Where Is The Promise Of His Coming? – Part 2

“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.’”  2 Peter 3:4

The world is becoming more global, communication more instant, money more digitized and immigration/emigration movements more regulated than ever before in history.  Also, alliances are forming that want to eliminate Israel from the map.  New regulations regarding showing vaccination proof are spreading faster than wildfires as nations and communities want to protect themselves against the CCP virus (Chinese Communist Party).  Presently a patchwork of means of identifying who has been vaccinated, the technology is easily in place to document online when and where one gets the shot.  Soon it could be as simple as taking a pill, but the documentation will still be required.
No pill, No vaccine, No entry, No access.

Soon one will need documentation to buy and sell almost anything.  Eventually any transaction will require a government issued “mark” of some kind, either on the hand or forehead.  However, it will not be administered secretly (like hidden in a vaccine 🙄).  It will be clear when you receive this mark that you need it to buy and sell.
No mark, No groceries, No business, No access.

Remember, it is not the Revelation of St. John; it is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” given to John.  The entire book is from God’s perspective in Heaven, looking at the events on earth.  As such, the timeline is somewhat confusing with flashbacks and foretelling, but to one open the Holy Spirit, it can be clear.

EMPHASIS: This is not to predict the next war, earthquake, tsunami or economic meltdown; it is not to read next week’s headlines before they are printed.  Jesus laid down the “Operational Principle of Prophecy” in John 14:29: “And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.” The purpose of studying prophecy is not to amass money or stockpile a bunker for self-protection.  It is to build our faith so as we see Bible prophecy unfold, we will be ready for whatever Father brings into our lives, even if He is bringing our lives to an end.

For the Christ-follower who has “read the back of the Book,” yes, “we win.”  But before we do, there will be trouble in the world, building to a scale as yet unseen in human history.  Never before have we had so many people on earth.  Never before have we had the means of monitoring everyone.  Never before have we had such instant communication around the world in seconds.  Never before has global commerce needed a digital monetary system transferable across national and political lines.  Never before have we seen a coming together of the major factions of religious leaders.

Dr. James Christie presents in chapter 7 that there will be a tri-part rapture, or “catching away” of the redeemed.  Explored in his classic text, The Gold Mine, he bases his ideas on an original reading of the last book of the Bible.  By “orginal reading,” I mean he approaches the book as one with minimized preconceived notions of end-time events.  His is an attempt for a “new reading of the book focused on what the text itself says.”   (Page 12)

The first chapter of Revelation emphasized the book’s primary message: the time is near; be prepared.  Compared to Aesop’s fable of the boy who cried, “Wolf, wolf” too often, many have become jaded to the idea of Christ’s second coming.  When the wolf really came, no one believed the boy in the fable and we are being dulled to the idea that there is any truth to the book.  It appears to be just the stuff of Hollywood movies and fantasy.  Ooooh, the anti-Christ, ooooh, 666, ooooh, angels and demons!

Dr. Christie tells us that the Church, those who believe in their hearts that Jesus is the Son of God, will be taken from the earth in a cataclysmic event prior to many events in Revelation.  This is called Pre-tribulationalism, in that the Christ-followers are spared from the troubles to come during the last seven years of this age.

However, God is not unmerciful and always is open to anyone who wishes to be changed and saved.  Therefore, continued instruction is provided so that those who do not know Jesus at his second coming in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11) can still prepare and refuse cooperation with the Beast who will be taking the world stage after the ‘first’ rapture, and fully revealed at the half-way mark of the seven-year “Tribulation.”

Next, Dr. Christie looks at those in Revelation 7 who clearly are saved out of the Tribulation period (Revelation 7:13-14).  This is Mid-tribulationalism.  There is no indication that these have been martyred (killed because of religious beliefs).  The martyred are referenced in 6:9-11, and they are awaiting for their number to be filled, but there is nothing about this group being among those.  Those who are to join these “souls under the altar” are found in Revelation 14:13: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on,” an event immediately preceding the final harvest from the earth.

These worshipers of Revelation 7 may have suffered terribly in plagues called down by the Two Witnesses of chapter 11, who spoke for God for three and one-half years, but they have survived the first half of the Tribulation.  They are very possibly “the cloud” that surrounds the Two Witnesses.  The call from Heaven and events at the ‘rapture’ of the Witnesses parallels well the rapture of the Church in chapter 4.

Finally, after three and one-half years (a time, times and 1/2 a time) of intensive judgements on the earth (Post-tribulationalism), there is one more group who joins the throngs in Heaven: the Jews who have refused the Mark of the Beast.  They have not been able to buy or sell, and the False Prophet has been hunting them down and killing any he could find who refused the Mark, but he may missed some of them.  Again, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all might come to repentance, so there may be Gentiles in this group as well, those who have refused the Mark.

The Beast’s entry into the Holy of Holies in the newly constructed Third Temple in Jerusalem likely opened their eyes to the Truth that Jesus was their Messiah.  In any case, even if the entry to Heaven of this Jewish cohort is mostly through death, they are assured in Revelation 14;13, that they will be blessed, even if it costs them their lives.

Where does that leave us?  As last week, Jennifier Bagnaschi noted, we can prepare for the End Times in a couple of ways;

1. Prepare to take the Mark of the Beast* with zero chance of making it to Heaven.
2. Plan on getting decapitated for refusing the Mark.
3. Somehow, figure out how to make it through seven years of the most dangerous times in history.
4. Be ready for Jesus Christ’s return.

*It will NOT be called the Mark of the Beast, just as he will not be called The Beast! 😏

Read the Book.  Begin with the Good News (Gospel) of John.  Read Romans, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Revelation. Each one should only take less than an hour in your native language which is probably available at Biblegateway.com.  In English I recommend the ESV (English Standard Version), but any of the Scriptures here will do.

Receive Jesus as your savior by praying and asking Him to come take rulership of your life, starting with water baptism and finding a group of like-minded disciples.  If you need help finding these, just email me from anywhere in the world at capost3k@gmail.com and I will help you.

Jesus IS coming soon. Maranatha, even so, come, Lord Jesus!

See Part 3 on October 9, 2021.

Should I Pray for the End of the Coronavirus Pandemic?

As the coronavirus “stay-in-place’ orders begin to recede among protests and alternative views of their effectiveness surfacing, I look forward to actually meeting with friends, having them over for dinner, going out to favorite restaurants again, and getting together as Christ-followers to worship and share teaching and encouragement.

See this week’s Wall Street Journal article on The Weekend Interview https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-bearer-of-good-coronavirus-news-11587746176?;
Conclusion, “Most disagreements among scientists reflect differences in perspective, not facts.”, i.e. data is transposed by each scientist’s subjective view to emphasize his/her priorities.  If you cannot access the WSJ article and would like to read it, contact me.

I was invited in a text from a friend, forwarded from a concerned citizen, to join one million people in praying for the coronavirus to end.  My reply was simply that I do not think superstitious prayers are effective in moving Father to act.  I wondered if the originator of the text really thought that of the estimated 2.4 billion Christians in the world, less than 0.05 per cent of them were praying for that?  You do the math: 1,000,000 divided by 2,400,000,000 = 0.000417 x 100.

Add to that the fact that Father does not heed popular opinion polls and can be moved by any individual sincere heart or whenever two or three gather in His name (Matthew 18:9).  ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares Yahweh.” (Isaiah 55:8)  He did not take a ballot whether or not to answer Elijah’s request for drought or rain after three years of empty skies (1 Kings 18:42-44; James 5:17).  Jeremiah did not exactly win a popularity contest when he announced the word from Yahweh in Jeremiah 26, yet his prophesies came true even though opposed by the majority.

It is hard to imagine this coronavirus could happen to the world without the Creator’s fingers in the works somewhere.  We often wonder when bad things happen in the world, especially on larger scales than our immediate circumstances, where is God or what is God doing when such things occur?

Some have speculated that the coronavirus is something of God’s judgment as they notice the geographic regions hardest hit do not reflect their spiritual perspectives.  Others suggest this is baloney because many Christ-followers are decimated by this indiscriminate disease.  I am content to leave such considerations up to Father and remain confident that He knows what He is doing.

He is not the author of bad things happening to people (except in times of judgment), but He knows how to make lemonade from the lemons we sometimes encounter in a fallen world.  (Personally, I do not like this illustration, as I have always enjoyed eating raw lemons, and am not convinced their flavor is ‘fallen,’ but most of you will get the gist. 😊)  In any case, our place is rarely to ask Father, “Why?” but rather to ask, “How can I continue to walk with You through this?  How can You use me to show others who You are and how much You love them?”

These are the questions we should always be asking, not just during a health crisis (if this is even that), and not just when things are out-of-the-ordinary difficult (which the coronavirus has made them).  This is a matter of Practicing the Presence (August 20, 2016), and must be the developing attitude for a Christ-follower every day of our brief lives.

As such, we need to be talking with Father about the pandemic currently gripping our media, the scientists’ attention, and political and social landscapes.  Whether or not to ask Him to end it is up to you in your discussion with Him.  However, we do need to be talking with Him about what He wants to accomplish in our hearts through this, and how we can show how amazing He is, even in the midst of the confusion over what the symptoms are, whether or not testing is accurate, or whose deaths are attributable to it.  He can calm our hearts even when politicians make announcements about each other’s comments that seem harder to follow than a spiked football in the end zone!

Last thoughts: Zoom is nice and I expect to keep up lots of such meetings even after this virus is history, but there is something very special about physical contact and presence for which Zoom or Skype can only act as temporary replacements or necessary accommodations.

So pray however you want about the coronavirus when you talk with your loving Father.  Remember, He understands us even when we do not know for what we should pray.  (Romans 8:26-31)  Whether praying for an end to the pandemic, praying for a friend in need, praying for an opportunity to meet that need . . . simply pray.  He wants to hear from you. 😉

 

Intermezzo: A Corona-Virus Version of the Bible ;-)

Well, a couple of months of self-quarantining can affect anyone’s brain, but for some of the editors at The Salty Cee (https://saltycee.com/news/translators-work-furiously-on-new-corona-virus-version-cvv-of-the-bible/), methinks it has gone on too long!  Working on the Corona-Virus Version of the Bible either commits sacrilege or heals with hilarious humor.  For a hearty belly-laugh, enjoy the first draft of Proverbs 31:10-31.

“Who can find a virtuous infection-free wife?
For her worth is far above toilet paper.
Her hand-sanitized husband safely trusts her; so he will never get the virus.
She empties the grocery store shelves all the days of the pandemic.
She seeks paper products, and willingly works with essential oils to bring her homemade hand sanitizer recipe to the merchant ships while maintaining social distancing protocols.
She ships her food from Amazon to avoid any added social contact.
She also rises while it is yet night to keep tabs on the COVID-19 infection statistics in various states and countries.
And provides food for her household because all the restaurants are closed.
And fires her maidservants since, who knows, they might be carriers!
She considers stock in Scott Paper Company and buys it.
From her profits she increases her homemade hand-sanitizer production quotas to meet demand.
She perceives that her essential oils and alcohol content are both good.
She girds herself with a stylish N95 mask.
And her internet connection does not go out by night.
She puts her hand to the spindle to make cloth in case paper products do end up running out.
She extends her hand to wipe horizontal surfaces that are in need of daily doses of disinfecting.
She is not afraid of visitors to her household, for all her household is also clothed with N95 masks . . . but turns them all away anyway, just to be extra safe.
Her husband is known in the news for selling toilet paper on the black market as he sits among the preppers of the land.
Paranoia and precaution are her clothing; she shall rejoice when the time of COVID-19 has come and gone.
She opens her mouth with wisdom for how to prepare for catastrophes and on her tongue is the fine print within the governor’s “shelter-at-home” laws.
She watches over the driveway of her household to shoo away any and all visitors.
And does not wash her hands with idleness but with THREE Happy Birthday recitations.
Her children rise up and call her blessed and corona-free.
Her husband also, and he praises her: “Many preppers have done well, but you excel them all.
CNN is deceitful and Trump is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD and COVID-19, she shall be praised.”