“I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.  See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” (Isaiah 42:8-9)

Since gracethrufaith.com is a world wide ministry, reaching into places with diverse religious traditions, I get emails from time to time asking how to respond to those who want to know why Christians believe the God of the Bible is the one and only God.

The answer to that and a number of other questions can be found in a portion of the Book of Isaiah that is packed with more information about God than just about any other place in the Bible. It begins in chapter 41 and runs through chapter 53.  Among lots of other things, it lists God’s clearest and most powerful claims to exclusive deity, and tells us how we can authenticate His claims beyond any reasonable doubt.

The Lord began by saying His strongest claim to deity lies in His ability to proclaim the End from the Beginning.  We call this predictive prophecy.  It’s essentially history written in advance.  Let’s read His challenges to the false gods of the nations to demonstrate their ability in this area.

“Present your case,” says the LORD. “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King. “Bring in your idols to tell us what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come, tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. (Isaiah 41:21-23)

Here’s a two question test for the other “gods”.  Tell us what has happened since the beginning, and then tell us what will happen in the end. From this challenge and God’s declaration in Isaiah 42:8-9 above we can see the answer to our question already.   You can prove that God is who He claims to be  by comparing the Bible with history and learning how time after time God disclosed to His people things that would happen, things that only someone who knows the end from the beginning could know.  But He’s just getting started.

Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf ( a reference to the powerless gods of the nations).   All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble.  Which of them foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”

“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.

Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.  I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you.

You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.  Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” (Isaiah 43:8-13)

The gods of the nations have not demonstrated any foreknowledge of the histories of their people, nor  have they revealed anything about the future.  In the so-called Holy Books of other religions there’s no reliable record of either. But the people of Israel are God’s witnesses that He has done this over and over again for them, and with unblemished accuracy.

Next the Lord gave these gods another chance to provide evidence to support their claims of deity .  Perhaps they do have knowledge of the past and the future but  chose not to reveal it to their worshipers.

“This is what the LORD says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.

Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come— yes, let him foretell what will come. (Isaiah 44:6-7)

As He issued this challenge, God reassured His people

“Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” (Isaiah 44:8)

This must be very important to the Lord, because for the third time He  declared His deity in terms that are unmistakably clear.  The only ones who can’t understand this are those who choose to remain ignorant.

For this is what the LORD says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says:

“I am the LORD, and there is no other.  I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.

“Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.

Declare what is to be, present it— let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past?  Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.

“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:18-22)

The phrase “I am the Lord and there is no other” appears four times chapter 45 alone.  (Isaiah 45:5, 45:6, 45:18, 45:22)  Four is often considered to be the number of Earth because by the end of the fourth day of Creation the Earth was finished.  (Days five and six are devoted to populating it.) There is no God on Earth but the Lord our God.

“Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels.  Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (Isaiah 46:8-10)

Having put the false gods of the nations on trial for our benefit, it now becomes clear that He’s turned His attention to His people.

I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’ You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them?  (Isaiah 48:3-6a)

Here the Lord left no doubt that the main reason He disclosed things in advance is He knew how stubborn and resistant to belief we are.  By revealing them in advance, He made it impossible for us to say someone else made these things happen.

There are lots of other things the Lord had Isaiah say in chapters 41-53, such as His repetitive claims to have been Earth’s sole Creator, His purpose in choosing Israel, and the mission of the Messiah.  But His one overarching message to us is this.  If you want proof that God is who He claims to be, study Old Testament prophecy and compare it to history.  You’ll come away with an unshakeable foundation for your faith.  No other deity can survive this test.

Don’t ask me or someone else to do this for you.  It’s like the manna in the wilderness, that everyone had to gather for themselves. There are plenty of ways to go about it.  For example there are over 100 historically proven prophecies in the first 35 verses of Daniel 11 alone.  But perhaps the easiest approach is to take a handful of the things you know about the life of Jesus and see if you can find an Old Testament prophecy to match them.

For example, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  Was there a prophecy to that effect? Yes.  It’s found in Micah 5:2, written 750 years before the fact.  Jesus was crucified.  Is there an Old Testament prophecy for that? Yes. Psalm 22 actually begins with words the Lord spoke from the cross, verse 16 speaks of them piercing His hands and feet, and verse 18 says the soldiers cast lots for His clothing. It was written about 1,000 years before the event.

There are 300 more of these so keep going until you’re convinced.  As you do this, remember that the Old Testament was completed over 400 years before the Lord was born, and its authenticity can be verified beyond question.  In less time than you spent in High School studying for a final exam you no longer remember, you can prove beyond any doubt that God is who He claims to be and there’s none like Him. You will also come away convinced that the things He has said about the future are just as certain as those He said about the past.

One of the signs of the times in which we live is you can’t believe anything you hear about what’s going on in the world. It’s comforting to know that there is still one place you can go to find the truth.

Our Lord gave us a pretty thorough overview of the End Times as they relate to Israel. It’s often called the Olivet Discourse because He was speaking to four of His disciples on the Mt. Of Olives. It was just a couple of  days before He was arrested, and they asked Him about the End of the Age. Matthew’s account of His answer is in chapters 24-25. Mark’s is contained in chapter 13. Luke’s version is a little different in that it also includes a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. You’ll find it in his 21st chapter. (Read “The End Times According To Jesus”)

Since the Lord was answering questions about Israel’s future and His 2nd Coming, the focus was decidedly Jewish, so we don’t learn anything about the Church from studying it. But understanding how things will progress for Israel gives us a background that makes Paul’s prophecies about the church in the End Times, which came 20 years later, easier to understand. Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, written about 51 AD, officially introduced the notion of the Rapture and its timing to the early church, and contain clarifying information about the anti-Christ and the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit as well. The 2nd Coming is referred to in every chapter of these two letters, for an average of once in every 13 verses.  (Read “The End Times According To Paul”)

In Luke 17:20-37, the Lord gave us some additional information about the time of His coming that’s often overlooked.  But after you’ve gained the Jewish perspective from the Olivet Discourse and the Christian one from Paul’s letters, you can use Luke 17 to double check your understanding of the End times, and see if you’ve gotten it right. The fact that Luke 17 shares some language with the Olivet Discourse gives us a hint that they’re meant to be related. Let’s take a look.

Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21)

Right off the bat, the Lord threw us a curve to make sure we’re paying attention. It came in the form of the word translated “within”.  He was responding to the Pharisees who had posed the question, and the Kingdom of God was not within them because they weren’t believers. So what was He trying to tell us? Well, it turns out that the word can also mean “in the midst of”, and the Kingdom was in the midst of them. He was the personification of the Kingdom and He was standing right in front of them. Some translations, the NIV for example, offer “among” as an alternate to “within” in verse 21.

To the Pharisees it was only true that the Kingdom was among them. But once the Holy Spirit was given, the Kingdom would also be within all believers. At that point, both of these interpretations would become true. The Kingdom of God is within us, and we are in the midst of the world. This is the spiritual, or invisible phase of the Kingdom. But as we’ll see it’s not the final phase.

Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. (Luke 17:22-25)

After being rejected and executed by the leaders of His generation, the Lord would go away, and only the invisible phase of the Kingdom would remain. It’s called the Church. But then He would return and when He did there would be no mistaking it.  The second coming will light up the entire sky, and the visible phase of the Kingdom will begin.

This is a clue as to why the Church and Israel are mutually exclusive in the world. The Kingdom of God began with Israel. He had Moses tell them so. “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6)

But then because of their disobedience it was taken away from Israel and given to the Church. In Matt. 21:43 Jesus said. “Therefore I tell you that the kingdomof God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”

But this wasn’t to be permanent. After the Church disappears, the Kingdom will be restored to Israel. The early Church understood this, as evidenced by James’ prophecy in Acts 15:13-18 where he said that the Lord would first take from among the Gentiles a people for Himself, and after that would return to rebuild David’s fallen tabernacle. Later Paul confirmed this, saying that Israel had been hardened in part until the full number of Gentiles come in, and after that Israelwould be saved. (Romans 11:25-27)

The Days Of Noah

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26-27)

Like it was in Noah’s time most people on Earth at the End of the Age will be unaware that life as they know it is about to end, not because they haven’t been warned but because they haven’t believed the warning. Noah is used as a model of the believing remnant of Israel at the end of the age, preserved through the judgment while the world is destroyed. Noah and his family remained in the general location of the judgment while the unbelievers were swept away in the flood.

At the End of the Age Israel’s believing remnant will remain in the general location of the judgment but will be preserved while the Lord completely destroys the nations around them. Speaking of the time of Jacob’s Trouble (the Great Tribulation) in Jere. 30:11 the Lord said,

I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you.”

In the symbolic language of Revelation the Jewish remnant is represented by a woman, while Satan is called the serpent.

The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. (Rev. 12:14)

The Lord used this same terminology to describe the manner in which He delivered Israel from Pharaoh’s Army in the Exodus.  “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” (Exodus 19:4)

The Days Of Lot

“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:28-29)

At first glance this seems like another similar example. But it’s really very different. Lot was taken away from the location of the judgment to a place of safety. In fact the angels who were sent to remove him said they couldn’t bring the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot was away and safe. (Genesis 19:21-22) He was rescued from the out pouring of God’s wrath on Sodom and Gomorrah before it began.

In this sense, Lot becomes a model of the Church. Paul explained that the Church would be rescued from the time of God’s Wrath on the Earth as well. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thes.1:9-10)

The Greek word translated “from” in verse 10 means the Church will be removed from the time or place or any relation to the coming wrath. Just like it was with Lot and the judgment of Sodom, we have to be away and safe before the End Times judgment of Earth can begin.

I’ve often said that Jesus didn’t teach the doctrine of the Rapture and didn’t even tell His disciples about it. But if you already know it’s coming you can find hints of it in the Gospels. This is one of them, and by using Lot as a model the Lord confirmed the timing. Before the judgment.

“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

“Where, Lord?” they asked.

He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” (Luke 17:30-37)

In Matt. 24:17-18 Jesus warned the people alive at the beginning of the Great Tribulation not to go back into their houses for anything but to flee quickly, so it’s reasonable to assume He means the same thing here. It wouldn’t make any sense for Him to be speaking of the actual day of His return because by then it will be too late to run.  Those who cling to the ways of this world at the beginning of the Great Tribulation will find themselves losing everything.  But those who abandon them in favor of the next world will gain eternal life.  I think Lot’s wife is a graphic model of those “in-name-only” Christians who attend church and even do lots of good things, but aren’t born again.  Though they claim to be Christians, their hearts continue to long for the things of this world.  When the time comes they’ll be left behind, and many will perish in the End Times judgments.

As in Matt. 24:40-41 the word translated “taken” literally means received, and the word for “left” means to put away, as in a divorce.  After the Lord returns, some tribulation survivors will be received directly into the Kingdom. They will have become believers after the rapture and will be welcomed into the Kingdom as their reward. But those who have persisted in their unbelief will be put away, off the planet, in the place prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41) This statement summarizes the judgments the Lord will conduct just after His return.  Matt. 25 describes then in detail.

Some read a lot of symbolism into the comment about dead bodies and a vulture, but I see it as a simple parable. Vultures don’t gather any place in the sky except over the carcass of a dead body. The dead body is really the purpose of their gathering, it’s where they belong.  The use of this parable was just the Lord’s way of answering the disciples’ question, “Where, Lord?” He said each group will be gathered to the place where they belong.

So in Luke 17:20-37 the Lord explained the two phases of the Kingdom, the invisible phase (the Church) and the visible one (the Millennial Kingdom).  He said he was going away and then coming back, and that His 2nd Coming will be physical just like His first one.  He also said there will be a believing remnant preserved through the End Times judgments that precede His return (Israel),  another group of believers who will be removed to a place of safety before the judgments begin (the Church), and a group of Tribulation survivors. Upon His return, some of the Tribulation survivors will be received into the Kingdom as a reward for believing, while the rest will be sent to the place prepared for the devil and his angels for refusing to believe. It’s a remarkable overview of the Great Tribulation and 2nd Coming.