HEBREWS CHAPT. 10

 

 

Chapter One-hundred-six:

Epistle to Hebrews #13

Chapters 10 For the first half of chapter 10, Paul gives emphasis to the Old Testament as NOT the means of forgiveness of sins and salvation through the ritual sacrifices, but that eternal salvation was always to be through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and that the Old Testament pointed to this truth. The Old Testament "law" (the five books of Moses - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) gave a for-shadow in its rites and images, the true "good things to come" (the perfect salvation sacrifice by Christ Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior of mankind). The yearly animal sacrifices could never make the offerer perfect or justified or have sins forgiven, as to allow for salvation. If this had been the way to eternal life, then the yearly sacrifices would not have had to be repeated, they would have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers once purged from sin, would have had no more conscienceness of sin. The purpose, one of the purposes, of those sacrifices, year after year, was to REMIND people OF SIN, to remind them they were STILL sinners, and it would take blood to forgive them their sins, BUT it was just NOT possible that the blood of bulls and goats and sheep, should take away sins (verses 1-4). God had NEVER planned that full and complete spiritual forgiveness as to attain salvation, was going to be by the blood of bulls and goats. Animals are nice to have around, are pleasant, give some joy to have, are useful in many ways for us human kind, but the animal kind, can never to compared to the human kind. No amount of animals are worth the life of just one human person. The purpose and destiny for mankind is so much more greater than for any animal kind, that it is truly like night and day in comparison. When God first brought Israel out of Egypt He DID NOT speak to them about a strict animal sacrifice system. It was not His intention at first to introduce to Israel a complicated and laborious and rigorous, daily, all year round, animal sacrificial system. This truth can be seen in reading Jeremiah chapter 7. The many rites of "the law" were as a custodian to us, a care-taker to us, to bring us to the "schoolmaster" - to Christ Jesus. This is all fully explained by Paul in Galatians chapter 3. And we have covered in some detail that epistle of Galatians earlier in this New Testament Bible Story. The Most High had planned even before the foundation of the world, that the saving of mankind from sin and death, would ONLY be accomplished by the LIFE and the DEATH of one of the GODHEAD kind. The second member of the Godhead was willing to come to earth as a human being. To be fully human and yet fully divine at the same time, to be IMMANUEL - or as that name means - God WITH US, as Isaiah the prophet said it would be. The forgiveness of sins was only ever going to be through the blood sacrifice of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. Only the life of God could take away the sins of mankind and allow perfection in salvation. Hence it was foretold in Psalm 40:6,7 that when the Messiah came into the world, He would say, "Sacrifices and offerings you would not, but a body have you prepared for me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have no pleasure. Then said I, I come (in the volume of a book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God." This is just another way of saying that God the Father had never planned that animal sacrifices should take away sins for the salvation of mankind. Salvation for the human kind was going to be done through the life of the Son of God, He doing the Father's will by coming to earth as a human person, living a perfect sinless life, and shedding His blood in death on the cross, for the sins of the whole world. God was NOT ever going to use the rites and sacrifices of the Old Testament law, which were offered under the priesthood laws of the Old Testament Tabernacle or Temple, to bring about salvation for the human kind. He had no pleasure in that system of salvation for mankind. It was in a totally other system per se that the Most High would accomplish salvation with men and women on this earth. It was not that God hated the ritual animal sacrifice system in itself, for He Himself had introduced it to Israel and had made it the law in the nation of Israel, and that system did accomplish certain good things. It did remind people all the time, year after year, that they were sinners, and through the shedding of the animals blood it did teach them and point them, to the fact that it would be through the shedding of the blood of the Messiah that forgiveness of sins would be accomplished. But in the effect of perfect salvation and forgiveness of sins for salvation, God had no pleasure in it being through the blood of animals. So it was that the first system of daily animal sacrifices was to be taken away, put to one side, made to appear quite useless, for eternal salvation, and the one time, and once for all, sacrifice of the Son of God, would be established as the means to salvation. We humans would be forgiven our sins, justified to God the Father, set apart or sanctified for a holy purpose, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time (verses 5-10). The Old Levitical priesthood stood serving on a daily calendar the offerings, the same type over and over again, that could never take away sins for salvation. But Jesus came and offered ONE SACRIFICE of Himself, dying on the cross, shedding His blood just once in death, and then sat down on the right hand of the Most High (until His enemies should be His foot-stool, at His return to earth and setting up on earth the Kingdom of God). It was through ONE OFFERING, the offering of Himself in death that He perfected forever those who are set apart for salvation. This was THE WAY to eternal life and salvation, not through a Levitical priesthood of animal sacrifices, but through the life and blood sacrifice of the very Son of God. Paul was here making sure that the Hebrews did not misunderstand the nature of the old animal sacrificial system, as it pertained to eternal salvation. There was just no way that salvation could be obtained through the shedding of the blood of bulls and goats and sheep. It was NEVER intended by God to accomplish such a thing or to lead anyone to eternal life by following such a laborious physical animal system. All of that system and all the law pointed to Jesus the Christ, and His sacrifice of Himself as the way to eternal life. The Holy Spirit had also given witness in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 31) that God would forgive sins and put His laws in the hearts of people. It would all be done not through animal sacrifices but through the way God had always planned it to be - through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. And so now that THE ONE sacrifice had been given, there was no need to offer animal sacrifices for sin (verses 11-18). We have seen through the book of Acts that some people of God did still attend the Temple, some of its functions, and even partook in some of its rituals, including animal sacrifices. Paul never taught that the Temple services could not be attended and partook of by Christians, including the offering of animal sacrifices. What Paul clearly taught was that such services and Temple rituals did NOT function in any way with regards to salvation. They had no bearing on real spiritual forgiveness of sins, real justification with God, real sanctification, or the inheriting of eternal life. It was not sin to do the Temple services while the Levitical priesthood and the Temple still functioned (all of that was indeed originally given from God to Israel), if you desired, but doing so had no bearing on salvation. Then on the other hand Paul taught that it was not wrong or sin for a Christian to NOT follow the Temple rituals including the system of animal sacrifices. Some Christians, mainly of Hebrew of Jewish background continued to observe some of the Temple systems of worship. Many other Christians, of none Jewish background, did not. Paul is here telling the Hebrew Christians that now the one sacrifice of Christ has come, there is no need to be concerned with continuing to offer animal sacrifices. And as the Temple and its priesthood would soon be destroyed and be no more (as it would be after 70 A.D.) then all Christians needed to clearly know the truth about the system of animal sacrifices - that it just was never intended to be the way to salvation. Now we Christians have a new way of entering the Holy of Hollies, in the heavenly Temple. The old physical veil was representive of the flesh of Christ. Jesus has come, He shed His blood, His flesh was offered, and now we have the way through to the very presence of God the Father in the holiest place of all in the heavenly Temple. And further more, as Jesus is also there on the right hand of the Father as High Priest over the whole household of God, all the Father's children, then we can draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts and minds sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our whole bodies washed with pure water (verses 19-22). It is all a spiritual truth from the physical types of the Old Temple. The High priest having to wash himself fully before entering the holy of hollies, behind the veil, on the Day of Atonement, where he took blood and sprinkled the mercy seat of God. All of that was a type of us Christians coming to the Father in the holy of hollies above, through the flesh and blood of Christ and obtaining forgiveness of sins, by His blood. We are to then hold fast the profession of our faith and not waver, as He that promised this way of salvation is faithful to that promise. We are to remember each other, to encourage each other to good works, to Christian love, and to Christian fellowship. We are to NOT FORGET to assemble with each other, as apparently in the time this epistle was written, some were forgetting to assemble with others of like Christian faith. We are to assemble so we can exhort, encourage, build-up, one another, and especially as the day approaches towards the end time (verses 23-25). The day approaching will be such as was never before or never will be again (Matthew 24). It will be a time of trouble on earth that has or will have any equal in earth's history, from the time of the creation of mankind. As we read the book of Revelation it is hard to imagine what is yet to take place on this earth, and the time of trouble for Israel, Judah, Christians, and all nations. So, indeed it will be important for Christians to encourage and exhort one another in Christian fellowship. Then there is another very important truth behind the fellowship of Christians exhorting one another, and that is what we read of in verses 26-31. Christians exhorting one another will serve to help in the lives of those Christians NOT to sin wilfully after we receive the knowledge of the truth. This would be the unpardonable sin. A wilfully set mind to give up the Christian walk, to go back into the ways of the old man, to discard the path of righteousness, to turn away from the light of the Lord, and again to live and walk as a way of life in darkness of sin. This kind of mindset can only lead to there being no more sacrifice for sins. It is a mindset that once more treads under foot the very Son of God and counts the blood of the covenant, an unholy thing, and does despite unto the Spirit of grace. There was judgment under the Old Testament for those who despised the laws of Moses. Death came upon those who had committed serious sins, under the witness of two or three. For those who despise the blood of Christ and trample Him under foot, there will be even more severe punishment. God will punish, He will recompense, He will judge His people. Yes, God is love, yes He would like to see everyone saved, He is patient and merciful, slow to anger, and kind. But He has written that He will judge and reward everyone according to his works, whether good or evil. For those who sin wilfully after being given the knowledge of the truth, and deciding to trample on the blood of Christ, to them God will one day be a punishing judge. For such people, it will be a terrible and fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We need Christian fellowship with others of like minds so we can encourage each other to remain faithful, to continue to walk in the ways of the Lord, to endure to the end, and in so doing be saved into eternal life, and not destroyed in the lake of fire and be sentenced to eternal death (verses 26-31). To encourage his readers, Paul reminds them of the former days, of how, after they had been illuminated to God's truths, they endured a great fight, even through many afflictions. They had suffered persecutions and reproaches, and afflictions of various kinds from people who noticed them walking in the footsteps of Christ. They had suffered reproaches and afflictions just because they were named companions of Christians. Yet, they remained faithful to God. Paul reminds them of the compassion they had for him, in his times of hardship, and how they wilfully gave of their physical goods to help him, knowing that it was all noted by heaven, all written down for their credit in the book of life, and would receive an enduring reward one day, for all they went through and did on earth as a faithful Christian. They were therefore not to cast away their confidence, they were to have patience, and to know that after they had done the will of God, they would receive the promise of eternal life. He who would come, Jesus who would one day return to earth, would indeed come, He would no longer tarry or wait, but would come, and His promise of life eternal they would collect. We have seen in the past, the glorious truth that the saints of God will receive the promise of eternal life at the resurrection, which takes place at the coming of the Lord in glory and power. Those who are just or justified must live by faith. Paul here sends out a strong and sharp message. He says that his life will have no pleasure in them that draw back. Would Paul pray for such people, I think so, but would Paul continue to have Christian fellowship with them per se? I think not. How can light have fellowship with darkness, and how can light have fellowship with those who once were in light but have now chosen to draw back into darkness? Paul finishes his thought by the encouraging words of confidence to his readers that they were all not of them that draw back unto perdition, but to them that believe to the saving of their life (verses 32-39). It takes FAITH for the Christian to live, to endure to the end, to remain faithful through trials, tests, hardship, persecutions, and all the many things that physical life can throw at us. So it was fitting that Paul should now go into a full discourse on the subject of FAITH, and the many examples in the Bible we have been given to encourage us to be faithful, to endure to the end, to realize God is faithful to His promises. All this we shall see in chapter 11. ........................ Written March 2007

HEBREWS CHAPT. 8 AND 9

 

 

Chapter One-hundred-five:

Epistle to Hebrews #12

Chapters 8 and 9 CHAPTER 8 The last half of this chapter is the key-note. And this chapter in a nut-shell is about the TWO COVENANTS - the first, but more importantly the second or as it is put "a BETTER covenant." Paul sums up what he has so far spoken, and that is that we have a High Priest, who is set down on the right hand of God, by His throne, the Majesty in the heavens. It is again worth noting that Jesus sits NOT on top of the Majesty on High, not inside of Him, not taking His throne for himself, BUT Christ sits on the RIGHT HAND of the Majesty on High. This verse alone (without dozens and dozens of others in the Bible and in the New testament particularly) PROVES that Jesus Christ and God the Father (the Majesty on high) are TWO SEPARATE BEING!! Both have their own FORM and SHAPE, both sitting next to each other, not inside of each other, or being each other at certain times. The idea of a Trinity of the Godhead, and specifically a Trinity of ONE being (which such teachers say you cannot understand, see, or give literal spirit dimensions to) that manifests itself in the form of the Father, at one time, the Son at another time, and the Holy Spirit, at yet another time, or I guess they maybe teach, all three beings at a time if the ONE being so decides. This teaching is so silly and frankly a stupid mind bending theological idea, that truly only some psychologically mixed up minds can come up with such a teaching. A little child reading the Bible will NEVER come up with such theology as the Trinity idea above. I know I was there as a child, reading my Bible from age 7, in a Church of England school, a Sunday school, and in the quiet nights of my bedroom before falling asleep. NEVER did I get the picture that God the Father and Jesus are some part of a mystic vague, not understandable, form of a Trinity idea that some hold. This Jesus is the minister of the true sanctuary and tabernacle, which was not made and pitched by human hands. Paul will have much more to say about this true tabernacle in the next chapter. A high priest does offer gifts and sacrifices, that is part of his calling and part of his service in a physical tabernacle such as the Jews had in Jerusalem at the time this epistle was written. So also, this High Priest of the true tabernacle, made without human hands, had gifts and service to offer to the Most High God. It was not that he was High Priest while on earth, as a flesh and blood human, for there were already high priests in the physical temple in Jerusalem. And those physical high priests in a physical temple on a literal physical part of the earth, were in reality just a SHADOW, of the much more important office of the real spiritual High Priest that was to come in the heavenly Temple. Paul reminds them of the truth that Moses was to build a tabernacle PATTERNED AFTER the heavenly tabernacle (verses 1-5). A BETTER NEW COVENANT This Jesus the Christ has obtained a BETTER AND MORE EXCELLENT ministry, more excellent than any high priest could ever imagine or obtain, serving in a physical tabernacle in the city of Jerusalem. Hence Jesus is the MEDIATOR (the go-between, the arbitrator, of two entering a covenant relationship) of a BETTER covenant or TESTAMENT, which is established upon BETTER promises. One of the weaknesses of the first covenant was that the Holy Spirit of power and nature of God, was not promises to the Israelites as an automatic part of that covenant. This truth can bee seen by reading Numbers chapter eleven. And hence together with that covenant fact, the people were weak, they had the fault, that made that covenant very poor in comparison with the better covenant, with better promises, that was to come. If the first covenant had been perfect, then no place would have been found for a second. There is no need to re-vamp a perfect covenant. but the first covenant was far from perfect, so a second could be given and could be promised to come. Yes, the basic fault with the first covenant was a fault with the people. Not having automatic access to the Holy Spirit, through the first covenant, the people could not have the power and strength and even the mind-set, to follow and serve all the laws and commandments of the first covenant given through Moses. All that was going to be corrected through the better covenant or testament. Paul once more uses the Scriptures, the word of God that the Hebrew Jews were well acquainted with, to prove that it was promised and written, that a NEW covenant, or Testament, was going to come to the people. He quotes from Jeremiah 31:31. That covenant was going to make sure that the LAWS of God could be written in the hearts of the people entering that covenant relationship with God. There could now be, under the new covenant, a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with God the Father. Those under the new covenant could have their sins forgiven, and have access to the very mind and nature of God the Father. All of this truth Paul expounds upon in his other epistles to other churches and people. All of those other epistles we have covered already in this New Testament Bible Story. Then I have also expounded myself the truth of the matter concerning REPENTANCE, GRACE, SALVATION, FAITH, BAPTISM, LIVING TO SERVE GOD, in many in-depth studies on this Website. The apostle Paul here just sums it all up in a few sentences, as he finishes his thoughts contained in chapter 8. The promise of a new covenant makes the first covenant old, and that which has become old and starting to decay, is read to vanish away. In Paul's day of writing this epistle, the physical Temple in Jerusalem, still stood there, and that tabernacle's high priest still functioned, and all the rites and offerings and sacrifices of that tabernacle were still being performed. It had not YET come to and end, not yet vanished away, but the day was fast approaching when it would all vanish away. But that being the fact, the NEW TESTAMENT, the new covenant was ALREADY IN PLACE. Jesus the Messiah had come, had died for the sins of the people, had been resurrected to glory, had been made High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, had ascended to heaven to sit on the right hand of the Majesty on High. The NEW COVENANT was already in effect, for whomsoever will may come, may come and enter that new covenant relationship with God Almighty through Jesus Christ, as Savior and High Priest on the right hand of the Majesty of heaven, in the Tabernacle above made without human hands. This NEW covenant was NOW functioning, the old covenant was soon to come to a full and complete stop, to indeed vanish away (verses 6-13). CHAPTER 9 Paul now goes into some details of the physical tabernacle and service under that first covenant. The service was of divine origin, yes, it was God who told Moses to build such a physical tabernacle and institute the Aaronic priesthood and all that such a line of priests with a body of tabernacle servers from the tribe of Levi, were to perform. That tabernacle contained within its first section, the candlestick, the table, the shewbread. The second section behind a veil or curtain, called the Holiest of all, or Holy of Holiest, contained: the golden censer, the ark of the covenant, in which was the golden pot that had manna. There was Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. On top was the mercy seat and the Cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat. For detailed information on this tabernacle the reader is pointed to the many pictorial Bible Dictionaries readily available in some Public Libraries, from Bible Books Stores, or on the Internet. The high priest of the first tabernacle covenant went into the first section of that tabernacle on a daily basis to do the daily service of worship for the people towards God. But he could only go in to the Most Holy place ONLY ONCE a year, on the Feast day of Atonement. He went into this Holy of Holiest with BLOOD, for himself and the people, he and they were mere human beings with sins. Paul said, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that this once a year entry into the Holiest place behind the curtain, signified that the way to God the father in the Holy place of heaven was not possible for the vast majority of the people, only for the select few. The high priest would represent the FEW under the old covenant that were allowed to have the Holy Spirit and access to God the Father. These relatively few would include people like Abraham, Moses, David and others of faith that are mentioned in Hebrews 11. All of this past service in the old tabernacle under the old covenant, was a TYPE, a FIGURE, for a deeper spiritual truth and meaning. Those gifts offered under the old covenant in the tabernacle, would not make him that did the service PERFECT. No real spiritual cleansing and personal connection with God could come about by offering physical meat and drink offerings, in a physical tabernacle. Yet this outward physical service was to be done under the old covenant, it was IMPOSED, ordained, commanded to be performed by the people of ancient Israel, UNTIL, ONLY UNTIL, THE TIME OF REFORMATION! There was to come a time of REFORM, a much deeper SPIRITUAL REFORM, a time when the physical was to pass away, vanish away, and a NEW covenant, a NEW TESTAMENT, was to be introduced to the people, to whomsoever would come. To whomsoever would take Christ Jesus as God's Son, as Savior, as High Priest of that New Covenant. It is Christ who has become the High Priest of good things to come, in a greater and more perfect tabernacle, made not with human hands, neither by the blood of goats and sheep, BUT through His OWN BLOOD, death on the cross, He was found worthy to bear the sins of the world, and enter into the Holy of Holiest, thus having obtained eternal redemption for US! There was a type of reconciling ancient Israel to God, under the old covenant and rites of the tabernacle. There was a sanctifying of the flesh so to speak, under the old covenant. By having a tabernacle and all its physical service through physical animals and grain and bread offerings, there would be at least a somewhat sanctifying of the flesh - the people of Israel would continue to live, they would continue to reap blessings from God, be His people, be used to glorify God to the rest of the world. As long as their hearts were right in performing this outward and physical service to God, as long as it gave them a mind somewhat with God in the centre, it would preserve their physical flesh. All the rites of the physical did have some good towards their flesh. Yet in a perfect spiritual way ..... ah, well as Paul went on to say: "How MUCH MORE shall the BLOOD of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without fault (without sin) to God, PURGE your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (verses 1-13). Jesus is therefore the MEDIATOR (the High Priest for us towards God the Father) of the NEW TESTAMENT. Now Paul gets to the real reality of it all, this is not just a "covenant" (an agreement between two parties) - it is MORE than that, it is a TESTAMENT. Like a "last will and testament," that people leave to be executed or performed AFTER they DIE! And in verse 15, is the answer to the question about those under the old testament, called of God, given the Holy Spirit, and will they be SAVED, and HOW will they be saved. Will they be saved in a different way from us under the New Testament? NO, NOT AT ALL! They will be saved, yes indeed, that is seen clearly from chapter 11 and many other parts of the Bible. They will be saved as WE ARE SAVED .... by GRACE, through faith, in the sacrifice and BLOOD of Jesus Christ. Those called under the old testament LOOKED AHEAD to the blood of Christ, they had faith in what was promised to come. We today, look back in faith, to what did come to pass .... Jesus dies to save sinners. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Salvation is the SAME for all people, young or old, those who lived thousands of years ago and those who will yet live in the future. There is no name under heaven whereby you can be saved. All must look to God in faith, through the blood of Christ, for the forgiveness of sins. God is no respecter of persons. Salvation for all people has always been the same and will forever be the same. Jesus is Lord and Savior, past, present, and future. Verses 16-22, give the proof that this New Covenant is MUCH MORE than a covenant, it is a TESTAMENT! A Testament is in force AFTER the death of the testator. Where there is a testament there needs to be the death of the testator. While the person lives the last will and testament is not in force. It only comes into effect AFTER the death of the one who is the testator of the testament. Paul, as the great scholar he was of the word of God, nails it down, shows the proof of all this. He takes his readers, the Hebrew Jews, Hebrew Israelites, back to the very beginning of the forming and ratifying, sealing, the first testament. It is found in Exodus 24:1-11. There it is in CLEAR black and white - the first testament was ratified WITH BLOOD, with DEATH! He says that in law of the Lord just about all things are purged with BLOOD. And WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD THERE IS NO REMISSION! It is the way the Lord has decreed it. It is the way He planned it to be before the world was. I suppose we could argue that God could have done it this way or that way. It makes no difference as to what we may think about how the Almighty could have reconciled the world to Himself, could have forgiven sins, and could have made it possible for human kind to be saved and have eternal life. It is the way that God decided to do it, that is the end of the matter, that is the "Thus says the Lord" on the subject. He decided BEFORE the foundation of the world that a member of the very Godhead would need to come to earth, as a human person, live a perfect life, and shed His blood, to cleanse all sins from all people, be resurrected to life and then be seated on the right hand of the Majesty oh High, as High Priest, for interceding work between the Father and His children. The pattern of the heavenly needed a greater sacrifice than that of earthy things. Jesus needed to offer himself just ONCE in the heavenly Holy of Holiest. Jesus did not enter the physical Holy Place in some physical tabernacle in a physical city on a physical earth. He entered the heavenly place, not made with human hands, to appear in the presence of God FOR US. He did not need to offer Himself many times, as the old covenant high priest had to do, every year going into the Most Holy place on the Day of Atonement. He needed to die and offer Himself just ONCE, or otherwise He would needs have to die over and over again. He came ONCE in the end of the age (in passing - note the "end of the age" is used - that was two thousand years ago - so the phrase "end of the age" can have a broader meaning at times than just before Christ will return) to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. As is the basic true saying that it is appointed unto men to die once, and after that the judgment day, so Christ was ONCE offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time, without sin unto salvation (verses 23-28). What glorious truths and salvation we are reading about. What LOVE both the Father and His Son have for us. You need to read and re-read and continue to read the New Testament Bible Story as contained in the Gospels and all the rest of the New Testament. In it are the words of LIFE, the only way you can be saved, be glorified, inherit eternal life in the very family Kingdom of God.   Let the words of the New Testament be written in your heart. .............................................. Written January 2007

JESUS RETURN GIVEN IN GOSPEL OF MARK 13

FROM SOME YEARS AGO------

 LEADING  TO  THE  END  AND  CHRIST'S  RETURN

by  Keith Hunt

I  ASKED  THE  LORD  WHAY  SHOULD  I  WRITE  ABOUT;  

I  OPENED  MY  BIBLE  AND  IT  OPENED  TO  MARK  13!

JESUS  LEAVES  THE  TEMPLE  IN  JERUSALEM,  HIS  DISCIPLES  SAY, "MASTER  LOOK  AT  ALL  THESE  STONES  AND  BUILDINGS" - PLURAL.

JESUS  REPLIES, "YOU  SEE  THESE  GREAT  BUILDINGS,  WELL  THERE  SHALL  NOT  BE  ONE  STONE  LEFT  ON  ANOTHER,  ALL  WILL  BE  THROWN  DOWN."

AS  JESUS  SAT  ON  THE  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES,  PETER,  JAMES,  JOHN,  AND  ANDREW,  ASKED  HIM  WHEN,  AND  WHAT  SHALL  BE  AND  WHEN  ALL  THESE  THINGS  WILL  COME  TO  BE  FULFILLED.

JESUS  GIVES  SOME  SIGNS  OF  FALSE  PROPHETS,  WHO  WOULD  INDEED  CLAIM JESUS  IS  THE  CHRIST,  BUT  WILL  DECEIVE  MANY.  NOTE,  MANY  NOT  THE  FEW,  BUT  MANY.

THERE  WILL  BE  WARS,  NATIONS  RISING  AGAINST  NATIONS,  THERE  WILL  BE  EARTHQUAKES,  THERE  WILL  BE  FAMINES....JUST  THE  BEGINNING  OF  SORROWS [verses 2-8].

THESE THINGS  HAVE  BEEN  GOING  ON  FOR  CENTURIES,  BUT  CERTAINLY  IN  THE  LAST  50  YEARS,  ALL  THESE  THINGS  HAVE  INCREASED;  ESPECIALLY  THE  "CHRISTIAN  RELIGION"  -  BROADCASTED  ON  FIRST  RADIO,  THEN  ON  TV  AND  THE  INTERNET,  LIKE  AS  NEVER  BEFORE  IN  THE  LAST  2,000  YEARS.  THERE  ARE  TV  CHANNELS  DEVOTED  TO  24  HOUR  CHRISTIAN  RELIGIOUS  PROGRAMS.  MANY,  INDEED  MANY  AND  MANY,  HAVE  IN  THE  LAST  50  YEARS  BEEN  PROCLAIMING  CHRIST  IS  THE  CHRIST.  JESUS  SAID  IT  WOULD  BE  SO,  AND  THEY,  THE  MANY  HAVE  DECEIVED  THE  MANY!!

VERSES  9-13  SPEAKS  OF  A  LITERAL  PERSECUTION;  TRUE  SAINTS  BEING  BROUGHT  BEFORE  RULERS  AND  KINGS,  PEOPLE  IN  SECULAR  AUTHORITY;  EVEN  FAMILY  MEMBERS  BETRAYING  ONE  ANOTHER;  PEOPLE  HATING  CHRIST'S  DISCIPLES  FOR  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE.  AND  AT  THE  SAME  TIME  THE  GOSPEL  GOING  TO  THE NATIONS - PLURAL - OF  THE  WORLD.

THIS  MUST  BE [AND  THE  REST  OF  THE  COMING  VERSES  PROVE  IT]  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THIS  AGE,  FOR  AGAIN  IN  THE  LAST  30  YEARS  VIA  TV,  THE  INTERNET,  PRINTED  MATTER,  THE  GOSPEL  IS  GOING  TO  ALL  NATIONS  OF  THE  WORLD  AS  NEVER  BEFORE  IN  HUMAN  HISTORY.  AS  AN  EXAMPLE,  MY  WEBSITE  GOES  TO  MOST  NATIONS  OF  THE  WORLD,  AND  AS  THE  YEARS  COME,  MORE  AND  MORE  NATIONS,  AS  MORE  NATIONS  HAVE  THE  MODERN  INTERNET  ON  MANY  HIGH  TECH  DEVICES,  THE  GOSPEL  ON  MY  WEBSITE  WILL  GO  TO  ALL  NATIONS.  THIS  IS  A  PROPHECY  FOR  THE  VERY  END  TIMES [A  CERTAIN  LENGTH  OF  TIME,  WHICH  WE  HAVE  ENTERED  BUT  DO  NOT  KNOW  ITS  FULL  LENGTH].

YOU  WILL  NOTICE....  A  PERSECUTION  OF  CHRIST'S  TRUE  PEOPLE!  NO  TALK  HERE   OF  A  SECRET  COMING  OF  CHRIST,  AN  INVISIBLE  COMING,  AN  ANY  SECOND  COMING,  TO  TAKE  THE  SAINTS  TO  HEAVEN,  IN  THE  IDEA  OF  A  "SECRET  RAPTURE."  AND  THAT  TEACHING  I  BLOW  TO  A  MILLION  BITS  OF  DUST  IN  OTHER  STUDIES  ON  THIS  WEBSITE.  IT  IS  ONE  OF  THE  DECEPTIONS  OF  THE  MANY  FALSE  PROPHETS.

VERSE  14  -  A  KEY  VERSE.  THE  "ABOMINATION  OF  DESOLATION,"  SPOKEN  BY  DANIEL  THE  PROPHET,  STANDING  WHERE  IT  OUGHT  NOT;  THOSE  IN  JUDEA  HAD  THEN  BETTER  FLEE  TO  THE  MOUNTAINS.  DANIEL  SPEAKS  OF  THIS  IN  HIS  CHAPTER 12:11 - AN  ABOMINATION  THAT  "MAKES  DESOLATE." 

I  HAVE  FULLY  EXPLAINED  DANIEL  12  IN  OTHER  STUDIES  ON  THIS  WEBSITE.

THE  BIBLE  INTERPRETS  ITSELF.  LUKE  21,  CONCERNING  THIS  SAME  PROPHECY  OF  MARK  13,  GIVES  YOU  THE  ANSWER  OF   WHAT  IS  THE  ABOMINATION  THAT  MAKES  DESOLATE  -  IT'S  FOUND  IN  VERSE  20.  WHEN  JERUSALEM  IS  SURROUNDED  BY  ARMIES,  THEN  THE  DESOLATION  THEREOF  IS  NIGH  -  JERUSALEM  WILL  BE  DESTROYED,  ENOUGH  THAT  ALL  THE  STONES  OF  THE  TEMPLE  WILL  BE  CAST  TO  THE  GROUND.  THIS  DID  NOT  HAPPEN  IN  70  A.D.  WHEN  THE  ROMAN  ARMIES  DESTROYED  JERUSALEM;  FOR  THE  WAILING  WALL,  IN  JERUSALEM  WAS  PART  OF  THE  TEMPLE  OF  JESUS'  DAY.

THIS  WAILING  WALL  WILL  COME  DOWN  IN  THE  FUTURE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM,  AND  THAT  PART  OF  JESUS'  PROPHECY  WILL  BE  FULFILLED,  SHORTLY  BEFORE  HE  RETURNS,  AS  HE  GOES  ON  TO  EXPLAIN,  AND  GIVES  MORE  SIGNS  TO  LOOK  FOR  JUST  AHEAD  OF  HIS  RETURN.

PEOPLE  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND,  IN  JERUSALEM,  ARE  TO  FLEE,  NOT  EVEN  RETURNING  TO  THE  HOUSE  IF  OUTSIDE,  TO  GATHER  ANYTHING  TOGETHER.  AND  PROVING  THIS  IS  AT  THE  VERY  END  TIME,  SHORTLY  BEFORE  CHRIST  RETURNS,  IS  PROVEN  BY  VERSE  19.  IT  IS  THE  TIME  OF  AFFLICTION  SUCH  AS  WAS  NOT  FROM  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  CREATION,  AND  SHALL  NEVER  BE  AGAIN.  WE  HAVE  YET  TO  ENTER  THAT  TIME,  FOR  AS  WE  SHALL  SEE,  AFTER  SOME  OTHER  SIGNS  JESUS  WILL  RETURN.

GOD  WILL  SHORTEN  THOSE  DAYS  OF  AFFLICTION  FOR  IF  HE  DID  NOT,  NO  FLESH  WOULD  BE  SAVED.  AND  DURING  THAT  TIME  MORE  FALSE  PROPHETS  WILL  ARISE,  SOME  DOING  MIRACLES,  WONDERS ,  SIGNS,  TO  DECEIVE  MANY,  YES  NOT  THE  FEW  BUT  THE  MANY!

VERSES  24, 25.  THERE  WILL  BE  HEAVENLY  SIGNS  IN  THE  SUN,  MOON,  IN  THE  STARS;  THE  SUN  DARKENED,  THE  MOON  NOT  GIVING  HER  LIGHT;  THE  STARS  FALLING,  THE  POWERS  OF  HEAVEN  SHAKEN.

NOTICE  WHEN......  VERSE  24......  AFTER  THAT  TRIBULATION.  NOTHING  COULD  BE  CLEARER.  THE  BIBLE  IS  SIMPLE  TO  UNDERSTAND  IF  YOU  WILL  READ  IT  AS  A  CHILD.  I  WAS  READING  THESE  VERSES  AS  A  CHILD  OF  12,  13,  14  ETC.  AND  IT  WAS  EASY  TO  UNDERSTAND.

YOU  HAVE  A  PERSECUTION  OF  TRUE  SAINTS,  A  TIME  OF  TROUBLE  AS  LIKE  NEVER  IN  ALL  OF  EARTH'S  HISTORY.  AFTER  THAT  TRIBULATION  YOU  HAVE  HEAVENLY  SIGNS,  UNMISTAKABLE  IN  SCOPE,  MIGHT,  AND  POWER.

THEN  NOTICE  IT....VERSE  26!!!

"AND  THEN  SHALL  THEY  SEE  THE  SON  OF  MAN  COMING  IN  THE  CLOUDS  WITH  GREAT  POWER  AND  GLORY!!!"

IT  IS  A  VISIBLE  RETURN  OF  CHRIST;  IT  IS  THE  ONE  AND  ONLY  ONE  RETURN  OF  CHRIST;  NO  TWO-FOLD  RETURN;  NO  ONE  COMING  IN  SECRET  AT  ANY  SECOND  AND  ANOTHER  ONE  LATER  THAT  IS  VISIBLE.  IT  IS  ONE  RETURN  OF  CHRIST  ONLY,  TO  BE  SEEN,  IN  POWER  AND  GLORY !!!

AND  WHAT  HAPPENS?

VERSE  27  -  THE  ANGELS  ARE  SENT  TO  GATHER  THE  ELECT  FROM  THE  FOUR  WINDS,  FROM  THE  UTTERMOST  PARTS  OF  THE EARTH  AND  HEAVEN!!!

HOW  SIMPLE  IS  GOD'S  WORD!  IT  IS  A  ONE,  TWO,  THREE,  TEACHING.  EASY  TO  READ  AND  UNDERSTAND.

JESUS  GOES  ON  TO  SAY  THESE  ARE  THE  SIGNS  TO  WATCH FOR,  WHEN  PROPHECY  WILL  COME  UPON  JERUSALEM;  WHEN  SAINTS  WILL  BE  PERSECUTED;  THEN  A  TIME  OF  AFFLICTION  WILL  COME  THAT  HAS  NEVER  BEEN  THE  LIKE  BEFORE,  AND  NEVER  WILL  BE  AGAIN;  WHEN  AFTER  THAT,  THERE  WILL  BE  HEAVENLY  SIGNS  EASY  TO  SEE.  AND  THEN  AFTER  ALL  THAT  JESUS  WILL  RETURN,  TO  BE  SEEN.  THEN  THE  GATHERING  OF  THE  ELECT.

WHEN  YOU  SEE  THESE  ONE,  TWO,  THREE,  SIGNS,  KNOW  THAT  JESUS'  COMING  IS  NIGH,  EVEN  AT  THE  DOOR.

JESUS  FINISHED  BY  SAYING,  NO  ONE,  NOT  THE  ANGELS,  NOT  EVEN  CHRIST,  BUT  ONLY  THE  FATHER  KNOWS  THE  VERY  DAY  OF  CHRIST'S  RETURN.

WE  ARE  TO  BE  READY,  BE  WATCHING,  LOOKING  FOR  THE  SIGNS.

AT  THE  PRESENT  WE  ARE  NO  FURTHER  ALONG  IN  THIS  PROPHECY  THAN  VERSE  8.

NOW,  YOU  MAY  LIKE  TO  ALSO  READ  MATTHEW'S  ACCOUNT [CHAPTER  24]  AND  LUKE'S  ACCOUNT  [CHAPTER  21]  OF  THIS  SAME  PROPHECY.

OTHER  BOOKS  IN  THE  BIBLE  EXPAND,  AMPLIFY,  GO  INTO  DETAIL  ABOUT  END  TIME  PROPHECY;  BUT  MATTHEW  24,  MARK  13,  LUKE  21,  GIVE  IT  ALL  IN  SIMPLE  OUTLINE  FORM,  SO  EVEN  A  CHILD  CAN  UNDERSTAND.

AND  JESUS  SAID  UNLESS  YOU  BECOME  AS  A  CHILD  [IN  BIBLE  READING  AND  FAITH]  YOU  CAN  NOT  ENTER  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD.  FORGET  ABOUT  THE  PhD  PEOPLE  OF  THEOLOGY,  THEY  ARE  IN  THE  MAIN  BLIND  LEADERS  OF  THE  BLIND.  

BE  A  CHILD  IN  MIND  ATTITUDE,  AND  YOU  CAN  UNDERSTAND  THE  SINGS  OF  THE  END  TIMES,  AND  THE  GLORIOUS  COMING  OF  CHRIST  JESUS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  ON  EARTH.

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