An audio lesson.
The Testing of Abraham and the role of testing in our lives. Even the Christ was tested.
The real surprise is that some testing can be avoided. The details are within.
Testing Abraham, Genesis 22
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Category Archives: Christ
The Slave Woman’s Son, Genesis 21
An audio lesson.
Addressing the twin subjects of prophecy: “Present Jerusalem,” and “Jerusalem Above.” Both are subjects of both Old Testament and New Testament prophecy. This conflict will be resolved in history when the Jews as a nation accept their own Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God.
The basics of how Bible prophecy works is discussed in detail in Prophecy Principles.Available from you bookseller.
The basics of how Bible prophecy works is discussed in detail in Prophecy Principles.Available from you bookseller.
The story of how the Jews became sidetracked, and how they will finally turn as a nation to Jesus of Nazareth, is told in Jewish Chronicles, available from your bookseller.
The Real Masters of the Universe: Psalm 8, Man and Nature
An audio lesson.
The Real Masters of the Universe will be those who are followers of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.
The basics of how Bible prophecy works is discussed in detail in Prophecy Principles.Available from you bookseller.
Man’s true destiny is only fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.
Identifying Symbolism and Themes in Scripture
An audio lesson.
A basic lesson on identifying themes and types in Scripture/
Listen to this audio lesson here, or click on the Audio Player to download as an MP3 file.
Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 15 of 15, The Second Coming of Jesus
Jesus will not leave everything the way it is.
He will come back to judge the
world in righteousness.
This is a short intermission in the relatively short history of our present heavens and earth, and a short time of amnesty from all of our wrongs, before Jesus brings this disintegrating universe to a close. Jesus now has all authority in both heaven and earth, Mtt 28:18. He is now working to put down all opposition.
“25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”
1Cor 15:25-26
Jesus has given us a ministry of reconciliation, 2Cor 5:19.
This short time just before Jesus comes again, is time for us to repent, and come to our senses.
“The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with US, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
2Pe 3:9
Jesus promises us that terrible things will happen,
just before the end of our age.
Paul speaks of these things in a general sense in his letter to Timothy.
“But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons”
1Tim 4:1
“But know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come.”
2Tim 3:1
The details are given in both the Old and the New Testaments. A war will come by “the little horn,” “the abomination of desolation,” the living corpse, “the man of lawlessness,” “the beast,” against all righteousness and goodness and holiness in the entire world.
Jesus will bring all of mankind’s, and the spirit world’s, foolishness,
to a dramatic close.
Moses tells us both when the Jews will turn to Jesus of Nazareth, and when Jesus will come again.
“For Yahweh will judge his people,
Repent himself for his servants;
When he sees that their power is gone,
There is none remaining, shut up or left at large.”
Deut 32:36
When all is lost and there is no hope, and strength to oppose evil, THEN Jesus will come
“25 There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves; 26 men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.”
Lk 21:25-28
Prophecy is pertinent to our lives throughout all history. We are truly on the edge of forever.
If you believe this, you will try to be ready for this. It will change how you live, it will change your ethics. Prophecy is NOT an optional extra. Believing what God says in prophecy does matter! It is an ethical matter.
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 13 of 15, Troubles in Life
Job in the book of Job had seen much good in this life, and was a respected and successful rancher, by any standards, ancient or modern. Also he was a godly man, and was indeed protected by God, as is pointed out in Job 1:10. Despite that, Job’s long discussion with his friends deals with many of the troubles and injustices of life.
“Man, who is born of a woman,
Is of few days, and full of trouble.”
Job 14:1
Or again,
“But man is born to trouble,
As the sparks fly upward.”
Job 5:7
Jesus spoke of the ordinary cares and worries of life
“That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”
Lk 8:14
What is Jesus talking about here? The ordinary ups and downs of life. These things are often self inflicted, much as it is for you and I. Not all of it, but some of it is about our choices.
“41 Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Lk 10:41-42
Scripture does not promise we will have no troubles
Jesus as a man had troubles. In the end, though innocent, He was condemned to die in courts rigged by the leaders of the Jews. Also He had deep compassion for those having troubles.
“When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,”
Jn 11:33
Much as it would be for us, Jesus was personally troubled by Judas unwarranted treachery.
“When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, “Most assuredly I tell you that one of you will betray me.” ”
Jn 13:21
He was tested in all points are we are, Heb 4:15.
None of these things can overcome us in Christ.
“35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Even as it is written, “For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Rom 8:35-37
Jesus also acknowledges that we will have trouble because of our faith. To what end does He instruct us?
“I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
Jn 16:33
So He says to us,
“… Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.”
Jn 14:27
All of this is for sure prophetic instruction. Teaching about how it will be for you and I in the world. Believing what God says in prophecy does matter! It is an ethical matter.
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 12 of 15, Judgment is Coming
Time after time Jesus speaks with certainty of the fact of coming Judgment of all men for their sins. Of those who will not listen Jesus says,
“Most assuredly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.”
Mtt 10:15
Jesus points out that men of ALL generations will stand before the Lord to answer for their sins, and that they will also see and comment on the answers of others.
Jesus points to the preaching of Jonah to the men of Nineveh
Jon 3:3 says that Nineveh “was an exceedingly great city,” and that it took three days to just to walk across it. The prophet Jonah with perhaps a bleached acid washed look to him, as it has been with other men through history who have been swallowed by “a great fish,” began his preaching.
“Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried out, and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ”
Jon 3:4
Then a strange thing happened.
“The people of Nineveh believed God;
“and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.”
Jon 3:4
Even the king heard and fasted and prayed, Jon 3:6. The King proclaimed,
“8 … Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?”
Jon 3:8-9
Jesus then foretells what the men of Nineveh will do in the day of Judgment
“The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, someone greater than Jonah is here.”
Mtt 12:41
This is prophecy which even some twenty-seven-hundred years later has not been fulfilled, yet! So it is pertinent to those Jews of the first century who were hearing these words of Jesus, and is also pertinent to you and I ! Knowing and believing these prophecies should change our behavior, and if we truly believe these things, it will change our behavior.
ALL of these things are prophetic statements
They are prophetic statements by the greatest prophet of all times. The prophet who was to be like Moses, Deut 18:15. His name is Jesus of Nazareth.
Believing what God says in prophecy does matter!
It is an ethical matter. We should seek to know what will happen. These things are of eternal importance to us all. As Paul says,
“Don’t despise prophesies.”
1Thes 5:20
It seems to be a common failing of fleshly men to despise what he cannot immediately see. However, if we are walking after the Spirit,
“Therefore we know no one after the flesh from now on. Even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more.”
2Cor 5:16
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 11 of 15, Every Idle Word
There is a long discussion by Jesus in Matthew 12 about how we talk and the things we might say. At the center of the discussion is questions about the Spirit that is behind Jesus works. Both Jesus and His opponents acknowledge that there is a spiritual power behind His ministry. His opponents said that Jesus is working by the power of the devil. They say,
… “This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”
Mtt 12:24
Jesus went on to show that this was not a reasonable proposition, the idea that Satan would oppose his own destructive work. Then He went on to warn of ominous future consequences.
“31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.”
Mtt 12:31-32
A scary prospect to say the least.
Then Jesus makes some general observations about human speech.
“34 You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. 35 The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things.”
Mtt 12:34
Again here Jesus is commenting that if we store evil and wicked things in our hearts, they will without fail tend to come out of mouths.
Then Jesus again forecasts what will happen to us.
“36 I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Mtt 12:36-37
Jesus tells us that there IS a record of all of our activities and all of our speech. This is testified to more than one Scripture.
“I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.”
Rev 20:12
More than that, we will have to give an account for ALL of those stupid and senseless things we may say from time to time. That should be a scary thought to all us. Who of us would not be caught in such a net.
These things are not meant as idle speculations of what might happen
These are prophecies springing from that same Holy Spirit of God that Jesus opponents were slandering. Prophetic statements of the nature of things in our world. Statements, which if we believe them, and we should, SHOULD change our conduct and our speech.
Prophecy is NOT an optional extra! Believing what God says in prophecy does matter! It is an ethical matter.
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 9 of 15, The First Coming of Jesus
If you believed the prophecies of the first coming of Jesus, it would and did change your behavior. The prophecies told that certain things would happen, but did not tell when these things would happen.
Moreover many of the prophecies were given in such a form that, if you didn’t look carefully at the prophecies, and think them through, or if you didn’t carefully compare them with the rest of Scripture, you would never get it. Further it seems that God knew that some of the prophecies would not be understood before the fact.
For instance, Jesus resurrection is implied, but not stated,
in both Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53
For instance, Jesus death is clearly described in Psa 22:14-15, etc. So His death and suffering should have been understood. But the resurrection? After describing His death, there is a cry for help in Psa 22:21. Then it describes this crucified Savior as declaring God’s name in the assembly in Psa 22:22, 25, and it says God answered in pray in Psa 22:24! But how? Didn’t He just die in verses 14-15? So some sort of release from death is described, but not clearly.
Similarly, Isaiah 53 it describes the judicial murder of the Savior in Isa 53:4-8. In verse 8 He is clearly “cut off out of the land of the living,” and in verse 9 He was “with a rich man in his death.” Then after describing His death it says,
“… he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand.”
Isa 53:10
But how? Didn’t He just die? So an escape from death one way or another is clearly implied. Similarly Jesus told his disciples of His coming suffering and resurrection, but it went clear over their heads, much as current prophecies may go over your head and mine! The closest to catching some of this was by Jesus enemies. The chief priest and scribes told Pilate,
“63 … “Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 Command therefore that the tomb be made secure”
Mtt 27:63-64
So what was the intended function of these prophecies which it seems were deliberately obscure? It seems they were intended to authenticate Jesus life, after the fact! After the fact, all of this would have been clear.
Still much of it was very clear.
There were many passages like,
“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.”
Isa 35:5
It didn’t take a PhD in biblical studies for the crowds to see the point of Jesus healing people. So many saw and understood that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ of God!
Key Point: you don’t have to understand EVERYTHING,
to get enough to save your life!
Many things are told from multiple points of view, so if you don’t get it one way, you may get it another way. Few got it all. Many got enough to save their souls.
Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 6 of 15, The Home Owner
In the context of of knowing about when Jesus the Christ will come again, Jesus tells all of us,
“But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.”
Mtt 24:43
In this case we are indeed the homeowner, knowing things will happen but not knowing when. There are great many things that are unknown to us. There are for sure things which we are not told.
“The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Deut 29:29
What is revealed to us in prophecy is for the purpose of our being able to act as we should, respond to coming events in intelligent and responsible ways.
Our Master, Our God, Yahweh Lord of Hosts
is the absolute Master of all !
Additionally, we are told His grand plans, so that we can act in line with them … if we will. We are not just slaves in the house, but we friends, and were born to rule with Him
“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for EVERYTHING that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.”
Jn 15:15 nf
And the Greeks word used here is “slave” (doulos), not just one of the many words for a servant. We should remember that we are dealing with recurring patterns of actions and reactions during the Christian age. Mystery Babylon the Great is described in Revelation and in the prophets as a religio-commercial entity which dominates the governments. It is implied (but not clearly stated), that she is already in existence during the first century of our age. Still, it is clear that she only reaches the height of her power toward the end of our age, and that she is fully active until very near the end of the Christian age (see Revelation chapters 17 and 18).
Similarly, the “mystery of lawlessness already works,” in the very first century of our age, 2Thes 2:7. These mysteries are to some extent restrained during most of our age, so that they “may be revealed” at the right time, 2Thes 2:6.
So these allied but opposing mystery religions have been seeking for over two thousand years to set in place their ultimate “fixes,” but with failure after failure, despite their seeming dominance in history. We do not know which of the cycles and events will produce the results which are prophesied. We are merely told what to look for.
Prophecy is NOT an optional extra. Believing what God says in prophecy does matter! It is an ethical matter. Or to put another way,
“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:”
Lk 24:25 KJV
KJV is the King James Version, 1611.
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901
nf is my own translation based on the WEB.