In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matt. 3:1-2)

Prophecies of a Messianic King appear throughout the Old Testament and many in the Jewish leadership saw John’s arrival on the scene as their fulfillment.  They sent representatives to the place where John was baptizing to see if he was the promised Messiah. He said he wasn’t, but that the one they had been expecting was even then in their midst (John 1:19-28).

750 years earlier Isaiah had said when the Messiah came He would reign on David’s throne forever (Isaiah 9:6-7) but the throne of David had been vacant for 600 years.  John had come to tell them the time was finally at hand and they had better get ready for Him.

When Jesus began His ministry, John introduced Him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:8) and publicly testified that Jesus was the Son of God (John 1:34).  Right from the beginning Jesus began teaching that the Kingdom of Heaven was near (Matt. 4:17), and sent His disciples through out the land to alert the people to this fact as well (Matt. 10:7-8).

But even with Isaiah’s prophecies, John’s testimony, and the Lord’s teaching, the Jewish leaders refused to accept that Jesus was the Messiah. They questioned His claims, His doctrine, and His miracles in spite of the fact that all were clearly foretold in their prophecies.

Isaiah had also said when He came the Messiah would have no beauty or majesty that would attract them to Him and that nothing about His appearance would make them desire Him (Isaiah 53:2). The fact that Jesus was not like they expected Him to be was a big problem for them.

Just before John was executed, He had sent a delegation of his disciples to confirm for themselves that Jesus was who He claimed to be.

In reply Jesus said, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” (Matt. 11:4-6)

Jesus fed the multitudes, walked on water, healed the sick and raised the dead and still they asked for a miraculous sign.  Finally in frustration He responded, “A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:38-40). They would get their sign, but only after they had executed Him.

Later, just a few days before His execution, He warned them again. “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit (Matt. 21:43). He was speaking of the coming Church.

After the resurrection, having performed the miraculous sign they asked for, Jesus waited 40 days for them to acknowledge it.  But upon being informed of the empty tomb the Jewish leaders bribed the soldiers to keep them quiet and refused to recognize the Lord’s fulfillment of the sign of Jonah (Matt. 28:11-15).

At the end of the 40 days His disciples asked if He was now going to restore the Kingdom to Israel.  Jesus said it was not for them to know the times or dates (Acts 1:6-7) and after telling them to wait for the Holy Spirit to appear He ascended into heaven.

 

Some have criticized His response as being ambivalent, but I disagree. The disciples knew 69 of Daniel’s 70 weeks had passed, and there was one week (7 years) left to fulfill.  They knew the Messiah had been cut off (put to death) like Daniel had prophesied (Daniel 9:26) and from His teaching they knew why.  It was to fulfill three of the six objectives the angel had set forth when he gave Daniel the 70 weeks prophecy over 500 years earlier.

“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”. (Daniel 9:24)

The purpose of the Lord’s death was to finish transgression, put an end to sin and atone for wickedness. What was left was to bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, and anoint the Most Holy. Bringing in everlasting righteousness is a reference to Isaiah 9:7 which says the Messiah will reign with justice and righteousness forever. Sealing up vision and prophecy means to bring them to their conclusion by fulfilling them.  Anointing means to consecrate or sanctify, and the Most Holy probably refers to the Temple.

By telling the disciples it wasn’t for them to know the timing of the kingdom’s restoration and immediately changing the subject to the coming Holy Spirit, I think the Lord was saying the offer of the kingdom was still on the table, but His focus was about to change.  Obviously God knew they had rejected the kingdom at that time, but He was leaving the door open for them to accept it at some point in the future.

This is borne out by a prophecy He spoke through Hosea 750 years earlier.

“Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt.  And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me” (Hosea 5:15). Please note the word “until” because it conveys the  notion of “not now” rather than “not ever.”   The door was still open.

10 days after the Lord’s ascension, the Holy Spirit came to the disciples and the Church was born.  For about 20 years the Church remained mostly an offshoot of Judaism until James, the Lord’s half brother, revealed that the Lord was first going to take from among the Gentiles a people for Himself before moving to restore Israel (Acts 15:13-18).  This was a clear promise of a future for Israel.

But shortly after that Israel ceased to exist as a nation and has been absent for most of the past 2000 years while God’s focus has been exclusively on the Church.  Because of this many scholars began to express doubt that Israel would ever return, even asserting that the Church has replaced Israel in God’s plan and all the unfulfilled promises to Israel have been inherited by the Church.  As far as they were concerned, there was no longer a reason for Israel to exist.

I’ve been going to church all my life but I was nearly 50 years old before I realized that the Age of Grace, aka the Church Age, only exists in a parenthesis between Daniel’s first 69 weeks and the coming 70th one. It began when the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost after the Lord’s Ascension and will end with the Rapture.  Once the Church is gone the Lord will turn back to Israel to fulfill Daniel’s 70th week and   implement the kingdom Daniel prophesied.

“In the time of those kings (the Gentile powers who control the Earth) the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever” (Daniel 2:44).

In Daniel’s time it was already understood that this kingdom would be headquartered in Israel, but would have authority over all the Earth. Speaking through David, God said, “I have installed my King on Zion, My Holy hill” (Psalm 2:6)

He was referring to His Son, to whom He said, “Ask of Me and I  will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the Earth your possession” (Psalm 2:8).

Those who teach that there’s no future for Israel have forgotten that James had foretold of one that would begin after the Lord finished with the Church (Acts 15:13-18).  They have also forgotten that Paul confirmed this in Romans 11:25-27.  And they’ve forgotten (or ignored) all the unconditional promises God had made to Israel.

This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name:

“Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the Lord, “will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me” (Jeremiah 31:35-36)

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms” (Ezekiel 37:21-22).

 

I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God (Amos 9:14-5).

There are probably dozens of others, but I’m sure you get the idea. Only by refusing to read these promises as they’re written can one deny that they are meant for Israel.

So the offer of a Kingdom to Israel was never rescinded, it was only set aside while the Lord built His Church.  Following that, He will turn His attention once again to Israel for the final segment of Daniel’s 70 Weeks prophecy. To say this will be a difficult time would be a gross understatement because Israel has to atone for the sin of rejecting the Lord’s earlier offer.  Jesus called it the worst time of trouble the world ever has or ever will see (Matt. 24:21) but just as Hosea had prophesied, in their misery they will earnestly seek Him.

“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence” (Hosea 6:1-2).

God will hear their prayer and pour out His Spirit of grace and supplication, allowing their hearts to be softened and their eyes to be opened to the fact that the one they put to death was their promised Messiah (Zechariah 12:10-14).  After a period of intense mourning, they will admit their sin, and the blood guilt that He has not pardoned, He will pardon (Joel 3:21). It’s will be national conversion and it will change everything.  Remember, it doesn’t matter who you are, no one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14:6).

Then the Lord will appear over Jerusalem and fight against all the nations of the Earth, who have gathered against His people (Zech. 14:3). He will strike them with a plague that causes their flesh to rot while they’re still standing.   Their eyes will rot in their sockets and their tongues will rot in their mouths. Those who survive will be stricken with great panic and actually begin attacking each other (Zech. 14:12-13).  At the end of the day the victory will belong to the Lord, and He will be King over the whole Earth.  There will finally be only one Lord and His name the only name. (Zechariah 14:9).

After that, the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains;  it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it (Isaiah 2:2).

From all over the world people will say  “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.  He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”

The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.  Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore (Isaiah 2:3-4).

This will be a time of rejoicing for Israel such as the world has never seen. The creation itself will join in the celebration.

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.  Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.  The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God (Isaiah 35:1-2).

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands(Isaiah 55:12).

The ransomed of the Lord will return.  They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.  Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away (Isaiah 35:10).

For this is what the Lord says, I will extend peace to her like a river and the wealth of the nations like a flooding stream. When you see this your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass (Isaiah 66:12,14).

The promised kingdom will have come to Israel, and the world will finally be at peace.  Next time, the Gospel of Grace.

There’s a theory, only hinted at in Scripture, that Planet Earth had been the domain of Satan prior to his rebellion. Although he was only a created being, Satan was an enormously powerful dignitary in God’s Universe (Jude 1:9). He was the overseer of the Cherubim (the guardians of God’s Throne) and a leader of the angelic host. He was God’s most impressive creation (Ezekiel 28:12-15). Because of his position, his power, and his beauty he became proud and rebelled (Ezekiel 28:17, Isaiah 14:13-14), bringing about a judgment that destroyed planet Earth.

All this seems to have happened between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Hints of this in Scripture are

1) an alternate (and some say more literal) rendering of Genesis 1:2 reads, “But the Earth became formless and void”, rather than “and the Earth was formless and void.”

2) In Isaiah 45:18 the Lord said He didn’t create the Earth that way, using the same Hebrew word that’s translated formless inGenesis 1:2, but formed it to be inhabited. Putting these two points together hints at a judgment sometime after Earth’s original creation.

3) The angels already existed at the time of the Genesis creation account. They shouted and sang for joy when the Lord laid the foundations of Earth (Job 38:4-7) so they must have been created earlier. If so, then Satan must have been created earlier was as well.

4) The serpent seems to appear out of nowhere in Genesis 3:1although there’s no mention of him in the creation account. Also the Hebrew word translated serpent comes from a root meaning enchanter, which could mean it was not an ordinary animal. And Eve didn’t seem to be reluctant to converse with him, indicating she might have recognized him for who he really was.

Let me hasten to add that I don’t believe in a pre-Adamite civilization. The Bible clearly calls Adam the first man (1 Cor. 15:45). It also says the animals were created on the same day as Adam (Genesis 1:24-26) so I don’t believe dinosaurs or any other animals preceded Adam’s creation.

After Earth sat submerged in ruin and darkness for who knows how long, God said “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3) and the six day Genesis creation process began. It helps to remember that the Bible is not a book about eternity, it’s about the age of man. As such it begins with the creation of the first man and ends when the Millennium ends seven thousand years later. It gives only vague hints about what happened before the Age of Man began and what will come after it ends. All we really know is that there was an eternity past and there will be an eternity future.

God’s first instruction to Adam and Eve was to give them dominion over Planet Earth, telling them to subdue it and populate it (Genesis 1:28).  Satan, whose domain Earth had formerly been, responded by causing them to sin (Genesis 3:1-13).  As a result of their sin, Adam and Eve fell from immortality to being mortal, carrying all their descendants with them (Romans 5:12). The creation was also placed in bondage to sin (Romans 8:18-21), and Satan snatched control of Earth back from Adam Eve and has held it from then until now (1 John 5:19). This is why Jesus referred to Satan as the prince of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11) and Paul called him the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:3-4).

Jesus redeemed the creation (bought it back) with His own blood at the same time He redeemed us, but He won’t move to actually assert His claim to it until just before the beginning of the Great Tribulation at the sound of the seventh Trumpet.

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15).

And in Rev. 12:10 we read,

“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”

In the mean time, the Bible tells us Satan is in charge here, and there are numerous references to demonic powers influencing life on Earth to confirm this.

In Governments

Satan had representation in all the Gentile Empires of Biblical times. He was called the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14:4 and the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:11. An angel spoke to Daniel about being detained by the “prince of Persia” and requiring help from the Archangel Michael to get free (Daniel 10:13). He also said he would soon be doing battle against the “prince of Greece” (Daniel 10:20) although at that time the Greek Empire was still 2 centuries into the future. And the Roman Empire became so evil that many see the Roman Emperor Nero as one of history’s clearest models of the anti-Christ.

Does anyone believe things are different today? After all, Gentile Dominion won’t end until the 2nd Coming. Adolph Hitler was another model of the anti-Christ, and Nazi Germany showed how pervasive evil can become when a nation is under the influence of the occult. Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an Evil Empire. George W. Bush referred to nations supporting international terrorism as an Axis of Evil. And since the United States entered its post Christian era, who can deny that evil has had a much stronger influence here as well.

In The Church

As for evil in the Church, Paul said those who introduce false doctrine into the body are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve (2 Cor. 11:13-15).

He said we would see this becoming more prevalent as the end times approach. In 1 Timothy 4:1 he wrote, The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

In Our Lives

On a personal level the Bible warns us about the influence of evil in our lives. In Ephes. 6:12 Paul wrote,  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The fact is the world is an evil place where bad things happen without reason and it will be that way until the Lord comes to restore it (Matt. 19:28, Acts 3:21). It’s not because God created it that way or even because He wants it that way. It’s because when our first parents sinned they unleashed a force of evil on this world that has put all their descendants in bondage and contaminated even the creation itself.

History has shown that God only lets sin and rebellion go to a certain point before reigning it in. Even during the Great Tribulation, when He will remove His agency of restraint altogether (2 Thes. 2:7), He will put an end to evil’s reign before it can completely destroy mankind (Matt. 24:22).

Is God In Control?

This brings us back to the original question, and here’s my answer. I believe things will turn out exactly like God said they will because He’s already seen the end, and He saw it from the beginning. But does that mean I believe God is in total control of everything that happens in the mean time? No I don’t, and I think I’ve shown above that the Bible supports my opinion.

I believe when we become Christians we become aliens behind enemy lines. I believe we can expect God’s help in surviving if we turn over control of our lives to Him. But I think there’s a lot more to that than most people understand.

When Jesus said to take up our cross and follow Him (Luke 9:23) He was calling us to do what He was doing.  And what was He doing?  Matt. 26:39 tells us He laid down His will in favor of His Father’s will.  Romans 12:1-2 explains that’s exactly what we’re called to do.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We’re to lay down our will for our life and embrace His will for our life instead.

In Ephesians 4:22-24 Paul put it this way.

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds;  and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

I’ve seen a lot of people who give lip service to this command, and a few who actually obey it. But even those who do obey realize the world remains an evil place, and bad things can still happen.

Jesus said that in this world we will have trouble (John 16:33),  but He also said He came so we can have an abundant life (John 10:10). We gain this blessing by laying down the life we have planned for ourselves and picking up the life He has planned for us.  In this way we can experience a personal world where He is in total control no matter what is happening in the world around us, and where He is working even the bad things that happen together for our good (Romans 8:28).

Paul said our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). For that reason, he said, “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”(2 Cor. 4:18). This life is temporary. It’s the next one that’s permanent.

This is also why Paul told us to live by faith not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), because even when we’re experiencing the adverse effects of this evil place, we can know that God has promised to work everything together for our good. Therefore, no matter how bad things might be, we can take heart in the fact that He has overcome the world, and through faith in Him we will too.