Birth Pangs

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“But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”  Matthew 24:8

There is a lot of talk about the birth pangs these days.  Many Christians are saying that we are seeing them now – earthquakes, wars, and rumors of wars, pestilence, even the potential for famines. 

Are we really experiencing the events that Jesus, Paul and John prophesied?   No, we are not.

We are not seeing the birth pangs that were prophesied because they are tribulation events.  We are not in the tribulation.  Are these types of things occurring today?  Absolutely, but nowhere near the level of magnitude as will happen in the 7-year tribulation period before the return of Christ to earth.

It’s easy to take the passage in Matthew – where Jesus is describing wars, famine, earthquakes, lawlessness and love growing cold – out of context.  These things have been occurring since the flood.  But that does not mean they are the specific things foretold as the ‘birth pangs’.

In Matthew 24, Jesus is clearly speaking about the tribulation.  His outline of things to come in response to the disciples question – “what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?” – fits in precisely with the format we find in Daniel 9, 1Thessalonians 4 and 5, and Revelation.  The format, or timeline, is as follows:

  1. The Church is evacuated to heaven (1Thess 1:10; 1Thess 4:15; 2Thess 2:1-3)
  2. The antichrist is revealed (2Thess. 2:3-12)
  3. Peace and safety on earth (1Thess 5:3; 2Thess 2:8-11)
  4. An agreement is made with Israel and antichrist – probably to allow Israel to build the temple and sacrifice in peace. (Dan. 9:27)
  5. The birth pangs begin (Matt. 24:6; Mark 13:7-13; 1Thess. 4:15-5:3; Rev. 6)
  6. The 2 witnesses are killed (Rev. 11:7)
  7. Antichrist stops the sacrifices and enters Holy of Holies in the new temple in the middle of the tribulation, declaring himself to be God and Savior (Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14; 2Thess. 2:4)
  8. Jews flee Jerusalem and elsewhere into the wilderness for the 3 1/2 years (Hosea 2:14-16; Matt. 24:16-20; Mark 13:14-18; Rev. 12:6)
  9. Satan is thrown down from heaven and permanently shut out of the throne room of God (Rev. 12:9-10)
  10. Satan tries to destroy the Jews in the wilderness and the rest of the Jews on earth (Rev. 12:13-17)
  11. Armageddon takes place (Ezek. 38-39:8; Zech. 14:2-3; Rev.19:11-21)Jesus returns to earth at the end of the 7 years. (Zech. 14:4; Matt.24:30; Rev. 19:11)

So, we see there are four other major events that will take place before the birth pangs begin.  None of these events have happened.  One of the main reasons we put the beginning of birth pangs at the number 5 position is because Jesus is answering the question from His disciples, “…what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age”. 

The birth pangs occur at the end of the age.  They do not occur throughout the age or ages.  And they are signs that verify that the Day of the Lord has come.  The Day of the Lord is an idiom that essentially means the judgment of the world up to and including the return of Christ to earth, i.e. the tribulation. 

This is what Paul explains in 1 Thessalonians.  In his condensed summary of the tribulation, Paul says the birth pangs begin after the rapture and then sometime after peace and safety have been established on earth by antichrist (1Thess. 5:2-3).

The birth pangs that Jesus lay out in Matthew 24 match up with the seal judgments in Revelation 6.

Birth pangs chart

It is also important to remember that Jesus said that the trials he listed are just the beginning of birth pangs.  The pangs continue throughout the 7 years all the way until the firmament is ripped open and Christ is seen coming to earth in the clouds.  They include the Trumpet judgments and the Bowl judgments of Revelation.

The birth pangs are the judgment of the world.  As birth pangs do, these judgments get longer and more painful in magnitude up until the birth, which is Jesus’ return and reclamation of earth.

We are not seeing the birth pangs.  But, with the increasing earthquakes, the locust plagues in Africa and the Middle East, the coronavirus travesty, and now rampant lawlessness, perhaps the Lord is giving a little warning of what is about to come upon the whole earth when the Restrainer is removed.

Read also, Who or What is the Restrainer?, Times and Epochs, The Gog Magog War IS Armageddon, The GreatFalling Away of the Church, Valley of Achor – the Door of Hope, and Three Bankable Scriptural Truths That Guarantee the Church Will Be Raptured Before the Tribulation.

A Day’s Wage for a Loaf of Bread

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“When He opened the the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, ‘Come’.  And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on him had a pair of scales in his hand.  And I heard as it were a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”  Revelation 6:6

The verse above is the description of the 3rd of 7 seal judgments of the 7 year tribulation, or 70th Week of Daniel.  My goal here is to bear out the possibility that we are now living in the circumstances that will lead to the fulfillment of this verse in the tribulation period.  These circumstances are being driven by what is called Modern Monetary Theory, which is now being fully implemented by our government and the rest of the world.  I’ll get into this in a minute. 

You can find various perspectives regarding the meaning of the above passage.  It is pretty much a universal belief that a denarius was about a day’s wage when John wrote Revelation.  Matthew 20:2 seems to confirm it.  And a quart of wheat would make a loaf of bread.

What is not obvious is what the scales, oil and wine represent.

Some interpret this passage as famine with hyperinflation.  Seems reasonable.  Although the 4th seal is the judgment death-by-famine-and-pestilence, and not the 3rd seal.  That brings into question the scales, oil and wine and their meaning.

I interpret this verse symbolically.  The scales are clearly symbolic of something, as are the oil and wine.

Some say the scales represent famine because it would be necessary to measure out the wheat and barley carefully and precisely, due to scarcity.  Some say they represent judgment.  From what I can tell, this is primarily because our symbol of justice is lady liberty holding a sword and scales. 

I think perhaps the scales represent balance and fairness, or justness.  I also have an idea that the oil and wine represent plenty and abundance.  Bread was a basic staple, but oil and wine were luxuries.   

This passage may be describing a situation where hyperinflation is rampant and those with little can barely pay for basic necessities.  However, in this not-so-distant future period, the wealthy are not suffering, and still can have their treats. 

Today in the U.S. and the world, economic inequality, whether measured through the gaps in income or wealth between richer and poorer households, continues to widen.  According to the Pew Research Center, “the wealth gap among upper-income families and middle- and lower-income families is sharper than the income gap and is growing more rapidly”.

The Brookings Institute says, “the top one percent of the usual income distribution holds over $25 trillion in wealth, which exceeds the wealth of the bottom 80 percent. That is more than all the goods and services produced in the U.S. economy in 2018”.

In Scripture, one of the purposes for the Year of Jubilee, was to prevent the majority of wealth from winding up in the hands of just a few.  You can find my article about it my new book by clicking the link above.

So, in my hypothesis, what you have in this verse is the lower income strata struggling to survive while the elite wealthy are living their lives essentially unchanged.  The scales then would represent a lack of balance and fairness. 

Modern Monetary Theory is Now the Rule

Until recently, I had no idea about this theory.  Now that I understand what it is, so many things make sense. 

I understand why authorities have no problem printing and spending more money to solve any problem that arises.  I understand why Bernie Sanders and other radical leftists have no problem advocating for universal healthcare, universal government paychecks, universal EVERYTHING!

In short, Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is the belief that by printing more money, any economic problem can be mitigated (I’m getting sick of that word – thank you Fauci). 

It is the anti-orthodox, macro-economic framework which says that any ‘monetarily sovereign’ country does not need taxes or borrowing for spending since they can print as much as they need and are the monopoly issuers of the currency.

A monetary sovereign country is one that has exclusive, unlimited power to create their sovereign currencies.   The U.S., U.K, Canada, Australia, Japan, China and the European Union are entities that are monetarily sovereign.

Because the U.S. is monetarily sovereign, it never needs to tax or borrow, according to the premise of the theory.  It can just just print money to pay it’s bills.  Theoretically, the country can never be pushed into insolvency. 

To quote one source, “Everything you believe about your personal finances — debts, deficits, spending, affordability, saving, and budgeting — are inappropriate to U.S. federal finances. For this reason, your personal intuition about U.S. financing likely is wrong.”

Traditional thinking would say that’s nuts. 

But according to investopedia.com, MMT supporters say, “large government debt isn’t the precursor to collapse we have been led to believe it is.  Countries like the U.S. can sustain much greater deficits without cause for concern, and in fact a small deficit or surplus can be extremely harmful and cause a recession since deficit spending is what builds people’s savings.”

In this theory, taxes are actually a mechanism to take money out of the money supply to control inflation!  In other words, tax revenues are simply destroyed, or erased from the money supply!

Conventional thinking would say that the natural consequence of this policy is hyper-inflation.  But MMT’ers would say nay, you can just adjust policies to correct inflation.  Does the Fed rate come to mind? 

Right now (as of this writing April 14, 2020), the Fed Rate is .25%.  That’s the rate banks can borrow money.  The lower the rate, the cheaper borrowed money is (and the more commercial and personal debt increases), and the slower inflation would creep.

Do some research on it.  Investopedia gives a very nice explanation. 

The Coronavirus Play

So now comes the coronavirus.  My spidey sense is at 100%.  I try to get a 30,000 foot spiritual view of the situation.

This germ panic has prompted governments to declare a lockdown of the entire world economy.  The result of this lockdown is the most unprecedented (I know that’s redundant) printing-fest of fiat currency in the history of the world.  Trillions of new dollars are being printed to ameliorate the economic hardships of the man-made economic shutdown.

Recently, White House economic advisor, Larry Kudlow said that the U.S. economic stimulus package will reach $6 trillion.  $4 trillion would be immediate liquidity (that means cheap borrowing and bloating of the money supply) and the other $2 trillion would be paychecks, essentially. 

Kudlow called it, “the single largest Main Street assistance program in the history of the United States”.   Duh

The world is at full tilt printing new money.  Can you see the picture developing and the rationale behind my interpretation of Revelation 6:6?  Massive debt, hyperinflation, incredible wealth gap, economic depression.

What if the rapture happened right…now?

The Real Tower of Babel

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tower of babel

“Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”  Genesis 11:4

The story of the tower of Babel has always puzzled me. Why would God be concerned about a bunch of people building a structure high up into the sky?

Usually the interpretation of the passage goes like this:  The people wanted to build something that would reach up to the heavens where God is.  God saw what they were doing and realized that the people were accomplishing the goal.

  “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language.  And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.”  Gen. 11:6

So, God went down and confused their language and scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city.  (Interesting that Scripture says they stopped building the city, not the tower.  Make a note of this.)

The first problem with this explanation is that God would not care about someone trying to build a tower up to heaven, other than it would be an exercise in futility and God is opposed to wasting time and money. 

God says in Jeremiah 31 that the “heavens cannot be measured”.  It is not possible to reach God’s throne.

Obviously, God was not thinking about the tower reaching up to heaven where He is enthroned when He said, ‘nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them’.

So, let’s break things down.  What is going on here?

The first thing to address is who the people are.  You must back up into the previous chapter.  This is post flood and chapter 10 chronicles all the generations of Noah’s sons.  It documents all the descendants of Noah leading up to the city of Babel in chapter 11. 

In other words, the people of Babel were the entire human race up to that point after the flood.  That is what 10:32 says – “These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.”.

Notice that the verse says they were separated into the nations (in case you missed the underline). 

Continuing into chapter 11:1, it says, “Now, the whole earth used the same language…”, and in 11:6 it says that they are “one people”.

What is happening in the story of Babel is an explanation of how and why the descendants of the sons of Noah were separated into the nations. 

What did God command Adam and Eve in the garden?  “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it;” Gen. 1:28.

And what did the people of Babel led by Nimrod, say?  “let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”.

What we see in this story is the people of earth defying God and His purpose for mankind.  Instead of obeying God and representing Him, they are choosing to create their own identity and purpose, and NOT be scattered over the earth. 

The tower was simply going to be the center of that identity.  It would be the symbol of who they are.  

And it would be the focal point of their existence geographically.  A sort of tether if you will.  According to the Book of Jubilees, the tower, at its peak, reached a height of 1.6 miles.  That is 8,500 feet, approximately! 

Think of it this way, they wanted to stay together where they were, and the tower, which would be the height of 6 empire state buildings, would be a visual hitching post, so as the population grew and spread, they could always see the tower and stay together. 

The tower would be the center of their civilization and it would also be the center of their identity. 

Remember I said to make a note of the fact that Scripture said they stopped building the city instead of the tower – after God confused their language?  I think that is just more evidence that the tower, in and of itself, was not the issue with God.  The issue was that they were creating their own identity and purpose and ignoring God and His plan.

Man was created to image God, to represent His Name.  God came down and confused their language to scatter mankind over the earth and fulfill the commission He gave Adam and Eve. 

Nimrod, who led the people to build the tower, was an antichrist type, just as his government was a foreshadowing of a coming world government.

A day is coming soon when another man will unite the world to make a name to follow other than the Most High God.  But that also will fail, of course, and then the King of Kings will set up His kingdom that will last forever. 

Very soon. Hebrews 10:37

A Nickel in the Grass

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“He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.”  John 14:21

I was having a conversation with a Christian friend of mine and we were talking about many things and the verse above came up.  He said he had listened to someone who was talking about Christ manifesting Himself to believers, which is what the Greek word for ‘disclose’ means. 

Now, my friend was saying that the person he listened to was saying that Christ will visually manifest Himself, as in – you literally see Jesus. 

I know that there are many stories of people in the Middle East getting saved because Jesus has come to them in their dreams and told them the Gospel.  That would definitely be a manifestation.  And I believe it has happened.

However, the verse in John is clearly talking about a manifestation to those who know Jesus, not those who don’t. 

So the question is… how does Jesus ‘disclose’ or ‘manifest’ Himself to a believer?

I think there are a number of ways.  And this leads into my story of a nickel in the grass.

I was in my last year of college and I had recently come to Christ as my Savior.  So I was a brand new Christian.

One day I was walking across campus toward the main administration building and I had to make an urgent phone call.  I have no recollection about who I had to call or why.  All I remember is that it was urgent, and I was moving very fast, cutting across the grass.

There were no cell phones back then, and pay phones cost 10 or 15 cents for local calls.  Whatever the price was, I was short a nickel and I obviously felt like I needed it right now! 

So I prayed.  I asked the Lord to somehow get me a nickel so I could immediately make the phone call when I got to the building straight ahead of me. 

I remember it was only about a few steps after I started praying, and as I’m scurrying with my head down, there it was.

I hit the brakes and couldn’t believe it.  Right there in the grass, right in front of me, was a nickel!

I’m still blown away by that ‘event’ today.  God put that nickel right where it needed to be for the exact time I needed it.

I’ve told this story to many people over the years.  Did Jesus disclose Himself to me?  I say, yes He did. 

I don’t believe that John 14:21 is specifically referring to a visible manifestation such as Jesus’ appearing to the disciples after His resurrection.  Although, I surely give God all the room to do that today if He chooses!  But I think Jesus was referring to a spiritual disclosure by the Holy Spirit living in us.

Jesus discloses, or reveals Himself as we seek Him in His Word.  That I can say without doubt.  He also reveals Himself to us through other believers.  And when we have the Holy Spirit, we can see Jesus revealed in things like creation, history and fulfillment of prophecy (Israel becoming a nation again comes to mind). 

But you must have the Holy Spirit to be able to understand these revelations, or disclosures.

“I shall remember the deeds of the Lord”

Answered prayer is certainly a way Jesus discloses Himself.  And for me, when I was an infant Christian, the Lord was kind enough to answer that prayer for a nickel when I really needed it.  And the benefit of that answered prayer has carried me through many difficult situations since then. 

As we get older in the faith, and God tests that faith (and He does – 1 Pet. 1:7), it’s important that we be able to fall back on the past where the Lord has demonstrated His faithfulness to us, so that we can remember and stand firm.

That is what Asaph is saying in Psalm 77.  He said he will remember the deeds and wonders of the Lord, and he will meditate on them, because it was a trying time.  In vs. 7-11, Asaph is wondering out loud, “Has God forgotten to be gracious?”. 

And then he comforts himself by remembering the works of the Lord, and he recounts them.  And he knows that the Lord is with him. 

I believe we all, as Christians, have those personal stories or memories to recall – like a nickel in the grass.

Your Faith Has Saved You

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Jesus at table

“And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this man who even forgives sins?’  And He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'”  Luke 7:49-50

This is the story of the immoral woman who washed Jesus’ feet and anointed Him with oil.  Jesus told the people who were in the house of the Pharisee at the time that her sins were forgiven her, and it was her faith that accomplished it. 

I wanted to write about this to specifically address the notion that we have no choice about our salvation; that God chooses some and those He chooses have no choice but to be saved.  The rest have no choice but to be condemned.  In other words, there is no free will when it comes to salvation.  I’ve had more than one conversation about this lately.

Jesus told the woman that her faith had saved her.  Paul says in Ephesians 2:8 that we are saved by grace, through faith.  So which is it?  Are we saved by faith or grace?

Both.  Without grace we cannot be saved, and without faith we cannot be saved.

There is a two-way dynamic that takes place when a person is saved.  First, God must draw the person to Him (John 12:32) and reveal Himself (Luke 10:22).  Grace is given to an individual to understand the saving message of the Gospel of Salvation (Heb. 6:4-5).  The person at that time has a choice to believe or reject that message. 

Of course, salvation can be a much more complicated and nuanced experience than the description above.  It can take months or years for an individual to come to the realization or understanding of the truth, as well as the humility to accept it. 

But at some point, that individual will come to a critical moment where the decision is now or never and God only knows that moment.  I believe that is what Hebrews chap.6 explains. 

Hebrews 6 is saying that there is a point where a person is enlightened to the extent that they actually taste the heavenly gift of salvation and partake of the Holy Spirit.  They have been brought to a place where they completely understand the truth and ‘see the light’, and they can either reject or accept it. 

If they accept it, they are saved by their faith.  Their faith justifies their salvation (Rom. 5:1) and it is the power of God’s grace that seals them in the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13).

If they reject it, then they can not be brought back to that point again.  It is impossible to renew them again to repentance, says the writer of Hebrews. 

It is implicit in these verses that if your faith saves you, and if it is something that you can reject, then it is something you have a free-will choice about.

Jesus is clear when declaring to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you’.  It was the woman’s choice to believe in Jesus as her Savior.  He did not say, ‘I have saved you’.  He could have, and it would have been accurate.  But the fact that He told her that her faith saved her tells us that we have something to say about whether we live forever or we whether we are judged and destroyed. 

Speaking of being judged, how can anyone be judged for their unbelief if they had no choice in not believing?  How can anyone be guilty, if they had no other option but to not believe?  Reformed Theology, or Calvinism, teaches that everyone is born into condemnation, which is true.  But, they believe, God then chooses some out of that condition – without their consent – and the others will remain there and be judged.

But you cannot be rendered guilty for something you have no choice about.

Referring back to John 12, Jesus said that when He is ‘lifted up’, He would ‘draw all men to Himself’.  Why would He say that He will draw all men to Himself if He is only going to choose certain ones for salvation?  He would not.  He “desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1Tim. 2:4). 

Whom does Jesus choose?  Everyone who chooses to believe in Him!

The Lord of Outbursts

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The Chastisement of Uzzah

“When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, because the oxen nearly upset it.  And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzza, so He struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark; and he died there before God.”  1 Chronicles 13:9-10

I wanted to write about this story because it has stayed with me for days since reading it.  It’s in 1 Chronicles 13 -15.

Saul is dead and David is bringing back the ark to Jerusalem from Kiriath-jearim, which is where it had been for 20 years after the Philistines captured it.  The Philistines sent it away with gifts after plagues infested their ranks. 

The people of Beth-shemesh received it but some looked inside the ark and the Lord struck down 70 of their men because of that sin (1Sam. 6:19 ESV).  Some translations say 50,070 but that seems implausible since Beth-shemesh was a small city.   Beth-shemesh quickly got the ark out of their city and sent it away to Kiriath-jearim.

So, on the journey back to Jerusalem, Uzza, who was one of the men handling the oxen, grabbed the ark as it was tottering on the ‘new’ cart.   When he did he was instantly struck down.  Then David got pissed off at God (sorry about the lingo, but I think that aptly describes David’s reaction) because Uzza died for trying to do what David thought was a good thing. 

David named the place ‘Perez-uzza’, which means ‘the outburst on Uzza’.  In other words, David didn’t like that God had an outburst of anger toward Uzza.  The passage says that David then left the ark at a man’s house by the name of Obed-edom.  It remained there for 3 months and the family was blessed during that time.

David decided that he could not take the ark on to Jerusalem, ostensibly because of  fear of God’s anger.  It seemed to me that it was more of an attitude like – “Fine, then I’ll just leave it behind!”

Later, during that 3 month period, the Philistines came after David when they heard he had been made king.  So David set aside his pouting and inquired of the Lord whether to go up against the Philistines, and the Lord said, “Go up, for I will give them into your hand”. 

So David did, and God did.

And David named that place “Baal-perazim’, or the ‘Lord of outbursts’. 

The Philistines tried again shortly after and David defeated them again. 

David has a change of heart about bringing the ark back and he makes two confessing statements.  “No one is to carry the ark of God but the Levites; for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of God and to minister to Him forever.”  And, “Because you did not carry it at the first, the Lord our God made an OUTBURST on us, for we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.”

The first thing I thought of was that no one seemed to know what God had commanded through Moses regarding the care and handling of the ark.  And David and all of the priests must have been aware of what happened to the Philistines when they captured the ark.  Finally, Beth-shemesh was only about 20 miles from Jerusalem, so surely David had heard what happened to the 70 men when the ark was opened and looked into. 

The ark represented the essence of the holiness of God.  Only the tablets with the 10 commandments were stored inside of it.  God had commanded that the Levites alone were to carry the ark using poles through rings in the side and it was NOT supposed to be carried on a cart – even if it was new!  (Ex. 25:14) 

So that’s the first take-away. David and his company were nonchalant with regard to the holiness of God.  They should have known better.  David should have known.

The second thing to consider is that God did not reject David for his reaction to Uzza’s death.  He went before David and defeated the Philistines and David recognized that God’s anger was always righteous…He was the Lord of the outburst!

This must have helped David realize that the fault of Uzza’s death was not God’s but his. 

The ark was to be regarded as most holy, and treated as such.  Right after the ark was placed in the holy of holies in the finished temple of Solomon, the glory of the Lord filled the temple! 

It wasn’t that God hated Uzza.  Rather, God was faithful to Himself.  Uzza was very probably a good and righteous man and is now with the Lord. 

But no one was to touch the ark.  It was the most holy of the holy objects.  If anyone touched any of the holy objects, they would die (Num. 4:15).

If Uzza didn’t die, then God is not holy.  And this is what David finally understood. 

After David defeated the Philistines, and after David named the place Baal-perazim – ‘Lord of outbursts’, “the fame of David went out into all the lands, and the Lord brought the fear of David on all the nations” (1Chron. 14:17). 

So this is my last takeaway – maybe David did fear God’s anger after Uzza was killed.  But it was misappropriated fear.  David could not be feared among all the nations until David feared the holiness of God.

The Feast of Booths

Feast of Booths

“On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a sabbath rest on the first day and a sabbath rest on the eighth day.”  Lev. 23:39

“You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year.  It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.  You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native born in Israel shall live in booths.”  Lev. 23:41-42

This coming Sunday evening, October 13, begins The Feast of Booths (or Sukkot).  On the Hebrew calendar it is the 15th of Tishrei, which is the 7th month.   It is the last feast of the year of the 7 feasts designated by God in Leviticus (Leviticus 23:1-44).  These were God’s declared ‘holy convocations’ and ‘appointed times’ that the Hebrews were required to observe annually.  These feasts ultimately foreshadowed the coming Messiah and His mission.

All of the spring feasts (Unleavened Bread, Passover, First Fruits and Pentecost (or Shavout) have had fulfillment in Jesus’s first coming.  The fall feasts (Trumpets, Atonement and Booths) have yet to be completely fulfilled and will be at Jesus’s 2nd coming.  I do believe that a partial fulfillment has been accomplished with the Feast of Atonement and the Feast of Booths. 

I encourage you to research this subject for yourself.  While the feasts were only for the Jews to observe, they are important for Christians to understand.  They display God’s wisdom and His agenda.   I only want to focus on the Feast of Booths here.

The Feast of Booths, or Sukkot, is the last fall feast following the Feasts of Trumpets and  Atonement in that order.  Leviticus says that the purpose of this holy convocation is to remind the Jews every year that God had them live in booths when He brought them out from the land of Egypt (Lev. 23:43). 

In Exodus 23:16, it is also called by God as the Feast of Ingathering.  “…also the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.” (See also Exodus 34:22)

The question is – why did God want to constantly remind the Jews that He had them live in booths?

A booth, or sukkoh (cukkah is the literal Hebrew), was a temporary meager shelter.  It had four sides and roof made with various types of branches from leafy trees (Nehemiah 8:15).   The tradition is that the night sky could be seen through them. 

In Genesis 33:17, it says that Jacob journeyed to a place where he built a house for himself and booths for his livestock.  The place from that time forward was called Succoth or Sukkot,  which means booths (cukkowth is the literal Hebrew plural).

This question of why God wanted to remind the Jews that He had them live in booths has even greater dimension when you realize that it is the only feast that will be observed by everyone on earth during the Millennial Kingdom with Jesus reigning from Jerusalem.  “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths”  Zechariah 14:16

When the Hebrews were freed from Egypt, the first place they camped was called Succoth (Exodus 13:20).  This was not the same Succoth as Jacob’s Succoth. 

We have to assume that they made booths and lived in them there.  The reason we have to assume it is because it does not say specifically that they did in the passage in Exodus.  But, Leviticus does specifically say that God had them make and dwell in booths. 

When it comes to understanding the Feast of Booths, it is also significant that the Shekinah Glory of God appeared first at Succoth.  The Pillar of Cloud and Fire is first mentioned in this passage.  “And the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.” (Exodus 13:21)  So, God manifested Himself physically among the Jews.

Will God Indeed Dwell with Mankind on the Earth?

Coinciding with the above was that Solomon’s Temple was dedicated, and the glory of the Lord filled it, during the Feast of Booths.  “And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast, in the month of Ethanim (Tishrei), which is the seventh month.”  “And it came about when the priests came from the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord.”  (1 Kings 8:2,10)  In 2 Chronicles 6:18, after the glory of the Lord filled the Temple, Solomon exclaimed “But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth?”.

This was not a question of doubt, but of wonderment and awe.  And we know this occurred during the Feast of Booths because it was one of the 3 feasts where all the males of Israel had to assemble (Ex. 23:17, Ex. 34:23, Deut. 16:16), and it happened in the 7th month.  

As mentioned earlier in Zech 14:16, the Feast of Booths is the only feast that is required to be observed by all the nations during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ on earth (According to Ezekiel 45, it appears that the Jews in the Millennial Kingdom will also observe the Feast of Passover).   Representatives from all the surviving nations will be required to go to Israel and live in booths just as the Jews did before Christ.  This means Jews and Gentiles.  Any who do not go, that nation will not receive any rain, presumably at least until the next Feast of Booths (Zech. 14:17-18).  

Finally, Jesus was born in a booth.  He was born in a small shelter for livestock and laid in a feeding trough (manger).  And He was born during the Feast of Booths in the fall, not December 25th (I’ll write about this when we get close to Christmas).  God came to earth in the form of man during this feast and He dwelt with man.  This is why I say the Feast of Booths has been partially fulfilled as a foreshadowing.  

There is no specific passage that explains exactly why God commanded the Jews to live in booths for 7 days every year.  Nor is there a verse that explains why God will require the nations to observe this feast either.  But from all of the passages mentioned above, we can make an educated assumption.

I believe the Scriptures express 2 primary reasons. 

First, it was instituted to remind the Jews that God was their provider.  The feast takes place after the harvest is gathered.  The Jews celebrated with a great feast but sacrificed their first fruits to the Lord.  It reminded the Jews that it was God who brought them out of slavery and cared for them in the wilderness.  In the Millennial Kingdom, the nations will also need to be reminded that the King of Kings is the provider of all the earth.

Interestingly, it is also probably why  the forgiveness of debts every 7 years happened during the Feast of Booths (Deuteronomy 15:1-2 and 31:10).   In other words, the forgiveness of debts is an act of faith in the Lord providing.

I think it is important to include that when Jesus returns, there is going to take place the great harvest.  There will be survivors of the 70th Week of Daniel all over the world.  They will include righteous and unrighteous and they will be gathered up and brought to the new capital of earth, Jerusalem (Matthew 25:31-32).  Then there will be the separation of the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares.  All of the righteous and unrighteous, the wheat and tares, will be separated and gathered.  Matthew 13:40-42 says that,

“The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”. 

This is describing hell, not the Lake of Fire (see the article ‘Eternal Torment or Eternal Destruction).  The goats and tares will be cast into hell to await destruction at the end of the Millennial Kingdom.  The righteous will enter the kingdom.  This happens during the Feast of Ingathering after Jesus returns, which is the other name for Feast of Booths.   This harvest of souls is a fulfillment of The Feast of Ingathering.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly,  Sukkot was to teach and remind the Jews that it was God’s desire and plan to dwell with man permanently in an eternal kingdom.  Booths, and the Tabernacle and Temple were temporary.  But God dwelt in all of them.  And when Jesus is reigning on earth during the Millennial Kingdom, He will require the feast to be observed because He wants the nations to be reminded that He is seated on the throne in Jerusalem, ruling and dwelling with man.  But that also will be a temporary realm.

It is God’s burning desire to dwell with man whom He loves, and provide all good things.  He has tarried this long to return because He wants to live with multitudes of people.

When the new heaven and earth are created, there will be no need of any reminders.

The Real David and Goliath

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David-kills-Goliath

I came across a video of a TED talk.  A TED talk is a short lecture on a topic that is distributed freely by TED Conferences, LLC.  TED stands for technology, entertainment and design.  Their slogan is ‘ideas worth spreading’. 

The particular video I saw was by a guy named Malcolm Gladwell.  You can google it.  The title is ‘The Unheard Story of David and Goliath’.  He also wrote a book about his thoughts titled ‘David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants”.  I haven’t read the book but I’m guessing Gladwell’s TED talk is a ‘Cliffs Notes’ version of his book.  The video has had 6.5 million views.  That’s a lot of views.

Here is my ‘Cliff Notes’ version of the TED talk…

Gladwell began his talk by stating that the story of David and Goliath in the Bible had always bothered him.  More precisely, he said the story “really obsessed” him.  He said he thought he had understood the story, but the more he studied it, the more he realized that he really didn’t understand it. 

Here’s the setting: The Philistine army and the Israelite army were encamped on opposing slopes of mountains with a valley in between.  For all intents it was a stalemate because neither army wanted to attack the other.  To do so, the attacking army would have to come down it’s own slope, cross the valley and attack up the enemies slope.  It would likely be suicidal.  So the armies languished in a standoff. 

“Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.”                      _ 1 Samuel 16:13

Enter David.  A short time before the epic contest, David had been anointed king of Israel by Samuel, and Saul was told that he would lose the throne.  David then gets chosen by Saul to play a harp to soothe his mind.  God had sent an evil spirit to torment Saul after David was anointed.  At the time of Goliath’s challenge, Saul does not know of David’s anointing. 

While the armies are encamped, David was going back and forth from Saul to tend his flock of sheep.  On one occasion, David arrives at the Israelite camp and he hears Goliath taunting the Israelite army.  David is the only one who steps up to accept the giant’s challenge.

According to Gladwell, there was a tradition in ancient warfare that when armies were at a standoff they would sometimes have a champion from each army fight each other to determine the outcome.  

In his talk, Gladwell explains that he had always believed that David was an underdog in this classic tale.  What he says he discovered is that the opposite is true.  These are his reasons:

  1.  David is a deadly expert with the sling.  Gladwell says in his talk that the expert slingers of the time could hit their target at distances of 200 yards.  They could knock birds out of the air.
  2. Goliath assumed that he would be fighting an Israelite in hand to hand combat.  Goliath was an infantry soldier and was expecting another infantry soldier.  Goliath is fully clothed in heavy armor and weapons, while David was unencumbered.
  3. Gladwell makes the assumption that Goliath is an abnormally tall man due to a condition of giantism called acromegaly.  This is the condition that Andre the Giant had.  According to Gladwell, it is characterized by a pituitary tumor that causes the gland to over produce.  Symptoms include poor eyesight and poor mobility, not to mention abnormal height.  Gladwell cites a couple of verses to back up his contention that Goliath suffered from this condition.  He said the text shows that Goliath had to be ‘led’ down the mountain because he could not see very well.  He said that Goliath couldn’t see David very clearly until he was only a short distance from him.  Gladwell also cites a verse where Goliath says to David, “Am I a dog that you would come to me with sticks?” (1 Sam 17:45).  David is only carrying 1 stick, so Gladwell assumes Goliath has impaired vision. 

I believe that the first contention about David’s skill with a sling is absolutely correct. In Judges 20:16, it says the 700 choice slingers could ‘sling a stone at a hair and not miss’.  It was a deadly weapon and David definitely knew how to use it.  My guess is that he probably ranked among the most proficient slingers of his day.  No doubt he used it often in protecting his sheep. 

David was also at an advantage without the armor.  He had no intention of battling Goliath with sword, shield and spear – weapons Goliath brought to the fight.  David was far more nimble without the armor and heavy weapons.

However, the Scriptures are clearly in opposition with Gladwell’s 3rd contention that Goliath was physically impaired.  Gladwell is inserting things into the texts that are not there. 

First, in 1 Samuel 17:41, it says that “the Philistine came on and approached David, with his shield bearer in front of him.”  I don’t see anywhere in the text where you can deduce that he was being led by anyone as a seeing eye dog would lead.  The shield bearer was doing what he was supposed to do, carry the shield!  I would presume that he was in front because that’s the formal way they did things like that.  On a practical level, in the event Goliath had to quickly take the shield, he could do so without taking his eyes off his adversary.

Second, the Bible does not say that the Philistine was able to make out David ONLY when he got close to him.  All it says in 1 Samuel 17:42 is that Goliath “looked and saw David”.  You can’t conclude from that verse that Goliath had bad eyesight.  In fact, in 1 Samuel 17:48, it says that ‘when Goliath rose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet Goliath’.  This indicates that they were still pretty far apart from each other when Goliath said what he did about the sticks. 

As far as saying sticks (plural), instead of stick, that can easily be chalked up to a euphemism.  David was only carrying one stick, it’s true, but it’s not enough to justify the assumption Goliath was hard of seeing. 

With regard to Goliath’s height, it was not a gland problem.  He was from a race of giants.  In 1 Chronicles 20:4-8, Scripture describes other fights with giants who were related to Goliath.  In verse 8, it says they were all descended from the giants in Gath.  In Hebrew, the word ‘giant’ in these passages is ‘rapha’.  It is the root of the word Rephaim.  The Rephaim were a race of giants.  Scripture says that Og of Bashan, who was 13-14 feet tall, was the last of the Rephaim.  The giants of Gath, which included Goliath, were most undeniably descended from the Rephaim.   It was not a case of human deformation.  The Rephaim (which included the Emim and the Anakim – Deut. 2:11) were descendents of the Nephilim from Genesis 6.

One last thing about Goliath – he was their CHAMPION!  The Philistines would not have sent some slow-footed, near-sighted klutz to beat the Israelites’ best!  The Philistines would have sent an undefeated, veteran warrior!

Was David an underdog?  Only in stature.  David knew his skill level, but the most important thing that he knew was that God was with him, and that God would deliver Goliath into his hand.   Gladwell completely ignored this fact.

“This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you.  And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”  1 Samuel 17:46-47

David was a prophet, and his prophesy was fulfilled exactly as he foretold.  Remember the verse at the beginning of this article?  It says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon David mightily from the time of his anointing going forward. 

If I can say something else about the idea of each army’s champion fighting to settle a grudge; I believe it was much deeper than just a fight.  I believe the armies saw something much more profound in the outcome. 

As far as the armies were concerned, it was a question of whose god was superior.  Why else would the Philistines run when Goliath was killed?  They still held their high ground after David killed the ‘rapha’.  It still would have been physically daunting for the Israelites to attack up the slope to the Philistine position. 

The reason the Philistines ran is because they believed that the God of Israel was going to crush them.  Everyone on both sides heard David declare what God was going to do.  Remember, David said, “that all this assembly may know”! 

After Goliath bellowed his trash talk, David loudly proclaimed his prophesy.  In the valley, his voice would have carried nicely up the mountain slopes.  The acoustics were ideal.  It was a natural amphitheater.  His bold prediction makes Joe Namath’s super bowl guarantee look like child’s play.  And when it happened just as David had shouted, the Philistine army scattered like cockroaches. 

When David held up the decapitated head of Goliath, the Philistines hearts melted!  It happened exactly as David had declared.

David was not an underdog…Goliath never had a chance.  But it wasn’t because Goliath was physically impaired.

Outside

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“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.  Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers, and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”  Revelation 22:14-15

On the way home from visiting family over the Independence Day holiday I was listening to a Christian program on the radio.  It was one of those ‘Bible answer man’ type shows where people would call or write with questions.  The guy who was answering them was from Moody Bible Institute.  I’m pretty sure he had a doctorate of theology (ThD).

The subject of the verse is the city ‘New Jerusalem’ that will come down out of heaven and be the dwelling place for everyone on the new earth.  The subject of the question was basically, “what’s going on here?”.  The questioner said it sounded like there are unsaved people on the new earth living outside the gates of the new Jerusalem. 

I was really surprised at the answer that the scholar gave.

He said that it appeared from the passage that the Lake of Fire would be within eyesight of the new Jerusalem and that those who are living in the city would be able to see the suffering unsaved burning in the lake. 

I’ll pause here while you look at the passage and contemplate the response he gave.

I was kind of shocked at the level of understanding he showed.   It was evidence that a ThD does not make you Biblically literate. 

Before I get into the problems with the doctor’s answer, and the correct understanding of the passage, you should read my post “Eternal Torment or Eternal Destruction“.  If you haven’t read it or ever considered that the unsaved will be destroyed instead of suffering in unimaginable burning pain for eternity, it will give you the background and support of my response.

I can understand why the scholar responded the way he did.  He believes that people will suffer for eternity while burning in the Lake of Fire.  His bias and his ‘programming’ was what informed him of the passage’s meaning.  In other words, his incorrect belief led him to conclude that the saved will be able to see the unsaved roasting in the Lake of Fire. 

There are 2 problems.  One is his incorrect understanding of hell and judgment in the Bible.  The other problem is his lack of discernment as to the context of the passage. 

In a nutshell, the context is about spiritual position or condition, not geographic location.

Take a look at Rev. 22:12.  It says that Jesus is coming to render to every man according to what he has done.  It’s a future event.  For the saved it’s rewards.  For the unsaved it’s destruction.   (“And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord.” 1 Thess. 1:9)  Those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess 1:8) will be destroyed away from the presence of the Lord. 

Rev. 22:14 also gives an obvious clue that vs. 15 is metaphorical and is talking about spiritual condition rather than geographic location.  It says ‘blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the RIGHT to the tree of life and MAY enter into the city’.  The others in vs. 15 do not have that right and they are characterized as outside.  They do NOT have the right to enter into the city and they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire and destroyed. 

I would venture to say that the scholar conflated Rev. 22:15 with Matt. 8:12 – “the sons of the kingdom shall be cast into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”   My guess is that he believes these verses are saying the same thing.  They are not.

Matt. 8 is talking about hell, not the Lake of Fire.  There IS weeping and gnashing of teeth in the darkness and heat of hell as these souls await their judgment at the Great White Throne in Revelation 20.  They will be judged and then destroyed in the Lake of Fire. 

Think about it.  If it’s outer darkness, then how would anyone from the New Jerusalem be able to see into it?  And what would be the purpose of having the Lake of Fire right by the New Jerusalem and everyone in the city constantly having to view the horrible suffering going on (that is if anyone was actually suffering in it besides Satan, the antichrist and false prophet – Rev. 20:10).   It’s absurd on it’s face.

The Greek definition of the word ‘outside’ in Rev. 22:15 is ‘exo’ which does mean outside.  Metaphorically, they are outside of the city.  They are not in the position or have the right to enter into the city that is coming.  They are separated from the glory and blessing of salvation.  The opposite of inside is outside.  In other words, a person can be both destroyed and also outside of the city.  The point is they are not IN the city.

We are not going to be subjected to some senseless and cruel eternal spectacle of tormented and suffering souls.  Neither will anyone suffer like that for eternity other than Satan, the antichrist and the false prophet. 

Lawlessness at the Gate

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barbarians at the gate

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.”  2 Thessalonians 2:7

Like a horde of barabarians, lawlessness is pressing against the gate and the gate is looking like it’s beginning to buckle.

Barbarians were on parade during the Democrat Presidential debates this week.  These people are demonstrably insane as they promote their national suicide agenda which includes a wide open sovereign border to allow anyone who wishes to come into the USA.  Since the beginning of the year, approximately 100,000 people per month have illegally streamed across the southern border.

That’s bad enough, but they also want to give all of these illegals free healthcare and other American citizen-funded benefits.  One candidate said there should be a pathway to citizenship for ALL illegals and no one on the debate stage objected. 

The Democrat ‘Resistance’ is opposed to any enforcement of immigration laws as seen in so called ‘sanctuary cities’ that harbor criminal illegal aliens.

But it’s not just immigration where lawlessness is exploding.

We see it on the streets of Democrat run LA and San Fransisco where people are allowed to camp, shoot heroin and defecate on city sidewalks.

A Democrat D.A. in Dallas will no longer prosecute anyone who has been arrested for thefts of items valued at $750 or less.  Ostensibly, these items must be for ‘necessities’.  But who will sit as judge for what is necessary?

How about felons voting?   Democrats are advocating now for felons to be able to vote…WHILE THEY ARE IN PRISON!

The Democrat Portland Mayor stands by and holds back the police while Antifa thugs assault innocent people that their ‘No Fear – No Hate’ tolerance can’t tolerate, including a journalist who suffer a brain hemorrhage.

The Democrat Chicago D.A. refused to prosecute Jussie Smollet even though there was overwhelming evidence to show he committed numerous crimes in perpetrating a hate-crime hoax.

It’s clear why Democrats fully support all of these policies.  They want more votes.  They want the votes of all of the illegals and all of the felons.

But the point is this:  It’s not that the Democrats support all of these things, it’s that the Democrats are the law unto themselves.  They hate the Constitution, and they hate God’s law.  (Psst…they hate God)  Yes, if you hate God’s law, you hate God.

The Democrats want to lock up Donald Trump, despite the fact he has not committed any crime.  Yet they turn a blind eye to the crimes committed by Hillary Clinton with her illegal server and her destruction of over 30,000 government emails. 

They fight tooth and nail against any investigation into the Russian hoax ‘Steele dossier’ that was funded by Hillary Clinton and used to instigate the ‘witch hunt’ against President Trump.  They wail about a non-existent collusion with the Russians by Trump yet it was the Democrats who colluded with Russians to produce the Steele dossier.  I could spend hours going through other examples of this kind of hypocrisy.

Democrats only care about the law so long as it accomplishes their agenda.  Otherwise, the law is what THEY say it is.  This is the epitome of hating God.  They reject God and worship themselves.  And I would hate to see the millstone that will grace the necks of those who bastardize and twist the Word of God to support their godless agenda.

Full tilt, frothing-at-the-mouth radical socialists are at the gate and they are no longer disguising their intent.  They want control and they will be the law.  They want all the guns.  They want everyone on government healthcare so they can control our health.  They want control of all of our money.  They want full term babies to be aborted and allowed to die.  The law will not apply to them.  It will only apply to the government slaves.  (‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” ‘Animal Farm’ _Orwell )

I think we may be getting a glimpse of the Holy Spirit – the Restrainer – beginning to pull away.  Perhaps it is a warning that He will soon be taken away completely.  When the Body of Christ is removed, so is the Holy Spirit.  (See my posts “Who or What is the Restrainer”, and “Michael the Restrainer?”) What will fill the vacuum will be a world-wide tyrannical government that can scarcely be conceived.  The ruler will be the ultimate ‘man of lawlessness’.  He’ll make Hitler and Stalin look like 4th grade bullies.

Lawlessness will be the stage from which antichrist will gain world wide power.  After the departure of the Church, chaos and lawlessness will be rampant.  His signs and wonders (2 Thess 2:9) will mesmerize a gullible, godless world and he will calm the economic and social pandemonium.  He will usher in a new golden age that will last until the beginning of the tribulation.  He will be the sole arbiter of the law and he will exalt himself above everything, making himself out to be the Most High God (2 Thess 2:4).  

If the departure of the Church does not come soon, I pray that these people will not just be thwarted, but they will be rejected so strongly in the next election that the radicals are tossed out of prominence for decades.  But don’t count on it.  Satan knows the Day of the Lord is near.

Maranatha