Bible Prophecy Part 5: Dreamscape

This is a story about a peculiar dream that is interpreted in Daniel chapter 2. It plays an important role in not only understanding prophecy past but also prophecy future. This is not an extensive study of the subject of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream but it will give a decent foundation for future Biblical prophecy discussions that require this information to be somewhat understood.

BECOMING KING OF BABYLON
Nebuchadnezzar II was the eldest son of Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon from 626-605 B.C who severed Babylon from its dependence on Assyria and laid Nineveh to waste. According to Berossus, a Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer, Nebuchadnezzar II married Amytis of Media, the daughter or granddaughter of Cyaxares, king of the Medes. As crown prince, he led his father’s army against Pharaoh Necho and the Egyptians at Carchemish and defeated them, establishing Babylon as the strongest nation in the ancient Near East. Egypt and its vassals, including Judah, became vassals of Babylon with this victory. Following the victory in Carchemish in 605 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land of Judah, taking some captives to Babylon, including Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Daniel 1:1-3). Toward the end of that year Nabopolassar died leaving Nebuchadnezzar to succeed him as the King of Babylon.

DREAMSCAPE
In the second year of his reign as King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that perplexed him and he saw an opportunity to put the advisors, men whom he inherited from his father, to the test. He called them in and asked them to interpret the dream. They asked him to describe it and he refused. He asked them to prove their worth by not only interpreting the dream but he demanded, on pain of death, to also tell him what the dream was as well. They panicked and explained that no king had ever required both the dream and its interpretation – they said it was humanly impossible! So he became very angry and sentenced everyone in the kingdom with the job description of magician, astrologer, sorcerer and Chaldean to death. Daniel and his friends, unfortunately, fell within one of those categories and were scheduled for execution, even though they were not at the meeting.

Daniel asked the captain of the king’s guard, Arioch, why the king had decided to do something so drastic. The captain then proceeded to explain what had happened during the meeting. Daniel went to the king and asked if he could take a little time to go and find out what the dream was so that he could give the king the answers he had been looking for. Nebuchadnezzar agreed to his proposal. That night, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah went to the Lord in prayer, petitioning to be given understanding of the king’s vision and God complied.

The next morning, Daniel carefully gave credit to God for the explanation of the king’s dream, reiterating that no one on Earth would have the ability to do what he had asked to be done but there was a God in Heaven Who could. He then proceeded to tell him the dream and accompanied it with the interpretation.

The Context

As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. Daniel 2:29

The context of the dream, Daniel reveals, is prophetic in nature and it was given to Nebuchadnezzar by God.

The Dream

³¹ “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome.
³² This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay
³⁴ You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Daniel 2:31-35

God had shown the king that his kingdom was the first in a series of four gentile kingdoms that would rule the world during a time that would later be known as the Gentile Dominion. The statue is composed of several precious metals varying in strength and value. The statue’s head is made of gold which represented Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom of Babylon. After him, there would be another kingdom represented by the statue’s chest and arms of silver. The belly and thighs of brass or bronze represented the next kingdom. Finally, to complete the statue, the legs were made of iron and the feet made of iron mired with clay. Ultimately a stone, cut without hands, struck the statue and destroyed it as if had never existed, then expanded to form a great mountain that covered the entire Earth.

The Interpretation

³⁷ You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;
³⁸ and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold.
³⁹ But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
⁴⁰ And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
⁴¹ Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay.
⁴² And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
⁴³ As you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
⁴⁴ And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
⁴⁵ Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.
Daniel 2:37-45

As inhabitants of this current age, we have an advantage over King Nebuchadnezzar because we have the historical record of the empires that followed his kingdom of Babylon, which Daniel says is represented by gold. In 539 B.C., the Neo-Babylonian Empire fell to Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty, which is represented by the arms and chest of silver. Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) defeated the Persian armies at Granicus (334 B.C.), followed by Issus (333 B.C.), and lastly at Gaugamela (331 B.C.), which led to an establishment of the ancient Greek empire, represented by the belly and thighs of brass. The Greek empire was eventually overtaken by the Roman Empire (168 B.C.) represented by the iron of the statue but Rome was never really conquered. It fragmented gradually through corruption and transformed from a political kingdom into a religious power. The iron mired with clay represents a coming empire that some believe will appear in our lifetime. Some scholars have labeled it as Rome II. It will be a struggling reformation and attempted reassertion of power which will resemble the Rome of the past.

Below is a graphical representation of the dream as Nebuchadnezzar may have seen it with the breakdown of the empires and their corresponding place on the statue.

In verse 2:44, Daniel explains that there will be a fifth and lasting empire that will subdue all others as if they had never existed at all. That last empire is represented by the rock that will expand into a mountain, encompassing the entire planet, crushing the Gentile Dominion. This empire is that of Jesus Christ and it will last forever.

Conclusion of Part 5
For years, Bible scholars have been watching for the formation of a new European confederacy resembling the last empire of iron mixed with clay. The formal establishment of a European Union was accomplished in 1993 with the enforcement of the Maastricht Treaty, which created the union and led to the creation of the single European currency known as the euro. This new union sent the watchful scholars into the stratosphere with speculation and excitement. Since then, they have kept a constant eye on developments coming from Europe and on December 13, 2007 another step in the process of a fully realized constitutional confederation took place with the signing of the Lisbon Treaty.

On December 1, 2009, the Lisbon Treaty went into force and was hailed by the European Union as the start of a new era with hopes of becoming a stronger player on the world stage. The agreement aimed to make the EU decision-making a much smoother process and has seen the creation of a long-term president and powerful foreign policy chief. At the time of the enforcement of the treaty, Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Swedish prime minister whose country held the rotating EU presidency until the end of that year, said: “A new era of European co-operation beings today … today the EU is a force to be reckoned with, both economically and politically.”

As the European Union grows stronger, the individual nations who have signed the treaty lose more and more of their national sovereignty. Opponents of the Lisbon Treaty, such as former Danish Member of the European Parliament Jens-Peter Bonde, argued that it would centralize the EU and weaken democracy by ‘moving power away’ from national electorates. Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician and leader of the Party for Freedom, stated in his speech at the Annual Lecture at the Magna Carta Foundation in Rome that the EU has fallen into, “the hands of a multiculturalist elite who by undermining national sovereignty destroy the capacity of the peoples of Europe to democratically decide their own future.” The advancement of a multicultural agenda in Europe undermining the national sovereignty of the nations involved in this treaty mirrors the iron mixed with miry clay mentioned in verses 41-43. This lends credence to the speculation that the new dominating gentile kingdom will be some form of the European Union.

This chapter in Daniel is a cornerstone of Biblical prophecy that has helped to build a tower of evidence for a coming world kingdom, which will eventually be dominated by the one known as the Son of Perdition. As it was said in verse 45 of this chapter of Daniel, “The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure” and history has well defined the kingdoms mentioned in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

More information is given to Daniel in chapter 7 regarding these kingdoms but that is beyond the scope of this post. We will get into this information in further discussions on Biblical prophecy in the near future. Until then however, continue to be diligent in study and keep His glory in your focus.

Bible Prophecy Part 4: Future

Bible Prophecy Future

Varying Viewpoints in Christian Eschatology

RECAP: Eschatology Defined
I stated in part 1 that eschatology is a branch of theology that is concerned with the final events in the history of the world or humankind. The term comes from two Greek words escato and lovgo meaning “last, end or final” and “study of,” respectively. It is used specifically in Christian doctrine concerning the end of an individual life, the end of the age, the rapture, a great tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, the Millennium, a new heaven and new earth and the ultimate consummation of all of God’s purposes.

Why Bother Studying Christian Eschatology?
To avoid controversy and conflict within the body of Christ, would it not be more beneficially edifying to refrain from discussing eschatological theories with one another so that we could “keep the peace” that Paul spoke about in Romans 12:18? Why should we bother delving into something that even great theologians like Newton, Spurgeon, Calvin, Luther, Edwards, Hodge, Henry, Gill, Darby, Wesley, Whitefield, Knox, Pink, Chafer, Warfield, Stanley, MacArthur, Piper, Grudem, Sproul and Wright could not agree on. Will these events not just pan out in the end – whether we know what is going on or not?

Hebrews 13:8 says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever and He has always been consistent in His message to remind us to remember what He has said in the past regarding what is coming in the future:

⁸ “Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. ⁹ “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, ¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Isaiah 46:8-10

This is a signature statement by God, there is no one like Him and He proves that fact by backing up His performance to show the validity of His great name. No other deity can make the claims that God has made. He has declared the end from the beginning and everything will be done according to His purpose and to His good pleasure. And, I might add, at His appointed time:

“I declared the former things long ago and they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.” Isaiah 48:3

Jesus communicated to us in the New Testament that there would be signs that would indicate His imminent return and that we should be encouraged by it, “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28) Also, in His Olivet discourse, Christ announced, in keeping with Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man, that he would return, “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:30) Christ expects us to be looking for His return with joy and anticipation because that will be culmination of the Good News, uniting with Him for all eternity.

Even Creation is longing for His return. Paul states in Romans 8:22-24, connecting it with our inward hope for the Lord’s return and our bodily resurrection, “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?” When Christ returns, not only will Christians receive a new body but creation will be restored with an establishment of a New Heaven and a New Earth, free from the curse of sin.

There are many reasons that Christians should study and have a firm foundation in eschatology. First, Christ told us we should look for His coming. Second, the apostles were promoting the fact that we should look for His coming. Third, we should be guarded against false doctrines associated with His coming (2 Thessalonians, 2 Peter). But most of all, it will bring us closer to Him through the diligent comprehensive study of His Word. I encourage you to accept the blessing that He has promised to those who study this subject, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” Revelation 1:3

Different Eschatological Viewpoints
The central event and what most people consider to be the fulcrum of Christian eschatology is the Second Coming of Christ. No evangelical theologian denies the Scriptural fact that Christ will return in bodily form at some point in the future but the precise manner in which this will occur and the results of His return have been vigorously debated over the years. I will be discussing the main viewpoints associated to Christ’s Second Coming and the related events called the Rapture and the Millennium (Christ’s thousand year reign).

A word of warning when studying eschatology: do not readily accept a viewpoint of one of your favorite theologians. Take the Berean approach (Acts 17:11) and examine the Scriptures to see that what that person has said holds true to the Word.

1. Preterism (Partial)

(from the Latin praeteritus meaning gone by) – This approach seeks parallels between Revelation and the events of the 1st Century AD. Preterist view the majority of the prophetical events in Daniel, Isaiah, Revelation and other books as having been fulfilled through events leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70. Proponents of Preterism argue that their position was the original eschatological understanding of the Early Christian Church but the idea can only be proven back to the 17th Century. To lend credence to their interpretation, Preterist believe that the Book of Revelation was written by John some time prior to A.D. 70. Preterism placates that some events may be symbolic of other fulfillments, therefore taking a symbolic interpretation of the text.

2. Historicism

This approach treats the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation as finding literal earthly fulfillment through the history of the church age and especially in relation to the struggle between the true church and apostasy. A common interpretation of Historicist is the identification of the Antichrist, the Beast in Revelation 13, the Man of Sin or Lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians, the “Little Horn” of Daniel 7 and 8 and the Whore of Babylon in Revelation 17 with the Roman Catholic Church and the Papal system. They also believe that the Book of Revelation is a pre-written history of the Church from the time of its writing to the future Second Coming of Christ. With Historicism the text is sometimes taken as symbolic of real events, rather than being literally true.

3. Futurism

This approaches the Book of Revelation as predominantly referring to events that are still in the future but will take place at the End of the Age and at the end of the world. The core focus is the Second Coming of Christ. This is the approach that most applies to eschatological studies. Futurists believe that prophecies will be fulfilled literally as real physical events. Biblical literalism is emphasized in regard to the interpretation of the text.

4. Idealism

This model is also known as Spiritualist or Symbolic, it approaches the images of Revelation as symbols that represent larger concepts and themes. This is an allegorical representation of the struggle between the forces of good and evil or light and darkness, where good eventually triumphs over evil. Idealism does not require belief in divine inspiration or supernatural prediction of future events, limiting it from the application in eschatology unless used in conjunction with other approaches. An allegorical interpretation of the text is emphasized with this approach.

The Rapture – 1 Thessalonians 4:17
In verse 4:17 Paul encourages the grieving Christians in Thessalonica that they will be reunited with those who have died in Christ by saying, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” The English phrase “caught up” translates the Greek word harpázô, which means “to seize upon by force” or “to snatch up.” The actual word “rapture” comes from Latin equivalent of harpázô, written in the Vulgate, which is the verb rapio. The word Raptus is the past participle of the word rapio, our English word “rapture” stems from this past participle.

For those that believe in a “rapture” of the Church, there are differences in opinion regarding its nature and timing. Some argue that the saints are raptured just prior to the Great Tribulation (we will explore this later) and immediately return to Earth with Christ. Others argue that after the Church is raptured away to heaven where she will experience the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10) and the marriage of the Lamb. Then there are others that believe that the Church will go through the Great Tribulation and then be raptured to glory to receive their rewards.

We will explore the rapture in greater depth in a later posting specifically devoted to this topic.

The Millennium – Revelation 20
The term millennium is not mentioned in the Bible, however the concept of a millennium comes from the Revelation chapter 20:1-10, specifically verses 6 and 7:

⁶ Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.  ⁷ When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison

This is the belief that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which Christ will reign for 1000 years (a millennium) prior to the final judgment and a future eternal state. There are three views, Postmillennialism, Premillennialism and Amillennialism, that we will explore in later blogs specifically written for each view.

Premillennialism – The return of Christ happens before (pre-) the thousand-year reign of Christ, which is a reign of the risen Christ on the earth.

Amillennialism - The return of Christ happens after the thousand-year reign, a reign that occurs in heaven, in the intermediate state, and not upon the earth.

Postmillennialism – The return of Christ happens after (post-) the thousand-year reign, which corresponds to the Christian age, and the reign of Christ from heaven leads the church to triumph by and through the gospel.

Conclusion of Part 4
The Bible is the inherent infallible Word of Truth: “¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) We are to study it with the aid of the Holy Spirit but sometimes we interject our own presuppositions into our study. These varying viewpoints are results of years of study by human beings attempting, in their mind, to remain true to the Word of God.

Some of these viewpoints are correct and some are incorrect but as we do our best to present ourselves to God as one approved, rightly handling the Word of Truth, we must do it responsibly. In discussing topics relating to eschatology, conversations can and will get extremely heated among believers. Proving our viewpoint can become the centerpiece of our existence in some cases. We need to be guarded against heartlessness, we cannot have arguments over theological doctrine and forget the fact that we are talking about people’s eternal destinies at the same time. We cannot be careless with these discussions, arguing for our point of view, presenting our case to persuade someone to our side while neglecting all the evidence in Scripture that might contradict our beloved viewpoint. All facts need to be presented from the Bible so that an individual can make their own decision regarding eschatological topics. Ultimately a person will live their life based on their own understanding of how their life may end.

In preparing for this post, I had the opportunity to watch a video of an event titled, “An Evening on Eschatology” with Pastor John Piper, Pastor Sam Storms, Professor Jim Hamilton and Pastor Doug Wilson. In one of the closing comments of the event, Pastor Storms said something that I thought was very appropriate but also somewhat disturbing:

We when take this Book seriously enough to do this (gathering for eschatological discussion), that we care about truth – we believe that there is objective real truth here about what God is doing in history… that we believe it enough to be willing to go toe to toe with each other in the love of Christ to try to arrive at some understanding. If in the final analysis Jim’s right, that won’t affect my relationship with Jesus one bit and I won’t be disappointed. I’ll be saddened that I have misled people through my teaching gift… I would have used the gift God has given me to mislead people, which is a weighty thing…

There are great resources out there that will lend great insight into these viewpoints but refrain from depending solely on them because some may be misleading. Develop sound hermeneutics to study the Word for yourself and make your own decisions regarding eschatological topics because the Bible is the ultimate Truth.

Bible Prophecy Part 3: Past

Bible Prophecy Past: An Example in Christ

¹ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

The largest problem with the above definition of prophecy is the lack of a required fulfillment. Without a true fulfillment of the specific statements uttered by the “so-called” prophet it would basically be an absolute stab in the dark, which should not be considered a prophecy by any means. Harold Camping, the preacher I mentioned in the previous blog posting, is no prophet yet all the news outlets labeled his outlandish statements as a doomsday prophecy. A day after his calculated doomsday debacle failed, one of the prominent news agencies titled their top story on Camping, “Preacher Who Got Date of Apocalypse Wrong Tries Again, Says He Was Off by Five Months.” If he was incorrect the first time, second time, third and so on, how can anyone label his deranged utterances a prophecy?

The true meaning and concept of prophets and prophecy have been lost in our modern day vernacular. Wikipedia however, does go beyond the dictionary definition of prophecy and adds that it is “a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a true prophet are then communicated to others by this true prophet.” Keep in mind that the message from that person called a prophet has to eventually be truthfully and completely fulfilled to allow that person to be considered a true prophet. It would also be preferable to have a history of proven prophecies to validate an individual or individuals as true prophets.

²¹ And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’— ²² when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:21-22

⁹ As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the LORD has truly sent. Jeremiah 28:9

The prophets mentioned in the Bible had several requirements to be tested as true prophets. One of the most important tests was the accuracy in which they spoke. Their prophecy had to be 100% accurate in its fulfillment.

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Old Testament Prophecy Concerning Jesus Christ
According to author Jay Barton Payne in his book, the Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy, the Bible contains 8,362 predictive verses (1,817 predictions on 737 separate matters). To narrow the scope down for this posting, however, it will be beneficial to focus solely on one piece of subject matter, the One that made it all possible, Jesus Christ. The following are Old Testament prophecies that are later fulfilled in the birth, death and resurrection of Christ. This listing will give you a flavor of how prophecy is to be fulfilled Biblically so that we can look toward the future and use these same tactics to establish what is coming next in our prophetic timeline.

1. Jesus Christ’s Birthplace

Micah 5:2  But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

This was fulfilled in Matthew 2:1-6
¹ Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

⁵ So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
⁶ ‘ But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

Note, that the wise men are taking the reading of their Septuagint reference to Micah 5:2 literally. Unless otherwise stated in the Scripture, we need to do the same when attempting to understand prophetic references as well.

2. The Virgin Birth

Genesis 3:15 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.

Moses recorded this event in Genesis but if you look closely at this statement it does not make sense, biologically speaking. The seed would and should naturally come from the man. In contrast, the woman’s seed is attributed to bringing about the Redeemer. This is due to the fact that Jesus had no “human” father and was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He bypassed the sinful seed of man.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us).

This was fulfilled in Matthew 1:22-23
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Note again, that the references are taken literally and attributed as a fulfillment of the prophet that spoke in regard to this event.

3. Appearing on a Donkey

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

There were several times when the followers of Christ attempted to make Him King and He refused saying “My time has not yet come” or He would simply disappear from the area. However, in Luke 19 His appointed time had come and it fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah.

This was fulfilled in Luke 19:28-44.

Always keep in mind that God has an appointed time and place for everything that He prophetically wants to fulfill. In verses 42-44 of this chapter, Christ holds the Jews responsible for knowing how important that day was, saying:

⁴² “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, ⁴⁴ and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

As a result, the Jews were blinded from the knowledge that He was indeed their prophesied Messiah. We need to be well aware of the circumstances that surround us, so that when He comes again it will not be a surprise.

4. The dying words of Christ

Psalm 22:1 To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

In some instances, events match up almost word for word therefore leaving no question in its interpretation.

5. Crucifixion of Christ

Psalm 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

This verse indicates crucifixion may be the method of punishment, which was not devised as a form of capital punishment until about 90 B.C.

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

Both of these were fulfilled in Matthew 27, Luke 23-24 and John 19.

6. Thirty Pieces of Silver

Zechariah 11:12-13 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

Judas as we all know betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver and when he realized what the consequences were, he tried to give it back to the priests. They refused to take it back because it was “blood” money and it was against Mosaic Law to keep it.

This was fulfilled in Matthew 27:3-8.
³ Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” ⁵ Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. ⁶ But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” ⁷ And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. ⁸ Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

To reiterate a point, a true prophet must be fulfilled 100% and these verses easily meet that requirement. It is not by the power of the prophet that makes his predictions accurate but by the one true God, who knows the end from the beginning, that validates His Word.

7. The Resurrection of Christ

Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Not all prophets of God know what is transpiring according to His plan in their lives… Jonah was swallowed up by a great fish which essentially established a type of resurrection that Christ, Himself used as an example of His own glorified resurrection:

Matthew 12:38-40 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” ³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

There are several types and symbols that appear in the Bible. Most often they can be interpreted within the Scripture itself. Another example would be the snake on the pole in Numbers 21:8-9; Christ uses that as a symbol of Himself in John 3:14-15: ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. That artifact had not been explained prior to Christ defining it.

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Historical Proof in the Prophecy of Jesus Christ
Most scholars, historians, archaeologist and even the clergy are knowledgeable about one fact regarding Christianity, that Jesus Christ can be proven to have existed by extensive, compelling historical evidence. Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus in 155 A.D. mentioned Jesus in his writings on the great fire in Rome:

“Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberious at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular.”

Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, a priest from Jerusalem and later the court historian for Emperor Vespasian, has been credited by many as recording some of the earliest history of Christ outside of the Gospels. In his work the Antiquities of the Jews, he made two references to Christ. The first reference is believed to be associated with the Apostle James, “the brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ.” In his second reference he wrote:

“At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good and (he) was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive, accordingly, he was perhaps the messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.”

These are just a few examples of the historic proof of the prophecy of Christ. I could list out many more but the post is getting a bit long as it is.

Conclusion of Part 3
Christ was born to a virgin, lived a sinless life, was crucified and then resurrected on the third day according to the Scriptures, which at one time had been prophecy. He fulfilled those prophecies 100% at their appointed time and there are still many left to be fulfilled. Hopefully from some of the examples that I have used of Christ in Old Testament it will give you a flavor for how prophecy has been interpreted and should be interpreted as we go forward. If you would like more examples then I would be happy to provide them. Contact me at adamlanders@knology.net for more information.

Keep looking up, He is coming again – I guarantee it 100%.

Bible Prophecy Part 2: Dates

Biblical Prophecy: The Error of Date Setting

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32

It seems simple enough to understand from Scripture that I am not going to obtain the knowledge for things God keeps a secret for His purposes. Knowing the hour in which He comes in the end is one of them. Yet throughout the history of man, individuals or groups have tried to establish a specific date for the End of the Age. The Lord has without a doubt given us ample indicators and warning signs as to what will transpire during the time-frame of the end but He has not given us the authority to set a date. Regardless of whether or not someone says, “The Bible guarantees it,” the only thing that it guarantees is that He is indeed coming and we will not know the exact date.

Date setting can do a tremendous amount of damage to a responsible eschatological end-time message when it inevitably fails. It impairs the faith of the believer and hardens the hearts of the unsaved. One of the most important questions that a Christian needs to ask him or herself before embarking on anything for God is “will it edify Christ?” When a date setter fails, he looks like a fool and makes God look like one as well.

It never ceases to amaze me, the number of individuals that are persuaded to follow such far reaching Biblical conjecture. In 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Paul gives information regarding things of this nature: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” Some will be so sold out to an idea that they are willing to give everything they have to the cause of promoting what they believe is the God ordained date.

Robert Fitzpatrick
Take the case of 60-year-old Staten Island resident, Robert Fitzpatrick, he spent his entire $140,000 life savings advertising his prediction that the world will end on May 21, 2011. He put ads on 1,000 subway-car placards and on bus kiosks to promote his doomsday message. They read, “Global Earthquake: The Greatest Ever! Judgment Day May 21, 2011.” In a self-published book, “The Doomsday Code,” he says that the Bible offers “proof that cannot be dismissed.”

In an interview with the New York Post Fitzpatrick said, “Judgment Day will surprise people. We will not be ready for it.” He went on to state that “a giant earthquake will render the earth uninhabitable.”

Fitzpatrick hopes that he is one of the chosen ones, but he is unfortunately not certain. “There’s just a little doubt,” he said. “Most churches teach that if you just believe, you will be saved. It is not our choice. It is God’s choice.”

AHA!! He’s a Calvinist! That explains everything… (just kidding)

Harold Camping
Fitzpatrick is not alone in his prophetical May 21^st boat. Harold Camping has been in the news for quite some time with his prediction of the end of days. He has a lot of influence because of Family Radio Network, which broadcasts his messages on over 150 radio stations within the United States.

Camping has been the main topic in major newscasts over the course of the last month because of his major campaign promoting the May 21, 2011 date as that of the rapture. For whatever reason, the news has left out that he has been incorrect prior to this. In his book written in 1992 titled, “1994?” it predicted the Lord would return in September of that year. Once that date failed, he reset his countdown calendar six more times.

He told New York magazine, when asked how certain he is regarding May 21st, “God has given sooo much information in the Bible about this, and so many proofs, and so many signs, that we know it is absolutely going to happen without any question at all.”

When pressed about his earlier incorrect prediction he said, “In 1992, two years earlier than that, I had already begun to see that there was a good likelihood that 2011 would be the end, but at that time when my research in the Bible was not nearly complete — there were whole books of the Bible that I had not gone through yet very carefully… And so it was just a preliminary study that I’ve been able to complete during the last fifteen years.”

Not the first…
These two men are not the first to predict the end of the world and I am sure they will not be the last. The following is a list of previous date setters:

• Joachim of Flores, 1260
• Militz of Kromeriz, 1365
• Joseph Mede, 1660
• John Napier, 1688
• Pierre Jurieu of France, 1689
• William Whitson, 1715; then 1734; then 1866
• Mary Bateman, 1809
• J.A. Bengal, 1836
• William Miller, founder of Millerism, 1843-1844
• Joseph Worlf, 1847
• William Miller, 1843; then Oct. 22, 1844
• C.T. Russell, 1874-1914, founder Jehovah’s Witnesses
  Christ returned invisibly in 1874, “Gentile Times” would end in 1914
• Jehovah’s Witnesses 1918, 1925, 1941, 1975, 1984
• True Light Church of Christ, 1970
• Tara Centers, 1982
• E.C. Whisenant’s “88 reasons for 1988,” “89 reasons for 1989”
• Menachem Schneerson, 1991
• Pastor John Hinkle of Christ Church in Los Angeles, 1994
• Mayan calendar ending in 2012
• Sir Isaac Newton, 2060

Yes, even one of the most brilliant thinkers of all time, Isaac Newton, tried his hand at date setting. Newton was a highly religious individual, yet quite unorthodox in his view of Christianity. He had become an Arian in the original sense of the term and did not believe that Jesus Christ was God. He wrote more on Biblical hermeneutics and the occult than on science and mathematics, to which he is most often attributed. He spent 50 years and wrote 4,500 pages trying to predict when the end of the world was coming. The most definitive date he could set for the apocalypse was 2060, which he scribbled on a scrap of paper.

Conclusion of Part 2
Countless misguided individuals have vainly attempted to predict the Lord’s return by using elaborate timetables. Most date setters fail to realize that mankind has not kept a consistent record of keeping time. Anyone desiring to predict a date must contend with the fact that 46BC was only 445 days long, that there is no year 0 BC, and in 1582 we switched from a Julian calendar (360 days) to a Gregorian calendar (365 days). They would also have to take into account that the Jewish calendar is lunar based and not solar based with feast days constantly shifting from year to year. Plus, you actually have to get your initial date correct, without assumptions, before even beginning to make your foundational calculations. There are just simply too many variables to make an accurate calculation.

Perhaps the saddest part of date setting is the attitude that it brings about in believers and in the lost. The believers in the fold of some of these date setters will become skeptical of their one true source of information and the lost will become further estranged from the only thing that contains the information to save them. The Bible has always been consistent in its message of Christ and His coming. It is the people using corrupt hermeneutics that are the issue here.

In an unfortunate way, Harold Camping and his caravan and Robert Fitzpatrick are setting the stage for the attitude mentioned in 2 Peter 3:3-5.

…knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”

Life will continue after May 21, 2011 but make no mistake about it, He is coming – we just will not know the day or the hour. The apathy that is created through failed predictions is playing an important factor in the end as well.

So what should we do while we wait and look for His coming? Peter continues in chapter 3:14-18

Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,  ¹⁵and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, ¹⁶as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. ¹⁷You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, ¹⁸but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of the series on Understanding Biblical Prophecy – coming soon…
(I’m not a date setter.)

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Other Scripture references to indicate that date setting is a very bad idea…

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Matthew 24:42

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Matthew 24:44

Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Matthew 25:13; Mark 13:33-37

Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
Luke 12:40

And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
Acts 1:7

Bible Prophecy Part 1: Introduction

An Introduction to Biblical Prophecy

Before we get started…
Know this, in order to truly have an understanding of what is to follow, you must have an understanding of what the Gospel of Jesus Christ actually is and preferably have Him as your personal Lord and Savior. You can do that in the How to Know God, Personally section of this blog. Too many scholars try to interpret scripture without the saving Grace of Christ and they will never be able to interpret it correctly without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. If you do not believe that the Bible is the infallible and inerrant work of God and you view it as a simple historical text then this information will never be of any use to you.

Ok, if you are still with me, let us move forward…

So, is it the end of the world?
Looking at the news lately, you would be hard-pressed to say that there isn’t at the very least something extraordinary going on. Earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, numerous mega floods in populated areas on a global scale, wild fires out of control, enormous mud slides due to torrential rains, wars, famines and it goes on and on. But is it the end?

Before we explore the events on our immediate horizon, we need to gain a clear perspective of the various elements that make up the classical Biblical prophetic scenario of the end-time. There are a few areas that require a basic understanding before undertaking a study on Biblical Prophecy: eschatology, exegesis, Biblical hermeneutics, figures of speech and symbols.

Eschatology is a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or humankind. It is used specifically in Christian doctrine concerning the end of an individual life, the end of the age, the rapture, a great tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, the Millennium, a new heaven and new earth and the ultimate consummation of all of God’s purposes. Each of these varying views regarding these topics in eschatology essentially derives their opinion from the interpretation of Scripture. An individual’s views are strongly influenced by their willingness to depart from the literal rendering of the text. Also, their comprehensive understanding of the whole body of Scripture will shape their eschatological view.

Exegesis is the initial step in any textual analysis: determining what the text actually says. It may also include the study of the historical and cultural backgrounds for the author, the text, and the original audience.

Biblical hermeneutics, a part of traditional hermeneutics, is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible. Christ repeatedly instructed us: “Be not deceived.” That is an imperative: a command, not simply a suggestion. Having a good methodology of Biblical hermeneutics is a tool to prevent our being deceived or misled. It is probably summarized best by 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” It helps us to know how to interpret, understand and apply the Bible.

Since the early writings of Origen and their later adoption by Augustine, there has been a widespread willingness to adopt an allegorical approach to many of the difficult passages which have consequentially been handed down through the traditions of most denominational churches existing today. When taking this approach, it exponentially becomes more difficult to scholastically retain the truth within the text.

The best approach to Scriptural interpretation is that of a “literal” interpretation. When we encounter someone in the Bible reading the Bible, we find that person taking it literally. For example, when Daniel read Jeremiah (as seen in Daniel 9:2), Daniel took him literally:

In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Precision of interpretation is also requisite to avoid confusion, ambiguities and misunderstandings. There are many interpretations of Biblical text. Many interpretations emerge from allegorical assumption and careless speculations that are not necessarily consistent with the text as a whole. It is an integrated design that validates both its supernatural origin and clarifies supposed conflicts.

Having a literal view of the text does not deny the existence of figures of speech, such as: similes, metaphors or analogies. In fact, God highlights the fact that He uses them in Hosea 12:10: “I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.” More than 200 different rhetorical devices have been catalogued and are highly relevant to our understanding of Scripture.

For most of us, prophecy appears as a prediction and a following fulfillment of that prediction. In the mind of a Hebrew, however, prophecy is often seen as a pattern. Some of these patterns appear to be a deliberate anticipation of a subsequent event. Paul brings this to light in 1 Corinthians 10:11, “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.“ The word translated “examples” is tupos in the Greek, from which we get the word “type”, an anticipatory pattern or symbol.

Keep in mind that symbols and patterns can be used to gain or validate a perspective on an issue but can be very hazardous if used as doctrinal “proof” on their own. This is one of the major reasons eschatology is a test of our understanding of the Scripture as a whole and not a quest to find text to support our specific viewpoint.  It is essential that we avoid the “one-verse theology,” and always establish any issue with two or preferably more contextually relevant verses.

A great example of an eschatological “type” is the role of Boaz in the book of Ruth. He is an anticipatory “type” of our own Kinsman-Redeemer in Christ.

Conclusion of Part 1
Varying viewpoints in eschatology have fractured the church over the years because of carelessness and allegorization and as a result it has lulled the believers to sleep with no clue of how close we are to the end of this world as we currently know it. While prophecies that Christians have anticipated for 2000 years are being fulfilled right before their eyes, their main concern is about long term mortgages on their homes, interest free financing on their vehicles and maintaining a great FICO score. Having a sufficient retirement income impairs their heavenly vision of stockpiling treasures in the Kingdom of Christ. Their life is left without purpose, distracted by bigger and better toys to alleviate the boredom of existence.

Some prominent pastors of today are too afraid to tackle texts regarding anything remotely in prophetical contexts because doing so may hinder their credibility among their peers. They may think that if they just focus on the core Gospel of Christ, the black and white safe area, that everything else will just miraculously work out. In most cases however, their view on eschatology takes a serious toll on their effectiveness to bring the truth to their congregations. For example, you will not hear a sermon from a Preterist pastor on the rapture. Am I diminishing the role that the Gospel should take in our lives? No, but I want to bring up a point that Adrian Rogers brought out in his sermon on How to Get Ready for the Rapture:

“I want to tell you dear folks, the greatest fact of the past is that Jesus Christ died for us, the greatest fact of the future is that Jesus Christ is coming for us. We need to get excited about the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but not only excited in the getaway, we need to get motivated in a very real and sober way to live in keeping with the urgency and the emergency of the hour in which we’re living. Now, you know sometimes when the pastor preaches on the second coming of Jesus Christ as I’ve done last Sunday and this Sunday some people think perhaps he’s riding a hobby horse, perhaps he’s putting an undue emphasis that he ought not to put, but I want to tell you dear friend, that twenty five percent of the bible is prophecy, twenty five percent of it and rightly understood one verse out of every four points toward the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And so we’re preaching as we ought, almost one sermon out of four ought to be talking about the coming of Jesus or at least Jesus ought to be twenty five percent of every message, his second coming ought to be a part of it.”

The gap of sound Biblical teaching in the study of eschatology is being filled by false doctrine spewed on every outlet imaginable, especially on the seemingly benign device occupying space in our living room – the television. News shows focus on crackpots like Harold Camping and Jack Van Impe as examples of the Christian faith that seems blithering in idiocy, which enables the world to relish in the mockery of Christ and the Testament of His name, the Bible. Documentary style programs like Who Wrote the Bible, UFOs in the Bible, Banned from the Bible, Ancient Aliens, Mysteries of the Bible, Apocalypse: The Puzzle of Revelation, The Bible’s Buried Secrets, Decoding the Past and the Seven Signs of the Apocalypse promote the interpretations of so called “Biblical scholars” that espouse what they see as inconsistency in the Scripture.

It has always been up to the individual to take responsibility to understand and research what they believe. Now is no different. In 1 Peter 3:15 he challenges the body of Christ to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you…” In Acts 17:11 we are to follow the ways of the believers in Berea and receive the Word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if what we are told is true. We are to take into account not only the core Gospel of Christ but all scripture as Paul says in Acts 20:27, the whole counsel of God, which includes all texts relating to eschatological topics. Begin studying in this field and you will receive blessings beyond measure. It is my hope that you begin to understand not only that He died for you and that you have been forgiven but why He did it and what He has planned for you in the future coming of His Kingdom.

THUS SAITH STEPHEN HAWKING…

Stephen Hawking, pictured at the Centre for Mathematical Studies, Cambridge University, in October 2001 Photo: MARTIN POPE

For those that may not know, Stephen Hawking is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic giant in the eyes of modern science. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and in 2009 was awarded the highest civilian award in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University for 30 years and is now the Director of Research at the Center for Theoretical Cosmology in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge. He has also written several books discussing his own theories and cosmology in general; these include the best seller A Brief History of Time, The Grand Design, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Theory of Everything and On The Shoulders of Giants.

Hawking is a true testament to human intellect and scientific understanding, to say the least. In an interview published Monday, May 16, 2011 in the Guardian newspaper, he declared that the human brain is like a computer that will stop working when its components fail. He further explained that, “there is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.” That is an absolutely amazingly profound observation from this wonder of human intellect. In his book, “Grand Design,” published last year, he declared that is was “not necessary to invoke God… to get the universe going.” In an interview with Diane Sawyer last June, Hawking noted that “there is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, and science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win, because it works.” Wow – it is just that simple – science will win, every time because it works… well most of the time. I could point out countless occasions where science has succeeded and where it has failed miserably over the course of man’s history.

As I saw his amazing conclusion is the news today, I had to wonder what he actually thinks the meaning behind his existence really is and what would God have to say about his brilliantly evaluated deductions. He said there “is no heaven or afterlife” and that it is a “fairy story for people afraid of the dark.” Has he been privy to what is in the darkness? Does he know beyond a shadow of a doubt, concretely what the darkness contains? Would I be willing to stake my life on what this man says? What does God have to say?

In Job we find our answer to the burning question of what God thinks about Hawking’s scientific reasoning about physics and cosmology…

Job 38:2-7, 12-14, 17-18, 19-21, 31-33 (NLT)

God speaking
² “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?
³ Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.
⁵ Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?
⁶ What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone
⁷ as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

¹² “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
¹³ Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,  to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
¹⁴ As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors.

¹⁷ Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
¹⁸ Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!

¹⁹ “Where does light come from, and where does darkness go?
²⁰ Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?
²¹ But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!

³¹ “Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?
³² Can you direct the sequence of the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
³³ Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?

Job 40:2

“Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?  You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?”

There is much more to the conversation that God had with Job that applies in this case. Mr. Hawking seriously needs to understand the limitations of his own understanding. As humans we are limited to our own miniscule perspective, no matter how intellectual we may be, we are always going to fall short in the knowledge and understanding that we may attain in this short-lived life. People forget that science is not the creation of something but a discovery of something that has already been placed in existence by God and no matter what that discovery is, we will never be able to fully understand it to the extent that God does.

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Psalm 111:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

Only through Christ, can you begin to understand what the truth of this life is all about. Click Here to learn more…

The Challenges to the Covenant with Abraham – Then and Now

Genesis 12:2-3
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

God gave Abraham, unconditionally, a land for him and his descendants. He promised that Abraham would become a great nation, that his name would great and that he will be a blessing to all people on the earth. He also promised to bless those people who blessed him and curse those people that cursed him. From that point forward God has kept His Word.

5 Kings vs. God’s Covenant (Genesis 14)
When the kings of 5 nations kidnapped Lot and his family, Abraham went after them with the assistance of Aner, Eschol and Mamre, three leaders of the Amorites. After all was done and Lot was freed, the 5 kings were defeated and the Amorites gained quite a hefty spoil from the King of Sodom. Those that had blessed Abraham were blessed and those that were against him were cursed.

Pharaoh vs. God’s Covenant (Exodus 15)
When the Israelites left Egypt, Pharaoh actively pursued them down to the Arabian Peninsula and his armies were consumed by the Red Sea.

Amalekites vs. God’s Covenant (Exodus 17)
When the Amalekites, descendants of Esau, attacked Israel in the desert, they were soundly defeated. In verse 14, the Lord says that because of this He “will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. “ In verse 17:16, the Lord declares war on them “from generation to generation.” Where are the Amalekites today?

Babylonians
God used the Babylonians to execute His judgment against Israel but He held them accountable for the way they treated His people. He told Jeremiah that as soon as Israel’s 70 year exile was complete, He would judge their captors (Jeremiah 25). At the end of those 70 years, the Lord sent the Medes and Persians to conquer them. Cyrus set them free, returned their treasure stolen from the Temple Nebuchadnezzar destroyed and helped them rebuild it.

Persians
The Persian King Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah permission to rebuild the Holy City and its walls in Nehemiah chapter 2, the event that started the clock on Daniel’s 70 weeks. As a result of this the Kingdom of Persia enjoyed several years of peace and prosperity.

Alexander the Great
When Alexander came through the Middle East, he spared Jerusalem. As a result he was then blessed with a string of victories, the likes of which the world at that time had never seen, reaching into Africa and all the way to India.

FLASH FORWARD
May 14, 1948, the day before the expiration of the British Mandate, the Jewish Agency for Israel proclaimed independence and Israel was reborn as a nation. The following day, the armies of four Arab countries—Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq—attacked Israel, launching the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. And so began the current condition they live in today, constantly attacked from all sides, even from their allies.

The prophetic words written in Zechariah 12 and Psalm 83 sum up the attitude that exists today, concerning the nation of Israel:

Zechariah 12:2-3
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.(KJV)

Psalm 83:2-5
2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. 4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee.

Jerusalem will be a cup of trembling to all people – that means everyone. Every nation will be against God’s people and the resulting judgment for that offense will be that every nation will be cut to pieces. Throughout history, nations have risen and fallen based on their relationship to Israel, our time is no different. Israel is in the headlines daily, the world has come against them and there is no doubt that God’s judgment is coming for those who find themselves against His chosen people.

March 19, 2010
The Quartet consisting of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, issued a statement after a meeting in Moscow that calls for 24 months of talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that would result in an agreement of the establishment of a Palestinian state. The statement said that the founding of the state would end the occupation that began in 1967, it also called on Israel to institute a total freeze on construction in the West Bank and to refrain from home demolitions in East Jerusalem. The declaration even went so far as to mention that the international community does not recognize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem.

August 11, 2010
The current Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejected the Palestinian demand that negotiations be based on the statement made by the Quartet, basing the future Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.  Senior officials in Jerusalem, involved in the efforts to renew the peace talks said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ latest formula was unacceptable to Netanyahu because it sought to impose preconditions that the Israeli public would oppose.

February 28, 2011
A scheduled meeting of the Quartet marked an important turning point in the creation of a Palestinian state. According to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Quartet will try to draw borderlines between Israel and a sovereign Palestinian state. The Palestinians insist on returning to the borders that existed before the 1967 Six Day War. Once they achieve this, they can then move their agenda forward to eliminate the state of Israel all together.

March 10, 2011
Quartet representatives met separately on Thursday, March 10, 2011, in Israel with both Israeli and Palestinian officials, in what one Quartet source described as an attempt to gauge where the sides stand and to look for ways to restart the negotiations. The Quartet representatives – US Mideast envoy George Mitchell’s adviser David Hale; the EU’s deputy secretary-general for the new External Action Service, Helga Schmid; Russian Middle East envoy Sergei Yakovlev; and the UN’s Mideast envoy, Robert Serry – met first with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s envoy Yitzhak Molcho at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. Four hours later, they met Palestinian official Saeb Erekat at the UN headquarters in Jerusalem. The Palestinians are pushing hard to get the Quartet to issue a statement endorsing a two-state solution with the 1967 lines as the baseline of a future Palestinian state.

“We can’t talk about a Palestinian state that does not exist on the borders of June 4, 1967, and that does not include east Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. Also, the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip must be one geographical unit,” Erekat said.

Intelligence Agencies Minister Dan Meridor said Israel needed to clearly state its territorial objectives, to counter the Palestinians increasingly effective use of “soft power,” rather than “fire and terrorism,” to achieve their aim of a state within the 1967 lines. The Palestinian use of “soft power,” which Meridor characterized as using flotillas to Gaza and protests in city squares with “very Western slogans” like freedom and liberty, was something Israel “needed to pay attention to.”

April 19, 2011
American and European diplomats warned that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to present a new peace initiative soon, the Quartet may be compelled to recognize a Palestinian State in the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday, April 19, 2011.

According to the report, Netanyahu is under mounting pressure to unveil a new plan that would jump-start the deadlocked negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hinted that the international community may apply pressure on both sides in order to promote a settlement to the longstanding conflict, which she said was as pressing as ever given recent developments in the Arab world.

May 11, 2011
The head of Mission and former US Ambassador to Oman, Gary Grappo, told The Ma’an News Agency that the Quartet now trusts President Mahmoud Abbas because they feel that he is committed to the peace process.  Abbas hopes that Israel and the PA “will go back to negotiations in order to establish a Palestinian state,” Grappo said. He went on to say that the Quartet was in full support of Palestinian unity.

Also, Senior Fatah member Nabil Shaath said that a new Palestinian government will be created in 10 days but stated that the prime minister had not been announced as of yet. He did not exclude Salam Fayyad for as one of the individuals up for the position.

Alliance Building
In August of 2009 people began to notice an interesting alliance occurring in the Middle East. Syrian President Bashar Assad’s visited Tehran and revealed a new regional element that was largely ignored by Western observers. Assad’s trip was officially described as a goodwill trip to congratulate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his re-election, but what actually came from the meeting with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was an idea for an unofficial alliance between Syria, Iran, Turkey and Iraq.

In February of 2010 Ahmadinejad said that Arab nations will usher in a new Middle East without Zionists and without colonialists. He made these comments during his visit to Syria, when he met with President Bashar Assad. The two-day visit was in response to the U.S. efforts to break up Syria’s 30-year alliance with Tehran. Ahmadinejad also commented that “if the Zionist regime wants to repeat its past mistakes, this will constitute its demise and annihilation.” He also said that Iran, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon will all stand against Israel.

With the recent upheaval in Egypt, they are also fast becoming a new factor in the alliances being made through the recent unstable developments In Middle East. On April 19, 2011 it was reported that Iran had appointed an ambassador to Egypt for the first time in 30 years as diplomatic relations are re-established following the fall of President Hosni Mubarak.

The End
We are drawing closer to the end of the world as we know it. Is that a bad thing? It all depends on which side of Christ you are on. Are you one of His? Once this powder keg goes off, it will set in motion a chain of events that will culminate in the Second Coming of the Messiah and Israel will once again know her one true God. I look forward to the day that governments of the world will cease and the one true Monarchy is in place.

Back in the Saddle Again…

It’s been more than a little while since I’ve posted… It has been crazy – busy with job, family and classes. I have learned a lot of new things concerning the Biblical arena and I look forward to sharing those with everyone that view this site. Our world is about to come into a new paradigm shift and we need to be well aware of what is going on. I look forward to sharing some things with you and hopefully you will get as much out of this information as I have.

In Christ Alone,
Adam

My Lord and My God

This is an interesting article by Jack Kelley that explains how different religions portray the same Jesus and at the end explains how the bible portrays Jesus.

Seven Men Named Jesus by Jack Kelley

I wanted to send this out because of a couple of visitors I had to the house the other day. They were adamant that works were the key to heaven and that if they did as they were told and were deemed worthy by their church and God that they would receive the opportunity of heaven. Many religions claim Jesus but not all claim that Jesus is God – what does the bible have to say about this – is it clear? I gave them a couple of examples and had them scratching their heads when they left. Since that encounter I’ve spent quite a few hours making sure that position of Grace by Faith and not by Works is well justified in scripture – I knew this but I wanted to make sure I could convey this if need be again to any other visitors by citing exact scripture passages. I found the following in Galatians that summed up what I was thinking and wanted to convey the next go around.

Galatians 3:1-14

¹ O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? ² This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? ⁴ Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
⁵ Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— ⁶ just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ⁷ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” ⁹ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

These guys quoted James 2:24 to me “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” and he made a point that works is the key to faith… I told him that I was sorry he saw it that way and that he needed to go back over James again.

James 2:21-23

²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²² Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? ²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”^[g]And he was called the friend of God.

It was Abraham’s faith and love for God that brought about the works – not the other way around. I also would like to point that Abraham was called a friend of God – not a brother… these guys considered Christ a brother… I had to set them straight.

Paul was very clear in that aspect of the role of Christ. He also brings the fact of that it is only by Faith that we are justified and not by works.

Philippians 3:8-11

⁸ Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ¹⁰ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹ if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Thomas also had this to say after Jesus had been resurrected and he realized to whom he was speaking…

John 20:27-28

²⁷ Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
²⁸ And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

If you have a knock at the door one day – keep these verses in mind… Christ is not your brother – He is your God and that you are justified by faith and not by works… sometimes we take knowing this for granted. These guys have been deceived by their church (LDS) – it’s up to us to set them straight as to who God actually is and how to get there by faith in Christ.

The Importance of Knowing the Word of God

Satan has enjoyed corrupting man for thousands of years. Now is no different. It is so important to understand what you believe in and why you believe in it. Societies today are full of wolves who prey on those who do not understand the Word of God. The following videos are a couple of examples of how Satan in currently corrupting and purposely leading astray individuals who claim to be Christian believers but are easily swayed because they are not familiar enough with the Word of God to combat this type of sabotage.

The man above mentioned no scripture at all. He wasn’t even sure what book of the bible had the point that he was trying to make. He just keeps laughing and laughing and laughing – repeating the “Joy of the Lord.” And yes – people are listening to this guy.

Matthew 7:15-23

15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.
21 Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out demons? and in your name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.

Understand that Satan does know enough scripture to twist and corrupt but he cannot understand it. His goal is to corrupt what God has created. That includes us. If he can corrupt an individual and lead others down that same path, he has accomplished his goal.

In order for him to corrupt on a massive scale, sometimes he will use movies or documentaries to employ false doctrine. The Da Vinci Code, Religulous, and Zeitgeist are some great examples of false teachings made to look like fact in order to usurp Christians and Non Christians.

• The Da Vinci Code (Movie) – In the novel Leigh Teabing explains to Sophie Neveu that the figure at the right hand of Jesus in Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of “The Last Supper” is not the apostle John, but actually Mary Magdalene. According to the book, Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus Christ and was pregnant with his child when Jesus was crucified. The absence of a chalice in Leonardo’s painting indicates that Leonardo knew that Mary Magdalene was the actual Holy Grail and the bearer of Jesus’ blood in the form of the child she was carrying.
• Religulous (Documentary) – The film is written by and starring political comedian Bill Maher. According to Maher, the title of the film is a portmanteau derived from the words “religion” and “ridiculous”; the documentary examines and satirizes organized religion and religious belief. Maher says, “Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It’s nothing to brag about. And those who preach faith and enable and elevate it are intellectual slave holders, keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned and justified so much lunacy and destruction.”
• Zeitgeist (Documentary)- Zeitgeist was released online for free on Google video on June 26, 2007 and has since been translated into several languages. For a time it reached the top of the chart of “most viewed” videos available through Google video. It won the award in the “Artivist Spirit” category for feature-length documentaries. Part I, entitled “The Greatest Story Ever Told” questions religions as original god-given stories, arguing the Christian religion specifically is mainly derived from other religions, astronomical facts, astrological myths and traditions; in turn derived from or sharing elements with other ones. In furtherance of the Jesus myth hypothesis, this part argues that the historical Jesus is a literary and astrological hybrid, nurtured politically in the interest of control. The following is a clip from this film…

This documentary written and narrated by Peter Joseph concludes Jesus of Nazareth is merely a fictional character, a combination of many fabled solar messiahs. It is full of complete fiction but presents everything with a “matter of fact” attitude. Unfortunately it has led individuals into oblivion with its ridiculous falsehood. Most of the “facts” in the film about Christianity as well as the other gods that are presented are proven false by a simple search in Wikipedia. The “Three Kings” that he relies heavily on in this clip are completely false in all the stories that he mentions. The major error he makes is with scripture, which never mentions “three kings.” Wise men – yes but it never associates a number with them.

Matthew 2:7 Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

We are constantly bombarded with corruption of the Word. That is why it is so important that we understand it and distinguish fact from fiction. We must choose to read the Word daily and grow so that we may help ourselves and others to understand that these are false teachings.

Luke 8:10-15
10 …Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those by the wayside are they that hear; then comes the devil, and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 Those on the rock are they, who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who for awhile believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, who, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
15 But that on the good ground are they, who in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Avoid being an individual “by the wayside.” Those who hear but allow the devil to take the word out of their hearts.
Avoid being an individual “on the rock.” Those who hear and receive with joy but during temptation fall away.
Avoid being an individual “among thorns.” Those who hear and go forth but are choked by the cares and pleasures of the world.
Be an individual on good ground! Who have heard the Word and keep it!

We must learn to defend ourselves against the corruption that Satan will throw our way daily.

Ephesians 6:10-13
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.
13 Therefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Otherwise you may find your faith shaken and undermined by the philosophies of others who put authority in their own voice by using modern technologies to amplify that voice.