O. M. G. !!! . Ten seconds ago I was thinking that I’m not sure that all this uncertainty, all this challenging of my former beliefs, all this taking a stand when almost everyone is against me …. maybe I’ve got to go back and … (please forgive me for the word I’m about to use) … compromise. Why don’t I just take the easy way out and go with the flow? Remember “integrity”, Robin? Most of all we need to remember that – G – O – D – is all-power, all-presence, all-knowing AND He is -w-i-t-h-i-n- us!
rjs

Many times in our understanding we would rather be certain, even if we are wrong, than we would to enter the cloud of not knowing and be expected to simply trust his love. Yet in order to ever grow beyond our present experience, we must be willing to grow through the seeming terror of letting go of one belief, and learn to trust His love to interpret everything! In that transition we learn we are not defined by a theological system, but happily governed by an unshakable relationship.

Chuck Crisco
July 15, 2014

You know, Kathleen and Chuck, people just want and need to have everything wrapped up for them so nice and tidy. They sometimes demand it and follow to the letter whoever will deliver this package. They don’t have an inkling of the fact that it cannot be all neatly wrapped up. For a more nearly accurate view of the immensity of God, try marrying quantum physics with Newtonian physics – just for starters!!!
rjs

Whereas the war which the Jews made with the Romans hath been the greatest of all those, not only that have been in our times, but, in a manner, of those that ever were heard of; both of those wherein cities have fought against cities, or nations against nations; while some men who were not concerned in the affairs themselves have gotten together vain and contradictory stories by hearsay, and have written them down after a sophistical manner; and while those that were there present have given false accounts of things, and this either out of a humor of flattery to the Romans, or of hatred towards the Jews; and while their writings contain sometimes accusations, and sometimes encomiums, but no where the accurate truth of the facts; I have proposed to myself, for the sake of such as live under the government of the Romans, to translate those books into the Greek tongue, which I formerly composed in the language of our country, and sent to the Upper Barbarians; 2 Joseph, the son of Matthias, by birth a Hebrew, a priest also, and one who at first fought against the Romans myself, and was forced to be present at what was done afterwards, [am the author of this work]. 2. Now at the time when this great concussion of affairs happened, the affairs of the Romans were themselves in great disorder.
[Not wanting] to suffer those Greeks and Romans that were not in the wars to be ignorant of these things, and to read either flatteries or fictions, while the Parthians, and the Babylonians, and the remotest Arabians, and those of our nation beyond Euphrates, with the Adiabeni, by my means, knew accurately both whence the war begun, what miseries it brought upon us, and after what manner it ended. 3. It is true, these writers have the confidence to call their accounts histories; wherein yet they seem to me to fail of their own purpose, as well as to relate nothing that is sound. For they have a mind to demonstrate the greatness of the Romans, while they still diminish and lessen the actions of the Jews, as not discerning how it cannot be that those must appear to be great who have only conquered those that were little. Nor are they ashamed to overlook the length of the war, the multitude of the Roman forces who so greatly suffered in it, or the might of the commanders, whose great labors about Jerusalem will be deemed inglorious, if what they achieved be reckoned but a small matter. 4. However, I will not go to the other extreme, out of opposition to those men who extol the Romans nor will I determine to raise the actions of my countrymen too high; but I will prosecute the actions of both parties with accuracy.
J O S E P H U S, FLAVIUS

NEST BUILDERS, PROOF OF CREATION

Some fish build nests by using a cement like substance from their kidneys. How could this have happened by chance?! Nesting, whether done by birds or fish, is actually a very complicated pattern. It is not something that a weak-minded bird or fish could ever have thought up by itself. Yet most birds and some fish regularly do it.It is of interest that, even if a solitary bird had actually stumbled upon the idea of making a nest, that bird would not have taught it to its babies. So the pattern would have stopped right there. Just as there is no way that the pattern could be started, there is no way it could be passed on to the next generation. “Oh,” someone will reply, “the information simply passed into the genes.” Not so, any good scientist will tell you that there is no such thing as inheritance of acquired characteristics! This is the product our Creator!

The “Great Tribulation” is not an uncommon event in the Christian calendar of God’s dealings with men. What is strange is the understanding of it. Most of us who grew up under dispensational and futuristic ideas of biblical endtimes are acquainted with the following;

That someday soon, Christ will return to the earth invisibly and snatch away all the Christians in an event known as the rapture.
After God has removed the Church, He will go back to dealing with Israel.
There will be a seven year period called the tribulation in which the earth and it inhabitants will be destroyed by God’s wrath.
At the end of the tribulation Christ will return and inaugurate the Millennium, a physical earthly kingdom.
At the end of the Millennium there will be a rebellion and Christ will come and destroy the wicked and the eternal state will begin.

Dispensationalists teach that after the Great Tribulation, all the terrible things in the book of Revelation will be poured out on this dark planet. The Jews are going to build a new temple in Jerusalem, and the Jewish sacrifices will be reinstituted. Then, during this time, the strange beast of Revelation 13 will arise. They say this Beast will enter into the temple at Jerusalem and proclaim himself to be God. He will then put into the temple a statue of himself which they say will be “the abomination of desolation.”

If you look at that doctrine you will notice 3 comings of Christ and a resurrection of the Old covenant with Israel alongside with inconsistencies in the unfolding of prophecy which ignore Jesus own direct relation to these events as to be fulfilled in that generation.

Is the “Great Tribulation” something that looms in our future or is in a past event?

Is Matthew 24 talking about an event yet future or something that occurred in the time of the disciples?

If you have a close look at Matthew 24 you will see Jesus answering the disciples questions about the destruction of Jerusalem. This is a build up from chapter 21.

The discussion that Jesus had just had with the scribes and Pharisees took place inside the Temple grounds. As they departed from the Temple the words of Jesus were, “Your house shall be left to you desolate,”. This statement still echoed in their ears of the disciples.

They pointed out the buildings of the Temple and their glorious magnificence to Jesus. There was a reverence for the temple, even in distant parts of the empire that would make it a rare and unusual thought for it to be destroyed. This was a project that took 46 years for it to be completed.
In their curiosity and in private they wanted to know when it would be destroyed, and what signs would precede the end of the age and His parousia which is the actual greek word that was rendered as “coming”.

The following verses in Matthew 24 was Jesus response to their inquiry. He gave them a prophetic cast of the journey to the end of that Old covenant age that failed to produce the kind of fruits that the Father had desired. A series of events were to play out in labour pangs for the establishment of a new order.

In Luke 21:20 Jesus told them about the abomination of desolation that was fulfilled as the Roman army who would advance to come to destroy the temple. As he related the fulfillment of that great prophecy, Jesus talks about the great tribulation.

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. – Matthew 24:21 (NKJV)

Notice the word “Then”. Then is when? a thousand years later? The “then” is referring to the context of verses 15-20; when you see the abomination of desolation, which Luke tells us is Jerusalem surrounded by armies.

The great tribulation was to take place during the “then,” during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in the first century. The parallel of Luke’s gospel makes it so easy to see.

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 “For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be GREAT DISTRESS in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 “And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be TRAMPLED by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:20-24 (NKJV) Emphasis Mine)

Notice where and who in particular verse 23 says the tribulation or distress will come upon– “the land”, which is Jerusalem and “this people,” which refers to the first century Jews, not in our time or future.
Luke’s account makes us see that the great event would be the culmination of Bible prophecy concerning the Jews.

“For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. – Luke 21:22 (NKJV)
“All things which are written,” refers to prophecy. All prophecy was to be fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem. What prophecy? About the Jews and their temple as a consequence of the Messianic rule of Christ on earth.

Daniel seems to be source of many prophetic expectation back then for the Jews and even Jesus.:

“Seventy weeks are determined For YOUR PEOPLE AND FOR YOUR HOLY CITY, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.” (Daniel 9:24 NKJV Emphasis Mine)
Daniel was told that 70 weeks had been determined on his people Israel (not the whole world), and city Jerusalem. By the end of this prophetic time period, God related to Daniel six things would be accomplished.
One of the things that Daniel was told would happen by the end of that period was that God would “seal up vision and prophecy”. The Hebrew commentaries are in agreement on the meaning of to “seal up vision and prophecy” – it means the end and complete fulfillment of all prophecy in relation to the fate of the Jews.

Daniel’s prophecy, then, tells of the time when all prophecy would cease to be given and what had been given would be fulfilled. When would this be? Daniel’s vision ends with the destruction of Jerusalem which we know occurred in 70 AD:

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come SHALL DESTROY THE CITY AND THE SANCTUARY. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. – Daniel 9:26 (NKJV Emphasis Mine)
So Luke is saying the same thing that Daniel said, which is that at the time Jerusalem is destroyed all prophecy will be fulfilled.

All prophecy being fulfilled would include the prophecy of the Second coming (arrival in Messiahship), the resurrection, the new heavens and earth, everything prophesied to Israel would be fulfilled at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction.

“At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a TIME OF TROUBLE, SUCH AS NEVER WAS SINCE THERE WAS A NATION, EVEN TO THAT TIME. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. – Daniel 12:1(NKJV Emphasis Mine)
This is similar to what Jesus said in his Olivet discourse:
“For then there will be GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS HAS NOT BEEN SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD UNTIL THIS TIME, no, nor ever shall be. -Matthew 24:21 (NKJV)
The great tribulation was an event to confirm the second coming of Jesus according to Paul:
since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 (NKJV)

Paul also sees the destruction of Jerusalem, the days of vengeance as relevant with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The fulfillment of all prophecy, was tied up in Jerusalem’s destruction, making it an age changing event. It was indeed the end of the world from a Jewish perspective. Everything that summed up their identity, culture and living was gone up in flames.

The old heavens and earth of the world of Judaism were destroyed the new heavens and earth of a spiritual Israel were established. God made sure that the physical temple in Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, the genealogical records which qualified descendants of Aaron to serve as priests was burned and the city of Jerusalem fell.

The great tribulation was covenant judgment over Israel. It was a series of catastrophic events that befell a nation that the narration of it would put anyone into a sad state.

“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:” – Deuteronomy 28:15 (NKJV)
“And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.” – Deuteronomy 28:63 (NKJV)
The historical account of what transpired in AD70 comes from Josephus, a non-Christian Jew who wrote at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction. In the preface to his writings “The War of the Jews,” Josephus said this, “Whereas the war which the Jews made with the Romans hath been the greatest of all those, not only that have been in our times, but, in a manner, of those that were ever heard of.” (PREFACE, Section 1)
In this he agrees with the words of Jesus that it was the most devastating thing that affected the Jewish people. It is just more than the fact that people died. All that transpired brought to a close to that Jewish age and it can’t be resurrected again. The Great Tribulation is behind us as an event in history. We now live in the endless age of the new covenant where the church, the body of Christ is the new heaven and earth. This is where righteousness dwells based on the finished work of Jesus.

It was the old covenant that veiled Jesus. It veiled Him when He was born, it veiled Him when He died, and it veiled Him when He was resurrected. It wasn’t until Revelation, an unveiling, that the veil was taken away. What Revelation prophesied became reality when the temple and old covenant were finally destroyed. The veil of judgment and death, through which people had seen God since the days of the vassal covenant, was finally removed. The old covenant had prevented people from seeing who God really is; all they had seen was judgment and condemnation. But on the other side of AD 70, that veil has been taken away, and we are now free to see God as the loving father He is. The first century believers would have clearly understood that this is what Revelation is about—prophesying the destruction of the old covenant, which had been veiling God, and thereby revealing fully the glory of Christ and His new covenant.
Dr. Jonathan Welton
Understanding the Whole Bible
……….
2 Corinthians 3:14-16 KJV
But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. [15] But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. [16] Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

Scientist are now saying that they have found an ocean of water underneath the surface of the earth several hundred miles deep…

Well, guess what? …The BIBLE already said that thousands of years ago in Genesis 7:11 by saying that when God flooded the earth in Noah’s day, that He opened up all the FOUNTAINS OF THE GREAT DEEP under the earth, which sprung up into the air and flooded the whole earth.

I love it when science proves that the Bible is RIGHT; and therefore proving that it’s really God’s Word and not just written by mere men…. Selah.
Cayce Talbott

Asking God to “create a clean heart in me oh God and renew a right spirit within me” is a slap in the face of Jesus. Do we not have Jesus? Our spirit is as He is! We are not in the Old Covenant anymore. We are in a better covenant with better promises.

Even the prophet Ezekiel prophesied that we would get a new heart and spirit.

Ez 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

Ez 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

A CAVEAT CONTRAINDICATING EXORBITANT ESCHATALOGICAL HERMANEUTICAL INTELLECTUALISM:
[Translation: Warning against too much end times interpreting]
Being too much in the brain all the time, to the exclusion of listening to God with the heart …
is …
dumb.
(*_*)

The FULFILLING of the Law
Jen Fishburne
San Antonio, TX ·

Many years ago, I believed that we were fully under the Law of Moses, and lived my life accordingly, as much as possible. I was arguing that we were still under the Law online one day, and a pastor/seminary professor came along and challenged me in a way I had never heard before. He asked me questions that, for the first time, I simply could not answer.

He then asked me if I was willing to do a Bible study with him regarding the Law. For the next 90 days, I studied every passage in Scripture having to do with the Law, 8-12 hours a day, until I finally saw that that Law was never given to us in the first place; it was given only to Israel. That Law had NO authority over me, and I was not under its jurisdiction.

Matt. 5:17-18 was key for me. I realized that the Law was still in FULL effect until ALL the Law and ALL the prophets were fulfilled — in Christ. Once that happened, they were FULFILLED (not abolished).

So that left me with not having a clue where to go from there. At that time, I was wearing long dresses 24/7. I was very afraid that God was going to kill me, literally, if I put on a pair of pants, even weeks after realizing that Scripture never said anything what I should or should not wear. I finally got up the courage to try on a pair of pants, and quickly took them back off again, before God killed me. Yeah, it seems crazy now, but the fear was real.

I finally learned grace through the peeling away of the layers of legalism that I was bound up in. One by one, I studied each one in Scripture, only to find out that the Bible said nothing about all the “rules” we had made for ourselves.

I was so lost at that point, not understanding what grace was, that I put aside my Bible for the next 5 years and didn’t study it or read it, and rarely prayed. I never lost my faith, but I just meditated on life and the things I had learned in life. It was during those 5 years of silence that I learned what grace was.

And then I was free to begin learning the truth of God’s Word for the first time in my life.

When I first heard preterist teaching, I thought those teaching it were nuts. I blocked people. Then suddenly, I realized I wasn’t sure they were wrong. I ended up telling God that if it was truth, to reveal it to me. I refused to read the free books that were sent to me…..I thought it was so far out there… I wanted GOD to show me. And He did. When I began to accept this truth…every question I had had before from futuristic teaching was immediately answered. It set me free beyond my wildest dreams. Life has become easy.

I would add, though, that preterism also helped me to better understand grace. That if it really IS finished, there is nothing left to do. I used to really struggle to hear God for my own life. I felt I had no trouble hearing Him for others when they needed a word, but could not seem to hear Him for my own day-to-day decisions. Then He showed me I had been hearing concerning my own life….for my whole life. It was why I had so many questions.
~ Mikki Burnett