%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
Journal/Blog for Bard's Hall Contest for June 2017 |
For "The Bard's Hall Contest"  |
Endtimes, Jesus' SECOND COMING, and Bible References Today, I end this blog that was encouraged by Moderators on WdC, and I am thankful for that as it helped me get more familiar with this site in my five weeks here. But it distracted a little from my passion - writing poems. Yet, I have grown, and continued to review others' writings and keep on posting here. This last post on "Time" will focus on verses from the Bible that may be studied for more in-depth analysis of things I have written, and to pursue your own interests, fears, or questions. Knowledge is Power (I think? But prayer to the LORD is my insurance and assurance.) Thanks and Shalom, Shalom! First, please know this crucial distinction in terms: "the Last Days" began when Jesus walked this earth, 2000 years back. The "end time" is closer to the period of Jesus' Second Coming, if you wish to make a handy comparison. The "endtimes" can be subdivided into "End Time" as a block of years, while "eschatos" refers to the "last days in the End Time" You see why it has been easy to confuse these terms. Below, are the "signs" promised by God through His prophets, the signals we are approaching both Armageddon in Jerusalem, and the rule of Jesus from a "new heaven and new earth" but based in Jerusalem. Thus, Jerusalem is always important to God, Jews, and Gentiles. Here are the signs to watch for (but prayer is important, in asking the LORD for wisdom & blessings). Spirit to be poured out on all flesh (Joel 2:28) Universal apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4) The watering down of the gospel, teaching the doctrines of man rather than those of God. Even priests will be led astray. (2 Tim 3:5, Matt 15:9) False prophets and false Christs (Matthew 24:24) Good will be called evil and evil good. (Isaiah 5:20) Restoration of all things (Acts 3:19-21) Gospel to be preached to all the world (Matthew 24:14, Revelation 14:6-7) Worldly knowledge to increase (Daniel 12:4) Israel to be restored as a political state (Deuteronomy 28:64, 30:3 Jeremiah 29:14, 30:3 Isaiah 43:5-6, Ezekiel 36:24, Amos 9:14-15 Earthquakes, floods, famines, plagues and diseases such as the world has never seen. (Matthew 24 and Luke 21) Peace taken from the earth. Wars increase throughout the earth until war is on every land (Matthew 24 and Luke 21) The increase in the wickedness, murder, and crime among men. The increase in belief in the occult. (Matthew 24, Luke 21, 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 4:3-4) People will not believe the signs (2 Peter 3:3-4, Matthew 16:1-4) Increase in persecution of the Christians (Matthew 24:9, Mark 13:9) Christ will come suddenly to His temple. (Malachi 3:1) Signs and Wonders in heaven (Mark 13:25) Mountains made low, valleys made high (Isaiah 40, Ezekiel 38) Christ to receive his dominion from the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9-14) Two prophets preach in Jerusalem for 1260 days. They have the power to bring famines and plagues. They are killed and lie dead in the streets for three and a half days while the wicked of the earth rejoice in the streets and exchange gifts in celebration of their deaths. On the third day, they arise striking fear in the hearts of the wicked. (Revelation 11) Armageddon. The nations of the earth gather to fight Israel at Jerusalem, at Armageddon in the valley of Jehoshaphat. (Revelation 16:16) Sun darkened, the moon becomes as blood (Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20, Revelation 6:12) Jerusalem is taken captive, the houses riled, the women ravished. (Zechariah 14:2) The Lord appears at Mount Olivet leading his people to victory (Ezekiel 38, 39, Daniel 11, 12, Joel 2,3) Christ appears to all the earth. Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ. (Philippians 2:11) The righteous caught up to Christ, the wicked burned as stubble. (Malachi chapters 3-4) The judgment and first resurrection (Matthew 25:31-46, Revelation 20:5-6) The thousand years of peace ushered in, Christ to reign personally on the earth (Revelation chapters 20-21). I want to recommend a Scottish theologian and pastor's book, Name Above All Names (Crossway Publishers, 2013) because the Pastor Alistair Begg loves the Sheep of Christ. He writes to teach the Abundant Life in Jesus, through the hard but equally joyful path of our Obedience. Begg may be too stern for some Americans, but he does have a large congregation in Cleveland (OHIO, who adore him these 20 + years). He covers some of the points in this post as a Pastor would, teaching H O P E. He describes the Last Days and Endtime as living between "two mountain peaks" of Jesus's two advents, of Inauguration and of "Consummation." Satan and Death were defeated at the Cross 2000 years ago, or "cast out," by Jesus; when Jesus returns every evil ("beasts") and Satan will be "cast into the [eternal]lake of fire." (Begg & Fergusson, p.106) Other Citations: Jean Cousin may have been the primary compiler of this list which I found online: AmazingBibleTimeline.com |
Time and Israel’s Real Ruler (Ezekiel 37) 16"Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, 'Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.' Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, 'Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.' 17Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. 18"When your people ask you, 'Won't you tell us what you mean by this?' 19say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph-which is in Ephraim's hand-and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah's stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.' 20Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 24"'My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. 25They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children's children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. From my basic reading of, and research on, Ezekiel 37, it seems there are two distinct stages of the prophecy of this prophet named Ezekiel. We may even say there are not one vision, but two, that Ezekiel was shown by “the Sovereign LORD” – how God identified Himself to Ezekiel here – neatly divided into 14 verses each! Ezekiel 1-14 shows a vision of a destroyed Jewish people in the valley of nothing but dry bones. The promise in this vision by “the Sovereign LORD” is to give new life to these dead skeletons of Israel. Ezekiel 15-28 uses the metaphor of a stick of broken parts coming together again, as it were. Verse 21 has the LORD explain that He will orchestrate the ingathering of the Jewish peoples into one, “and bring them back into their own land.” That’s a wonderful promise and most of that has happened since 1948, with the Jewish people seeing themselves as one, no matter where tribes and “lost tribes” are being found, and helped by the present State of Israel, to make a veritable sacred pilgrimage “home” or “Aliyah.” There is “time” yet to complete these two prophecies from Ezekiel, especially Ezekiel 37: 24 ff, “ ‘My servant David will be king over them … and David my servant will be their prince forever.’ ” This unfulfilled prophecy has to deal with Jesus Christ’s Second Coming, as He alone is in the princely line of King David, and who alone can be a ruler or King, or prince over Israel, forever. Current prime Ministers of Israel, however good and diligent, cannot be made equivalent to the rule of Jesus Christ, or a fulfillment of Ezekiel 37: 15-28. A useful website under CEO Michael Houdmann, summarizes my points this way: “The reviving of the dry bones signified God’s plan for Israel’s future national restoration. The vision also, and most importantly, showed that Israel’s new life depended on God’s power and not the circumstances of the people. Putting “breath” by God’s Spirit into the bones showed that God would not only restore them physically but also spiritually. The Israelites residing in the Holy Land today are not the fulfillment of this prophecy. It will be fulfilled when God re-gathers believing Israelites to the land (Jeremiah 31:33; 33:14–16) and Christ returns to establish His Millennial Kingdom (Matthew 24:30–31).” REFERENCE: "What is the Meaning of The Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37?” GotQuestions.org. https://www.gotquestions.org/valley-dry-bones.html. |
| I have not yet examined Ezekiel 37 in any detailed way, with regards to understanding "Time" and "Last Days." I will in the last days remaining in my June blog, lol! Here, I wish to make the connections between "aliyah" or immigration to Israel, and the general discussions of eschatology with reference to Israel/Jerusalem. There are a few unique points about Israel/Jerusalem in (recent) history: 1. In the last 2,000 years, no country has revived after having been destroyed, except for Israel. (We may have to make clarifications with Judah, Israel/Northern Kingdom, Samaria, & Ephraim, elsewhere, about 'right' border/s). 2. No people scattered for centuries to Muslim, Hindu, Russian/Soviet Union, Chinese-Oriental, and American nations/countries, has been able to make the return ALIYAH, or immigration, to a destroyed country except and until Jews returned to Israel, especially after 1948-2006. There are indications that 2006 is a date when immigration has stayed at around zero-growth int Israel. According to John Claeys, the zero-immigration-growth for Israel's population after 2006 "may indicate that Israel is nearing the number of Jews God has appointed to be in the land when the day of the Lord begins. If so, the day of the Lord may be right around the corner. Another important indicator of the nearness of the day of the Lord is Israel's possession of Jerusalem, and this is another part of the miracle that is Israel. In June of 1967, Israel was attacked by seven Arab nations, outmanned so badly it appeared to be the end of the Jewish nation. However, miraculously, Israel not only won that war in six days, but it obtained land from three different nations, as a result. Part of the spoil of that war for Israel was the regaining of Jerusalem. "The city of God" became Jewish for the first time since 70 A.D.! When God put Jerusalem back into the hands of Israel in 1967, it fulfilled Jesus' prophecy of Luke 21:24, where he announced that the Jewish capital would be under Gentile control 'until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.' It seems that 'the times of the Gentiles' refers to God's focus upon Gentiles for salvation; in fact, this must be the identification of 'the times of the Gentiles'. How do we know? According to Luke 21:24, Times of the Gentiles are connected with the possession of Jerusalem." After the experiences of Jewish people of many exiles, wars, ghettoes, pogroms, persecutions, even the holocaust under Hitler and the Fascists, something has changed in God's time-table as it were. Israel's current "control" over Jerusalem may mean that God has begun to turn his attention toward Israel for salvation. Since that salvation will occur during the seven years immediately preceding the return of Christ to establish God's kingdom upon the earth, the initiation of that seven-year period cannot be far away. (Israel's possession of Jerusalem is also necessary for the rebuilding of the temple, which will occur during the first half of that seven-year era, as per the agreement (Anti-Christ's False treaty, predicted by Daniel 9:27, previously discussed). Check also, Matthew 24:15 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4. Does all this indicate that Jesus Christ's Second Coming is closer than anyone might be expecting? Yes. |
WHEN, EXACTLY, DID THE LAST DAYS BEGIN? Tuesday, 06/27/2017 When the Bible uses the term last days, it does not refer to a short period of time in the future – whether a few days or many years - just before Jesus' return. “The Bible never uses the term ‘last days’ to refer to that period of time just prior to [Second Coming] or Jesus' return …” says Jon W. Quinn. It began when Jesus walked this earth! THE BIBLE'S USE OF THE TERM "LAST DAYS" "In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream into it." (ISAIAH 2:2). When the Bible uses the term last days, rather than referring only to that time before Jesus' return, it refers to the entire last 2,000 plus years. This entails the whole period of time from the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ to the end when He comes again. “Yes, we are living in the last days, but so was Napoleon, Christopher Columbus and Constantine,” says Quinn. The Gospel period since Jesus is the last days or last time or even last hour in Biblical terms. It is the last days because there is no future age as far as this world is concerned; we are in the last one. We live under a new, and final covenant, the testament of Jesus Christ. He will not replace the one we are now living under with a new covenant again. The end of these days will see the end of the present heavens and earth as they are replaced by the new heavens and earth (II PETER 3:10-13; REVELATION 21:1). To summarize some of the last few posts, and offer more references, let us follow what Jon W. Quinn researched and wrote in 1999 (below are his main points). WHEN DID THE LAST DAYS BEGIN? Starting with the day of Pentecost as the apostles preached the first gospel sermon, it was announced that the last days had arrived. They began in the first century, not in the twentieth, according to God's record. Peter, James and John lived in the last days and any doctrine that says otherwise is false. The verse from Isaiah which is quoted above was written concerning events which would take place in the last days. This prophecy also found itself fulfilled in the first century. Peter said that all the prophets of the Old Testament were speaking about the days of the first century onward; "And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days." (ACTS 3:24). So when the prophets spoke of events which were to occur in the last days, they were talking about the days in which the apostles lived. The last days of the prophesies are the these days in which Peter lived, according to the Bible. Looking at the context of Isaiah 2, we find several events that were to take place in the last days. 1. The mountain of God's house would be established and all nations would stream into it (vs 2). This prophecy saw its fulfillment from the day of Pentecost after Jesus' ascension. We find people from all nations being taught the gospel and being added to God's house. The apostles had been commanded to take the gospel to all nations and they did; to both Jew and Gentile (COLOSSIANS 1:23). 2. The Law will go forth from Zion, and the word from Jerusalem (vs 3). Again, the Holy Spirit comes to and inspires the apostles to begin their preaching task. Where does this event take place? According to Acts 2 it took place at exactly the place Isaiah had prophesied it would; at Jerusalem. 3. In the last days (vs 2). When would this take place? In the last days. Again, Peter confirmed that they were in the last days as he and the rest of the apostles preached their message on the day of Pentecost in the first century (ACTS 2: 16,17). EVENTS OF THE LAST DAYS "And it will come about that whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be delivered." (JOEL 2:32). We have already noted some of the events that had been prophesied would occur in the last days and found their fulfillment in the New Testament. Now we shall notice some of the testimony of the New Testament that the last days began in the first century and continue until the end of the world. 1. God speaks to us through His Son today (HEBREWS 1:1,2). "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son...." God's Son has come to our world and revealed God unto us firsthand. The prophets had predicted His coming in the previous days, but now that He has come we are in the last days and God therefore has nothing to say to us except through His own Son; “This is My beloved Son; hear Him!" 2. Christ has been manifested. (I PETER 1:20). "For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you." The human race has beheld the coming of the Christ. When He came, He brought with Him the last times. The people of the first century entered the last times and we continue in them unto this day. They will end when Jesus comes again, but we know not when it will be. 3. Difficult times will come (II TIMOTHY 3:1). "But realize this that in the last days difficult times will come, for men will be lovers of self..." Timothy is warned in this final letter from Paul's pen that times will not improve. They will get worse. Nonetheless, Paul urges Timothy to continue in the things he had learned even while evil is making things from bad to worse (Verses 12-14). History has since proven Paul's appraisal of the last days to be accurate, from the things that Timothy and other disciples faced in the first century to our own day. 4. Mockers will come. (II PETER 3:3-4). "Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming?" We see plenty of such mockers today, but they are not new. Peter's words were fulfilled back in the first century. Jude refers to the words of Peter and the other apostles and says, "...that they were saying to you, 'In the last time there shall be mockers following after their own ungodly lusts.' These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit." (JUDE 18,19). Joel affirms that the events of the last days began during his own century. Yes, we are living in the last days. Though we can affirm this, because this is what the Bible teaches, we cannot confirm that His coming is imminent anymore that it was imminent during the first or second or tenth century. These are all the last days. Will Jesus come soon? Perhaps. But whether He does or not, the best life any of us can live is that of a faithful Christian. We do not need to know the time of His coming if we are prepared. If we love Him as we ought, we will so live our lives to please Him, and we shall be ready for eternity when this life is over. |
| Monday, 6/26 by SOOKDEO "Time" and Jesus's prophecy regarding Jerusalem Jesus spoke of a day of unequaled destruction and suffering Bible prophecy: Matthew 24:21-22 In Matthew 24:21-22, Jesus says that there would come a time of unequaled suffering. Many contrasting opinions about this prophecy continue to be presented (claiming that it has already happened, or that it is happening, or that it will happen in the future). Some interpretations include widespread disease and famine, or terrorism, or nuclear war, etc. Thus, it can be easy to overlook the good news contained in this prophecy: No matter what happens in this world, God is always in charge; His sovereignty means that those who “humble themselves and pray, turn from the wicked ways, and seek My face,” God promises to hearken and heal their land (2 Chronicle 7:14) Actual Bible Verses from Matthew's Gospel: 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Jerusalem will be trampled upon Bible prophecy: Luke 21:23-24 Jesus prophesied that the Gentiles would dominate and control, as well as “trample” upon, the people and City of Jerusalem - until the end times. When Jesus Himself issued this prophecy to His fellow-Jews and brethren (first century), Jews had de facto control over the city of Jerusalem, even though they were under the overall imperial authority of the Roman Empire. But Herod was a Jew; the Jewish Council or Sanhedrin had all justice in their control, except for capital charges. In 70 AD, Jesus prophecy about Gentiles trampling upon Jerusalem came true. The Romans, on the occasion of putting down a rebellion by Jewish Zealots, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and the people into yet another exile. Today, the Jews and the State of Israel, do not have enough control over Jerusalem to rebuild their Temple on the Temple Mount, that is defended in public opinion especially by most of the Muslims in the world – as the spot from which Mohammad (their Prophet) ascended to heaven. |
| "ESCHATOS" IS THE GREEK ROOT for our WORD "ESCHATOLOGY" Eschatology refers to the last or final events in God’s role in human history (narrowly) and in creation (universally). In short, eschatology is teaching about the "end times." For some scholars and Bible students, eschatology is literally the doctrine of last things. One dictionary defines eschatology as "a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of mankind." Another secular dictionary says the term relates to "the end of the world." Nelson's "New Illustrated Bible Dictionary" says that eschatology is "the study of what will happen when all things are consummated at the end of history, particularly [in relation to] the Second Coming of Christ." The Zondervan Encyclopedia offers a slightly different perspective, which relates to the "So what?" question. "It is hardly possible to overestimate the importance of eschatology to Christian faith: life without faith is empty, and faith without hope is impossible. If the “eschatology” of modern science—death for the individual, death for the species, death for the entire system of wheeling suns that we call the universe—is the only truth by which we can live, then indeed “let us eat, and drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” The Christian, however, does not believe that death is the last word. For Christians, the resurrection of Christ has robbed death of its awe and victory; Resurrection offers hope and immortality to any who will believe in Jesus and in His triune nature. It is the content of this hope that the Christian doctrine of eschatology seeks to explicate. (Silva, M., & Tenney, M. C. The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 2, D-G. The Zondervan Corporation; Other sources you might use to check out the above are www.Preceptaustin.org and John MacArthur's scholarly books). We have said in previous posts in this Blog on “Time,” that “last days” and “fullness of time” for the Hebrews and the people of the Old Testament period, usually meant “days of fulfillment.” For ancient Jews, the last days specifically pointed to that hope for the time when all God’s promises would be realized on earth, or fulfilled. Messiah would come and the Kingdom would arrive and salvation would follow, and Israel would no longer be under bondage. There is a shift from waiting for promises to waiting for actually living out those promises on earth. That is exactly what Jesus came to do. Except for taking on the Roman Empire, politically and militarily. Jesus came to fulfill the promises of God, not of men and politicians. Even though the millennial, earthly aspect of the promised Kingdom is yet to arrive, the era of kingdom fulfillment began when Jesus had His earthly ministry. Let this detail not remain a confusion; it was the distinction that allowed many Jews during Jesus' earthly ministry to reject Him as the Savior, precisely because He was not a King, or Tsar/Caesar, or Emperor of emperors! When He returns the Second Time?Coming, there will be no doubt about His power and authority. All eyes shall see Him as LORD of lords. amen |
| Saint Paul Warns Timothy About Evil Passing as Good at the End (“Eschatos”) Perilous Times and Perilous Men But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. The Man of God and the Word of God 10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Reference: 2 Timothy 3 (New Testament) |
| Beginning of End Times and the Last of the End Times, June 23,2017 (SOOKDEO) Today is your lucky day! “Why?” That would be a necessary question from our readers. This blog post will, rather likely, make us wiser about the “Time” of the “End.” At the core of this post, today, is the distinction – one that even Christian teachers fail to make - between “Last Days” and “The last of the Last Days.” It is like the difference between “his/her last birthday” and “her or her LAST birthday.” One is the past, and one is the very last birthday for that person! So although we have been in the Last Days for a long period, the “end time” or the “last of the Last Days” will be upon us (Tomorrow, a list of 18 signs for that!). Based on the writings of Rick Renner, the Last Days is a period of more than 2,000 years, which began on the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost is both a Jewish Festival, and the 50th Day after Jesus finally ascended to the Father’s Right Hand (In Heaven) after remaining on earth teaching His disciples for more than 40 days after His resurrection, post-Calvary. Most Christians will tell you Pentecost is the day the Church began, that is the birth of the Christian congregation as blessed by the anointing of the Holy Spirit (see BOOK of Acts, chapters 1-2). Sometimes the Spirit upon a person will make that human appear “drunk.” Peter addressed this appearance of drunkenness and the “last days” in Acts 2: 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’[a] Footnote [a]: Joel‘s words are found in the book by that name (Joel 2:28-32). |
| Thursday 06/22/2017 John 1:1-51 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it Romans 13:11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. John 9:4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting[,] you are God. Psalm 90:4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. Proverbs 6:6-8 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. Psalm 31:14-15 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! Psalm 39:5-6 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather! Esther 4:14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” |
| Ten Bible Verses of Value regarding “Time” by SOOKDEO (June 21,2017) 1. FIRST Thessalonians 5:1-28 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. ... 2. Job 10:1-22 “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked? Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees? Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man's years 3. Matthew 24:32-33 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 4. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing 5. Ephesians 1:10 As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 6. 2 Peter 3:8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 7. Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. 8. Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. 9. James 4:13-15 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 10. Revelation 21:1-27 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” ... |
TUESDAY, June 20,2017 (Blog Post, TIME continued) Today, I will offer a short post on what God's time means for us - for me and for you. This topic goes to the heart of faith, or rather, why some people lose faith. I fully trust the story of Joseph - a type for Jesus - in the latter half of GENESIS, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers! When reunited, Joseph forgives them and says those famous words: What you meant for evil, God has turned into good for us all (Joseph in Egypt was able to save his family in Israel from starvation ... but no one saw that when his betrayal happened). A helpful verse to show God's working, as opposed to only a human explanation for everything, including tragedies, is ROMANS 8:28. "All things work together for good to those who love God, and who are 'The Called' according to His purposes." If you are a god or think you are God, read no further: why would another God trust the wisdom of God Almighty, when s/he insists everything must happen when and how s/he expects in this life? For believers, God's timing is best because He is both good and omniscient. God knows what's good for us, and this is hard for non-believers to accept. Humans are truly rather arrogant. Let me share a real life story, which I shared just last night with another wonderful writer here on WDC, named Maci Dragon Ma Butt. Sorry, I'm repeating. "No birth-parents truly sees any child as a mistake. My family & I attended a church on Sunday, that I usually go to when in town. The last time I saw this pastor was 3-4 months ago. Today, Father's Day, he preached on Blind Bartamaeus receiving his miracle of sight from Jesus, because of the blind man's faith (See Mark 10: 46ff). The pastor - let's call him SR - talked about his 11-year old daughter with CP (Cerebral Palsy). She has suffered much; both parents love Savannah so much, and pray for a miracle. But last week the doctor almost blurted out, 'What more can I do for this child. Now she has an open wound in her bottom, and she can't even sleep.' According to the pastor, a nurse was upset with the doctor & felt like slapping that negative doctor herself." The pastor remained focused on his prayer; the child was home for her birthday yesterday (Monday 06/19/2017). Savannah's parents wondered what their daughter thinks when she hears such negative and faith-less words from those around her. The pastor had become a bishop during these eleven years during which he helped hundreds of people, but, could not relieve the suffering of his second of two children, Savannah. I have prayed with him; I know he has struggles with faith, but expects God's will to be done. Yet he remains a pillar of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Life has struggles and some horrors brought on by people against persons and children, quite apart from the horrors of war. This should not mar our image of God, but it does. The BOOK OF JOB offers one perspective on Job's suffering (and ours) after Job fell from being the richest man alive, to one despised by former friends and family. His boils and blisters made him smell and look ugly, plus Job saw the death of all ten of his adult children in a freak storm! Yet Job did not blaspheme God, - until his friends blurted out that he must have done secret sins, to have brought this upon himself and his wife. Then JOB wanted a court room appearance before God to argue his case: he had followed all the scriptures & loved God. What JOB did not know, was that the devil had challenged God: will JOB still honor you when you take away all YOUR blessings from him? God bragged about Job's being the most righteous man on earth. God is never wrong. We have that biblical book to help us as we meditate on our problems, even today. The man Job did not have the Bible or even the Book with his name, to glean answers! God restored everything to Job at the end ... we have the same promise trusting in God's promises and His timing. It is not easy. It takes faith. But as I said before, it also takes faith to fly in an airplane that challenges gravity; it takes faith to believe there are 8 or 9 planets, that water is potable .... How often have disabled children or family members become blessings to so many other humans suffering on the planet? Wheel chairs, robotics for maimed soldiers, other inventions, and home services, have helped people and the American economy! Perhaps, if those who suffer much think of being soldiers for faith, their suffering will clearly have a purpose even here and now. Unless we expect God to come down every time and take care of the hospital patients, etc., we need the inspiration of humans caring for humans. Savannah's suffering made her dad - my pastor friend - more caring & compassionate, and a better bishop in his denomination. I am sure his "disabled" child taught him to be a better pastor & bishop. I know this pastor wants a miracle, not the death of this girl who is 11 today. Others may think it would be a blessing that a suffering child dies sooner rather than later. Let us slow down a bit: do we wish to exterminate all humans who are suffering so we can feel "better"? I don't think that's where we wish to go as a species. Happy Birthday to the family of Savannah; she is also "Jesus' child" with much to teach us. In God's time, Savannah may walk and talk and bring about a revival or love outpouring to God. God alone decides! shalom, shalom. Blessings of faith, forgiveness, & testimonies to His Goodness |
Time of the Gentiles (Part II by SOOKDEO, 06/19/2017) Yesterday’s post, on Father’s Day, saw me offer a summary post without any serious exegesis of Bible verses. So, I am making good the last post with more in-depth analysis and citations; read these posts of Sunday and Monday (6/19/2017) together for a more solid idea of the end-time. Let us begin with two quotations, one from each of the Testaments: “Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” - Jesus to His Disciples (Luke 21: 24) and “It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles” (Ezekiel 30:3) In the first scenario, when His disciples asked Jesus what the sign of His second coming would be, He told them that terrible and troubling times would prevail before His Second Coming. Jesus foretold about increasing religious deception in the world, natural disasters, disease and pestilence, religious persecution, revolutions and wars (Luke 21:7-17). A war would almost threaten to destroy Jerusalem and the Israelites (Israel, UK and USA). The war would culminate with Jerusalem being surrounded by “gentile” armies. Here He repeated what we have been saying in the last few blog posts: “Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” But Jesus will return in time to turn the tide in Israel's favor! Praise the Lord, Hallelujah! In our definition of “gentile” we have kept it simple until now, but the Hebrew term is “ethnic group and nations” or, specifically, goyim. “Gentile” for the Hebrew term was replaced in Jerome’s Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible in the fourth century. The Hebrew “goyim” first appears in Genesis 10:5 and means “peoples or nations” that were non-Israelite/non-Jewish. The Greek equivalent is “ethnos.” A more useful way of understanding “ethnos” and “goyim” is to think of those who are not descended from Isaac’s son, Jacob. After a life of deception and fear, Jacob was in the desert fleeing from his older brother (Esau) when he fought/wrestled with the Angel of the LORD all night, and let the Angel go at dawn only after Jacob got a blessing. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel (Genesis 32:28). So, our terminology indicates that those who are not Israelites are “gentiles,” or the goyim. St. Paul knew the ramifications of this term when he spoke to the first-century gentile Christians. While not of Israelite descent, they were now “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” because of their conversion (Ephesians 2:11, 19). God created all people of the same blood and with the same ultimate potential to be saved (Acts 17:26; 1 Timothy 2:4). He loves all people, but He chose to work first with the children of Israel, giving them knowledge and blessings so that they could become a model nation to help others come to God (Genesis 12 ff, even with the life of Joseph, slave in Egypt). As we saw in previous posts, Israel failed in its intended role, and Bible prophecy outlines how both the descendants of Israel and the other nations will eventually learn to obey God. When God delivered ancient Israel from Egypt (a gentile nation), He warned them that if they rejected and forsook God, He would allow them to be militarily overthrown and taken into captivity by pagans like Nebuchanezzar, or "gentiles". Israelites were often enticed to leave God because of wives or wealth; their foreign wives especially set the tone for idol worship. The Jews/Israelites were eventually taken away into captivity by the Assyrians and Babylonians around 721 BCE and 586 BCE, respectively. It is during this long period since Exile that the modern descendants of Israel will be dominated by foreign nations because of their rejection of Jesus Christ. Through the prophet Daniel, God said that it is He who allows certain people and nations to come into power (Daniel 4:17). And the apostle Paul told the philosophers of his day (on Mars Hill) that God has already planned when various empires or peoples rise and fall in “history,” or in God’s “time.” (See Acts 17:26). God is sovereign, and He elevates and humbles all people in His time, in their turn! The goal is to exalt His name and His Son and Spirit, and to save most of humanity from the fate waiting for us in hell. shalom-shalom/Blessings. SOOKDEO |
We generally sense there are overlaps between Judaism and Christians, especially those who consider themselves evangelical followers of Jesus of Nazareth. That is celebrated in Galatians by Paul, and in Isaiah 42 and in Romans 11. These Scriptures speak beautifully of the Gentiles being grafted into the Olive Tree (Israel/Judaism). Two thousand years ago, "time" and prophecies did not clarify there would be two advents of Jesus, two comings to earth. Not that we are wiser now, waiting for Jesus to return as a conquering King of Kings! In contrast to some Jews and Pharisees, the Greeks, Romans and Asians who accepted Jesus in the first centuries were simply not willing to be fools to reject the mighty God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was time to be grafted into the Promises of the Old Testament by the Jesus Way: to accept Jesus as the Messiah (John 3:16). Rahab, the Canaanite from Jericho, accepted God's intervention in Israel's life, and was spared by Joshua's wars of Entrance into Palestine, and Rahab and Salmon became parents of Boaz (who is a Jesus foreshadowing) the redeemer of Ruth's property and then Ruth's husband, though Ruth had been a Moabite widow! They bore Obed, grandfather of King David. This is the lineage that leads to Mary and Joseph, thereby showing how Jesus redeems us from our past of sin and condemnation, making us grafted into the Olive Tree. Some of Jesus' contemporaries who rejected Him might have accepted His earthly lineage through Mary and Joseph to King David, Israel's great and beloved King. But these doubters could not say why Jesus was born in a carpenter's home, and showed no accoutrements a royal leader: wealth, army and generals, palaces and challenging Roman rule over Palestine. But a careful reading of the Old Testament especially Isaiah, and the Messianic Psalms, for instance Psalm 22, speak of the "Suffering Messiah." The two comings of Jesus would have the first advent when He would suffer in His full humanity and pay for the sins of all who did and would accept Him as Savior, the hope for Israel and the world (John 3:16). In His second coming, Jesus would not look for a life from human womb to human tomb - He would be dazzling and resplendent, and strike fear in the very core of those beings who still deny Him as Son of God, and part of the Trinity! Isaiah 53 has painted one of the most convincing pictures of the Messiah Jews have been waiting for, and it may NOT be a chapter that is in every synagogue or Scripture for Jews today. This secret of Isaiah 53 and visions helped make Jesus followers of such Jewish Americans as Sid Roth, Jonathan Bernis, plus Rabbis Jonathan Cahn and K. A. Schneider since the 1970s, and these lead many Mesianic Jewish believers who accept Jesus as Messiah and LORD today. In the fullness of time, God restored Jews to the Holy Land, the present state of Israel, whose continuing successes in the hostile Middle East is a fulfillment of prophecies. Among the latter is the time is right for the rebuilding of the Third Temple in Jerusalem - again with untold anger from Muslims across the globe - which needs a false prophet and "prince" of Peace for making this happen. The peace treaty with Israel will be a 7-year agreement, led by a Gentile peacemaker, imitating Jesus. He will be exposed when he turns against Israel and its Temple in the middle of the 7-year Treaty. That will indeed be a moment when the "fullness of time" would have arrived. The evil in the world will be met by Jesus Himself in His Second Coming. Israel will be saved - though some prophecies say millions will perish in the events of the War of Armageddon, brought by the unholy trinity: false prophet, false peacemaker, and false spirit/"The Beast" of the final Book of the Bible (Revelation). Again,I do not spend much time on end-time prophecies, except reading "Revelation" as we are called to study the entire WORD/bible. What I showed above, today, is that Jewish and Christian understanding of the "fullness of time" relating to Jesus is coming closer than ever. This hearkens to the Seed of Abraham, and that all will be blessed who call Abraham their Patriarch and Father (See Genesis 12-22). Shalom, shalom and Blessings in Jesus' Wonderful Name. Maranatha, LORD! how Jesus continues to be relevant to all humanity, and now the Jewish faithful, |
Post Number 4 in "Time" by SOOKDEO: Does Christmas fit into the "fullness of time" concept? Yes, especially when we use Jesus's Hebrew name, Yeshua ha Meshiach. Jesus is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Some Jews made the connections, and became the first Christians. Only Luke is a Gentile (Greek or non-Jewish) name for the Books named in the Bible. The rest - except Acts, written by Luke also - are Jewish authors! The leaders of religious congregations - educated like Paul had been - refused to accept Jesus. For us, too, "the Christmas season is filled with excitement and joy — and busyness," writes David Holwerda, in his effort to refocus on Jesus and the fulfillment of prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus' incarnation. Holwerda goes on, "In the church, the Advent season lasts four weeks. This is a time to remember God’s coming to us and to wait in hopes of His coming again ... Advent is not about us filling our time full but rather about taking time to remember how God fills time full: “In the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son” (Gal. 4:4). Christmas is important not for economic reasons, but because Jesus’ birth reveals that the fullness of time has arrived." I am glad to quote this theologian now in June, rather than at Christmas and be called Mr. Scrooge. Matthew the former tax-collector was an important person that Jesus recruited as a disciple; he was meticulous in record-keeping. He wrote one of the four Gospel accounts, a veritable word-picture of Jesus Christ. Unlike John and Mark who do not include bloodlines, Matthew does connect Jesus back to King David and Abraham. This and Luke's genealogy of Jesus take us to the beginning of humanity race in Adam (Luke 3:23–37) or to the father of the Jews and of Israel in Abraham and David (Matt. 1:1–17). God was preparing for the "time" when Jesus would incarnate in the family of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem. Hence "In the fullness of time," also applies to the very appearance of Jesus on earth (Yesterday, I applied this Hebrew time-concept to humans as potential heirs of Abraham and sons of the Most High God). Holwerda shows how God rules over human history and shaped the history of the nations, including the dominance of the Roman Empire that had an impact on Israel and on the spread of the Gospel by the early Christian church. This was a part of God’s preparation, for God uses the history of the nations to achieve His Plan for us. He adds, "However, in Scripture 'the fullness of time' points in a different direction. Here the fullness of time is determined by the unfulfilled promises God had given to Old Testament Israel, promises filled with hope for future blessing and peace. God had even set a time for the fulfillment of these promises (Hab. 2:3), although He had not revealed that time to anyone, not even to the prophets (1 Peter 1:10–12). Waiting for that fullness of time required centuries of patience because God works according to His own calendar and measures time differently than we: “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8 NASB). When the angels announced the birth of Christ with their tidings of peace (Luke 2:14), God declared that His promises were now being fulfilled. The apostle Paul interprets this fullness of time as the time when God’s people could at last claim their promised inheritance. Prior to this time they were like minor children but now in Christ as mature children they had received the full rights to their promised inheritance (Gal. 4:1–7). In a similar way, Jesus declared at the opening of His public ministry: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mark 1:15 NASB). Matthew's Genealogy: 14 Names + 14 Names + 14 Names A cursory reading of the Testaments will give us a warped idea about what purpose genealogy serves in the Bible. Matthew does not include every ancestor from Abraham down to Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Some names are excluded because they had been cursed: God is meticulous that cursed Patriarchs do not get honor in later chapters of the Scripture, which we believe, was supervised by the Holy Spirit (Of God). Matthew's first chapter demonstrates how God is sovereign at all times, and over all nations, and families. "Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus divides the history of Israel into three periods: from Abraham to King David, from King David to the exile, and from the exile to the birth of Jesus (Matt. 1:2–16). Because God had given promises to Abraham and David that had not yet been fulfilled, the birth of Jesus reveals that the fullness of time had come. Jesus is the son of Abraham and the son of David in whom God’s covenant promises are fulfilled. Why is Jesus’ descent from Abraham also included, one might ask, since he was not a king as was David. Abraham is a Patriarch whose very name is utilized to illustrate both faith and blessings (Genesis Chapter 12). We often say we worship the God of Abraham (or of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). "Israel’s history began when God called Abraham and established His covenant with Abraham and his descendants. God promised not only to bless Abraham and make of him a great nation, but also that all the families of the earth would be blessed in Abraham ...." Here, Israel is not mentioned, because the name would come two generations later, when Jacob would be renamed by God, "Israel" - the One who struggles with God. But Genesis 12 promises blessings to the entire race of humanity through Abraham's blessings! "Israel had failed to understand that God had chosen and blessed her to be a light to the nations (Isa. 42:6). Often she chose to keep God’s blessings to herself rather than share them with other nations (the lesson of Jonah)." But God, in the fullness of time, worked through all the disobedience and idolatry even of Israel and its many kings (After Solomon Israel was divided into Northern and Southern Kingdoms, based on tribes, with the hated Samarians/Samaria in the middle). "Matthew’s genealogy declares that Jesus is God’s answer to Israel’s history of disobedience, failure, and exile. Jesus comes as the true descendant (seed) of Abraham through whom Israel and all nations will be blessed. Now in this fullness of time all who believe in Jesus become the children of Abraham and share in the promised blessings (Gal. 3:16, 26–29). Similarly, Jesus declares: “many shall come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 8:11). Through Jesus, people from every nation will share in the blessings promised to Abraham and his descendants. God is faithful. He does what He promised to do. With the coming of Jesus, God’s appointed time reached its fullness." I have used excerpts above to reinforced the previous lessons about how Hebrew time is different than the Greek/Western ideas about time. Shalom, shalom/Blessings. SOOKDEO |
June Blog #3 (06/16/2017) Today, I want to connect this pregnant and beautiful term, “Fullness of Time” with the Person of Jesus Christ. After all, the connection with events that impact a nation or peoples (Jesus’ coming did!), is how Old Testament time, or the Hebrew concept of “time,” contrasts with our Western (Greek) heritage of “marking time” as in recording minutes, hours, or years and centuries. This connection will be illustrated by a Bible reference to the Letter Paul wrote to the church in Galatia, especially chapters 3 and 4. The one major theme in these chapters of Galatians is that in the “fullness of time,” all those who accept Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior, become heirs of Abraham and those great promises made to him by God. Again, God, as it were, saw time as events stringed together to crown a major event: that of His highest creation, as in human beings, turning from the created things to His Spirit (Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit). Before this happened, we were immature, and worse, minors who did not understand or even care for the great inheritance we had when we would (someday) come of age. The verses, below, make sense when we keep in mind this analogy: a six year-old only child will inherit the wealthy parents, car (Jaguar; Porsche) and businesses, but at six, s/he cannot drive the car which is his/her's, by right, while a servant enjoys being the chauffeur. At 18 or 21, the child takes over! Galatians 4 (in the Authorized King James Version) 4 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2 but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4 but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11 I am afraid of [for] you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. 16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. 17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. 19 Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. 20 A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one. 21 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Mature Persons (in Faith) May Become Children of God 23 Before the coming of this faith [when Jesus revealed His way, the New Covenant] we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian." Again, the above spells out in more detail what, in biblical terms, is the fullness of time. When we have been prepared to come into our birthright, with full confidence, we no longer need RELIGION - a set of rules & laws. Of course, we still obey the laws (or traffic ordinances) whether as passengers or as drivers! We call this "renewing the mind," so that we start thinking as Jesus did, with love and compassion taking precedence over the letter of the law. "26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Before Jesus was born and began to teach on earth, we (humans) were under the curse (as seen in laws anywhere, even the Law) because every rule told a story that someone had violated an expected standard! In the “fullness of time, we were offered return to God’s holiness and righteousness through faith (in a worthy object of faith, Jesus). It is the righteousness (return to holiness we had before Adam fell) that was promised to Abraham and anticipated throughout history that has now come in the fullness of time. The result is that we are all children of God through faith, the actual seed of Abraham and heirs of the promise, and no human distinctions – tribe of any sort – can separate us from the unity we enjoy in the Trinity, through Christ. Everything in the Old Testament pointed to coming of faith to supplant the law in Jesus (the Messiah, even sung in Psalms, especially the Suffering Messiah by David in Psalm 22, or Isaiah, especially 53). Time, for God and the ancient Hebrews, was focused on the arrival of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) and removal of the curse that is recorded in Genesis 3. Among these are the woman would bear children in “pain and labor,” and that man would struggle with the earth to make a living, and then the painful beauty in Genesis 3:15, the prediction of the end: Genesis 3:14-15 (AKJV) 14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. At the instant God created everything, this Plan of Redemption of humankind, was integrated fully. The fall and the Cross were not surprises to God. The whole point about Old Testament time is really to fulfill Genesis 3:15. At just the right time, God sent his Son into the world. The time of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection is the time of completeness - a time when God fulfilled the promises of the Old Testament. This redemption will be completed (consummated, in rich meaning of the Bible) at the second coming of Christ Jesus, as a conquering King, and LORD of all Lords. Hallelujah (Shalom, shalom and later tonight: Shabat Shalom to our Elder siblings in the Lord, the Seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel). amen |
| For Bard's Hall Contest: "The Bard's Hall Contest" When a student of any Church, or of Jesus Christ, meditates on the start and end of things, s/he will enter a confusing maze called "Time." Such diligent students may recall that Daniel had prophesied almost exactly how the world would end, and in part used the Jewish calendar and time in a different way than we, Moderns, do. For Daniel - and for the Old Testament, generally - a week "means" more than the seven days in solar-and-clock determined time we know. A day, may, in Daniel and in other biblical references mean a 24-hour period, or a "week" and even, "One Thousand Years"! So the specific Scripture being read, or type of biblical writing, as well as the subject under discussion, and other contextual facts, will help us figure out what "time unit/s" are being mentioned. The interpretation of "time" - or biblical exegesis - must be consistent with the single book being reviewed, and consonant with the entire canon/Bible. (I will not disappoint readers by withholding my perspective on "time" in eschatology: I agree with scholars who say the Earth is about 6-10,000 years old, and that around 3,500 years after Abraham, the world will be destroyed by fire. We will need to use the Old Testament calendar & Jewish feasts to reckon this eschatology. Daniel's timeline is to follow in tomorrow's post). Some of us may rightly connect "time" with the other scientific concept - that of "space." Also, time is usually spoken of by humans in reference to some "change." A simple example might illustrate my point. If I should sit in a chair all night and neither the light nor my body changed, it might be that I was still in the first second of activity/observation. Time will be noticed by me (in my chair) if something in me (hunger, fatigue) or in the "light" and environment, changed. See, below, for how those who are hospitalized with comas or mental problems, measure time in these sort of ways, perceived almost exclusively with reference to change. "Season" of life is perhaps more than a poetic metaphor, because it is a real reckoning of time in the world of faithful believers! In the Bible, saying a man or woman was "old" did not always mean s/he could not conceive children, nor would s/he forgo having other spouses! "Old' is an event, as real as entering and leaving Egypt, not strictly a 'location' in time ,or change. Ronnie Littlejohn says "The Book of Ecclesiastes is unique among books of the Bible, and especially the Old Testament, in presenting anything like a direct statement on time (Eccl. 3:1-8) ... But though this familiar passage says there is a season and a time for everything under heaven, it certainly does not tell us what the nature of time is; nor does it respond to the other questions philosophers in Western history have advanced." As to the difference between the Greek or Western mindset/worldview with that of the Old Testament Hebrews, it is that "time" for the people of God initially focused on God's action or interventions in human affairs! Professor Littlejohn adds, "The Hebrew mind thought in concrete terms and did not engage in the sort of abstract speculation" we associate with Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, or even major Church Fathers like Thomas Aquinas. Littlejohn says, "Understanding the Hebrew view of time requires that we do some detective work. Since there is no passage in the Old Testament that speaks about time, we must find out what the Hebrews thought about time by taking a more indirect approach. When we study the Old Testament, we find that time is derivative for the Hebrews. That is, the understanding of time in the Old Testament came from how it described the events of human life and God's interaction with people. For example, time was measured from harvest and agricultural occurrences. Ruth and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest (Ruth 1:22). Or, time was referenced to the sacred events of God's interaction in Israel's history." Time for believers might be said to be a record of what God is doing in my/our lives, not something abstract as we, Moderns, generally assume for "time." There is no general term that means "time in the abstract" in the Old Testament, and special terms for past, present, and future, do not arise or convey static concepts that we might expect. In fact, so called "third world time" might better approximate biblical time than cell-phone and clock-referenced time. Ronnie Littlejohn also observed, "The most common [Hebrew] word for 'time' means the moment or point at which something happened, or will happen, for example, 'Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will send a very heavy hail' (Ex. 9:18)" Scholars like Littlejohn have noted that there is great irony in that "the Greek notion of time [sometimes] leads us down many philosophical dead ends and into many practical problems ...." He refers to the famed British scientist, Stephen Hawking, who is the author of the book, A Brief History of Time. In the view of Littlejohn (and myself as historian), "the word history refers to something that has endured for some period in time. This implies that time has endured in time, which has endured in time, which has endured in time, and so on. This is going down a dead end. Such a paradox would not occur to the Hebrews because, for them, things did not happen 'in time.' Things happened and the happenings were time ... The Hebrews had no idea that there could be life and experience without time. For them, life was time, or better 'to live was time.'" We all know that someone who is confined to a mental institution does not live and experience time as we do. Such people may not be conscious of time in exactly the way we would describe schedules, appointments, weekends, boredom, waiting, philosophizing ... if a "deranged" patient "lives" at all, it is clearly for and during those moments when a loved one visits! So Genesis establishes that God is outside time; time is God's creation linked to other aspects of His Creation "week." Indeed, a serious reader of Genesis discovers that God's day and night measurement existed without the Sun and solar system. God created light on the first "day," a 24-hour period, as scholars agree. Yes, creation did take six days, and the earth itself came only on Day #3, but the sun, moon, and our solar system were created on Day #4. We writers and poets agree with the God of the Bible in at least this truth: telling stories is a way of measuring and recording time, and people's ages and lives. REFERENCE: Ronnie Littlejohn is Professor of Philosophy, Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee. (pp. 53-56. Biblical Illustrator, Winter 1999-2000, Nashville). senryu Christ came and touched me my life began - dead the old - new seasons, new wine |
| Time, we said, is different in the Bible (Old and New Testaments) than our more philosophical view of this concept. The Western mind fixes time in space almost always, and conceives of a threefold division of time into Past, Present, and Future. The New Testament may, in places, approach some of these ways of thought, especially since it was written in Greek, although Aramaic does feature in some of its creeds, people's names (Cephas, Dorcas, Bonarges) and prayers. But in the Hebrew worldview, time is especially reckoned in God's interventions in human affairs, and especially His "appearing" in Israel's destiny. In other words, time is rarely an independent construct, but a dependent one, on what happens (an event) and how it impacts other people and Israel. Again, think of a wife in a typical Third World nation. She does not think of her day minute by minute, and how she is "overworked" caring for her husband and his family. She may not dwell so much on sex, either. But she looks forward to marking her TIME on earth, by bearing a child. If the child is a male, she is especially thankful to God for the blessings and security a male brings. (We, Moderns, may wish to reject this on the surface, but how many women in America today, would prefer at least one son, especially if she could have only one child?). My example of a Third World, non sophisticated wife helps point to how for the Hebrews, the major life events marked time, especially how events affected the family and society, not as "selfishly" focused on one's mind, emotions, and marriage in a nuclear-family sense. In Israel's story (time), prophecy played an important role in reckoning time, especially when we factor in the exile experiences of the Hebrews. This brings us back to Daniel. Hebrew and prophet, Daniel, who accurately predicted the fall of the Babylonian Empire (where he was a slave) also predicted the rise of the Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman Empires. In his prayers made looking toward Jerusalem - even from exile - Daniel knew he was almost at the last few years of the 70-year Babylonian exile. Then the angel Gabriel appears to Daniel in chapter 9 of the biblical book by that name, and gives a full prophecy of the end times, expressed in "weeks." This is where the wonderful and confusing, "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city ... "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem [by Cyrus of Persia, confirmed in 521 BCE by Darius] ... there will be seven 'sevens' and sixty-two 'sevens'" said Gabriel (Book of Daniel 9: 20-27). What has the above to do with Israel, with the present state of the world, and the "fullness of the time of the Gentiles." More on the latter in my third post (tomorrow) but suffice it to say the "fullness" refers to the complete periods under which Israel and Jerusalem will be under the control of non-Jews. While Danile was thinking his prayers led him to think within 2-3 years (Chapter 9) his people would rebuild the Temple and usher in the Age of the Messiah (Messianic Kingdom), Gabriel said it was more like 70 X 7, which equals 490 years! Of course, I cannot go into a detailed discussion, here, about when seven indicates a week, and when it means "70 years," I suggest scholars study words like "Shavuot" and 'Shavuim" and the various contextual clues for exegetical methods. We know, today, Israel/Jews do not fully control Jerusalem. Daniel's prophecy suggests this will likely happen soon, especially after an anti-Christ leader-type makes a seven year Peace Treaty with Israel and many nations. This treaty and false utopia will be violated by the anti-Christ's desecration of the new Temple midway in the seven year peace period. The "fullness of time" will inform readers that it has to do with big events, not a watch and clock measuring time: I raise more questions in this post rather than present answers. I do not predict anything with specific dates, for greater men and women have become false prophets doing that! I am more interested in having readers understand how nations and cultures other than our own, see and reckon time. Even the phrase "RECKON TIME" is packed with more meaning than meets the eye on first reading. More later ... Shalom, shalom! |
 Log in to Leave Feedback |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
