THE WRATH OF GOD - IT'S TOUGH LOVE
by
Keith Hunt
"O clap your hands, all you people; shout unto God with the voice
of TRIUMPH! For the Lord most High is TERRIBLE; He is a great
King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and
the nations under our feet. He shall choose our inheritance for
us, the excellency of Jacob whom He loved. Selah!
God is gone up with a SHOUT, the Lord with the sound of the
TRUMPET!
Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto the King,
sing praises.
For God is King of all the earth: sing you praises with
understanding.
God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of His
holiness.
The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people
of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto
God: He is greatly exalted."
Psalm 47
What a wonderful and mighty Psalm. One day it will be
literal reality. God in the form of Jesus Christ will come and
subdue all nations, will come and rule the whole earth. He will
come with the sound of the TRUMPET! He will come with a SHOUT! He
is a God that can be TERRIBLE! The world has not yet seen the
AWESOME POWER of the terrible God. What the world may have seen
at times in history as to the working of His power, such as in
the days of the flood of Noah; the Exodus of the Israelites out
of Egypt; the power of the fall of Jericho under Joshua the
leader of Israel; the miraculous miracles under Elijah and
Elisha; some of the miracles in more modern times, like the very
unusual calm of the English channel for those escaping at Dunkirk
from the German military machine ready to dash them to oblivion.
Whatever the world may have witnessed to the MIGHT and the POWER
of the Lord in the past ages, it will be as nothing compared to
the tossing and blistering attack God will throw at the nations
of this earth during the DAY OF THE LORD, the LAST YEAR of this
age, leading up to the coming of Christ, and the HORRIFIC battle
of Armageddon, when Jesus, the angels, and the saints, will
pulverize, annihilate, wipe out and expunge, the nations that try
to fight Him on His return.
Just think, meditate upon, the very idea that physical
humans will think they can fight the God of this universe. It is
dumb, it is as goofy as you can possibly get. But it will show
how Satan can so deeply deceive people, how he can control their
mind, that armies will think they are in the right, they are the
righteous ones, and this army coming from the heaven is the evil
empire of some science-fiction-reality, of an invasion from
another planet taking place.
Listen to what Psalm 2 says to us:
"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take
counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed
saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their
cords from us (we will have nothing to do with them).
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have
them in derision.
Then shall He speak to them in His WRATH, and vex them in his
sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my King upon My holy hill of Zion.
I will declare the decree: the Lord has said unto me, You are My
Son; this day I have begotten you.
Ask of Me, and I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
You shall break them with the rod of iron; you shall dash them in
pieces like a potter;s vessel.
Be wise now therefore, O you king: be instructed, you judges of
the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be ANGRY, and you perish from the way, when
His WRATH is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him."
What a magnificent prophecy! It will come to pass! As sure
as the rising of the sun, I tell you the words of this prophecy
will one day be a reality. The Son of God is to RETURN, in POWER,
in MIGHT, in GLORY, in the mode of a fighter full of ANGER -
RIGHTEOUS ANGER, and WRATH!
The Almighty God "...loves righteousness, and HATES
WICKEDNESS..." Psalm 45:7.
"You put away all the WICKED of the earth, like dross...."
Psalm 119:119.
"But the WICKED shall PERISH, the enemies of the Lord shall
be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume, into smoke shall they
consume away" Psalm 37:20.
"Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that HATE the
RIGHTEOUS shall be DESOLATE" Psalm 34:21.
"The UNgodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the
wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the
judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous" Psalm
1:4-5.
The day is coming when the Eternal Creator, the Holy One,
will say it is time, it is enough; the wickedness of the world
has had its limits. The day will arrive when the Father will send
Jesus back to this earth, to STOP the wickedness of the wicked,
to put an end to the ABOUNDING of EVIL and SIN! The longsuffering
and patience of the Lord will come to an end. With righteous
WRATH God will consume His enemies. Their flesh shall consume
away from their bodies (Zechariah 14) in the battle of the great
and dreadful day of the wrath of God.
There is a judgment day of wrath coming from the Lord. It is
so written.
"For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may
know there is a judgment" Job 19:29.
He will not be silent forever. He will not sit and watch the
evil of the wicked forever. He will not withhold His punishment
for the ages of ages. He will reward the wicked with His
destructive anger and wrath.
"Behold the day of the Lord comes, CRUEL both with WRATH and
FIERCE ANGER, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the
sinners out of it. therefore I will shake the heavens, and the
earth shall remove out of its place, in the WRATH of the Lord of
hosts, and in the day of His FIERCE ANGER" Isaiah 13:9,13).
"Behold, the name of the Lord comes from far, BURNING with
ANGER, and the burden thereof is heavy: His lips are full of
INDIGNATION, and his tongue as a DEVOURING FIRE" Isaiah 30:27.
"I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there
was none with Me: for I will tread them in Mine ANGER; and
TRAMPLE them in My FURY; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon
My garments, and I will stain all My raiment. For the day of
VENGEANCE is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come.
And I looked and there was none to help; and I wondered that
there was none to uphold: therefore My own arm brought salvation
unto Me; and My FURY, it upheld Me. And I will TREAD DOWN the
people in My ANGER, and make them drunk in My FURY, and I will
bring down their strength to the earth" Isaiah 63:3-6.
"For, behold the Lord will COME with FIRE, and with His
chariots like a WHIRLWIND, to render His ANGER with FURY, and His
REBUKE with FLAMES OF FIRE" Isaiah 66:15.
"The ANGER of the Lord shall not return, until He has
executed, and till He has performed the thoughts of His heart: in
the LATTER DAYS you shall consider it perfectly" Jeremiah 23:20.
Oh indeed, we shall consider it well, when the Lord really
steps in to SHAKE, RATTLE, AND ROLL this earth, and the nations
upon it. Though the Eternal is slow to anger, very merciful, and
patient, there comes a limit that He will endure. For the sake of
the righteous; for the safe of His plan for this earth and the
people upon it, He will have to stop mankind from killing
themselves. But evil will have so abounded, people will be so
stiffnecked, so deceived by Satan the Devil, there will be no way
to bring them to REPENTANCE but by VERY HARD LOVE, I mean harder
love than the nations have ever experienced in their history. The
Eternal God will have to bring people to their knees! It will
take all the prophecies of the book of Revelation to be reality,
before people will finally come to the end of their rope, and
with one last breath, so to speak, cry out "O Lord, we are
SINNERS, we have done WICKEDLY. We have broken your commandments,
we have gone our own way, thrown you and your word out of our
homes, our schools, our universities, our governments, our courts
of law, and followed our own heart and mind. We REPENT! We will
serve You! We admit you only have the right way to live, and we
are willing to be taught, to listen, to obey YOU and your holy
commandments."
It's going to take a SHAKING of this world, the death of
tens of MILLIONS, the final battle of Armageddon as pictured in
Revelation 16 and 19; the WRATH, the RIGHTEOUS wrath of God to
save mankind from themselves, and to bring them to REPENTANCE!!
The New Testament is not SILENT about the WRATH of God to
come upon the WICKED of this earth.
....................
To be continued
The WRATH of God #2
The Final Battle over Sin/Deception!
THE WRATH OF GOD - TOUGH LOVE #2
The NT is not silent by any means of the WRATH of God that
is to come on this earth at the very end of this age. The Eternal
will have had His belly full of the hard-headed rebellious, and
just down right WICKEDNESS and EVIL that will have ABOUNDED, as
Jesus prophesied would happen before He came back to rule the
earth in righteous judgment.
"For the WRATH of God is revealed from heaven AGAINST all
UNgoldliness and UNrighteousness of men, who hold back the truth
in UNrighteousness" Romans 1:18.
The truth of the matter today on important issues of life is
often held back; the truth about God, His word; the way of
salvation, the truth about being saved by grace, the truth of the
commandments of the Lord NOT abolished; the truth of the FOURTH
commandments with the amplification it contains about the FEASTS
of the Lord; the truth about Jesus' return and how it will
happen; the truth concerning the Kingdom of God coming to earth
and the many prophecies that give us detail; ALL these teaching
from the Bible, and many more, ARE HELD BACK from you by the
popular so-called "Christian" denominations today. They do not
want you to know the real truth on these topics. They KNOW if
they would teach and preach them, their "mass following" would
CRUMBLE!! They would be out of a job; their sale of their books
would come to a crashing close; their speaking engagements would
be cancelled for few would show up. People today are LAZY
Christians, they want the EASY road to travel, they do not desire
to be CORRECTED, to be told how they need to CHANGE their life
style; how they should CONFORM to the WILL and the COMMANDMENTS
of the Almighty God. They are lazy in "searching the Scriptures"
- lazy in reading the Bible from cover to cover. They want to
read all the hundreds of books published each year (I know I'm a
member of a Christian book club) - so busy reading books about
the Bible they have little time to actually read the Bible
itself, and as far as DEEP study goes, why forget that, they are
so busy running here and there, they sure don't have the time to
spend hours a week doing in-depth Bible study.
So the preachers of the Christian religion tell them what
they want to hear, to keep them in never never land. The teachers
are to blame, but so are the listeners, for they WANT it that
way. It is as Jesus said the blind leading the blind, and BOTH
will fall into the ditch.
How do you figure this (you can from what I've said above)
as a way of speaking, over 1 BILLION people on earth are ROMAN
CATHOLIC! Now all it would take is just a little small amount of
research of history, to find that the RC church was directly or
in-directly responsible for ten of thousands of people being
burnt at the stake, tortured, killed, during the so-called Dark
Ages. Why would ANY person, even ONE person (let alone a Billion
and more) EVER WANT to be a member of such a church with such a
history? It blows me away, just fries my mind. Yet a Billion
people are still following (in small or large ways) the dictates
of that organization. Getting some "theology" wrong and changing
to the truth is one thing, but KILLING people is totally another
thing that can never be excused. Such an organization once it has
done such terrible things as torture and killing can never be a
bonified Christian religion again. They should have closed shop,
hung a sign on the wall "gone fishing" and disappeared off the
face of the earth, with leaders fully REPENTING! The organization
with such history should have been disbanded.
The DEPTHS of the deceptions of Satan run THICK!!
God will come to the end of His patience one day. He will
say "Enough is enough. It's time for me to SHAKE, RATTLE, AND
ROLL the nations on earth."
"But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest you
unto thyself WRATH against the day of WRATH and REVELATION of the
righteous JUDGMENT of God" Romans 2:5
It's time for YOU to not be deceived any more:
"Let no man deceive you with VAIN words: for because of
these things comes the WRATH of God upon the children of
DISobedience" Ephesians 5:6.
"For which things sake the WRATH of God comes on the
children of DISobedience" Colossians 3:6.
The time is coming when DISobedience to the law and the COM-
MANDMENTS of God, as more and more people everywhere are shutting
the Lord Almighty out of their lives, their business, and secular
sports and entertainment and hobbies, then a day of reckoning
WILL come - the Eternal has promised it! What is written will
come to pass.
Why does it seem at the present that God has walked away,
turned a blind eye to the ever increasing EVIL AND WICKEDNESS
that is going on down here on this planet? Paul gives us the
answer:
"And why do you think this O man, that judgment (of evil) to
those who do such things (evil and wickedness), and you do the
same, that YOU shall escape the JUDGMENT of God? Or why do YOU
despise the riches of His goodness and forbearance and
longsuffering (patience and slow to anger and wrath). Do you not
know that the goodness of God (in being patient and holding back
judgment) is to LEAD YOU to REPENTANCE" (my rendition) Romans
2:3-4.
Oh, at the present God is holding back His WRATH! He is
being PATIENT, longsuffering, THAT SOME MAY COME TO REPENTANCE,
find the true light and walk in the way of the Lord, find
salvation and so a people can be prepared for the glorious FIRST
RESURRECTION when Jesus does come to judge and punish the nations
for their SINS and WICKEDNESS and all that is UNrighteous.
This is why Jesus has not yet returned to earth! This is the
reason why for many of us things seemed to have slowed down to
bring about the end time prophecies. And I do tell you that MUCH
is yet to happen on this earth and with the nations, to bring
about all the end of the age prophecies. God is HOLDING OFF for a
while, in His time frame, what is written will come to pass. He
is being KIND and PATIENT right now, for the reason that YOU and
others may find the way of salvation and come to understand real
REPENTANCE, and so become a people after His name, a people
destined for the FIRST resurrection, to serve under Jesus Christ,
in the age to come.
I told you back in 2004 (it's still on the first page of
this Website) that Jesus would NOT return in this decade. Call it
what you will, gut feeling or inspiration from the Holy Spirit. I
am CORRECT! And as we get into the decade of 2010-2020 (probably
about 2014) I will tell you if Jesus will return by 2020.
The Lord is being very patient at the moment. He is in no
hurry it would seem to bring this age to a close. Why? Because
His longsuffering of wickedness and evil, is to give people like
you reading and studying from this Website, to REPENT, to REALLY
come to KNOW the true God and His holy ways and what He says
should be the way you are living towards Him and towards your
fellow man.
But time will march on, and the time will come when the
longsuffering of the Lord will be over. It will be the time for
Him to ACT towards this planet and its people, as never before.
People will wish the mountains would cover them from the face of
the Eternal.
"And (they) said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and
hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from
the WRATH of the Lamb: For the GREAT DAY of His WRATH is COME;
and who shall be able to stand?" Revelation 6:16.
Who shall be able to stand? Oh God answers all over His
word, to tell you who will stand. Just read the wonderful FIRST
PSALM!!
Read it often, believe it, for it is the very plain truth to our
question. Then you also have the letters of John the apostle who
over and over again tells you who will stand in that day and in
the first resurrection. Some of the very last words of Christ in
the book of Revelation also tell you who will stand. There are
MANY passages in the Bible that tell you who will stand when
Jesus comes to judge this earth and the people on it. The
passages are SIMPLE to read, why even a CHILD can understand
them. Will you be as a child in simple understanding? I pray you
will. If you will, then the Bible will open up to you as never
before. No PhD needed, no 4 years of "theology school" needed; no
fancy classes to attend; just the mind of a child, and a steady
searching of the Scriptures, is all that is required.
For MOST of the inhabitants of the world, the ones left
alive (and that will only be a fraction of today's population),
who will not come to the Bible as a child, who will not REPENT of
sins and wickedness, then we read:
"The same shall drink of the wine of the WRATH of God, which
is poured out without mixture into the cup of his INDIGNATION:
and He shall be TORMENTED with FIRE and BRIMSTONE in the presence
of the Lamb" Revelation 14:10.
Punishment will come. God will pour it out like a volcano
blowing its top:
"And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous,
seven angels having seven last plagues; for in them is FILLED UP
the WRATH of God. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven
angels seven golden vials FULL of the WRATH of God, who lives for
ever and ever" Revelation 15:1,7).
There is ONE city on earth today that God says is the spear-
head of all UNRIGHTEOUSNESS and DECEPTION. From that city has
come that which has deceived ALL nations, for just about all
nations today follow the customs (some more some less) that this
theological city has perpetrated and planted and stamped, on the
earth's population. Even many who say they do not follow any
religion, knowingly or unknowingly, follow the deceptions, and
pagan deceptions at that, that this city has given to them.
The city is the city of ROME!! It is called Mystery Babylon
the Great, the mother of Harlots (she had daughter come out of
her in protest) in the book of Revelation. Just about all of the
old Bible Commentaries of 100, 200, 300, years ago (like Albert
Barnes; Adam Clarke and others) tell you that the Babylon of
Revelation is ROME and the Roman Catholic church. And it is so!
This city and its theology will one day be obliterated from the
face of this earth. It is written:
"And the great city was divided into three parts, and the
cities of the nations fell: and GREAT BABYLON came in remembrance
before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the
fierceness of His WRATH" Revelation 16:19.
Then we have the very last battle that Jesus and the saints
will have a direct part in. In Revelation 16 the armies of the
world will gather together at Armageddon, about 70 miles NW of
Jerusalem, a land area well suited for mass troops to arrange
themselves for battle. Those armies of the ten nations who at
that time give their power to the beast man will actually believe
they can win this battle, against the armies coming out of the
heavens.
The truth for us is made plain:
"And I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse; and He
that sat upon him was called FAITHFUL and TRUE, AND IN
RIGHTEOUSNESS HE DOES JUDGE AND MAKE WAR. His eyes were as a
flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a
name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called
"The Word of God." And the armies which were in heaven followed
Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should
smite the nations: and He shall RULE them with a rod of IRON: and
He treads the winepress of the FIERCENESS and WRATH of Almighty
God. And He has on His vesture and on His thigh a name written,
"KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORD" Revelation 19:11-16.
Just as a father punishes his children in one way or
another, if they do wrong, doing it in love, to help them turn
the right way, live the good righteous way, find peace and joy
and safety, so the heavenly Father will have no choice (mankind
has gone beyond the line of turning back to God's way on his own)
but to PUNISH IN LOVE the wicked of the world. It would seem now
that He has no choice but to bring mankind to their knees, to
humbleness, to REPENTANCE, but through the fires of a trial and
testing and death and sorrow, like never before seen on this
earth.
But doing this in LOVE, will be the way for all peoples to
be so sick of SIN and CORRUPTION and DECEPTION, that they will
want to say, "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to
the house of the God of Jacob; and He will TEACH us of His WAYS,
and we will WALK in His PATHS: for out of Zion shall go forth the
LAW, and the WORD of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall JUDGE
among the nations, and shall REBUKE many people: and they shall
beat their swords into plowshares, and their spearhooks into
prunninghooks: nation shall NOT lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more" Isaiah 2:3-4.
Oh, what a day, what an age, will be the age that is yet to
come. We pray for it to come in God's good time and within His
longsuffering plan for mankind. But be assured friends that age
WILL COME!!
...........................
Feast of Trumpets 2009
Joel For Today
The Day of the Lord!
by Keith Hunt Chapters 1 - 3
Joel is one of the prophets that little is known of him, not
even the years he gave his prophecy.
One thing is known his whole prophecy is centered around the
"day of the Lord" and the context is indeed the last years of
this age. It is a prophecy very much for the end times.
CHAPTER 1
We are to give heed, as God says, has anything like this
EVER happen, pass it on to the generations, as the Lord decides
WHEN all this prophecy will come to pass.
A nation is going to come up on the land of God, the land of
God is the land where His people Israel and Judah will be
dwelling. It is a strong and mighty nation, teeth like a lion,
and cheek teeth like a great lion. He will lay God's land (vine)
desolate, make the bark of the fig tree clean, the branches
stripped to whiteness. People are to lament like a virgin does
for the husband she will not marry. The worship of God (even if
only an outward form)is to be cut off, the priests (even if false
ones) will mourn. The field of crops is wasted, the land
mourneth; the wine is dried up, the oil languishes (verses 1-10).
It is all symbols of God's people and land being DESTROYED!!
More lament and devastation is to come. People, even the
ministers (false though they be) are to howl, for religion as
the children of Israel have known it will STOP! The Lord says you
better call for a FAST and cry out to Him. FOR....
FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD IS AT HAND, AND AS A DESTRUCTION
FROM THE ALMIGHTY SHALL IT COME (verses 11-15).
The "day of the Lord" is mentioned in dozens of prophecies
in the books of the prophets of the Old Testament. It is a time
of sorrow for the fields and beasts of the earth, the pastures
will be dried up, the sheep will have only desolation. The trees
are burnt up; the rivers of water are dried up, and the fires
have devoured the pastures (verses 16-20).
It is the DAY OF THE LORD. IT IS THE END OF CHAPTER 6 AND
THE BEGINNING OF THE 7TH CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION!!
CHAPTER 2
The sound of the TRUMPET is to be blown, the DAY OF THE LORD
COMES!
A day of DARKNESS and GLOOMINESS, a day of CLOUDS and THICK
DARKNESS. A GREAT PEOPLE, AND STRONG, NEVER THE LIKE, AND NEVER
THE LIKE AGAIN, MANY GENERATIONS. A fire devours before them, and
behind them is a flame. The land may be as the garden of Eden
before them but left behind them is desolation, as a wilderness,
nothing escapes from them.
THE APPEARANCE OF THEM IS AS HORSES AND HORSEMEN, RUNNING
AND GALLOPING (verses 1-4).
This is the 6th TRUMPET of Revelation chapter 9:13-19. It is
the army of the EAST, from the other side of the river Euphrates,
prepared for an hour, a day, a month, a year, to KILL A THIRD
PART OF MEN, that are alive to this point in time. It is AFTER
the GREAT TRIBULATION that has been on the earth for 2 years or so,
AFTER only ONE in TEN Israelites are left alive on earth. They
are the HORSEMEN of Revelation 9:13-19.
This is the ARMY of the EAST, of Russia, India, Japan, and
especially of CHINA, a people of many generations and a people
BUILT UP AND PREPARED for such an HOUR AND DAY AND YEAR!
This will be the time when as in the SECOND WORLD WAR,
GERMANY EUROPE, THE BEAST BABYLON MYSTERY RELIGION POWER OF THE
HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE OF EUROPE WILL ATTACK RUSSIA AND CHINA (the 5th
Trumpet of Revelation 9), AND RUSSIA WITH CHINA AND OTHERS WILL
COUNTER-ATTACK. THE POWER TO THE EAST WILL DESOLATE EUROPE, MAKE
IT LIKE A WILDERNESS, KILL ONE THIRD OF MEN ON EARTH!!
WE ARE IN THE DAY OF THE LORD, PROBABLY THE LAST ONE YEAR OF
THIS AGE BEFORE JESUS RETURNS.
IT WILL BE THE TIME AS JESUS SAID THAT IF IT WAS NOT ***CUT
SHORT*** ***NO FLESH WOULD BE SAVED ALIVE*** (Mat.24:22).
This army from the East will come with like the noise of
chariots, the noise of a flame of fire devouring all before it.
They will be a strong people SET IN BATTLE ARRAY. If you've seen
the marching of the war machine of Russia and China you know the
picture. Their discipline is without rank, they move and march
along like robots. None will be able to stop them; they shall run
and climb and move like a well drilled machine. The earth will
QUAKE before them; the heavens will TREMBLE; the sun and moon
shall be dark, the stars shall not shine.
The Lord shall UTTER HIS VOICE with them; they will do His
bidding, FOR ....THE DAY OF THE LORD IS GREAT, AND VERY TERRIBLE,
WHO CAN WITHSTAND IT? (verses 5-11).
There is no people on earth that HAVE BEEN PREPARING THEIR
WAR MACHINE LIKE RUSSIA AND CHINA.
GOD WILL USE IT TO PUNISH AND DESTROY THE RESURRECTED HOLY
ROMAN EMPIRE OF EUROPE!!
God calls out that people should TURN with all their hearts
and minds, with weeping and fasting, that they should TURN to the
Lord, FOR God is good, and gracious and merciful, slow to anger,
and of great kindness, and He can change His mind about allowing
and bringing evil on the earth.
To God's children of Israel, to Judah, they are to blow a
TRUMPET in Zion, call for a fast, call all the people, the elders
and the babies sucking at the breast, even the brides and grooms;
let the ministers of religion WEEP, let them cry our, "SPARE THY
PEOPLE, O LORD, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the
heathen should rule over them, whereby they would laugh at them
and mockingly say, 'Where is your God now?'" (verses 12-17).
The prophecy in verses 12-17 MOVES BACK to BEFORE the Great
Tribulation comes to earth and to Israel and Judah. We have God
telling us to REPENT - TO TURN FROM OUR SINS - SO DESTRUCTION
WILL NOT HAVE TO COME UPON US IN PUNISHMENT!
This we have seen time and time again in the books of
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.
But we know this TURNING of the people of Jacob is VERY
UNLIKELY, so they will go into CAPTIVITY.
Then .... God will after enough punishment and after the
people of Israel and Judah have come WEEPING to Him with a humble
and repentant heart, God will DELIVER THEM! "I will send you
corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied; I will no
longer make you a reproach among the heathen. But I will REMOVE
far off from you the NORTHERN army, and will drive him into a
barren and desolate land, his face towards the east sea (the dead
sea) and hind part towards the uttermost sea (the Mediterranean
sea); his stink will come up (in death), because he has done
great things (against the Most High) (verses 18-20).
During the day of the Lord, by the end of it, the NORTHERN
ARMY of EUROPE (with the man beast and the false prophet) will be
DESTROYED out of the Holy Land. Jesus will return and the battle
of Armageddon will put an end to the Babylon Mystery Religion
power of Europe in the Holy Land; Israel and Judah will be
GATHERED from out of the countries they have found themselves
scattered in, and shall be brought back to the Promised Land
where they will be BLESSED AND HAVE THE SPIRIT OF GOD. This is
the theme of all the prophets.
"Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do
great things. Be not afraid you beasts of the field: for the
pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree bears fruit
... Be you glad, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord
your God: for He gives you the former rain moderately ... the
former rain and the latter rain ... the floors shall be full of
wheat, and the vats overflowing with wine and oil. And I will
restore to you the years that the locust has eaten ... the great
army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty, and be
satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has
dealt WONDROUSLY with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
And you shall KNOW that I AM IN THE MIDST OF ISRAEL, and that I
am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall NEVER be
ashamed" (verses 21-27).
Can it be said that ANY part of Israel can never be ashamed?
I think not! Sin is still among us, very much so in Israel and
Judah. Can it be said that Israel and/or Judah KNOW that God is
in their midst? I THINK NOT! Most of Israel and Judah do not even
think about God per se, they are becoming more SECULAR each and
every day and month and year. The Northern army of the Europe
Beast Babylon will be driven away from Jerusalem and the Holy
Land at this time, when all this prophecy is fulfilled.
The WHOLE CONTEXT of this section of Joel is AFTER the Great
Tribulation, AFTER the day of the Lord, when Israel and Judah,
God's people of Jacob, will have God (via the person of Christ)
in their midst!
The next verses also prove the point of time when all this
will take place.
The SPIRIT of God is to be POURED OUT on the children of
Israel, all 13 tribes. People will be INSPIRED! The Spirit of God
will be upon ALL flesh within Israel. There will be "WONDERS in
heaven and in the earth, blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. The
sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE
the GREAT AND THE TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD COMES. And it shall
come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be DELIVERED: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be
deliverance, as the Lord has said, and in the remnant whom the
Lord shall call" (verses 28-32).
Yes, this had a fulfilment in Acts 2. But the CONTEXT of
this prophecy is ALSO for a TIME YET TO COME, THE TIME OF THE
LAST FEW YEARS OF THIS AGE, AND WHEN JESUS WILL COME AND DWELL IN
THE MIDST OF ISRAEL IN JERUSALEM.
Prophecy OFTEN has a DOUBLE fulfilment and often the LAST
fulfilment is GREATER than the first one. It was a spectacular
fulfilment in Acts 2. But the context of Joel 2:18-32 will be a
LARGER fulfilment than it was in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 2.
These HEAVENLY SIGNS are in the OLIVET prophecy of Christ
(Mat.24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:11). The heavenly signs are in
the 6th chapter of Revelation. Putting all prophetic Scriptures
together we see it is (1) The Great Tribulation (2) the Heavenly
Signs (3) The Day of the Lord (4) The Return of Christ (5) The
Resurrection of the Saints (6) The Battle of Armageddon (7) The
Delivering of Israel/Judah/Jerusalem from the Gentiles.
This 1 to 7 outline of prophecy I have expounded upon in
detail in MANY studies on this Website.
CHAPTER 3
"For behold, IN THOSE DAYS, AND IN THAT TIME, WHEN I SHALL BRING
AGAIN THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM. I will gather all
nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat,
and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage
Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my
land. They have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for
a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink" (verses
1-3).
The pleading God will do is not with words, but with POWER
AND MIGHT! With BATTLE! The word Jehoshaphat means "judgment of
Jehovah." It is the battle of Armageddon!!
The peoples of the area of Tyre and Zidon, up on the coast
from Jerusalem, will help destroy the children of Judah as the
Great Tribulation comes on the Holy Land, when the king of the
North has marched into Jerusalem to destroy the city and kill and
scatter the Jews of the Promised Land. God will bring back His
people and will use them to return recompense on this area of the
Middle East. The sons and daughters of those people of that area
will become the servants of Judah (verses 4-8).
As the saying goes "What goes around will come around" and
so it will be for many nations when all is finished.
The Last Mighty Battle
"Proclaim you this among the Gentiles; PREPARE WAR, WAKE UP THE
MIGHTY MEN, LET ALL THE MEN OF WAR DRAW NEAR; LET THEM COME. Beat
your ploughshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears:
let the weak say I am strong. ASSEMBLE YOURSELVES, AND COME all
you heathen, AND GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER ROUND ABOUT ... Let
the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat:
FOR THERE WILL I SIT TO JUDGE ALL THE HEATHEN" (verses 9-12).
The Pictorial Encyclopedia says, "Jehoshaphat, valley of,
meaning God shall judge, or Jehovah has judged. A valley adjacent
to the city of Jerusalem on the E, long regarded as the place of
the judging of the nations (Joel 3:2,12). It is also referred to
as the 'valley of decision' (Joel 3:14). Zechariah 14:2 is
commonly taken as a reference to this place, now known as the
Valley of the Kidron...."
Yes, it is not hard to put a few Scriptures together.
Revelation 11:15-19; 14:14-20; 16:12-21; Zech.14:1-15; with this
section of Joel) and find the picture given to us. The nations
and their armies will come and gather at the plain of Megiddon, a
valley runs from there (about 70 miles NW of Jerusalem) down past
the city of Jerusalem, south into the ancient land of Edom. These
armies will try to fight Christ at His return with the saints
(just resurrected). The blood of destruction will flow from
Armageddon plain down to ancient Edom (see Isaiah 63:1 with
Revelation 14:19-20).
"PUT IN THE SICKLE, FOR THE HARVEST IS COME (see Revelation
14:15); get you down for the press is full, the vats overflowing;
for the wickedness is GREAT (see Mat.24:3,12). Multitude,
multitude in the valley of threshing (margin): for THE DAY OF THE
LORD IS NEAR IN THE VALLEY OF THRESHING. The sun and the moon
shall be darkened and the stars shall withdraw their shining"
(verses 13-15).
The HEAVENLY SIGNS again! The time line is indeed the DAY OF
THE LORD. True Joel does not go into the DETAIL of it all. The
book of Revelation does that! We have the HEAVENLY SIGNS -
Revelation 6:12 - the day of God's great WRATH - Revelation 6:17 -
the blowing of the 7 TRUMPETS - Revelation 8:1 - The 7th Trumpet
and the coming of Christ - Revelation 11:15; 14:14-20; 19:11-16 -
The battle of Armageddon at the 7th Trumpet.
The Heavenly Signs introduce the "day of the Lord" - the day
of the Lord ends with the battle we see here depicted in Joel
chapter 3, and passages of Revelation.
The time of Joel 3 covers about ONE YEAR! The book of
Revelation gives us the DETAIL, Joel does not, he just covers the
HIGH-LIGHTS of the overall day of the Lord.
"The Lord also shall ROAR OUT OF ZION, and utter His voice from
Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall SHAKE: (the book
of Revelation amplified all this), but the Lord will be the hope
of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel" (verse
16).
It is all what we have seen over and over again in Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The children of Israel and Judah are in a
state of CAPTIVITY TO THEIR ENEMIES when Christ comes back to
earth. The Middle East and the Holy Land is the FOCUS of the
world. The Beast Babylon power of Europe, with the man beast and
the false prophet, have moved their headquarters to Jerusalem.
The kings of the East have taken some of the nations in the
Middle East. They also have a presence in that area of the world.
Jesus COMES, the saints are resurrected, they meet Him in the
clouds; they all start their descent down to Jerusalem. The
armies of the Beast power and armies from the East side of
Euphrates (Russia, China etc.) having battled it out over their
respective lands (Revelation 9) NOW join forces to fight what
they probably will be told by the false prophet is the anti-
christ. They will gather at the plain of Megiddon. Jesus will
FIGHT as told in Zechariah 14. He will ROAR out of Zion. Utter
His voice from Jerusalem - shake the heavens and the earth - will
win the battle. He will be the strength of Israel and Judah. They
shall be SET FREE from their enemies, they shall RETURN to the
Holy Land and Jerusalem.
God proclaims:
"So shall you KNOW that I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD ***DWELLING IN
ZION*** my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy and there
shall no strangers (unconverted Gentiles) pass through her any
more. And it shall come to pass IN THAT DAY (that time period)
that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall
flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with
waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord,
and shall water the valley of Shittim.
Egypt shall be a desolation (we have seen how in Daniel 11:40-45)
and Edom (modern Turkey) shall be a desolate wilderness, for the
violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed
innocent blood in their land (I've told you and shown you that
when Israel is gathered out of the nations they will come back
across Turkey and lay punishment on them for the evil they did
when Judah - the Jews, fled north at the start of the Great
Tribulation. It is all in the book of Obediah when we get to it).
BUT JUDAH shall abide (margin) for ever, and Jerusalem from
generation to generation. FOR I will CLEANSE their blood that I
have not cleansed: for the LORD DWELLS IN ZION!!" (verses 17-21).
It is the TIME OF THE END OF THIS AGE. This is a prophecy
for THE DAY OF THE LORD, the RETURN of the Messiah Christ, the
battle of Armageddon, the restoration of Israel and Judah and
Jerusalem.
So it is written and so shall it come to pass!
September 2008
......................
Zephaniah For Today
Chapters 1 to 3
by Keith Hunt
Chapters 1 - 3
Zephaniah was active during the reign of Josiah. He may have been
contemporary with Nuhum, Habakkuk, and Jeremiah. If Hizkiah,
noted in 1:1 is King Hezekiah, then Zephaniah is of royal blood.
By warning his people that the day of the Lord is near, Zephaniah
may have stimulated the great reformation during Josiah's reign.
(From my old KJV Study Bible).
From The New Living Translation
CHAPTER 1
The LORD gave these messages to Zephaniah when Josiah son of Amon
was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, son of
Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah.
Coming judgment against Judah
2 "I will sweep away everything in all your land," says the LORD.
3 "I will sweep away both people and animals alike. Even the
birds of the air and the fish in the sea will die. I will reduce
the wicked to heaps of rubble, along with the rest of humanity,"
says the LORD.
......
Immediately, as like no other prophet, we are given the
clear fact that this is a prophecy for the very end time, the
very last year or there-abouts of the "day of God's wrath" (in
the OT "the day of the Lord"); the main part of the book of
Revelation. To sweep away not only animals, as well as mankind,
but the birds of the air and the fish in the sea; they will also
die. Logically, no one is going to try and figure the death of
birds and fish in the sea, with past physical battles that
mankind has brought on each other.
THIS IS CERTAINLY A PROPHECY OF THE DAY OF THE LORD, THE DAY
OF GOD'S WRATH (Revelation 6:17)!!
......
4 "I will crush Judah and Jerusalem with my fist and destroy
every last trace of their Baal worship. I will put an end to all
the idolatrous priests, so that even the memory of them will
disappear. 5 For they go up to their roofs and bow to the sun,
moon, and stars. They claim to follow the LORD, but then they
worship Molech, too. So now I will destroy them!
......
I have said it before and I will say it again. The Jewish
people of the State of Israel in the Holy Land, are A SECULAR,
NONE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY, ONLY A SMALL PART OF THEM PRACTICE
RELIGION, WHICH IS EITHER NOT CONTAINING THE MESSIAH CHRIST, OR
IS PAGAN BABYLON MYSTERY RELIGION, GOING UNDER THE NAME OF
"CHRISTIAN."
The time comes when Judah and Jerusalem will come under the
heel and the foot of the king of the North, the Babylon Beast of
Europe. We have seen it told to us time and time again in the
prophets and certainly in the book of Daniel 11:40-45, and on
into the Great Tribulation, such as never before seen on the
earth.
......
6 And I will destroy those who used to worship me but now no
longer do. They no longer ask for the LORD'S guidance or seek my
blessings."
......
Sadly many have KNOWN and CLAIMED the Bible as their guide,
but have TURNED AWAY FROM IT! Sadly many of the nations of the
Western world, once held the Bible as their STANDARD to live by
in many ways in their society and laws of the land, and in
personal lives. Today the Bible and the Eternal God have been
CAST ASIDE, thrown away, done away, and our nations are turning
more and more each year to SECULARISM; evolution is now taught
and believed as fact in our school systems and TV news programs.
We shall one day pay for our turning away from our God.
......
7 Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign LORD, for the
awesome day of the LORD'S judgment has come. The LORD has
prepared his people for a great slaughter and has chosen their
executioners. 8 "On that day of judgment," says the LORD, "I will
punish the leaders and princes of Judah and all those following
pagan customs. 9 Yes, I will punish those who participate in
pagan worship ceremonies, and those who steal and kill to fill
their masters' homes with loot.
......
The DAY OF GOD'S JUDGMENT on Judah, Israel, and all nations,
WILL COME! It will surely be the time when FALSE PAGAN BABYLON
MYSTERY religion will not only be exposed but will be punished
and will also COME TO AN END, for Christ, with power and judgment
will come to earth to destroy all that is false, and to bring in
the restoration of all things that is good, holy, and righteous.
......
10 "On that day," says the LORD, "a cry of alarm will come from
the Fish Gate and echo throughout the newer Mishneh section* (Or
the Second Quarter: a newer section of Jerusalem) of the city.
And a great crashing sound will come from the surrounding hills.
11 Wail in sorrow, all you who live in the market area, for all
who buy and sell there will die.
12 "I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem's darkest corners to
find and punish those who sit contented in their sins, indiff-
erent to the LORD, thinking he will do nothing at all to them. 13
They are the very ones whose property will be plundered by the
enemy, whose homes will be ransacked. They will never have a
chance to live in the new homes they have built. They will never
drink wine from the vineyards they have planted.
......
The king of the North, will have come down from the Beast
Empire of Europe, it will have come against the king of the South
(Egypt and her Arab partners) and destroyed them (Daniel 11:40-
43); then it will enter the Holy Land, surround Jerusalem, make
it desolate; it will be the abomination that makes desolate (as
I've shown you in many other studies on prophecy on this
Website). It will be the time for Judah and the Jews to be
punished for their sins and their ungodliness and secularism.
This will be the start of the Greatest Tribulation to ever be
experienced on earth; there will be no time like it, either
before or ever after. It will indeed be "Jacob's Trouble" as
Jeremiah called it (Jer.30:7). All the nations of Israel and the
nation of Judah will enter captivity and slavery, for the time
appointed.
......
14 "That terrible day of the LORD is near. Swiftly it comes - a
day when strong men will cry bitterly. 15 It is a day when the
LORD's anger will be poured out. It is a day of terrible distress
and anguish, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and
gloom, of clouds, blackness, 16 trumpet calls, and battle cries.
Down go the walled cities and strongest battlements!
......
The "day of the Lord" now comes; the "great day of His
wrath" is has come. The TRUMPETS will indeed sound! It will be a
time of gloom, blackness, battle cries. It will be the time when
all that is written in the book of Revelation form chapter 6:17,
will come to pass.
......
17 "Because you have sinned against the LORD, I will make you as
helpless as a blind man searching for a path. Your blood will be
poured out into the dust, and your bodies will lie there rotting
on the ground."
18 Your silver and gold will be of no use to you on that day of
the Lord's anger. For the whole land will be devoured by the fire
of his jealousy. He will make a terrifying end of all the people
on earth.* (Or "people living in the land")
......
We know from all the prophecies of the Bible and the end
times, that SOME people will live through all this great "day of
the Lord." Those in the Holy Land, the "beast" man and the false
prophet with their armies, the kings of the East, the mighty
nations to the east and north of the Euphrates river, will have
armies in the Middle East. They all will unite together to fight
Christ and the saints and angels, as the Kin g of Kings returns
to earth. The battle is described in Revelation 16 and 14; also
in Zechariah 14. It will be the final battle of battles to end
the might of the Beast power and kings of the East. It will be NO
CONTEST! Jesus will sound the war trumpet and He will melt the
flesh right off the bones of those who come against Him.
......
CHAPTER 2
A Call to Repentance
1 Gather together and pray, you shameless nation. 2 Gather while
there is still time, before judgment begins and your opportunity
is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the
LORD falls and the terrible day of the LORD'S anger begins. 3 Beg
the LORD to save you - all you who are humble, all you who uphold
justice. Walk humbly and do what is right. Perhaps even yet the
LORD will protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.
......
It is not too late for YOU dear reader, to listen to the
words of the Lord. He calls you to REPENT! He calls you to
acknowledge what SIN IS! To admit YOU are a sinner in need of His
mercy and grace and salvation. To those living when all these
things come on the earth, the Lord calls to you to REPENT! Seek
what is right and good and holy. HUMBLE yourself and it may be
that you will be spared the physical destruction to come on the
nations during the terrible anger of the Lord. Even if you will
not be spared but must die, you will be in the FIRST resurrection
at the sound of the 7th TRUMPET, and rise to meet the Lord in the
air, in the clouds, and to rule with Him for evermore.
......
Judgment against Philistia
4 Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron - these Philistine cities, too,
will be rooted out and left in desolation. 5 And how terrible it
will be for you Philistines who live along the coast and in the
land of Canaan, for this judgment is against you, too! The LORD
will destroy you until not one of you is left. 6 The coastal area
will become a pasture, a place of shepherd camps and enclosures
for sheep.
7 The few survivors of the tribe of Judah will pasture there.
They will lie down to rest in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon.
For the LORD their God will visit his people in kindness and
restore their prosperity again.
......
We have seen in other of the prophet books that the land of
the Palestinians (the Philistines) shall not escape destruction.
they will be punished for their hostility and violence upon the
children of Judah. That land area will become the Promised Land
to the Israelites as it was given and promised to Abraham and his
seed.
......
Judgment against Moab and Ammon
8 "I have heard the taunts of the people of Moab and Ammon,
mocking my people and invading their borders. 9 Now, as surely as
I live," says the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, "Moab and
Ammon will be destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah.
Their land will become a place of stinging nettles, salt pits,
and eternal desolation. Those of my people who are left will
plunder them and take their land."
10 They will receive the wages of their pride, for they have
scoffed at the people of the LORD Almighty. 11 The LORD will
terrify them as he destroys all the gods in the land. Then people
from nations around the world will worship the LORD, each in
their own land.
......
Yes, we have also seen that Moab and Ammon - the people of
Jordan - will be punished for their sins and iniquities, and the
evil they have done against the Jews of Judah. They will first be
given to the men of the East (Ezekiel 25) and at the very end
time and the last great battle time of Armageddon, and the
redemption of the Jews and Jerusalem (as well as all Israelites
of all tribes), the people of Judah will take and plunder the
people and land of Jordan. The land of Jordan will now be indeed
part of the Promised Land for all the tribes of Israel to possess
and rebuild. All false gods of all false religions will be
abolished and the Lord will be King and Priest. All nations will
come under the rulership of Christ, and all nations will WORSHIP
only Him!
......
Judgment against Ethiopia and Assyria
12 "You Ethiopians (Heb."Cushites") will also be slaughtered by
my sword," says the LORD. 13 And the LORD will strike the lands
of the north with his fist. He will destroy Assyria and make its
great capital, Nineveh, a desolate wasteland, parched like a
desert. 14 The city that once was so proud will become a pasture
for sheep and cattle. All sorts of wild animals will settle
there. Owls of many kinds will live among the ruins of its
palaces, hooting from the gaping windows. Rubble will block all
the doorways, and the cedar panelling will he open to the wind
and weather.
15 This is the fate of that boisterous city, once so secure. "In
all the world there is no city as great as I," it boasted. But
now, look how it has become an utter ruin, a place where animals
live! Everyone passing that way will laugh in derision or shake a
defiant fist.
......
The king of the South will be punished and meet with
destruction and desolation, at the hands of the king of the North
or the Babylon Beast of Europe (Daniel 11:40-45). Then the GERMAN
(Assyria) BEAST BABYLON of Europe will be punished. That last -
7th - resurrected Holy Roman Empire in Europe, will come crashing
down, as all the prophets tell us. The once GREAT and PROUD
German nation and its capital city will lay in ruins. We have
seen that during the day of the Lord, the mighty kings of the
East, the nations prepared for a day and an hour, will sweep
across the land of Europe with destruction that will kill ONE
THIRD of mankind left on the earth, up to the "day of the Lord"
(Revelation 9 and the 6th angel sounding).
The city of BERLIN will not be built again as it was after
the great SECOND WORLD WAR! It will lay in rubble for a long
time, to teach and stand as an example of PRIDE and SIN!
......
CHAPTER 3
Jerusalem's Rebellion and Redemption
1 How terrible it will be for rebellious, polluted Jerusalem, the
city of vioLence and crime. 2 It proudly refuses to listen even
to the voice of the LORD. No one can tell it anything; it refuses
all correction. It does not trust in the LORD or draw near to its
God.
3 Its leaders are like roaring lions hunting for their victims -
out for everything they can get. Its judges are like ravenous
wolves at evening time, who by dawn have left no trace of their
prey. 4 Its prophets are arrogant liars seeking their own gain.
Its priests defile the Temple by disobeying God's laws. 5 But the
LORD is still there in the city, and he does no wrong. Day by day
his justice is more evident, but no one takes notice - the wicked
know no shame.
......
There is no word lost on the state of Jerusalem today and
into the very last 42 months of this age. It is NOT a Godly city!
The Lord pulls on punches; the words are clear; the condemnation
is blinding. Its leaders in secular and religious society are
sinners who defile the laws of God. Truth is still there for the
seeking. This Website goes to all nations of the earth. And for
sure in the last 42 months of this age, God will have His TWO
WITNESSES in Jerusalem, PROCLAIMING the very WORD and LAWS of
Eternal! (Revelation 11).
......
6 "I have wiped out many nations, devastating their fortress
walls and towers. Their cities are now deserted; their streets
are in silent ruin. There are no survivors to even tell what
happened. 7 I thought, 'Surely they will have reverence for me
now! Surely they will listen to my warnings, so I won't need to
strike again.' But no; however much I punish them, they continue
their evil practices from dawn till dusk and dusk till dawn."
......
Oh indeed it will be so. They will, even after God STRIKES
WITH MIGHTY BLOWS with His arms of war; they will STILL ***NOT***
REPENT! It is AMAZING but it will be so, see Revelation 9:20,21).
......
8 So now the LORD says: "Be patient; the time is coming soon when
I will stand up and accuse these evil nations. For it is my
decision to gather together the kingdoms of the earth and pour
out my fiercest anger and fury on them. All the earth will be
devoured by the fire of my jealousy.
......
The AMPLIFICATION is given to us in the 16th chapter of
Revelation!
......
9 "On that day I will purify the lips of all people, so that
everyone will be able to worship the LORD together. My scattered
people who live beyond the rivers of Ethiopia* (Heb."Cush") will
come to present their offerings. 11 And then you will no longer
need to be ashamed of yourselves, for you will no longer be
rebels against me. I will remove all the proud and arrogant
people from among you. There will be no pride on my holy
mountain. 12 Those who are left will be the lowly and the humble,
for it is they who trust in the name of the LORD. 13 The people
of Israel who survive will do no wrong to each other, never
telling lies or deceiving one another. They will live peaceful
lives, lying down to sleep in safety; there will be no one to
make them afraid."
......
Can the last words, the last few sentences, be said to have
EVER been fulfilled on ANY PEOPLE? NOT AT ALL! This is a prophecy
for the FUTURE! There will come a pure language, a language for
all people, a universal language. The "English" language is today
the universal language. There will be a worldwide language (I'm
not saying it will be English - we are not told the language) in
the age to come. All peoples, everywhere, will be able to worship
God in the same language. This also is not to say that different
languages will be wiped away. We are not told exactly how it will
be; we shall wait to find out; we shall know in that day.
All pride and arrogant people will not be in that day and
age. Those left alive will be LOWLY and HUMBLE! Surely this is
NOT so today. The MAJORITY of Israel and Judah (and all nations
in fact) are NOT "humble" as the Word of the Lord defines
"humble"; this is a prophecy for the FUTURE!
......
14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and
rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 For the
LORD will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the
armies of your enemy. And the LORD himself, the King of Israel,
will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you
will fear disaster no more.
......
Oh, can you see it? Can you grasp the days of this prophecy?
THE LORD WILL CAST AWAY THE ENEMIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL! THE LORD
WILL REMOVE HIS HAND OF JUDGMENT. THE LORD WILL ***LIVE AMONG THE
PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AND IN JERUSALEM*** AS ALL THE PROPHETS
PROCLAIM! THE PROPHECIES OF THE FIRST COMING OF THE MESSIAH WERE
FULFILLED LITERALLY. SO SHALL THE PROPHECIES OF HIS SECOND
GLORIOUS COMING BE FULFILLED LITERALLY!!
......
16 On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, "Cheer up,
Zion! Don't be afraid! For the LORD your God has arrived to live
among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will rejoice over you with
great gladness. 17 With his love, he will calm all your fears. He
will exult over you by singing a happy song."
......
THERE IT IS AGAIN FRIENDS! JERUSALEM WILL SING! THE LORD GOD
HAS ARRIVED, HE LIVES IN THE CITY OF JERUSALEM. HE HAS COME TO
BRING SALVATION TO ALL NATIONS! HE WILL SHOW LOVE AND MERCY! HE
WILL CALM ALL FEARS! HE WILL SING A HAPPY SONG!
THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME TO EARTH!
......
18 "I will gather you who mourn for the appointed festivals; you
will be disgraced no more. 19 And I will deal severely with all
who have oppressed you. I will save the weak and helpless ones; I
will bring together those who were chased away. I will give glory
and renown to my former exiles, who have been mocked and shamed.
20 On that day I will gather you together and bring you home
again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction among
all the nations of the earth. They will praise you as I restore
your fortunes before their very eyes. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
......
DO THESE WORDS BRING TEARS TO YOUR EYES? DO THEY MAKE YOU
WANT TO GET UP AND DANCE AND SING PRAISES OF THE LORD? IS THIS
NOT WHAT ALL GOD'S CHILDREN YEARN FOR?
ISRAEL AND JUDAH, YOU WHO HAVE BEEN BLESSED SO MUCH WITH NOT
ONLY THE PHYSICAL RICHES OF THE WORLD, BUT ALSO WITH THE
SPIRITUAL RICHES OF HAVING HIS WORD, GIVING HIS WORD OUT TO THE
REST OF THE WORLD FOR MANY CENTURIES; YOU HAVE DEPARTED FROM YOUR
GOD; YOU WILL NEED TO BE CORRECTED AND PUNISHED; BUT YOU WILL BE
RESTORED; YOU WILL BE REGATHERED; YOU WILL BE BROUGHT HOME TO THE
LAND OF PROMISE; YOU WILL HAVE AGAIN A GOOD NAME AMONG ALL
NATIONS; THEY WILL SEE YOU BLESSED AND MULTIPLIED; THE LORD WILL
LIVE AMONG YOU; JERUSALEM WILL BE THE THRONE OF HIS KINGDOM AND
THE WORLD WILL WORSHIP HIM AND HIM ONLY.
SO THE LORD HAS WRITTEN; SO THE LORD HAS SPOKEN; AND SO
SHALL IT COME TO PASS!!
AMEN AND AMEN!
Written September 2008 ....................
Blowing of the Trumpet
For the world and the saints of God
THE BLOWING OF TRUMPETS
AN INTRODUCTION TO TABERNACLES
by George H. Warnock (written in 1951)
The Day of Trumpets was really an introduction to Israel's
third Feast, the Feast of Tabernacles or of Ingathering. Like the
Feast of the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles is of a threefold
nature. The Passover included (1) the Passover itself, (2) the
Un-leavened Bread, (3) the waving of the Sheaf. Then Pentecost
stands alone, between the Passover and Tabernacles. And finally
Tabernacles is observed, likewise in a series of three
ordinances, (1) Trumpets, (2) Atonement, (3) Tabernacles.
It might be interesting to consider the three Feasts of the
Lord in the light of the creative work in Genesis. When God
commanded "Let there be light," - light sprang forth out of
darkness, and we had the beginning of the old creation, the first
day. And so it was said concerning Israel at the time of the
Passover, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months:
it shall be the first month of the year to you." (Ex. 12:2). Then
on the third day, God commanded the earth to bring forth her
produce, "the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose
seed is in itself." (Gen. 1:11.) Hence Pentecost occurred in the
third month, the time of harvest and fruitfulness, when the
precious fruit of the earth was to be gathered in. And finally we
come to the seventh day, when God "rested from all his work."
(Gen. 2:2.) So it was that the Feast of Tabernacles was observed
in the seventh month. Furthermore it was not only observed in the
seventh month, but it was the seventh event in Israel's series of
Feasts and their accompanying ordinances:
1. Passover.
2. Unleavened Bread.
3. Sheaf of Firstfruits.
4. Pentecost.
5. Trumpets.
6. Atonement.
7. Tabernacles.
In other words, it is the feast of rest for the Church--the
consummation of God's glorious purposes in His people so far as
this dispensation is concerned. We have much more to say
regarding this rest which "remaineth for the people of God," but
we will deal with it later when we consider the various
characteristics of the Feast of Tabernacles.
A NEW HARVEST
From the earliest days in Israel, time was reckoned not only
from the month of the Passover, but there existed what was called
a Civil or Agricultural year, which began in the seventh month. It
is evident from Ex. 23:16 and 34:22 that the seventh month was
the end of the old and the beginning of this new year. Also, from
Lev. 25:9 we discover that the year of jubilee began in the
seventh month. All this helps us to understand more clearly
Joel's prophecy: "He will cause to come down for you the rain,
the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month." (Joel
2:23.) The "first month" mentioned here is not the Passover
month, but the beginning of this Agricultural or Civil year. A
good translation is, "At the beginning of the season . . ." It
was the end of the year, when the corn, the wine and the oil were
gathered in, but it was also the beginning of a new Agricultural
Year, when the rains could be expected.
All this is beautifully significant so far as the Church of
Jesus Christ is concerned--for she has now come to the end of her
long--and in many ways, discouraging career, and is about to
enter a New Day in the Spirit. We thank God for her beginning at
the Cross--the fountain and source of every spiritual blessing
that we have ever enjoyed in the Church, or shall ever enjoy in
eternity. We thank God also for the great harvest which began at
Pentecost and has continued in considerable measure ever since.
But the real harvest is just ahead! A harvest not only of
souls, but of the fruit of the Spirit in the midst of the saints.
Pentecost was a harvest of Firstfruits. This Feast of the seventh
month constitutes the real ingathering of God's great harvest
field: "The feast of harvest, the Firstfruits of thy labours,
which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering,
which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy
labours out of the field." (Ex. 23:16.)
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TRUMPETS
"Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou
make them ..." (Num. 10:2.) In the verses which follow it is
clear what the blowing of the Trumpets signified to Israel:
1. Calling the assembly. (vs. 2.)
2. Journeying of the Camps. (vs. 3-6.)
3. Preparation for war. (vs. 9.)
4. Celebration of the Feasts. (vs. 10.)
We will deal with each of these later; but first, what about
the significance of the "silver," and the fact there were "two"
trumpets? It is evident that "silver" in the Scriptures speaks of
redemption.
Whenever Israel was numbered, every man was required to give
by way of ransom a half-shekel, and the money thus collected was
used in the service of the sanctuary. (See Ex. 30:12-16; Lev.
25.48). The number "two," as we have discovered, speaks of Christ
in union with His people, the "one new man",.. the Church of
Jesus Christ Hence the significance of the blowing of the two
silver trumpets on the first day of the seventh month. "Speak
unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the
first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of
blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation." (Lev. 23:24.) It is the
day and hour of the fulness of redemption's story, proclaimed in
the power of the Holy Spirit by God's people. Yes, the trumpets
were blown for all the Feasts as their seasons came around; but
there was a day and an hour when the blowing of the Trumpets took
on what you might call a seasonal significance, hence a
dispensational significance. And that hour is upon us. From the
historical standpoint the Church has enjoyed her Passover and her
Pentecost--and the age of Pentecost is now about to reach her
glorious climax, giving way to the Feast of Ingathering. We stand
now in fields "white unto harvest," when the corn and wine and
oil must be gathered in, and God is beginning to send forth his
ministers as never before--for this is the Day of the blowing of
Trumpets. As one age or dispensation draws to a close, and
another follows, there is always that overlapping and merging of
the one into the other. Thus the Law merged into Grace through
the ministry of John the Baptist and that of Christ. And so it
is, we believe, with the Feasts. Even as Pentecost draws to its
climax, the Day of Trumpets is being ushered in. And even as the
full glory of Pentecost is about to break upon us--so also the
Trumpets are beginning to blow, heralding the coming of a still
more glorious Feast. The Trumpet ministry, as we have mentioned,
is fourfold:
1. CALLING THE ASSEMBLY (Num. 10:2)
Once again is the Lord raising up a John the Baptist
ministry to declare the Day of the Lord, and the approaching
Kingdom. Again there is the "voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord." Again the cry goes
forth from God's anointed ministries everywhere for the saints to
assemble themselves together in the unity of the Spirit, to cast
aside their carnal sectarian ways, and to hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches. John on Patmos was caught away in the
Spirit and heard the words of One like unto the Son of Man
calling the seven churches, and the voice "was a great voice, as
of a Trumpet" (Rev. 1:10). With clarion call is the Lord now
speaking unto His people through the various ministries which He
hath established in the Body of Christ, calling the assembly to
gether that they might hear "what the Spirit saith unto the
churches." Not only does this refer to the seven churches of
Asia, nor yet to the seven historical church periods from
Pentecost until now--but it refers to the seven-fold church of
this present day and hour. That is to say, He is addressing the
complete Church of this day and hour in which we live, "seven"
being the number of completion. With trumpet voice the Spirit
calleth to His people everywhere: to patience, to love, to
repentance, to endurance, to faith in Christ in the midst of
Satanic opposition, to holiness of life. In this great Day of
Trumpets we should all study carefully the first three chapters
of Revelation, and pay heed to their trumpet-like appeal to the
people of God. They constitute the burden of the Spirit to God's
people everywhere, wooing them to repentance, and promising them
great and mighty things if they will "overcome" the world, the
flesh, and the Devil. "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice
like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the
house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to
know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness . . ." (Isa.
58:1,2.) This is no time for pretty sermons and soothing words to
a backslidden and corrupt Church; this is the Day of Trumpets.
2. THE JOURNEYING OF THE CAMPS (Num. 10:3-6)
The Church has camped around this mountain long enough. Said
God to Joshua, "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go
over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which
I do give to them." (Josh. 1:2.) God is calling His people to go
forward, as never before in the history of the Church. Only men
who have ears to hear have been able to hear the call of the
Spirit, but the Trumpet is blowing nevertheless, and many have
heard the call. Thank God for the manna which has sustained us
throughout our pilgrimage journey, even unto now. Thank God for
the water out of the rock, to quench our thirst. Thank God for
the Holy Spirit, the cloud that has gone ahead of us, and
directed us all through this great and terrible wilderness. But
there are better things ahead! We must leave the manna, and the
water out of the rock, and enter into a new realm, a new
experience. Instead of manna there is the old corn of Canaan.
Instead of water out of the rock, there are ceaseless,
perpetually flowing waters from springs and rivers and lakes of
the land of rest. Instead of drought there is the dew of heaven
every morning, and rain in due season. Instead of barrenness and
heat there is fertility and life and blessing in the realm of the
Spirit, in the heritage of Beulah. Let us go forward as we see
the Ark of the Covenant crossing Jordan, with the priests the
Levites bearing it.
3. PREPARATION OF THE PEOPLE FOR WAR (Num: 10:9)
"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy
mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the
day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness
and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the
morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong;
there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more
after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth
before them, and behind them a flame burneth. . ." (Joel 2:1-3.)
Joel's prophecy is the sound of a Trumpet from beginning to
end. In this passage he is sounding the alarm for war: calling
God's people together to prepare for battle, for the great Day of
the Lord is at hand. It shall be a Day of darkness and gloominess
to the unrighteous and disobedient, but "as the morning spread
upon the mountains" to the people who know their God, and are
therefore "great and strong."
THE CHURCH'S FALSE HOPE
The Church of Christ is literally filled with carnal,
earthlyminded Christians who sit back in ease and self-complaceny
and await a rapture that will translate them out of the midst of
earth's Great Tribulation at the beginning of the Day of the
Lord. To this generation of world-conformers God speaks in no
uncertain terms: "Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord!
to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and
not light." (Amos 5:18.) In the vast majority of evangelical
circles we are taught that any moment all God's people shall be
caught up, raptured, to be with the Lord in the air--to escape
the Great Tribulation which soon shall visit the earth. It is not
true. The saints shall be "caught up" all right; but "every man
in his own order." (1 Cor. 15:23). What that order is does not
concern us right now; but the fact remains, we are nowhere taught
that the saints are going to escape the hour of Great Tribulation
by way of rapture.
WHY WERE THE THESSALONIANS TROUBLED?
If it is true, as we are generally taught, that the
Thessalonian Christians thought they had missed the rapture
because of the supposed letter they had received from the apostle
Paul, then how is it that the apostle Paul must have missed it
too? Apparently they had received a letter bearing Paul's
signature, stating that the Day of the Lord had started or was
about to start. (2 Thess. 2:2.) And the common explanation is
that they were "troubled," because they expected they would have
been raptured when this Day began. Now if the Thessalonians
actually thought that Paul wrote that deceptive letter--and it is
clear that they did,--then why should they be "troubled," for if
they missed the rapture, then Paul must have missed it too!
But no, Paul had never taught them that they should be taken
away from the earth when the Great Tribulation started. What he
did tell them was that they should not be "moved" by afflictions
or tribulations of any kind, "for yourselves know that we are
appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told
you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to
pass, and ye know." (1 Thess. 3:3,4.) Knowing, therefore, that
they were to go through the Tribulation, they were particularly
"troubled" about this deceptive letter they received, because
according to this letter the Day of the Lord, or the Great
Tribulation, was just about to start. Paul therefore would
comfort them again by informing them that this great and terrible
Day of the Lord "shall not come, except there come a falling away
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." (2
Thess. 2:3.) The Day of the Lord, Paul would tell them, was not
imminent, because the man of sin had to be revealed before that
great Day. It is not our purpose to prove, or to disprove, that
"the man of sin" has been revealed. The fact remains that a
"rapture" is not held out to the saints as their hope in the hour
of the Great Tribulation; nor are we taught that the saints who
are walking in the light are going to be caught unawares when the
Day of the Lord begins. On the contrary we are told, "But ye,
brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you
as a thief" (1 Thess. 5:4).
AS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH
As for the hour of the Great Tribulation, Jesus said it
would be as in the days of Noah. What happened, then, at the time
of the Flood? Those who were spared the wrath of God were left
right in the very midst of the wrath of God, but protected by the
ark. So shall it be in the Day of the Lord. "The one shall be
taken, and the other left." (Matt: 24:40). Now who were taken at
the time of the flood? We read, "The flood came, and took them
all away,"--all except those who were in the ark. (Matt. 24:39).
In the very same way, Jesus said, would men be taken as in a
"snare" at the time of the Day of the Lord. (Lk. 21:35). The
powers of darkness and the wrath of God shall be poured out with
such sudden fury over all the earth, that men shall be caught
unawares, as if in a trap, and shall not escape. "For when they
shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon
them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not
escape." (1 Thess. 5:3).
Just in what manner this sudden destruction shall come upon
men, perhaps we do not understand; but it shall be as in the days
of Noah. Sudden cataclysmic judgments shall fall upon the earth,
the ungodly shall be "taken" suddenly as in a "snare," but the
righteous shall be "left" in a place of safety. They shall be "in
Christ," hidden away in "the secret place of the Most High." With
their eyes they shall see and behold the reward of iniquity, for
they shall be right on the earth; but they shall be in safety.
What very few people understand is this: that this great event
which shall constitute a snare and a trap to earth-dwellers or
earthly-minded Christians, shall become a glory and a power and a
means of victory to the one who is walking with God. Jesus
promised "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also
will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon
all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." (Rev.
3:10). And if God's people will but study the Scriptures
carefully, they will discover in what manner the Lord keeps His
own from temptation and from trial. One thing is sure: it is not
by carrying them aloft in celestial chariots of ease to some
Elysian fields--but by becoming their shelter and protection in
the very midst of trouble and distress. Behold the children of
Israel in the very midst of Egypt's desolation, but protected by
the glory of God and the rod of Moses. They had flies throughout
all Egypt, but there were none in the homes of Israel. Frogs
everywhere, but not in the humble cottages of the Israelites.
Hail and pestilence on the fields of the Egyptians, but not on
the fields of Israel. Darkness and gloominess throughout all
Egypt for three days--a darkness so dense that it could be felt-
-but light in the homes of Israel. The death angel passes through
all the land of Egypt, even over the homes of the Israelites, but
passing or "fluttering" over the blood-sprinkled door posts of
the covenant people of God. See Daniel in the lion's den, but it
is no torment to him; the very beasts became his best friends.
Behold the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, but they
are not consumed. Yea, the very fire which was intended for their
destruction became their light and their life--it consumed the
cords which bound their arms and legs, and to the form of one
like unto the Son of Man was seen walking side by side with them
in the midst of the flames.
Thank God for this great and mighty truth: the day of the
Lord to the wicked is "not light . . . but darkness." But to the
righteous, and those who have appropriated the fulness of the
Spirit and are walking with God, the Day of gloom and Great
Tribulation is not darkness, but a light and a glory. To the
disobedient, "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of
clouds and of thick darkness." But to the great and mighty army
of the Lord it shall be "as the morning spread upon the
mountains: a great people and a strong" (Joel 2:2).
THE DAY OF GOD'S POWER
The Church and the world are both going to be greatly
surprised when they discover that the Great Tribulation,
unleashed in all its fury, is nothing more nor less than the
greatest display of Divine power and glory that this world has
ever witnessed. (We should, perhaps, call this day the Day of the
Lord, instead of the Great Tribulation; for it is only Great
Tribulation to those who have not discovered "the secret place of
the Most High"). The unveiling of the might and power and glory
of God in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation is
going to produce on the one hand the Great Tribulation, and on
the other hand the power and glory of the saints.
"Yet once more." saith God, "I shake not the earth only, but also
the heaven" (Heb. 12:26). And this shaking is going to cast Satan
and his principalities from their heavenly throne, while the Sons
of God ascend into "the heavenlies"--first of all in the
Spirit--to take upon themselves the authority which belongeth to
those who are overcomers. And entering into this place of power
and authority, the Sons of God shall be able to administer
protection, and comfort, and help, and deliverance, and blessing
to such as are in need. All this is confirmed by the prophecy of
Joel the Trumpeter, concerning the Day of the Lord.
"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of
the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon
shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from
Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the
Lord will be the hope (shelter) of his people, and the strength
(refuge) of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am
the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall
Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her
any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with
milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a
fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall
water the valley of Shittim" (Joel 3:14-18).
What can be more clear than this: darkness, the shaking of
heaven and earth, judgment,--but in God there is shelter and
refuge and new wine and milk, and refreshing waters from the
house of the Lord!
And why is this? Because the shaking of the heavens is in
reality, not merely the shaking of the natural sun and moon and
stars, but the shaking from their celestial thrones of the powers
of darkness and the hosts of wickedness, and the rising up of the
Sons of God in the power of the Spirit, to take the Kingdom which
Satan has usurped and occupied for so long.
That Satan's kingdom is situated in "the heavenlies" is
Paul's teaching to the Ephesians (Eph. 6:12). From there he rules
and reigns over the world and the false Church, as "prince of the
power of the air" and "god of this world." But "the heavenlies"
is also the heritage of the children of God; for God "hath raised
us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places (in
the heavenlies) in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6). The child of God is
therefore called upon to war against these evil hosts of
wickedness who have usurped the authority of Christ and His
Church. Says Paul, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places (the heavenlies)" (Eph. 6:12).
(As I've shown in other studies on this Website, the Great
Tribulation is NOT the "day of the Lord" - we have when Scripture
is put with Scripture, the Great Tribulation, the Heavenly Signs,
and the Day of the Lord - in that order. From the start of the
great Tribulation to the end of the Day of the Lord and the
coming again of Jesus Christ to this earth, is about 42 months,
1260 days, a time and times and half a time, as declared by the
book of Revelation, hence about 3 and a 1/2 years; Daniel 12 last
verses adds more days to the basic 1260 days of Revelation. But
in round numbers we have 3 and 1/2 years at the end of this age
where as Jesus said in Luke 24, all that is written will be
fulfilled. Nearly all endtime prophecy in the Bible concerns the
last 42 months of this age and the coming of the Messiah Christ
in power and glory to establish the Kingdom of God on earth -
Keith Hunt)
THE CHURCH--DEFEATED
Can you see, child of God, what a tremendous heritage is
ours, and how Satan has completely usurped the authority of the
Sons of God? Paul says, "We wrestle . . ." True, Paul did so to a
certain extent, along with some of the saints through the
ages---but as a whole the Church of Christ has suffered defeat
from the powers of darkness for century upon century. Deceived on
every hand; afflicted with all manner of sickness and disease;
demon-oppressed and demonpossessed; filled with carnality, sin,
bitterness, bewilderment, sorrow, fear, and torment. The surging
masses of humanity, including many of the real saints of God,
have been taken captive by the "god of this world," and instead
of a glorious Church one needs only to visit a great healing
meeting to behold a veritable Museum of the Devil displaying his
exhibits: children of God twisted into the most gruesome forms;
hobbling on crutches; dragging themselves; crawling on the
ground; men with tortured minds; oppressed by demons; and cast
into Satan's mould of deception, fear, torment and filth. Thank
God for the measure of deliverance we can see beginning to come
to pass, and for the mighty healing power of God that is being
delivered unto mankind through His anointed servants--but Oh, how
little we have seen yet in comparison with the tremendous need
that presents itself! And yet the saints really think they are
telling the truth when they stand religiously on a Sunday
morning, and sing to the charming peal of the organ:
"Like a mighty army, moves the Church of God, Brothers, we are
treading, where the saints have trod. We are not divided, all one
body we, One in hope and doctrine, one in charity. Onward,
Christian soldiers! Marching as to war! With the Cross of Jesus,
Going on before."
The exact opposite is just about the truth of the situation:
a defeated band of slaves, divided into a thousand sects, all
having different hopes and different doctrines, and knowing
nothing of charity. "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an
alarm in my holy mountain . . ." Arise, Church of God, from the
dust of defeat and desolation. Put on your beautiful garments,
and the whole armour of God! The Trumpet call goes forth in this
great hour, calling for a Gideon's band who shall be "more than
conquerors" through Christ that loved us. And the band is being
prepared, for which we are thankful; an army whose power is not
in themselves, but in the Sword of the Lord.
WAR IN HEAVEN
The Book of Revelation is in reality, not the Revelation of
John, but as John himself stated: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ
. . ." The word "Revelation" is "Apokalupsis," the very same word
that is translated "The manifestation (apokalupsis) of the Sons
of God . . ." (Rom. 8:19). Literally, it is the Unveiling of
Jesus Christ that John was told to write about there on the isle
of Patmos. It is lamentable that the Church should have become so
deceived as to refuse to believe the Book is for them; so many
are teaching that just the first three chapters are for the
Church. However, it is enough for us that John should have said,
"The Unveiling of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show
unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass....
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this
prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for
the time is at hand" (Rev. 1: 1,3).
If you want to be blessed, then, read this wonderful book
and believe it is for you. God is speaking by the Spirit to as
many as have "ears to hear." If you can hear its message, then it
is for you.
And so we are told in the Book of Revelation what happens
when the powers of heaven are shaken: "And there was war in
heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the
dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was
their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was
cast out, that old (ancient) serpent, called the Devil, and
Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the
earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Rev. 12:7-9). The
powers of heaven shaken! Yes, and that means Great Tribulation
for the earth-dwellers, but glory and honour and salvation for
the saints! "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is
come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the
power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast
down, which accused them before our God day and night. . . .
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil
is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth
that he hath but a short time" (Rev. 12:10-12).
And then what happens? "And when the dragon saw that he was
cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth
the man child" (vs. 13). By this time this man-child company,
this group of overcomers brought forth by the travail of the
Church, is in a place of power and authority in the "heavenlies";
and the Church that brought forth the man child through much pain
and spiritual travail, is left in the earth. For a time she is
persecuted by the Dragon who lost his heavenly throne, but soon a
place is prepared for the "woman" in the wilderness, where she is
nourished and protected.
(This is the start of the Great Tribulation - when Satan and his
band are cast back to the earth after the war in heaven. Satan
will come with anger and madness in his mind and will use his
century long weapon of a woman Babylon church ruling a mighty
secular Europe power - a last resurrection of the Holy Roman
Empire - to fight many nations of the world and including the
very saints of the Most High God. Some of the saints must die for
the faith once delivered to the saints [as Jude said it], but the
other saints will be protected from the wrath of Satan; they will
find a place of safety in the wilderness [not heaven by a secret
rapture], as it was in the dark middle ages - Keith Hunt)
THE MAN--CHILD
This whole picture is a wonderful description of the Church
of this hour. We cannot deal at length with the subject here, but
a few Scriptures will help us to see the picture more clearly. As
we mentioned before, Satan rules and reigns over the earth from
his exalted position in "the heavenlies." That is his fortress;
but it is likewise the heritage of the saints. There it is that
God hath blessed the Church with all spiritual blessings, even in
"the heavenlies" (Eph. 1:3), and there it is that we are called
upon to wrestle with Satan, as we become clothed upon with the
"whole armour of God" (Eph. 6:12,13). Now when the saints of God
begin to really press into their heritage in Christ Jesus, Satan
is going to object--and there will be "war in heaven." Hence the
great "wrestling" that Paul speaks about. Michael the Archangel
himself is going to enter the fray on behalf of God's people in
this great Day of the Lord, and he is going to take up their
cause in this heavenly warfare. God has promised he would. "And
at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which
standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a
time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even
to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be
delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book"
(Dan. 12:1). The angelic hosts are ministering spirits sent forth
to wait in service upon the elect; and Michael is one of their
chief princes. Consequently the hosts of Satan are cast down; the
overcomer takes his place of authority in the place left vacant
by these evil hosts of wickedness; and hence the triumphant
shout, "Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them
. . ." But the Dragon, having lost his kingdom, roams through the
earth in great wrath, tormenting men, and attempting to persecute
the Church which was responsible for bringing forth the
overcoming man child. But God in mercy has a place prepared for
her "in the wilderness"--some secret, spiritual hiding-place, and
there she is protected and nourished. God, therefore, promised
Daniel: "Thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be
found written in the book." As we shall discover later, when we
deal with the priesthood of this overcoming group, they shall be
in a place of power and authority with God, and shall be able to
administer the help and protection and sustenance that the Church
needs.
4. THE CELEBRATION OF THE FEASTS
This brings us to the fourth purpose for which the silver
trumpets were made. They were also used to call the people
together to observe the solemn Feasts of the Lord. Joel's
prophecy is the sound of a Trumpet from beginning to end-and in
addition to calling God's people to repentance, and to prepare
themselves for war, he likewise calls the saints to the Feasts of
the Lord.
"Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn
assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble
the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts:
let the bridegroom forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her
closet ... Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people,
Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be
satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among
the heathen . . . Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the
Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field:
for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree
beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their
strength. Be glad then, ye children, and rejoice in the Lord your
God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he
will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and
the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full
of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil . . ."
(Joel 2:15-24).
The whole passage speaks loudly of the Feast of Tabernacles,
and the coming glory of the Lord when the corn and the wine and
the oil are to be gathered in; and at the same time, the hour of
the rain from Heaven--the former and the latter rain combined.
LAMENTATIONS OF THE PROPHETS
God's people everywhere should pay heed to the solemn
exhortations and lamentations of the prophets. Jeremiah, who
lamented over the desolation of the earthly Jerusalem, cried in
the anguish of his spirit: "How doth the city sit solitary, that
was full of people! How is she become as a widow! She that was
great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is
she become tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her
tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to
comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
they are become her enemies" (Lam. 1:1,2). And again, "Remember,
O Lord, what is come upon us; consider, and behold our reproach.
Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. We
are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows . . ."
(Lam. 5:1-3).
If we could but take time to examine in detail these and
similar Scriptures, how clearly we would see the true condition
of the Church! Once married to Christ in the days of the early
apostles, now a widow. Once a great and mighty spiritual power,
now a tributary to the nations--and to the denominations. Once
possessors of a rich heritage in the Spirit, now Satan holds
authority in the "heavenlies" where the Church should reign. Once
nourished by spiritual fathers with apostolic meekness, love, and
authority; now the Church is full of orphans, having very few who
really cherish her children, and the children themselves being
loathe to recognize God-appointed leaders and fathers. No wonder
Joel blows the Trumpet, and calls for repentance and lamentation:
"The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted:
the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be ye ashamed, O
ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the
barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is
dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the
palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the
field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons
of men. Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl ye
ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye
ministers of my God (Joel 1:10-13). In other words, Pentecost has
lost its meaning--because the harvest has failed. There is no
Feast of Tabernacles--because there is no early or latter rain,
and the vineyards and the olive trees have perished. The fruits
and graces of the Spirit are woefully lacking; and the flesh
practically reigns in the Church.
(Indeed the Christian church today is weak and powerless as to
true REPENTANCE and truly teaching people to live by every word
of God. The popular Christian church is full of sin and false
teachings and does not accept the Feasts of the Lord. Even within
the true saints of God there has arisen a falling away, many
false prophets and deceivers who have turned the saints to
following physical men and organizations. Far too many using the
name of Christ today, are not seeking the faith once delivered to
the saints - Keith Hunt)
THE DAY OF TRUMPETS IS UPON THE CHURCH
In view of what we have seen regarding the meaning of the
Trumpet, and its significance in calling the people to
repentance, there is no doubt that we are beginning to see the
Blowing of Trumpets fulfilled before our very eyes. Perhaps we
have not witnessed much yet by way of causing an alarm: only
those with ears to hear and eyes to see have been able to discern
the voice of Him that speaketh with the sound of a Trumpet in the
midst of the seven golden candlesticks. But His voice is
beginning to be heard, nevertheless, and the saints are mustering
for battle.
Psalm 81 is very significant of this day and hour in which
we live, for it refers directly to the Day of Trumpets. Indeed,
it is thought by some to have been composed especially for the
Day of Trumpets.
A careful examination of this Psalm will reveal just why the
Trumpetcall of the saints thus far has failed to produce any
notable results. "Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful
noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm, and bring hither the
timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow up the trumpet
in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out
through the land of Egypt: Where I heard a language that I
understood not . . ." (Ps. 81:1-5).
That seems to have been the trouble with those who have been
blowing the trumpets of present-day revivals: the language has
been a foreign language, and consequently there has been no
genuine preparation for battle. Our language has been one that
men have not understood.
THE UNCERTAIN SOUND
Says Paul, "For if the Trumpet give an uncertain sound, who
shall prepare himself to the battle? (1 Cor. 14:8). From this
verse, and the verses that follow, we find that Paul is exhorting
the saints to minister in the Body of Christ in such a way that
the saints shall be edified. Such a ministry is the only
Trumpet-call that will work a real work of preparedness in the
hearts of the saints. We must have a genuine ministration of the
gifts of the Spirit if the call of God is to go forth with power.
For many years now the Church has enjoyed a foretaste of
Pentecost. But it has been a language that we "Understood Not."
And that in itself would not be so bad, were it not for the fact
that no one else has understood our language either. God's plan
for the saints is that they should become the veritable "epistle
of Christ ... written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the
living God" (2 Cor. 3:3). On the contrary, the Church has done
everything but reveal Christ from the pages of the heart and
soul. Rather do men look upon us and read a story of carnality,
sin, wickedness, division, disunity, bitterness and strife. They
know the Church is supposed to be God's Bible, and therefore they
read it intently, but they understand not the language which they
read. It is absolutely contrary to their conception as to what
Christianity should really be. And consequently, they turn away
in disgust.
The Trumpets are sounding--but to most people the sound has
been one of "a blaring trumpet or a clanging cymbal" (1 Cor.
13:1, Weymouth). The Trumpet has been giving forth an uncertain
sound from all the various branches of the Church, who profess to
have the baptism of the Spirit, and the gifts and ministries of
the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit--but no one prepares
himself "to the battle" because of the uncertainty of the sound.
(Much has been the disunity and party-spirit of the Church of God
in the last few hundred years. There have been breaks and splits,
men arising to draw followers after themselves. Some teachers and
preachers started right but went astray in time through vanity
and ego. Some turned their eyes off the Master Jesus by the
physical riches they obtained from those who followed them. Some
became despots and tyrants with authority and power, turning
their organization into a cult. Yet for those who could still see
and hear, for the new ones who had not been deceived by the
slight and craftiness of the Devil, the TRUMPET of the truth of
the Word of God has been there to find, to prove all things and
to hold fast to that which is good and correct - Keith Hunt)
THE CERTAIN TRUMPET CALL OF THE MINISTRIES
This uncertainty of the Trumpet is going to cease, and in
the near future. God's pattern has not been observed, and
therefore we could not expect much more than confusion. But the
pattern is being revealed, and God is raising up His own
ministers who shall sound the Trumpet with such clarity, that men
will know the voice of God and the meaning of the voice, and they
will prepare for battle. God said, "The sons of Aaron, the
priests, shall blow with the trumpets" (Num. 10:8). Ministries of
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are being
established in the Church, established moreover by God Himself,
and their Trumpet-call shall not go unheeded. Their word shall be
with authority, and not as the Scribes. And their authority shall
not be by self-appointment, nor by human-appointment, but rather
by the appointment of the Holy Spirit, and the ordination of
Christ. Soon there will be a "language" uttered in the
congregation of the saints which men shall understand; for it
shall be the Trumpetcall of power and authority, even as the very
oracles of God.
Therefore, as we contemplate the coming glory of the Feast
of Ingathering, how we rejoice in what God is now doing in the
Blowing of the Trumpets. For there can be no latter rain, no
vintage, no ingathering of the oil and corn and wine--without the
blowing up of "the trumpet in the new moon, in the time
appointed, on our solemn feast day." It is the Feast of the New
Moon! The new moon! Yes, it is the same old moon that God
established in the heavens from the foundation of the world, but
now it doth enter a new phase! The very same Church that was
established upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone . . . but the
Church doth now enter a new phase of her existence. A new day is
about to dawn! A new life is to be our portion! A new heritage in
the Spirit looms before us! "Blow up the trumpet" therefore, ye
ministers of God, sound an alarm in God's holy mountain of Zion,
shew God's people their transgression, and call them to mourning
and to repentance because of the desolation of God's heritage. It
will not be long ere the Day of Trumpets shall have served its
purpose, and the Church of Christ shall enter into her rest.
......
Note:
The author of the above wrote it in 1951. How much truth it
contained has now been clearly shown in the Church of God in the
last 60 years (as I enter this in 2010). The falling away of
some, the corruptions by some, the false teachings of some, the
ego power of some, the vanity and lies of some, have all taken
place in the Church of Christ over the last 6 decades, but in it
all God has always had His true servants blowing the trumpet of
repentance and truth and restoration. So it will be even to the
end of this age.
Keith Hunt
JUDGMENT FOR ALL
Righteous or Sinful
by
Keith Hunt
The below is taken from the little booklet "Our Daily
Bread" one of the 2007 editions.
"Out of the depths" the psalmist cries to God (Ps.130:1). His
problem surfaces: terrible guilt for things done and undone in
the past. "If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who
could stand?" (v.3).
But, thankfully, God forgives. He does not keep an account
of past sins, no matter how many and how grievous they have been.
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus" (Rum. 8:1). God's forgiveness then leads us to fear
Him (Ps.130:4). We worship and adore God, for grace and
forgiveness cause us to love Him all the more.
But what happens if we slide back into old sins? What if sin
lingers? We are to rent and "wait for the LORD" and be patient
while God works (vv.5-6). We are not hopeless cases. We can
"hope" in the One who will deliver us in His time.
We now have these two assurances: God's unfailing love - He
will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb.13:5). And God's promise
of full redemption in due time - He will redeem us from all our
iniquities (Ps.130:8) and present us before His glorious presence
without fault and with great joy (Jude 24).
We're forgiven! We're free! With the psalmist, let's worship
the Lord as we await His coming. - David Roper
How blest is he whose trespass Has freely been forgiven, Whose
sin is wholly covered Before the sight of heaven. - Psalter
WHEN WE'RE FORGIVEN, NO RECORD IS KEPT OF OUR FAILURES.
Now, this above teaching is wonderfully correct! Most of
Christianity teaches this great and glorious good news. We, as
repentant sinners, are FORGIVEN of our sins through the shed
blood of Christ Jesus our Savior. What is also taught by the Word
of God is that when our sins are washed away, God does not
REMEMBER THEM, if He did, then as we have read above, who would
be able to STAND. Maybe someone like a Job, would have a good
chance of standing, BUT few indeed are a Job. The rest of us
could not stand before God.
The good news is that God does not keep an account of our
sins, if we are a humble repentant child of His with Jesus as our
interceding High Priest and Savior.
Note these verses:
"Blessed is he whose transgression is FORGIVEN and whose sin is
COVERED. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth
(remembers) not iniquity...." Ps.32:1-2
"Hide thy face from my sins, and BLOT out all mine iniquities.
Ps. 51:9
"Thou hast FORGIVEN the iniquity of Thy people, thou hast COVERED
all their sin" Ps.85:2
"As far as the EAST IS FROM THE WEST, so far hath He removed our
transgressions from us." Ps.103:12
"'Come now, let us reason together' says the Lord, 'though your
sins be as SCARLET they shall be as WHITE as snow; though they be
RED like crimson, they shall be as WOOL." Isa.1:18
"I, EVEN I, an He that BLOTTETH out thy transgressions for mine
own sake, and WILL NOT REMEMBER they sins. " Isa. 43:25
"...for they shall know me, from the least of them to the
greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will FORGIVE their
iniquity, and I will REMEMBER their sin NO MORE." Jer.31:34
"If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he hath
robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing
iniquity, he shall surely live, he shall not die. NONE of his
sins that he hath committed SHALL BE MENTIONED unto him ... he
shall surely live." Ezek.33:15-16
"I will be MERCIFUL to their unrighteousness, and their sins and
their iniquities WILL I REMEMBER NO MORE." Heb.8:12
PLAIN AND WONDERFUL
The teaching of the Scriptures is CLEAR! When a person
REPENTS and is from that point on a humble repentant child of
God, then their sins are FORGIVEN, washed away in the blood and
interceding work of Christ Jesus. The Father looks upon His
child as white as snow, as white as wool. Sins are blotted out,
washed away, cleansed from the book of life. Those sins God will
NOT REMEMBER or hold against us ... EVER! They are GONE! They are
not there! They do not exist!
I give EMPHASIS to all this simple and plain truth, because
the some parts of the Christian world have another teaching that
CONTRADICTS this. I have in the past heard the same church and
the same teacher, weeks apart maybe, but nevertheless the two
teachings coming from the same church or fellowship. We have on
the one hand, all the teaching of a FORGIVING God that washes
away sin form the life of the repentant believer, yet at the same
time it is preached that one day we must all stand before the
judgment seat of God and be judged for all that we have done and
said and thought.
The latter teaching is usually backed up with such verses
as:
"I said, in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the
wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every
work." Ecc.3:7
"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee
in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart,
and in the sight of thine eyes, but know thou, that for all these
things God will bring thee into judgment." Ecc.11:9
"And God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret
thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." Ecc. 12:14
"Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account
thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be
justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Mat.26:36-37
"For there is nothing hid, which shall not be made manifest;
neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come
abroad." Mark 4:22
"For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed;
neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye
have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that
which ye have spoken in the era in the closet, shall be
proclaimed upon the housetops." Luke 12:2-3
"But why do you judge thy brother ... for we shall all stand
before the judgment seat of Christ ... So that everyone of us
shall give account of himself to God." Rom.14:10,12
"Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall
declare it ..." 1 Cor.3:13
"We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that
everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to
what he has done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor.5:10
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment." Heb.9:27
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it ... And
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before god; and the books
were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of
life, and the dead were judged out of those things that were
written in the books, according to their works..." Rev.20:11-12
There maybe other verses that are used, but I think you get
the sense of it all.
First, we are told correctly that God FORGIVES and FORGETS -
does not REMEMBER our sins, if we are truly His child (how we are
His children is fully and in-depth, explain in many studies on
this Website), then we are told by some, that one day when we
stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that all of our good
and bad things come up to be judged.
Many people have the idea that when they come before the
judgment seat of Christ, there will be something like a GIANT TV
screen, and all things we have done, in body, mind, thought,
action, will flash up on the screen for ALL TO SEE! It will be to
some, kinda like the old TV series "This is Your Life" but with
the title "This WAS your life" and everything we have said and
done and thought, will be made manifest for all to see and hear.
Then adding all the events up from the record books of our
life, we shall be rewarded accordingly. We may have LIFE and a
pretty good REWARD but nevertheless our sins (body and mind) and
righteous deeds HAVE COME UP BEFORE ALL TO SEE!
This idea to me is not only frightening, but will be
TERRIBLY EMBARRASSING!!
I sure do not want to see all my sins (body and mind) from
my entire life, being brought forth to ME, never mind the rest of
the universe. I can think of nothing more embarrassing to have
ones sins shown to the universe. Yet, some teach that this is
what Scripture tells us will happen to each and every one of us.
It is enough for me to have recorded some of David's sins, and
other sins of the children of God, in the Bible. I sure do not
want to see up on some heavenly TV screen ALL the sins of David
that he committed in his life (body, and mind). I sure do not
want to see all of mine flashed before me and everyone.
A FALSE DOCTRINE
Fortunately, this idea of judgment for the saints, is
totally false, and will not happen. Our sins will not be
broadcasted for all the universe to see and hear.
First, we need to have the clear picture of SALVATION. We
have seen above, the plain verses that tell us that a child of
the Father, a child with a humble repentant mindset, is clean
from sin, is to God, as white as snow, as white as wool. All sins
are not only forgiven through the total work of Christ, but they
are also NOT REMEMBERED by God.
This is the very truth of the matter, this should be very
good news to all true Christians. Our sins will not appear, not
be flashed up on some heavenly TV screen for all to see, in the
judgment day.
So what is judgment day all about?
The Scriptures do say ALL will appear before the judgment
seat of Christ. But the children of God NOW in this life, are
BEING JUDGED. Yes, our judgment is NOW. This truth is told us in
1 Peter 4:17, "For the time IS COME that judgment must begin at
the house of God ..."
Salvation is by GRACE, not works. God is not judging or
accounting in some books, adding up our good works and bad works
to determine if we qualify for salvation. If we are a true child
of God (by our attitude of repentance and having Jesus as our
personal Savior) then salvation for us is not a judgmental matter
that God still has to tally up. Salvation does not depend on
having more good works than bad works. We are not SAVED by works,
but by GRACE. This wonderful truth is fully expounded in my study
on this Website called "Saved by Grace."
But, the Bible makes it also clear that our REWARD that we
get at the coming of Christ in glory, when we shall stand before
Him, before His judgment seat or throne, is determined by how
WORKS.
One verse to prove that is Revelation 22:12. There are other
verses that say the same thing, but one should be enough. God is
not obliged to have to repeat it two or three or a dozen times
to make it stick.
So with all this basic truth laid down, it should be evident
that the judging NOW upon the house of God, the church of God,
the children of God, is a judging that will determine our REWARD
that is given to us when Jesus returns, handed out to us at His
judgment seat. The book of Revelation says it is when we appear
upon the sea of glass before and with Him, that we receive our
reward - see Revelation 11:15-18; 14:1-5; 19:1-16; 20:1-4.
Notice in Revelation 19:1-8. The servants of the Lord, the
WIFE to marry the LAMB - the Church of God to marry the Son of
God is granted that she should be in CLEAN AND WHITE fine linen -
the RIGHTEOUSNESS of the saints. There is NO DIRTY linen
connected to this marriage. The Lambs 'wife does not have a
mixture of clean and unclean linen, she does not have linen that
is both white and black. She ONLY APPEARS to marry Jesus the Lamb
in CLEAN AND WHITE LINEN! The sins of the Church of God, the
people that make up the church, ARE NOT THERE!! I guess not, for
we have seen the Scriptures tell us that God's true children have
been FORGIVEN of their sins, have had their sins WASHED AWAY, and
God does NOT REMEMBER them any longer!
Nothing could be clearer than this in the Bible. I will not
see your sins, and you will not see mine, in the day of standing
before the seat of Christ. PRAISE THE LORD!
Now the picture should becoming clear. All will appear
before Christ, that is made clear to us by many verses in the
Bible, and the New Testament especially. You will either appear
before Him with NO SIN, as His clean Bride, dressed in white
linen, or appear before Him WITH sin. There are TWO basic classes
then. This is what Paul was saying in Romans 2: 6-8; "Who will
render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by
patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory and honor and
immortality, eternal life. But unto them that are contentious,
and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation
and wrath."
This is the same truth recorded for us way back in Ezekiel's
day. "But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath
committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful
and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his
transgressions that he hath committed, they shall NOT be
MENTIONED unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he
shall live (true repentance in humility and a mindset to serve
and follow the correct pathway of God's life gives you LIFE where
none of your sins are remembered)....But when the righteous
turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and
does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does,
shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall NOT
BE MENTIONED: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in
his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die." Ezekiel
18:21-24.
There it is friends. You do the right about face - repent
and serve the ways of the true God, you will have life, and NO
SIN mentioned or remembered. If you will not repent or turn
away from serving God back into a life mindset of sin, you
die, with no righteousness that you may have done remembered.
Kind of SOBERING is it not. Yes, but GLORIOUS and WONDERFUL
for those who are the children of God. For them the day of
standing before the judgment seat of Christ, means NO SIN
mentioned, not even remembered. What LOVE, from the Father, what
JOY and FREEDOM for His children!
If you are a practicing sinner, one who was not called in
this life, or one who turned down his calling, or turned away from
his calling at some point, then as Paul said, there is
indignation and wrath. Only sins will be remembered. For those in
sin who were not called and chosen in this life time there is
HOPE, but that is another truth of God that is expounded in
another study "The White Throne Judgment" - or "The Last Great Day
Feast" - so I refer you to it, and will not take the time here to
go over that truth.
If you are one that has been called and you rejected that
calling, or one who turned away from that calling, who did not
endure to the end in that calling, then indeed WRATH will be
yours. Hebrews chapter 10:26-31 is about those who have rejected
salvation. They will have no righteousness they may have done
mentioned. They will have only sins before them and before the
judgment seat of Christ.
TWO categories exist before the judgment seat, or in the
judgment day of the Most High God's time table. You are either
righteous, in clean white linen or you are filthy, in unclean
linen of sin.
Jesus spoke about this a number of times during His
ministry.
"When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the holy
angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory
(the righteous and judgment throne). And before Him shall be
gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one from the
other, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats..."
Mat.25:31-32.
The parable Jesus continues to give is pretty clear. The
sheep are on ONE side, the goats are on the OTHER side. The sheep
on His right hand and the goats on His left hand. You will notice
the sheep ONLY HAVE GOOD things said about them. The true
children of God are NOT perfect, they do sin in this life time,
the rest of the New Testament makes all that very clear (see 1
John 1:6-2:6). But their sins are washed away through Christ,
their sins are REMOVED, NOT REMEMBERED, and hence they have only
good things said of them. They have only a clean and white
garment for the wedding, they are a bride clean and white to be
presented to Christ, when He comes to marry them, when He sits
upon the throne of His glory.
The others, on His left hand, the goats, they have only bad
things to remember them by. No good deeds are mentioned in
Matthew 25. They go into the judgment seat, the throne of Jesus'
glory, with only sins, and they are punished accordingly.
Now, many of the sinners group, will shout out and say to
Jesus that they had many fine righteous acts in their life-time,
that they even called Jesus "Lord." See it in Matthew 7:21-23.
They will proclaim they did this or that in Jesus' name, they
will try to give forth many "works" to say they qualify to be in
the Kingdom. But the BASICS were not there (covered in my study
called "Saved by Grace") - and so ONLY the fact that they are
still considered by the Lord to be workers of iniquity, or as the
Greek really is, "lawlessness."
You have TWO categories - those that built upon the ROCK
and those that built upon the SAND. Those that built upon the
rock have no sand brought up to them. Those that built upon the
sand have no rocks brought up to them. You are either dressed in
clean fine and white linen of righteousness or you are in filthy
rags of sin. There is no mixture!
IT'S ALL OVER THE GOSPELS
Jesus gave another parable at another time. It is recorded
by Luke in chapter 19 of his Gospel. It starts in verse 11 and
ends in at verse 27. A nobleman goes into a far country and gives
out to his servants a certain number of pounds or dollars. He
comes back eventually and wants to see what his servants did with
what was given them to work with. Those that used the gift given
to them were given more and were said to be good and faithful
servants. Nothing bad is said of them. But the one who did
nothing with what he had been freely given, was classified as
"wicked" - no good things were said of him, and for those who
just would not let the master reign over them, were classified as
"enemies" and were to be slain - they were to live no longer!
We have the parable of the fish, the wheat and the tares,
the seed cast forth by the farmer, the reaping of the harvest by
the angels at the end of the age. We have Jesus telling us over
and over again this important truth. JUDGMENT - the day of
showing forth to the universe the children of light and the
children of darkness, will be just that - light or darkness!
If you have walked in the light given you, if you have been
called and you lived in that calling with the mind of Christ in
you (Phil.2:5), you will come before Christ as part of the Bride
of Christ. You will only be in white, clean linen. Only your
light and righteousness will be seen and revealed to the universe
- no sin - no unrighteousness - you may have done, will be
mentioned or brought up in any specific way. But, if you denied
your calling, if you practiced sin, lived a life with a mindset
of not wanting God to reign over you - you will have none of your
righteousness mentioned - you will only be shown to be
unrighteous and still in sin.
This is the simple and yes, wonderful (to the children of
God that is) truth of your Bible. For the children of God there
is no FEAR in judgment, there is no condemnation. We are free
from the accusations of Satan the Devil. We shall be free from
his accusations he may want to bring up about us in that day of
judgment, when we shall stand before the seat of Christ as His
Bride. We shall only be dressed in clean and white linen.
OUR REWARDS ARE BEING JUDGED NOW
Jesus said we shall be rewarded according to our WORKS! So
there is a judgment that will VARY between the children of God.
We shall not all have the same reward. You may remember David
said in one of his psalms that he would rather be a "door-keeper"
in the house of God than dwell with the kings of this earth. So,
someone in the family of God will be door-keepers. But the
important thing to remember is that THEY WILL BE IN THE HOUSE OF
GOD, IN THE FAMILY OF GOD!!
They will still be SAVED, and in the very FAMILY of God. And
that my friends is MORE than you have probably every been shown.
That mind-bending truth is all expounded upon in my study called
"A Christian's Destiny." If you have not studied that study,
PLEASE DO SO! You will be stunned at what the Father and Jesus
are going to do with us humans.
The apostle Paul was inspired to tell us about "judgment to
rewards." It is found in his epistle to the Corinthians - his
first epistle too them, chapter 3, starting in verse 11.
"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is
Jesus Christ."
It all begins and ends with Christ Jesus - He is the
foundation to eternal life. Paul goes on to say that we build
upon that foundation. We can build gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, stubble. We can all see the progressive decline
downwards from gold to stubble. Paul says every man's work will
be made manifest; for indeed the day will declare it - judgment
day or reward day when we shall all appear before the throne of
Christ. As we build on the foundation fiery and tough things will
come along to determine our work, of what sort it is (gold or
stubble).
Notice verse 14, "If any man's work ABIDE which he has built
thereupon, he shall receive a REWARD!" Paul is talking about
building on the basic salvation in Christ FOR A REWARD - NOT to
gain eternal life, but the reward we get when we enter eternal
life. Verse 15 proves this. "If any man's work shall be BURNED,
he shall SUFFER LOSS, but he himself shall be SAVED, even coming
through the fire (the tests, trial, ordeals of life)."
The issue here is NOT "being saved" but what our REWARD
shall be when we are saved, when we inherit salvation, when we
stand before the judgment seat of Christ, upon His coming to
earth in glory, to establish and set up the Kingdom of God on
earth.
We are to build upon our salvation (that is a gift from God
through grace and faith not of works). With what we are given
(one talent, two talents, three talents etc.) we do something
with it all - we produce certain fruits - we do certain works.
Under the fiery tests of life we may bear up doing things very
well (gold) or well, or not very well, or even very little
(stubble), but we do SOMETHING (the person with one talent or
pound, or dollar, went out and gained another talent or pound or
dollar - not necessarily in the literal money way) with what we
have been given. All through our life we are being judged, going
through life's fiery ... whatever. At the end of it all, God
judging us NOW (remember what we read in 1 Peter 4:17) determines
our REWARD for work done - maybe gold, maybe silver, or maybe
stubble, but we did do something so we do get a reward. Even
though we may not have done a lot in life, maybe we could have
done more works, and have received precious stones reward instead
of a hay reward, we SHALL BE SAVED, we shall inherit the Kingdom
of God.
We may end up as a "door-keeper" in the House of God, but we
WILL BE THERE! And that is FAR GREATER, WAY FAR GREATER, than
dwelling in the house of a king on this earthly and physical
habitat.
GIVE ACCOUNT OF EVERY IDLE WORD
Now Jesus did say that we will give account of our words, of
our every idle word that comes from us.
Are we to take Jesus' statement and figure from it that
there will be this HUGE TV screen before the judgment seat of
Christ, on which every word we have ever spoken will come up, and
Jesus will point out to us (and the whole universe) all our idle
words. Here we are again, back to this idea of all our sins and
worthless words being shown to us and all the other saints and
angelic beings.
I do not think we are to take Jesus' words about our
accountability for idle words, and understand it all with the
above idea.
We shall in a very real sense be judged now in all our works
(and words from our mouth is one of our works) - God will take
into account what comes out of our mouth in words from the
tongue. James chapter 3 tells us about the importance of the
tongue in our Christian life. I think if we get a reward of say
"hay" (not literally of course), then we shall know that we did
not possibly do as much good work as we maybe could have done. We
may have been a sincere Christian, salvation - no question, and
being saved - no question, but we were somewhat loose with our
tongue at times, just not careful enough as to the words that
came out of our mouth at times. We maybe did not take to heart
the instructions James gave to us in his epistle concerning the
tongue. We shall be SAVED - no question, but with a little more
care with our words and tongue we may have received a reward of
"wood" instead of "hay."
Do you see then how we can be judged now, give account of
every idle word, yet NOT have some reward ceremony on the sea of
glass before Jesus' throne, that goes through all we have
thought, said, done, practiced, be it good or be it bad.
I speculate here. We get a reward of hay, we say to Jesus,
"I thought I might have gotten a reward of at least wood. Where
did I fail? What was it that kept me from getting wood?" Jesus
may simply say, without going into any details, or pulling up the
details on some TV screen, "You had too many idle words, you
could have been more careful with your tongue."
I think most of us would "get the picture" pretty quick, and
not want Jesus to get into the nitty-gritty of amplifying His
statement, to us or everyone around.
THREE TYPES OF JUDGMENT
The Church of God, its members, the individual saints, from
all ages were (if now dead) and are (if still alive) JUDGED
during their physical life. The truth of judgment must now begin
at the house of God. Our sins are blotted out, God will not
remember them. We are white as snow, white like wool. We shall
not have any of our sins brought up to us per se when we stand
before Christ. We shall wear only clean and white linen as His
Bride. We shall receive our rewards according to our works. We
shall know how well we did with what we were given when our
reward is either gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or
stubble. I cannot see anything else about how God arrived at
those rewards for His children having to be amplified. Surely the
words "Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into the
joy of thy Lord" is all we need to hear.
God's saints surely do not want or need to have the sins of
saints blasted out in front of everyone. Surely it is enough to
know in this physical life that we are sinners, falling short
many times, missing the mark of holy righteousness, without it
being driven home to us in some embarrassing open judgmental
disclosure. THANK GOD He teaches no such open shame will be put
on His children on that day of judgment rewards.
That day for the saints will be their WEDDING DAY - a
marriage to Christ Jesus. It will be a wonderful, happy, joyous,
exhilarating day. We shall be PERFECTED in resurrection, as John
said, "We shall be like Christ for we shall see Him as He is" (1
John 3:1-3).
We shall have no human nature only perfect holy nature, we
shall not be angry or upset or jealous at others who received a
silver reward when we got wood. There will be no vain "puffed
out chests" and a "look at me all of you, I got a gold reward."
There will be saints of humility, you will not be there if
you can't be humble - see Isa.66:1-2. The saints will have had
judgment rewards handed out and there will be only peace, joy,
laughter, love, gentleness, kindness, and praises, at that
marriage feast of the Lamb and His Bride.
A SECOND JUDGMENT
Many will not be in the first resurrection (Rev.20:4). They
will rise in the WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT RESURRECTION, a thousand
years after Jesus has been on this earth as King of Kings and
Lord of Lords.
This will be the time for all people, children, and all who
were not called by God in their life time to know and understand
the truths of salvation through Christ. They also will be saved
by grace through faith, and be rewarded and judged for reward
according to how they relate to the "books" - the Bible books.
So it will be the same for them concerning rewards as for
us. How you work with what you have been given to work with,
determines your reward. God knows all the facts and all the
situations we live in and work in, the rewards are just and good
and correct for us and so it will be for those who are in this
second resurrection.
I have written an in-depth study on this important judgment
resurrection. It is on this Website, and is called "The White
Throne Resurrection" or the the catagory of the FEASTS it is "The
Last Great Feast Day."
This great general resurrection is depicted by the LAST
GREAT FEAST DAY, in the Festival Salvation plan that God has for
all peoples from all ages. It is a wonderful Feast Day and you
need to KNOW what it pictures for a HUGE part of mankind, if fact
the majority of mankind.
JUDGMENT TO DEATH
The last verses of the last book of the Old Testament gives
it to us with no punches pulled.
"For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and
all the proud, yes, and all that do (practice as a way of
life) wickedness, shall be stubble: and the day that comes
shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that it shall
leave them neither root nor branch. but unto you that fear
my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in
his wings; and you shall go forth, and grow up as calves of
the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked for they
shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that
I shall do this, says the Lord of hosts" Malachi 4:1-3.
The Bible is full of verses that says the end result of
those who will not repent of sins, and will not have the Lord
reign over them, those who will reject the calling to salvation,
will be that they shall DIE ... be BURNT UP, BE ASHES under the
feet of the righteous. Those sinners will not live, ever again,
they will be gone from the universe, forever!
Those who deliberately and knowingly reject God's offer to
salvation by grace through faith, those who will not have THE God
as their Lord and Savior, will be destroyed by fire, as in an
oven that burns them up into ashes. Not pleasant at all, the
apostle Paul tells us about it in Hebrews 10:26-31.
Jesus got at times pretty frustrated with some of the
religious leaders of His day, and said, "...How shall you escape
the damnation of hell" (Mat.23:33). The Greek word often simply
translated as "hell" in the KJV translation is "gehena" and is
connected to the trash heap of fire that burned outside of
Jerusalem. It was the city land-fill for trash and rubbish, only
it was a fire burning up the garbage and not a land-fill as we
think of land-fills in our western world.
The truth is that those who do not want salvation as God
offers it, will be burnt up into ashes and be no more. The in-
depth study of this you will find in other studies on this
Website.
Those willful sinners will be judged in the lifetime they
are given to live on this earth. If they have been called, if God
has indeed set His hand to call them to salvation, and they have
rejected it, they will face (by being resurrected - Jesus said
that ALL in the graves would one day be resurrected - John 5:25-
29) the punishment fitting for such - DEATH in the fires of
gehena.
By reading the Gospels you will find Jesus talking about the
judgment of gehena - the judgment for sinners who will not
repent. It is a fact and truth of the Bible that there is coming
a condemnation day, a judgment to death, for the rebellious
wicked.
So, the judgments are complete. We have now come to the end
of Revelation 20. Now the time has come for the NEW heavens and
the NEW earth. The time has come for God the Father to dwell on
the new earth with all His children. The holy city, heavenly
Jerusalem will also come to earth, and all that we read about in
Revelation chapters 21 and 22 will be a reality.
Now even death is judged, and is cast away from the
universe. Only light, truth, holiness, and righteousness, will
remain. Judgment for all humans is no more. Judgment itself has
been judged, it served its purpose on the human race, now those
humans who did accept salvation are in the very family of God,
and no judgment is needed on the God family. All is perfect and
holy.
..................
Written September 2007
Animal Sacrifices during the Age to Come?
The "context" of Prophecy
WILL THERE BE ANIMAL SACRIFICES IN THE MILLENNIUM?
AN ANSWER TO CARL M.SCHAEFFER'S ARTICLE #1
by Keith Hunt
Mr.Schaeffer was a fellow minister with me in the 1980s before
his somewhat sudden death. It was a pleasure to have known him.
The subject of whether or not animal sacrifices in a Temple in
Jerusalem during the 1,000 year age to come, is not an issue of
salvation, but for interest sake I do present here my answers to
a paper written by Mr.Schaeffer before he died.
I have studied and meditated on Mr.Schaeffer's arguments against
the idea that there will be a literal temple, or priesthood and
animal sacrifices in the age to come. I find his arguments
unfounded. Here are my answers:
1. Please note what I have listed as number one argument, which
is that "Ezekiel furnished the plans for the new Temple, in
vision, while the other rebuilt the Temple."
If the reader will note carefully from the ADAM CLARKE'S
COMMENTARY and THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ENCYCLOPEDIA I think he
will have to agree with the WYCLIFFE BIBLE COMMENTARY when they
state, "Others say it represents a lofty ideal, a general pattern
to guide the returning exiles in their building. The whole
section is viewed as a constitution for the post-Exile theocracy.
But nowhere in the past-Exilic books of the OT (Old Testament) is
there a reference to Ezekiel's Temple, nor is there any hint of
it in the work of Zerubbabel and Joshua, Haggai and Zechariah
...and Nehemiah... that this was the kind of temple they were
required to build."
Ezekiel's Temple was for no other age but that of the
Messiah's age. It was never intended for the returning Jews. It
was not given to them. It was not given to the House of Judah.
Zerubbabel and others, if they were familiar with what Ezekiel
wrote, knew it was not given for them, but for an age beyond
their age, an age yet future - the Messiah's age.
This whole section of Scripture was not intended for Judah -
it was not given to Judah. It is a prophecy (as most of Ezekiel's
book is) to THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL (ch.40:4). "Thou son of man, show
the HOUSE OF ISRAEL .... you shall describe to them the Temple
and its fittings --- all the details of its elevation and plans.
Explain to them and draw them so --- they may carry them out ..."
(Ezek.43:10-12 KJV and NEB). The House of Israel have never yet
carried out this instruction. The Jews have never carried out
this instruction. The House of Israel were in captivity and had
been for 130 years when Ezekiel wrote this instruction to them -
they migrated into Europe and the British Isles. They have YET to
follow this instruction WHEN they return to the promised land at
Jesus' return and when the age of the Messiah has come.
2. I find this argument is only personal conjecture as no
scriptural proof is given. If Ezekiel's Temple is not as splendid
as Solomon's Temple, so what? Ezekiel's Temple has the Lord God
dwelling in it in person, that alone is glory that far out-shines
anything Solomon had. The Lord can build His Temple anyway He
likes - I will be the last to say He can not.
3. Trying to explain Ezek.43:1-7 by saying this is the Throne
in the New Holy City of Rev.21 is I find a very slick way to get
around the obvious context of these last eight chapters of
Ezekiel. It is also the only way to uphold a teaching that does
not accept these verses as referring to events that will take
place when the Messiah will personally be dwelling and walking in
a Temple at Jerusalem during the age to come.
4. In its prophetic setting I do not find where chapter 44 is
speaking to the Levitical Priesthood of that day. God was using
language that Ezekiel could readily acquaint with in his day but
also have plain significance for the House of Israel at the end
time. Ezekiel could hardly be expected to use words like,
Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian or Unconverted Catholic when
talking about the false ministers that have polluted the service
and religious sanctuaries of the God they said they represented.
These shall bear their iniquity for causing the HOUSE OF ISRAEL
to fall into iniquity - some will live on into the Messiah's age
to be servants in God's sanctuary and some that were true to God
shall live on as physical humans into the 1,000 years to serve
God in a very special way (Ezek.44:9-31).
5. I see no difficulty in accepting that in the age to come -
the age of the Messiah, many of the laws under Moses and the old
covenant regarding the Priesthood will again be in force. If the
Lord so wishes to reinstitute a Priesthood, Temple service,
Animal sacrifices and all the laws pertaining to such, who am I
to say no He can not?
6. This division of land has never been realized at any time in
Israel's history. It is for a yet future age - the age to come.
7. Chapter 47 is I find an amplification of what Zechariah
wrote about in his 14th chapter verse 8. As Zech.14 is about the
Messiah's age yet to come so is Ezekiel chapters 40 to 48. I do
not see it as an inset chapter at all as my college Mr.Carl
Schaeffer would want us to believe.
8. This can not be "back to the time of the building of the
second Temple" as Mr.Schaeffer asserts. The land was and has
never been divided among the tribes of Israel this way (see
Clarke's Commentary). This division is for the Kingdom of God on
earth age.
9. If the Lord declares that in the Kingdom age every pot or
any pot in Jerusalem can be used for sacrificial purposes and not
as it was under the OT, who am I to argue differently.
Mr.Schaeffer asserts that "The word 'sacrifice' in verse 21 is to
'slaughter an animal.' It does in a few places in the OT have
this meaning, but this is not the primary meaning as used
throughout the OT. The basic meaning is "sacrifice." Please see
any good Hebrew Lexicon. I find he is grasping at straws here to
uphold his view.
10. I do not see where circumcision has anything to do with the
topic here under review.
11. Because we are the Temple of God, does that mean God can not
have a physical Temple in the Millennium? We Christians are
called Israel in the NT but does that mean there is no longer a
physical Israel? We Christians are called Jews in the NT but does
that mean there are no physical Jews? I think not!
12. Animal sacrifices never did atone for sin in the Salvation
way (Heb.10:4).
13. What Paul is showing the Hebrews in Heb.10 is that animal
sacrifices could never take away sins (v.4,11), as they had begun
to believe over the centuries of practicing such. It was only the
ONE sacrifice of not an animal but JESUS that could take away the
sins of all people who had lived or would yet live. Paul was also
showing them that it was foretold that a day and age would come
in which animal sacrifices would stop (v.5-9). The book of
Hebrews was preparing the people of Jewish background for this
event. Paul was not speaking about the age of the Messiah, the
age when Jesus would return, the age spoken and prophesied about
by the prophets, but he was speaking about THIS AGE and some
CHANGES that were to take place. The age yet to come is another
age in which God can again change or reinstitute laws AS HE SEES
FIT.
14. I find this paragraph to be contradictory. Mr.Schaeffer says
"There will be one more 'Temple' built" and yet say "Therefore it
is not a 'Temple of God' in the true sense." Now I submit it is
either a temple of God or it is not a temple of God.
It can not be and yet not be. The Scriptures he gives (2 Thes.
2:3-4 ) plainly say it is "the temple of God." So it is possible
for Christians to be called the temple of God and also have a
physical temple that is also called "the temple of God" as it was
in the first century up to 70 A.D. when that physical temple was
destroyed by the armies of Titus.
15. When is it that there will be "NO TEMPLE THERE"? Is it
during the 1,000 year age? No! It is when the NEW HEAVENS AND NEW
EARTH come (Rev.21:1).
16. Will there not be any symbolism or rituals to remind us of
sin during the Millennium? Will the Passover service be no longer
in the Kingdom age? Yes it will (Mat.26:28,29) be observed. I
submit that the Passover service is very symbolic and ritualistic
- we observe it exactly the same way year after year after year,
at least with the foot washing, bread and wine.
Will the Days of Unleavened Bread be observed during the
1,000 years? Yes I submit that cleaning the house of leavened
bread and eating only unleavened bread during that feast is very
symbolic and ritualistic as well. We do it year after year -
taking out the leavened bread and crumbs from here and there in
our homes -- that's ritual. We preach about the meaning of leaven
(representing sin) and of putting it away from our lives and
putting in unleavened bread - representing righteousness. That is
highly symbolic. This all reminds us of SIN!
Will Baptism upon repentance be followed in the Millennium?
I think it will. Baptism is a ritual - it is done the same way
for everyone, over and over again. Think of baptizing say 20
people one after the other, can you say it would not be a ritual.
The Worldbook Dictionary defines the word 'ritual' as: "a
form or system of rites: The rites of baptism, marriage, and
death are parts of the ritual of the church..... 2. a book
containing rites or ceremonies. 3. the carrying out of
rites......."
Baptism is also very symbolic - it has great meaning in its
ritual. It also reminds us of SIN!
So even today in the NT church we have some rituals that are
very symbolic and constantly reminding us of sin. It will I think
be no different for those in the Millennium - they will have lots
of symbolism and rituals to remind them of sin and its
consequences, including that of a Priesthood, Temple and Animal
Sacrifices.
"For the law .... can never with those sacrifices .... make the
comers thereunto perfect .... BUT IN THOSE SACRIFICES THERE IS A
REMEMBRANCE AGAIN MADE OF SINS EVERY YEAR...." (Heb.10:1-3).
WILL THERE BE ANIMAL SACRIFICES IN THE MILLENNIUM?
AN ANSWER TO PART TWO
by Keith Hunt
I have evidence in my answer to Mr.Schaeffer's first paper
on this subject, that the Temple of Ezekiel was NOT the temple
built by the returning Jews under Ezra and Nehemiah - that in
fact Ezekiel's Temple has NEVER yet been built. In contrast to
this proof Mr.Schaeffer insists on page 15 of his second paper:
" ....Ezekiel's Temple .... was the temple built upon the return
of the Jews after their captivity in Babylon."
His arguments for this assertion must now be examined and
answered. My reply is pointed. I hope the reader will understand
the arguments from the context of my answers.
1. If Ezekiel was supplying the plans for Ezra and Nehemiah and
the returning Jews to rebuild the temple, I must ask why does not
the books of Ezra and Nehemiah contain at least ONE statement
such as "the temple was rebuilt according to the plans given by
inspiration to Ezekiel." Such silence is, I think, very
significant.
2. Mr. Schaeffer quotes Ezek.40:4;43:10-11. Notice how Ezekiel
was to listen, draw plans, write laws "in their sight." Chapter
40:1,2 "... the HAND of the Lord was upon me, and brought me
thither. In the VISIONS of God brought be me into the LAND OF
ISRAEL ... Verse 3 says "he brought me thither." Verse 4 "... to
the intent that I might show them unto you are you brought
hither: declare all that you see to the house of Israel."
Ezekiel was brought hither IN VISION only. Ezekiel was a
CAPTIVE by the river of Chebar - he never left his confines while
in captivity except through VISIONS (notice chap.1:1; 8:1-4).
Ezekiel was able to DO and SAY and WRITE things for the House of
Israel, as a FUTURE warning, teaching and instruction for then,
and in some cases "write it in their sight." Notice chapter
12:1-11, and 14:1-3. He also did things and wrote things in
"their sight" when IN VISION among then.
Yes, Ezekiel was to "declare all that you see to the House
of Israel ... show the house, to the house of Israel ..." (chap.
40:4; 43:10). This is what Ezekiel was told when God revealed
Himself to him, "Oh, Son of man, I SEND YOU TO THE CHILDREN OF
ISRAEL ... GO, GET YOU UNTO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, AND SPEAK WITH
MY WORDS UNTO THEM ... GO, GET YOU TO THEM OF THE CAPTIVITY ...
AND SPEAK UNTO THEM ... " (chap.2:3; 3:4,11). Now how did Ezekiel
go - did he physically walk away from his captivity? NO! "So the
spirit LIFTED ME UP AND TOOK ME AWAY ... Then I came to them of
the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar and I
sat where they sat ..." (chap.3:14,15). Ezekiel moved around
among the captives, was taken to the land of Israel, was
transported to Jerusalem and the temple, said and did and wrote
things in their sight by the Spirit in VISIONS.
Ezekiel was to DECLARE things to the House of Israel - true
- but he was not to go out among them! Notice "But you, 0 son of
man, behold, they shall put bands upon you, and shall bind you
with them, and you SHALL NOT GO OUT AMONG THEM. And I will make
your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, that you shall be
DUMB ... But when I speak with you, I WILL OPEN YOUR MOUTH ...
(chap.3:25-27). Ezekiel was not to travel around among them
except in VISION, and he was only to speak when God told him to
speak. We can see a few of these literal speaking times - when he
spoke to some elders of Israel in chapter 14:1 and chapter 12.
Ezekiel was to say many things of warning not only to the House
of Israel but OTHER NATIONS also (AMMON - MOAB - EDOM - PHILISTIA
- EGYPT - GOG) - he never got to them! But he did write God's
words down - and he is declaring these messages and truths TODAY
to these nations through his written word and through those true
ministers of the Lord who come in the spirit and power of
Ezekiel, just as John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of
Elijah.
The Plans of the Temple, the laws and ordinances and all
that Israel are to DO are indeed written down and shown to the
House of Israel in their presence - Ezekiel's words still exist
and Israel still exists. They (the plans and laws of the Ezekiel
temple) are ready to DO when, " .. I will dwell in the midst of
them for ever ... the place of MY THRONE, and the places of the
SOLES of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children
of Israel for ever ..." (chap.42:9,7).
3. Ezek 44:6-8 is not talking about a situation during the
Millennium but how the house of Israel (not Judah) polluted
themselves with false ministers in God's holy things, which led
the Eternal to punish them. (v.12).
4. Ezek 44:9-12. God is giving instruction here as to how His
religion will be carried out - who will serve Him in a close way
and who will bear their shame.
It is the UNCIRCUMCISED in heart as well as flesh, among the
foreigner that shall not enter the Sanctuary, not just the
foreigner PER SE.
5. The prophecies of the Bible are to be taken as literal in
fulfilment but with one very important understanding. God uses
terminology of the day, it was written to express thoughts and
conditions for thousands of years later.
Example: God said through Malachi that before the "day of the
Lord" came, ELIJAH the prophet would come. Not only is this
prophecy DUAL (John the baptist was Elijah - Mat.17:1-3) but in
both fulfilments it will be a literal man (as the first was) yet
not the literal Elijah that once lived. The prophecy is literal
but was terminology that is typical - the individuals fulfilling
this prophecy come in the spirit of Elijah the old.
So it is with many of God's prophetic words to Israel and
other nations. The book of Malachi is to Israel mainly - with
prophecies for the yet future, and God calls her religious
leaders PRIESTS (chap 1:1,6 2:1,7). Certainly the religious
leaders of modern Israel are not from the Levitical priesthood of
old, but typically they can be regarded as the same in the same
way John the Baptist was regarded as Elijah.
Notice a prophecy to EGYPT in Ezekiel 30. The setting is
sometime before and up into the DAY OF THE LORD (v.2,3). Egypt is
to be punished by NEBUCHADREZZAR king of Babylon (v.10). The
prophecy is to be understood as a literal punishment but with
typical overtones. King NEB. of ancient Babylon is DEAD - the
original Babylon Empire has gone, but another modern, last day
empire with a great leader is to arise - God typically calls it
Babylon and typically calls its leader NEBUCHADREZZAR.
Notice the leader of Egypt is called PHARAOH (v.20-26; chap.
31:2). Now today we don't remotely call the head of the Egyptian
government a PHARAOH. But in typology the leader of Egypt is in
spirit Pharaoh of old, even if he is not literally descended from
a line of the actual Pharaohs.
There are many more examples that could be given as above,
but space does not allow us here to do so.
Mr.Schaeffer writes "Ezekiel and Jeshua, together with other
sons of Zadok cleansed and purified the new Altar... (p.11). He
then gives EZRA 3:13. I fail to see in Ezra 3:13 or any part of
the book of Ezra or Nehemiah the name of Ezekiel, even mentioned,
let alone a record of him being present at the dedication of the
new temple build after the captivity of Judah.
Mr. Schaeffer goes to extreme lengths to show Ezekiel
cleansed and purified the new Altar, yet the FACT is the words of
Ezra and Nehemiah show no evidence of this being the case. It is
to me incongruous to think that Ezra or Nehemiah would have
missed recording the fact that a prophet and priest of Ezekiel's
standing was not only among them, but had an important part in
the restoration and dedication of the new Temple. If indeed
Ezekiel was given the blue-print of the temple to be built after
the captivity - if indeed he was to be there with Ezra and Jeshua
and was to purify the Altar, surely Ezra would have recorded this
memorable service, if only to give honor to a faithful priest
that had been used in a mighty way by God through the trying
years of Judah's captivity. No such record is found in God's
word. And at present I have found no recording of such an event
in secular history.
So what about the 3rd part of Ezekiel's commission as stated
by Mr.Schaeffer on page 11? The explanation is a simple one. As
most of Ezekiel's message is PROPHETIC - for the end time and
into the millennium, so is chapter 43. It is for the time when
God (in the form of Jesus Christ) will be literally dwelling
among the children of Israel (v.7). Ezekiel will have been
resurrected at Christ's return - the Temple shown him will have
been built, and yes he himself will have a major part in its
purification and dedication. What could be more fitting than to
have the prophet who was shown these things and who was to record
them, be the one who should lead in its dedication service.
7. Many physical individuals living through the last years of
the old age over into the first months of the new age, will still
have carnal nature and will still remember the former evil
practices they and others did in Israel before the great
Tribulation and Lord's return. God is here in Ezek.45:8-10
telling them to remove their former ways of life and now live His
way.
Can and will God allow such behavior in the millennium? The
answer is YES - but swift justice and punishment will follow (see
ISA.30:19-21; 66:15-24; ZECH.14:9,13-19).
8. I do not see where Ezekiel 46 cannot apply to a Prince or
Princes during the Millennium. The above will apply to any ruler
of people during the 1,000 year reign.
9. While I agree that the Bible is written, a little here and a
little there and prophecy moves around from type to antitype,
back and then future and back again in dream like qualities - the
context as a whole will help to determine what passage is to be
understood in what area of time. We must not fall into the trap
of taking a passage and arbitrarily putting it into a time slot
that we want it to fit, so it lines up with our views of
doctrine.
I see no evidence in the last eight chapters of Ezekiel to
believe that most of it applies to the Temple built after the 70
year captivity of Judah and those parts which are un-mistakenly
the Kingdom era, to be lifted out and separated from the general
context. Surely it is safer to understand the context in the
light of key verses which give the time setting of the prophecy.
An example would be the prophecy regarding Egypt in Ezekiel
30. Without verse 3 we would conclude this prophecy to be only
for the time of the original King Nebuchadrezzar, but one small
sentence gives the whole another setting in another era of time.
10. I have shown elsewhere (referred elsewhere to Adam Clarke's
Bible Commentary) that the Temple built by Ezra and Nehemiah was
NOT to the plans given by Ezekiel. If it was surely somewhere
they would have stated that what God had given to Ezekiel was now
being fulfilled.
11. see previous point #10.
12. If it was a gross insult to Christ and the Father to offer an
animal sacrifice after the death of Jesus, then Paul and other
true children of God did gross insult as they went to the Temple
and purified themselves from a Nazarite vow (see ACTS 21:17-26
and NUMBERS 6:1-21).
13. Other passages of Scripture do show that people will come
before Him to sacrifice an animal (see ZECH.14:20,21; EZEK.
40-48; JER.33:14-18; ISA.19:19-21; MAL.3:1-4).
14. Surely obedience to God's law is far more important than
physical sacrifices. To do animal sacrifices in a form of worship
to God and yet not obey His spiritual law is not accepted by God
- He does not desire that form of worship. BUT does that mean God
is never pleased with sacrifices - not at all! When the heart is
right He does accept animal sacrifices. See verses 18,19 of Psalm
51 which Mr.Schaeffer did not quote.
Psalm 40:6-8 is a prophecy about the FIRST coming of Christ
and that He would not offer an animal sacrifice. See how Paul
used it in Heb.10:1-10. As Jesus was to set us an example for us
to follow in this AGE, it was right He offer no sacrifice (needed
not to because He was also perfect - sinless) for He knew that
after 70 A.D. the Temple in Jerusalem and that Priesthood would
be no more until His return.
15. Paul is trying to show to people who had put their stock in
physical sacrifices that it was Christ's sacrifice that was the
important one. They had over emphasized animal sacrifices. Paul
knew the day was coming when the Temple in Jerusalem would be no
more and animal sacrifices would stop for this age. He was
showing them it was prophesied to be that way, and that Christ's
sacrifice was for all ages the important one. Paul was dealing
with THIS age and said nothing about the age to COME in regards
to animal sacrifices.
16. The High Priest on the Day of Atonement REPRESENTED Christ. I
see nothing wrong or disrespectful for a mortal man to REPRESENT
Jesus on the Day of Atonement during the millennium. Then again
as Christ is supreme HIGH priest, He may well do the officiating
in the Temple on this feast day Himself. I take exception to Mr.
Schaeffer calling these ceremonies "a series of meaningless
rituals." They were FAR from meaningless! There was great
significance to every act in the Temple on this solemn feast day.
17. Isaiah 19:18-21. The land of Egypt will do SACRIFICE
(Strong's Concordance #2077). A review of this word in the
ENGLISHMAN'S or STRONG'S Concordance will quickly show it to be
the most common word used for "sacrifice." It is used for BLOOD
sacrifices. (i.e.Deut.12:27).
This verse of Isaiah 19:21 shows that in the millennium the
Egyptians will perform blood sacrifices to the Lord.
Jeremiah 33:17-18. The context is the beginning of the
millennium. The promise to David and his throne was UNconditional
as can be seen from Psalm 89. No such unconditional promise was
ever made about the perpetual continuity of the Levites offering
sacrifices. They have not been so doing for nearly 2,000 years.
How do we understand then JER.33:17-18? Very simple. God is
telling us through Jeremiah that when He restores Judah and
Israel from captivity (v.7) at the start of the millennium, He
will send the Messiah (Jesus) to reign upon David's throne (that
was to continue throughout all generations - Psalm 89) and then
adds in verse 18 the truth and teaching that at this same time
(start of the 1,000 years.) and for the duration of the
millennium "Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man
before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings,
and to do sacrifice continually."
The Lord will re-establish the Levites (He knows who they
are, even if we do not) and the sacrificial system during the
millennium. This He promises with the covenant of day and night
(v.20-21,24-26).
18. The question of ACTS 15 was not whether CIRCUMCISION, LAWS of
MOSES, SACRIFICES, should be done per se, but if you could be
SAVED by not doing them. The answer was YES you can be saved
WITHOUT these physical rites. The re-instituting of the Levitical
sacrificial system in the millennium will not be so people will
"have favor with God" above the way we have favor with Him now,
but in order to teach people (especially Israel and Judah) about
sin (Heb.10:3) and that Israel and their leaders FAILED to find
the true God and His ways during the age of no Temple and
sacrifices. (Ezekiel 44:6-16,23).
19. We are here in this study debating the Levitical Priesthood
and SACRIFICES which is different from the debate of CIRCUMCISM
which was settled at the synod of Jerusalem in ACTS 15. But it is
true that those who will seek sacrifices and circumcism for
salvation will fall from grace. That is now or in the future very
true.
20. If this is true then Paul and other Christians of the first
century NT church of God INSULTED and REJECTED Christ's sacrifice
when they performed the "ceremonial law of Moses" in ACTS
21:17-26. They of course did no insult to Jesus. Neither will
those in the 1,000 year age to come insult or reject Christ's
sacrifice, when they sacrifice at the Temple during that age.
21. I ask the reader to indeed notice the time setting of Ezekiel
47:1. The time setting within the last chapters of this book is
the MILLENNIUM. Rev.22:1-2 is an entirely different time setting.
I Cor.15:24-28 says nothing about Christ's THRONE, only that the
KINGDOM and AUTHORITY will be handed over to the Father.
Certainly the Father's throne will be above all other thrones.
22. Why should this be so when the Jewish Christians, including
James (one of the Jerusalem pillars of the church - Gal. 2:9)
were ZEALOUS of the law (ACTS 21:20)? They were not in their
sins, nor had they lost favor with Christ. They also knew that to
offer animal sacrifices at the temple did not justify or save
them from sin - only the blood of Jesus could do that.
Why should this be so when Peter was inspired to tell us at
the onset of this NT age that Jesus had gone back to heaven only
until, "the RESTITUTION of ALL things, which God has spoken by
the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." (ACTS
3:21).
23. Is it unthinkable and an insult to Christ to believe and
teach His WRITTEN WORD as given by Him to His prophets of old? I
believe that just as the prophecies concerning His first coming
were literally fulfilled, so also will be the prophecies about
His second coming. And those prophecies talk about a restoration
of a TEMPLE with a PRIESTHOOD and ANIMAL SACRIFICES.
If we believe the prophecies were LITERALLY fulfilled
concerning Jesus' FIRST coming (and they were indeed), then we
really have no choice but to believe the prophecies about his
SECOND coming will be LITERALLY fulfilled!
.................
Animal sacrifices in the Age to Come #2
Purpose for Them!
ANIMAL SACRIFICES IN THE 1,000 YEAR AGE
HERE IS THE WAY ANOTHER WRITER HAS PUT THE TOPIC. As my study on
the subject shows, I would agree with this study - Keith Hunt.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN the atoning work of Jesus Christ
and the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament has raised many
questions for Bible theologians. This is especially true in light
of the book of Hebrews and Old Testament prophecies concerning
worship during the millennium. The answer may have to do with
distinct functions in the plan of God for the blood of
sacrificial animals and for the precious blood of Christ. This
distinction is especially significant for understanding the
reinstatement of animal sacrifices during the future millennial
kingdom of Christ.
The atoning work of Christ is infinite in value and
therefore eternally sufficient and effective for those who put
their trust in Him. The book of Hebrews especially emphasizes the
contrast between the substitutionary work of Christ and the blood
of bulls and goats in the Old Covenant (see Hebrews 7:19; 9:9;
10:1,4,11,18). The New Covenant is infinitely superior to the Old
Covenant of Moses, which was "only a shadow of the good things to
come" (10:1 NASB). However, neither Hebrews nor the rest of the
New Testament teaches that Israel as a nation has been forever
set aside by God. The Old Covenant given by God to Israel through
Moses has ended, but the New Covenant (stemming from the
Abrahamic covenant) is in place and will be applied to Israel
during the millennium. The contrast in Hebrews is between the
shadowy, insufficient nature of the Old Covenant and the
sufficient, permanent nature of the New Covenant.
During the present age, national Israel has been "rejected"
(Romans 11:15-22) because of "transgression," "failure," and
"unbelief" (11:11-12,23). But that has not terminated Israel as a
nation (11:11). Some day it will experience divine "fulfillment"
(11:12) and "acceptance" (11:15). The church has not supplanted
Israel in God's program, for "the gifts and the calling of God
are irrevocable" (11:29).
The New Covenant promises a new heart through the Holy
Spirit for the entire nation of Israel (Ezekiel ;6:26-27), the
restoration of the regenerated nation to its ancestral land
(36:28), and a dynamic, functioning theocracy of 12 tribes with a
great new city and Temple (Ezekiel 40-48; see Deuteronomy
30:1-4). When this covenant is fulfilled for Israel, its high
priest will be the Messiah Himself, not a descendant of Aaron
(Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7).
MENTION OF ANIMAL SACRIFICES
Isaiah foresaw not only God's New Covenant with Israel but
also a Temple in the holy land (2:2-3; 60:13). Animal sacrifices
would be offered on its altar by Egyptians (19:21) and Arabians
(60:7), through priests and Levites (66:21), at God's "holy
mountain" with burnt offerings and sacrifices on God's altar
(56:6-7; 66:19-20).
God revealed the expression "a new covenant" first to
Jeremiah. This New Covenant included the offering of animals on
the altar of a Temple in the holy land. God announced through
him, "I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring
forth.... David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of
the house of Israel; and the Levitical priests shall never lack a
man before me" (33:I5,17-18). Thus Jeremiah, while stating the
total demise of the temporary Old Covenant (31:32) and
anticipating the national regeneration provided in the permanent
New Covenant (31:31-34; 32:38-40; 336-13; 50:5), included animal
sacrifices offered by Levitical priests as permanent aspects of
this New Covenant for national Israel.
Ezekiel also described the New Covenant, including a
provision for "My sanctuary in their midst forever" (37:26,28).
This sanctuary or Temple is described in great detail in chapters
40-48. Included in the description are the different types and
characteristics and purposes of its animal sacrifices (40:38-43;
42:13; 43:1827; 45:15-25; 46:2-15; 46:20-24). Other prophets who
spoke of the future Temple include Joel (3:18), Micah (4:1-5),
and Haggai (2:7,9).
We will consider the theological issues arising from these
descriptions by answering three questions: (1) What was the true
function of animal sacrifices in the Old Covenant? (2) What are
the fundamental differences between Ezekiel's picture of the New
Covenant system of worship and the Old Covenant system of
worship? (3) Would a worship system involving animal sacrifices
represent a step backward for New Covenant Israel during the
millennial age?
FUNCTION OF ANIMAL SACRIFICES
Animal sacrifices could never remove spiritual guilt froth
the offerer (Hebrews 10:4,11). Onc major purpose of these
sacrifices (as teaching symbols) was to prepare the people of
Israel for their Messiah and His infinite: atonement. Another
purpose was to provide a temporal, finite, external, and legal
"forgiveness" through an "atonement" (a ritual cleansing -
Hebrews 9:10,13) made by a priest (Numbers 15:25-26). This was
not merely a prophetic anticipation of Christ's atoning work. In
the Old Covenant, God provided a highly complex and rigid
structure for his "kingdom of priests." National transgressions
would receive national forgiveness when legitimate priests
offered appropriate sacrifices to God at the Tabernacle or Temple
altar. This forgiveness was promised regardless of the spiritual
state of either the offerer or the priest.
However, such sacrificial blood could never cleanse the
conscience or save the soul (Hebrews 10:1-2), so God repeatedly
sent prophets to call His people to love and obey their God from
the heart. Apart from such genuine faith, all the ceremonially
"kosher" animals in the whole world would avail nothing in the
spiritual realm (Psalm 50:7-IS: Isaiah 1:12--20; Jerennah 6:20:
7:21-23; Hosea 5:6; Amos 4:4-5; 5:20-27; Micah 6:6-H). It has
always been true that "it is impossible for the blood of bulls
and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). But it was also true
then, under the Old Covenant, that "the blood of bulls and goats
... sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh" (Hebrews 9:13).
In the Millennial Temple under the New Covenant, future
sacrifices will have nothing to do with eternal salvation, which
only comes through true faith in God. Future animal sacrifices
will be "efficacious" and "expiatory" only, in terms of the
strict provision for ceremonial (thus temporal) forgiveness for
national Israel. Thus, animal sacrifices will be not only,
memorial (like the bread and cup in church communion services)
but also temporally atoning for believing Israel (Ezekiel
43:20,26; 45:15,17,20). Hoekema notes, "if the sacrifices
mentioned in Ezekiel arc to be understood literally, they must be
expiatory, not memorial offerings" (Hoekema, p.204). The
distinction between ceremonial and spiritual atonement is
significant, for it is at the heart of the basic difference
between the theocracy, of Israel and the church, the body and
bride of Christ.
ISRAEL'S WORSHIP IN OLD AND NEW COVENANTS
The Temple of the millennium will be vastly different from
those of Solomon, Zerubbabel, and Herod. The outer court, gates,
walls, grounds, locality, and furniture will all be different.
The Temple will not have the ark of the covenant, no pot of
manna, no Aaron's rod, no tables of the Law, no cherubim, no
mercy scat, no golden lampstand, no show-bread, no veil, no holy
of holies, no high priest, no evening sacrifice (West, pp.
429-30). No feast of Pentecost, no feast of Trumpets, and no Day
of Atonement. These modifications indicate that the millennial
sacrifices will focus on sanctification grounded upon the
reconciliation already provided by Christ.
(The Temple sacrifices may not be as they were under the Old
Covenant, what scrifices, the number etc. But that being said,
does NOT mean there will be no Pentecost, feast of Trumpets, or
Day of Atonement. Those Feasts are still in effect today, and a
"religious" Jew would laugh at the idea that because today there
is no Temple or animal sacrifices, then there is no Feasts of the
Lord to observe. The Feasts of God are not dependant on physical
animal sacrifices or a Levitical Priesthood or even a literal
Temple in Jerusalem - Keith Hunt)
NOT A STEP BACKWARD FOR ISRAEL
It is the conviction of the present author that consistent
dispensationalism must teach the practice of animal sacrifices
for a restored and regenerated Israel in the millennium. But
would such a worship system represent a great step backward for
New Covenant Israel? Israel will be under a New Covenant program,
not the Old Covenant given to Moses, which was never designed to
guarantee salvation. Millennial Israel will have the entire New
Testament available to them, including the book of Hebrews. They
will know about the full and finished work of Christ. They will
see no conflict between Ezekiel and Hebrews, and they will
understand the omission of a high priest in Ezekiel 40-48 as
opening the door to the Melchizedekian High Priest of Psalm
110:4, Jesus Christ Himself.
Believing Jews will experience regeneration and
sanctification just as Christians do today - by the grace of God
through faith in the Lord Jesus. These future Jewish believers
will not be glorified (they will be survivors of the Tribulation
and their descendants). The New Covenant theocracy of Israel will
retain its distinctive Israelite characteristics - a promised
land, a temple, appropriate animal sacrifices, and an earthly
Zadokian priesthood (subordinate to Jesus Christ).
(The writer is obvious thinking that "Israel" = "Jews" which is
incorrect. The House of Judah was only made up of the tribes of
Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. There are TEN more tribes that make up
the entire nation of Israel, so the above comment of the writer
must be understood to apply to all 12 tribes of Israel - Keith
Hunt)
These sacrifices, illumined by a corporate understanding of
the true significance of the Lamb of God who took away the sin of
the world, will be appreciated all the more for what they can and
cannot accomplish for the offerer. For non-glorified millennial
Israel and her Gentile proselytes throughout the world (see Psalm
87; Isaiah 60:1-14; Zechariah 8:2023), the continued presence of
a sin nature will call for constant instruction and exhortation
in revealed truth. Not even a perfect government will
automatically solve this deep, universal problem. In distinction
from the perfection of the eternal state described in Revelation
21-22, Christ will "rule all nations with a rod of iron"
(Revelation 2:27; 12:5; 19:15) and with strict controls,
especially in religious practices (see Zechariah 14:16-21). Even
though outward submission to these religious forms will not
necessarily demonstrate a regenerate heart, it will guarantee
protection from physical penalties and temporal judgments. Those
who love Christ will exhibit a genuine spirit of submission to
His government. But those who do not truly love Him will follow
Satan in global rebellion at the end of Christ's righteous reign,
and they will be destroyed in cosmic fire (Revelation 20:7-9).
(Few under the Messiah will reject the knowledge of the Lord as
the waters cover the sea beds, which is one promise to be
fulfilled during the 1,000 year age. With Christ back on earth,
saints ruling with Him, in an open and powerful rod of iron
rulership, and add to that the promise of the Holy Spirit to be
poured out mightily, it would be few indeed that will throw away
eternal salvation. The battle at the end of the 1,000 years is
because Satan will be let loose once more from the bottomless pit
to go our again the deceive certain people - see Revelation 20 -
Keith Hunt)
FORM AND CONTENT OF WORSHIP
How can vital spiritual instruction be accomplished for
citizens of the millennial kingdom through a system of animal
sacrifices?
If it is theoretically possible for the church today to
achieve a spiritual, symbolic, and pedagogic balance in the use
of the bread and cup in communion, then it will be all the more
possible for regenerated Israel to attain the divinely intended
balance between form and content within the structures of the New
Covenant. It is not only possible but prophetically certain (in
the view of this author) that millennial animal sacrifices will
be used in a God-honoring way (Psalm 51:15-ig; Hebrews 11:4) by a
regenerated, chosen nation before the inauguration of the eternal
state.
JOHN C. WHITCOMB
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bruce, F.F. "The Epistle to the Hebews." New International
Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1964
Hoekema, Anthony A. "The Bible anD the Future" Grand Rapids.
Eerdmans Publishing Company 19?)
Hullinger, Jerry M, "The Problem of Animal Sacrifices
in Ezekiel 40-48" Bibliotheca Sacra 152 July-Sept.1995), pp.
279-89
Kent, Homer A., Jr. "The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary"
Winona Lake, IN. BMH Books, 1972.
Pentecost, J. Dwight. "Things to Come." Grand Rapids:
Zondervan,1964.
Ryne, Charles C. "The Basis of Premillennial Faith," New York:
Loizeaux, 1953.
Sauer, Erlch. "From Eternity to Eternity" Grand Rapids Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1954.
Walvoord, John F "The Millennial Kingdom." Findlay, OH. Dunham,
1959.
West, Nathanael. "The Thousand Years in Both Testaments."
NewYork: Revell, 1880.
Whitcomb, John C. "Christ's Atonement and Animal Sacrifices in
Israel" Grace Theological Journal 62 11985), pp 201-17
.......................
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment