This time we are going to look at a few things that many seem to miss in the Bible. One of these is the times when the Lord God deals with His people Israel. Many times God told Israel that they must be righteous and upright in their lives; some were and some were not. Problem was, when those that failed to follow the law of God, it started out small with one individual and then escalated to more and more people. Making note of this (keeping it on a back burner as it were) we can see how time would pass and the situation would become worse. In my view, I see this like a disease, specifically a virus. It begins with just one person…Over time…it infects more people.
That is the part that I see that so many people are missing when reading the Scriptures─they sort of skim across that point. God did not say “some things” were relevant in the Bible, HE said “all” things were relevant. Changing the way we look at this “time issue,” changes many things we read in the Bible later on in time. If we take note of this “time issue,” we understand why Israel spent 40 years wandering around in the wilderness. This also shows, please make note of, that the Lord never does anything without giving everyone a way out and the time to do so.
We talk about the coming Rapture and Tribulation. We speak about the need to get as many who are willing to listen to become born again, that there is a need for time and yet we know that the time is short. But if we look at this “time issue” again, we must note that the Bible has been around some 3000 years. What has everyone been doing in all this time? We also note:
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8, emphasis added).
Again, we must note the time frame of God is not the same as our time frame. There has never been a single person ever born on this planet who has lived a thousand years (Methuselah lived 969 years). Therefore we do not know how to equate that sort of time frame in our little minds.
Our Lord and Savior, our Father in heaven, tells us continually what will take place and at a specified time. Yet because of HIS Love for us, HE allows sufficient time to change and return to HIM. Why else would you receive 70-80 years to live? Is that not a sufficient amount of time to accept HIS gift of salvation? Have you never once wondered why there are prophecies in the Bible? Does this not lay claim to the events we see taking place today, all around the world?
As we walk down the road of life, we see signs foretelling the future of what to expect next, of what will happen in the near future. It must be understood that God never says something without following through! This must be understood as the “perfect plan” according to God and it affects each and every one of us. Therefore when the Bible is talking about a “fool and his folly” He is talking about a person that will not take HIS holy Word to heart and become wise.
So here we are contemplating and looking forward to the Rapture of the church of Jesus Christ─a very real and important event to come. Why is this so important all of a sudden when it has been in the Bible for such a long time? It is because we are living this situation and will happen in our lifetime. We know this by way of the “signs” that the Lord prophesied in His holy Word to us. Please note, this has been there ever since the Bible was first written and if we read the Word of God correctly, it was part of God’s perfect plan from before the universe was created. It is understandable when anyone asks, “Why is this a shock?”
God is the Creator of all there ever is or ever will be and HE decided that if there is a beginning then there definitely is an end, as well. We know this as truth in that all things, even you and I, will one day be no more on this earth. We know this because the Bible has told us so and yet, it is confusing to me how so many people now days are not able to comprehend this simple fact. In my mind, I see birth and death as: “Give Me’s.”
Everything else in life are choices made by us, decisions wechoose! For example, how we choose to spend our “time” every day. Point being, to know that the Rapture is soon to take place we must make a decision concerning OUR Salvation through Jesus Christ. In my estimation, if it is written in the Bible then God said it and I believe it but what about the “unsaved” people of this world?
We see and know that the vast majority of people today have chosen to live and die in their sins, which means they are against God. We know that in the Bible, God has said that will turn HIS back on those who have rejected Him at the time of the great white throne judgment and HE will send them into the lake of fire!
Simply put, He has given everyone the Word of God and then the chance to understand what is written in there. He has given everyone the exact same choice, to follow Jesus Christ and live or follow the other guy and die! All He did was leave that choice up to you. So let me say this as well: Everyone understands what is expected of them, they know right from wrong, there is no deception in this. Everyone is given a sufficient amount of time to choose. In the end, it is either Jesus Christ or eternal death! To me, that is pretty cut and dry.
At some point in time, as noted in the Bible, God is going to say, “Alright, enough of this foolishness” and He is going to bring everything to an end. My Dad was sort of unusual for his sayings, though funny at the same time, “Alright! I asked you to do one thing! Now you have spent enough time, farting around and you haven’t done what I asked you to do!” But the exact same principal is taking place today, people acting like children, disobedient at best. And now we see the “signs” marking the “end of times” as stated in Revelation.
The Rapture of the church is very close to taking place and what are people doing? The vast majority, are not taking God seriously and what is worse, they are turning their noses up at Him and being disobedient. There will be some serious disciplinary action to follow and yet, HE gives us time to see this coming and to change our outcome, concerning HIM. HE, our Lord and Savior, gives us the opportunity to humbly come before HIM and confess our sin and ask for HIM to forgive us. That one, single sentence makes all the difference to HIM and will save us from HIS anger and wrath!
I have stated in previous articles that Satan is an “opportunistic player,” the sort of individual who waits for God to do something and then tells everyone that God would never do this or that. He lies to us. He has told everyone lies, like we need to be tolerant of things that God says is an abomination. He twists the words in people’s minds to lead them to believe things that God has clearly said He will not put up with. Satan did the exact same thing to Eve, back in the Garden of Eden and look at us today!
The Bible tells us that we will experience famine, disease and drought at the “end of days.” I would suspect we are seeing this more and more today but is anyone doing anything about it? Are people coming to Jesus Christ and asking HIM to heal our country? Are there people of quality, according to the Scriptures in our government offices? Are people motivated to do what is right and correct according to God on the streets we all live on? You already know that the answer is: “NO!”
Our country’s economic situation is in the tank. We are experiencing severe droughts and increasing disease and crime levels never seen before in time. We have leaders that are looking to set themselves up financially at the expense of the citizens driving our economy into the ground. We see great multitudes of people out of work, struggling to save their homes and families and loosing the battle in droves.
Some of the cities are almost ghost towns concerning the foreclosures by big banking firms. Some families are living in their cars or in the shelters. And now the price of food is beginning to rise. The welfare system is at the point of breaking under the enormous numbers of people seeking assistance. How long do you think we can sustain this level of disaster before it all comes crumbling down?
I have a hard time understanding the logic of our leaders. The poor will forever be poor and their numbers will increase as the middle class falls apart and slides into the poverty level. With the situation of our taxation system, no one will be able to pay into it! Why? It has always been the middle class that has sustained this country, according to our present tax system and now we see the leaders destroying the middle class! Where is the “logic” in all of that?
One would think by looking at this situation as it is, that the leaders (called the one percenters) would be knocking themselves out to maintain the middle class, thus maintaining their “golden goose!” But we see them doing the exact opposite! Talk about confounding our thinking! Not only that but the drought we are experiencing is driving the price of feed and food up and up. What do you think is going to happen when people start dying from starvation?
Somehow and somewhere the leaders are saying that the thinning of the herd will be a good thing for those left behind. What? How do they think they are staying wealthy? Through those exact same people that will be dying for lack of food and if that happens, who are they going to get to do all the farming and other jobs that are required to sustain their wealth? They have lost their collective minds…literally!! These are the most “illogical” choices they could make. This is like living on beachfront property in a really nice home, but going underneath the home and cutting the stilts out! Duh!!!
Here is what drives me absolutely nuts to think about: The Bible is about 3000 years old, it is filled with prophecy and it even tells everyone what will happen and approximately when. Now if you and I were at the horse track and placing bets and someone came up to you and gave you some infallible information about one horse─that it would win─would you place a nice bet on that horse? Ah…YEAH!
You would be absolutely nuts NOT to, right? The same thing goes with the Bible. If God the Creator of everything and who has HIS hand in every situation tells you that at the end of days everything is going to go to hell in a hand-basket, what would you do? You would ask HIM if there was a way out of being in the middle of all that destruction, right? Well that is exactly what is taking place right here and right now!!
Let pretend for a moment: God says in the Bible, the world is coming to an end in 30 years, complete and utter destruction, nothing left! There is only one-way out of it: ask Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sin and to save you. What would everyone do? They would be asking Jesus Christ to save them, of course! Well guess what…that exact same thing is happening right now. All the signs are all around us, and taking place everyday. The “end is coming.” God said so and HE is giving you forewarning and there is still enough time to be saved. Yet, you look at the bandwagon and few are on it! What is up with that? Are we speaking some foreign language here that no one understands or what?
Let’s see now, the Jewish state becomes a nation 1948, check! The Bible has been written in every language, check! The Word of God is preached all across the globe, check! We are having more and more earthquakes, check! There are many areas in drought and famine, even in the USA, check! Diseases we thought were cured are coming back, worse than ever, check! Wars and rumors of, wars, check! Apostasy in the churches, check! Increase in knowledge, check! And there are more, check! It appears to me that all the signs are coming together and this world is on its way out─as in destroyed─right? Now take a minute and look around yourself and see if anyone is doing anything about that? You now see…what I see! Time is getting short!!