single night. We pray to God, well he creates a "letter to Santa". God is omniscient, well "he sees you when you sleep, he knows when your awake, he knows if you've been bad or good" so you have this tyrannical version of an omniscient God.
Ezekiel deals with the Prince of Tyre and then switches to the king of Tyre -- the epitome of wisdom and beauty. He was in Eden, covered with every precious stone. But he was created. He was appointed to the top office, he was in charge right up until iniquity was found in him. Ezekiel goes into discussion of his judgement by fire.
Revelation 12 tells us that the great red dragon who wants to devour the man child is Satan. God tried to find a place for Satan but no place was found, so eventually God had to prepare a place for Him. The Lake of Fire was prepared especially for Satan, a place where he can exalt his throne. Who then is the woman? We saw this same woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet with a crown of 12 stars in Joseph's dream.
Some claim the woman is Israel but there are major problems with that, others say she is the church but again, major problems with that. However, we also got a glimpse of this same woman at the time of Eve when the Bible prophesied about the seed of the woman crushing the serpents head. This manchild is the seed of the woman that God said would crush Satan's head and that is why Satan wants to devour the child.
Based on this the man child is Jesus Christ and it almost fits this story perfectly, but not quite. Jesus was not snatched up to heaven, he ascended in the cloud. The word snatched up is harpazo, to be rescued from destruction. This is where I realized that this birth looks almost like Jesus birth but not quite, and thus the story of Jesus birth could be prophetic for the rapture.
Now if it is Jesus they want the woman to represent Israel, but if the woman is Eve she is "the mother of all living". Yes, Israel gave birth to Jesus, it is like a small circle inside a bigger circle, while Eve gave birth to both Jesus and the raptured saints. The seed of the woman is both Jesus and the Bride of Christ. There are not two seeds, the raptured saints were built from a rib taken from the 2nd Adam. There is no account in the New Testament of Satan being cast out of heaven when Jesus was born or of him being snatched up. However, when Jesus expanded His ministry and sent out the saints He said "I beheld Satan falling like lightning from heaven". Beginning with Genesis 3:15 we see this attack from Satan on man and it carries through almost to the end of Revelation. This is a major theme of the Bible. It is foolish to think "let's not talk about this anymore'.
I find it interesting that if we discuss Santa Claus everyone knows the entire story, they are familiar with all of it, even though it is not in the Bible. Still it is very relevant when we talk about Christmas and the celebration of Christmas. To me it is just like Jude's reference to Enoch and the fallen angels. All the Jews knew this story, it was relevant to the apostasy, even though it was not in the Bible.
Anyway there are several times in history where Satan kills all the babies. At the time of Moses and at the time of Jesus birth and then here again in Revelation 12. Now consider this, if the rapture will be very much like the birth of Jesus we can expect the death of many babies again. Anyone worried about vaccine mandates to kids?
Revelation 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron
That is clearly Jesus Christ. Except the NT also says that we are to rule and reign with Him. So it is both Christ and the Church.
Revelation 12:6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
Clearly this verse is a reference to the tribulation and the 70th week prophesied of in Daniel. Those who think the man child only refers to Jesus have two very big problems, Jesus was not "snatched up" He ascended, different word. The very next verse is talking about the tribulation starting.
Some teach that this child is "the body of Christ". It is very easy to see verse 5 as the rapture because from verse 6 on you have the tribulation.
Once again, let's bring this back to the Christmas celebration. What made the holocaust possible? Various teachings that peeled people away from God. They blamed Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus. They described human life as being godless evolution where it is survival of the fittest and killing others is all natural. One more thing, the Bible has Holy convocations, these are dress rehearsals for the real thing. Passover was a dress rehearsal for Jesus crucifixion, Feast of unleavened bread was a dress rehearsal for the church age, Feast of firstfruits was a dress rehearsal for the Lord's resurrection, Shavuot was a dress rehearsal for the ascension and the feast of new wine was a dress rehearsal for pentecost. So then, what is Christmas a dress rehearsal for? A thief in the night? Many argue that Jesus was not born on December 25th and others say that doesn't matter. Really? You can celebrate someone's birthday on a day you know was not their birthday? Especially since it is the birthday of a Babylonian god? Imagine your wife celebrates your birthday not on your birthday, but on the birthday of the man who dated her before you! Are you really saying that doesn't matter?
The problem with view #2 is that Satan is not bound and the angels that are cast to the earth are not bound. So then who is Jude talking about?
Jude 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
Three views of this passage, part 1
1 -- Not intended to know any more than is here even though the other two examples given (Israel and Sodom and Gomorrah) expect you to know in great detail what is there. This is something of a cop out view, "let's not talk anymore about this".
2. -- The second view is that these angels which sinned had to do with the Fall of Lucifer and so we can explore a lot more on that subject from the Old Testament and even from the New Testament.
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" Isaiah 14:12
This chapter is about the king of Babylon and yet it turns in the discussion to where he is talking about Lucifer. This shows that Lucifer was the power behind the king of Babylon. The source of his error was 5 "I will" statements.
I will ascend into heaven
I will exalt my throne
I will sit also upon the mount
I will ascend above the heights
I will be like the most high
Now let's see how this relates to Christmas. This is about the Son of God, Jesus being born and the whole first half of this celebration is all about Jesus being born of a virgin to be God with us, our savior.
So what does Satan do? He creates a story to rival the story of Jesus birth. His throne is in the world, and this story is to exalt worldly commerce. He sits this story right next to the account of Jesus birth. The airways promote this story of Santa Claus every bit as much if not more than that of the birth of Jesus. He makes his story like the most high. The Lord will rapture saints all over the Earth in the twinkling of an eye, well he can visit every single house on earth in a single night. We pray to God, well he creates a "letter to Santa". God is omniscient, well "he sees you when you sleep, he knows when your awake, he knows if you've been bad or good" so you have this tyrannical version of an omniscient God.
Ezekiel deals with the Prince of Tyre and then switches to the king of Tyre -- the epitome of wisdom and beauty. He was in Eden, covered with every precious stone. But he was created. He was appointed to the top office, he was in charge right up until iniquity was found in him. Ezekiel goes into discussion of his judgement by fire.
Revelation 12 tells us that the great red dragon who wants to devour the man child is Satan. God tried to find a place for Satan but no place was found, so eventually God had to prepare a place for Him. The Lake of Fire was prepared especially for Satan, a place where he can exalt his throne. Who then is the woman? We saw this same woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet with a crown of 12 stars in Joseph's dream.
Some claim the woman is Israel but there are major problems with that, others say she is the church but again, major problems with that. However, we also got a glimpse of this same woman at the time of Eve when the Bible prophesied about the seed of the woman crushing the serpents head. This manchild is the seed of the woman that God said would crush Satan's head and that is why Satan wants to devour the child.
Based on this the man child is Jesus Christ and it almost fits this story perfectly, but not quite. Jesus was not snatched up to heaven, he ascended in the cloud. The word snatched up is harpazo, to be rescued from destruction. This is where I realized that this birth looks almost like Jesus birth but not quite, and thus the story of Jesus birth could be prophetic for the rapture.
Now if it is Jesus they want the woman to represent Israel, but if the woman is Eve she is "the mother of all living". Yes, Israel gave birth to Jesus, it is like a small circle inside a bigger circle, while Eve gave birth to both Jesus and the raptured saints. The seed of the woman is both Jesus and the Bride of Christ. There are not two seeds, the raptured saints were built from a rib taken from the 2nd Adam. There is no account in the New Testament of Satan being cast out of heaven when Jesus was born or of him being snatched up. However, when Jesus expanded His ministry and sent out the saints He said "I beheld Satan falling like lightning from heaven". Beginning with Genesis 3:15 we see this attack from Satan on man and it carries through almost to the end of Revelation. This is a major theme of the Bible. It is foolish to think "let's not talk about this anymore'.
I find it interesting that if we discuss Santa Claus everyone knows the entire story, they are familiar with all of it, even though it is not in the Bible. Still it is very relevant when we talk about Christmas and the celebration of Christmas. To me it is just like Jude's reference to Enoch and the fallen angels. All the Jews knew this story, it was relevant to the apostasy, even though it was not in the Bible.
Anyway there are several times in history where Satan kills all the babies. At the time of Moses and at the time of Jesus birth and then here again in Revelation 12. Now consider this, if the rapture will be very much like the birth of Jesus we can expect the death of many babies again. Anyone worried about vaccine mandates to kids?
Revelation 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron
That is clearly Jesus Christ. Except the NT also says that we are to rule and reign with Him. So it is both Christ and the Church.
Revelation 12:6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
Clearly this verse is a reference to the tribulation and the 70th week prophesied of in Daniel. Those who think the man child only refers to Jesus have two very big problems, Jesus was not "snatched up" He ascended, different word. The very next verse is talking about the tribulation starting.
Some teach that this child is "the body of Christ". It is very easy to see verse 5 as the rapture because from verse 6 on you have the tribulation.
Once again, let's bring this back to the Christmas celebration. What made the holocaust possible? Various teachings that peeled people away from God. They blamed Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus. They described human life as being godless evolution where it is survival of the fittest and killing others is all natural. One more thing, the Bible has Holy convocations, these are dress rehearsals for the real thing. Passover was a dress rehearsal for Jesus crucifixion, Feast of unleavened bread was a dress rehearsal for the church age, Feast of firstfruits was a dress rehearsal for the Lord's resurrection, Shavuot was a dress rehearsal for the ascension and the feast of new wine was a dress rehearsal for pentecost. So then, what is Christmas a dress rehearsal for? A thief in the night? Many argue that Jesus was not born on December 25th and others say that doesn't matter. Really? You can celebrate someone's birthday on a day you know was not their birthday? Especially since it is the birthday of a Babylonian god? Imagine your wife celebrates your birthday not on your birthday, but on the birthday of the man who dated her before you! Are you really saying that doesn't matter?
The problem with view #2 is that Satan is not bound and the angels that are cast to the earth are not bound. So then who is Jude talking about?
Corporate Punishment -- Sodom and Gomorrah
Jude 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
This word is not written to Hollywood, or Madison Avenue, or Las Vegas Casinos. It is written to the believers in Christ! This word is to the church! This is not a warning given to the unsaved world, it is a warning given to the redeemed of the Lord! We have already learned that these men will "turn the grace of God into lasciviousness". Many of us have seen and become alarmed by this. We are not talking about some member of the congregation caught up in sin secretly, no we are talking about the pastors and leaders openly flaunting a reprobate lifestyle. Apostasy is thought of as doctrinal error and heresy, but Jude makes it clear it will be manifested by fleshly lusts and lasciviousness. We saw it with the example of Israel in the wilderness, we saw it with the Angels who fell and we see it with Sodom and Gomorrah. One symptom of apostasy is sexual immorality and perversion. Many think that the history of a Christmas tree being used in idol worship doesn't matter because to them it is simply a decoration. They think they are strong and wiser than the demons and evil spirits. They look at all of these pagan practices as trivial, no the real problem is the sexual immorality and perversion. It is linked, just like a flu that kills you begins with a very tiny virus. They corrupt themselves with brute beasts.
Once again let us not think this is some ancient history. The pedophile priests in the Catholic church demonstrated that this is definitely true of people claiming to be Christians today. There have been many contemporary Christian leaders caught up in perversion and defiling themselves with the flesh walking after their own lusts.
Apostasy begins with unbelief in the word of God but it ends with physical degradation. If you want to deal with the physical degradation you have to dig down to the root cause. Jude is using Sodom and Gomorrah as a reference point for apostasy. In other words if we look at these three examples that are given to us we can compare them with modern examples of apostasy. Some churches will be like the Israelites in the wilderness balking at the Lord's word to enter the good land, some will be snared up in occult and evil spirits and some will be like Sodom and Gomorrah.
What is the feast of unleavened bread? You remove all the leaven out of your house. That means we would clean up all the perversion and lasciviousness, we would remove all the occult practices, we would sweep up all the unbelief and then that would lead us to seeing we had picked up many pagan practices that were not of God. Get rid of those also. If you are serious about removing the leaven these pagan practices must go.
So to get a better handle let's consider Lot. He was with Abraham but at some point decided to separate himself from Abraham. He lifted up his eyes and chose the plain of Jordan. He thought he had a better place, a better idea, and so he peeled off from Abraham. The apostate churches have a history that traces back to a spiritual walk and you can see a time when there was a fork in the road and they began to peel off. Even if you are just slightly off over time you will end up very far away from God. Meanwhile Abraham chose the heights of Hebron (communion).
Lot is called "a righteous man" and God goes to some lengths to save Lot. He then chooses to dwell in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent towards Sodom. There is a war, Lot is taken captive and then rescued by Abraham and yet three chapters later Lot is there as a city alderman sitting in the city gate. This is a picture, many churches have become very influential in the major cities. They have an open door with the mayor, they are politically active. They have descended into the plain and set their tent towards the city. Now if you tell them this they will get quite offended because it is a fundamental reason they peeled off from Abraham. They believe that Christians should not be up on Mount Hebron (the mountain of communion) but rather get down in the plain and involved in the city. It is a fundamental tenet of something called "dominion theology" which is a very modern example of apostasy. We are ambassadors of the kingdom, we are not here making our home here and trying to bring in the kingdom through political reform.
That said we learn that Abraham is well trained in the art of war, has 318 soldiers as part of his household, he takes charge and leads them against these kings and defeats them. These apostasy groups complain about Christians that you have to do something and can't just worship God. Yet they are untrained and easy prey whereas Abraham is well trained with the full armor of God. God says that Abraham will become a great and mighty nation in whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed because he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord. This is where apostasy comes in, you don't command your children, you don't command your household, you don't keep the way of the Lord.
But let's return to Sodom and these churches who are involved in the politics trying to reform the city. The Lord said "if I find 50 righteous in the city then I will spare the place for their sakes". All these social justice warriors who think they are so righteous, they are deceiving themselves. The only way sinful man can be right with God is with constant fellowship and communion. Ultimately God says "I will not destroy it for ten's sake". What a pathetic testimony these churches have, they didn't even have ten righteous! In the end only 3 were saved and only one was said to be "righteous".
This is a great lesson for us. We think we are right in the way we have chosen. OK, what is the fruit of that ministry. I'm not interested in how many people in the service, how big the mega church is, just want to know how many righteous are there that would actually make a difference in the city?
To sit in the gate indicated Lot was part of the board of supervisors or a city official. Then when they say they will abide in the street all night it was like saying you were going to take a walk through Central Park at 10pm. Lot knew the city was far too dangerous for that. We then learn the city is filled with perverts surrounding the house. Then the mob basically says to Lot you are an outsider, get out of the way or we'll rape you too.
It is important part of the story -- the messengers from the Lord had a mission, to find the righteous, tell them God was going to destroy the city and to get out, and when Lot shares this message with the sons in Law "he seemed as one that mocked". They thought it was a big joke. The angels had to drag Lot and his daughters and wife out of the city.
Lot was "vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked". This is a very clear symptom of the apostasy. If you are vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked know that you are living in the apostasy. Read the posts of many on this forum and you can see they are vexed.
Jude 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
This word is not written to Hollywood, or Madison Avenue, or Las Vegas Casinos. It is written to the believers in Christ! This word is to the church! This is not a warning given to the unsaved world, it is a warning given to the redeemed of the Lord! We have already learned that these men will "turn the grace of God into lasciviousness". Many of us have seen and become alarmed by this. We are not talking about some member of the congregation caught up in sin secretly, no we are talking about the pastors and leaders openly flaunting a reprobate lifestyle. Apostasy is thought of as doctrinal error and heresy, but Jude makes it clear it will be manifested by fleshly lusts and lasciviousness. We saw it with the example of Israel in the wilderness, we saw it with the Angels who fell and we see it with Sodom and Gomorrah. One symptom of apostasy is sexual immorality and perversion. Many think that the history of a Christmas tree being used in idol worship doesn't matter because to them it is simply a decoration. They think they are strong and wiser than the demons and evil spirits. They look at all of these pagan practices as trivial, no the real problem is the sexual immorality and perversion. It is linked, just like a flu that kills you begins with a very tiny virus. They corrupt themselves with brute beasts.
Once again let us not think this is some ancient history. The pedophile priests in the Catholic church demonstrated that this is definitely true of people claiming to be Christians today. There have been many contemporary Christian leaders caught up in perversion and defiling themselves with the flesh walking after their own lusts.
Apostasy begins with unbelief in the word of God but it ends with physical degradation. If you want to deal with the physical degradation you have to dig down to the root cause. Jude is using Sodom and Gomorrah as a reference point for apostasy. In other words if we look at these three examples that are given to us we can compare them with modern examples of apostasy. Some churches will be like the Israelites in the wilderness balking at the Lord's word to enter the good land, some will be snared up in occult and evil spirits and some will be like Sodom and Gomorrah.
What is the feast of unleavened bread? You remove all the leaven out of your house. That means we would clean up all the perversion and lasciviousness, we would remove all the occult practices, we would sweep up all the unbelief and then that would lead us to seeing we had picked up many pagan practices that were not of God. Get rid of those also. If you are serious about removing the leaven these pagan practices must go.
So to get a better handle let's consider Lot. He was with Abraham but at some point decided to separate himself from Abraham. He lifted up his eyes and chose the plain of Jordan. He thought he had a better place, a better idea, and so he peeled off from Abraham. The apostate churches have a history that traces back to a spiritual walk and you can see a time when there was a fork in the road and they began to peel off. Even if you are just slightly off over time you will end up very far away from God. Meanwhile Abraham chose the heights of Hebron (communion).
Lot is called "a righteous man" and God goes to some lengths to save Lot. He then chooses to dwell in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent towards Sodom. There is a war, Lot is taken captive and then rescued by Abraham and yet three chapters later Lot is there as a city alderman sitting in the city gate. This is a picture, many churches have become very influential in the major cities. They have an open door with the mayor, they are politically active. They have descended into the plain and set their tent towards the city. Now if you tell them this they will get quite offended because it is a fundamental reason they peeled off from Abraham. They believe that Christians should not be up on Mount Hebron (the mountain of communion) but rather get down in the plain and involved in the city. It is a fundamental tenet of something called "dominion theology" which is a very modern example of apostasy. We are ambassadors of the kingdom, we are not here making our home here and trying to bring in the kingdom through political reform.
That said we learn that Abraham is well trained in the art of war, has 318 soldiers as part of his household, he takes charge and leads them against these kings and defeats them. These apostasy groups complain about Christians that you have to do something and can't just worship God. Yet they are untrained and easy prey whereas Abraham is well trained with the full armor of God. God says that Abraham will become a great and mighty nation in whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed because he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord. This is where apostasy comes in, you don't command your children, you don't command your household, you don't keep the way of the Lord.
But let's return to Sodom and these churches who are involved in the politics trying to reform the city. The Lord said "if I find 50 righteous in the city then I will spare the place for their sakes". All these social justice warriors who think they are so righteous, they are deceiving themselves. The only way sinful man can be right with God is with constant fellowship and communion. Ultimately God says "I will not destroy it for ten's sake". What a pathetic testimony these churches have, they didn't even have ten righteous! In the end only 3 were saved and only one was said to be "righteous".
This is a great lesson for us. We think we are right in the way we have chosen. OK, what is the fruit of that ministry. I'm not interested in how many people in the service, how big the mega church is, just want to know how many righteous are there that would actually make a difference in the city?
To sit in the gate indicated Lot was part of the board of supervisors or a city official. Then when they say they will abide in the street all night it was like saying you were going to take a walk through Central Park at 10pm. Lot knew the city was far too dangerous for that. We then learn the city is filled with perverts surrounding the house. Then the mob basically says to Lot you are an outsider, get out of the way or we'll rape you too.
It is important part of the story -- the messengers from the Lord had a mission, to find the righteous, tell them God was going to destroy the city and to get out, and when Lot shares this message with the sons in Law "he seemed as one that mocked". They thought it was a big joke. The angels had to drag Lot and his daughters and wife out of the city.
Lot was "vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked". This is a very clear symptom of the apostasy. If you are vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked know that you are living in the apostasy. Read the posts of many on this forum and you can see they are vexed.
There are a lot of prophecies that need to be fulfilled before we can be at the last days (1)
1. Israel has to be back in their land -- Ezekiel 36, 37, Jermiah 16 and Isaiah 66.
So anyone predicting the Lord's return because of a comet or some other event before 1948, you can just eliminate them.
2. But 1948 was also not good enough, Jerusalem had to be the capital of Israel again: Isaiah 9, 33 and Micah 4. So you can eliminate all the predictions prior to 1967.
3. Some will argue that there have been Jews in Israel for the full 2,000 years. Yes, but the prophecies talk about the Jews returning from being scattered. Ezekiel 36, 37, Jeremiah 16, 30, and Isaiah 66.
4. However, 1967 still lacked something. We were told the whole world would be focused on Israel. Simply making the front page of the news every so often is not the same thing as having our full attention. Prior to 2024 we never had these worldwide focus and protests around Israel. Isaiah 51 and Zechariah 12
5. Yes, there was interest with them after they rescued the hostages during the Munich Olympics, or when they won the six day war. But the prophesies describe the world, the entire world, turning against Israel. Once again, we never saw that since 70AD until 2024. Yes we had a holocaust, but that was Germany, not the entire world, the entire world was horrified by the holocaust. Ezekiel 38 and 39.
6. Now we know from the prophecies that Israel is making the sacrifices and oblations of the priesthood during the tribulation. They cannot start doing that without the ashes of a red heifer and during the entire church age they did not have a certified pure red heifer. Today they have three. But there is a problem, they can be sacrificed now, but soon the red hairs will turn white or grey as they age. So then the thought is they must be sacrificed this year. Technically they could be sacrificed during the winter of 2025. However, the seventieth week or shemitah of Daniel sounds like it begins on the first day of the year and on the first day of a Shemitah. That would be this Rosh Hashanah or else you need to wait seven more years. However, the Messiah is cut off at the 69th week, it sounds to me that the sacrifices and oblations would begin again at the start of the seventieth shemitah and that would mean the red heifers are sacrificed by this Rosh Hashanah. Numbers 19
7. The Holy Place must be up and running by the middle of the tribulation. I don't see anything that says that must be a temple, I suppose it could be the tabernacle of David which could be raised in a weekend. However, this is further support to the Red heifers being sacrificed this year and the seventieth week beginning in the fall of 2024. Daniel 9:27, Matt 24:15 and 2 Thess 2.
8. But, is there a worldwide push to globalization? It seems the Antichrist is first revealed at the beginning of the seventieth week and then shortly thereafter his reign begins over a one world government with the mark of the beast. The UN came into existence in 1945 and if we use 80 years as the length of a generation we could conclude that this one world government comes into existence in 2025, therefore 2025 will be during the tribulation. However, the Shemitah begins in 2024. Daniel 2 and Revelation 13.
1. Israel has to be back in their land -- Ezekiel 36, 37, Jermiah 16 and Isaiah 66.
So anyone predicting the Lord's return because of a comet or some other event before 1948, you can just eliminate them.
2. But 1948 was also not good enough, Jerusalem had to be the capital of Israel again: Isaiah 9, 33 and Micah 4. So you can eliminate all the predictions prior to 1967.
3. Some will argue that there have been Jews in Israel for the full 2,000 years. Yes, but the prophecies talk about the Jews returning from being scattered. Ezekiel 36, 37, Jeremiah 16, 30, and Isaiah 66.
4. However, 1967 still lacked something. We were told the whole world would be focused on Israel. Simply making the front page of the news every so often is not the same thing as having our full attention. Prior to 2024 we never had these worldwide focus and protests around Israel. Isaiah 51 and Zechariah 12
5. Yes, there was interest with them after they rescued the hostages during the Munich Olympics, or when they won the six day war. But the prophesies describe the world, the entire world, turning against Israel. Once again, we never saw that since 70AD until 2024. Yes we had a holocaust, but that was Germany, not the entire world, the entire world was horrified by the holocaust. Ezekiel 38 and 39.
6. Now we know from the prophecies that Israel is making the sacrifices and oblations of the priesthood during the tribulation. They cannot start doing that without the ashes of a red heifer and during the entire church age they did not have a certified pure red heifer. Today they have three. But there is a problem, they can be sacrificed now, but soon the red hairs will turn white or grey as they age. So then the thought is they must be sacrificed this year. Technically they could be sacrificed during the winter of 2025. However, the seventieth week or shemitah of Daniel sounds like it begins on the first day of the year and on the first day of a Shemitah. That would be this Rosh Hashanah or else you need to wait seven more years. However, the Messiah is cut off at the 69th week, it sounds to me that the sacrifices and oblations would begin again at the start of the seventieth shemitah and that would mean the red heifers are sacrificed by this Rosh Hashanah. Numbers 19
7. The Holy Place must be up and running by the middle of the tribulation. I don't see anything that says that must be a temple, I suppose it could be the tabernacle of David which could be raised in a weekend. However, this is further support to the Red heifers being sacrificed this year and the seventieth week beginning in the fall of 2024. Daniel 9:27, Matt 24:15 and 2 Thess 2.
8. But, is there a worldwide push to globalization? It seems the Antichrist is first revealed at the beginning of the seventieth week and then shortly thereafter his reign begins over a one world government with the mark of the beast. The UN came into existence in 1945 and if we use 80 years as the length of a generation we could conclude that this one world government comes into existence in 2025, therefore 2025 will be during the tribulation. However, the Shemitah begins in 2024. Daniel 2 and Revelation 13.
Perhaps these things are a coincidence?
1. Israel back in their land -- never happened before with any other country. But OK, there are 200 countries, odds = 1/200
2. The Six day war was quite remarkable, but really just a David vs Goliath, victory for the underdog. odds = 2:1
3. Returning from being scattered after 2,000 years? OK odds = 2:1
4. The whole world is focused on a tiny country the size of New Jersey? Can't think of that ever happening in human history. Odds = 20:1
5. Not simply focused on them but everyone hating them? A little tiny country? Even when Rwanda or Haiti is involved in genocide or voodoo you don't see the whole world hating them. Odds = 20:1
6. In all of Israel's 4,000 years of history they have only had ten times when they had certified red heifers. Based on that it should be 400:1. But I'll cut that in half to 200:1.
7. Red heifers are 3 years old at the time of the start of a Shemitah. Odds are 7:1.
8. This happens at the same time there is a push for a one world government, the first time in human history. I'll say 50:1.
Odds of all these things happening in 2024 = 50x7x200x20x20x2x2x200 = 1 in 22 billion.
1. Israel back in their land -- never happened before with any other country. But OK, there are 200 countries, odds = 1/200
2. The Six day war was quite remarkable, but really just a David vs Goliath, victory for the underdog. odds = 2:1
3. Returning from being scattered after 2,000 years? OK odds = 2:1
4. The whole world is focused on a tiny country the size of New Jersey? Can't think of that ever happening in human history. Odds = 20:1
5. Not simply focused on them but everyone hating them? A little tiny country? Even when Rwanda or Haiti is involved in genocide or voodoo you don't see the whole world hating them. Odds = 20:1
6. In all of Israel's 4,000 years of history they have only had ten times when they had certified red heifers. Based on that it should be 400:1. But I'll cut that in half to 200:1.
7. Red heifers are 3 years old at the time of the start of a Shemitah. Odds are 7:1.
8. This happens at the same time there is a push for a one world government, the first time in human history. I'll say 50:1.
Odds of all these things happening in 2024 = 50x7x200x20x20x2x2x200 = 1 in 22 billion.
Even if the odds are 1 in 22 billion it could still be a coincidence (2)
1. The prophecy in Revelation 11 is that the entire world can see the events taking place in Jerusalem. Now that has only been feasible relatively soon. Yes we have had TV since the 1950s, but we didn't have telecommunications beaming images around the world at the speed of light until CNN covered the first Gulf War. But even then the whole world did not have access to cable TV. No, for the entire world you need Starlink Satellites and smart phones, and that has not gone on line prior to 2024. Yes, in some places, but not a net that covers the whole earth and that is critical for the Antichrist to manipulate people all over the earth. I think the odds of this happening in 2024 is 100:1.
2. Global deception according to Matthew 24 and 2 Thes 2. Yes, we have had false prophets and cult leaders for 2,000 years. But they were always "localized". Charles Manson, Jim Jones, these guys had their followings, but it was local. Adolf Hitler is a type of the Antichrist and he mesmerized millions of Germans. To do that he needed Movies and Radio and giant gatherings. But the Antichrist is going to use technology to expand this worldwide. You need TV, Youtube, Smartphone, Starlink and also Deep Fakes using AI. Once again all of that has come together to be a feasible possibility for the first time in 2024. Most of the odds on this are covered in 1, but even 20 years ago AI seemed like a pipe dream. I will give the odds on AI being ready in 2024 as 10:1.
3. Ever since the book 1984 we have imagined a world with global surveillance and control. However, even in 1984 we could not imagine this control being exercised over the entire earth. Maybe in East Germany, but not worldwide. However, the Pandemic was a shock to many about how the entire globe could coordinate to shutdown and control the population. That looked like a dress rehearsal to me. Snowden has warned us about this and Hollywood with movies like Eagle Eye and Terminator have warned us about this. But it was 2023 when AI was first used on the battlefield (at least first acknowledged). The use of lawfare against Trump is also evidence that they will be able to do this as of 2024. If there is a rapture and the collapse of the US dollar we could easily imagine global control in an effort to return to order. Once again I would say the odds are 100:1 even though we were told this would happen in Revelation 13.
4. Digital currencies also go with this. We have been told in 2024 that 98% of central banks are ready to switch to a digital currency. Before Bitcoin there was no concept of a digital currency. Now we can see that Bitcoin was research and development for this digital currency. Obviously this ties very closely with the control in point #3 but I would say this aspect of digital currency being ready in 2024 adds another 10:1 odds to the equation.
The odds of these four also taking place in 2024 paving the way for the one world government of the Antichrist is an additional
10x100x10x100 = 1 in 1,000,000 x 22,000,000,000 = 1 in 22,000,000,000,000,000 or 1 in 22 quadrillion.
1. The prophecy in Revelation 11 is that the entire world can see the events taking place in Jerusalem. Now that has only been feasible relatively soon. Yes we have had TV since the 1950s, but we didn't have telecommunications beaming images around the world at the speed of light until CNN covered the first Gulf War. But even then the whole world did not have access to cable TV. No, for the entire world you need Starlink Satellites and smart phones, and that has not gone on line prior to 2024. Yes, in some places, but not a net that covers the whole earth and that is critical for the Antichrist to manipulate people all over the earth. I think the odds of this happening in 2024 is 100:1.
2. Global deception according to Matthew 24 and 2 Thes 2. Yes, we have had false prophets and cult leaders for 2,000 years. But they were always "localized". Charles Manson, Jim Jones, these guys had their followings, but it was local. Adolf Hitler is a type of the Antichrist and he mesmerized millions of Germans. To do that he needed Movies and Radio and giant gatherings. But the Antichrist is going to use technology to expand this worldwide. You need TV, Youtube, Smartphone, Starlink and also Deep Fakes using AI. Once again all of that has come together to be a feasible possibility for the first time in 2024. Most of the odds on this are covered in 1, but even 20 years ago AI seemed like a pipe dream. I will give the odds on AI being ready in 2024 as 10:1.
3. Ever since the book 1984 we have imagined a world with global surveillance and control. However, even in 1984 we could not imagine this control being exercised over the entire earth. Maybe in East Germany, but not worldwide. However, the Pandemic was a shock to many about how the entire globe could coordinate to shutdown and control the population. That looked like a dress rehearsal to me. Snowden has warned us about this and Hollywood with movies like Eagle Eye and Terminator have warned us about this. But it was 2023 when AI was first used on the battlefield (at least first acknowledged). The use of lawfare against Trump is also evidence that they will be able to do this as of 2024. If there is a rapture and the collapse of the US dollar we could easily imagine global control in an effort to return to order. Once again I would say the odds are 100:1 even though we were told this would happen in Revelation 13.
4. Digital currencies also go with this. We have been told in 2024 that 98% of central banks are ready to switch to a digital currency. Before Bitcoin there was no concept of a digital currency. Now we can see that Bitcoin was research and development for this digital currency. Obviously this ties very closely with the control in point #3 but I would say this aspect of digital currency being ready in 2024 adds another 10:1 odds to the equation.
The odds of these four also taking place in 2024 paving the way for the one world government of the Antichrist is an additional
10x100x10x100 = 1 in 1,000,000 x 22,000,000,000 = 1 in 22,000,000,000,000,000 or 1 in 22 quadrillion.
Even if the odds are 1 in 22 quadrillion it could still be a coincidence (3)
1. Well in addition to this we have had the three signs in the sun, moon and stars. The Revelation 12 sign we had in 2017 was the first time we had that sign since the time of Adam and Eve. Throw in the next two eclipses that write the letters Aleph Tav over the US, or Alpha and Omega and then you have a sign that has never been seen before in the six thousand year history of mankind but was prophesied about in the Bible. Genesis 1:14, Matt 24 and Luke 21. I'm gonna say the odds of this taking place in 2024 is 1 in 1,000.
That raises our overall odds to 1 in 22,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 1 in 22 Quintillion.
1. Well in addition to this we have had the three signs in the sun, moon and stars. The Revelation 12 sign we had in 2017 was the first time we had that sign since the time of Adam and Eve. Throw in the next two eclipses that write the letters Aleph Tav over the US, or Alpha and Omega and then you have a sign that has never been seen before in the six thousand year history of mankind but was prophesied about in the Bible. Genesis 1:14, Matt 24 and Luke 21. I'm gonna say the odds of this taking place in 2024 is 1 in 1,000.
That raises our overall odds to 1 in 22,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 1 in 22 Quintillion.
Luke 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Are you a spectator or a participant in the kingdom. If you are on the outside with your telescope and microscope and all your tools to observe when the kingdom of God shall come you will have nothing to do with it. Paul told us "it is no longer I that live but Christ that lives within me". He also said "Christ in you, the hope of glory".
22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
God is doing a hidden work. At the end of the age He unveils His masterpiece, His "poiema". That is the unveiling of the church at the time of the rapture.
23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
If you understand that, you will then focus in on having communion in your spirit with the Lord Jesus. Then you will realize the world is filled with flim flam men trying to deceive and lead astray.
24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
Flim flam false prophets try to lead people to think they have to go out to Waco Texas or some other remote place to get the hidden message. Baloney, the message is that the Lord will come in great glory and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is not some secret society that has the revelation.
25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
If Jesus has to first go through all this shouldn't the bride also want to go through this? How else can you have fellowship with Him in His sufferings? How else can we fill up that which is lacking in His sufferings?
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
There are those who tell you that Noah was myth, they are liars. They try to hold down the truth in unrighteousness. All of the evidence for Noah's flood is known, it is undeniable, and yet they still try to hide it and lie about it.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
These are trivial, vain people who are willfully ignorant. They are gluttons, drunkards, lascivious, fleshly people who mind the things of the flesh rather than the Spirit.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
In the midst of this evil and adulterous age people think "hey, I'm a pretty good person, I am building something, I'm planting something." All those things will go up in flames. There are others who all they care about is money, they buy, they sell, and they think whoever has the most dollars at the end of your life wins. They will also go up in flames.
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
You cannot possibly understand the purpose of human life if you cannot see the Son of Man. You need to pray that the Lord would be revealed to you, otherwise your life will be nothing but vanity, a puff of smoke.
31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
Some people realize that Sodom will go up in flames, but they "prep" for the end. The Lord is telling you that you will have to flee. Imagine having a house filled with supplies only for you to have to flee and leave it all behind. If the US is hit with a radioactive Tsunami if you aren't killed you aren't going to be able to stay, you will have to flee.
32 Remember Lot's wife.
She almost made it. Physically she had left Sodom on time to be saved, but what about her heart?
33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
Can we remember this verse when you are seeking to prep for the end of days.
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
This "bed" they are talking about is not for sleeping, it is like saying there will be two people at a booth in the diner, one will be taken the other left. They are eating. Or better yet, two men in the pews at church, one is taken the other left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Yes, maybe they are preparing dinner, or perhaps it is a reference to those preparing a message from the word of God.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
This could be talking about work, or it could be talking about the mission field. Two men involved in ministry.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
This verse points us to that sign in the heavens that wrote Aleph Tav over the US because it made an X over the spot where the vultures gather together, a spot called "Little Egypt". This verse also reminds us that 60 million babies were aborted in the US and that we expect in the fall of the Great Babylon (the US) there will be 60 million dead.
Are you a spectator or a participant in the kingdom. If you are on the outside with your telescope and microscope and all your tools to observe when the kingdom of God shall come you will have nothing to do with it. Paul told us "it is no longer I that live but Christ that lives within me". He also said "Christ in you, the hope of glory".
22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
God is doing a hidden work. At the end of the age He unveils His masterpiece, His "poiema". That is the unveiling of the church at the time of the rapture.
23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
If you understand that, you will then focus in on having communion in your spirit with the Lord Jesus. Then you will realize the world is filled with flim flam men trying to deceive and lead astray.
24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
Flim flam false prophets try to lead people to think they have to go out to Waco Texas or some other remote place to get the hidden message. Baloney, the message is that the Lord will come in great glory and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is not some secret society that has the revelation.
25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
If Jesus has to first go through all this shouldn't the bride also want to go through this? How else can you have fellowship with Him in His sufferings? How else can we fill up that which is lacking in His sufferings?
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
There are those who tell you that Noah was myth, they are liars. They try to hold down the truth in unrighteousness. All of the evidence for Noah's flood is known, it is undeniable, and yet they still try to hide it and lie about it.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
These are trivial, vain people who are willfully ignorant. They are gluttons, drunkards, lascivious, fleshly people who mind the things of the flesh rather than the Spirit.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
In the midst of this evil and adulterous age people think "hey, I'm a pretty good person, I am building something, I'm planting something." All those things will go up in flames. There are others who all they care about is money, they buy, they sell, and they think whoever has the most dollars at the end of your life wins. They will also go up in flames.
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
You cannot possibly understand the purpose of human life if you cannot see the Son of Man. You need to pray that the Lord would be revealed to you, otherwise your life will be nothing but vanity, a puff of smoke.
31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
Some people realize that Sodom will go up in flames, but they "prep" for the end. The Lord is telling you that you will have to flee. Imagine having a house filled with supplies only for you to have to flee and leave it all behind. If the US is hit with a radioactive Tsunami if you aren't killed you aren't going to be able to stay, you will have to flee.
32 Remember Lot's wife.
She almost made it. Physically she had left Sodom on time to be saved, but what about her heart?
33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
Can we remember this verse when you are seeking to prep for the end of days.
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
This "bed" they are talking about is not for sleeping, it is like saying there will be two people at a booth in the diner, one will be taken the other left. They are eating. Or better yet, two men in the pews at church, one is taken the other left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Yes, maybe they are preparing dinner, or perhaps it is a reference to those preparing a message from the word of God.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
This could be talking about work, or it could be talking about the mission field. Two men involved in ministry.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
This verse points us to that sign in the heavens that wrote Aleph Tav over the US because it made an X over the spot where the vultures gather together, a spot called "Little Egypt". This verse also reminds us that 60 million babies were aborted in the US and that we expect in the fall of the Great Babylon (the US) there will be 60 million dead.
This is the only verse in the New Testament that uses this word "observation". I mention that because it shows that Matthew and Mark do not talk about this. The word means "inspection", or "ocular observation".
You have to understand that the three synoptic gospels have three agendas. All three share the same gospel, that is not what is different. All three present different views of Jesus, that also is not what is different. What is the key difference is they have three different audiences. Matthew is for Israel, Mark is for the left behind saints and Luke is for the Bride raptured before the tribulation.
Prior to the tribulation you will not see the kingdom coming with your eyes.
What does that mean?
Let's take the Revelation 12 sign in the heavens, you can see that with your eyes, right? Yes, but notice how those who are not walking with the Lord shrug it off.
Likewise with the attack by Hamas on Israel. Many saw the prophetic meaning tied with Noah since Hamas is the Hebrew word for violence and in the days of Noah the world was filled with violence. But there are many others paying close attention to these events and not seeing the Lord's imminent return at all.
Once the tribulation begins then yes, of course you will be able to see with your eyes. Think about Doubting Thomas, he did a visual inspection of Jesus before he would believe. The Lord allows those who need this, but that is not for those who are raptured prior to the tribulation.
If you want to put your hands in the wounds, then fine, you will be able to, but it will be during the tribulation.
You have to understand that the three synoptic gospels have three agendas. All three share the same gospel, that is not what is different. All three present different views of Jesus, that also is not what is different. What is the key difference is they have three different audiences. Matthew is for Israel, Mark is for the left behind saints and Luke is for the Bride raptured before the tribulation.
Prior to the tribulation you will not see the kingdom coming with your eyes.
What does that mean?
Let's take the Revelation 12 sign in the heavens, you can see that with your eyes, right? Yes, but notice how those who are not walking with the Lord shrug it off.
Likewise with the attack by Hamas on Israel. Many saw the prophetic meaning tied with Noah since Hamas is the Hebrew word for violence and in the days of Noah the world was filled with violence. But there are many others paying close attention to these events and not seeing the Lord's imminent return at all.
Once the tribulation begins then yes, of course you will be able to see with your eyes. Think about Doubting Thomas, he did a visual inspection of Jesus before he would believe. The Lord allows those who need this, but that is not for those who are raptured prior to the tribulation.
If you want to put your hands in the wounds, then fine, you will be able to, but it will be during the tribulation.
The Lord is very specific here. He doesn't say we are not to observe, on the contrary He says when you see all these things take place look up for your redemption draws near. No, what He says is "the Kingdom of God cometh not with observation". We want to actively bring the kingdom of God in, and it isn't by being a spectator. We must be an active participant. There are a lot of different roles.
He describes the roles in Luke 17
The two men in the bed refer to eating the word of God.
Two women grinding grain indicate those who are in the word of God making bread for others to eat.
Two men in the field refer to the ministry and the work.
We have a church life in which we need to be constructive members. Everyone knows that half of the members in the church are spectators and the other half are those serving in one capacity or another. Then we need to be in the word of God, not just for ourself but to feed others. Finally we need to be in ministry. Your Christian life needs to be 24 hours a day seven days a week. You meet with the church, you spend time in the word and you are involved in ministry. This is how we bring in the kingdom.
He describes the roles in Luke 17
The two men in the bed refer to eating the word of God.
Two women grinding grain indicate those who are in the word of God making bread for others to eat.
Two men in the field refer to the ministry and the work.
We have a church life in which we need to be constructive members. Everyone knows that half of the members in the church are spectators and the other half are those serving in one capacity or another. Then we need to be in the word of God, not just for ourself but to feed others. Finally we need to be in ministry. Your Christian life needs to be 24 hours a day seven days a week. You meet with the church, you spend time in the word and you are involved in ministry. This is how we bring in the kingdom.