Revelation Charts

The chart above and other great resources are at revelationlogic.com

The link below is to a video on youtube.  If you pause it as soon as you get there you can make the screen bigger and look at it.  I will cover the points as best as I can below.

https://youtu.be/rSMppLZvH3I?list=PLekyKj4hnn9y2fgvoJ5SWeATTiOSh-RX3&t=3896

Daniel Chapter 8, 9  and 11 have some events that occur during the last 7 year period.

• 9:27 speaks of a 7-year covenant that is made that allows for the start of the rebuilding of the temple.
• 8:9-14 speaks of the "little horn" who rises up to become the anti-Christ and it has a specific day count of 2,300 that seems to indicate that about 8 months into this final 7 year period the daily sacrifice on an altar (the temple doesn't have to be fully rebuilt) will start.
• 11:25-28 speaks of a war that takes place before the final 3 1/2 years that results in the man who will become the anti-Christ having more power and wealth. His location is North of Jerusalem and he fights someone south of Jerusalem.  (Historically armies from the east or the north both attack from the north in this region.)

This begins a series of events that occur just before, during and after the only "time event" that is a solid marker, the abomination of desolation, that marks the beginning of the great tribulation, the 3 1/2 year time period spoken of in Daniel and Revelation.

• The man who will be the anti-Christ is now referred to as the King of the North he comes down to attack Jerusalem but is stopped by powers from the west.  At this time or soon afterward he is given a fatal wound. (Zechariah 11:17, Revelation 13:3)
• At this time the sealing of the 144,000 takes place.
• Revelation 12 and 13 speak of resurrection of the anti-Christ from his fatal wound. Also in Revelation 12 Satan is cast out of heaven.
• With the new found fame of being "resurrected" the anti-Christ is now able to form alliances with 10 kings that give him an overwhelming army (along with the casting down of Satan and his forces to the earth) with which he conquers Jerusalem, stands in the temple, declares himself God (the abomination of desolation).
• At this point the 7 trumpets begin and the 7 bowls start at the 7th trumpet very near the end of this time.

The overwhelming death and devastation that is necessary for the close and the cleansing of this evil age would indeed leave "no flesh" that could survive.  It is mercy that warns us of this time.  It is mercy that protects a remnant.  It is mercy that is constantly warning us not to put any ultimate hope in anyone or anything in this evil age. It is mercy that calls us to moment by moment dependence on His life not on our own understanding. It is mercy that guarantees a future kingdom for those who suffer martyrdom because of remaining faithful to Him. It is mercy that told Daniel of the time period of 70 7's.  It is mercy that left a gap after 483 of those 490 years.  That gap is where the gentiles have been coming into this Kingdom.  That gap has been very costly to the Jewish people.  This final 7 year period of time will result in the beauty of Daniel 9:24 coming to pass. “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place."  

In talking with a friend recently we recalled the Lord's words to Peter that ultimate forgiveness was not 7 times but 70 x 7 times.  This period of time spoken of in Daniel is the only other 70 x 7 in the Bible.  We can trust the ONE who is Faithful and True to bring about ultimate forgiveness.  We can trust the ONE who way back in Exodus and Leviticus proclaimed that the last 3 feasts were to be trumpets, with a call to repentance, atonement with sins forgiven and tabernacles with God dwelling with His people.  All of these things happen or start to happen in the final 3 1/2 years.  To God be the glory, the only One who can tell the end from the beginning.

 

Revelation - Does This Help

Daniel cried out to God in chapter 9 of the book of Daniel. It is recorded that he prayed, repented and sought the heart of God for the destiny of his people, the chosen people of God, Israel. This was one man doing what God had said would release the Kingdom of God in the last days when the nation does it. Leviticus 26:39-41 39”And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them. 40“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”

The last few verses of Daniel chapter 9 reveal information about the end of this evil age that has never been revealed before or since. There is one “week” of years, so in other words, a 7 year period of time that finishes off this evil age and accomplishes, “to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place” (Daniel 9:24b) The last ½ of that period (3 and ½ years) starts with a seminal event that Jesus told His followers to go back to Daniel and understand, the abomination of desolation in a temple in Jerusalem (Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11, Matthew 24:15). There is one other period of time mentioned by so many scriptures in the Bible it would take a page to document them, the Day of the Lord. This is the final time at the close of this evil age, where judgment falls on all who oppose God and His very soon coming Kingdom. All who have gotten the mark of the beast to display their worship of the beast will be killed during this time. These three periods of time, the 7 years, the 3 ½ years and the day of the Lord will help us navigate through Revelation.

An overview of Revelation will help to simplify it and will help to avoid false alarms and will help us to help others as the day approaches.

Revelation 1 introduces Yeshua the focus of the vision and prophecy.

Chapters 2 and 3 are letters of warning, preparation, and reward all with an eye to help the hearers persevere through the coming time of trouble.

Chapters 4 and 5 picture the throne room of God being set up as a court that will pass the fair and righteous judgment and the Lamb of God , the Lion of the Tribe of Judah the only being worthy to open the seals of judgment of the times of the end. Chapters 6-18 contain the seals, trumpets and bowls of judgement. The three time periods have been shown to line up with these times of judgment. The seals start off and grow more and more as the 7 years progress, deception, war, famine and death are released and grow ever more strong especially at the 3 ½ year mark, that starts the great tribulation and coincides with the 7 trumpets. The final period of time known by most of the prophets and Paul and other writers is the Day of the Lord and it is the short time of the most severe judgments on the portion of mankind that took the mark of the beast and choose to worship him, these are the bowl judgments. Having these periods clearly shown will preserve us from false alarms and speculation. Having the abomination of desolation as an event that takes place at a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem gives the end times their proper center. Satan knows that this age is about the faithfulness of God to His promises to a people and a land. When we see the totally out of proportion hatred and anger directed against the Jewish people and their status in that land, hopefully we are led to the question, Why? When God chose Abraham and stated His intention to be the God of Abraham and to give Abraham and his descendants that land, everything changed. All the other nations, the goyim, had gods and had territory, but God chose this tiny people and this tiny sliver of land to be the people and the place that would make His name known. It is key to notice how much God rails against adultery and unfaithfulness. This being the case would He be unfaithful to the people and the land of promise, no! Or as Paul would say, God forbid! Daniel 2:44 “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,” The people matter to God. Hosea 1:10 “Yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be like the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered; And in the place Where it is said to them, “You are not My people,” It will be said to them, “You are the sons of the living God.” The place matters to God. The Revelation of Yeshua is a revelation of a God who is Faithful and True.

This is the key to understanding the book of Revelation.   (I'm posting this as a rough draft and asking for any input, suggestions, corrections, in fact, any feedback whatsoever - chuckabean@hotmail.com - put "Revelation" in the subject line, and by the grace of God I will read it and respond)

 

Revelation Made More Clear

Two downloads that do a better job of explaining the timing of events in Revelation than I have ever seen done.  

https://www.facebook.com/messenger_file/?attachment_id=662573282185797&message_id=mid.%24gAA9EQZSU4BmLLvi0ZWE_bNbzliK6&thread_id=4297173107007513 

https://www.facebook.com/messenger_file/?attachment_id=616643180232486&message_id=mid.%24gAA9EQZSU4BmLLvkUuGE_bO8ln_XD&thread_id=4297173107007513

The idea that the seals start before the 3 and 1/2 years of tribulation is not as unusual as it seems at first because these "horses" go forth in the first 1/2 of Daniel's final week of 7 years, and continue and increase as the tribulation starts.  Deception, war, famine, death will be beginning to increase, but most people will not notice because this evil age, has always been dealing with these things, but those who know the Lord and love truth will be aware of the "shift" because the altar and temple will be being rebuilt in Jerusalem and this is a precursor to the abomination of desolation who must have a temple to stand in and proclaim himself "God". 

The Trumpets taking place fully in the final 3 and 1/2 years of great tribulation lines up perfectly.  Trumpets is the first of the fall feasts that have not been fulfilled yet, Atonement is next as the Spirit of Grace and Supplication is poured out on the ethnic, chosen people and they as a nation, turn to the Lord in repentance. Lastly Tabernacles is the feast that wraps it all up as the Millennial time begins and the Lord is living with His people!

The Bowls and their intense, brutal coming have to be limited to a "Day of the Lord" short time at the end of the tribulation, because, indeed, if they continued beyond that "no flesh" would survive.

Praise God, none of this wrath will be one millisecond longer than the perfect justice of God has determined it needs to be.

Let him who has ears to hear, hear what the Spirit is saying.

Revelation 6

 Revelation 6

Vs 1-8 Ezek. 14:12-23 , Zech. 6:5-8 Zech. 1:8-15

Vs. 2 Psalm 45:3-6, 77:18, 144:6  Ezek. 5:16,17  Hab. 3:8-11 Deut 32:23-26

Vs. 4 Ezek. 14:17 21:1-19 38:21 “slaughter” is always used in reference to the death of Jesus or His followers in this book.

Vs. 5  Lev. 26:26  2 Kings 7:1 Ezek. 4:10,16

Vs. 6 Wine is associated with joy and oil with anointing

Vs. 7 and 8 Death and Hades are personified as Satanic gods under the ultimate governance of the throne room.  Hosea 13:8,14 Prov. 2:18, 5:5, Job 17:13-16, 33:22 (Revelation 1:18) Plague and pestilence Ezek. 14:19-21  Lev. 26:25 Jer. 16:4,5  Four corners of the earth speaks of a universality-affecting the whole earth.

Vs. 8 “beasts of the earth” usually being who execute Satan’s will in persecuting saints, in Jewish commentaries the 4 horseman, the 4 beasts and the 4 kingdoms of Daniel are often identified with each other.

Vs 9 Golden altar of incense often equated with the throne of God and under it is a place of ultimate protection

Vs. 10 How long Psalm 6:3,4 13:1 74:10 and many more in Psalms Daniel 8:13 Zech. 1:12

Vs. 11 Genesis 15:16 Daniel 8:23 Matthew 23:32

Vs. 12-17 Jumps ahead to the 6th seal, a time of final punishment Isaiah 34:4 Isaiah 13:10-13 24:1-6, 19-23, 34:4  Ezek. 32:6-8  Joel 2:10, 30-31 3:15-16 Hab. 3:6-11

Rev. 6:12 earthquake 11:13 and 16:18 similar.

Vs. 12,13 talks about all stars which seems to indicate a final end.

Vs. 15 Isaiah 34:12  Psalm 2:2 Isaiah 2:10, 18-21 Hiding in caves Israelite idolaters

Vs. 16 Hosea 10:8 Gen. 3:9 (Hiding) Jer. 4:29

Vs. 17 Joel 2:10,11 Nahum 1:5,6 Malachi 4:5 isaiah 13:9

Incarnation God Through Man

 Before I get started this article from FAI publishing is clear and true regarding the necessity of the flood and the necessity of wiping out whole nations when Israel entered the promised 

land.  https://www.faipublishing.org/articles/generations-days-of-noah

This line in that article added to my thoughts on incarnation. "Noah became an heir of righteousness which is according to faith." Hebrews 11:7

Art Katz has a series of teachings on incarnation which are also being played in my ears as I seek to convey this truth.  Most of the series is on this page, but you would have to go back one page (index is at the bottom of the page) to get the first one in the series. 

Lastly this podcast episode starting at about 31:45 minutes is very good for understanding the incarnation as a dance.

https://www.ivoox.com/en/dancing-with-the-spirit-gal-5-16-18-the-audios-mp3_rf_97023476_1.html

When our humanity is fully submitted and surrendered to God what is left is incarnation.

Incarnation is a place that is gained in the heavenly realm because of the death and resurrection of Yeshua.

Incarnation is a process as we die daily to self.  Self in both the sinful things and self in the desire to be known as a great person.  The only source of power for that process is faith that God's Life is enabling

 you to ferret out all of self.

This is the teen lesson that resulted from these thought on Incarnation.

Incarnation - The Life of God Being Lived Through a Human Life

Finding Purpose - Why Am I Here?

“When our humanity is fully submitted and surrendered to God what is

left is incarnation.”

Luke 8:43 And there was a woman with a blood flow for twelve

 years, who could not

 be healed by anyone. 44 She came up from behind and

touched the tzitzit of Yeshua’s garment. Immediately, her blood flow

stopped. 45 Yeshua said, “Who touched Me?”   When everyone

denied it, Peter said, “Master,

the crowds are surrounding You and pressing in!”   46 But Yeshua

  said, “Someone touched Me,

 for I recognized power going out from Me.”

47 Then seeing that she did not escape notice, the woman came trembling

and fell prostrate before Him. In the presence of all the people, 

she confessed

why she had touched Him and how she had been healed immediately.

48 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. 

Go in shalom.”

A touch of faith is totally different from being jostled by

the crowd. 

Yeshua, as a human being,

recognized that someone had just transacted with God

through His human body, and

He wanted to give the person the opportunity to glorify God

for the healing.

There is an inner “knowing” when a human is aware

that God wants you to do something, so I would say,

God the Father gave Jesus an inner knowing that a woman

had just been healed by touching His “prayer tassel” with faith.  

Acts 19:13-14 Some itinerant Jewish exorcists noticed Paul’s

success in this regard, so they tried to use the name of Jesus,

the King, in an exorcism they

were performing.  Imagine this: There are seven of them,

all sons of a Jewish chief priest

named Sceva, gathered

around a demonized man in a house.   One of the Jewish Exorcists: I

 command you to

 depart, by

the Jesus proclaimed

by Paul!  Evil Spirit: 15 Jesus I know. Paul I know. But who are you? 

16 Then the man leaps up, attacks them all, rips off their clothing,

and beats them so badly that they run out of the house stark naked

and covered in bruises.17 Word of this strange event spread

throughout Ephesus among

both Jews and Greeks.

Everyone was shocked and realized that the name of

Jesus was indeed powerful and praiseworthy. 

Paul had been faithful to the process of dying to self to the point

that He was an incarnation of God. 

The demons in this case know,

“Yep that is the name of a man we have to submit to

just like we have to submit to Jesus name,

because Paul is so “dead to self” that he is incarnating God.”  

Philippians 2:5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though he was God,   he did not think of equality with God

as something to cling to.

7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble

position of a slave    and was born as a human being.  When he

appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience

to God and died a

criminal’s death on a cross.

John 5:19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son

can do nothing by himself.

He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the

Father does, the Son also does. 

John 5:30 I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me.

Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will

of the one who sent me, not my own will.

John 6:38  For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God

who sent me, not to do my own will.

So here is the ultimate answer to the question

“Why am I here?” for the follower of Yeshua. 

You are here to be the human representative of the Life of God

and in community with other humans who are vessels of His life,

you are a witness to the world of what can happen when a human being

gets totally out of the way and lets the Life of God flow through them. 

This is the purpose of our lives to glorify God by being a vessel

of His Life.

Revelation - A Hugely Practical Book

  Chapter 1 is God is totally in control, His death and resurrection prove His love, and He is about to prove his sovereignty. Get ready the time of mercy is drawing to a close and the time of judgment (which is still mercy but in a different light) is coming.

 

 Chapter 2 and 3 Get ready people of God, the stakes are high the reward is great, show the world I am worth it all. A time is coming when He is going to purify His people. The third commandment has to do with not "bearing the name of God in vain" which is to say, God bought us with a price and we are His. We are His ambassadors, His representatives, the bearers of His Name, His reputation with the people of the world is in our hands, which is why He is very hard on hypocrisy.  https://www.openbible.info/topics/hypocrisy  These chapters speak of the fire of purification falling on the followers of Messiah, so that they can be good witnesses of Him at the crucial time before the fire of judgment falls on the earth.

 

Chapter 4 and 5, The Judge of all the earth is seated and the time of mercy is drawing to a close and the time of Judgment is about to begin in all its righteous fury. Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.The courtroom of God is in session as is shown by all the parallels to Daniel 7, which is the scene in heaven when God starts to reveal to Daniel how He is going to purify His people AND judge the nations. 

Revelation Chapter 4 and 5 and the allusions to Daniel 7

1. Introductory vision phraseology (Daniel 7:9 [cf.7:2,6-7]; Rev 4:10

 2. A throne set in heaven (Daniel 7:9a; Rev.4:2a [cf 4:4a] 

3. God sitting on a throne (Daniel 7:9b; Rev.4:2b) 

4. Gods appearance on the throne (Daniel 7:9c; Rev4:3a) 

5. Fire before the throne (Daniel 7:9d-10a; Rev 4:3a) 

6. Heavenly servants surrounding the throne (Daniel 7:10b; Rev. 4:4b, 6b-100; 5:8, 11, 14) 

7. Book(s) before the throne (Daniel. 7:10c; Rev.5:1-5) 

8. The book(s) opened (Daniel 7:10c; Rev. 5:2-5,9) 

9. A divine (messianic) figure approaching God’s throne to receive authority to reign forever over a kingdom (Daniel 7:14-14a; Rev. 5:5b-7, 9a, 12-13) 

10. The kingdom scope: “all peoples, nations, and tongues” (Daniel 7:14a [MT]; Rev 5:9b) 

11. The seer’s emotional distress on account of the vision (Daniel 7:15; Rev. 5:4) 

12. The seers reception of heavenly counsel concerning the vision from one of the heavenly throne servants (Daniel 7:16; Rev. 5:5a) 

13. The saints given divine authority to reign over at Kingdom (Daniel 7:18, 22, 27a; Rev. 5:10) 

14. Concluding mention of God's eternal reign (Daniel 7:2-3; Rev. 4:6) (Beale - Use of the OT in Revelation)

The Passing of a Friend, Mark Klafter

 

Technology can be used to ease the passing of a friend.  I know people who saved an out-going or incoming message that was on their answering machine for years because it was the voice of a loved one.  Mark Klafter was a friend, a mentor, and a man who was filled with the wisdom of God. 

I am grateful for the technology that allows us to still have access to his wisdom on a number of different sites.  He was interviewed on the Apocalyptic Gospel Podcast here

 https://www.apocalypticgospel.com/2021/07/14/s2e8-i-want-you-to-be-unified-with-our-people-an-interview-with-mark-klafter/

He was a speaker at a conference here and there are numerous clips over the years of him at this site.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOmvCdECRio&t=5997s 

He has been a very integral part our little Tuesday night Bible Study on a number of occasions and this is one of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IknfYWBSkSs&t=96s

It is a blessing to be able to access these and once again hear his voice and see his smile

The Stakes are Incredibly High

 Why so intense?

Why pushing so hard (from a place of rest and trust) ?

Why constantly telling your teens about the latter days and the end of this age?

Why so angry at false doctrines that encourage comfortable, rest-assured, you said a prayer everything is okay Christianity?

Why so opposed to the pre-trib rapture lie?

Why attempting to crush nationalism as an idol? 

Why always driving home the point that "Kingdom Now" and trying to take over the "7 Mountains" is a mis-guided gentile lie that invalidates hundreds of prophecy of the people and the land of Israel and therefore invalidates the God of Israel?

BECAUSE THE STAKES ARE SO HIGH!

MARANATHA!

Revelation One

 (Starting a study of Revelation where we try to use all the connections that John uses from the Law, the prophets and the writings.  Using books by Michael Heiser and G.K. Beale)

“Though it is filled with signs, the Book of Revelation is accessible to those who have an understanding of the first 65 books of the Bible, and especially an understanding of the first 39 books of the Bible, the Old Testament. The Book of Revelation is rooted in the Old Testament. It contains more than 500 allusions to the Old Testament, and 278 of the 404 verses in Revelation (that is almost 70%) make some reference to the Old Testament.” “Prophecy in this letter has as one of its purposes divine disclosure demanding an ethical response.”

 

Chapter 1

1 -Daniel 2:28-30, 45-47  (“quickly” is John’s substitute for “in the latter days”)

4 -Exodus 3:14, Isaiah 41:4, 44:6.  Zech. 4:2-7, Revelation 3:1,  4:5 and 5:6 

5 -Psalm 89:27-29, 37

6 -Exodus 19:6, Isaiah 43:10-13, 1 Peter 2:5-10, Rev. 2:13

7 -Daniel 7:13,14, Zechariah 12:10, Matthew 24:30, 

9 -Luke 24:46, Acts 14:22, Philippians 1:29,

10,11 -Ezekiel 2:2, 3:12,14,24, 11:1, 43:5 Exodus 19:16,19,20, Isaiah 30:8, Jer. 37:2

12 -Zechariah 4:2,10, Rev. 1:20,  “seeing the voice” Exodus 19:16,19, Dan. 7:11

13-15 -Isaiah 22:21,22, Daniel 7:9-13,10:5,6, Exodus 25:7, 28:4,31, 29:5, Zech.3:5, Ezekiel 1:24, 43:2

16 -Daniel 12:3,6,7, Zech 4:2, Isaiah 11:4, 49:2, Judges 5:31, Psalm 149:6, Zeph. 2:12,

17a -Daniel chapter 8 and 10 pattern “the prophet observes a vision, falls on his face in fear, is strengthened by a heavenly being, and then receives further revelation from that being”

17b-18 -Isaiah 48:12, Deut. 32:40, Dan. 4:34, Isaiah 22:22, 

19-20a -Joel 3:1, Dan. 2:29,45

20b -Daniel 10:20,21, Matthew 18:10, Acts 12:15,

Daniel's Grateful Hymn of Praise

 Daniel 2:20-23 YLT

^20" Daniel hath answered and said, `Let the name of God be blessed from age even unto age, for wisdom and might -- for they are His.

²¹ And He is changing times and seasons, He is causing kings to pass away, and He is raising up kings; He is giving wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those possessing understanding.

²² He is revealing deep and hidden things; He hath known what [is] in darkness, and light with Him hath dwelt.

²³ Thee, O God of my fathers, I am thanking and praising, for wisdom and might Thou hast given to me; and now, Thou hast caused me to know that which we have sought from Thee, for the king's matter Thou hast caused us to know.'"

This is a very relieved, very grateful Daniel and his friends exulting in the faithfulness of God.  There are some examples on the internet of people who have made this into a song, but it is asking a lot for anyone to recreate what would have been in the heart of a man who was going to be killed if God did not come through and do what had never been done, reveal another person's dream without that person giving even one clue as to what the dream was.  And just to add to it, Daniel also fearlessly gives the interpretation of the dream and although it acknowledged that God had made the current king of Babylon great, it also pointed to the very temporary nature of any and all of man's kingdoms.  Ultimately it belittled such kingdoms and reserved praise only for the Kingdom that would come from God to the chosen people  (Daniel 2:44) and here I must mention that "the Message" paraphrase is "clear as mud" on a very important point.   

NASB "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever."Daniel 2:44

The Message “But throughout the history of these kingdoms, the God of heaven will be building a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom ever fall under the domination of another. In the end it will crush the other kingdoms and finish them off and come through it all standing strong and eternal. It will be like the stone cut from the mountain by the invisible hand that crushed the iron, the bronze, the ceramic, the silver, and the gold. “The great God has let the king know what will happen in the years to come. This is an accurate telling of the dream, and the interpretation is also accurate.”

The Kingdom that God establishes is given to the chosen people, the Jews, the people of Daniel's race. Only Daniel and Ezra use the word in this verse translated "people". (this section of Daniel is in Aramaic in the original, one of the rare times the writings are not in Hebrew) Each time it is translated "people", but for some reason that is very muddled and not at all clear in the Message.  We can use and enjoy the Message as a supplement to our Bible reading but it is not adequate for true, deep study of God's word to us.  IMO

Stop and Remember, Communion

 The power of remembering.  When God remembers amazing things happen, a nation is brought out of bondage, a people is returned to their homeland, a Messiah is sent at the appointed time.

Yeshua commanded His disciples to remember.  His love is unequivocally demonstrated by His willing sacrifice on the cross.  His body broken for us is the unshakeable, undeniable proof of how far He is willing to go to demonstrate His love for us. There is a power given to us, a strong reminder of His love that will help to carry us through all the shaking that is ever increasing in this evil age.  His command to remember is a command of love and mercy, we need to remember.

Yeshua commanded His disciples to remember His blood, His Life, sealing the New Covenant.  The power that we need to walk in the Spirit, to live by the Spirit is found in His Life and His Life is in the blood.  We remember and we partake of that blood and a very real impartation of His life takes place as we drink.

That is the reality of communion, whether as part of a larger community meal or as a standalone event. 

We remember!

Gentiles are Great at Dividing the Body of the Messiah

 https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-bitter-splinters-of-marburg

Such a sad article.

Because gentiles have a gigantic problem with pride, God's unfathomable wisdom, brought them into the body of the Messiah by bowing to enter the tent of Shem. (Full Credit to Art Katz for that phrasing.) We (gentiles) are grafted into their vine, we worship their Messiah, The Father of the Messiah has a title used amazingly often in the Bible, "The God of Israel" (and Israel is undeniably referring to the chosen people and the Land of promise).  Theirs is the prophets, the promises, the covenant, we (the gentiles) are brought into their (Israel) commonwealth.  

Only arrogance could over-ride all the plainly spoken words of scripture and somehow create something called the "church" and push it to the forefront and make it a gentile gathering that allows in Jews who jump through the right hoops.

Only arrogance could push the bride aside, steal her clothes and try to show up on her wedding day, announcing yourself as the "new" bride.

Having and keeping Israel at the center of the one book, with one story called the Bible, will help to crush gentile pride and keep us in a place of humility.  Without that we will continue to actively work against the prayer of Yeshua in John chapter 17, and that will not end well.

Repent.

Patriotism is Mixture

Exhibit A in the case against mixture is the Nazi belt buckle from their uniforms.  Gott Mit Uns translates to God with us.

See the problem with "God and country"?

See how when you tie God to your country and God to your patriotism things can go south pretty quickly?

The gentile nations are under the control of the gods in this evil age.

God chose Israel and that choosing has covenantal blessings and cursing, it is not an easy burden to carry.

God is not "with" any gentile nation. He can be with individual gentiles in those nations, but not the entire nation.  

We are nearing the latter days, the day of the Lord is approaching.  All nations will rebel against God and all governments will be doing their futile best to shake the yoke of His sovereignty.

Patriotism is mixture at least and idol worship at worst.

This is a call to repent and come out of it.

God alone.  Purity.  No mixture.

Book Review: The Return of the Gods by Jonathan Cahn

 The Return of the Gods" by Jonathan Cahn is filled with subtle lies that twist the truth and will not lead people to the true Kingdom of God. It is false mainly because of the same reason all his other books were false. They do not recognize that Israel and Jerusalem are the center of prophecy and that the kingdom is in the age to come. The false foundation this book starts with is, America started as a "Christian nation" and the demons were cast out, then in the 1960's God was kicked out of the schools and that allowed for the return of the gods, false gods who since then have been manipulating culture and politics and bringing all kinds of evil upon this country. You would have to ignore slavery, the plethora of evils perpetrated on the Native American, the anti-semitism led by Charles Lindberg and Henry Ford prior to World War II, the anti-semitism blatant throughout the State Dept. during FDR's administration, the greed that drove powerful rich men to make employment in the USA  a dangerous place to be with a 1 in 26 chance of being maimed or killed, the very existence of the Klu Klux Klan, the horrors perpetrated on various immigrant groups and the quota's placed on them in the 1920's that have become the basis of keeping people out of the country who face death in their own country and on and on. It is not hard to demonstrate that whatever your concept of a Christian nation is, the USA has never been that.  

Apparently Jonathan has been reading Michael Heiser and some of his good scholarship on the existence of the gods in Jewish and other literature throughout time. The reason the lies are subtle is that a good case can be made for their existence and for them being put in charge of the nations, while the Lord God of Israel, chooses Israel as the nation He will be in charge of and  he will use them to reach the other nations. We gentiles are put in the nations with the purpose of being drawn to the living God.  At no time does the Bible say it is possible to displace these gods over the nations by means of prayer or revival. Daniel's prayers in chapter 9 are used by God to free up a messenger to get through and reveal important truths to Daniel, but the "prince of Persia" is still there and still wreaking havoc. This death and destruction is meant to point our hearts toward a longing for justice and peace, which is the Kingdom of God. Our time in the nations, in this evil age, is meant to make us long and search for the true God, to cry "Maranatha!" for His return, to set up His Kingdom here on earth, ruling and reigning from Jerusalem. We do not set up that Kingdom through some massive revival in a gentile nation.  That is no where in scripture. No where.

What does the Bible say?  In the millennial time, Israel as a nation that has experienced national conversion, will reach out to and see the conversion of the nations. 

At this time, in what the Bible calls "this evil age" those of us in the mainly gentile gathering of followers of Yeshua reach out to our neighbors and community and spread the message of the forgiveness and love that God has shown on the cross and the glory of the soon coming Kingdom.

Hopefully as a disciple of Jesus, you will be drawn by the Spirit to test this book and find that it is a lie and that you would be better off examining the scriptures and the tried and tested authors who are out there. Art Katz, Charles Spurgeon, A.W. Tozer, Leonard Ravenhill, Andrew Murray, Watchman Nee, etc.

 

That West Wing Clip

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CPjWd4MUXs   

This clip from the TV show "West Wing" is used quite frequently by people to show how silly God's rules are, this was my response.

That West Wing clip seems pretty cool, until you, with humility, look at the scriptures and the wisdom of God given to His chosen people. Exodus 21 allows for a person who has fallen on hard times to "sell" his daughter to be a servant in a rich person's household. In the year of Jubilee she would be set free and the rich person does not just walk up to the poor person and buy the daughter. So can you just walk up and buy someone's daughter, nope! Exodus 35, and this will apply to most of the questions, is spoken to a nation that was to be set apart for God. They were going to be learning lessons about the fact that they could trust God. They were coming out of a slavery situation where Pharaoh made them work 7 days a week, they were to learn that the God of Israel was not like that, He made provision for rest and worship one day a week and He promised to provide for them on that day. The Jewish people, as a group are God's chosen people, He chose them and with that choosing comes many blessings and when they disobey, cursing and death, the natural consequences of rejecting life. It is key to note these rules (including the dietary rules) do not apply to the goyim, the gentiles, so no other nation or people is expected to live by them or enforce them. (Now if someone like Trisha sees wisdom in the dietary rules, she can voluntarily follow them, but she does not have to.) Leviticus 11 as we see in verse 2 was spoken to the Israelites, so no Mr. President it does not apply to the (former) Washington Redskins. The laws about mixture in crops or clothing were meant to teach this set apart nation that they were not to live like the other nations. Purity is the opposite of mixture and that is what they were being taught. Priests garments had mixture and so were the tassels that everyone could wear, but the tassels were an exception to the rule, a regular member of 11 of the tribes could not wear what the priestly tribe wore. Think of it like today, it is illegal to dress like a police officer, because you do not have that authority. (Again these laws are specific to the nation Israel, that was being set apart to be a light to the other nations.) Of course at the end, we see that the whole rant of this president was because he was the authority in the room and he insisted on the protocol that when the President was standing no one was allowed to sit, demonstrating that he saw himself as a "little god" and was butt-hurt by the disrespect being shown to his office by a "lesser human". He did all that homework so that he could embarrass and humiliate another person, sounds like the sin of pride was self-evident!

Prosperity Kills

 Deuteronomy 32, the Song of Moses, is a compact summary of the story of God and His first born son, Israel.  In it we find Israel given the name Jeshurun, which is a name that applies to them when their lives are prospering and things are going well.  God brought the prosperity, but Moses is clearly shown the when the nation prospers, it goes after other gods, and scorns the God of Israel.

Yeshua warns His followers that the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and and the lust for other things would lead them away from Him.  John in one of his letters warns of the same thing and in Revelation Laocidea becomes the poster child for a prosperous gathering that is in all actuality, poor, blind and lame.

In other words "Prosperity Kills".  

WHY?  

As I see it, prosperity removes us from the moment to moment dependence on God that is the perfect soil for the seed of the gospel.  Persecution and poverty help to keep us pulled in tight under the wing of God, His protection and provision.

When our identity is one who is beloved and shown great mercy by God our lives will reflect that.

We will live from this identity as a people who desire to have their lives count in an ultimate way.  Our purpose is to live in such a way as to give glory to God and in order to be a blessing to others.

We never do to earn an identity.  We are given an identity and the Life of Yeshua inside of us begins the process of total transformation of our outward man.  

As it was for the Jews building the temple, first the altar is built and then the temple is built around that.

Marantha, Lord God of Israel, have Your way!

Who Loves Us and ...

 

Revelation 1:4 John, To Messiah’s seven communities in Asia:

Grace to you and shalom from Him who is and who was and who is to come, as well as from the seven spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Messiah Yeshua, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood 6 and made us a kingdom, kohanim to His God and Father—to Him be glory and power forever! Amen!

7 “Look, He is coming with the clouds,
and every eye shall see Him,
    even those who pierced Him.
And all the tribes of the earth
    shall mourn because of Him.
Yes, amen!”

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”[d] says Adonai Elohim, “Who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty!”

Very blessed as we were studying this passage to see in the midst of "Who was and is and is to come" and the Alpha, the Omega, the Almighty, we heard the very personal words "who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood".  

Wow, so precious, so filled with mercy.  Thank You, mighty, sovereign LORD of all, God of Israel, King of Kings, we are so grateful for YOU!