Category Archives: Prophecy and Ethics

Watching Changes Behavior: Growing up

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Watching, being alert, looking out for various things, can and will change our behavior. It can change in good ways, helpful ways, IF we are watching for the right things.

Basketball

Now young men just starting to play a little basketball are not always as focused as they should be. They are still learning, so they have learned to look all around them, trying to see what is going on. That is a good thing within limits, but the down side is that they may be aimlessly looking around, not paying attention to anything in particular, sort of droopy acting, gazing here, gazing there. Perhaps the key word here is “aimlessly.” In other words, they may be looking around, but not in any focused in any way, not with any particular purpose.

That of course is bad for trying to play a good game of basketball. Yes in basketball they need to be looking around, but not aimlessly, and not at just at anything or everything. They need to be focused on what they are trying to do: play a game of basketball.

Even now I can hear the coaches yelling out, “Heads up, boys! Heads up!” Meaning that they should be watching the game and who is going where, and who has the ball. Just at that moment a young man is hit in the side of the head by a ball that he should have caught! He was distracted. He should have been paying attention to what he was doing!

“Heads up, boys! Heads up!”

Danger: Looking out for cars

Of course cars can be very dangerous, even to pedestrians, or we might even say, especially to pedestrians. There is no anchor, no seat belt for the pedestrian. There is no crash cage designed to take part of the impact if you are hit by something. The pedestrian does wear any instantly inflating air bags to cushion the blow of a collision with a bigger object. Even adults are all along killed by getting hit by cars or trucks. Sometimes it is the automobile drivers who are at fault. Sometimes they are driving too fast or without enough concern for those around.

On the other hand, often it is the fault of the pedestrian, and at times they may simply not be acting in a watchful manner for the dangers which may be coming near them. Or they forget, perhaps merely for a moment, where they are, and what might be coming near them, and they in an instant reverse direction, and walk right into the path of a coming car.

To train children to be watchful when they are crossing a street is an important function. Really in many ways it is a training issue. It is has to be an automatic response: looking both ways before crossing a street.

A car does NOT have to be coming for Watching
to be a GOOD habit.

It is a good habit period. You may think no car can be coming, but be thinking wrong. It is always good to be watchful, looking for possible dangers.

Prophecy is Always Moral: The Second Coming

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Prophecy is never a neutral entity, devoid of any relationship to life. It was shown in the previous posts that this is true even of everyday things in life. Also it is also true of the outstanding powers and events of our age. Know and believe these prophesies, and it will change your conduct! In fact knowing these things is necessary for changing our conduct for the good.

Jesus is coming again, to judge the world

“For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
2Cor 5:10 WEB

He will come in flaming fire, 2Thes 1:7; and,

“… there is nothing covered that will not be revealed; and hidden that will not be known.”
Mtt 10:26 WEB

“10 But the day of the Lord will come

“as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore since all these things are thus to be destroyed, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy living and godliness,”
2Pe 3:10-11 WEB

The prophecies themselves beg their own importance to our future … and if believed will radically alter our conduct. Really that is true of all prophecy. Isaiah 13 describes it this way.

“10 For the stars of the sky and the constellations of it shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine. 11 I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”
Isa 13:10-11 WEB

And what is the penalty?

“9 who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired among all those who have believed …”
2Thes 1:9-10 WEB

Remember! You and I will be there … somewhere!

We may be on the ground looking up as the saints arise to meet Jesus. Or we may be among the saints rising to meet Jesus in the air, and

“… who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.”
2Thes 4:17 WEB

But on the ground or in the air, we will be there, for it says,

“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.”
Rev 1:5 WEB

Prophecy is never just a theoretical exercise.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy is Always Moral: Our Jobs

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Prophecy is never a neutral entity, devoid of any relationship to life.

You might say, It is just a prophecy.

“ 23 And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”
Col 3:23-24 WEB

Paul tells us to do certain things. These are commands. In fact, these commands even apply to Slaves. In the verse just before these, it says,

“Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.”
Col 3:22 WEB

But the word translated a “Servants” here (and also in the KJV) is really the Greek word dulos, or slave. So these commands even apply if you are a slave. Also it includes a good reason for the command.

Prophecy is NEVER pointless sayings
about the future.

Paul says that the reason you should do good work, even if you are a slave, and act in good conscience not just as men-pleasers, is because you “will receive the reward of the inheritance.” Even if you are a slave, the present reality is that “you serve Christ.” These verses promise a heavenly reward for good service in your “secular” job.

And it goes beyond what we might do that is right.

“But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.”
Col 3:25 WEB

It is talking about what we “will” receive. It is like the prophecy in Romans 2.

“9 oppression and anguish, on every soul of man who works evil, on the Jew first, and also on the Greek. Rom. 2:10   But glory and honor and peace to every man who works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.”
Rom 2:9-11 WEB

Naturally this has to be talking about the future, and it is. For this is surely not a present reality in this present evil age, is it? No, clearly in context this is speaking of the final “day of wrath,” Rom 2:5.

And it applies to Masters also

“Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”
Col 4:1 WEB

Notice that in context it implies that even a slave can be mistreated, something many down through history would not acknowledge. Still it is all in the context of coming judgement and rewards or punishments, and clearly indicates that any master who mistreats his slave, servant or employee will be in for judgment for his actions in the end! Many other passages speak of the same. Compare for instance James 5:1-6.

All of this is of future reality which SHOULD
alter conduct in the present

Prophecy has never been a neutral entity,

Test it. See if what I have told you is so.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy is Always Moral: Evangelism

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Prophecy is never a neutral entity, devoid of any relationship to life.

We must acknowledge that Jesus is our Lord,
and declare His word to men.

“9 that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Rom 10:9-10 WEB

Sometimes we reduce this command to a formal acknowledgment of Jesus at our baptism, but that is not how it is stated here. It is true that we must be prepared to acknowledge Jesus as Lord from the time of our entering the body of Christ, the assembly, the church, Eph 1:22-23.

That word “confess” in Rom 10:9 is the Greek word homologe?. It has the sense of acknowledging, admitting, agreeing, or yes, even the King James Version sense of confessing that Jesus is our Lord.

This is also really a very personal prophecy of what “will be” for “you” and for me, given certain conditions. If we “will” acknowledge Jesus before men, and believe in our hearts that He is that special One of God who was raised from the dead, THEN “you will be saved.” That is a statement of future condition, depending and what we will do or not do.

This is all about FUTURE RESULTS OF WHAT WE DO NOW. We believe this, or not. We think it is so and try to do it, and do it or do not.

Acknowledging Jesus is also in other passages.

“32 Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Mtt 10:32-33 WEB

Yes it is that same Greek word homologe?. IF you will, then He will, it predicts, it promises, it prophesies.

“I am with you to the end of the age.”

“19 Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Mtt 28:19-20 WEB.

A statement of Christ’s being with us, even in the future, even to the end of the age. If we believe it, then we may have the courage to do as He has commanded.

If we are ashamed of Jesus?

“For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.””
Mk 8:38 WEB

Is this not ALSO prophecy of what will be.

How can anyone say all prophecy has been fulfilled. How can anyone say that a prophecy of what will be, does not matter!

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy is Always Moral: Salvation

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Prophecy is never a neutral entity, devoid of any relationship to life. This is true of the initial declaration to Mary of the child she would be bear.

“”She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.””
Mtt 1:21 WEB

That means among other things that if you are a Jew, and you wish to be delivered from your sins … you have to come to Jesus. The prophecy has a moral point, an ethical point.

Or take a prophecy about staying with Jesus

In a long sermon in Matthew 10 Jesus says,

“You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.”
Mtt 10:22 WEB

There is a double promise here, two statements of fact. The first promise is that at some point “you,” the Christian, will be hated by ALL men. However it is not by “all,” yet! Despite that, it is a prophecy of what “will be.” The second part has a wider application. You have to endure “to the end,” to be among those that “will be saved.” It is a prophecy, a message of what “will be,” that demands action.

You and I may “keep” this prophecy in order to “be saved,” or we do not believe it, despise the prediction … then we are depending on it to not be true, to not be real.

Prophecy and ethics are inseparable

Jesus says in Mark 8,

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
Mk 8:35 WEB

All of this is a statement of what will be, a statement of the future, a prophecy in every sense. It says, plainly that if we are concentrating on saving our live we “will lose it.”

The Pharisees failed in part because they
did not believe prophecy.

The Pharisees believed that it was blasphemy for any man to say he was the son of God, Jn 10:36 and a host of other Scriptures.

But they heard from John the Baptist that he was the voice crying in the wilderness, to prepare “the way of Yahweh” of Isa 40:3, but did not believe it when it said of Judah, “say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” Isa 40:9 WEB, that God Himself would be in Judah!

They had read but not believed, when it said of the Christ, the son of David, in Isaiah 9,

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; … and his name shall be called … Mighty God, Everlasting Father, …”
Isa 9:6 WEB.

They believed the prophecies of the Messiah only to a point … and so they failed in salvation. Prophecy and ethics or morality … cannot be separated. We as men often believe, only to a point!

They merely doubted much prophecy, and so failed in salvation.

Test it. See if what I have told you is so.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Time in Jeremiah 31, Part III of III

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But Jer 31:1 describes “ALL the families of Israel” as being faithful at some point.

In contrast, true atheists are rare in most nations, but common among the Jews. Further, the number of modern Jews who are not really atheists, but who are actually very secular, or even anti-religious in their thinking and outlook, seem to be in the majority among modern Jews. The Jews will on one hand claim to you and me that God was the one who promised Palestine to them, but on the other hand, treat Genesis as a children’s fairy tale if serious discussion of Scripture starts. Still Jeremiah says that,

“At that time, says Yahweh, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.”
Jer 31:1 WEB

Over two thousand years have passed and
this has NEVER happened!

Is this a false prophecy?

In truth, this present rejection of God and His Messiah was clearly forecast in many Scriptures, such as Isa 8:14-15. It is even implied in the grand context of Jeremiah himself that this glorious time will come only after much correction and hardship and suffering because of the ongoing sins of the Jews.. We might assume that since so much time has past, that the prophecy is now void. Jesus says something else:

“Scripture Cannot Be Broken,” Jn 10:35 KJV

If you believe the Word of God, then what do you make of Jer 31:1? This means it just has not happened yet! After over 2,000 years? YES! This in fact is dealt with in innumerable Old Testament passages, and several in New Testament, including Roman chapters 9 to 11.

Then look at Time in Jeremiah 31.

See first that the order in which things are discussed is NOT necessarily the order in which things will happen! It is a conversational order of discussion in much of Bible prophecy. Just like in a human conversation, not everything is in sequential time order. God is having a conversation with your and me about the future.

Secondly it should be seen that it is not a human time perspective in Scripture, but an eternal time perspective. That is the real time scale we are on. Remember “that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2Pe 3:8 WEB. So an interruption of two thousand years is as nothing in this perspective, as Yahweh works to save as many men as possible. We do not really know how much more there is to come, even though we are clearly told to be watching.

It is as if God said, Yes one day all the families of Israel will be my people. I will send my Son as a baby. Many will be killed in the attempt to kill Him, and He will bring a New Covenant that will write My law on the hearts of My people. In the end it will be well for the Jews.

Clearly it is easy to make naïve assumptions
about time in prophecy!

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

“But that is just figurative. How can we believe it?” Part III of III

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Jesus was to come with dark sayings.

“ I will open my mouth in a parable.
I will utter dark sayings of old, ”
Psa 78:2 WEB

Notice that most of the Sermon on the Mount is in figurative, symbolic language, and what does it say?

“Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he didn’t speak to them,” Mtt 13:34 WEB

Should we say, Well that’s just figurative? And ignore these “parables”? Are they understandable? Yes but parts of Sermon on the mount indeed have been frequently misunderstood. All of this means that Jesus was fulfilling Psa 78:2, according to Mtt 13:35.

What should we do? Why not be study diligently? 2Tim 2:15.

Objection to figurative / symbolic language in prophecy
is a Cop-Out, double talk,
often unconsciously used because
what is said stretches beyond
what we are willing to believe
or accept, or even study.

For instance, Abraham could have found it “unbelievable” that he would have a child at age 99, Rom 4:13. He could have just said, “Oh yeah?”

Against what could be reasonably expected, Abraham believed God.

“Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your seed be.” ” Rom 4:18 WEB.

Without weakening, Abraham believed God, Rom 4:19-21.

Theological liberals find almost all Scripture beyond believing, especially prophecy, and some of that leaven has through graduate schools infected many of our own.

God often stretches us beyond we find “believable,” just to see if we will believe HIM, even when it seems to us “unbelievable.”

Seriously! Was this symbolic, or did it literally happen, or is it both?

Abraham is an example as Paul discusses in Romans 4. God often announces things we have trouble believing, and often we just reject these things out of hand. As Isaiah said, “Who has believed our message? …” Isa 53:1 WEB.

And what are some of the unbelievable things God announces in Isaiah 53? The messiah will be put to death by judicial murder, Isa 53:7-8. The Messiah? Unbelievable.

But He will prolong his days, Isa 53:10. Wait a minute. That’s a contradiction isn’t it? How can I believe that? And many didn’t believe what seemed to contradict common sense!

Beware! Unbelief, even of “figurative” prophecies, can cost you your soul. It did the Pharisees!

It could have cost Abraham his soul, if he had not believed those “unbelievable” things, and so it can us, and that is the point of Romans 4.

If we read the clear words, figurative or not, and say in our heart, “It isn’t so,” then we have made God a liar, 1Jn 5:10.

This is no drill.

Does this make you feel uncomfortable? Maybe it should. Especially if you have neglected large stretches of the Bible. It is ALL meant for our instruction, 2Tim 3:16-17, so that you will be thoroughly furnished. So that you will live forever.

Maybe we have been playing with half a deck.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

What is Your Prognosis … for Today?

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Will it be rainy or sunny. Will there be much cold wind. Will it drop to 30 below zero, much as it does at times in sub-arctic North America or Siberia. Are you in Afghanistan or Iraq in the early 21st Century, or in Vietnam in 1969, or in Korea in 1952? Do you know that someone might try to throw throw a grenade into you bunker or hutch, today??

Do you know for sure that an attempt will be made, somewhere along the line, to overthrow your country, to kill not only all patriots, but even everyone in the country that can think and plan and have even any far out hope of opposing this planned revolution? Do you know that these evil men have already the financing they need today, from New York or London, or Berlin or wherever? This was the case in Russia in 1917. Do you know that? What would you do today if you knew that? What should you do?

Are Storms coming in life? Should that alter your behavior?

Whatever you think your day may be like, affects how you will prepare for today, and what you will do. Will shirt sleeves be alright? Do you need a rain jacket or an umbrella? Will you need your parka today, or will light coat be adequate? Do you need to be wary of anyone approaching your bunker or house or hutch? Should your rifle be ready? Should you you be ready to throw your body into the deepest corner of your cover to protect yourself from a grenade blast? Or should you be ready to throw your own body on a grenade to save the lives of those you love?

Should you be sand bagging ammunition, or working with friends who would oppose those who would overthrow the valid government of your country? Or … if it is a lost cause … should you be preparing to submit or should you leave your very own country?

How you view what might happen today … determines to a great extent how you will behave today … what you will wear, how you will act, what you might do. Ethics and behavior.

God knows that our perceptions of the future affect how we will act today.

Then come the next part. If you have no idea of what might happen today … or some tomorrow … coming you know not when … then you will have no idea of how you should act today.

Revelation is a revelation of what is for sure. You should be ready and watching for these things … or be ill prepared!

“Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter;” Rev 1:19 WEB

Revelation of course is NOT a hiding of the future, but a Revelation, a revealing … unless of course we are badly blinded by the god of this age, 2Cor 4:4. For as it is written,

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Prov 29:18 KJV

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, is a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901