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PART TWO

Globalism and God’s Opposition

As you open to the first chapter of the Bible and then read it to its last book, you see God’s opposition to globalism. On the other hand, Satan’s plan as the prince of this world is bringing the world system into a cohesive, homogenous whole. These two ideas combat each other in the Bible and so world history as part of the conflict of the ages between God and Satan.

Early, Satan could think he’s got all of mankind against God. Adam and Eve take his bait in the garden. God says in essence, Not so fast. But everything is ruined by Genesis 3. It was two people, a small group, but Satan angled for their alignment with him against God.

Biblical, Historical Markers

Some simple historical markers against globalism are (1) the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel. Before the global flood (Genesis 6-9), mankind banded together and only eight people stood against that. On the other side of the flood, the same situation began to repeat at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), so God confused the languages. In line with this outcome is the statement in Genesis 10:25, “And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided.”

Another perhaps less considered aspect of God ordained division on the earth is (2) the reality and history of plate tectonics. Biblical evidence shows that all the land was once connected (Genesis 1:9). Both secular and Christian geologists agree that what are several continents look to fit like a jig-saw puzzle. At one time these several continents were one big continent. These divisions of land provide natural separations that long time impeded globalism.

Acts 17:26 reveals that (3) God founded nations on the earth:

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Rise, Fall of Nations and Boundaries

God determined the rise and fall of nations and the boundaries where they would live. After man’s fall, God intended boundaries that separated men from one another. Genesis 10 records the first ever table of nations that chronicles the fulfillment of God having done this. Genesis 10:5 says:

By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

God also started the separate nation Israel (2 Samuel 7:23):

And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?

Genesis 18:18 says:

Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

Each nation functions under the following axiomatic truth expressed by God in Psalm 33:12:

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

Globalism Ends the World

First World and the Next

Just like the first world ended with globalism, the next world will end with globalism. The Book of Revelation calls the Antichrist, the final one world leader in opposition to God, “the Beast.” Revelation 13:3 says about that world:

And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

He will draw the whole world together around him and his and Satan’s plan. Revelation 13:8 continues:

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him,, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Satan Wants Globalism

Concerning Satan’s part in this, Revelation 12:9 says:

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

He will deceive the whole world.

The hunger and thirst for globalism dovetails with the purpose of Satan and the future Antichrist. One of the ways the Antichrist can succeed at this complete cohesion and convergence of the whole world is by controlling everything economic. Revelation 13:17 says:

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Eliminating Boundaries to Globalism

This requires a common currency, probably a digital one in a cashless society. Anyone who will not succumb to globalism under the Antichrist will not buy or sell. More than ever economy exists across national boundaries. Whatever you may say about the United States relationship with China, much of what you buy probably still comes from there.

The globalists oppose nationalism. They continue to strive to break down the boundaries and barriers. This occurs through the media, communication, and finance. The state schools teach this globalist agenda.

Social media eliminates boundaries and crisscrosses the world. Companies are worldwide. Just three companies, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta, control half of the advertising market and revenue for the whole world. Five Big Tech companies dominate business, adding to the previous three, Apple and Microsoft. The five account for 25% of the entire S & P 500. Like Big Tech dominates, just three companies dominate investment banking: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and J. P. Morgan.

Almost every religious denomination now reduces doctrine and practice to its lowest common denominator, endeavoring to diminish the differences that divide. Whatever does differentiate is minimized. Agree to disagree.

Rather than have biblical doctrine guide people, it’s instead a common experience. Church growth depends more on relationships and shared activities.

More to Come

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Saints and Revelation 6:17

January 5, 2024 / 8 Comments on The Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Saints and Revelation 6:17

Does Revelation 6:17 support, or undermine, a pre-Tribulation Rapture of the saints? We have considered other Rapture positions in relation to passages in the book of Revelation in other posts on this blog. Consider the context:

Rev. 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

Rev. 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

Rev. 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Rev. 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

Rev. 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

Rev. 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Rev. 6:12 Καὶ εἶδον ὅτε ἤνοιξε τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν ἕκτην, καὶ ἰδού, σεισμὸς μέγας ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ ἥλιος ἐγένετο μέλας ὡς σάκκος τρίχινος, καὶ ἡ σελήνη ἐγένετο ὡς αἷμα,

Rev. 6:13 καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔπεσαν εἰς τὴν γῆν, ὡς συκῆ βάλλει τοὺς ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς, ὑπὸ μεγάλου ἀνέμου σειομένη.

Rev. 6:14 καὶ οὐρανὸς ἀπεχωρίσθη ὡς βιβλίον εἱλισσόμενον, καὶ πᾶν ὄρος καὶ νῆσος ἐκ τῶν τόπων αὐτῶν ἐκινήθησαν.

Rev. 6:15 καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, καὶ οἱ μεγιστᾶνες, καὶ οἱ πλούσιοι, καὶ οἱ χιλίαρχοι, καὶ οἱ δυνατοί, καὶ πᾶς δοῦλος καὶ πᾶς ἐλεύθερος, ἔκρυψαν ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὰ σπήλαια καὶ εἰς τὰς πέτρας τῶν ὀρέων,

Rev. 6:16 καὶ λέγουσι τοῖς ὄρεσι καὶ ταῖς πέτραις, Πέσετε ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς, καὶ κρύψατε ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου·

Rev. 6:17 ὅτι ἦλθεν ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ μεγάλη τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τίς δύναται σταθῆναι;

Rapture / Tribulation Views and Revelation 6:17: Wrath “is come” means what?

Some opponents of the pre-Tribulation Rapture argue from Revelation 6:17 that the wrath of God has not started yet; after all, the verse says that the “great day of His wrath” is only come now at this point, and this is the sixth seal. Thus, they would say, God’s wrath does not come with the start of the Tribulation, but only here, with the sixth seal, and so a “pre-wrath” Rapture, or maybe, if this is the midpoint of the Tribulation, a “mid-Trib” Rapture here, or perhaps, if one distorts the sequence of events in the book of Revelation so that the seals, bowls, and vials are not sequential (although they actually are), even a post-Trib Rapture. What do you think?

Note that the verb translated “is come” in Revelation 6:17 is ἦλθεν, a 3^rd singular 2^nd aorist active indicative of ἔρχομαι, “to come” or “to go.” What would we expect for an aorist in terms of the time of the action? The most common use, at least, is that the action would have started in the past: “Generally, the aorist looks at an action as a whole and does not tell us anything about the precise nature of the action (constative)” (Basics of Biblical Greek, WIlliam Mounce, chapter 22; note that this blog post is an adjusted devotional that I prepared for my Greek students as we were studying chapter 22 on the aorist in Mounce’s grammar). A constative aorist-the most common category for the aorist–would support God’s wrath starting earlier in the chapter, before the sixth seal, namely, at the first seal at which the Tribulation began. However, there is also a rare category called a “proleptic” aorist, which could suggest that the wrath here had not yet started but was only about to begin now; maybe the aorist here is proleptic, leaving room for anti-pre-Tribulation Rapture views?

In response, we should first consider that the constative aorist, the aorist for summary past action, is much more common than a proleptic aorist. The English “whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:30) certainly shows that an “-ed” verb in English can be used for something that is yet future, because it is so certain to God, but how often do we speak that way in English, in comparison to using the past tense to describe an event that is actually in the past? Thinking that the aorist here portrays an action that has already started before this point is the natural assumption. To assume that God has not yet started to pour out His wrath in the first five seals (even though things like ¼ of the world’s population dying have already taken place—that is like every single person in North and South America suddenly dropping dead–But is that God’s wrath? Oh no—of course not!) is an unnatural assumption.

We also need to consider who is speaking. Revelation 6:17 is not a statement that God makes; it is not a statement a holy angel makes; it is one the unregenerate earth-dwellers make, the same people who say things like “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:4). If we concede that wicked and unregenerate mankind now begins to understand that God’s wrath is being poured out, that does not mean that this point is when His wrath actually begins; as those who did not have all their thoughts set on God, they did not see His wrath in the famines, the plagues, the Antichrist, the wars, the death all around—but the first six seals actually already were God’s wrath, although wicked men did not see it.

Revelation 6:17: The “Come” verb in Revelation 6

Note as well an important tie-in with the same verb,erchomai, earlier in the chapter:

Rev. 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see

Rev. 6:1 Καὶ εἶδον ὅτε ἤνοιξε τὸ ἀρνίον μίαν ἐκ τῶν σφραγίδων, καὶ ἤκουσα ἑνὸς ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ζώων λέγοντος, ὡς φωνῆς βροντῆς, Ἔρχου καὶ βλέπε.

Rev. 6:3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

Rev. 6:3 Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξε τὴν δευτέραν σφραγῖδα, ἤκουσα τοῦ δευτέρου ζώου λέγοντος, Ἔρχου καὶ βλέπε.

Rev. 6:5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

Rev. 6:5 Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξε τὴν τρίτην σφραγῖδα, ἤκουσα τοῦ τρίτου ζώου λέγοντος, Ἔρχου καὶ βλέπε, καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδού, ἵππος μέλας, καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπ’ αὐτῷ ἔχων ζυγὸν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ.

Rev. 6:7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

Rev. 6:7 Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξε τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν τετάρτην, ἤκουσα φωνὴν τοῦ τετάρτου ζώου λέγουσαν, Ἔρχου καὶ βλέπε.

Rev. 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Rev. 6:17 ὅτι ἦλθεν ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ μεγάλη τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τίς δύναται σταθῆναι;

As Christ breaks each of the first four seals we see the living creature or beast say, “come!” And then what happens? A judgment! The Antichrist takes power with the first seal, the rider on the white horse, conquering and to conquer; then the second seal, the wars after the short-lived peace of the Antichrist; then the world-wide famine of the third seal; then the death of 25% of the world’s population in the fourth seal. The fifth seal is obviously different, as we see there the martyred saints crying out for vengeance on the wicked, which God promises them He will enact. And then we have the sixth seal here:

In Revelation 6:17 the expression “the day … has come” is an acknowledgment by all people in the context of the heavenly and earthly disturbances of 6:12–14 and the flight to the mountains and caves in 6:15–16. However, within the literary structure of this unit—the breaking of the seven seals—the “has come” (ēlthen) in the sixth vision is an acknowledgment of the results of the summons to come (erchou), which is repeated four times at the beginning of the series. The summons “come” calls forth elements of the day of the Lord. The declaration “has come” looks back over all these elements and acknowledges what has in fact come to be.^[2]

This usage also suits Old Testament Day of the Lord prophecies.

So in Revelation 6:17 even the unregenerate earth-dwellers finally recognize what has been going on since the first seal—the wrath of God poured out upon the earth, wrath which started with the first seal, which comes immediately after the pre-Tribulation Rapture.

We deserve the judgments of the Tribulation for our sins. That is how horrible they are. We deserve the eternal torment in the lake of fire described near the end of Revelation. But the Son of God, by His grace alone, took that very wrath that we deserve upon Himself, suffering and satisfying our infinite debt of sin. By being our blessed sacrificial Lamb He has eternally delivered us from the future wrath of the Lamb on those who reject His glorious sacrifice. For delivering us from the wrath to come, let us say with all the saints: “Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Revelation 5:12-13).

^[1] William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar. 3d; Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 2010), 202.

^[2] Craig Blaising, “A Case for the Pretribulation Rapture,” in Three Views on the Rapture: Pretribulation, Prewrath, or Posttribulation, ed. Stanley N. Gundry and Alan Hultberg, Second Edition., Zondervan Counterpoints Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 61.

–TDR

My Take on the Complicated World Scene That Includes Ukraine, Russia, and Israel (part four)

November 29, 2023 / 1 Comment on My Take on the Complicated World Scene That Includes Ukraine, Russia, and Israel (part four)

Part One Part Two Part Three

What Is the Greatest Danger?

A good question to ask when evaluating United States domestic and foreign policy is “what is the greatest danger to the country?” When I grew up during the Cold War, the Soviet Union was a monumental threat to the security of the United States. If you are close to my age, maybe you remember the power of the Soviet military.

I remember hearing the idea that the Soviets would fly the hammer and sickle over the U. S. capital in 1976. At that time, almost half of the world’s land mass was communist. It was an amazing time when the government changed in Eastern bloc countries and they opened up in the late 1980s. With the fall of the iron curtain, suddenly the United States became the sole superpower. Communist dictators were everywhere all over the world from the moment of my birth in 1962 to the tearing down of the Berlin wall on November 9, 1989. Putin and Xi are barely dictators today compared to those in the Cold War.

Terrorism

A transition began in the 1980s from international communism to Islamic terrorism. Terrorists would not defeat and take over the United States, but they would cause terror and chaos to free countries. My earliest inkling was the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979, the bombing of a Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983,then the bomb under the World Trade center in 1993, and finally the culmination with terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Terrorist attacks are still a threat, especially as long as someone could deliver a nuclear device into a major U. S. city. Conventional deterrence will not stop nuclear attack motivated by jihad, like the stalemate of mutually assured destruction. One of these random nuclear attacks still poses great danger, especially crossing the Southern border. From a sheer military risk, I still see this as the single greatest, immediate peril to national security.

China

Besides another major terrorist attack, I don’t see any great danger to the United States from a foreign country. China is the biggest threat, but in my opinion China shows no short term aspirations to invade our shores. The biggest danger by far isn’t foreign, but domestic. Every failing foreign policy relates to the internal corruption of the United States. I’m not saying Putin is better than the Democrat Party, but the latter is far worse for the United States than him.

In my childhood, Democrats supported Communists in Latin America. Bernie Sanders took his honeymoon in Cuba. They still lean socialist, even as seen in their support of the Palestinians and leftists in Israel.

The Left, the Democrat Party, and “Democracy”

In 2008 California passed Proposition 8, changing the California constitution on marriage, defining it between a man and a woman. Immediately upon it becoming law, San Francisco mayor (now governor) Gavin Newsome ramped up same sex marriage in city hall. No one said anything about democracy. No Democrat says anything about democracy with violations of immigration law and sanctuary cities. When they challenge elections, they say nothing about threats to democracy. Much more could be said about who really opposes democracy and freedom in the United States.

I don’t support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I believe, however, that Russia saw the expansion of NATO as an existential threat. This was part of its agreement at the end of the Cold War. Will funding Ukraine end the war against Russia and will it turn Russia into a kind of long term partner, no longer a threat to American security? American meddling all over the world looks like it does more to hurt than help. The present government opposes truly democratic movements, such as what we have seen in Argentina, the Netherlands, and Italy most recently. Meanwhile, the United States is spread so thin that it hurts the American economy and security at home.

Changes are occurring elsewhere, difficult to interpret. They are framed by the establishment, mainstream media in the United States as anti-democratic. This is in the same spirit that antifa is anti-fascist, and antiracism is anti-racism. These are propaganda tools, it seems. Changes have occurred in Poland and Hungary that are called anti-democratic. California would call Florida, “anti-democratic,” because of decreasing abortion and banning pornography in the schools. The present administration pressures African countries to legalize same sex marriage.

Our Own House In Order

A stronger, more cohesive alliance with Russia, China, and Iran also supports an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian coalition in the Middle East. This hearkens to possible future events in fulfillment of prophecy unlike what I’ve seen in my lifetime.

Many Americans do not trust the Democrat apparatchiks at work in Ukraine or in Israel. These are the same characters who supported billions of dollars to Iran. The Biden family also received millions of dollars for peddling influence in Ukraine. The United States needs to get its own house in order. Then it will be better prepared to exert itself elsewhere.

Eschatology and Political Activism from the Right and the Left

November 6, 2023 / Leave a comment

Living in the Last Days

If you travel in evangelical circles, you might hear language especially today that says, “We’re living in the last days.” Those words, “last days,” occur eight times in the King James Version. These are two prominent usages:

2 Timothy 3:1, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”

2 Peter 3:3, :”Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.”

“Last days” in the Bible is not very specific. When the Apostle Peter uses the words in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, he refers them to a partial fulfillment now over 2,000 years ago:

Acts 2:17, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”

The phrase, “living in the last days,” did not start appearing in written material until the middle of the nineteenth century, when men would write something like the following:

There are features of the last days of the last times, and they are characteristic of these days and these times; we are therefore, living in the last days of the last times, and, consequently, expect the speedy appearance of the coming of the Son of Man.

This was from an article, “Elements of Prophetical Interpretation,” by J. W. Brooks in a book, The Literalist, published in 1841. As popularly used, most refer these “last days” to a seemingly very short time before the rapture from the earth of the saints.

A Vision of the Reign of God on Earth

Many, many and from various factions oppose the literal approach to biblical prophecy and that everyone presently abides in the last days as such. They reject the concept that the world will degenerate until the return of Christ. If that be the case, political activism is of little point. On the other hand, if persistent human effort might bring the reign of God on earth, then reasons exist for lobbying, campaigning, protesting — violent or non-violent, community organizing, and political action.

Early Roman Catholicism by envisioning the church as New Testament Israel also saw the church as the kingdom of God on earth. Instead of circumcision as the entrance requirement to the kingdom, water baptism became that, a New Testament circumcision. A false form of millennialism, this position says the church is already God’s kingdom with a view toward its ultimate perfection on earth. Roman Catholic theologian Augustine in AD413 wrote in his City of God:

The Church is already now the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of heaven. Accordingly, even now His saints reign with Him. . . . It is then of this kingdom militant, in which conflict with the enemy is still maintained, and war carried on with warring lusts, or government laid upon them as they yield, until we come to that most peaceful kingdom in which we shall reign without an enemy.

Spiritualizing Old Testament Israel and finding in its Old Testament prophecies a fulfillment in the New Testament church subscribes to advocation of positions of power for realizing God’s kingdom on earth. According to this eschatological position, the church inherits Old Testament mandates for domination over the earth.

Postmillennial Liberation and Dominion Theologies

Mirroring Viewpoints

The left and the right both compete for power with the divine charge of liberation on the left and dominion on the right. These two mirroring viewpoints easily find support for the replacement of Israel. This might also adapt into justifiable eradication with an underlying disposition of antisemitism. Both acquire their ordination from a form of postmillennialism and a hermeneutic of spiritualization and allegorization, the latter the rationalization for Roman Catholicism.

The left and the right become strange bedfellows with relationship to Israel under the same umbrella of eschatology. Palestinian Liberation Theology buttresses a decolonization theme and advocates Palestinian freedom “from the river to the sea.” Thomas Ice writes then concerning postmillennial reconstructionism:

The danger lies in their misunderstanding of God’s plan concerning the future of the nation Israel. Reconstructionists advocate the replacement of Old Testament Israel with the church, often called the “New Israel.” They believe that Israel does not have a future different from any other nation.

Corrupted Views of Israel

Ice continues:

While Reconstructionists do believe that individual Jews will be converted to Christ in mass in the future, almost none of them believe that national Israel has a future and thus the Church has completely taken over the promises of national Israel. In contrast to the eventual faithfulness and empowerment by the Holy Spirit of the Church, Reconstructionist David Chilton said that “ethnic Israel was excommunicated for its apostasy and will never again be God’s Kingdom.”

John MacArthur also tied together these two theological ideologies, saying:

There is another kind of theology that’s existing today, it’s called Liberation Theology. It is a form of theology that says that the church is to take dominion over the institutions of the world. That’s another form of dominion theology or kingdom theology. And what it basically says is that the church’s mandate is to take over the institutions of the world. That’s the liberation theology side. And what dominion theology says is that we are to take over the powers of darkness.

Dovetailing of Leftist and Rightist Values

Harvey Cox writes in an article in The Atlantic:

By far the most striking discovery I made . . . was the remarkable similarity between the rhetoric . . . of liberation theology. Both (postmillennial dominion theology and liberation theology) focus on continuing the ministry and work of Jesus. Both place the concept of the Kingdom of God, albeit interpreted quite differently, at the center of their respective theologies.

Leftist and rightist values dovetail around eschatological belief. Neither provide a true and real solution for the present or for the future. Instead of depending on a plain reading of the text of scripture, they spiritualize it and read into it a false vision of the future. This then reflects on a relationship with Israel.

Judaizers followed the Apostle Paul into his churches after his first missionary journey and attempted to turn the churches of Galatia into a form of New Testament Israel. They removed required distinctions between the church and Israel to make the church into Israel. This confused the real solution for man’s problems found only in Jesus Christ. It corrupted the church. A kind of Judaizing continues perverting the church through its insidious false eschatological vision for the world. In so doing, it also assaults Israel and annuls the promises God will still fulfill for this chosen nation.

God and the Bible Are Dispensational (Part Five)

June 26, 2023 / Leave a comment

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four

God is a spirit (John 4:23-24). Because God is a spirit does not mean His Word requires a spiritualized interpretation. The Bible is unique literature, but it does not, therefore, require a unique or secret interpretation.

The Book God wrote for and to mankind, He wrote for the mankind He created. A reading consistent with understanding, which God wanted and desires for His Book, is a literal one. God even used men to write the Bible for mankind. He expects man to live by the Book He wrote to man (Matthew 4:4), the standard by which He also would judge man (John 12:48).

Grammatical and Historical Context

A correct interpretation of scripture mandates grammatical and historical context. God doesn’t change, but He alters His communication to man to fit new eras. Before the Fall, man was innocent. His instruction fits that condition for that period. After the Fall, man lived in and according to a different nature, a sin nature. Although God still expected obedience, God’s curse on man in Genesis 3 brought discontinuity from the previous era of innocence. A literal reading of the Bible acknowledges the new circumstances and the modified way God managed His creation to fulfill His will.

The characters of the Bible anticipate new periods or different dispensations. Noah preached judgment coming. Life wasn’t going to stay the same after that. When Noah left the ark with His family, God gave new instructions for a new era, instituting human government, starting with the death penalty (Genesis 9:6-7).

Prophecies and Fulfillment

The Bible is filled with prophecies, promising some sure future fulfillment. When one opens the New Testament, he sees the beginning of the fulfillment of the promised Messiah, that goes back to Genesis 3:16. Since the kingdom didn’t come then, in Acts 1:6 the Jewish disciples of Jesus asked Him:

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

Jesus didn’t say, “That’s not going to happen.” The New Testament doesn’t read that the church fulfills those promises to Israel. In part, this is why one request in the model prayer reads (Luke 11:2, Matthew 6:10): “Thy kingdom come.” Believers still pray for the kingdom, because it has not come yet. This viewpoint is premillennial. Scripture predicts a real physical one thousand year reign (millennium) of the Messiah on earth (Revelation 20:2-7).

God lays out His future plan in orderly fashion. When someone reads all of the prophetic passages taught by various human authors, they all fit together. The New Testament prophecies work according to the framework of Old Testament prophecies. Both the Old and New Testaments indicate the future salvation of Israel, predicted in no uncertain terms. The resuscitation of Israel into a nation again reads like the providential working of God for the future fulfillment of those prophecies. This conforms to a literal interpretation, called a dispensational one.

Attacking the Extremes

A variety of interpretational difference still exists in premillennialism or dispensationalism. Some dispensationalists seem to go much further in their descriptions of discontinuity between eras. Because of that, some title a more extreme system of interpretation, hyperdispensationalism. The opponents of dispensationalism pounce on the differences. Men mock some of the dramatic license that some take in their interpretation, seeing right now signs or indications that move outside of scripture. They use the extremes to characterize all of dispensationalism.

More to Come

Why Do Jews Get Special Favor from True Christians?

January 10, 2022 / Leave a comment

Based on what’s committed against the United States and people’s talk about Islamophobia, one might think Moslems would receive more crimes against them for their religion. They don’t. The FBI reports 227 Moslem victims in its last report in 2019 and 1,032 Jewish victims. Jews themselves also know that antisemitism grows rapidly.

For most of my life (born 1962), evangelical Christians were a very reliable ally of Jewish people and especially Israel. Yet, by far I hear and read among evangelicals more anti-Jewish language and writing than I’ve ever heard. I did not grow up around Jewish people and don’t ever remember even meeting a Jew until I was in college, but I still heard on a very regular basis, “The Jews are God’s chosen people.” I thought that too.

As I read more broadly, I came to understand that American Jews voted for people and issues I opposed. I still said, “The Jews are God’s chosen people.” I continue to think that God blesses a nation that supports the Jewish people. This comes from understanding of the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:1-3. This kind of support seems to match no other support for any other people.

When I arrived in California to start a church in the San Francisco Bay Area, I met many, many Jewish people, including in door-to-door evangelism. I would approach a door and see the mezuza on the doorpost. I always called it the shema. I assumed it was a Jewish home. After numbers of conversations, the mezuza became a kind of warning: this conversation would not go well. As friendly as I was, and however much I told the Jewish people I loved them, ninety-plus percent of the instances Jewish people treated me poorly at their doors. I reacted to that by still thinking, “The Jews are God’s chosen people.”

Over time, I added some Jewish friends through involvement in orchestra and other providential events. Every year a Jewish professor and I exchange correspondence after having met as bus mates on a trip we shared from Missouri to Oklahoma. I wrote a script on how Baptists rescued Jews during World War 2 in Europe. It was the story of Ivan Jaciuk, that I first read in The Righteous by the late Sir Martin Gilbert. Israel planted a tree for Jaciuk along the Avenue of the Righteous in Jerusalem. I talked by phone with the son of David Prital, the latter whom Jaciuk saved during the holocaust.

Why do the Jews get such special favor from true Christians? The support of the Jews is an acknowledgement or recognition of God’s unfinished plans for a chosen people. It is affirming God’s promises. God is true in His nature. Paul reflected Old Testament teaching when he wrote (Roman 11:26): “all Israel shall be saved.” He wrote what Isaiah did (45:17): “Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation.” We know Israel will be saved. We know how and when Israel will be saved.

God will save Israel because He promised He would to Abraham. He promised He would to Isaac, Jacob, and King David. He continued to promise that He would through His prophets.

Much of the antisemitism I see comes from those who spiritualize to the church the Old Testament promises to Israel, like Roman Catholics and Lutherans have and do. Today it’s spread to evangelicalism for many reasons. The church to them is a spiritual Israel in, through, and by which God will fulfill His promises. In so doing, God replaces Israel. Israel then becomes an enemy to the true plan of God on earth.

The promises God made to Israel at least apply to Israel. They also apply to everyone else based upon the Abrahamic covenant, because through Abraham’s seed all the families of the earth will be blessed. It’s true that God will only save believing Israel, but Israel will believe. The Old Testament provides that testimony in Isaiah 52-53 and Zechariah 14 among other places. The Apostle Paul reiterates it in Romans 11 and John in his book of Revelation.

God loves Israel. Like God told Hosea to love Gomer, God loves Israel (Hosea 3:1). New Testament believers love Israel like God loves Israel.

God commanded to preach the gospel first to the Jews (Romans 1:16). The Jews are a priority for the gospel. They might not listen, but true evangelical believers go to Jews anyway (Matthew 13:13-15, Isaiah 6:9-10).

The message of Obadiah was that God will restore His people (vv. 16-18), and despite Israel’s sin, He will punish those who oppress Israel (vv. 1-15). God judged Edom for mistreating Israel.

We know God will save Israel. We should treat Jews like we know God will save tens of thousands of Jews (Revelation 7 and 14). As evil as many Jews are and live, Israel is one of the greatest friends of the United States.

Some anti-Semites today might say, those Jews control Hollywood and spew out that filth. You don’t have to watch it though. You don’t need to support Hollywood to support the Jews. In general, Hollywood presents Christianity in a negative way. That’s influenced by a strong Jewish influence. It’s sad, but they’re still God’s chosen people.

Jews spread their antichrist materials. More than not they support abortion and immoral causes. U. S. Jews are far less religious and far more atheist than average. None of the negative activity of the Jews means God won’t save them. We know He will.

God’s future plan still revolves around the Jews. God doesn’t lie. We know God’s plan does include the Jews. As it relates to Jews, we should act like we know it.

Signs of the Times?

May 12, 2021 / 58 Comments on Signs of the Times?

I believe in imminency, which means Christ could return any moment. That’s enough for me to be as ready as I can be ready. You can’t get more expectant than possibly right now. However, I believe God allows us to see more to get us even more ready for His appearing. Any moment is difficult to sustain and everyone reading here knows that. Are these signs of the times?

In a technical sense, the signs of the times are all related to the second coming of Jesus Christ, not the rapture. The sign that Christ’s coming is near is a sign for His return to the earth, not believers being caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess 4:16-17). Nothing has to happen on earth for the rapture to occur, no signs needed. No signs have to occur before the rapture. So are these events and circumstances to occur before the catching up of the saints? Are they signs?

Let me illustrate. The coronavirus might be at least pestilence-light. It’s not on the level of what we see in the tribulation period as a sign of the second coming of Christ, but it hearkens to that event. If this level of disease does what it has done, what will something much worse be like?

For a long time, I have thought that disease would be the factor that starts bringing the whole world together. It won’t all be together until later, but what we see occurring today could be moving us closer to the final event. Every country has this common cause of fighting disease. Physical life takes prominence. Health becomes more important than national interests. Citizens show willingness to give up personal autonomy for purposes of safety. It’s easier to control the many with only a few.

All the forms of media cause people to be more vulnerable to deceit. Temporal interests become preeminent and break down resistance to lust. This puts apostasy in the fast lane. Anyone who knows the Bible can see how evil this world has become.

As a sign during the tribulation, Israel will be saved. Well, Israel exists now, when it didn’t between 70 and 1948 AD. The rise of the nation Israel isn’t a sign, but it is an occurrence that makes way for several signs in the future.

We don’t live in an age of signs. They have occurred in the past during certain periods. Signs will arise to confirm to the Jewish people that the Messianic age, His kingdom on earth, is soon to come. These will authenticate another baptism of the Holy Spirit during that future age.

Events and circumstances today remind us of signs which are to come. They aren’t here yet, but we could say that this increasing knowledge relates to what Daniel prophesied in Daniel 12:4. Prophetic knowledge will increase as mankind gets closer to the end.

Are We Living in the Last Days? The Right Approach to Biblical Prophecy

March 1, 2021 / 5 Comments on Are We Living in the Last Days? The Right Approach to Biblical Prophecy

The Bible is a prophetic book. That alone is an amazing statement, because it is the only prophetic book in the world, because it is the only one written by God. Prophecy has a lot of purposes, a major one being a validation that that the Bible is in fact the Word of God. As you open the New Testament, it is easy to see the importance of prophecy all over it. God wants us to take it seriously.

The first page of the New Testament in Matthew, a genealogy, is related to prophecy, because the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants are prophetic. The genealogy proves that Jesus is a fulfillment of those predictions. Then you get the Isaiah 7:14 prophecy that says that Jesus is a fulfillment of that. Then you have the magi setting off looking for the Messiah based upon what? Prophecy. Then there are four wondrous prophecies in four different geographical locations in the second half of Matthew 2 that confirm who Jesus is. Matthew 3 talks about John the Baptist, himself another fulfillment of prophecy.

When Peter preaches on the Day of Pentecost, almost every point he makes relies on prophecy. When the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs, what is that? It is a fulfillment of the prophecy of John the Baptist, Acts 1:5, which is repeated by Jesus before He ascends into heaven. When the unbelievers mock what’s happening in Acts, Peter defends it with what? Prophecy. He refers to Joel 2:28-32 in Acts 2:17-21 to kick off his sermon there, explaining to the audience what’s going on. He starts:

15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God

It is such an unusual, outlying event, outside of the norm for comprehension, Peter makes the connection to the Old Testament. This gigantic crowd wasn’t all drunken. This is what Joel was talking about, and Peter says that what was occurring there on the Day of Pentecost was “in the last days.” Generally, when people say, “We’re in the last days,” they mean something different than what Peter says, so that becomes confusing. Peter’s usage of the last days is the correct usage and it’s what we should imitate.

We’re not waiting for the last days. We’re already in them. Peter was saying that he and his audience were in them. 1 John 2:18 says,

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

“Last days” or “last time,” which is the same terminology, is ironically a terminology from Old Testament prophecy. That’s what is supposed to get us up to speed is the Old Testament usage. Here are some places:

Isaiah 2:2, And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

Jeremiah 23:20, The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.

Ezekiel 38:8, After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

Daniel 10:14, Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

To the Jews, the last days were the Messianic era, when the Messiah had come and was in operation. To God, this began when Jesus came the first time. This launched the last days. It’s also why Peter can be using a passage with amazing astronomical events and say they are referring to the Day of Pentecost, when those things didn’t take place. What they experienced on the Day of Pentecost, I like to call the “sample pack.” It’s like when you go to Costco and you taste a sample, so that you’ll be receptive of the whole box.

The last days had arrived, because Jesus had arrived with the accompanying miracles, wonders, and signs. The ones on the Day of Pentecost are in the same program as those that will appear when Christ undoes the seals during the seventieth week of Daniel, what we refer to as the seven years of tribulation. What the audience in Acts 2 understood as the Messianic age, that Joel was prophesying, was already started. This was the prefulfillment of that with the ultimate fulfillment later. In one sense, it’s all the same event with book ends, Jesus coming as Savior and then Jesus coming as Judge.

The magi were anticipating the coming of Jesus. Believers today should be anticipating the second coming. How do you interpret what you read in the prophetic passages? Look at all of the prophecy of scripture and compare. The prophecies will give you clues. Revelation is symbolic language, as revealed in the first verse with the word, “signified.” Prophecy uses symbolism, but that isn’t freedom to treat it like your Gumby doll.

If God can do astronomical events, like He will according to Joel 2, then He can do the smaller, albeit plainly divine, ones of Acts 2. That’s the push-back and explanation from Peter. These things are occurring because we are already in the last days.

I believe we are meant to look for the fulfillment of prophesies that haven’t been fulfilled. We are required to be scriptural with this and not to speculate. If we are speculating, we should say we’re speculating. When someone asks, do you think we’re in the last days, they are meaning something other than what that phrase means. I don’t like to give them an answer that reaffirms their wrong view. A better question is, do you think that some of what we see happening portend to unfulfilled prophesies from scripture? I say, yes.

Let me give you an example. Revelation 13:17 says,

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

I think it is good to make an application of this with what we see happening today. The world economy will be centrally controlled in a totalitarian way. We can look today how this might be applied. We can see it can happen. That is a good application of that above verse. How does one man control everyone? Can technology give this capacity? We should point to that, look at the contemporary examples. That doesn’t contradict what I see New Testament authors do with Old Testament prophecy.

Prophecy in scripture is real. We should take it literally. That doesn’t mean we don’t take the symbolism into consideration. We do. We understand the symbolism based on comparing every passage with every other passage of the Bible. It gives us enough clues to understand. This is hard to be understood like Peter said about Paul’s prophetic passages (2 Peter 3:16). It can be understood though. As preachers or teachers in the church, we should want people to understand the prophecy and how the yet unfulfilled parts should be understood.

We should oppose globalism, because it looks like the one world government and church of the antichrist. There is a tension here. If we really want the Lord’s return, perhaps we could hasten it by supporting the one world government. The elimination of borders is a contemporary issue that relates to prophecy. We should use prophecy to make that application. This is right thinking. This is a good use of the Word of God.

Let me give you two more examples. The Apostle Peter prophesies how the world will end in 2 Peter 3:10. That’s how it will end. This results in my denying the contemporary climate change teaching. That is an application to the world we live in, based on what Peter said. It says a lot more than that, but we shouldn’t ignore it.

The culture of the United States and then the world is deteriorating. This looks like a trajectory toward total apostasy. It has affected a hearing of the gospel. Let’s be honest. When Isaiah went to preach to apostate Israel, he couldn’t get a hearing. We are in similar times. These are times like Noah was in. Man is of the same nature he’s been since the fall. We can say that we’re getting closer to the end, because we see this trajectory. We don’t want it. We’re still being faithful, but we’ve got to make the application. People need to know.

Much more could be said. We don’t want to stretch scripture beyond what it’s saying, and in that sense, just use scripture. We should preach what the Bible says and apply it, including the prophetic passages.