Be Not Ignorant
Hoping this isn’t perceived as condescension aimed at the reader; it is, I’m convinced, good to think on what Paul was given by the Holy Spirit to urge us not to be ignorant. The instruction is crucial to understanding these prophetic days in which we find ourselves.
Paul uses this “be not ignorant” statement of instruction three times in the course of his epistles, addressing Christians. These include his letters to the Romans, the Corinthians, and the Thessalonians. The emphasis on not being ignorant speaks of God’s strong desire for believers to understand what He wants us to fully comprehend.
While I present here all three of Paul’s instructions to “be not ignorant,” I want to look in particular at his letters to the Romans and the Thessalonians to imply that his teaching is especially relevant to where we are on God’s prophetic timeline.
Here are the three statements:
- Romans 11:25–32: Israel’s Condition, Purpose, and Future
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.”
- 1 Corinthians 12:1–11: Spiritual Gifts
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18: The Rapture
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
Paul here makes it profoundly important—even mandatory—that we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ understand the things covered in these instructions.
Anytime God’s Word emphasizes something three times, the matters involved are vital to being understood—and believed.
The second instruction mentioned above, in the letter to the Corinthians, isn’t pointed directly at any future prophecy. However, it is very important in urging Christians to make every effort to understand the times only through enlightenment provided by the Holy Spirit.
So, we reflect on Paul saying that he would not have us be ignorant about the mystery of Israel and all the things that involve His chosen people.
The apostle wants all generations of believers to understand that despite Israel’s opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ and denial that He is their Messiah, the people of Israel are still His. They will at a future time be saved–that is, become believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and Messiah.
This will happen during a period of great trouble for them (Jeremiah 30:7). That Tribulation era will take place after the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. This will be when all believers of the Church Age—the Age of Grace—are taken to Heaven in the Rapture.
During that time of Jacob’s trouble, God will bring out of the House of Israel a remnant of born-again believers who will be true Israel for all of eternity.
We must not be ignorant, then, of the significance of Israel. We must be aware that when Israel dominates the prophetic world horizon, the time of Christ’s return is very near. We must not be ignorant of Israel’s position, Paul is telling us.
The question to believers in Christ, then, should be: Is the nation Israel on the scene today in any significant way?
There is certainly no excuse for anyone, believer or not, to be ignorant in considering this question.
This brings us to Paul’s third exhortation.
Believers—Gentiles and Jews who have come to Christ for salvation during this Age of Grace—will be called into the clouds of Glory when Israel is at the center of world controversy. The last believer of this Church Age will accept Christ for salvation, and Jesus will call all Christians in the Rapture. This will be when the “fullness of the Gentiles will be come in,” as Paul prophesied.
The apostle told the Thessalonians all about that coming Rapture of the Church—God’s eternal family of believers who lived and died during the Age of Grace.
There is no excuse for us to be ignorant of just how near we must be to that call from our Savior. Can’t you sense the Holy Spirit’s assurance that this world so full of anti-God wickedness and turmoil is about to change in a twinkling-of-an-eye moment?
We are not to be ignorant. We’re to rely on God’s promise:
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4: 17-18).”
—Terry
A Time for Watching
Jesus’ commands for us to “watch” and “be ready” for His return are perhaps the most ignored of all His instructions in many Bible-believing churches today, and by most believers.
I get that it’s been two thousand years since He spoke of His return and how for many, that makes it difficult for them to imagine He might appear at any moment. Even as the war rages in the Middle East, most Christians continue to place Jesus’ return in the distant future, long after their time on the earth has come to an end.
But is that a safe assumption?
Any war involving Israel has potential prophetic implications, even if we can’t yet identify them at the time. At a minimum, the current conflict has potential consequences for the future Gog/Magog invasion. Even if there is a regime change in Iran, a sizeable number of Jihadists will remain and be available to participate in this upcoming war, which I believe will happen after the Rapture. The ties between Russia and Iran, key players in the Gog/Magog war, remain strong, with the Kremlin reportedly helping Iran target American bases in the Middle East with its missiles.
This war has brought the world to a tipping point in regard to what will happen when Jesus opens the seals in Revelation 6. Although the world will not experience these dire conditions until after the Rapture, we have moved closer to this time during the past few weeks.
Consider the second rider of the apocalypse, war. We have already witnessed an unexpected expansion to the current war with Iran attacking several other Muslim states. It’s not difficult to see how this war, especially with its continuing impact on the flow of oil to major powers such as China, could eventually lead to conditions resembling the second and fourth seals.
With the U.S. national debt racing toward thirty-nine trillion dollars, if not already there, America and the world have long been on the edge of financial disaster, but for the Lord’s restraining hand. Do the volatile financial markets signal trouble for the months ahead? Only time will tell, but it wouldn’t take much to start the ball rolling with the dire economic conditions described in the third seal (Revelation 6:5-6).
The Rapture may not happen this year or even the next. On the other hand, it would be unwise to rule out the possibility that it might happen this very day or week. We don’t know what might happen in the coming weeks, but if anything, the current conflict again demonstrates that we live in the season of Jesus’ appearing to take us home.
The Warning
Jesus’ command for us to watch came on the heels of His comparison of the time leading up to His return with that of Noah:
“For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:37-39).
Soon after the Rapture happens, the Day of the Lord judgments will fall upon an unsuspecting world just as the flood did in Noah’s day (see also 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). Our day resembles this time long ago in many ways. In the years before the Flood, Satan attempted to corrupt the human DNA, which resulted in the Nephilim, or giants, who were not wholly human. Today, our adversary is doing the same thing through transhumanism and AI. If he can’t again corrupt what it means to be a man or woman, he will try to make humanity obsolete, unnecessary.
In so many ways, we are already living in days remarkably similar to the “days of Noah.” This is just another reason for watching as though the Rapture might happen very soon.
The Benefit of Watching
Beyond recognizing the season in which we live, another benefit of anticipating Jesus’ imminent appearing is that it focuses our hearts on eternity, on the paradise that lies ahead for us. Such a day-by-day expectation keeps us from lapsing into the mindset that this moment is all we have. Paul David Tripp, in his book New Morning Mercies, warned about the danger of placing all of one’s hopes in this current life:
Here’s the real-life, street-level issue: if you don’t keep the eyes of your heart focused on the paradise that is to come, you will try to turn this poor fallen world into the paradise it will never be.
In my experience, this describes the biggest difference between believers who long for Jesus’ soon appearing and those who don’t believe it will happen in their lifetime. As I listen to those in the latter group, I hear long-range plans for financial security as though nothing could possibly interfere with their prospects of retirement. Of course, wise financial planning is something good and advisable. The problem is the thinking that often lies behind such efforts to secure one’s future, that of longing for a paradise where it can never happen.
We live at a time like no other; the likelihood of Jesus’ soon appearing has never been greater. Each and every day, the world testifies that this sure ain’t the paradise God intended for us, but in doing so, it reaffirms the nearness of the time when Jesus will take us to that paradise. Soon, the harsh and brutal realities of this life will come to an end and we will forever be with the Lord and enjoy the place that He’s preparing for us.
Is this not our hope for the day in which we live? “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).
-Jonathan