Edition 58. 7th November 2010
In this edition:
●Summary of pointers towards the Lord's coming
News:
Jerusalem Post launches new "Christian edition"
●This new monthly edition is a response to the "love shown the Jews by many Christians" The editors say: "It is our hope and wish that Christians and Jews get a lot closer together." The Jerusalem Post is a respected, but secular newspaper. It is now going to facilitate this hope. The latest edition runs this story: "Could Zionist Christians be the lost tribes of Israel" It's a powerful story!
●I will be presenting the Jerusalem Post editor with material for this new, exciting publication.
Summary of signs of our Lord's coming
With so much information on the coming of our Lord scattered in many editions, It's appropriate to do a summary of all the major points in one edition, so here we go. (I've added some new material as well.)
Isaiah 33:6 "Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of your times and the strength of your salvation. The fear of the Lord is His treasure." The original word used here for 'stability' comes from the root word for a gyro. In the old days they had big gyros (flywheels) in the hull of ships. They would start these gyros spinning and waves or storms could come from either side, and the ship would stay on course. It is wisdom and knowledge of God's word that will keep us stable and on course through the intense storms that are coming.
Much more important than knowing all the ins and outs of prophecy is knowing our Lord and being known by Him!
Can we trust Prophecy?
Yes we can, but more than that, prophecy speaks to the authenticity of the scriptures in a larger sense as well.
There is an absolutely astounding aspect to number in scripture. People are still finding more and more of these incredible intricacies in the Bible. The Bible was originally written in three alpha-numeric languages. This means that the letters of the alphabet also have numeric values. So you can add up the numeric value of a word. Numbers also have meanings in the scriptures. For example 1 is unity 2 is division 3 is trinity 4 is the world 5 is grace 6 is man under sin 7 is spiritual perfection 8 is resurrection 13 is rebellion and so on.
Every single title for our Messiah in the Bible adds up a multiple of 8. Every single name of the enemies of God in the Bible adds up to a multiple of 13. There are many thousands of others. The bottom line is that these point to the fact that the Bible is miraculous and supernatural. The mathematical odds of this being coincidence are monumental. More on this in edition 13
Prophecy itself also speaks of the veracity of the scriptures. All of the prophecies of the Old Testament fulfilled in Old Testament times were fulfilled 100% literally with not one miss. All of the prophecies of the Old Testament fulfilled in the new were also fulfilled in the same manner. Some were very detailed like all of those of the coming Messiah.
All of the New Testament prophecies fulfilled in this era were also fulfilled exactly. The most important ones here relate to Israel becoming a nation again and Jerusalem being restored to the Jews.
If prophecy was fulfilled literally and exactly in time and space then obviously the remaining prophecies will be fulfilled in the same manner.
Those who claim that the Bible (including prophecy) is all open to interpretation and allegorical have no answer for this.
You are gambling against immeasurable odds if you reject the literal meaning and message of prophecy.
Our Messiah is coming soon:
Many have set dates for the coming of the Lord and missed. We are commanded to look for the coming of our Lord and to know the signs. If a date setter gets it wrong, what have you lost? Nothing at all. I would rather look and be wrong than not look at all and be blind to the signs! There are some whose date setting material has been very superficial, but others who have put much prayerful work into their analysis. They were wrong on the date, but they caused me to give their view serious consideration.
The big things is...what if one of the views is correct? Think about those words for a moment!
The problem with setting any exact date is that there are different calendars and time frames out there. We have the Jewish calendar which had a 360 day year and the Gregorian calendar which has a 365 day year.
So which do we use? And then there are leap years to take into consideration. And then do we factor in the fact that both calendars have been changed along the way? Can you see the problem?
But there is a very easy way of cutting through all the variables.
Our Lord says that He will return during the generation that sees Israel become a nation again. The Bible declares in Psalm 90:10 that a generation is 70-80 years long. The most agreed upon consensus is 70 years. Israel became a nation in 1948, so if we add 70 to that we come to 2018. Then we have to subtract 7 years for the tribulation period, which brings us to 2011 for the start of the tribulation and rapture (if you believe in it).
Now, if we use the 360-day calendar then the end of the 70-year generation after Israel's birth will be 2016. Come forward 7 years for the tribulation comes to 2009! We are most certainly not in the tribulation period now, so this view is wrong. (If we use the 80-year generation, it's still way ahead)
There are numerous other views out there of how long a generation is, so it's difficult to be 100% sure which one is right. One of them is right! Anyway, who cares, the main ones are near enough! Of course it's nice to know as much as our Lord permits us to know, but really, the actual day is not the most important issue. Getting, and being ready is!
Having said that there is a very strong possibility that the tribulation will begin on a the feast of trumpets in 2011. (See edition 41 for more) if not, I will continue to look, watch and be ready. (Note I said possibility!)
What to look for:
There are two comings of the Lord. One for His church and one back to the earth with His church to set up the Millennium. The great majority of the prophecies relating to the second coming of Our Messiah fall in the seven year tribulation period. It's important though to realise that some of these events will have forerunners or "birth pangs"
It's important to know what to look for in regard to the coming of all these events.
There is one single big thing. Israel is Gods time clock. It's not the stars or planetary alignments or some stupid Mayan calendar...its Israel. Everything hinges on and centres around Israel Jerusalem and the Jewish people. Yes there are many other signs of the times, but Israel is the clock.
The main signs that will occur shortly before the coming of the Lord
These are some of the main prophecies I've dealt with in previous editions:
●The birth of the nation of Israel in a day in 1948 and the return of Jerusalem to the Jews in 1967. This is found in many prophecies of the Old and New Testaments. (Isaiah 66:7-8, Amos 9:14-15, Matthew 24:32.)
●The final generation of this era begins with Israel's birth in 1948. (A Biblical generation being 70 years in length (Psalm 90:10; Luke 21:29-32)
●The re-gathering of the Jews to their land, also called the second exodus. (Jeremiah 23:7-8; 31:10)
●The return of the Jews to their land, in spiritual blindness at first. (Isaiah 42:16; Romans 11:25)
●The lifting of the veil of spiritual blindness, once in the land. (Ezekiel 37:11-14; 39:29, Isaiah 35:5)
●The rebirth of the "pure" Hebrew language to Israel before the coming of the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:23; Zephaniah 3:9-13)
●The start of nature's upheavals or "birth pangs" including intensifying weather events, famine and much more.(Matthew 24:8)
●The divided church comes against Israel, gets cut off, before it joins up with the false prophet and antichrist.(Romans 11:22-25)
●The love of many believers grows cold. (Matthew 24:12; 2Timothy 4:3)
●This time period begins to resemble the "days of Noah" (Matthew 24:37)
●Many believers will be offended at the truth and betray one another. (Matthew 24:10)
●In these latter times believers will depart from the faith giving heed to deception. (1Timothy 4:1)
●Perilous times come, savage wolves draw many away to themselves in deception. (Acts 20:27-29; 2 Timothy 4:3)
●Last days scoffers come against prophecy (2 Peter3:3-4; Jude 18)
●A large part of the church becomes lukewarm ahead of it being "spat out" (Revelation 3:16)
●The great apostasy of the church begins.(2Thesselonians 2:3)
●The true church grows in glory and deeper commitment to our Lord, His work and His word. (Ephesians 5:27)
●The gospel preached around the world. (Matthew 24:14)
●Israel singled out for intense persecution including major wars. (Ezekiel 38, 39; Ezekiel 22:20; Psalm 83:4)
●Collapse of the world economy in preparation for a world currency and control system. (Revelation 13:17)
●Technology at the level for the monetary control-system of the "beast." (Daniel 12:4)
●Formation of a world political, religious and economic order ahead satanic control. (Daniel 7:16-24; Revelation 13:1-2)
●Palestinians (Arabs) try to take the land of Israel. (Ezekiel 36:2; Zephaniah 2:8-11)
●The rise of Islamic militancy.(Psalm 83:4; Ezekiel 25:13-17; 28:25; 35:5-15)
●The rise of Russia for its fateful war with Israel (Gog and Magog) Ezekiel 38
●China has an army of 200 million ahead of its end time role. (Revelation 16:12)
●The world's road-map to peace in which the land of Israel is divided and Jerusalem is divided, brings war.(Joel 3:1-2; Zechariah 12:2-3)
●Conflict over the land of Israel and judgement on Israel's enemies (Mica 7:8-10; Ezekiel 28:25)
●Temple reconstruction on the Mount. (Daniel 9:27; Amos 9:11-12; Acts 15:16; 2Thessalonians 2:1-4; Isaiah 2:1-3; Zechariah 1:15; Hosea 6:2-9; Isaiah 56:7)
●The arising of the Messianic Movement and Christian Zionism. (Those who will stand with Israel.) Matthew 10:6; Ezekiel 3:17; Isaiah 52:8; 62:6-7)
●End of 6000 years of Adamic era. (That is 6000 years of generational chronology from Adam to now, but excludes the pre-Adamic world.)
Who is this soon coming Messiah?
He is not some gentle Jesus that you can bring down to your level. He is returning as the God of the universe, all creation and every atom of your being. He is the supreme judge of all and has the keys of heaven and hell. He is a jealous God and a consuming fire.
Before He created the heavens He was. He holds the universe together with His word. He is entirely Holy. His Kingdom is eternal. He is the Prince of Peace, the King of all kings, Lord of all lords, King of glory, the King of the Jews. He is the beginning and end of all things. All will fear and fall before Him, for some too late. His Kingdom will never be destroyed. He is the one who gave you your life, for His purposes and plans. His word is supreme, the highest of all words. He is the One and only way to salvation.
If you do not bow before this Great God now, you will later on at the Great White Judgement in shame, regret, weeping and wailing, but it will be too late.
All arguments against Him will cease in His presence. All the opinions of the world and all it's evil ways will be silenced and destroyed by our King of holiness. Glory, majesty, holiness, peace and victory are the characteristics of the future.
Summary:
The prophecy jigsaw puzzle is falling into place rapidly painting a clear picture. Only some can see it. Too many, like in the days of Noah, couldn't care less. In fact that itself is an amazing end time prophecy.
In these days of prophetic fulfilment, we need to be ready in heart and be prepared with Spirit-led knowledge. Amazingly very few churches these days preach or teach on these subjects, just at the time they should be! They are preparing their flocks to be lukewarm to the things of God and on fire for materialism and the things of the world.
It all begins and ends with God's work in the promised land, and with the people of promise and the city of Jerusalem. There are far too many ducks lining up in a row now for it all to be coincidence.
This really is the most exciting time to be alive. We have purpose, meaning, hope and a deep inner peace in these dangerous, perilous days!
Hebrews 9:28 "To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time."
Hebrews 10:25 "Exhort one another, so much more as you see the Day approaching."
Matthew 16:3 "You hypocrites, you know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times."
Isaiah 62:1 For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation burns as a lamp."
Heaven or hell:
Shock and awe is coming. When you stand before the soon coming saviour of the world with the keys of hell in His hands, what will be the expression on your face? Will be shocked like never before? A great many will be shocked in disbelief, but it will be too late. Disbelief should have been belief in our Lord and exclusive salvation through the cross of Christ
When you stand before the King of the universe soon, will it be with too-late tears of regret or tears of unspeakable joy as our God welcomes you into His kingdom? I can't imagine the shock and regret that will befall all the unsaved! The only way to stand before our great God and King with confidence is by bowing down to Him now.
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This is a Gustave Dore woodcut representing Joseph revealing himself to his brothers. What incredible drama this event must have been. Much more dramatic than this is the soon coming recognition by the Jews of their own Jewish Messiah, Yeshua /Jesus
Kind regards and many blessings...Shalom and grow in grace!
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