Summary of Bible references on the Rapture

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Luke 13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

This is the mistake we make. We look at what has happened to those in Ukraine and don't realize it is a warning to all of us. What has happened to them will happen to all of us who don't repent. Same thing with the people in Gaza, the problem is not that they are sinners more than the rest. We all suffer from this desire to avenge ourselves.

So let's look at the things they needed to repent of.

1. In Ukraine there was a warning for over a month that Russia was about to invade and yet many simply ignored the warning until it was too late. How many have ignored the warning about the Day of the Lord being at hand ever since the global pandemic?

2. In Gaza many people were not "Hamas" but they knew they were running Gaza, they knew they were putting their headquarters under schools and hospitals. If you see evil and do nothing about it, well you will suffer the consequences. So yes, many in Gaza may not be actively involved in terrorism, but how many did something to stop it? Even if you say it is impossible for many of them to do anything, they would be killed. Fine, how many saw the evil, understood the consequences, and left Gaza to live somewhere else? Let's be honest, in the US you may have seen the evil concerning the Vaccine mandate, or you may have seen the evil concerning the border invasion, or you may have seen the evil concerning this LGBTQ+ push. Did you take a stand? Did you flee the evil that is to come?

3. And what fuels this hatred. In Gaza there is a very big propaganda effort against Israel calling them the aggressors and the ones committing genocide. This is based in many cases on things that have happened to you, your family, and your friends. I am not disputing the fact that the war has been ugly and the offenses have multiplied. This is true all over the world. In the US we had the mortgage meltdown, the behavior of the banks was criminal. What they did to millions of Americans was a crime that should have been prosecuted and wasn't. I would also argue that the investigation of 911 was not a proper investigation but looked much more like a cover up than an investigation. Likewise the Iraq wars do not look like a genuine response to 911 but rather a rush to judgment as though 911 was a false flag event designed to manipulate the US into war with Iraq, into writing a blank check to the military to build robots and drones, and also to willingly give the US government power to spy on everyone with the Patriot act. I don't doubt that the US government, or more specifically individuals in powerful positions, are very corrupt. They are operating on their own agenda and don't care how much of the taxpayers money they spend to achieve it, nor do they care how many American citizens go and die and are damaged in a war. However, the warning is that "as you have done it will be done to you". It is not our job to take revenge, we are told very clearly in the New Testament "vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord".

What we need to do is to repent. Why were we so self righteous that we thought we could simply bomb and kill innocent civilians on the other side of the globe? We knew from 911 that if someone does that to us we will pay any price to hunt them down and kill them. Why would you think it is any different for the people on the other side of the globe. They know who the drones belong to that fire missiles into funeral and wedding parties. Think about all of our westerns, the movies that depict some atrocity being perpetrated, a little kid survives and then twenty years later he has grown up and comes looking for the guy who killed his pa. Well, it has been twenty years.

 

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Luke 13:6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

The context of this is the fruit of repentance. We have seen the invasion of Ukraine, did we repent? That invasion was in January 2022, three years later was January 2025. The Lord is talking about cutting down this tree because He is not seeing any repentance in Europe. So this parable tells us that the invasion of Europe is at hand. The situation with Gaza was in 2023, this is telling us about repentance in the Middle East and Israel. So then the judgment on the Mideast and Israel being cut down will likely be in 2028. In 2021 we had a stolen election in the US and they had an illegal mandate of an experimental vaccine. Anyone repent for that? This will likely lead to the US being cut down in 2025.

 

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Luke 13:10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. 12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. 15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? 16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? 17 And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.

Let us consider 18 years ago in the US, that was 2007, the beginning of the subprime mortgage crisis.

1. In 1992 we had new rules for Fannie and Freddie, the two government housing programs. They were required to devote more lending to affordable housing, ie subprime mortgages.

2. Two years later in 1994 we see the first credit default swaps being sold. The idea is that banks don't want to make bad loans because when people can't pay they suffer loss. They are very good at calculating that. However, they created these subprime loans so that the people would be able to pay for the first five years and then they would pull the rug out from under them. They then packaged thousands of these loans into one instrument which they sold to pension funds telling them that the percent of people defaulting on mortgage loans is very small, 1-2% and so these were very low risk and yet paid very high interest. As a result the banks made money selling these mortgages and then they sold them to investment banks who then sold them to pension funds. So when they did go bust they were no longer holding the bag.

3. In 1995 this subprime mortgage market takes off because by law lenders had to have a certain amount of subprime lending and buying these credit default swaps fulfilled their legal obligation.

4. However, because they were buying subprime mortgages they were running afoul of the Glass Steagall Act which was put in place after the great depression to prevent a wide scale bank collapse again. In 1999 Bill Clinton weakened the act allowing banks to act like brokerages and in 2000 he exempted credit default swaps from banking regulation. At the same time the dot com bubble burst and the fed lowered interest rates.

5. If you understand what arbitrage is, it means a bank can borrow money at a low interest rate and then loan it at a higher interest rate. Imagine with every single mortgage you wrote you could make 1% on that transaction. You loan 300k, you make 3k. You loan 3,000 K you make 30k, you loan 300,000K you make 3,000 K. The banks went wild. They came up with something called a NINJA morgage. No income No Job. Anyone who wants to buy a house is qualified. It is a balloon mortgage, the first five years are very affordable and then the monthly payment doubles. Imagine you have this big beautiful house and you pay 2k a month for the mortgage. It is tough, but you are investing for the future, so you scrimp, you do what it takes each month to make that payment. Then after 5 years, after making 60 payments of 2k to the bank, they now tell you that you owe them 4k a month. You can't make the payments and so they foreclose and take the house back. The bank keeps the 120k you paid them. They paint the walls, replace the carpet, and sell the house again. The bank is not worried about you going bankrupt because they get the 120k and then they get to resell the house. Granted, the bank that sold this mortgage then sold it to an investment bank a few weeks later, so they have no worries. Likewise the investment bank sold it to a pension fund and they have no worries. Because they do understand that although people have paid their mortgages in the past, that is all about to change when these new mortgages balloon. In the past there were strict banking laws requiring that you don't sell a mortgage to someone who can't afford it. That has changed. There were also strict rules that prevented banks from being over leveraged (loaning too much money) but not anymore, those restrictions were removed in 2004.

6. So guess what happened in 2007? The housing bubble burst. All of those rule changes led to more and more houses being sold and built and the housing market taking off. But then, after 16 years you see the housing bubble collapse, that is when the people with these mortgages went bust. When bankruptcies increase people are not stupid, they realize you can get a deal, buy a house that is in bankruptcy at a discount. One year later in 2008 Lehman brothers goes bust, that is seventeen years after these rules went into effect. Then in 2009 Obama uses tax payer money to bail out the banks, so now even taxpayers who did not get involved in this greed and covetousness must pay the price. That is 18 years after the rules "loosing" the banks to commit this crime began. Releasing criminals to steal is equivalent to binding the woman.

But now look who is complaining? The religious leaders. They are useless shepherds, they are hypocrites. They were the ones who were supposed to see the wolves coming in to devour widows houses and to put a stop to it.

So this woman begins to stand up straight and be released in 2007. On the one hand you go bankrupt, the bank gets the house back and you realize you have been played. On the other hand you are now released from that and are all the wiser. So now we see the Tea party rise, why? They realize they were lied to about 911 and their kids were sent to fight a bogus war to make rich people richer. They realize the government is not protecting them from predatory banks. The tea party grew into the MAGA movement with Trump. It is simply a populist uprising against the corrupt regime. It has been 18 years since 2007 when those mortgages that never should have been given all started going bust.

 

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Luke 13:18 Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. 20 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

The context of this chapter is that if you don't repent you will all likewise perish. If you see that the government was corrupt, that is not the goal, the goal is to see what your mistake was that you need to repent from. It doesn't do me any good to say this guy lied and deceived me. I need to take this the next step to "the reason I fell for it was this, and therefore I need to repent of that so I don't fall for it again".

Our first problem is our desire for mustard. We love to have flavor on our food. Why do people spend $200 on a meal they could make for $50 at home? What is the appeal of these fancy restaurants and five star chefs? They make the food taste delicious. The next thing you know a little humble shrub has become a great tree with all these fowls of the air lodged in the branches. We now need people to go and try the food and then review it and tell us where the best restaurants are. This is just an analogy. It is the same with our news, we have experts on the TV who make the news taste good, the term is "if it bleeds it leads". They are truly experts in manipulating people and they are daily looking at the ratings to determine how effective they are. The word of God is likened to a seed sown in the ground and these fowls of the air are likened to demons and foul spirits that steal that word. Next thing you know you have exchanged a healthy meal for a McDonald's happy meal. After that happens you have 35 year old men dying from heart attacks.

This is the analogy, who is making your food, what are you eating every day? The same giant corporations who you pay to make your food have a vested interest in making sure you don't make your own food and they are hiding stuff in the food that you eat. Again, this is an analogy, the Lord said that we do not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds forth from God. Their goal is to make sure you do not live by any word that proceeds forth from God but only by words that proceed forth from them.

 

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Luke 13:22 And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,

The context is Jews, all of whom are sons of Abraham.

24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

Once again, when He says that many will seek to enter, we are not talking about unbelievers. They are not seeking to enter. There is this pervasive teaching that has spread throughout all of Christianity, like the leaven the woman hid in the three measures of meal until it was all leavened that all Christians are going to saved.

25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.

So these are people who attend church and listen to sermons.

27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

Consider the US, a Christian nation, and all the iniquity this country is guilty of. We invade countries accusing them of crimes they didn't commit. We bomb weddings that are thousands of miles away from the US filled with people who didn't have the slightest concern about the US until you killed their families. The CIA uses the drug trade to finance clandestine operations. The US is the biggest destination for human traffickers. Our corporations infect all nations and take advantage of them. To call the US "workers of iniquity" is appropriate. Perhaps these are bankers or politicians or lawyers or others working for multinational corporations asking the Lord to open up to them.

28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

Abraham lived a life of the altar and the tent. Let's be real, most Christians in Christianity do not live that life. Isaac was a child of promise, most Christians have not had that experience. Jacob was transformed into Israel, a prince of God. How many Christians in Christianity have been transformed into a prince of God?

29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

No, most of those in Christianity are "first" they are not "last". They are the "head" not the "tail". They are the ones getting their feet washed, not the ones washing the feet. There is no way to twist this word to say anything other than Jesus is talking about Christians in Christianity being locked out of the rapture. This doesn't mean they lose their salvation. Being last doesn't mean going to hell, just means you don't sit at the seat of honor. If we have a marathon race, coming in last doesn't mean you go to hell, you are still running the race and you still finished the course.

 

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Luke 13:31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.

The same day as what? According to the context Jesus was talking about the rapture and some being locked out where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. We are talking about the Day of the Lord. After the rapture the Antichrist and the beast system will seek to kill Christians.

32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

During the tribulation Jesus will do many miracles, He will cast out devils, He will do cures and on the third day (third year) you will see the two witnesses raised from the dead and ascend to heaven.

Again, even being last in this race is filled with glory. If you can finish the race that is what really matters.

 

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Rapture Dream: I Was So OVERWHELMED That I Cried! Jesus Answered This Question #rapture #jesus

 

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Fruit worthy of repentance

Luke 13 begins by saying these horrible crimes happened to people not because they were worse sinners but as a warning to others. The warning was that you would repent of your sins otherwise you would perish in the same way.

So let's think about what fruit worthy of repentance means.

I am going to use the example of rape. A woman get's raped, that is not because she is a worse sinner than you, but rather it is a warning to you that unless you repent you also will suffer the same fate. So then, let's assume I was raped, how could I repent? Perhaps going forward I would carry pepper spray. Perhaps when I think about what happened I think "if I only had pepper spray it would have been different". Or perhaps I will no longer go to a bar alone. Maybe someone put a date rape drug in my drink. So I make sure I go with friends who are going to watch my back. However, as I start to think about it I realize there are many ways in which I could be raped, my one experience is only one of those ways. So I read books. I then learn that many predators get away with this because women are afraid to come forward. So I volunteer in support groups to help encourage women to come forward and testify. But in the end no way is foolproof. There is no such thing as a silver bullet. Two ways are better than one, three are better than two.

So let's look at this in another way which will be even simpler to understand. Suppose you live in Australia and you love to surf but you don't want to be a victim of a shark attack. There are things you can do, you can go surfing in a group, you can pay attention to any warnings of sharks in the area, but in the end, surfing raises the chances of a shark attack. For most people we understand that, simply stay away from the water where sharks go. But for someone who loves to surf that is offensive.

When I was in NYC you would always read about someone being killed by a gang or by the mafia. People thought NYC was dangerous. But i knew that most of those killings took place at a bar at 2am. Stay away from bars at 2am and NYC is much, much safer.

The same is true of bars, avoid going to bars to find a date and you are much less likely of being raped. Now for people who don't go to bars that is easy advice to receive, but for those to whom this is where they like to hang out on the weekend that is offensive.

My point is that true repentance will include many things. You will now treat the risk of this happening with much more respect and not treat it as a joke. You will purchase items and take steps to make sure it does not happen again. You will have empathy for those who have suffered from this and will now look to help them rather than be self righteous. But in the end there will be a sanctification, you will realize that shark attacks only happen in waters infested with sharks and you will avoid those places. The Bible if filled with warnings that people mock and scoff at until it happens to them. Think about Job, he was righteous, the attack did not come because he wasn't righteous. No for some reason he had allowed the hedge of protection to be dropped.

When God first told Satan that Job was this great guy he should consider Satan's response was I can't touch him because you, God, have put a hedge of protection around him. When we have a covenant with God it includes a hedge of protection. But then Job must have done something that permitted God to say, fine, I'll remove the hedge of protection up to a point. That is something that unbelievers will mock and scoff at. But when you realize this happened to you, somehow your hedge of protection was removed just like Samson waking up and realizing his strength was gone because they had shaved his head, then you will repent. You will weep and gnash your teeth at your stupidity and you will bring forth fruit worthy of repentance to get that hedge of protection from God back.

 

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This is huge if it happens

This says Trump is thinking of recognizing Palestinian statehood. If Trump does that it would be a fulfillment of a prophecy in Joel 3 explaining why God calls all the nations to Armageddon.

 

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A brief review of the church age

Nehemiah 8:13 Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: 14 And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:

Moses was in the OT but the Apostles and the writers of the New Testament did the same thing.

15 And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them. 16 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, 17 And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

We saw this during the apostolic age with all those in Asia forsaking the apostle Paul

18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

We have seen this as well with many Catholic's worshipping with great big idols they carry through the streets.

19 Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. 20 Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

Throughout the church age we have had genuine prophets and teachers who have given us the word of life and taught us the truth from God's word.

21 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

In our case we have been here for 40 periods of 49, that is 4x7x70. A jubilee is the year after 7 weeks of years (49 years). The period of forgiveness is 7x70 = 490 years. However, they need to hear the gospel first and the gospel has gone to the four corners of the earth, hence 4x7x70 = 1,960 years. The gospel went to the four corners of the earth when Jerusalem was destroyed and the Christians were scattered and the Jews were put into a timeout. You can also calculate 40x50, or 2,000 years from the cross of Christ. You can also say that Jesus' death marked the end of the fourth day of creation and that 2,000 years later would bring us to the end of the sixth day and the start of the seventh. The Bible gives us multiple ways to calculate the end of this period of time.

22 Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

One reason we have a variety of Christians is because there are many aspects to Christ.

23 Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

Again, true of the church history. We began with five hundred at the time of Jesus' death and that has multiplied into billions today.

24 So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would. 25 And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

Again, this is true of the church age. Christians possessed the major kingdoms. At one point or another whether Rome, Portugal, Spain, Germany, France, or the UK the Christians were very influential at the time of their reign. The same is true of the US. For many years the US was a Christian nation that was governed by the word of God. Whenever we were obedient to Your word we became fat, and delighted ourselves in thy great goodness.

26 Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

Again, certainly true of Rome, Germany, Spain, Portugal and France. We are now seeing this take place in the UK and would not be surprised if in the near future this were to happen in the US as well.

27 Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

There was a time when the US had not ever been delivered into the hands of our enemies, at least not since 1812. But ever since Vietnam and now Afghanistan it seems the US is going from one defeat to the next. We have the best military in the world, the best equipped, the best trained, and the best funded. But that is not what brings the victory. People despise arrogant and corrupt rulers. As a result the US is simply seen as a bully whereas before we were seen as a savior. No country wants the US to reign and as a result you can't "win" any war. You can fight endless wars, or you can throw in the towel, those are the two choices to the US after they abandon the command of God.

28 But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the land of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies; 29 And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

Just look at church history. People who study the history of the Catholic church despise them for how corrupt and evil they were. We see the crusades as one defeat after another. We saw this happen with every empire, they got proud and thought their success was due to them and that was the beginning of the fall. The reasonable conclusion of human history for the last two thousand years is that if you are obedient to the word of God you will be the head and not the tail. However, the minute you get proud and arrogant you will be treated as dung.

30 Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. 31 Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

We are being trained to rule and reign with mercy and a humble spirit.

32 Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. 33 Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly: 34 Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them. 35 For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

This has been the conclusion every time an empire falls.

36 Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: 37 And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. 38 And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.

 

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The wisdom of God's Plan of Salvation

18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

I have never, as far as I can remember, heard a fair exposition on these verses. The fact is that both sons are taking a path that leads to salvation, both encounter hardships, and God's wisdom is revealed in us having both get saved. We need those who have fallen into sin, who understand how they got deceived, tricked, cheated, etc. It is like the person depicted in the movie "Catch Me if You Can". His experience as a forger was great training for him in catching forgers and designing protocols to make money safer.

20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

Throughout the church age we have celebrated those who repented from being felons, drug dealers, prostitutes, murderers, etc. If I recall correctly the man who wrote "Amazing Grace" was a slave trader.

25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.

I think it is reasonable to take issue with his being angry, but let's be real, the sins of the younger son were equally bad. This is part of the plan of salvation that we would meet in a church with many other brothers and sisters and that they would expose our flesh. We are not all drug dealers, pimps, and extortionists, but we are all sinners and we all need that exposed so we can repent of that.

29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

However, I don't think it is reasonable to take issue with this question of the son. Why shouldn't he ask this question? Ecclesiastes says there is a time and a season for everything. Yes, it is appropriate to celebrate the prodigal son when he returns because he was dead and is now alive. Well the same principle should apply to the son who is always with the Lord. At the time of the rapture he too will have been dead and now is alive. I would also point out the elder son referring to "my friends" as being distinct from the younger son's friends. There are those who are always with the Lord and it is appropriate to be in fellowship with them. We are told to not abandon the gathering of ourselves together and so much the more as you see the day approaching. But the rapture is when all those who are raptured will be able to make merry with our friends.

31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

The Father does not rebuke the son for asking that question. Also, how does everyone miss this, "all that I have is thine". The prodigal son wasted his inheritance, this son has built up a great inheritance in the Lord.

The wisdom here is that we need both. For example the early church needed the apostle Paul who could walk them through the Bible. We need those who art ever with the Lord and all that is His is theirs. We also need those who have experienced being deceived by Satan in every possible way so that we are not ignorant of Satan's devices. God is training us to rule and reign and no single person has had enough experiences and enough knowledge, we will need every believer and everything that they bring to the table.

 

[ZNP]

Fruit worthy of repentance

https://rumble.com/v6ta3kb-fruit-worthy-of-repentance.html

Luke 13 -- the entire chapter deals with this issue of fruit worthy of repentance and that the things we see happening in the world are a warning to us that unless we repent we also will perish in the same way.