Lightning, voices, and thunder – edited part two of two. Revelation 11:19

Posted on 02/15/2018 by remso

Jesus, the Messiah that came as a lamb and offered himself up as our sacrifice, told us that in this world we would have tribulation as an ongoing aspect of our lives. While discomforts come in many forms, such as illness, distress, or finance, the real grief seems to come from religious folk, and if Jesus, Paul or Stephen (of the New Testament) are our example, then lynching, beatings, and death at the hands of these zealots are a possibility. Take the time to read 2Corinthians chapter 11. In it, Paul gives considerable detail about the things that happened to him and takes pride in the fact that he could bear the marks of Christ.

Tribulation, many of you are up to your necks in it, and I pray for your strength and courage. But know this, as followers of the risen one we have an unquenchable hope, and that is an eternity in the arms of Love himself, God the Father. I long for that day, but until then, I attempt to explain what is coming upon the earth, and perhaps, warn those that will listen so that they may avoid the horror that is yet to come.

What is the context of what John sees here in chapter eleven?

  • In verses one and two, the temple has been given over to the nations.

The Complete Jewish Bible calls them, the Goyim. In the Jewish mindset, this indicates idolatrous outsiders. Since the Jews give little consideration to Christianity, we too may be included in this thought process. Since the rapture has taken place and the church is removed from the earth, the focus here in Revelation is on those who are utterly contrary to God’s laws. The primary group that fits this descriptive is Islam. This trampling of God’s ways, and what is thought of as, God’s temple, goes on for forty-two months – three-and-one-half years.

  • In Revelation 11:3 we see this: God places two witnesses in the middle of Jerusalem. Revelation 11:3-12. Read this passage intently, as it is eye-opening, and the actions of these two are almost played in reverse when the false-prophet comes on the scene.

When the scene opens, the CJB says, “also.” Also indicates that there is a multitude of things happening at the same time. As you saw in the first point I made, the temple is given over to the nations. The ramifications of this event are beyond belief, especially when you consider how

English: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli politician

English: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli politician (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

strongly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks about the strength of Israel. Many Israelis think they are invincible, and that is not the case.

As you will see in a moment, the two witnesses are called back home. Since their “ministry” lasts three-and-a-half years, there is only one logical place to insert them, almost immediately after the catching away of the church.

  • God will call these two witnesses back home after they have laid dead in the streets for three-and-a-half days. This time period is hugely significant and is the same number days that Jesus was in the grave. We, however, know that no tomb could hold Him, but to the Jews this was precise.

We are told in Revelation 11:14 that this ends the second woe, and now a third is coming. How could things get any worse? While still within the framework of, “what is the context of what John sees?”, we have this section which takes us up to verse 18 of chapter 11.

Revelation 11:15-18 NASB 15 Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. 18 “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

What we see here in Revelation 11:15-18 is extremely condensed.

  • We have to jump forward to chapter 19 to see Christ, sitting upon the white horse and a flaming sword coming out of his mouth. It is with this sword that He subdues the nations. But this does not happen until the end of the seven-year period, and we are presently looking at the midpoint so far.

The Messiah is in control, and yet not.

Luke 22:69 Jesus, speaking of himself, said,

“But from now on THE SON OF MAN WILL BE SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND of the power OF GOD.”

Paul, in Ephesians 1:19-20, is describing Jesus when he says,

“and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,…”

This line, “and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe,” was not a question, Paul is telling us what God had done in the process of raising His son from the dead.

Does the fact that Christ is sitting on the throne ruling, and yet, has a rule that is still to come, imply that Christ is not in control right now?

Not at all, for nothing is out of his control, and all things are going according to His plan, even when it makes us uncomfortable or looks like it is out of our control. He is seated upon that throne as we speak, and yet, there is coming a day when the totality of government will come. In the meantime, we watch the plan being played out.

As I talked about the events of verse 18, I indicated that the outcome described applied to the end of time. But, as you read, you are frequently thrown back in time and then abruptly brought forward again, such as we see here. Why do that? Because all time is His, and it is all under His control. Another way to perceive this is that it is a revealed mystery, as scripture calls it all, “the day of the Lord.”

  • Yes, Revelation 11:15-18 speaks of a judgment of the nations, and Christ, upon the white horse brings much of that about, but, it is not the final judgment, as my legalistic friends think. This final judgment happens at the Great White Throne, which takes place at the end of the thousand-year reign.

    But make no mistake, neither of these events is a final, concluding judgment, for in both cases, which are spelled out in Matthew 25 and Revelation 20, there are those that are shown mercy. Matthew 25 most clearly spells out the fate of the sheep – those from among the nations, that acted in the character of God by exhibiting kindness in the smallest of ways.


As usual, that was a bit long, so allow me to jog your memory by showing you from where we came.

Revelation 11:17-18 ESV (17) saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. (18) The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

There is a line in verse 17 which says, “for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.” If I focus on this from a Jewish mindset; one in which Jesus reigns as the recognizable Messiah, then what we see in John’s writing is precisely that. This idea of reigning is what Israel thought they were going to see that day He rode into town on the young colt – the luxury vehicle and ride of kings. But did he take control and overthrow the Roman oppressors? No, He began overturning tables in the courtyard of the Gentiles and arguing vehemently with the elders, scribes, and Pharisees.

When we read the letters that comprise the lion’s share of the New Testament, we see events that had to take place. Things like His going into the depths of hell; stripping Satan of the keys to death, hell, and the grave; preaching to the captives and releasing them; and, His ascension into the heavens. These truths come from various places in scripture, and yet, put together, tell the whole story. Colossians 2:12-15; Ephesians 4:8; Hebrews 2:14-15; Revelation 1:18; Hebrews 1:3.

At this point in the timeline, things are falling precisely into place.

The world, as we know it, is finally at peace. Christ is seated as the Messiah and the martyred saints, an innumerable quantity of people, have been raised from the dead and are set upon thrones to maintain peace. Weapons are quickly being turned into farming tools, and thrones are set up to keep order and rule over the earth. Why, under the rule of the Messiah, would anyone dare to carry out some form of an uprising?

But you must remember that, contrary to popular religious belief, not everyone is arbitrarily slaughtered and sent to a burning hell. Many from among the nations enter the millennial reign with their free wills intact.

We are finally in verse 19.

After all that introduction the question I find myself asking is, when does this event we see in Revelation 11:19 take place?

Revelation 11:19 ESV Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

If what we see here is a demonstration of God’s glory and power, then the beginning of the time of wrath is the perfect time to show the world those attributes, as they are descriptives of many of the things the earth will experience during the seven years.

Two persons stand out in my mind as I read this, Daniel and the Apostle Paul when he was known as Saul. Both apprehended God’s voice, but those around them only heard what sounded like rumblings and peals of thunder.

Albert Barnes commentary explains that “The vision was of the temple the symbol of the church – and it was “opened” so that John could see into its inmost part,” and that may be true. As you transition from Revelation chapter three into chapter four, there are the words, “after these things.” The implication is, after the church age. This idea would cause Albert Barnes commentary to sound very logical.

But the focus throughout the eleventh chapter is primarily on the last three-and-a-half years of the tribulation.

Will God fling the doors to the temple open and leave them that way for the entire period?

Maybe, and maybe that is none of our concern. If I have been raptured with the church, then I am in heaven with Jesus, and this is nothing worthy of worry. I am not saying I do, but because the things we talk about in our gatherings of the body scare and concern the newer Christians and those who prefer to let some administrator read the Bible for them, then someone needs to be able to answer these questions intelligently. No doubt that within the seven-year period horrible things happen, but it all comes to an end someday.

A quick overview of what transpires during the seven-years of wrath.

Immediately after the church is removed from the earth, the judgment begins. This removal of the righteous from harm’s way has direct ties to the ruling God brought upon the earth in the days of Noah (Luke 17:26-27.)

Jesus never said, this period, in which all the things that happen will be bad migrating rapidly to worse, will be the tribulation. What he did tell us was that it would be bad, and at the mid-point, there will be great tribulation. It is non-stop horror during the seven years. However, it will get so much worse from the halfway point on. Jesus said it would be so intense that unless God shortens time no one would survive. (Revelation 4:1; Matthew 24: 21, 22)

If you look at Revelation 7:14 you will notice that the speaker uses the phrase great tribulation, but it does not classify the seven-year event as “The Great Tribulation.” It is merely pointing out a time of severity.

Revelation 7:13-14 NASB 13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

This seven-year period is also clearly established as a time of God’s wrath and anger against the nations and Israel.

As you read the Revelation, the things that begin to happen are also categorized as being a part of the seals; the trumpets; the bowls and the vials. There is a tremendous amount of death, shaking, fire, and destruction.

  • First seal judgment – Revelation 6:2 ESV And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

  • The second seal – Peace is taken from the earth. Rev 6:4

  • Third seal – Widespread famine. Rev 6:6

  • Fourth seal – Massive casualties over a fourth of the earth: from the famine, pestilence and predatory wild beasts. Rev 6:8

  • Fifth seal – Tremendous numbers of God followers will be merciless martyred.

  • Sixth seal – A devastating earthquake, accompanied by severe cosmic disturbances. People everywhere try to hide. Rev 6:12-17

  • Seventh seal – Results in the unleashing of the trumpet judgments, which are even more catastrophic.

A man that scripture calls: the anti-Christ, the beast, the Assyrian, and a number of other things will show up. The anti-Christ will be charismatic and well-spoken (I believe that he will be Islamic). Islam calls this man the Mahdi, a long-awaited prophet of Allah. He will bring Israel into a seven-year peace treaty. (Why would Israel sign a peace treaty unless there is a significant issue with peace. Here we are five years after I wrote this piece originally, and finally, things seem to be escalating for Israel. There are now the threats are almost daily from Iran, Syria, Turkey Hamas, PLO, and others; and yet, Israel still acts like they are well defended and secure.

Something drastic is going to change all that. Ezekiel 38,39 describes armies amassed against Israel, and a firestorm from the God wiping those armies out. Where exactly this fits into the seven-year scene, I am not sure. Joel Rosenberg portrays this happening right before the rapture of the church [You can read a description of this in his book The Copper Scroll.] Since the players are rapidly falling into place, I cannot imagine why this does not happen any day now.

 

Posted in antichrist, bible study, End times, gentiles, Islam, Jerusalem, Jews, judgment, Millennium, Our being caught up, Prophetic, Revelation, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lightening, voices, and thunder – edited part 1. Revelation 11:18 through.

Posted on 02/11/2018 by remso

I believe what we see here in Revelation 11:18 is the end of all things, but on what do I base that assessment?

“And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Taking this sentence apart, we find:

  • “Now is the time for the dead to be judged,”

    Revelation 20:12 NASB And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

    Daniel 12:1 NASB 2 “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

  • “the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great,”

    Revelation 2:23 NASB ‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

    2 Corinthians 5:10 NASB 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

    2 Timothy 4:8 NASB in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing.

  • “and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

    Psalms 58:10 NASB The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

    Daniel 11:44-45 NASB “But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many. 45 “He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain, yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

    1 Corinthians 3:16-17 NASB 16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

By this point, you should get the general idea that this is the end of the thousand-year reign. If you have read the Revelation all the way through then, you have a general idea of how things fall into place.

  1. The church is caught away to be with Jesus Christ.

    We love to call this the rapture, and since the Latin Vulgate calls it rapio, then we should be okay with the word. The rapture seems to be a trigger for the entrance of the seven years. While being caught away is a good thing; it is not for everyone who sits quietly beside you in the congregation. Matthew 25:1-13 tells us that fifty percent are not prepared and will have to endure the seven-years of wrath.

  2. The seven-year period entails a comprehensive and disastrous volume of events; we call it the Tribulation. 

    The seven-year period entails a comprehensive and disastrous volume of events; we call it the Tribulation. This time is also called: the day of the Lord; the time of wrath, and the time of judgment. It’s all God’s plan and will be carried out from above as 100-pound hailstones, mixed with fire and ice, fall from the sky. Earthquakes of deadly proportions, and the violence of men, as they loot, rape, plunder, and kill.

    In addition to all the dreadful things that will happen during the seven years, there is the advent of the anti-Christ. There is a good chance that this man is active today. I strongly suspect he will be a Muslim because of the power he will wield over Islamic forces. 

    We see this in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.

    (CJB) Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until after the Apostasy has come and the man who separates himself from Torah has been revealed, the one destined for doom. 4 He will oppose himself to everything that people call a god or make an object of worship; he will put himself above them all, so that he will sit in the Temple of God and proclaim that he himself is God.

    Another aspect that is seldom mentioned. Almost as quickly as the church is caught away, there will be a call for peace. Why? Because there will be extensive fighting.

    If I asked where the next big war will be, the majority would probably say, Israel, as they fight against Islamic fighters from Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. You might justifiably feel good about adding Turkey into the mix. (First published in 2013, I had no idea that Russia would jump into the fight. Another aspect of this war / fight will come from the South. We are already seeing the attacks from the Gaza region.) Just look at the daily news. Israel is shooting down drones and jet fighters while pointing out how military installations in Lebanon and Syria, impede the safety of Israel as a nation. The prophet Daniel speaks of this in chapter 9:26, 27. The strong covenant this man makes only lasts three-and-a-half years.

    There is one more piece of information that impacts this scenario above.

    Ezekiel 38:14-16 NASB “Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? 15 “You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; 16 and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”

    Unmistakably, someone is coming. 

    Gog is definable. Descendants of Noah, they have ties that run deeply through every known enemy of Israel. This group of people integrated with Assyrians, Egyptians, Siberians, and tribes to the West. Do a little research and you will Attila the Hun intertwined in the family mix. They were an expansive tribe of aggressive and dominant horseman and feared by everyone.

    Ezekiel 38:22 NASB “With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

    Because of God’s intervention, the armies against Israel will be firebombed. The description sounds almost nuclear. No wonder the Antichrist cries peace.

    By the way, the temple has not been built. Plans have been made for a tilt up, which can go up rather quickly, and Israel will be using the temple for almost the full three-and-a-half years. We know this because the Antichrist breaks the covenant, and the false-prophet sets up the image of the beast in the temple, halting all Jewish practices and worship.

  3. There is a midpoint three-and-one-half years into this time. 

    The anti-Christ which may be known as the Mahdi will have been calling for peace. All fury should break loose, as another persona, the false-prophet will come upon the scene. Islam calls him the enforcer of Sharia. This series of events is the reason that Jesus told us, that if God did not shorten time at this point, no one would survive. In the “Revelation,” John had two looks into the heavens, in which he saw the martyred. With the second look, which would be associated with the second look, the number of martyred dead, was uncountable.

  4. As the end of the seven-years comes to a close, Revelation 19 tells us that Jesus Christ returns riding on a white horse with all the saints. He will fight with and slaughter all those who choose to fight against Him. This return causes peace to reign on the earth, as the martyred will now sit on thrones and rule over the earth during the thousand-year reign. Those Jews who have survived will come to acknowledge Christ as the Messiah and will lead many to a knowledge and understanding of Him. By the way, Satan will have been cast into prison during this time, so, if you act out, it is all on you and your depravity.

  5. At the end of the thousand years – the Millennial reign, Satan is released. 

    Immediately he goes out and deceives the nations. Yes, there will be those, at the end of this road, who will not wholeheartedly accept Jesus as the ruler over their lives. This lack of acceptance is their choice, – it is important to note that God has not removed free will, nor will He. The deceived will try to come against God by surrounding the Holy City in an attempt at killing God. They will be killed with fire from heaven, and almost instantly brought, with other dead, before the great white throne.

  6. I cannot tell you with precision what happens next. What I do understand is that we walk into eternity, never to deal with the problems of earth, as we know it, again. Some have referred to this restored earth as the restored Eden. Considering what I suspect Eden was like, bring it on.

I have come to a point in life where I need to make something profoundly clear. We the church have caused great misunderstanding and harm to ourselves. Why?, because we have attributed the terminology “tribulation” to the seven-year period that begins in Revelation chapter 4 when it is a very well defined time of wrath and judgment, from God, being poured out upon the earth, the nations, and Israel for their rejection of Him.

If you are a follower of Christ, let me remind you that Jesus said, in this world, you will have tribulations. Those tribulations may come in a wide variety of forms, and from many sources; some will look like friends and family. Many will cause your death. Stay strong and committed to the faith and hope that we have in Jesus Christ. He is coming for those who are alive and remain, the others, those who have passed from this life, are with Him already, for to be absent from this body, is to be present with the Lord.

Posted in antichrist, bible study, Daniel, End times, Ezekiel, gentiles, Gog, Islam, Jerusalem, Jews, judgment, Millennium, Prophetic, Revelation, Thoughts on scripture, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

But before faith came. Galatians 3:23

Posted on 02/07/2018 by remso

Sorry, if this trip through Galatians is becoming tedious, but imagine that moment when a new reader drops in and has no idea of what we are talking. It happens.

We are working our way through Paul’s letter to the Jewish/Messianic converts, in the region of Galatia, an area that entails most of Southern Turkey today. There was no particular church, so we can easily assume that letter was meant to be read to anyone who would listen. With every village, Saul/Paul entered, he and those with him looked for the Synagogue. They would not have been elaborate structures, probably more like the buildings we have seen in Iraq or Afghanistan. Because Paul was a scholar in the law and the prophets (The Torah and Tanakh,) he was the perfect man to be an apologist for the gospel of Yahshua, the crucified and risen Son of God. He could take his audience directly to the passages that identified Jesus as the Messiah for which they longed. Some were hungry for this hope and promise. While others, acted like Saul, the Pharisee and zealot he used to be known as when he persecuted the church, looking for ways to harm, or if necessary kill the Apostle, the man we come to recognize as the Apostle Paul.

We left off with Galatians 3:22, which according to the Complete Jewish Bible tells us:

“the Tanakh shuts up everything under sin; so that what had been promised might be given, on the basis of Yeshua the Messiah’s trusting faithfulness.”

It is not so dissimilar to what we will see in verse 23.

Galatians 3:23 NASB But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.

“Before faith came.”

Didn’t Abraham show faith? What about Moses, and the prophets? Apparently, they did, then this has more do with a person or event.

What then would that event have been? The Cross, but not just the cross; it was all that encompassed those three days.

If it was a person, who would that person be? Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

“we were kept in custody under the law,”

Within the Jewish community, they were kept in check, to some degree, by the law. The law originated with ten simple commands. In the desert, under the guidance of Moses, the portable temple was set up, along with ordinances of worship – the distinct methods associated with righteousness. As a result, the priesthood added over six hundred laws; this too, kept Israel, the Jews, and strangely the Gentiles, in custody under the law.

“being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.”

Galatians 3:22 told us that everyone subject to the law was shut up under sin, but now in Galatians 3:23, we learn that we all were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.

G4788 sugkleio From G4862 and G2808; to shut together, that is, include or (figuratively) embrace in a common subjection to: – conclude, enclose, shut up.

So, the Jews/Israel were embraced in a common subjection to the law; and incapable of having faith.

Is that true, they were incapable of having faith?

Let’s use Christ’s birth as an example of Israel’s incapacity to have faith?

The Magi from the East (Matthew chapter two,) seeing His star in the east, gathered together – complete with entourage, and came to Jerusalem looking for the Child that was born the King of the Jews. What is so dramatic about this event is that Herod called all the chief priests and scribes of the people to him, demanding who is this king and where is he. The priesthood knew the answer but had no faith in Yahshua as the Messiah and king of the Jews.

Within that same story, we find Jewish shepherds; men who were not held so tightly to the man inserted laws, by which the Jews gained their righteousness. These shepherds sought out the child who was born the king of the Jews when directed to do so by the angels. Those shepherds could have chosen to ignore the angel voices, much like the majority of the priesthood had done.

In opposition to the idea that ALL of Israel had no capacity for faith, there is:

Anna – Luke 2:36-38 NASB And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. 38 At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Simeon – Luke 2:25-32 NASB And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

And – Hebrews chapter eleven takes up several verses defining characters from the Old Testament, whom, by faith, did things ranging from the simple to the amazing. Indeed many had faith, but they were not in the majority amongst their peers.

Now, apply this same thought to the Gentiles that lived in and among the Jews.

One of the dominant Gentile characters is the Roman Centurion Cornelius that invited Peter to his home so that they could hear the gospel. (Read this in Acts chapter ten.) Now, God had alerted Peter that He was about to do something radically different, through a vision, in which a blanket was lowered having clean and unclean animals in it. Peter was told to take and eat. Appalled at the thought of eating pork and a few of the others, Peter begins to tell God that there is not a chance because I am a Jew and I don’t eat unclean things. God replies to that with, don’t call unclean what I have made clean. Now that made little sense to Peter at the moment, but it would soon. No sooner did the vision end when a messenger summons Peter to the Centurion’s home. Imagine that, being summoned to the home of someone who could have you imprisoned. But there is an addendum, this man Cornelius is “a devout man and one who feared God with all his household.” Peter knew what it meant for a Jew to be devout, but what about a Greek, and, how did this come to be? So Peter went.
Upon learning about the Centurion’s desire to hear the gospel more fully, Peter begins giving them his best sermon. However, right in the middle of that discourse, God extends His hand of mercy and fills the entire family with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and they all spoke in other tongues.Evidently, the Gentiles could have faith as well.

So, is the statement that all were shut and incapable of having faith true? No, but it is true when applied to the majority.

“the faith which was later to be revealed.”

Jesus was buried, and the disciples (all 120+ of them) mourned like puppies without a mother, for they still did not understand. On the third day, the two women went to the tomb. But what did they find? The stone rolled away, the guards gone, and an angel sitting on the stone. That angel spoke to them, saying, He is not here. Read this in Luke 23:54-56 and Luke 24:1-9.
I use these two women and the disciples in general because they all demonstrated little faith in Jesus words which informed them that, He was the Messiah; the Son of God; that he would rise again, and that He would have tremendous power bestowed upon Him by the Father. Not to mention the ability that He was going to confer upon them.

After that morning at the empty tomb, Yahshua began appearing to them. Think the impact these sightings, signs, and His words would and should have on the disciples – a rather large number of people. First, He appeared to the two ladies at the tomb. Then, he appeared to the two on the Emmaus road. Later, he walked through the locked door and into the upper room where over 120 disciples, including the women, were gathered; Thomas, the one who said, I will not believe unless I can put my hand into His wounds, was invited by Jesus to touch those same wounds. Jesus walked among them for forty days, eating, drinking, and elaborating on the scriptures, from Moses through the prophets, about the things that they witnessed. On the road to Emmaus He had spent the day with them, and yet, they did not realize who it was until later that evening at dinner.

It is in this room in which they had gathered, that He entered even though they had locked the door, that the Holy Spirit, which could only be described as cloven tongues of fire, lit upon them all and they all spoke in utterances that they did not know. While it may have been mere sounds to them, others heard these so-called unlearned people, speaking in a multitude of dialects, and attesting to the glory of God.

What held them together, both mentally and physically, to the point that the overwhelming sadness and lack of faith were overcome? They followed Jesus instructions and stayed firmly knit together. We see this in Acts 1:14 NASB. The faith came.

“These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”

We call this fellowship. Simplistic as it seemed, there was a purpose involved, whether they understood it or not, for It fought off the depression and sadness, while helping to maintain unity and purpose.

Once the Holy Spirit fell upon them with power, they were changed, people. Peter preached before thousands that Pentecost day; Philip, ran alongside the eunuch’s chariot, and explained the portion of Isaiah’s prophecy, which the eunuch was reading.

Every one of these so-called faithless disciples eventually had a tremendous impact on the world.

Could we then say that faith came in the course of time? Absolutely, and it will come to us as we pursue Him.

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, Freedom from sin, Galatians, gentiles, grace, Hearing God, Hope, In Christ, Jews, Mercy, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Can I apply the principles learned here, even if I am not a Jew. Galatians 3:22

Posted on 02/04/2018 by remso

Sometimes, like today, I am battling with insecurities and wondering why I think anyone needs another commentary. But maybe, you’re just like me and find yourself overwhelmed by the high theology of some; the convoluted approach of others, and the shocking oversimplification that you encounter in many of the Bible translations.

When it came to Galatians two things stood out in my mind. The radio pastor who seemed to be fixated on the phrase, “you foolish Galatians!”, and pointed those words at his listening audience, which included me. I don’t value that approach. The other came from a Sunday morning adult class which used some “Christian” book on Galatians. The questions the authors asked were leading and poorly formed. Both of these instances left me with a lack of desire to pursue Galatians any further; and yet, here I am.

What have I learned? I have learned that Galatians was written explicitly to the Jewish converts if I can call them that. Can I apply the principles learned here in Galatians, even if I am not a Jew, to myself? Indeed, and we would be wise to do so with frequency.

So, let’s see if we can find something in Galatians from which to learn.

Galatians 3:22 NASB But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

The phrase, “But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin,” is confusing at best. Some, would take this confusion and preach it, out of context, as though it is truth and the final word on our lives.

Why would it be confusing?

  • Scripture to me, a former Gentile, means the New Testament. Some would act as though we do not need to spend any time in the Old Testament; not true. Since scripture, especially, at the time of this writing, would have been the Torah and Tanakh. These “scriptures” would only be found in the form of valuable, fragile scrolls, which were exclusively kept in the synagogues. So, from Paul’s statement, I have another assertion of the Jewishness of this letter.

  • If I apply the elements of Paul’s letter to myself, what I find is freedom; a freedom that goes far beyond the limitations of my consciousnesses. Did not Christ’s actions on the cross set us free (primarily regarding our freedom from the burdens of Sin; a condition which would shut us up under sin.)

    So, am I shut up under sin?

    Some will try to tell you that you are. However, because I have learned who I belong to, and what Christ did too and for me; not a chance.

  • Why then would Paul say such a thing?

    The entire context of Galatians has been enveloped in Jewish believers returning to the Law (scriptures.) The Complete Jewish Bible translates this verse this way:

Galatians 3:22 CJB But instead, the Tanakh shuts up everything under sin; so that what had been promised might be given, on the basis of Yeshua the Messiah’s trusting faithfulness, to those who continue to be trustingly faithful.

This Jewish understanding of being caught up in the Tanakh is why Paul opened what we call chapter three, with:

Galatians 3:4-5 CJB Have you suffered so much for nothing? If that’s the way you think, your suffering certainly will have been for nothing! 5 What about God, who supplies you with the Spirit and works miracles among you—does he do it because of your legalistic observance of Torah commands or because you trust in what you heard and are faithful to it?

Notice something else about Galatians 3:22.

“But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”

The Gentiles did not live under the laws of the Tanakh; how then did the “scripture” apply to them. The same way it applied to Adam. The partaking of the fruit brought about the knowledge of GOOD and EVIL. Therefore an understanding that there was a moral authority existed since the beginning. Even without “the law” there was an understanding that God expected certain things, and He would carry out, faithfully, what He had promised. This idea is the underlying reason that we see Abel making the sacrifice of a lamb with no apparent instructions. The instructions were passed down from his father who had watched God himself perform the same process. This sacrificing wasn’t done because God liked roast lamb, but because it was symbolic and the only method of maintaining a just relationship with the creator until the Lamb of God, the Son, would come and end the need for all this blood.

The Tanakh, in its original state, was universal, and satisfactorily passed along for generations by oral tradition, or it was held solely within ten commandments engraved in stone, that plainly told Israel, to love God only and treat your fellow man decently. The Tanakh then put everyone under the same rules, efficiently leveling the playing field.

This idea that we are all on an equal basis under sin is something we have seen before. While we have used this verse to stimulate people into a state of repentance.

Romans 3:21-24 NASB But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

The Tanakh, which was not just commands or demands written in scrolls, they were an understanding that God was the moral authority and compass. And, man, because of the fall, was broken and incapable of following this discipline and needed a savior, Jesus – the Son, was meant to demonstrate that God’s mercy and grace were poured upon all people if they should accept it.

I sometimes find myself thinking if Christ’s actions paid the price for sin, and redeemed us out of the hand of the enemy, then why do we need to accept anything? Because, still operating under those same laws that shut us up under sin, brings about our freedom through our ability to choose. Haven’t you wondered how a God that would go through all this, to save a world that admittedly does not seem to love Him, would merely acquiesce to letting so many of them just go to a fiery hell? Well, He doesn’t simply assent to the idea but honors the choices we make and allows us to serve whomever we choose. Freedom, peace, and a life with the Father in the Eden of eternity is available to all who choose to follow God as their master. The other path becomes painfully evident in time.

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, Galatians, gentiles, grace, Jews, Mercy, The supremacy of Christ, The Word was God | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

With the concept of a mediator in place, we continue. Galatians 3:20-21

Posted on 01/30/2018 by remso

When we last saw our hero Paul – I am just kidding because it has been weeks since I stepped away from my commentary on Galatians. Like most of Paul’s letters, this letter to the followers in Galatia is an admonition to those who grasp the expanse of this grace; it is the grace under which we live. Though we do not live under the Law/Torah of God, we still have constraints, such as walking in love. We call those never-ending rules, the perfect law of liberty.

If you followed my commentaries on Galatians, then you understand that Paul’s target audience was, believing Jews. The letter to the Galatians was not written to a particular body of believers; he addressed what is effectively the Messianic Jewish congregations of Asia Minor.

Some might question, how do I know this?

  • Galatians 1:2 says,”… To the churches of Galatia:”

    He is telling us to whom he is writing, and he continues with his customary greetings and blessings.

  • After Paul’s conversion, all we see him do was take his message into the synagogues. We see examples of this in:

    Acts 13:13-44 NASB “Now Paul and his companions …arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.”

    A significant portion of the chapter details what Paul said, and how the attendees clamored for more the following Sabbath.

    Acts 13:45-48 details how the Jews got jealous and began contradicting Paul and Barnabas.

    Paul’s response, recorded here, is one of the primary places we find him saying, I am taking this message to the Gentiles. This reference about the Gentiles was convenient because there were a number of them that heard his voice as he spoke in the open, and they were excited about what they heard. And yet, Paul never explicitly took this message to the Gentiles. The other place we find multiple references to Paul taking the gospel to the Gentiles, is here in Galatians. The fact that most of us have found a relationship with Jesus Christ is evidence that Paul did just what he said; however, it is difficult to find a vast number of references to his doing so.

Because we can perceive the book of Acts as chronological, then virtually every example we find of Paul’s preaching in the book shows him first entering a synagogue.

  • Acts 14:1 they entered the synagogue.

  • Acts 17:10 they went into the synagogue.

  • Acts 19:8 And he entered the synagogue.

Since Gentiles were not allowed in the Synagogues, then it is safe to say there are only Jews there.

In Galatians 1:13-15 Paul tells the reader that he had a former life in Judaism, and how he, as one skilled in the Law and Prophets, persecuted the church, which was primarily comprised of Jewish followers. He also speaks of how God set him apart and called him to this grace that is found in the Messiah. None of this would have made sense to the Gentiles for they were not subject to Saul’s (as he was known then,) brutal persecution.

Galatians 2:15-16 gives us the statement, “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;” Would make no sense to a Gentile, and they might find it insulting. The reason being that it is a Jewish way of thinking. Paul straightens this all out by pointing out that man is only justified through faith in Christ Jesus, not obedience to the Torah (law.) The Torah, or Law, also meant nothing to a Gentile.

One last passage to demonstrate who Paul was writing too.

Galatians 3:1 NASB You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

If you read the letter to the Galatians, you would know that Paul went before the Jewish elders of this new Christian faith in Jerusalem, and told them the message that he preached before the Jews and the Gentiles. In a sense then, the statement, “you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you,” could apply to anyone who has fallen back into their legalistic patterns. What makes this such a Jewish statement, is that the Gentiles had nothing to fall back into. Regarding law, the Gentiles only understood the law to mean whatever the Romans were enforcing. The Jews, however, had Roman law and their own, called the Torah.

Previously, we read this.

Galatians 3:17-19 NASB What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. 19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

What happened, according to this section of scripture, 430 years previous? God made a covenant; a pact; a contractual agreement, with Abraham. That contract has never ceased to be valid; it has never stopped working as it should. Paul asks, why then add the Law? We are told the answer, although we may not grasp the reasoning, “it was added because of transgressions.” And, this Law would have to hold “until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.” That seed and the mediator was none other than the Son, Jesus Christ.

With the concept of a mediator tightly in place, we continue.

Galatians 3:20-21 NASB Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. 21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.

Webster’s dictionary defines “MEDIA’TOR,” n. As “one that interposes between parties at variance for the purpose of reconciling them.”

Because of Adam’s transgression we were all put at variance with God.

Who then became the mediator, and what was the outcome?

The answers are found in scripture.

1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

The entire eighth chapter of Hebrews explains the whys but focus on verse 6.

Hebrews 8:6 NET. But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises.

As for reconciliation.

Romans 5:10-11 NET. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? 11 Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.

So, not only do we find Jesus in the role of mediator, He has enacted and obtained better promises. Note, that it says promises, not laws.

Since one of the themes of Galatians is the grace and freedom we have in Christ, then shouldn’t we be able to do anything without regard? The answer is NO because we live under the Law of liberty. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 8.

I suggest that you pay attention to the entire selection.

1 Corinthians 8:9-12 NET. 9 But be careful that this liberty of yours does not become a hindrance to the weak. 10 For if someone weak sees you who possess knowledge dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience be “strengthened” to eat food offered to idols? 11 So by your knowledge the weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed. 12 If you sin against your brothers or sisters in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

What are some of the variables in this passage?

  • “This liberty of yours.”

    Given the freedom of grace, it seems that many of us set our own standards for liberty. In trying to make a firm point about the grace we live under, the late Pastor Gene Scott would sit in a chair, in front of the television cameras, sipping Scotch whiskey and smoking a cigar. In the church, I grew up in, where grace was spoken of, you understood there were limits to this grace. These boundaries, it seems, were imposed by the church, and the older people who had been forced to live sterile, non-indulgent lives.

    Having spent some time in recovery, as a participant and a leader, you become acutely aware that some people are spiritually and emotionally fragile. Many, on a regular basis, “fall off the wagon.” Talking freely about what you are comfortable with can provoke, often unknowingly, others into pushing boundaries they don’t need to keep exploring. I, put myself in recovery because I had anger issues. After time and some understanding, I have learned, most of the time, to step away from things that will agitate me and set off.

  • “If someone weak sees you who possess knowledge.”

    I get it, you and I are not mandated to encourage co-dependency and weakness in others. But what harm does it do to set aside your so-called freedoms for a moment? Imagine the believer who lives in Amsterdam, where Marijuana is sold like Starbucks’s coffee. Just knowing what it used to do to me when I was younger, precludes me from indulging.

    When someone recently tried examining the hows and whys involved with Jesus not sinning. I calmly responded with; He was born without the driving force that makes us do, what we want to do. Think about for a moment. When challenged, Jesus replied, I only do what I see and hear the Father do, NOT his own thing. So then, our so-called liberties are more a satisfaction of wants as we take advantage of this freedom we have in Christ, often to extremes.

  • “dining in an idol’s temple.”

    Wait a minute; this just took a twisted turn. That so-called weak person didn’t just see you in the market; they saw you in an idol’s temple. I am not sure what to equate this too, as we rarely find a building that is openly identified as an idol’s temple. What we do have is other forms of worship that do not honor God. Such as: lodges, fraternal organizations, bars, strip clubs, and organizations that qualify as cultist in nature.

    I suppose the question is, what do they idolize there?

    A former father-in-law paid for our steak dinners at a particular bar years ago. Since they were known for their inexpensive steaks, I thought little of it. But, if I were spotted frequenting a topless club, I can’t imagine the “I go for the steaks” plea working.

    My first reaction when I read “dining in an idol’s temple,” is that I am dealing with a Gentile world. But that is not the context here in Galatians. I already established that Paul was addressing a Jewish audience, and by Jewish law, there should be no idolatry. And yet, idolatry has been God’s problem with His people since their inception.

    1 John 2:15-17 NET. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 16 because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.

  • “will not his conscience be “strengthened” to eat food offered to idols?”

    Strengthened typically implies something good happening, but that is not the case here. The concept is that the weak brother or sister in the Lord, who sees you, taking full advantage of your liberties by eating dinner in the temple of an idol, will be bolstered or reinforced to partake in behaviors that will cause them harm. You surely know that pathetic expression, if you can do it, then so can I.

  • “So by your knowledge the weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed.”

    Your knowledge equates to your understanding of this grace given to us, through our relationship with Christ. However, taking advantage, without regard, can cause a person not just to stumble, they are destroyed.

  • “If you sin against your brothers or sisters in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.”

    What do I make of all this? My unnecessary self-indulgence and misuse of liberty can cause the weak believer to be destroyed, and God calls this sin. Are they damaged to the point of losing God’s love toward them? Probably not, but why, once again, do we think we need to test God to see if He has any boundaries.

    What do you think was happening when God sent Jonah to Nineveh or, destroyed all humankind with a flood? God had reached the limit of His boundaries. And yet, there was still enough mercy left for a short reprieve in Nineveh’s case, and, here we are, a great expanse of time after the flood, discussing such matters. In my mind, this is merely one of the proofs that we serve a merciful God.

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, false teaching, Freedom from sin, Galatians, gentiles, God's character, grace, Hope, hypocrisy, In Christ, Jews, Mercy, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Leave a comment

Biblical characters that demonstrated trust. Let’s look at Noah.

Posted on 01/24/2018 by remso

There was a time when my actions caused my world to collapse. That collapse drove me to my knees and toward God with a passion that I did not realize was in me. I read the Bible incessantly, and in so doing I found a God of mercy and grace. I found all this through Jesus, the Son, but then, isn’t the Son of God an exacting image of the Father. It seems that when you find something this good, you want to share it, and so I tried. The problem is that the religious crowd was raised on a God of judgment and punishment, and they preach that side of Him that was meant for Satan and his followers. Maybe that is why so many people fear God. I guess it is safe to say that, this characteristic I found in Jesus permeates everything I do and say; at least I try to live my life that way. The reality of that statement is that I frequently have to set aside my judgmental attitude (the one I was raised with,) and look for the mercy. That said, a few months ago our men’s Bible study was focusing on Trust, and who the Biblical characters were that demonstrated trust. The Bible is filled with them. Let’s just take a look at one, Noah.

Let’s assume we know little about the man, and we stumbled upon this description in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 11:7 MKJV By faith Noah, having been warned by God of things not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Now, what can we say we know about him?

  • By faith, Noah was warned of God about the coming of things he had never seen, experienced, or explain.

In the old testament, many were spoken to by God. However, when you read their stories, you find out it was through some incredibly vivid dreams. Abraham could be used as an example of a man who had some explicit dreams. In these dreams, given to Abraham, God’s plan was laid out. Here also, there are repercussions because you now have insight into the future.

  • It goes on to say, that Noah was moved with fear to prepare an ark.

    Fear is the Greek word eulabeomai meaning to be circumspect, that is, (by implication) to be apprehensive; religiously, to reverence. Strong’s

Circumspect – means, looking on all sides, looking around. Hence, Cautious; prudent; watchful on all sides; examining carefully all the circumstances that may affect a determination or a measure to be adopted. Webster’s Dictionary

Since there was no apparent need for boats, he might have been hard-pressed to understand how to build one, especially one of such proportions. How did Noah deal with the variables involved with those instructions? Around him, as he went off to harvest lumber, were large, aggressive, warring tyrants; that aspect alone could cause you to walk with caution; then there was the word that God gave him, most likely through a dream, indicating that all flesh would die. Was it common for God to talk with men at this time? Apparently not, as most men were only violent and their thoughts were solely evil.

We speak of Noah as a preacher and living testimony, but to whom?

As far as we know there were no vessels, nor were there any large bodies of water and therefore no reason to build boats. Noah had to look like the fool in their eyes. Conservative estimates put the process of building this boat between 55 and 75 years, and the time frame alone would make you the madman. Noah’s sons would have been too young to be of much help, and I doubt he got any help from the unfriendly community around him. Cutting trees, shaping lumber, and the daily effort of feeding his family would have hindered our traditional concepts of preaching and evangelism.
If anything, Noah’s witness came from his actions and persistence.

Since fear, a word used to describe Noah includes being circumspect as a definition; to be so, conveys the idea of carefully examining all the circumstances. Maybe this fear had more to do with what God had pronounced. Another side of this picture that you rarely hear. Noah is not a fool, and the possibility that God’s design could carry all men is ludicrous. The obvious point is that Noah can see that virtually everyone will die. What did Noah do with this understanding? He kept building and preaching as if that was necessary.

  • Noah’s actions brought about the salvation of his household.

    But, what does that mean? Since we comprehend the outcome of the story, we know that it involved his sons and their wives. Why would this be an issue? You would think that Noah raised his sons to be just like he was, a follower of God. But, how often does that happen? When you consider the underlying perversion that Ham reintroduced into the mix, you should be able to understand that anyone can wander, even if briefly.

    • Noah’s actions and determination condemned the world.

      Condemned is the Greek word katakrinō, and according to Strong’s concordance, means to judge against, that is, sentence: – condemn, damn. The Word Study Dictionary adds, to pronounce sentence against someone or something.

      I have a question Didn’t God condemn the earth and bring the flood?

      Let me show you something. Verses 1-3 indicate something radical is beginning to happen on the earth, that is not good, and entirely contrary to God’s plan. And yet, as it happens, there is no assignment of punishment or destruction. The interactions between “the sons of God” and the daughters of men become so extreme that we get verse four, which speaks of giants in the earth. The verse also points out that the same giants became mighty men, as though that was a good thing. If you do a quick study of the word mighty, you find the expression gibbôr, which means warrior tyrants.

      Genesis 6:1-4 KJV And it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

      Genesis 6:6,7 demonstrates a shift in God’s attitude and direction for the earth, at least for the moment.

      “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” KJV

      This passage shows that the change has everything to do with these “sons of God” and their influence, not only in the earth but mankind. The redeeming quality seems to point to one man, Noah. Some that I listen to have stated that Noah’s was the only bloodline not impacted by this demonic interaction with women, which produced these giants.

      Giants is the Hebrew word nephil; properly, a feller, that is, a bully or tyrant: – giant.
      A feller – One who hews or knocks down. Isa 14.

      And yet in the midst of these Nephilim, there was a man.

      Genesis 6:8 NASB But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

      Favor is the Hebrew word mâtsâ‘. A primitive root; properly to come forth to, that is, appear or exist; transitively to attain, that is, find or acquire;

  • For his efforts, Noah became the heir of righteousness; a righteousness that only comes about through the usage of, or the having of faith.

Now I have to ask, what is faith? Webster’s dictionary tells us,

FAITH, n. [L. fides, fido, to trust; Gr. hupóstasis meaning to persuade, to draw towards anything, to conciliate; to believe, to obey.

Noah, given a path to follow, chose to follow God. What other options do you suppose Noah had? One gave hope of a better future, while the other probably involved your imminent demise at the hands of warrior tyrants.

Scripture defines faith as: ”the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 MKJV

Other translations define faith as:

The realization of, or The essence of the thing not seen. Moffatt’s translation, tells us that it “means we are confident of what we hope for.”

The Word Study Dictionary defines the Greek word hupóstasis as – to place or set under. In general, that which underlies the apparent, hence, reality, essence, substance; that which is the basis of something, hence, assurance guarantee, to have confidence in (with the obj. Sense).

I want you to see something. If you start with the Jewish understanding of time, it puts us at 4004 B.C. – the fall of man and the beginning of recorded time. Counting backward using the ages given to us in Genesis chapter five, you find some extraordinary bits of information. For example, Adam overlapped Enoch by over three hundred years. So, if you ever wondered how Enoch gained the understanding and ability to talk so intimately with God that he could just walk off the earth, this interaction with Adam is a strong possibility.

What about Methuselah? He was the oldest man on the earth, living 969 years. Does that mean that he died in the flood and was therefore included among the unrighteous? I don’t think that is the case. Many years ago I heard someone say, that Methuselah’s name meant, “when he dies, it will come.” I looked for solid evidence of this statement for years. Just recently I found this, (“he dies, and it (the flood) is sent.”) A name given prophetically by Enoch, or given after the event. Phoenician inscriptions use methu or betha (“a man”). Fausset’s Bible Dictionary. By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s COMMENTARY ON THE WHOLE BIBLE. It appears that Robert Fausset pursued this through Phoenician writings, but that is not clear, and I can still find nothing more to back this claim. What I do have is Strong’s concordance, which defines Methuselah’s name according to the Hebrew.

H4968 – methu^shelach – From H4962 and H7973; man of a dart; Methushelach, an antediluvian patriarch: – Methuselah.

Man of a dart means nothing to me, but the name Methuselah is a combination of names.

H4962 – math – From the same as H4970; properly an adult (as of full length); by implication a man (only in the plural)

Was he born an adult? No, but the possibilities are good that Methuselah would reach full adulthood. We know that happened.

H7973 – shelach – From H7971; a missile of attack, that is, spear; also (figuratively) a shoot of growth, that is, branch:

Considering that we get our names, typically within minutes of our birth, how is possible that a name, given so early, could define our future and how we act? In a way, the name does not decree the course our lives will take, but I believe that God has His hand in everything. What we see as a human choice or mere coincidence, is no less than God’s influence in our lives. For the most part, this is God spelling out the direction your life will take.

Now, I could understand “a missile of attack,” from several directions, but one of them could be perceived as God’s plan and direction for Methuselah’s life. If you look at the figurative portion of the definition, which conveys that Methuselah could or would be representative of a shoot of growth, or a branch. All of which represent life. What do we know of that matches that terminology?

Isaiah 4:2 In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.

Zechariah 3:8 ‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.

So, the branch then is Jesus. Can we be so bold as to say that Methuselah was a type of Jesus?

Noah, in light of the world in which he lived, and the timeline we can understand, makes him shine all the more brightly. We know from scripture that there were Nephilim in the land. These sons of God that we understand to be fallen angels essentially mated with human females and produced extraordinarily large beings. Because of the information that, not only Adam had access to, but the others that may have had this same information, like Enoch, apparently shared this information. Anyone with common sense can see that there were some highly intelligent and vicious men walking the earth. Should you decide to do a word study on the phrase “mighty men,” you will find that it means warrior tyrants. This scenario was the world, not only Noah but many other men of God. Some have said that Noah’s family line, which I just spelled out above, was the only lineage that had not become contaminated by the demonic influence.

Posted in bible study, God's character, grace, Hope, Mercy, Prophetic, Things I have never noticed before | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jesus had authority attributed to him; why?

Posted on 01/16/2018 by remso

Recently, in our Men’s Bible Study, the group leader announced, we are still talking about Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. Since we are talking about Jesus, then what are His major attributes?

Wow, for a brief moment I was overwhelmed with the variety of attributes that I could assign to Jesus, there are so many. Fortunately, he answered his question by saying, POWER.

The first scripture the leader referenced was Matthew 28:18, so let’s see what that says.

Matthew 28:18 NASB And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

In all honesty, I lost track of which direction the leader took the group over the next few minutes, as I wanted to understand the hows and whys of the statement, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Immediately my mind began to ask the question, what was the context of the statement? Well, I found that setting by perusing the verses before the announcement Jesus made.

Matthew 28 opens with,

“Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.” 28:1-8 NASB

The two women arrived at the tomb early and found the grave open; an improbable feat considering that temple guards that had been assigned to guard the tomb. They saw an angel sitting upon the stone that used to cover the opening, and he said, “He is not here, just as he said.” The two were told to go to Galilee where they would find Jesus, but before they could leave He appeared to them.

Matthew 28:9 NASB And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.

It is at this point that Jesus said,

“Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.” Matthew 28:10

Having done what they were told, the disciples responded and went to the mountain which He had spoken of before His death.

Matthew 28:16 NASB But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.

This appearance by Jesus to the eleven was not the only occurrence where Jesus appeared to people after He rose again; through reading, we learn that the number of people that witnessed Him alive, was more than 400. All that to say, Jesus was telling those disciples, who feared Him, because, as a rule, dead people don’t walk around the city. And, they still did not understand that what He said to them was true. He was God; the Messiah, and, just as He said, He would die and rise again; now watch how things change.

Jesus was put on the cross, died and rose again on the third day.

This event is something Jesus spoke of numerous times during His ministry, and you find supporting evidence in the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John.

One example looks like this.

Matthew 16:21 NASB From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

Does merely dying give you power?

Many reputable people have died, but none, except for Jesus, have ever come back from the dead; lacking some form of resurrection, there is nothing to prove that they gained any authority in death, although devout followers assume otherwise. Here in America, in the late 1980’s, we had a fellow named David Koresh. He was a self-appointed religious leader. The saddest aspect of his fanatic cult was that his primary goal was to convince his followers to let him sleep with their wives. In time many followers died alongside Koresh in a fiery shootout with the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms bureau. As controversial as the ATF’s actions might have been, the point is that David Koresh had no power aside from manipulation, and he never came back from the dead. While Matthew 16:21 may give some of us clues as to where this authority and power comes from, I assure you, that most religious folks don’t have a clue. That authority and power that was given to Him came out the immense sacrifice He made, and all most of us see, is that He died and rose again, three days later.

Matthew 28:18 NASB And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

If you look at the words that make up this sentence, you will find a treasure.

All seems simple enough; it is the Greek word pas and means the totality or whole.

While most translations use the word authority, it may not make it the most appropriate choice of words.

The word authority is the Greek word exousia, and means it is permissible, allowed, authority, right, liberty, and that you now have the power to do something. From the Word Study Dictionary

What connotations would the sentence have if other words were inserted instead of authority?

  • All liberty has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

  • All power to do something has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

  • Everything that is permissible has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

The words do not, in essence, change the theme, but they indeed expand the things His word can affect. First thing I understand is that nothing escapes the permissions and territory He covers; after all, He is God, isn’t He!

What can I take away from this? That there was nothing excluded from the permission, liberty to act, and influence of Jesus, because of what He did. To put this in perspective, Satan took Jesus, in the early days of His ministry, to a very high mountain and there offered Jesus all the kingdoms of this world (the one we are living in.) Jesus never disputed Satan’s claim to the domains, but in return said, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. The interaction alone demonstrates that there had been a change in leadership and dominion; the man, Adam, had handed control of the earth over to Lucifer/Satan/the serpent/the devil by his self-willed actions.

Matthew 4:8-10 NASB Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain, and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'”

Unmistakably, at this point, there were things not under God’s power. That is, unless a man could, as a representative of the Father, give Him that permission once again.

Given is the Greek word didomi meaning to bestow as a gift.

So the power, liberty, and authority to act, were all bestowed upon Jesus as a gift for submitting himself to the cross, but there is more.

It is evident that He didn’t just die.

In Ephesians chapter one, we find Paul, doing what he always does, as he prays a blessing over the readers of this letter, to the Church in Ephesus.

Ephesians 1:18-23 NASB I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Jesus authority and power had everything to do with the death from which He was raised. Obviously, something happened down there in the holds of death.

King David, in the Psalms, gives us a look into one aspect of what Jesus was to endure.

Psalms 16:9-11 NASB Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. 10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. 11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand, there are pleasures forever.

Ponder these words, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol.”

Strong’s concordance explains sheôl, as a Hebrew word meaning hades or the world of the dead.

Because the concept of the sheôl in the Jewish world has much to do with punishment, then perhaps it would be necessary to have an understanding that there is a way to avoid that place; surprise, there is, and it has everything to do with righteousness.

An example of what I just said comes from the story that Jesus told about the beggar Lazarus and the rich man. Both characters in the story are Jews, and both died. The poor beggar Lazarus was found, comforted, in the bosom of Abraham; while, the nameless rich man is found in torment. In torment the rich man screams out, demanding that the beggar go and dip his finger in cold water and bring it to him. Our understanding of who obtains righteousness and who does not should be severely affected by this story, because it seems to run in opposition to what many believe. In case you did not notice, the rich man is still trying to push people around. Look the story up in Luke chapter 16.

If I were hoping or even trying to escape Hades, and I understood that righteousness played a role in that escape, then I would be wondering, how I could make that happen. That was Israel’s problem as well. Sacrifices were an answer but had no lasting effects. Since Jesus actions upon the cross, we have a way.

Romans 4:3-5 MKJV For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” 4 But to him working, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but according to debt. 5 But to him not working, but believing on Him justifying the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

It is simply the act of believing in Him. The “Him,” of course, is Jesus.

A standout example of God’s heart about Hades comes from the prophet Hosea.

Hosea 13:14 NASB Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

If the Father is capable of removing the thorns and the sting, then it is easy to see that Hades does not have the hold that we presume.

Jesus had to die.

If you watched the movie, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, then you would have seen a clear narrative that demonstrated why Jesus had to die; in the case of the movie, it was Aslan, a representation of Jesus as King. The book of Hebrews tells us,

Hebrews 2:14 CJB Therefore, since the children share a common physical nature as human beings, he became like them and shared that same human nature; so that by his death he might render ineffective the one who had power over death (that is, the Adversary)

A leading reason for his death was to render Satan ineffective, and He did just that. Colossians chapter two tells us that God raised Him from the dead; forgave all our transgressions; canceled the debt we owed and made us alive together with Him by nailing it to the cross. Having done all that, He disarmed the rulers and authorities of darkness, triumphing over them. (Colossians 2:9-15)

You should understand by now that Jesus did not just lie in the tomb; He was active, alive, and conquering.

He led the captive free.

Does that mean all? I doubt it, for some, in the face of the King of all creation, would still deny His authority and refuse. That thought is ludicrous but feasible.

Ephesians 4:8-10 NASB Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” 9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)

Who were these captives and where were they held? We have already talked about one of them as we looked at the story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus from Luke 16:19-31. Verse 23 tells us that the rich man was in Hades. In trying to gain an understanding of what the Jews of that day thought about Hades, I went to the Word Study Dictionary.

“It corresponds to Sheol in the OT which occurs 59 times. In the NT, Hádēs occurs only 10 times. It is found nowhere in John’s gospel, the epistles of Paul, the Epistle to the Hebrews, or the General Epistles. Three of the occurrences are on Christ’s lips (Mat_11:23 [with Luk_10:15]; Luk_16:18; Luk_16:23). In two of these, the words are obviously used in a figurative sense: in the case of Capernaum to express an absolute overthrow, a humiliation as deep as the former loftiness and pride had been great; in the case of the Church, to express a security which shall be proof against death and destruction. The third occurrence, in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luk_16:19-31), is of a different kind and has even been taken to put our Lord’s confirmation on the Jewish idea of two compartments in Hades, distinct from and yet near one another.”

Again, my mind goes back to the radio pastor, who ranted about Gehenna while making an analogy to hell/Hades. In his rant, he talked about a continually burning trash pile that existed outside of Jerusalem. In describing its smells and unsavory appearance, he equated this to Hades. Maybe that is true, but why try to saddle us all with horrific imagery and fear, especially when we come to find out that Jesus made it possible to overcame that fear?

Hebrews 2:14-15 KJV Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear
of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

In the book of the Revelation, we see Jesus with the keys. What keys?

Revelation 1:17-18 NASB 17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Colossians tells us that Jesus, through His death, made an open show of Satan and his team.

Colossians 2:15 NASB When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

Jesus abolished death.

2 Timothy 1:10 NASB but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

As I mentioned when I opened this post, to try exploring, in just a few seconds, the attributes that make Jesus powerful, is almost impossible. I do not think I adequately covered the topic and possibilities here, but, because of length, I must stop. If I were to get even remotely evangelistic I think this last verse might convey my thoughts.

Hebrews 12:2 NASB fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author, and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

If I wondered how I might become righteous, then fixing my eyes on Jesus, sounds like a reasonable place to start.

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, false teaching, Freedom from sin, God's character, Jews, Matthew's gospel, parables, The supremacy of Christ, The Word was God, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

This opening line is one that gives me grief. Galatians 3:1-3

Posted on 01/12/2018 by remso

In many of my posts I show you a bit of me; in other words, I make it personal, and then hopefully applicable. I am going to try to integrate myself into this one as well, but I am going to jump back into commentary mode with Galatians chapter 3.

“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.”

This opening line is one that has caused me grief; not because I see myself as a foolish Galatian, but because of a local Calvary Chapel pastor, one who has a particular way of accentuating words, preached on this, and it seemed like these words, “You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you?”, were condemning all of us, and putting us under some form of bondage once again. Since radio programs are just sermons, chopped into overlapping pieces, so that they can make it last for an entire week; it continued for what seemed like weeks. So let’s see what Paul was trying to say because I can assure you that Paul was not attempting to put people under bondage. We can do that quite well on our own.

If I reiterate the last three verses of Galatians 2, you can get a feel for the context, so let’s start there.

Galatians 2:19-21 NET. For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!

In chapter one, Paul tells these Galatians that there is no other gospel; there are, however, those out there that wish to pervert the good news that Paul had preached. (Galatia is a reference to the Asia Minor region, we now call Turkey. Paul had made stops at a handful of cities, few of which are mentioned. This letter then was written from Rome around 68AD, almost 18 years after passing through the region.

As a believer, I can take this statement literally – Christ lives in me, and I now live in Him. And, this life I now live, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, Jesus Christ the risen King, who gave Himself for me.

What then, had Paul preached?

That the followers of Christ were free from the bondage that comes with the Law found in the Torah; a law that had been so expanded upon by the Jews, that it was deemed, the law of the Jews.

The Law, in its original state, given by God, was effectively the law of the universe, and Adam, as a representative of God, broke that Law. The transgression of that universal law brought a demand for payment of that wrongdoing, to us all. So, Christ not only paid the debt on our behalf, but, by His grace and faithfulness, freed the Jews and us, from the bondage of the Law, and the expanded Jewish portion as well.

Now, wouldn’t it be great if the effects of Adam’s sin did not linger upon us daily? The freedom begins to kick in, as you remind yourself “that’s not who I am.” Because, “Christ lives in me, and I now live in Him. And, this life I now live, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, Jesus Christ the risen King, who gave Himself for me.”

What is essential to our understanding of the phrase “free from the bondage of the law?”

That it meant nothing to a Gentile, and everything to a Jewish audience, which is whom Paul was preaching and writing to in the days before his captivity in Rome.

Let’s start breaking chapter 3 down.

Galatians 3:1 NASB You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

Since we understand that there was no Church of Galatia as there was in Corinth or Ephesus, he is broadcasting this reprimand across an entire region. Are you serious? In relative quantity, after hearing about the grace and mercy found in Christ, and receiving that blessing, the converts in this region are submitting to the pressure of Jewish zealots and setting aside the grace of God. The implications are, they are setting aside their faith in Christ as the risen Messiah.

The words Paul uses are anything but politically correct; they are, however, quickly understood, to the point, and meant to get the readers attention.

Foolish – The Greek word anóētos means Lacking intelligence; one who does not govern his lusts; one without a mind, therefore lacking the organ by which divine things are comprehended and known or ignored. Word Study Dictionary. Other translations called them stupid and senseless Galatians.

Paul is asking them, WHO has done this too you? As though he, and they do not know. They know; it was the Jewish zealots from which these converts had emerged.

Here is something you should see and understand.
Paul never told them to stop being Jewish. To stop being Jewish would border on impossible; why? Because of heritage, birthright, and training. Paul of all people would have understood this. Accepting Jesus Christ as the Messiah, was what the prophets of old called for and showed them through their words. Acceptance of Yeshua was the carrying out and completion of a lifelong dream every Jew has.

Passing on and invoking our prejudicial attitudes and ways is something we all do, some just not so intentionally; we do, however, display our prejudices rather openly when we feel threatened and wish to regain our support base. Here in America, we have a derogatory term, red neck. While it initially applied to farmers, and ranch hands, it came to imply a simple mind with an unyielding attitude; an attitude that does not work so well in the big city. Jews are not so different as they too take pride in their lifestyles and traditions.

That’s great, but, as we have learned from Paul, Christs insertion into the universal picture, changed everything. By the intentional spilling of His blood and giving of His life, He reinserted grace and mercy into the world. The Law of the universe was set aside, and freedom is available to every man through the actions of Christ. Whether you accept it or not, sins were forgiven. This forgiveness has a massive impact on the final judgment, where you will spend eternity, and it is all about who you are choosing to serve. You should know that you will not be judged for anything other than what you did with Christ, this risen King; the one who will gather those who are in Christ, to Himself, so that they can live with Him in the peaceful kingdom, forever.

Bewitched? – Is the Greek word baskaino; to malign, that is, (by extension) to fascinate (by false representations): – bewitch.

Sometimes it helps me if I can see a definition of a word, such as malign.
Malign – Having a very evil disposition towards others; harboring violent hatred or enmity; malicious; as malign spirits. Webster’s Dictionary

Think this through for a moment. The Jews already had an evil disposition toward all Gentiles. The assumption, and probably a safe one, would be that the hard-liners or zealots had regained members of their congregations by provoking the violent hatred and maliciousness that, sadly, is an aspect of the brokenness we all carry due to Adam’s transgression.

Note how Paul paints a word picture when he uses the phrase, “before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.” If that seems a little challenging to wrap your mind around, then perhaps the Amplified version might be graspable.

Unto whom–right before your very eyes–Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was openly and graphically set forth and portrayed as crucified.

What if Christ crucified (the Messiah), is the primary thing that Paul preached to them? And, if not, why not? Deeply entrenched in laws and traditions, the Jews needed something that jolted them into believing the what the Word of God.

Whether we use the word publicly, which conveys an image of standing on a street corner talking loudly to car passengers as they go by, or openly, which speaks of a person talking unashamedly, it is still the same Greek word prographo and can mean either. The word prographo means to write previously; to announce, or to set forth. [Strong’s Concordance]

Since we have nothing to tell us that Paul spoke to enough people directly to act as though he addressed all of Asia Minor in person, then we should assume that he wrote letters; letters, which were then transmitted through the mouths of other believers, Jewish converts. Since it was typical for Paul to acknowledge those with him and aligned with him, we should have expected the same in this letter. He would have used names that made a personal connection. So let’s see what he tells us.

Galatians 1:1-2 NASB Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

That’s odd, for he merely calls them, “all the brethren who are with me.”
Why that could be anyone. However, we can have confidence that Luke the physician was there; there is the possibility that Silas is with Paul, and, we might expect to find Timothy.

How would these men, make any more of an impact than Paul?

Excluding the effect of the Holy Spirit on men, I would say no way. Besides that, Paul is talking to Jews; Jews who are not the least bit interested, for the most part, in the Gentile Jesus.

Paul chastises the Galatians harshly, pointing out the message that he preached (Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, publicly portrayed as crucified.), and then asks them a question.

Galatians 3:2 NASB This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

This question is important to a Jew, and all of us as well? What is he asking them?

  • Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law?

    Considering that the primary thing a Jew had to do to obtain righteousness, was to sacrifice a lamb or a dove, for example, the problem is that this sacrificial process is not a lasting one. If you, five minutes later, after leaving the synagogue, have a brutal road rage incident as someone cuts in front your camel on the way home, you have lost your righteousness. Here then is the evidence that the works of the Law did not bring about lasting righteousness.

  • Or, by hearing with faith?

    Since Paul laid out what the Messiah, Jesus Christ, did for them, and how He, because of His faithfulness, secured our righteousness. Then the answer is, by hearing.

Galatians 3:3 NASB Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Paul, having asked his sarcasm-laced questions,  reiterates what we began with when we started chapter three.

  • Are you so foolish?

    We ran into this already. It is the Greek word anóētos meaning without a mind; unable to comprehend; lacking intelligence, foolish.

  • Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

    The apostle is here dealing with Jews primarily, who, having embraced Christ as the risen Messiah, and yet, continued to seek for justification by the works of the law. The pressure to return to the law has come from zealots within the synagogues.

    But put another spin on this scenario, and you can easily see this also pointed at Gentile believers as well. Having begun in the Spirit, where else would we find them indulging in something that might perfect their flesh? The philosophies and idolatry of the world.
    There is no room for denial here, as Israel was pulled continuously into the idolatries of the world. This attraction to the gods of this world is one of the main reasons we have the story of the ‘prophet’ Balaam.     [You find this story in Numbers 22. In essence, Balaam gave their weakness away to Balak, the Moab king, and Israel was destroyed from the inside out as they brought in women from the nations to be their wives and whatever else they were.]

  • “Are you now being perfected by the flesh?

    Perfected is the Greek word epiteleo meaning to fulfill further (or completely), that is, execute; by implication to terminate, or undergo.

    Every Jew looked for fulfillment in the Messiah. Paul merely directed them to Him. So, the idea that they would have been completed would imply an integration, which is precisely what we do when accepting Jesus Christ; we become ONE with Him. At the point of conversion, we undergo an immediate change, one we rarely seem to be aware of from the outside. It is, however, a lasting and eternal change in God’s eyes. But, because we struggle with our beliefs due to inadequate teaching in Church, the promise that we are changed must be rehearsed in the mind of Christ followers far too frequently, as we seem to forget who we are.

We will move on through Galatians 3 if the Lord is willing, but I want to say something here. The men I sit with on Monday, are a microcosm of the unsound teaching you get in Church. Don’t get me wrong, God has given me a love for the guys, but I cannot stand the garbage that the leadership spews out of their mouths every week. The saddest part of this is that this false teaching has been going on for YEARS. The questions these elder gentlemen ask, and the twisted comments they make, prove my point, and, it demonstrates that they do not know the nature and character of this God we serve. A secondary point I want to make is the manipulative way we are evoked to win the lost constantly. Do you not realize that the lost sit beside you in Church; if what Jesus said when He spoke of the ten-virgins, is true (and it is,) then fifty percent are going to be left behind. Are these lost? According to the teachings, I hear on Mondays.

Look, I am not an evangelist, I am a teacher, and teaching is my gift. However, if you sat with me for coffee, you would get an earful of God’s truth. Fortunately, so do the people around me. So, maybe I am also an evangelist and don’t even know it.

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, Cult teachings, false teaching, Freedom from sin, Galatians, gentiles, God's character, grace, Hope, hypocrisy, In Christ, Jews, Mercy, Prophetic, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why would a shy introvert have such a craving to teach?

Posted on 01/05/2018 by remso

Not that long ago I got set up for a trap by my pastor. I was taken to lunch under the premise of talking about a study I was to lead, but, his plan had everything to do with challenging me about teaching on the Revelation, and speaking about end times events. Strangely, he had never heard me talking on any of these subjects other than a couple of private conversations where I shared my heart with the man. He, operating on presumption, decided that this was all I knew or was capable of speaking about, and he was going to put me in my place. Just out of curiosity, where is my place? The obvious answer to me, is in the arms and safety of my Father, as I do His will. And, if it requires that speak on what I know and understand, then it is teaching, and that is precisely what my heart longs to do.

Why would a shy introvert have such a craving to teach? Because, the Church, in general, is like a bunch of witless sheep, willing to let someone else do their reading for them, and so they have no clue what God’s word says. The other problem is that these Bible teachers we are adorned with, have spewed distortion for so long that most of the Church think God is merely an ominous, angry, and untouchable God. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This pastor I mentioned, during his ambush, asked me why I focus on the end times so much and speak about it. The answer to that question became clear recently as my father, within minutes of coming out of brain surgery, had to challenge me by saying, everyone that stands before the Great White Throne of judgment is sent to hell. Several weeks have passed since the pastor’s warning not to study or speak about the end times for five years, so it was befitting to tell him about my dad’s recovery from brain surgery, and the fact that he let me know he was all right by espousing a false teaching he had learned.

Here is what I have come to understand as my motivation for teaching and speaking about the Revelation and end times. That those, and I include myself, who have insight, … will lead many to righteousness.

Daniel 12:3 NASB “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Insight is the Hebrew word sakal and means to be prudent: – act wisely, behaved himself wisely, comprehend, consider, and discern. It also conveys the implications of “giving attention to.”

Lead is the Hebrew word ṣāḏaq: A verb meaning to be right, to be righteous, to be just, to be innocent, to be put right.

So, if I do one of my rewrites, inserting the alternate understandings of the Hebrew, I get this:

“Those who act wisely, giving attention to the Word, will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who cause others to be right, and to be put right, will shine like the stars forever and ever.”

What if that is the case, where I might be included among those who cause others to understand, be right, and to be put right? I gave myself to pay attention to His Word. And then, there is the admonition from the Book of the Revelation itself, where it says,

Revelation 1:3 NET. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy aloud, and blessed are those who hear and obey the things written in it because the time is near!

Do I read it aloud in the assembly? Occasionally and sometimes to myself; I find that hearing it causes the word pictures to develop in ways that mere reading does not provide. Most often, I sit quietly and let my head and heart busily stir within me, as they are doing now. Sitting with the men’s group on Thursday mornings, we take turns reading aloud out of the book of the moment. (Our next book, in case you are interested, will be Timothy Keller’s, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness. Having recently slogged our way through one of his books, I am not looking forward to this.) And, whether the words themselves stir me, or the manner in which it is read does, I am not sure, but, I am always invited by the Holy Spirit to consider something that fits the theme or that God needs to convey. I say all this because I struggle with the possibility that I am merely envious of the pastor with the $1500 suit that used to stand before me; Or, perhaps, the notoriety that the television prophet gets draws in enough money to buy fancy jets and a private island. There are more than enough things going on around me to keep me in my place (whatever place that is,) and besides that, the doors that seem to open, have on several occasions recently, slammed shut in my face. It is only natural to ask why; I even examine myself and ask if there was some role I played in making the door close in the manner that it did. Trust me, our past stays with us, even if it is just in our heads, and those memories still flavor our lives, more than we know. I firmly believe that God can and does use those unsavory events to create the person we are now, therefore events we deem unsavory, have all been, in the end, to serve God’s purpose. Now, don’t get silly with this, thinking that you need to indulge in some stupidity so God can use you. Spend some serious time in His Word, and He will use you.

So, the bottom line for me is, that God gave me this desire and passion for His Word, and it is Him alone who grants rewards for work done. My reasons for getting into this prophetic end times game came out of a lifetime of unfulfilled yearning to understand, and a mother, who told us twisted tales of how she envisioned heaven.

I mentioned to one of the men I sit with on Wednesday mornings that I can thank Joel Richardson, the author of several books, one of which is The Islamic Antichrist. I have always had a desire to understand the book of Revelation, and even when someone like, the late Hilton Sutton came to church, which he did, I would have fifteen minutes of clarity. Sixteen minutes later it was all muddy water again. I can remember thinking, how can anyone understand this stuff, with its seven-headed beasts that die and rise over and over. And then, there were the loud mouths that still insist that we are looking for a Roman antichrist to rise to power. Richardson clarifies all this distorted teaching by showing you from scripture why a particularly distorted theory works or not. I walked away from his book, The Islamic Antichrist, and its scriptural references, with understanding, passion, and a burning desire for more. Those books within the Bible that seemed so incomprehensible, like the Revelation, Daniel, and Ezekiel, suddenly made sense, as did the other end times prophetic writers of the Bible. Do, I still have to study things out by looking at context, and analyzing words? Absolutely; I think its safe to say, that only a fool would ignore those factors, especially if you are trying to gain insights and prepare for a decent Bible study.

So, what does it mean when, for the past several weeks, I have been barraged with a variety of questions, and distorted misunderstandings about the Great White Throne judgment? These questions challenged me about my understanding and beliefs in God, about God’s right to show mercy and grace, and me, as the underlying question is why do you teach such things  – the same things Paul taught. One religious zealot ranted that the angry, ominous God, is coming and that I, along with those who believe that God is only mercy, will pay because we have made God weak. (Is that even possible?) There is also the brother in Christ who asks me a vague question, which I answered proficiently, only to have him respond back by blending three different doctrines to create another vague question about who it is that stands before God’s throne at the end. To top it all off, one of my closest friends, recently divulged that he was an adamant believer in hellish penalties for all who come to the Great White Throne.

What am I to make of all this?

We, as a church, do not know our Bibles, AT ALL, and because of that, I can safely say, WE, do not understand God’s nature and character.

Do you not realize, that

Jesus Christ is the express image of the Father and demonstrated His qualities and character in every way, shape, and form.

Posted in antichrist, Apostasy, Apostle Paul, bible study, Cult teachings, Deception, End times, false teaching, Galatians, God's character, grace, Hearing God, hypocrisy, In Christ, judgment, Mercy, Prophetic, Revelation, The supremacy of Christ, The Word was God, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

I have made my understanding and beliefs known to many. Is God just mean?

Posted on 01/02/2018 by remso

Many years ago my life took a nasty turn, and I lost everything precious to me. It has taken years to recover from that chain of events, and yet, I have never fully recovered. You might think that something like this would be considered total devastation, but in spite of my decisions I have found many silver linings within this dark cloud, and one of those was a God I never honestly knew. As part of my recovery, I took a job at a large hardware store, where I was fortunate enough to get the opening shift with some frequency. Those early hours worked out well for me, as I would stop at McDonald’s for coffee and breakfast. While there, I began to read my Bible and write about what I found in it. I had already done my fair share of mouthing off to God previously, and He did not strike me dead, so I knew He could handle my thoughts and questions now. This one person Bible study went on for the seven years that I worked for the hardware store and has continued to this day, some four years later. One way to look at this is, I have spent the last fourteen years of my life intentionally invested, in God’s word.

Prior to this time with God, and after spending a majority of my life in the church, I knew little more than what others told me, and most of it was either not true, or such gross distortions that I could not believe what I had heard. By spending that time reading, I found a God that I did not know, and I found Him to be full of mercy and grace. You see, an aspect of what I challenged God with, was that He make himself real to me, and to do it from His word. Well, he did just that, and now, I cannot separate His nature and character from the mercy and grace that I found in Him. Once I learned these things, they became a focus of my conversations, as I tried to convince others, principally believers, that God, was the opposite of what most think of Him.

As you can imagine I have made my understanding and beliefs known to many, so, I am often the target of their challenges, rebuttals, and criticisms. I was not surprised when recently I got verbally attacked with a comment/question, which went something like this: “I think more people need to feel the wrath of the angry God. You know He is coming back with a vengeance, and those who think they can fall back on a message of mercy and grace are merely asking for hell’s fire.” Is that what I have been doing, merely asking for hell’s fire? How absurd can you be? I can tell you, that I decided long ago, that if I was going to make a mistake in describing God, I was going to err on the side of mercy. Since we should have the understanding, especially if we are the type that looks for God to come down on us, that “we will be judged in the same manner in which we judge.” Then we should be the fearful one because we might just get exactly what we called down on others. Matthew chapter 7 states this quite clearly.

Matthew 7:1-2 NASB “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

Another version of the same theme comes from Luke’s gospel.

Luke 6:36-38 NASB “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. 38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure–pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

I included Luke 6:38 because it is one that gets used with frequency in the faith movement. Pay attention to the context, which has everything to do with a merciful God and not condemning people, no matter who they are, NOT money. The last phrase of the paragraph says, “For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” He is talking about our judgmental attitudes, comments, and actions.

Since my last post spoke about the false teachings surrounding the Great White Throne, and how I believe that God scours those books we see in Revelation 20 because He is looking for a reason to show mercy to those before Him. Sadly, that is in opposition to what most people see when they read about the Great White Throne, and here is why. 1. Because it is “the” throne, then, of course, God has to be sitting on it. Well, they are half right, but only because Jesus is God. The entire book of Revelation is about Jesus, and no one else holds the focus. Therefore, it is Jesus on that great throne. 2. Because He calls all dead people to Himself, there is the presumption that these people have no hope, and that is not true. 3. And, in Revelation 20, unlike Matthew 25, we only see the outcomes of those He did not find in ALL those books, and in Revelation 20 their outcome is hell. However, there is a fourth reason people are in opposition to a merciful God; these religious zealots cannot handle a God who gives people entrance into the kingdom without having to resist the temptations and does the hard work of trying to win the lost, that these unmerciful ones have. The sheep we see in Matthew 25, at their the last opportunity, are given entrance into the kingdom (Matthew 20:1-16.) That hope of entrance into the kingdom is our only true anchor and a form of payment. And yet, the sheep gained that same entrance without the years, or time spent. And, though they won’t admit it, the religious mind is jealous and envious, thinking, I could have spent years in frivolity and still acquired God’s mercy and entrance into the kingdom. Or, perhaps not, because this life we live is about faith isn’t it, and where is yours?

A friend of mine, whom I respect much, wrote me back and said, they were judged for their deeds, which focused on their not receiving Jesus. I admonished the readers, at the end of my Great White Throne treatise, to submit to the truth, which is the Word of God, and adjust your beliefs to line up with what that Word says. Note the argument at the end of this parable.

Matthew 20:12-15 MSG ‘These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.’ 13 “He replied to the one speaking for the rest, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn’t we? 14 So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. 15 CJB Haven’t I the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’

Ultimately, the decision is God’s and not ours.

So what does Revelation 20 tell about the deeds of those sent off to hell’s flames?

Revelation 20:12 NASB And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

They were judged according to their acts, with NO definition of what those deeds were. There is nothing in this passage or any passage near it, that tells us what got them excluded. We should all know by now, that people will be judged based on what they did with Jesus Christ, not their sins. (You either accept Him, or you reject Him. It’s that simple.) Since sin and deeds, even if they are remotely naughty, seem to be our constant religious focus and can condemn us to hell, as religion wants you to believe, then what was the purpose of the cross?

While there may be a passage that defines this more clearly, Paul’s letter to the church at Colossae spells out rather well the effects of the cross.

Colossians 2:13-14 NASB 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

All I can think about is the fact that, in Christ, the sins, transgressions, and decrees against me, are gone.

The fascinating thing about this letter is that the Apostle Paul walked this earth at the same time as Christ. Unaware that he walked about drowning in sins and transgressions, because, Saul, the Pharisee, was the finest of Jews. The thought that a Jew was unrighteous would have been entirely foreign to him, and because they were Jews righteousness and entrance into the kingdom, were practically a given. That day, when God knocked, Saul the Pharisee to the ground, while on the road to Damascus, Saul had the intent of harming those who followed the WAY; he learned that he had no righteousness and that Jesus was the one being hurt when he touched one of these followers… This sentiment gives a whole new spin to the concept of being dead in your transgressions, for Saul, before his conversion, was just that, a walking dead man.

So Jesus Christ died while Saul, the Pharisee’s apprentice, walked the earth. Because Jesus Christ did that, ALL sins, past, present, and future, were forgiven, and humankind was forgiven. Saul, the Pharisee, was forgiven. Did Christ on the cross change Saul’s life? NO, and if it did, he did not know it, nor did he receive the peace that is gained when you accept that sacrifice.

So who is this God we supposedly serve?

I can comprehend that He is the God who forgave, but is there more?

Without directly thinking about the question, who is this God I serve, I already stated a few paragraphs ago, one of the most significant aspects of who He is.

Luke 6:36 NASB “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

The presumption on my part would be that you had read this verse at some point in your life. If that is the case, then what did you do with that directive? Ah, but you say, we are not under the law and therefore cannot, and will not receive a “command,” even if it tells me to be merciful! But we do have a strong warning from the book of James; why you might also say, its law.

James 2:12 CEV Speak and act like people who will be judged by the law that sets us free.

Does it say you will be judged, and therefore get excluded, even after Jesus said that no one will ever strip you out of His hands? No, it tells us to ACT as though we will.

If the Laws that brought death and condemnation are to be our guide for how we act, then we would be a sorry lot indeed. Our looks would probably be no different than they are now, as many of the teachings we sit under continually push us back under those laws of bondage. But note how the verse says, “by the law that sets us free.” This law of liberty is the very thing that Paul wrote about in most of his letters. And, he said, I can never go back to the bondage those Jewish laws put on me.

Galatians 2:16 CJB even so, we have come to realize that a person is not declared righteous by God on the ground of his legalistic observance of Torah commands, but through the Messiah Yeshua’s trusting faithfulness. Therefore, we too have put our trust in Messiah Yeshua and become faithful to him, in order that we might be declared righteous on the ground of the Messiah’s trusting faithfulness and not on the ground of our legalistic observance of Torah commands. For on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, no one will be declared righteous.

No one is asking you to put yourself in bondage; however, God is asking you to submit to the grace and mercy that set you free and become faithful to Him. So, in acting like one who will be judged by grace and mercy, the law of liberty, you then speak and demonstrate this grace, mercy, and freedom consistently, to those who need it; that happens to be everyone.

He is our peace.

Romans 5:1 NASB Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians 2:13-15 NASB But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,

He shows mercy to all.

Romans 11:32 NASB For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.

Paul, writing to Timothy, tells this young man why Saul, the Pharisee obtained mercy; as an illustration of God’s patience.

1 Timothy 1:15-16 Moffatt NT 15 It is a sure word, it deserves all praise, that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”; and though I am the foremost of sinners, 16 I obtained mercy, for the purpose of furnishing Christ Jesus with the chief illustration of his utter patience; I was to be the typical instance of all who were to believe in him and gain eternal life.

He is the God of grace. Stop for a moment and remind yourself what grace is. It is God’s riches, at Christ’s expense. And, in John’s gospel, this stated as an observation.

John 1:16 ESV For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

John 1:16 portrays the Father heaping his grace upon us. While, Dr. Luke wrote, that we are saved because of the grace of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 15:11 ESV But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

The general impression you should have is the Father, and the Son, are exuding grace and mercy toward us, and in us.

How then, do we come up with the crazy idea that God is looking to destroy people?

John 10:27, 28 speaks of those who are His sheep. This life in Christ is not an exclusive club; He desires for everyone to jump in. For those who do, there is the guarantee of His word, which tells us that we will never perish in hell, nor will anyone ever take us out of the Son’s hand.

John 10:27-28 ESV My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

This answer seems so simple, and yet there are those who are capable of entertaining the idea that God does not love some people.

John 3:16 ESV “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

How can you feel comfortable decreeing the eternal punishment of so many, when God loved the world enough to allow His own Son to be murdered on a cross. All one has to do to receive this life is believe in Him who made this life possible; his name is Jesus.

The entire reason that we are still here on this earth is that God, in His patience, is waiting for that last one to come into the kingdom.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

If you think God is so ominous, then how do you explain the Shepherd, showing mercy to those, who apparently did not go through the proper religious ceremonies, missed the rapture of the church, and fell asleep in death, not knowing where they stood with the Father. You see all this portrayed in Matthew 25:31-46. I will let you look it up at your leisure. Suffice it to say, that given mercy, these sheep that gained entrance to the kingdom have an immediate understanding that they had missed the mark, and yet, Jesus, the one sitting upon the throne, is showing them mercy. The response given by the great shepherd shocked me to my core, as it challenges a multitude of things I have been taught to the contrary. It is because of the simple acts of kindness demonstrated by the people represented as sheep, such as: giving ME a drink when I was thirsty; coming to visit ME when I was in prison; clothing ME when I was naked, and feeding ME when I was hungry.

A part of that challenge to my treatise on the Great White Throne indicated that those before the throne received no mercy because they had rejected Jesus. Scripturally, do we see any evidence of God directly rejecting any for rejecting Jesus? No, but what do we see, in Matthew 25 are people who fed, visited, and clothed JESUS, without even knowing it. What they did was to act as though they had the nature and character of the Father in them. The logic of such a moment gets lost, because how do you have the Son’s life in you, making you theoretically a “Christian,” and not get caught up in the snatching away of the Church? I suppose the answer to that comes from the parable of the ten virgins. This story is an inference to the modern day church; the people who will experience Christ’s return for those who are His.

The parable demonstrates a problem.

Ten virgins (so far it sounds good as all are pure,) get the same invitation (we too have received that same message, and it seems very similar to what the future disciples heard – deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.) They all grab their lamps as though they all seem to understand that this will be a long wait (However, five of them have to good sense to bring extra oil for themselves – this is not a coordinated effort from what we can read, and that aspect makes the story even more enticing.) All of them fall asleep (this fact brings them no condemnation.) Awakened by the voice of the bridegroom, calling them to come, five refill their lamps, trim their wicks and light the oil lamps. Sadly, the others discover they are out of oil. What do they do? They clamor and demand that the others give of theirs (there is something preposterous about this component of the story, not because they ran out of oil, but because of their attitude.) Those without oil are sent by the others to go off and buy more. (I joke as if they had a convenience store where they can get a late night cup of coffee and some lamp oil. But this is Jerusalem, and ordinary people are asleep with their families nearby.) In the process of trying to buy more lamp oil, the bridegroom comes, opens the doors, lets those who have come because they were prepared and waiting for the bridegroom to call them, and they entered. The door was then shut.

What is the problem here? If this is speaking of the Church, then we are talking about a fifty percent ratio of people, who got the invitation and did not prepare themselves, and were, therefore, not ready when the bridegroom called. Now, if these are representations of the church, do they have the nature and character of the Father in them? Were they awaiting His return? In the story of the ten virgins, they all got the invite. But, what did they do with that information, especially since they had a pretty good time frame of when he would come. Besides that, they know where this guy lives and where he is building the home for his bride. All you have to do is casually walk down that street, and you would know that the time is almost here. That information might prompt you to buy more oil just in case, wouldn’t it? Fifty percent of the church is like this. One brother I know, a very genuine man, recently ranted to me, that we have been waiting for over two thousand years, so why are you getting worked up now? I see that as a man with no excess oil.

If you remember, there is a very dark detail from the story of Noah, in which:

God’s description of humanity demonstrates what happens to a world with free choice without the influence of a reborn spirit to restrain us.

People will choose to live outside of God’s control, and their decisions impacted the whole earth, for it was filled with violence, and every thought was only evil.

Acting like civilized people is not what we do, unless, something inside of us is changed.

There is just one thing that brings about that change,

it is our acceptance of Jesus Christ, in a restored relationship with the Father.

Is it possible that you might not have understood that this internal change had come over you?

Maybe.

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, End times, false teaching, Freedom from sin, God's character, In Christ, Jews, judgment, Matthew's gospel, Our being caught up, parables, Prophetic, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments