Posted in giant fish, jonah

Jonah as a type of Christ

Posted on by elizabethprata

I am fascinated with Jonah. Four short chapters, concise and not a word wasted, but packs a powerful punch.

Isaiah was beloved. He saw God and was cleansed in the holy heavenly temple. Elijah is revered- and is to come again. So fervently do they look for Elijah that Jews set a place for him at the Passover table. Daniel was noted by God to be a righteous one among men. (Ezekiel 14:14). But Jonah? The disobedient one? Not so much.

Yet … through Jonah’s preaching God converted the largest city on earth. Jonah’s story carries with it fantastical but true elements of runaway prophet, giant fish, death or near-death experiences, raging storms, begrudging task completion, a small worm and a withering shade tree. So many miracles pack Jonah it boggles the mind- ten of them in four short chapters.

And most amazingly, of all the prophets God sent, Jesus identified himself not with powerful Elijah, not with beloved Isaiah, not with righteous Daniel- but with runaway Jonah.

It has been said that Jonah is a type of Christ. To me, this is an interesting juxtaposition. After all, Jesus was the only human on earth to be perfect, sinless, and in complete obedience with the Father. So how or why is Jonah a type of Christ?

I’ll tell you before we go on that I don’t know the answer to that question. The why, anyway. But here is what my research uncovered on how Jonah as a type of Christ can be compared to THE Christ.

First, here is what Jesus said when referring to Jonah:

But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12:39-41).

What did Jesus mean that He would give no such sign? Perhaps that He would give one that should be as satisfactory proof to them that he was from God, as the miraculous preservation of Jonah was to the Ninevites that he was divinely commissioned. I mean, how many miracles do they need?

The Ninevites, pagans after all, recognized God’s work on first preaching. The Pharisees and unbelieving Jewish generation required miracle after miracle and still they refused to repent. That’s why the Ninevites’ example condemns the Pharisees and Jewish unbelievers.

To this day the tradition of what Jonah did at Nineveh remains. The city fell into ruin eventually and was covered over by desert sands for many generations. The city was not re-discovered until the 1800s. Yet throughout the entire time, the power of God through Jonah stayed. The area was always called and referred to by locals as Tell Nabi Yunus. A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides. (Wiki). Nabi is Hebrew for Prophet. Yunus, swapping the J for a Y is a transliteration of Jonah. In Greek it is Ionas.

So the ruins of Nineveh, near Mosul Iraq, means ‘ruin of the Prophet Jonah’. The work that God did there was known and understood and remembered to be a great work of God.

There are several other parallels to the Jonah-Jesus story. Jonah’s name means ‘dove’ by the way. Both were from Galilee. Though the Pharisees said no prophet comes from Galilee, they were so desperate to discredit Jesus that they forgot that Jonah was from Galilee. (John 7:52).

Both Jonah and Jesus were sent first to Jews and then the Gentiles.

They were both wiling to die for their people. Jonah first by perhaps expecting to be slain for disobeying God (as the example in 1 Kings 13:23 indicates happens to disobedient prophets) and then when Jonah urged the sailors to throw him overboard. We already know Jesus died as the sacrifice for all people.

They both preached and the Jews refused but the Gentiles accepted.

They both slept in a boat in a storm.

When the storm got worse, both sets of sailors asked the same question of Jonah and of Jesus: ‘How can you sleep? Can’t you see we’re perishing?’

Jonah 1:6- “So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

Mark 4:38- “But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

The sailors asked God not to hold it against them as a sin that they shed innocent blood, and Judas told God he knew he had shed innocent blood.

Jonah 1:14- “Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.”’

Matthew 27:4a- “saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”

And yet a startling difference, that couldn’t be more apparent, is that Jonah had no compassion for the Gentiles and was disobedient.Jesus is perfect. Huh.

Below is a chart I’d made when pondering these things. It was the boat in a storm that made me start comparing. If  you are reading along and you’re reminded of an incident or a verse in another part of the bible, turn to it. Slowly examine it, looking carefully at the language. That is how I found the perishing language and the innocent blood language. Then read credible commentaries and/or listen to sermons from good expositors. The bible will become more deep to you. It is how the Spirit applies truths to our hearts.

I just started jotting them down and then, being visual, I put them into a chart so I could see them side by side. I love the Old Testament for painting pictures for us that in the New Testament become principles. Brethren, don’t forsake the OT. There is so much there, and it is a joy always to discover more in God’s word.

I don’t know the answer to why Jonah & Jesus slept, or how Jonah is a type of Christ, but I sure did have fun exploring. My faith is such that I know the Spirit will show me more in His timing, either on this side of the veil or surely in the next.

This side: “But God hath revealed them< unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." (1 Corinthians 2:10).

Other side: “For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Thanks for reading. 🙂

Posted in God, israel, jerusalem, military

Not by might, says God to Israel, but by My Spirit

Posted on by elizabethprata

Israel is noted by the nations as one of the most advanced military and technological nations in the world. Their successive wins at various wars have given them confidence in their strategies and protocols. The recent success of Pillar of Cloud in the Gaza Strip with Iron Dome and now David’s Sling missile busters coming online have added to that feeling of confidence in their abilities. This feeling will nearly prove their undoing. Why?

They need to rely on God. But they don’t.

I’ve mentioned this before. In the blog entry titled “Israel, Iran, and Heavenly intervention,” I’d written-

“Of course, we would love to see some heavenly intervention that will stop them, to wake up some morning and learn that they’ve given up on their nuclear intentions,” Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told reporters at the Pentagon Thursday during a joint press conference with Leon Panetta, his American counterpart.”

I had mentioned yesterday that Israel’s current military success is a wonderful thing, culturally, in that the citizens of the nation have a bit more reassurance that they can live through the day without a terrorist rocket falling on them. But in the long run it is actually counterproductive spiritually, because as long as they rely on themselves they will not rely on the Holy God of Israel. You see the Defense Minister’s next statement:

“You cannot build a strategy based on these wishes or prayers.”

Oh yes you can. Elisha did.

A week later in a blog entry titled Mysterious site 911 raises eyebrows, I’d repeated the mantra that over-reliance on one’s military and under-reliance on God is a bad thing-

“Israel is becoming more security conscious every day. Their reliance on their military is a good thing, otherwise I’m sure that as a nation they would have been obliterated by now. And, after all, it is God who allowed their successes so far.

However, there is such a thing as over-reliance. … Their continued run of success will only make them ever more reliant on their military and further from remembering that God is behind it. As a matter of fact the Israel Defense Force tweeted, “Our job is to minimize the need for a miracle, even in Hanukkah. We must always be ready.”

Minimizing the need for a miracle, which only comes from God, is really saying they minimize the need for God.

The Israelites of today will drift further and further from Him, until He uses Russia-Turkey-Iran’s military might to draw them back to Himself. That alliance is prophesied to attack Isrel in the last days…ans almost win. It is God who saves Israel.

“I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel.” (Ezekiel 39:7)

Now finally someone of Israel is urging Israel to turn to God and not their military for confidence. Rabbi Dan Dorsch, the Assistant Rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston, New Jersey, wrote this on Sunday in Haaretz. Here is an excerpt:

From Pillar of Defense to Hanukkah: Why Jews mustn’t glorify military might
Why isn’t Hanukkah in the Torah? Perhaps because the sages did not condone military prowess divorced from God’s presence.

Having arrived at Hanukkah following Operation Pillar of Defense, I believe the words of our sages still speak to the nature of modern military conflict. Like myself, I believe our sages would be proud to be associated with the fine, dedicated, brave modern Maccabees of the Israel Defense Forces, who protect and defend our Jewish state. Yet, as the State of Israel and the Jewish people move forward proudly from that operation into Hanukkah, I believe our sages might also take care to remind us that triumph in battle can never be a true Jewish path toward holiness. Instead, they would probably remind us that the very Hebrew name of the operation, Amud Anan – which refers to God’s protective “pillar of cloud” as He led the Jewish people out of Egypt through the desert — reminds us that a Jew must ultimately never draw his or her strength from might or power, but from God’s spirit.

Hanukkah reminds us that in ancient times, armies fought brutal campaigns and crusades falsely in the name of God and glory. But, as Jews, we only fight as a last resort because it is necessary to live, and so that we may spend our days drawing closer to God in peace.

For Jews, our true path toward holiness must be drawn from the wellsprings of our faith. We may celebrate victory but must never glorify military might. Instead, we must long for the day when all of the peoples of the world will finally put down their arms and live in peace.

They do long for peace, and well they should. However, that day of peace will only come when the Lord returns to establish His Kingdom. However, the Rabbi’s yearning for the peace that is promised is a good thing, because we all must pray for the peace of Jerusalem. (Psalm 122:6)

Meanwhile, here is a verse that the Rabbi quoted-

“Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6).

Posted in childlike faith, newtown, sandy hook school, shooting

Putting Newtown behind and Jesus ahead, we ask ‘Why the children?’

Posted on by elizabethprata

Children are important to Jesus. That is why satan seeks to kill them.

Did you know that on the same day as the horrific Newtown killings, a deranged man stabbed 22 young children at a Chinese elementary school? And that it was the third such type of stabbing attack at a school within the last two years?

Why the children? Here is why–

“and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” (Matthew 21:16).

Jesus said this in response to the following in the verse prior, and note carefully!

“But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant”

The children were shouting hosannas!

The Pharisees were indignant over the children’s joy in recognizing Him!

In Gill’s Exposition it says, “This owing to God’s disposing them hereunto, putting it into their mouths, and strengthening them to declare it in a very strong and powerful manner; so that his strength was made perfect in their weakness, and his praise the more glorious.”

Do not overlook the children in their clear praise and strength of faith in one Jesus the Christ. Children are Christ’s answer to pure faith, and a rebuke to all who would squash a religious child’s enthusiasm for proclaiming Him. Woe to those who squash it! Woe!

“Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:17)

“But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14).

Jesus sets a great store on children, and uses them for praise to Himself and as a warning to adults to follow their faith example.

Why were the children killed? Why? We cry. I believe it is because children are the last segment of the population to be attacked by satan.

Satan has the mothers via the corruption and eternal discontent of feminism. He has the fathers through pornography and adultery and abandonment. He has the youths through drugs and the narcoleptic spellbinder of technology. He has the institutions of government, entertainment, and even religion. What’s left for him to freshly attack?

Children.

For example, abortion. Child molestation is another way satan has attacked the children. The hidden shame of child trafficking in America (and in the rest of the world) is a scourge on us all. But those and other methods of attacking children are indirect. So Satan had a thought- why not kill them directly?

There is nothing to make a nation, even a world, weep and mourn as much as a child massacre. Just the thought of vulnerable little bodies strewn bloody on the floor is enough to make the world stop and take a collective gasp.

Jesus indicated this when He spoke of the abomination of desolation during the tribulation- “And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!“

As Gill explained, “whose tender affection to their infants will not suffer them to leave them behind them; and yet such their weakness, that they will not be able to carry them with them; at least, they must be great hindrances to their speedy flight.”

What defeats a family more, or crumbles their faith more, than losing a child to senseless violence? Not only would satan delight in the fact that a precious one’s childlike faith has been snuffed out, and that they can no longer praise Jesus in purity and trust, but he will also delight in the family’s grief and difficulty traversing the mountain of sorrow back to firm faith in Jesus again- if they ever do. Those of no faith will be unlikely to ever turn to Jesus. That likelihood diminishes with each bullet sent from a gun to slay a babe.

Satan is not overlooking the children in his attacks. But neither is Jesus. He ordained praise from babes. He taught us all to have childlike faith and trust in Him. He said that the little children should not be hindered from coming to Him. They were among the first before religious adults to recognize who He was on earth and they sang with joy.

I personally believe that the children who were killed in CT were young enough to see the angels God sent to minister to them as they hid in closets. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10). It’s something to imagine anyway.

Right now we trust in Him to create something good out of man’s horror. If you are finding it hard to move on to the solid rock of trust in a Good and Holy Savior, then ask the Spirit to increase your faith. (Luke 17:5). He surely does equip us to handle what comes in this world, a world I remind us all, is not our home.

As heavy as this affliction is, it is but a light affliction. (2 Corinthians 4:17). The children sang hosannas at the temple, and so should we. Though we cannot see the mercies and the glory that will emerge from this atrocity, we should have a childlike faith that something merciful and good will. If you don’t have that kind of faith, then at least do it for the children.

Posted in children, jesus, newtown

Jesus and children (thoughts of Newtown)

Posted on by elizabethprata

On Thursday, the day before the Newton Elementary School shootings, in which an entire kindergarten class of five years olds was massacred by a 20 year old boy, the Lord was preparing me to write about children. He was bringing to mind two precious incidents that had occurred in my life regarding children and the purity of their belief in Jesus. I prayed,  I cherished the memories, and I wrote the draft. Then I waited. Little did I know that a horrible massacre would punctuate and underscore these memories, imbuing their specialness by the heartbreaking loss of innocent life in Connecticut. I wrote more about it yesterday, the day it happened, and used scripture, here.

Jesus loves the children. They are precious to Him. Unlike in many societies where the children are not even named until age five because of the death rate, or in other societies where they are chattel, or still in others where the girls are left exposed to elements because they are an undesirable gender, Jesus cared for them uniquely as precious members of society and urged His believers to do the same.

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.” (Psalm 127:3)

God personally makes every child that ever was or is to be:

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:13-16).

The LORD sends angels to minister to the little ones:

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10)

There is a place Jesus is preparing where all the children will be safe from dangers:

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6).

At times like these, many Christians wonder if children who have not professed Jesus go to heaven upon their death. The biblical evidence, though implicit and not explicit, seems to say yes. In Deuteronomy and other places in the Old Testament, the word innocent is applied to children. Not that they are not guilty of sin, because we emerge from the womb as such. But that their guilt has not yet been applied to them because they cannot cognitively understand their sin via two revelations God gives us: conscience and His holiness and our sinfulness as revealed in nature. Here is an essay about it-

Do babies and others incapable of professing faith in Christ automatically go to heaven?

Two incidents in my life with children after I’d come to know Jesus stand out to me. Rather than the world’s claim that children are browbeaten and brainwashed into believing in Jesus, it is actually the adults who are brainwashed and browbeaten into NOT believing in Jesus. Belief in Jesus is intuitive and pure in the children who do profess.

I work in a kindergarten as a teacher’s aide. A few years ago at Christmastime, the teacher was teaching a unit on the customs of Christmas from around the world. There were two five-year-olds who had professed Christ and any believer could immediately see the difference in their behavior and their spirit compared to the kids who had not professed. Anyway, they were sitting on the rug watching a short video on the Nativity. The kids saw the part where the angel led the three wise men to the boy Jesus, and some kids began a quiet but fervent discussion about what the light actually was. Some said a star. Others said a comet. Others said a planet. The two saved children said,

“It was an angel. The angel had the light from heaven wrapped around him and the light led the wise men.” All discussion stopped cold for a good ten seconds. Then it resumed, with denials of the angel idea from all the unsaved kids. The two saved kids just looked at each other from across the carpet, smiled peacefully, and put a thumbs up, nodding their belief to each other.

How many times are we told in the bible to act just that way? To tell the truth in love, gently and with meekness, fellowship with each other, not to argue, and to share the love of Jesus in peace and goodwill to men? They did, and in addition, their perception was amazing. An angel?! Why didn’t I think of that? And a little child shall lead them…

In another case, I was teaching bible study to 6-to-8-year-olds at church. I always encouraged the kids to bring their bible with them. When I taught the passage we always opened the bible and read from the bible and not just the curriculum. I wanted them to get into a habit of being responsible for handling their bible in church, and in reading the actual verses for themselves (mini-Bereans).

LOL, they were young and it took a long time for us three teachers in the room to get them all opened to the same page. It was hard for them at first to find the verse and then to not lose their place while the other kids found it. But you would not believe how much zeal they exhibited in wanting to bring their bible and delighting in reading the verses for themselves. The eight year olds had an easier time of it than the six year olds. This particular evening we were studying Psalm 100.

There was one 8 year old boy sitting in front of me on the floor. He had opened verse Psalm 100:1 and he began reading it while the others were getting settled. He whispered,

“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.”

He stopped reading. He looked aside, and paused. Then he whispered to himself, “I like that. I don’t know why I like it, but I do.”

This is a miracle.

We don’t get to see Jesus create fish and bread for thousands. We don’t see Him restoring sight and making the lame to walk. We do not see Him walk on the raging sea or change water to wine. But nowadays we have the Holy Spirit. The miracle in this day and age is regeneration. The Holy Spirit is invisible, but His work is not. Seeing and hearing a boy apply truth to his heart is a wondrous thing. Watching the joy he received from reading truth in beauty while acknowledging it and honoring it, is a visible evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in a person.

Do we eagerly read, then pause? Ponder and consider? Understand and accept the Word’s beauty without first having to construct intellectual reasons why? Do we accept the Spirit’s work in us and proclaim it aloud? Do we accept the miracle of His living word into our hearts with peace and joy?

And a little child shall lead them.

I believe the children killed in Newtown CT are in heaven right now. As John MacArthur says, “instant heaven.” As we mourn them on earth, what is Jesus saying to those children in heaven? I don’t know, but perhaps the scene looks like this-

Children Coming to Jesus, by John Lautermilch
“Come my children! You must have been so scared. You’re safe now. I have so much to show you!”
Posted in massacre, newtown, school shooting

A pastor’s response to the Newtown School shootings

Posted on by elizabethprata

My friend Pastor Phil Andrukaitis of the First Baptist of South Portland Maine wrote this essay in response to the massacre of children in an elementary school that occurred yesterday in Newtown CT. I hope it blesses you as it did me:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more” (Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 3:18). The same bitter weeping for the twenty children and six adults of Sandy Hook Elementary School is being heard all over our country this evening.

It sickens our hearts to realize young innocent lives were violently murdered in the city of Bethlehem when Jesus was a toddler, but also during this 2012 Christmas season as Christians prepare to celebrate God’s greatest gift, the birth of Christ The Savior.

Christians, let us not lose heart in the midst of this awful tragedy, perpetrated by a wicked person. No doubt, many individuals may point to this incident as evidence that God is not all-powerful or all loving. They will ask with an accusatory tone, “Why didn’t You stop this twenty-year-old man who was hell-bent on fulfilling his evil plans?” Perhaps the best response to their question is answered with passionate prayers and compassionate deeds because our hope is in God.

God answered this evil deed and every evil deed committed against man when He sacrificed His Son on the cross for our sins and raised Him from the grave. The cross is the ultimate expression of God’s love and compassion and the resurrection is the ultimate display of God’s power over death and evil.

Let us continue to pray for these grieving families, teachers, students, and all the authorities God has appointed over us to restrain evil. Mourn with those who mourn. And let us believe that God will bring good and glory out of this horrific event, just as He did on Mount Calvary.

And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

Posted in children, newtown, shooting

Massacre of the innocents

Posted on by elizabethprata

How long, O Lord? [Additional thoughts here]

“Twenty-seven people, including 20 children, are dead after a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Another person was found dead at 36 Yogananda St. in Newtown, sources told The Courant. The shootings at the school took place in two rooms, one of which is a kindergarten classroom, sources said. One entire classroom is unaccounted for.”

Evil against children has always been in the world.

“Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” (Exodus 1:15)

But God heard Israel’s groaning–

“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” (Exodus 2:23-25)

Evil is still in the world.

“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:16-18)

But God hears their groaning and He sends a Comforter–

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.’ (John 16:7)

Posted in end of days, joel c. rosenberg, prophecy, rapture

Joel Rosenberg asks, ‘Is it the end of days?’ Pete Garcia asks ‘What about the rapture?’

Posted on by elizabethprata

Joel Rosenberg wrote a very good essay answering this question. He has details and scriptures over at his blog.

Here is an excerpt:

“Jesus cautioned His followers not to speculate on the exact time of the Rapture or the Second Coming. In Matthew 24:36, He said that “of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” But “day and hour” is a very narrow slice of time. By giving us at least fifteen other specific signs that would be happening in the last days, Jesus clearly wanted us to know when the time of His return was rapidly approaching.”

“Why? He gave the answer in Matthew 24:42, when He said, “Therefore, be on the alert.” He reinforced the point in the next verse, when again He urged His followers to be “on the alert.” In Matthew 24:44, He stressed this critical point for a third time. “You also must be ready,” He insisted, “for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”

“Followers of Jesus Christ who study these signs are coming to the conclusion that they are being fulfilled today and that we are, in fact, living in the last days.”

They have no idea precisely when Jesus will return, of course. But given how closely world events are tracking with Bible prophecy, they find themselves increasingly motivated to “be ready…”

That is what prophecy does for us. It makes us urgently ready. It is so important to study it and honor it. As the Proverbs say,

“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.” (Proverbs 29:18).

Knowing that Jesus could return at any moment is exactly a restraint! Prophecy restrains us. It’s like an extending leash for your pet. If you take the leash off, the dog runs and runs and sometimes runs into a car. On the leash he has room and yet he is restrained from danger or from wandering off the path.

Or like your teenager, if they have the house to themselves and know that they have hours and hours of unsupervised time, how much trouble will they get into, as opposed to knowing the parents could come back at any moment?

You might enjoy this essay from Pete Garcia, called “The Rapture“. Here is an excerpt–

“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

A Shout: The three times that the New Testament records Jesus shouts in the New Testament, notice what happens:

-One man, Lazarus resurrected (JN 11:43)
-Many tombs opened and dead saints resurrected (MATT 27:46, 52)
-Millions resurrected. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

Christ’s verbal command is powerful enough to raise the dead because Christ, having been resurrected, holds the keys to death and hell and is singularly able to command death to obey His voice.”

We serve a holy and glorious God! Go on your way today praising Jesus for all that He is and all that He is doing. We will soon meet Him, and what a morning that will be!

Posted in apocalypse, NASA

NASA releases ‘Told Ya So’ apocalypse video early

Posted on by elizabethprata

Yahoo News: Dec. 21, 2012, has long been rumored to be the day of the Mayan apocalypse, when Earth comes to its inglorious end. The good folks at NASA want you to know that isn’t going to happen.

In fact, NASA is so confident that it recently published a video that appears as if it were intended to be aired on Dec. 22. Titled “The World Didn’t End Yesterday,” the four-minute clip explains how the idea of the Mayan apocalypse was a huge hoax and how the rumors began. A commenter on YouTube jokes, “The correct title for this video: Told ya so!—Love, NASA.”

Time magazine reports that the space agency has been besieged with questions from citizens worried that their lives are about to end. NASA is taking the fears seriously, not because there is any danger, but because irrational fears can sometimes lead to irrational and dangerous actions.

NASA’s official site features an area dedicated to debunking the claims. “The world will not end in 2012,” NASA writes. “Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obviously, they do not know God. He is a threat.

“Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slide, for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’” (Deuteronomy 32:35)

Jonathan Edwards wrote of that verse- “That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God’s appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost. “

The world will not end until after the Tribulation and after the 1000 year Millennium Kingdom, but the point is, the rapture may happen on any given day prior to the NASA video where NASA is resting comfortably on the featherweight net suspended over the hellish fires of unbelief…and when the rapture happens, the world will not end but it will feel like the world is ending. God has an appointed time where destruction will come upon the earth. It might be tomorrow, it might be December 21, 2012, or it might be the day after.

“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44)

Posted in christmas, judgment, wrath

Merry Christmas, God’s wrath is coming

Posted on by elizabethprata

The Christmas season is one where we call for peace on earth and goodwill to men. It is the season of love and joy and harmony. We pray and hope that we display the best qualities of these things to one and all.

Do we realize just what a radical love Jesus has called us to?

We think of the sweet babe in swaddling clothes, the still night broken by heavenly glory lighting the fields, angel choruses, and the grace of God. And it is, but these thoughts and visions in our mind are or should be counterbalanced by the reason for them: His wrath.

The reason He sent Jesus is to rescue us…from His wrath.

I’d like to contrast Godly love with Godly wrath in the lives of two bible people: Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel was taken as a captive away from his homeland as a youth or early teenager. He was trained and put to work in Nebuchadnezzar’s court. He was threatened with death, his three closest friends were thrown into a fiery furnace, and he had to serve a pagan king with all its godless disgusting practices around him every minute. Yet, Daniel was compassionate and he loved Nebuchadnezzar as God would want us to love our enemies.

Nebuchadnezzar

When it came time for Daniel to reveal the interpretation of a particularly fearsome dream to the king, Daniel hesitated. Here is the scene:

“Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, “Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies!” (Daniel 4:19).

Daniel knew that the dream meant God was going to cut Nebuchadnezzar down like a tree and make him go insane for seven years. The king was going to be crawling around on all fours eating grass like an animal. Daniel’s level of compassion was such that not one ounce of chortling, glee, or gloating came over him. He was troubled, dismayed, and didn’t even want to tell the king because he did not want the king to be troubled himself.

How many times do we get a bit of news where someone else was going to be cut down to size, and we cannot wait to share it? If it is an enemy all the better. Yet Daniel was compassionate toward the king, who was holding him captive and at any time could take his life for any reason or for no reason. THAT is Godly love.

Now the wrath. Why did God cut Nebuchadnezzar down and make him go insane for seven years? At the end of the interpretation, Daniel said to the king, “O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed,”

William Blake’s Nebuchadnezzar, Wikipedia commons

God’s wrath always comes because of unrepentant sin. Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

When we enter the Christmas season, remember peace on earth but remember wrath, too. Too harsh, you say? No.

“This is how Paul begins the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ. The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness,” as John MacArthur said. (source)

The good news begins with wrath. It ends with love.

MacArthur again, “Our Lord had more to say about judgment, more to say about destruction, more to say about damnation, and more to say about hell than anybody else recorded in Scripture. And if you think it unusual that this great epistle on the doctrine of salvation opens with this statement about judgment it’s because you really haven’t thought very long about how the whole New Testament opens.”

source

Daniel’s radical love of Nebuchadnezzar was Godly because God loves the sinner. His grace saves the repentant sinner and when we convert, we remember His love and the fact that there but for the grace of God go I. So Daniel loved even his enemy, and wanted the best for him. And what a glorious thing that was, because in each chapter Nebuchadnezzar the king gets closer to the dramatic moment when finally, finally, he converts.

Note that when Daniel shared the news about God Daniel did not say, “God loves you and has a great plan for your life.” He urged the king to stop sinning. Eventually Nebuchadnezzar did:

“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” (Daniel 4:37).

And the second part of Daniel’s message was the multiplying part- stop sinning and show mercy to those who are.

Wow. That is what Godly love does. It multiplies, and we continue in that love because we remember His wrath. We love because He first loved us, (1 John 4:19), but we remember that sin brings wrath. The whole story must include those two bookends- wrath and love.

“Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.” (Deuteronomy 32:35).

The Lord will punish the sins of His people in due time. His wrath will be unleashed but He sent Jesus as the love offering and rescue from that wrath. How can any part of the Good News omit that? Even at Christmastime? It cannot.

To sum up, I am not saying that for the Christmas season we go around saying, “Merry Christmas, God’s wrath is coming!” LOL. But it is part of the story.

source

Instead, envision the scene in Luke 2:8-20 where the shepherds are guarding their flocks by night, and the angels appear with a message. Particularly envision verse 11, (For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord), and know that this is the moment of rescue from wrath. The word savior in Greek used here means–

“properly, the Savior, Jesus Christ who saves believers from their sins and delivers them into His safety.” (Strong’s 4990), Safety from what? Wrath. Delivers them from what? Wrath. The Christmas message is one of loving rescue from wrath, and no witnessing of the Good News nor proclamations about it are complete unless both sides of the story are told.

Here is one last anecdote from modern day culture about the love and wrath bookends. I watched a video of Phil Robertson of Duck Commander and Duck Dynasty television fame preach. In that segment Phil said that he was on the phone at Duck Commander headquarters taking an order for a duck call from a guy in Alabama. Phil said that the man was using God’s name in vain, that every other word out of the guy’s mouth was “G-d this and G-d that.” Finally after about the fifth time, Phil couldn’t take it any more and he asked the guy, “Why are you cursing the only One that can rescue you from death?”

To make a long story short, Phil invited the guy to his house, about a ten hour drive from where the guy was calling from, and praise the Lord, the guy showed up the next week. Phil preached sin, death, and wrath, and the guy and his buddy both cried like babies on his living room floor. Before sunup, they were baptized.

Phil said he never saw the guy again – until 17 years later, when Phil was preaching in Alabama. Phil was led to a room and the guy was there, he was now one of the leaders of the church. He went from unsaved, blaspheming godless man to a Godly leader shepherding others into Christ.

The effect of the entire Gospel story is one of multiplying miracles. Leave off the wrath and you only have a smarmy story of an invisible God who loves us for some reason. Don’t leave off the reason.

Merry Christmas.