James Ussher was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1581 and died in England in 1656. He lived through a time of tremendous political and religious upheaval in his native Ireland and in England. Though he was a Puritan (and a Calvinist) in theology, he was a royalist in his steadfastness to the king and the principle of the divine right of kings. Ussher was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland (ecclesiastical head of the Anglican Church of Ireland) between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific scholar and renowned church leader. Ussher wrote two treatises on the epistles of Ignatius of Antioch while doing his work on church hierarchy.

In 1650 and 1654, James Ussher published the two parts of his history of the world, extending from Creation until the time of the Roman emperor Vespasian. Both parts were in Latin. An English translation was made available in 1658, two years after Ussher’s death. Published in 1650, the full title of Ussher’s work in Latin is Annales Veteris Testamenti, a prima mundi origine deducti, una cum rerum Asiaticarum et Aegyptiacarum chronico, a temporis historici principio usque ad Maccabaicorum initia producto (“Annals of the Old Testament, deduced from the first origins of the world, the chronicle of Asiatic and Egyptian matters together produced from the beginning of historical time up to the beginnings of Maccabees”).

John Lightfoot published a similar chronology in 1642-1644; however, it was never as popular as Ussher’s. Ussher deduced that the first day of creation was October 23, 4004 BC, on the proleptic Julian calendar, near the autumnal equinox (the first Sunday following the autumnal equinox). Lightfoot similarly deduced that Creation began at nightfall near the autumnal equinox but in the year 3929 BC. Ussher’s work was his contribution to the long-running theological debate on the age of Earth and mankind. This was a major concern of many Christian scholars over the centuries.

The earliest post-exilic Jewish chronicle preserved in the Hebrew language, the Seder Olam Rabbah, compiled by Jose ben Halafta in 160 AD, dates the creation of the world to 3761 BC, while the later Seder Olam Zutta to 4339 BC. The Hebrew calendar has traditionally, since the 4th century AD by Hillel II, dated the creation to 3761 BC. I believe this date to be inaccurate (shy) by about 200 years.

“Many of the earliest Christian scholars used the Septuagint version of the Old Testament to calculate the date for creation, so they reckoned it occurred around 5500 BC. Christians up to the Middle Ages continued to use this rough estimate: Clement of Alexandria (5592 BC), Theophilus of Antioch (5529 BC), Sextus Julius Africanus (5501 BC), Hippolytus of Rome (5500 BC), Gregory of Tours (5500 BC), Maximus the Confessor (5493 BC, Panodorus of Alexandria (5493 BC), George Syncelius (5492 BC), Sulpicius Severus (5469 BC) and Isidore of Seville (5336 BC). The Byzantine calendar has traditionally dated the creation of the world to September 1, 5509 BC.

The Chronicon of Eusebius (early 4th century) dated creation to 5228 BC, while Jerome dated creation to 5199 BC. Bede (673-735 AD) was one of the first to break away from the standard Septuagint date for the creation, and his work De Temporibus (On Time), which he completed in 703 AD, dated the creation to March 18, 3952 BC, but was accused of heresy at the table of Bishop Wilfrid because his chronology was contrary to accepted calculations of around 5500 BC.

After the Masoretic Text was published, however, dating creation around 4000 BC became common and was received with wide support. Proposed calculations of the date of creation using the Masoretic text from the 10th century to the 18th century include: Marianus Scotus (4192 BC), Henry Fynes Clinton (4138 BC), Henri Spondanus (4051 BC), Benedict Pereirs (4021 BC), Louis Cappei (4005 BC), Augustin Calmet (40002 BC), Isaac Newton (4000 BC), Petavius (3984 BC), Theodore Bibliander (3980 BC), Johannes Kepler (April 27, 3977 BC, Heinrish Bunting (3968 BC), Christen Sorensen Longomontanus (3966 BC), Melanchthon (3964 BC), Martin Luther (3961 BC), Joseph Justus Scaliger (3949 BC), Christoph Helvig (3947 BC), Gerardus Mercator (3928 BC), Matthieu Brouard (3927 BC), Benito Arias Montano (3849 BC), and Andreas Helwig (3836 BC).“ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dating_creation.

Among the Masoretic creation estimates or calculations for the date of creation, Archbishop Ussher’s specific chronology dating the creation to 4004 BC became the most accepted and popular, mainly because this specific date was attached to the King James Bible. Bishop William Lloyd put Ussher’s chronology, with some of his own modifications, in the margins of a 1701 edition of the Bible. For many years, the King James Version was printed with these dates. It was included in the widely distributed Scofield Reference Bible as well. This led many to believe that Ussher’s dates were the correct Bible chronology, a position which is defended by some writers to this day, including Floyd Nolen Jones, Chronology of the Old Testament, Sacred Writ (floydnolenjonesministries.com).

There are two charts shown below. One is Ussher’s 17th-century chronology, and the other is my own 21st-century chronology, Nettles’ Chronology. The Anno Mundi (year from creation) years of the specified biblical event/s are to the left, and the BC/AD years are to the right. As you compare the two charts, you will notice the A.M. years are nearly identical until you get to the dividing of the Kingdom of Israel, when the northern 10 tribes of Israel broke away from King Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) and started their own kingdom called Israel. There were 19 Kings of Judah that were descended from Solomon. The last king, Zedekiah, ruled over Judah during the destruction of the Temple and the ruin of Jerusalem. Ussher’s chronology, from the start of Jeroboam’s reign to the end of Zedekiah’s reign, is 390 years.

By adding all the reigns of each of the kings of Judah (after Solomon’s death) mentioned in Kings and Chronicles, my chronology has a total of 345 years. The Nettles’ chronology, at this point, is based upon Edwin R. Thiele’s calculations which are found in his excellent book, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, regarding the chronology of the kings of Judah and Israel. It is deemed the definitive work and reckoning of the calendar years on this topic. I believe Mr. Thiele had a better understanding regarding the reckoning of the accession years of the kings of Judah and Israel and how they were calculated in different ways. The year in which a king came to the throne was known as his accession year. His first regnal year, i.e., the first full year of the king’s reign, began on the first day of the new year following his accession.

When non-accession reckoning was assumed for Israel, the numbers of Judah’s and Israel’s kings’ reigns matched exactly, showing that Judah was using accession reckoning and Israel was using non-accession reckoning, at least for the initial period of the divided monarchies. Jeroboam, the first ruler over the northern ten tribes, changed from the Judean system by reckoning his reign according to the non-accession method used in Egypt, where he had fled for refuge after fleeing from Solomon (1 Kings:11:40) rather than the accession method used in Judah. Ussher failed to recognize these differences between the two kingdoms regarding the accession years of kings and co-regencies between fathers and sons.

The period between a king’s actual accession and the next new year’s day was known as the beginning of the reign. Israel, in common with other near eastern nations, commenced the new year on the first of Nisan (our March – April), reckoned by its first king, Jeroboam, having come from Egypt (1 Kings 12:2-3) where the new year began in the spring. Judah, however, commenced the new year on the first of Tishri (our September-October). Where two dates overlap, a co-regency is indicated. Regnal years are used.

“Valerius Coucke (1888–1951) was a Belgian scholar, priest, and professor at the Grootseminarie Brugge (Grand Séminaire de Bruges) in the 1920s. From the biblical data, Coucke derived the same basic principles that Thiele developed some years later without having read Coucke—co-regencies and rival reigns, accession and non-accession years, Nisan regnal years for Israel and Tishri years for Judah, and a switch of Judah to non-accession years in the ninth century BC. Coucke determined that the kingdom was divided in the year beginning in Nisan of 931 BC, in exact agreement with Thiele’s date, although Coucke’s method of determining the date was radically different from Thiele’s.

Coucke’s years for Solomon, one year earlier than Thiele’s, have been verified by their agreement with the Jubilee and Sabbatical cycles. His date for the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, the summer of 587 BC, is in agreement with all the biblical texts involved, in contrast to the dates of Thiele (586 BC) and Ussher (588 BC).“ Ussher-Explained-and-Corrected_Rodger-Young_Summer-2018-BAS.pdf (biblearchaeology.org).

The difference between Ussher’s chronology and Nettles’ chronology basically consists of the 45 years difference between Ussher’s reckoning of the kings of Judah and Thiele/Coucke’s reckoning of the kings of Judah. The biblical event of the destruction of Jerusalem and the 1st Temple in 586-588 BC is when the two charts are transposed. At this point, the BC/AD dates are mostly in alignment, but the AM dates are out of alignment by 45 years.

Ussher’s creation date of 4004 BC was at least partially influenced by the widely held belief that the Earth was approximately 5653 years old (2000 from Adam to Abraham, 2000 from Abraham to the birth of Christ, and 1650 years from Christ to Ussher), corresponding to the six days of Creation, on the grounds that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8) and “For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past. And like a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4). This tradition was believed to indicate that Jesus would return in AD 1997, six thousand years after 4004 BC.

This belief in 6000 years of history for mankind is known as Chiliasm, where mankind will work on the earth for 6000 years (akin to six days for the Lord) and will rest during the 1000 years of Jesus’ millennial kingdom. The last 1000 years (6000-7000) would be akin to the Sabbath day of rest for the Lord.

If you believe in this theory of Chiliasm, then Ussher’s chronology is now 26 years past the 6000-year mark. However, Nettles’ chronology is still 18 years from the 6000-year mark. The number one sign of the return of Christ, especially for dispensational premillennialists, is the return of Israel as a sovereign nation (in their ancient homeland) on May 14, 1948. This should be proof to the amillennialists and postmillennialists that the Church hasn’t (and never has) replaced the nation of Israel regarding God’s promises to them.

Another indication we are in the last days is given in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (prevalent sin comparable to the days of Noah and Lot). Also, we now have the technology for the prophecies of Revelation 11:9 and 13:13-18 to be fulfilled. However, the major sign that we are living in the end times before the Tribulation and the Second Advent is the convergence of all the signs given in Matthew 24:3-14 and the other synoptic gospels.

As a dispensational premillennialist with a belief in the millennial week theory, I believe that Christ’s return is imminent, first at the Rapture, and then at His 2nd Coming. Unlike the 1st – 3rd century historic premillennialists whose chronology was based on the Septuagint text, I believe the correct chronology of the history of mankind is given in the Masoretic text. In this reckoning, major biblical events occurred every 2,000 years. Abraham was born on the “second day” (2000 AM). Abraham is not only the father of the Israelites but the father of all the faithful. “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16).

Jesus was crucified, resurrected, and ascended back to heaven, and the Church was born on the “fourth day” after approximately 4,000 years (4000 AM) of recorded history. “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). With these two examples, separated by “two days,” it is easy to see Christ returning to the earth after “two more days.”

The Old Testament prophet Hosea had this to say about the subject (in my opinion): “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction, they will seek me early. Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days, He will revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. Then we shall know if we follow on to know the LORD: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth” (Hosea 5:15, 6:1-3).

Could the two days in Hosea’s prophecy be a typology for 2000 years (after Jesus’ crucifixion), and the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom starts on the third “day”? Could the latter rain (which occurs in the spring) be the 1st Advent of Jesus to Earth and the former rain (which occurs in the autumn) be the 2nd Advent of Jesus?

According to my reckoning (Chronology of Mankind: 6,000 Years of History Pt 1 :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready), we are now (2023 AD/ 5982 AM) 18 years away from 6,000 years of recorded history according to the Bible and secular historical sources. Seven of those years will be taken up by the future Tribulation, so that leaves 11 years shy of six millennia. If there is a gap period between the Rapture and the Tribulation, that could possibly account for a year or two, which would leave us 9 or 10 years shy of 6,000 years. For a 6000-year chronology reckoning, a .15% margin of error would be 9 years.

This discrepancy could be lessened even further if you deduced that the ages of the pre and post-flood patriarchs ages at the time of their son’s births were not recorded exactly but were rounded to the number shown in scripture. Of the twenty patriarchs from Adam to Abraham, if you added six months (on average) to their ages, you would get 120 months or 10 years. In other words, we are fast approaching the sixth day (6000 AM) milestone in human history.

Even if you don’t believe in the Millennial Week theory, you have to ask yourself why there is evidence (see my chart below) for nearly 6000 years of recorded history per the Bible and historical secular sources. If you’re not a believer in this theory, then that is an amazing coincidence. However, I don’t believe the word “coincidence” is in God’s vocabulary. After all, He knows the end from the beginning. Will something significant and prophetic happen on the sixth day (whenever that is exactly) as it did on the second and fourth days? According to biblical chronology, I believe the odds are pretty good.

“In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:7-12).

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Randy Nettles

rgeanie55@gmail.com

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USSHER’S CHRONOLOGY

Age of the Earth                                     Event                                                                     Date

1 AM                                 Creation (Day 1 – October 4)                                                 4004 BC

1655 AM                          The great flood of Noah’s day                                               2349 BC

2008 AM                          Abraham born                                                                          1996 BC

2107 AM                          Isaac born                                                                                 1897 BC

2167 AM                          Jacob born                                                                                1837 BC

2258 AM                          Joseph born                                                                              1746 BC

2275 AM                          Joseph sold into slavery                                                         1729 BC

2298 AM                          Jacob and his family move to Egypt                                     1706 BC

2315 AM                          Jacob’s death                                                                           1689 BC

2369 AM                          Joseph’s death                                                                         1635 BC

2433 AM                          Moses born                                                                              1571 BC

2513 AM                          Exodus from Egypt                                                                  1491 BC

2553 AM                          Israel enters Promised Land/Moses’ death                        1451 BC

2948 AM                         Saul’s death/David becomes king                                         1056 BC

2992 AM                         Construction begins on 1^st Temple/Solomon’s 4th yr.      1012 BC

3029 AM                         Solomon’s death/Rehoboam reigns                                       975 BC

3416 AM                         Destruction of Jerusalem & 1st Temple                                 588 BC

3489 AM                         2^nd Temple completed                                                             515 BC

3537 AM                         Ezra arrives in Jerusalem                                                         467 BC

3550 AM                         Nehemiah completes the wall                                                454 BC

3681 AM                         Alexander dies in Babylon                                                       323 BC

3837 AM                         First abomination of desolation in Temple in Jerusalem   167 BC

3941 AM                          Pompey conquers Palestine                                                    63 BC

3999 AM                          Jesus is born                                                                                 5 BC

4036 AM                          Jesus is crucified (April 3 -Julian Cal.)                                     33 AD

4073 AM                          The Romans destroy the 2^nd Temple                                     70 AD

NETTLES’ CHRONOLOGY

Age of the Earth                                      Event                                                                   Date

1 AM                                Creation                                                                                     3960 BC

1656 AM                         The great flood of Noah’s day                                                2304 BC

2009 AM                         Abraham born                                                                          1951 BC

2109 AM                          Isaac born                                                                                 1851 BC

2169 AM                          Jacob born                                                                                1791 BC

2260 AM                          Joseph born                                                                              1700 BC

2276 AM                          Joseph sold into slavery                                                         1684 BC

2299 AM                          Jacob and his family move to Egypt                                     1661 BC

2316 AM                          Jacob’s death                                                                           1644 BC

2370 AM                          Joseph’s death                                                                         1590 BC

2434 AM                          Moses born                                                                              1526 BC

2514 AM                          Exodus from Egypt                                                                 1446 BC

2554 AM                          Israel enters Promised Land/Moses’ death                        1406 BC

2950 AM                          Saul’s death/David becomes king                                         1010 BC

2994 AM                          Construction begins on 1^st Temple/Solomon’s 4th yr.        966 BC

3030 AM                          Solomon’s death/Rehoboam reigns                                       930 BC

3375 AM                         Destruction of Jerusalem & the 1st Temple                           586 BC

3445 AM                          2^nd Temple completed                                                             516 BC

3502 AM                          Ezra arrives in Jerusalem                                                         458 BC

3516 AM                          Nehemiah completes the wall                                                444 BC

3637 AM                          Alexander dies in Babylon                                                       323 BC

3794 AM                          First abomination of desolation in Temple in Jerusalem    167 BC

3898 AM                          Pompey conquers Palestine                                                      63 BC

3956 AM                          Jesus is born                                                                                   5 BC

3993 AM                          Jesus is crucified (April 3 – Julian cal.)                                      33 AD

4030 AM                          The Romans destroy the 2^nd Temple                                       70 AD

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Sign of Perilous Times, Last Days

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection [astorgos, sometimes translated astergos, meaning without natural affection for parents and family], trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:1-7).

There is a drama playing out within many Christian families around the globe just now that is a sign of the end-times as Israel in the land or the overhang of nuclear annihilation, but on a personal level.

And that is (a) the younger generation lacking normal, natural feeling of fealty and love for their parents, and consequently (b) many of these going through the motions of faith without convictions or fruits or walking away from the faith entirely.

We’ve encountered some case studies in recent days:

> A widely-heard Christian podcaster who prays by name for his listeners now includes his own prayer for a wayward son.

> The saga of conflict comes to light of the recently-deceased TV preacher Charles Stanley and his son, Andy. In a church dispute, Andy took sides against his father and with those who thought Stanley Sr. should resign as pastor.

> A Bible study leader telling her Zoom constituents her children “aren’t walking with the Lord.”

> The same leader learned of her own mother’s death two weeks after the fact, though they lived in the same town. Her sister informed her. She was not aware of the irony, and continued teaching others.

> An elderly Christian lady relates at a church lunch that her daughters upbraided her for calling a waiter “sir” because she thoughtlessly “presumed his gender identity.” (!) Raised in a Bible church, the young women, now aspiring Hollywood actresses, no longer subscribe to Bible values but instead reserve their passion for social causes like LGBTQIA+ and abortion rights.

> A Christian daughter who attends church and small group weekly but calls her parents once or twice a year, and is functionally estranged from them. She does not apprehend the irony, and bridles when her parents raise the subject.

> Another Christian daughter plans a vacation with friends in a country historically plagued with violence, murder, kidnapping and drugs and still labeled as “do not travel” by the U/S. State Department.  Her father fears for her safety, urges her to relent; she seems to acquiesce, but goes anyway and does not tell him.  Her siblings conspire to keep the information from him.

>A Christian son is routinely contentious and disrespectful to parents. He puts his mother, 74, to work rehabbing apartments alongside him, as much as 14 hours per day, with no pay, no gifts, no end-of-week thank you and farewell meal.  Instead, he flies off to spend the weekend with his girlfriend.

Perhaps you have your own situation that is different yet somehow related to the theme of filial disloyalty. These things are so personal that few volunteer to air their hurts, but occasionally these leak out to a few friends. When you add them up, it appears the situation is rampant behind the scenes, and growing.

What has made it worse: this behavior was encouraged, institutionalized, licensed, branded, and promoted in a “Christian” book, Boundaries, by seeker church icon Henry Cloud. He was a favorite guest speaker of Bill Hybels, the now-disappeared and disgraced founder of the megachurch movement leader Willow Creek Church, Barrington, IL.

The first anecdote in Boundaries tells the tale of a Christian mother who desires her daughter to come and have Thanksgiving with her. The daughter prefers to hang with friends. Guess which side the author came down on?

(Fortunately, a few Christian voices, like author Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, recognized the text for what it was: unchristian balderdash in a Christian wrapper. In her words, it “reeks of selfish idolatry.”)

It was God himself who said honoring one’s parents comes with a built-in blessing: “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee,” is the first commandment with promise. So it’s up to Him to fulfill, and He does and He will.

The verse is repeated in Ephesians 6:

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (vv 1-3).

Is there really a connection between one’s state of well-being and their actual honoring (or not) of their parents? That’s what the Word says, but most gloss over those words mindlessly, and few make the connection. Nevertheless, the critical or forensic or discerning mind will see a disrespectful attitude toward elders correlated with a pattern of sickness, loss of job, business, wealth, relationship, or other such setbacks — which we have learned in connection with the above anecdotes, in every case, without exception, sad to say.

What to do about it?

First, relax, breathe. As astorgos is a sign of the end, one can take a bit of comfort, perhaps, that the dearth of filial fealty eventually ends, and soon. It is not forever.

Second, some accept responsibility. Some Millennials and Gen Z’ers have a batch of character deficiencies brought on by Boomer Helicopter parents. In a word, many are spoiled. All of us of a certain age are guilty. And now the parents are victims of their malfeasance. Still, perhaps, in a few cases, it’s not too late to right the ship. Also, consider: is the friction due to the fact that you provoke your children? The Bible admonishes against that. It is always a good thing to examine oneself and pose the question, ‘Where am I to blame?’ Perhaps something as simple as an apology would work a miracle.

A third thing is to stop making an idol of one’s children and/or grandchildren. Put God first, then marriage, then children, goes the pattern; everyone agrees though not everyone lives. It is God in whom we live and move and have our being, not our children or grandchildren. Jesus said he came to bring a sword, setting one family member against another – a strong and paradoxical statement, but there it is. He also said if we love him less than mother or father or brother or sister (or implied a child), or even our own life, we are not worthy of Him. Strong words.

Fourth: there is prayer, intercession. Let go of the hurtful situation, and turn it over to God. Trust him to bring a just result. As per Phil. 4.6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Anxiety and worry are everywhere, especially in the end times. Most would agree that these times have been vastly more difficult than we might have imagined three or five or 10 years ago, with Covid alone, but also considering Russia/Ukraine, China/Taiwan, the World Economic Forum, digital currencies, lockdowns, bank failures, transgenderism, BLM/Antifa riots, and all the rest. But, good news: Rather than allowing our worries and anxieties to consume us, we are invited to bring them to God in prayer.

Many trust therapists or anxiety medications; why not trust the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, our Father, our Abba? He it is that can make good on the hurt from disloyal or contentious or rebellious or estranged children. Not just talk therapy; he can actually work a miracle in the heart and mind of the supplicant.

Furthermore, Phil. 4.6 encourages us to bring all our requests to God in every situation. This means that there is nothing too big or too small for God to handle. We may think a family matter too small for the Great God of the Universe, or flip side: too big, unsolvable; but neither is true. God is more than able.

Fifth, when you are praying, ask for a spirit of forgiveness. Recall the mote and the beam. Lately, when I consider offenses against me, I recall when I did the same thing to others, which is sobering, to say the least.

Sixth, be really, really grateful; we have a terrific future. Phil. 4.6 directs us to approach God with a heart of thanksgiving because Paul knew something about the future. By being grateful for all that God has already done for us, we can cultivate a sense of gratitude and trust that God will continue to provide for us in the future. This is the Rx for anxiety and worry. God has a track record. We can surely lean on that.

For the seventh and last, we go to a phrase in German, Ich Habe Genug. I have enough. We really do have enough. J.S. Bach wrote a cantata on those words. We have Jesus, the promise of his coming, and a glorious eternity in service to and fellowship with the One who knew us before we were even born, and then gave everything we need for eternity to us. Joy unbounded. Every tear wiped, by God Himself! Acceptance, love, validation. Gathered to the fathers, and the Father, reunited with lost ones. Estrangement now, in many cases, will transform into strong bonds for eternity.

We have Jesus Christ as surety; we have enough.

More than.

=========

John Hamilton writes for these pages from time to time. He is the author of False Flags, State Secrets, Government Deceptions: A Short History of the Modern Era and THE COVID VACCINE: And the silencing of our doctors and scientists.