Biblical Eschatology Revisited



The Sign of the End of the Age

If we were to look closely at the wording of Matthew 24, we would begin
to clearly understand that any efforts designed to precisely define the
exact day and hour of Christ’s Second Coming will not be successful.
However, we should not forget that we are told to stay alert and watch
for when it is near. (Matthew 24:32-33, 36, 42) Thus, it stands to
reason that He intends for us to pay attention because the signs are
clearly marked and understandable even though ultimately the exact
moment of this event is only known by the Father. It is clear in the
chapter itself that Jesus is not holding a lot back when He outlines
the answers that the disciples asked Him privately on the Mount of
Olives about an earlier comment with regards to the destruction of the
temple. These questions took the form of:

1.    When will these things happen? (concerning the temple)
2.    What will be the sign of Your coming?
3.    What will be the sign of the end of the age?

Due to the length required to explore each of these, I will have to
separate each one into its own post. Let’s begin with the question
Christ answers first.

The Precursor Events

He has several answers to those questions but it is curious that He
does not answer them in order. In fact, He first lists when His coming
“will not happen”. If one reads Matthew 24:4-14, we quickly find there
are a number of things that will happen but the time would not be set
for His coming. They would only be “birth pangs”. These things are:

1.    The appearance of false saviors and some of these will even come in His name.
2.    There will be all sorts of warfare and intrigue going on all over the world but that is not yet the end.
3.    There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
4.    There would be persecution and tribulation along with martyrdom and a worldwide disdain for those who believe in Him.
5.    There would be a falling away, an apostasy, and much betrayal and animosity amongst those who fall away.
6.    There would be many false prophets arise to mislead many.
7.    Lawlessness will increase and most people’s love will grow cold perhaps this sounds like they will become very cynical.
8.    The believer’s experience during this time is one of “endurance and perseverence”.
9.    The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all the nations… then the end will come.

So the answer to the third question, “What will be the sign of the end of the age?” is … when the Gospel is preached to the whole world.  In essence, this means
that in spite of all the other disagreeable things going on, the real
measuring stick is the extent of worldwide evangelism. So we have one
of the three questions answered. It now makes a great deal of sense why
the Lord gave the Great Commission.  However, there are two things that
have bearing in this “not yet” time before His return.

Pre-Return Normalcy

There’s something we often don’t realize. The time before the process
of Christ’s return must appear “normal” to the world to some degree, at
least to the point of not arousing suspicion that the event is about to
happen. It must be this way since it is meant to be a surprise.

For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the
ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all
away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Matthew 24:38-39 (NASB)

If we look at all these things in the list above, we will see that they
certainly qualify as pretty standard issue, mundane, and typically what
most people might expect to see happening to Christians all over the
world. This feeling of “normalcy” causes people not worry terribly
about it nor does it arouse any suspicion that Christ is returning
soon. As an experiment, try looking in the book of Revelation and see
if there is a transition point where, in spite of the descriptions we
see in the text, the earthly recipients would certainly experience a
very pronounced change regarding the events that would be happening…
where things around them changed to a point where they certainly
couldn’t be called “life as usual.” If you were to find such a point,
it would tell you that the time that we are currently living had come
to an end and the world is being prepared for judgment and Christ’s
return.

This is a crucial aspect of our understanding relative to biblical
eschatology. It is the matter of “pre-event normalcy”. In fact, it is
as if Christ spoke of this preliminary part in such a way to tell us
how it would really be… it would be bad but “the end is not yet”. He
said that even though there would be believers martyred, persecution,
wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilence, and
deceivers abounding, etc., those things would not themselves signify
“the end was coming”.

The Time Requirement

If we carefully examine what Christ said concerning this, it would
become obvious that in order to fulfill all of these precursors, it
would take a considerable amount of time. So we should not overlook the
necessity to let a considerable amount of time pass in history in order
for His words to be fulfilled. For example, here are a few reasons why:

1.    to get past the end of the lives of the disciples (apostles)
since it would be easy to discount any deceiving imposter simply by the
word of one of the apostles.
2.    as we know now there were portions of the world that were not
known by the disciples at that point (that Christ Himself knew about at
the far ends of the world). It would take time to discover these in
order to evangelize them.
3.    all of the physical events and strife would not and did not
happen over a very short period of time. That would have been unusually
destructive and taken the emphasis off the destructiveness of “the man
of sin” that is to come.

I’m sure we could consider more reasons but let that suffice for now.
That covers this section on “what is the sign of the end?” The sign of
the end is “the Gospel preached to the whole world as a testimony to
all the nations". It means that when Christian evangelism has reached
the ends of the world, the end of the world as it has been will be upon
us. As He said…

This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a
testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.  Matthew
24:14 (NASB)

Next, in line, the question “when will these things happen”…  Mr.Vee

Biblical Eschatology Revisited



The Element of Surprise & Certainty

The subject of Bible prophecy brings all sorts of reactions from
people. There are some who entirely discount the idea saying its all
rubbish. There are some who are afraid to touch it fearing that they’d
be labeled some kind of kook or heretic. There are still others who
take other positions even to those who just can’t seem to get enough of
it, sometimes to a fault.

Yet there is something vitally important concerning Biblical prophecy,
not just because we want to have a crystal ball’s view into the future,
or to protect ourselves and others but simply because Christ told us to
stay alert for His return and why God’s plan has left the entire matter
rather mysterious.

Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is
coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at
what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the
alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this
reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour
when you do not think He will. Matthew 24:42-44 (NASB)

Christ is telling us here by way of an analogy that Satan has control
over the world and the manner in which God will overthrow the Enemy’s
kingdom will be by the element of surprise.

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.  Matthew 24:36 (NASB)

Therefore, we won’t know “the day nor hour” until the very thing
happens. There are a lot of wise reasons for God to do this. One of
which is to allow sin to take its course and uncover itself and
therefore lay bare before heaven and earth the wanton evil that desires
to expose itself in all its raw festering vileness. He will allow it to come to a
head and then make an end of it.

So while we don’t know the “day nor hour” of the coming of the Son of
Man, we are told to pay attention to when it appears to be near and be
alert. In order to do this, we must be aware of what He told us to
watch for. One of those things will be understanding the essential
elements of the judgment of the Flood and the important characteristics
of the people of that day that brought it on.

In the next few verses, we learn one reason why God caused the flood in
Noah’s day…  to be an example of how it will be before Christ’s return.

For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the
ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all
away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then there will be two
men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women
will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.” 
Matthew 24:37-41 (NASB)

Christ told us how life would be when He returns… just like any other
day. In fact, the world will not even be expecting it until its too
late. In the midst of everyday activity, it will happen suddenly. Yet
we are told that we can recognize when its near…

Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already
become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;
so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near,
right at the door. Matthew 24:32-33 (NASB)

Now Christ compares this time with that of Noah expressing that the
people of his time did not expect the Flood. Yet the Flood did not come
without a reason

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land,
and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the
daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves,
whomever they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive
with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall
be one hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in
those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the
daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty
men who were of old, men of renown. Then the LORD saw that the
wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry
that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
Genesis 6:1-6 (NASB)

and

Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had
corrupted their way upon the earth.  Then God said to Noah, "The end of
all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence
because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the
earth.” Genesis 6:11-12 (NASB)

and

Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household,
for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.
Genesis 7:1 (NASB)

If we allow ourselves to be distracted here by all sorts of theories
about “sons of God” and “daughters of men” and “Nephilim”, we will do
ourselves a disservice here. In fact, I sometimes wonder if we aren’t
taken off course by these things so that we will miss the point of
these verses. Instead, let’s take a look at what happened then and how
God responded to it.

1.    The women of that time were only valuable for their beauty, not their piety or good deeds.  How about these  days?
2.    The value of men of that time was based on them being a “man of
reknown”, a mighty man, powerful, etc.,
       not on whether they sought
after God and His righteousness.  How about now?
3.    The wickedness was great on the earth.  How about now?
4.    Every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart was only continually evil. And now?
5.    The world was filled with violence and was corrupt.  And now?
6.    God said that Noah alone was seen to be righteous before God .
Note a scarcity in the number of righteous ones. We
       might even note
that the eight that were preserved in the flood were also less than the
ten righteous that we see in the
       discussion between the Lord and
Abraham with regards to Sodom. (Genesis 18:17-33)

Noah did not participate with the evil of those times. As a result, …
he and seven others were preserved during the Flood upon the world. (II
Peter 2:5) Further, even though we might have suspicions about Lot and
his involvement in Sodom, he is called a righteous man and was rescued
from that judgment. (Genesis 19; II Peter 2:7-9) Let it be said then,
that God has clearly shown us He will not judge the righteous with the
wicked…. (Genesis 18:23).

Therefore, Christ tells us that He will not leave the righteous here
when the final Gentile empire falls at His return to crush it.

And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will
gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky
to the other. Matthew 24:31 (NASB)


In any which way one can interpret how the end times will transpire,
God not abandon His people to the coming judgment while some may fall
in martyrdom before then. When I speak of martyrdom, I mean real
martyrdom, not the perverted use of the word we’ve seen in recent years
used to deceive the world that suicide bombing murders are such a thing
and to minimize the guilt and condemnation of the evil works of men
when true believers in Christ are murdered for their faith.

Anyway, God did not waste His words in relating the story surrounding
Noah (nor of Lot and Sodom). That message is for today and people are
not heeding its warning. Yet it is something Christ has told us to
watch for and stay alert. We see all the characteristics of the times
of Noah. The time of Christ’s return is at hand. This is certain. 

However, we are not finished with Matthew 24…  Mr.Vee

Biblical Eschatology Revisited



A Closer Look at Daniel 7


Often the vision in Daniel 7 is used to confirm that there are really
only four Gentile empires in Daniel 2. However, is this conclusion
necessary? It is not. There is nothing I’ve found in those verses that
forces us to come to that conclusion. One of our first clues is that in
regard to this vision, Daniel is exceedingly troubled about this one as
opposed to the one in regards to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which he was
not and affirmed to Nebuchanezzar that what God said was true and would
come to pass. Why would Daniel be troubled if the vision was the same?
The truth is that … it wasn’t the same… but as we will find, they are
related.

So what does correlate between the two? The subject matter concerning
them both is the destruction of the final Gentile empire. There are to be three beasts that probably relate to something but evidence that is confirmable about them has not been identified although I have heard some conjecture about it. Anyway, given what we will find, these
first three beasts, at a minimum,  give us a clue to the fourth.  If we focus on
these beasts to the exclusion of what else is found in Daniel 7, we
will miss some very important details that we really have no reason to
be confused about.

Let’s make a list of some of these important details that was found:

1.    The Fourth Beast of Daniel is the same as the Beast from the sea in Revelation 13.
       a.    It is here that we have the first mention of a terrible beast
with some remarkable details that students of 
              the book of Revelation
will notice immediately such as ten horns on its head and boasting /
blasphemies
              are characteristic of this beast. If we care to compare
this beast in Revelation 13 to the description of
              the Dragon, in
Revelation 12:3, we will find a remarkable similarity.  The Dragon is
definitively described 
              as Satan in Revelation 12:9

2.    This beast will wage war with the saints and overpower them.
       a.    Compare Daniel 7:21 with Revelation 13:7. We can even see that
Satan is behind this as well. 
              (Revelation 12:17.) If this association
is correct, these saints are described in further detail in the
              Revelation 12
passage as “the children of the woman (the woman is interpreted as
Israel by the context)
              and also described as those “who keep the
commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus”.
              This is a
curious description since that isn’t typically how Christians, in
general, are usually identified.
              This certainly warrants more study.

3.    This Beast will have all the characteristics of the beasts that came before it.
       a.    It is in Daniel 7 that we learn of several beasts coming up out
of the sea, with each having a different 
             description. one a lion, one a
bear, and one a leopard. In Revelation 13:2 we learn that a beast that

             comes out of the sea will have all of these traits (lion, bear, and
leopard) in itself.
      
b.    It may be important to positively identify who the “lion, bear,
and leopard” are. However, we may have
              enough to identify the fourth
beast now without that.

4.    The heavenly scene of Daniel 7 looks remarkably like Revelation 4
& 5. Indeed the chapter seems
       like a very short synopsis of a good
portion of Revelation.
       a.    Note that Daniel 7:9-14 has a remarkable resemblance to the scene
and events mentioned in 
             Revelation chapters 4 & 5 with Daniel
including a comment of the ultimate result of Christ’s second 
             coming
and the destruction of this beast and what is to follow. Indeed, we
could almost think we were
             seeing the same event seen from different
perspectives (Daniel’s & John’s) with different levels of detail.

             Compare the two passages and see if this is not so.

5.    Given the focus on the final beast of the four presented, there
appears to be no conflict with Daniel 
       2’s list of 5 Gentile world
empires.
       a.    This passage does not have to be in conflict with the previous
information we received in Daniel 2. Since
              this was after
Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon had already risen to the world scene, there
would still be
              four remaining Gentile empires that would come.
      
b.    Also, there is no compelling reason to line them up exactly with Daniel 2. Some have tried and it did not
              work out well.

6.    The Beast we see here is remarkably destructive.
       a.    We see here that the fourth beast, which has remarkable
correlation to the description to the one
              revealed in Revelation 13
will be extraordinarily destructive. See Daniel 7:19. Curiously, could
this be the
              meaning for the “abomination of desolation” referred to
elsewhere? Since this beast is an abomination
              because of his boasting
and blasphemies who would cause destruction or desolation, we can
easily see
              that it would be appropriate to call it the “abomination
that makes desolate”. In fact, a key aspect of this
              beast in Daniel is
that it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. If
we take a look at
              Revelation 17 we find the following:

              These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them,
because He is Lord of
               lords and King of kings, and those who are with
Him are the called and chosen and faithful. And
              he said to me, "The
waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes
and
              nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw, and the
beast, these will hate the harlot
              and will make her desolate and naked,
and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For
             God has put
it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose,
and by giving
              their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will
be fulfilled. The woman whom you saw is
              the great city, which reigns
over the kings of the earth." Revelation 17:14-18 (NASB)

      b.    This destructive bent of the beast will be used by God to work out judgment on the world (i.e. Babylon,
             interpreted by context) and
ultimately brings the beast to its end. This beast hates the world and
is
             determined to destroy it and consuming all that is in it. This beast
is different than most other “conquerors”
             in that it consumes and
destroys everything. Usually a conqueror will simply take what they
want and
             subjugate all the rest for their own purposes. This beast is
just simply a onsumer and destroyer.

7.    The demise of the fourth beast of Daniel 2 and the Beast from the sea of Revelation 13 is the
       same.
       a.    From this, we can conclude that the fourth beast that is
destroyed and given to the “burning fire” (Daniel
              7:11) is one and the
same as the beast that comes out of the sea in Revelation 13 and will
be destroyed
              and thrown into the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 19:20)

8.    At the end of the fourth beast, Christ will reign over the earth along with His saints.
       a.    In both cases of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7, they both agree that
after this beast is defeated, this last kingdom
              will belong to Christ
and the saints of the “Highest One”. This, of course, is exactly what
Revelation tells
              us as well.

9.    We find a correlation between “time, times, and half a time” with
other scripture to determine it as
       a definitive time period.
        a.    Daniel 7 is the first mention of “time, times, and half a time”.
In Revelation 12, if we compare verse 6
              with verse 14 we find that
“time, times, and half a time” is self-interpreted to be 1260 days in
the whole
              passage. This is because verse 14 appears to pick up where
verse 6 left off in the description of the
              interaction between the
dragon and the woman pictured in these passages. Given the subject
matter and
              its close association to these statements of time, it would
appear to be well founded to consider that they
              are both the same.
Along with this, Revelation 13:5, mentions 42 months as the time the
beast will have
              authority to act. This, of course, will be the same
amount of time that we’ve been speaking of.

10.    Boastfulness, arrogance, and speaking blasphemies are characteristic of both references to these
         beasts
         a.    We can note the actions of the fourth beast in Daniel 7
(especially verse 25) with the beast in Revelation
                13 in that both say
boastful and blasphemous things against God. (verses 5-7)

11.    We can find an additional correlation to all we’ve found here in
reference to the man of
         lawlessness in II Thessalonians 2.
         a.    The text here describes the man of lawlessness as…

                Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the
apostasy comes first, and the
                man of lawlessness is revealed, the son
of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above
                every so-called
god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of
God,
                displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I
was still with you, I was
                telling you these things? And you know what
restrains him now, so that in his time he will be
                revealed. For the
mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains
will do so
                until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will
be revealed whom the Lord will slay
               with the breath of His mouth and
bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the
               one whose
coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and
signs and false
               wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for
those who perish, because they did not
               receive the love of the truth so
as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a
               deluding
influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they
all may be judged who
               did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in
wickedness. II Thessalonians 2:3-12 (NASB)

               Simply reading this text and comparing to what we’ve found above can
now give us clear indication of a
               number of new characteristics of this
“beast” who we’ve now identified as the “man of lawlessness”.

At any rate, such an analysis can be done by anyone without the need of
a lot of specialized training so what is being pointed out here is
nothing particularly special. In fact, it uses the same skills you
might use to determine which of your children did something when at
first glance, it doesn’t seem so clear.

Because the scriptures are unified since they have one source. we can
properly understand what is related to what and what is not.

It is hoped that the reader is encouraged to investigate these things
to ascertain their trustworthiness. As a recommendation, there are two
things which aid in making a solid determination in matters like these.
First, it seems to work better if one gathers all the facts before one
makes conclusions about a matter especially with regard to eschatology.
Second, politely disregard what other people want to tell you things
say until you have searched the matter out completely for yourself (and then do it) and
let the Holy Spirit teach you straight from the text. You do not need
to be extraordinarily brilliant to do this. Besides the help from the
Holy Spirit, this works because the Lord has already granted us
excellent scholarship in translation work of the Bible to the point
such that only occasional deeper searching into the Greek and Hebrew
is necessary and usually only to clarify a point. Yet to be fair, every
now and then there is a real nugget to find in doing this. However,
more often than not, the Lord has been sufficiently clear in what He
has written and this is reflected into what has been interpreted. This, of course, presumes that
you use something like a “word for word” accurate translation like the
NASB.

Anyway, as you might guess, there is more to come… Blessings, Mr.Vee

Biblical
Eschatology Revisted

A New Look at Daniel 2

I have been contemplating for months how to really move forward on revealing
some information that I’ve come up with during a time of deep research into
Biblical prophecy early last year. I have not been satisfied with most of the
interpretations that are out there from one end of the spectrum to the other
simply because there seems (to me) that there were just too many loose ends for
me to feel comfortable with things as they have been explained on a number of
fronts at least in the more historical sense of studying biblical eschatology.
Often it would seem that there’s a good idea someone has come up with and then
somehow, the same person goes off into left field and things stop making sense.

I think there is a reason for this in that the times were not ready to be
understood and perhaps they aren’t now but in the interest of informing folks
of what I’ve found, it would be a good way perhaps of doing one more “check
out” of the data because even as it is, there is so much to tell now that it
looks like it might be a blog series if it goes all the way to the end of that
study. Saying that, while I’m certainly not saying that everything that I’m
going to say is correct, I will say that it is making more sense now.

Lest someone think that I’m going to tell you some really weird stuff, actually
the whole matter seems more reasonable than it ever has. In fact, for those who
have some understanding of eschatology, there should be a great deal of it that
will be familiar yet its almost as if one is looking at what we’ve all known
before but in a different light. For those who have slightly different
interpretations, I’ve even found ways that the Lord has made it so that even
some of these things are true but not exclusively so.  It is too early to
explain that thoroughly so that will have to await a better time. So that we
get there sooner, I should begin right away.

Let’s start with Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in Daniel 2…

I start here because it was where I started. I had learned that Islamic
eschatology actually believes that the stone that was cut without hands is the
arrival of their religion and they believe that they are the final answer from
Allah to become a worldwide kingdom for him. Biblically speaking, that is
simply wishful thinking since the whole matter is taken out of context and
something really important was overlooked. As I looked closer I wondered if I
hadn’t stumbled on the Rosetta Stone of biblical prophecy. Here’s the passage
where Daniel interprets the king’s dream…

You, O king, were looking and behold, there was
a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary
splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. The
head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver,
its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron
and partly of clay. You continued looking until a stone was cut out without
hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all
at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and
the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found But the stone that
struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

This was the dream; now we will tell its
interpretation before the king.

In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will
never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it
will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure
forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without
hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the
gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the
future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy. Daniel 2: 31-45  NASB

Through the working of God in Daniel to reveal this prophecy, we find one of
the most remarkable outlines of world history anywhere. Starting with
Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, we have
a road map all the way to when the Lord Himself establishes His kingdom that
shall never end and will put away all these other kingdoms.

Historically, it was Babylon, the
head, that was the first kingdom… then Medo-Persia, the breast and arms of
silver… then Greece,
the belly and thighs of bronze… then Rome,
the legs of iron… then here’s where something interesting happens. Almost
everyone that I’ve read in the past associates the feet with the legs but that
is not a strict necessity.

The feet are distinctly different as they are not pure iron. They are a mixture
of iron and clay. Also, it is the stone that is made without hands that strikes
the feet, not the legs. Maybe that’s being picky but it is certainly within
reasonable limits to consider this.

If we consider that the “feet” are the “last Gentile world kingdom”, then we
should pay much more attention to what its characteristics are. Based on the
description of the legs (iron), here’s what we find out about the feet:

1.    Iron destroys things so it would stand to reason that the
feet will have elements that will cause destruction.
      Yet the feet are also
clay/pottery and much weaker and brittle. So portions of this kingdom will be
as strong
      and destructive as Rome
(iron) was but other parts of it will be very weak and easily broken.
2.   When iron is mixed with clay as in a furnace, the iron
become brittle and loses some of its strength.
3.   We find that the people of this kingdom will combine with
one another in the seed of men but will not adhere
      to one another even as iron
does not combine with pottery. This means that this kingdom’s people will be
      scattered all over the world amongst the peoples of the world yet they will not
become a part of those nations
      but they will remain to themselves and their own
“kingdom”.
4.   It is this last Gentile kingdom that will be destroyed by
the “stone made without hands” who is none other
      than Jesus Christ Himself
since it is clearly shown elsewhere that He will reign in such a kingdom.

Now when we understand from elsewhere in prophecy that He will set up His
kingdom that will never be destroyed in Jerusalem,
we have to realize that there is Gentile occupation still there. When we start
down the trail of historical facts we find that the feet of the statue is none
other than the Islamic empire that has been around since the 7th century AD.
Indeed, each one of the Gentile empires have had control of Jerusalem
and Palestine during their reign.
Where will Christ return to set up His kingdom? Jerusalem..
Who will he find there… the final Gentile world empire… that which is based on
Islam. Take a long look at the history of Islam and you will find the first
three characteristics fit well enough with it.

For those who have an extensive recall of biblical eschatology can easily begin
to make connections between other scripture that will affirm this is what we
are seeing here. However, there is neither time nor room for exploring all that
in this post and hopefully we’ll be able to explore it in more detail later.
Perhaps I can post some charts that have the historical information that
follows this timeline that we see here in Daniel.

So, folks, we are living in the end times. Not surprised? Certainly not.
However, many have misunderstood this passage and have been looking for a
revived Roman empire. There doesn’t appear to be one.
The one that followed the Roman Empire, first expressed
as the western portion in Rome and
then through Constantinople, the eastern portion, was
succeeded by that founded by Mohammed. There is more to be said about this
later.

The only real surprise for some folks is that we now have a different Gentile
empire than we’ve been told, one that has to be intensely opposed to the Jewish
nation and Christians alike. Revelation 12 makes a strong reference to this and
if we care to see it, we would see that it would happen sometime after Christ's
ascension. Thus, we have it all in Islam. In effect, it is the fifth and final
Gentile kingdom.

This brings us some sobering concerns for the days ahead since all those who go
through the final days of “a time of tribulation like no other” will be forced
to take the mark of the Beast which is “the number of his name” or die. It is
interesting to note that there is a numeric system in Arabic (the language of
the Koran) that assigns numbers to words or names. It is the Abjad
system.  For instance, the word “Allah” alone has the numerical value of
66. There is also a similar system in Hebrew called “Gematria” as well as
others like the Greek language (isopsephy). The point I’m trying to make here
is that the main language of this final Gentile empire would “ascribe numbers
for names”. Fascinating, isn’t it? It is not yet clear here where 666 comes
from in Revelation 13 but “the number of his name” makes a positive association
in the quest of firmly determining these things as facts.

There is more... and as usual, I don't like a lot of speculation. When I find something like this... we truly have some interesting data points in acquiring an understanding of what the Lord was telling us in these passages.  Mr.Vee

Something to Think About...

I was reflecting on something today...

Who would still love you when they already knew:

1. the absolute worst about you,
2. that you'd constantly let them down, 
3. time and again you'd be less than totally faithful toward them,
4. that you'd forget to talk to them, often over long spans of time,
5. that you'd very rarely thank them for nice stuff they do for you?

I dare say there are very few people that would but thankfully God does...  Mr.Vee

Commentary


Calling for Change: Is it enough to get elected?

I don't usually do commentaries like this since that isn't the thrust
of this blog but some dialog between Bee and others have brought the
matter to my attention that Barak Obama seems to be gaining on the
title of heir apparent for the Democrats with Senator Ted Kennedy
endorsing him.

Honestly I couldn't care a whit about this. However,
there was something that caught my eye that applies not only to Barak
Obama but also to the rest of the candidates out there. So while it
might appear that I'm picking on Obama here, please remember that my
current opinion is that we should reset the process and start with a
whole new set of folks since I haven't seen anyone, at this point, who
seems to have the "right stuff" for the highest office of the land. I
could only hope that someone will rise to the occasion and demonstrate
real leadership that can be respected by all. Anyway, I will use
Obama's South Carolina victory speech to illustrate a point that
applies to the whole lot of these folks.

I have found it quite interesting that many people have been reported
to be responding to Barak Obama's call for "change we can believe in".
On the surface, this would seem to be a good thing so it would call for
a closer look.

After viewing Obama's victory speech in South Carolina, it was curious
to note that MSNBC only dedicated one camera to the coverage and the
crowd was rather small. This speaks volumes and we should not dismiss
it. Having been taught video production techniques, one chooses a small
building (and it seemed to be so) to do such things rather than a larger one and take lower
camera angles to make the scene look full to the viewers and give the
appearance of more people than there really were. This is pretty common
for news reporters to do to give the appearance of there being bigger
news than actually happens. It also could be that MSNBC did not really
believe enough in Obama to devote more resources to the event and
responded accordingly however this might be tempered by the fact
that other news services would be present as well restricting the
amount of equipment present. At any rate, enough techniques were used
to make a bigger event of it than it was.  However, I will concede the
media is only doing its job.

In reviewing the content of the speech, there were few, if any, new
points to Obama's message that haven't been heard before from any
non-descript candidate who carries the liberal banner. They were the
typical offers of free money from the government and this was repeated
in various ways however even these were rather vague. He subtly
repudiated the responsibility of the government to protect our
nation, one of the very reasons for our constitution. He was
essentially claiming that 9-11 meant nothing to our nation and the
subsequent work necessary to untangle the web in the Middle East of radical Islamic elements that have publicly threatened our land to reduce the future threats of similar disasters. This
showed his lack of wisdom in understanding the wider issues that
underlie the problem. With an eager willingness to abandon the process
before the job was done also tells us that he will probably talk a lot
about doing things and actually accomplish little because he will give
up before the job is finished.

He made long appeals to draw in all those who feel "left out" to join
him (the "disenfranchised" is the more recent term for this) for a
principle called "change we can believe in". Not only was he dividing
people on the basis of "haves & have nots" in the name of uniting
them,  he made "Washington" the boogey-man that he was opposed to and
wanted to change. Given that his party is now pretty much in power in Washington,
just what is he saying?  Are these loose words or is he conspiring to
overthrown his own party? The man appears to be quite persuasive but
somehow those who might be a little more on the ball may look at him and consider him having low credibility and may not be adept at foreign
policy. Of course there will be those who are saying that he means
ousting Bush from office but in truth he did not say that directly so
what he meant is really up for grabs.  The truth is that Bush will
leave office anyway for someone else to take the nation's reins simply
by due process of law so there will be change happening anyway. So what's the point of saying it?

Now the most damaging thing that was noted was while he was espousing
change, it was not at all clear what he was going to change or how he
might propose to do it. It was just "change" perhaps for "change's
sake".  It would be interesting to see if he ever revealed what he
wanted to do whether his following would stick with him after that.
Anyway, it seemed clear that Obama did not want to reveal anything
about any plan or idea at this point.

Also, in several instances, Obama clearly distanced himself from the
very change that he espouses by claiming that changes will be hard and
several times laid the responsibility for the change he promised on the
rest of the crowd and from the response, the crowd did not miss the shot directed at them. Once he were in office, we
should expect the same lack of character if and when he gets in. I
don't think the nation wants an "its not my fault" president. 

In addition, Obama makes sure we understand that his message hasn't
changed from the beginning of the campaign. Finally, he makes sure that
his listeners understand that they are somehow the "underdogs" and that
they should tell the "unbelievers" a simple three word message "yes, we
can", effectively saying to ignore anything to the contrary. It sounds
almost like a cult.  It is curious though, based on the news reports,
one would have thought there was the fervor of a religious revival. Yet
in viewing the participants, this wasn't as apparent.  It really seemed
like a political rally and indeed it was. One wonders what the purpose
is in putting such a gathering in much more glowing terms in writing
and seeing something different than it was reported to be. It is this
sort of thing that the news media needs to correct if they hope to have
any credibility but I've strayed from the topic.

So perhaps its best to just analyze the essence of the message and move
on to something much more basic such as the question, do we really want
"change"?  Obama's message presupposes this. In reality, very few
people really want change even if they are experiencing things that
press them forward to receive the benefits of it. So why is "change" a
rallying cry for this group?  We might simply recall that for most of
the last 8 years, we have been hearing of folks intensely dissatisfied
with the current administration, practically to the point of
irrationality, saying and doing things that simply were news fodder for
conservative news services, making themselves ridiculous and destroying
their credibility.

The fact is that Bush will leave office in January 2009 no matter what.
Change will happen whether Obama (or anyone else) is voted in or not.
Where will all this hate energy go at that point? It doesn't just
dissipate after the elections are over as was clearly seen in the close
presidential races of 2000 and 2004.  If this energy is not expended on
the government, it will certainly show up elsewhere perhaps even in our
private lives.

So what sort of change is this junior senator (since 2004) from
Illinois envisioning? So far he hasn't told us and it may be that he
doesn't know himself. That in itself is a concern since just wanting
the job to be president is not the qualifications for it.  The fact
that people believe a person has the answers doesn't mean that they
have them. Here's a man who's only been in office a short time and he's
considering a position well over his current experience level. Perhaps
this is the reason for being elusive about his plans for change. 
Something just doesn't add up with Obama.  Perhaps he really needed the
support of Ted Kennedy to mentor him through the rough waters of the
presidential race. But who will mentor Obama once he is in office. He
will be on his own. If he cannot understand now what his job will be,
what sort of change will there be and will it even last if he did?

We must always remember that change, while sometimes good, is not
always controllable and can cause devastating effects if not carefully
executed. Often well-intentioned plans, if we actually have them,
overlook critical consequences and very undesirable results can happen
and unfortunately, they often do.

I would have to respond to the slogan "Change we can believe in" in the
following manner. Change must represent something tangible and not be a
nebulous idea out there left up to the hearer to interpret for
themselves where politicians can later say, "I didn't say that.".
Change declared without any substance is a dangerous proposition
because it can and does unleash terrible things that leaves destruction
in its path much like an avalanche coming down a mountainside. An
avalanche is unfeeling and unaware of the potential destruction within
itself but in it is powerful forces and starts with only a small
movement and grows until it destroys everything in its path. Yes, an
avalanche is change and an apt description of change without substance.

Yet curiously enough, we find the real intent in Ted Kennedy's remarks. The intent here for them is getting a Democratic aligned president in office no matter what it takes... not the wonderful utopia that
everyone else in the crowd seems to envision. Kennedy slipped and
exposed the real intent. The magic in the word "change" vaporized at that instant.

Is Democratic rulership and liberal philosophy
in our government able to deliver on the promises which its
constituents dream for and conjure up in their minds,? While there have been earnest hopes to the contrary, it never has and
never will. That's because it never had substance to begin with. It has
been empty promises from the beginning but politics and governments
tends to be that way all the way around. It is idealism without an
engine (except taxes) and without the inherent desire to accomplish all the wonderful
promises for the populace except in small measure to gain votes to
maintain their position in government. It is idealistic thought
presented by these individuals knowing that they cannot deliver. It is
the politics of payoffs for votes.  No, Obama, I don't believe you and
you shouldn't even believe yourself. So many of us have heard this song before and it
isn't change by any stretch of the imagination. 

Is calling for change enough to get elected? Perhaps if people don't think too much. Whether we'll like it or not remains to be seen. There is strong doubt that there will be anything new or changed from what we already know with this line of thinking.  Mr.Vee

Discovering God’s Character:



Exodus 19-31: The Consecration of the People and the Covenant

After their three month long trek across the land and having reached
the wilderness of Sinai, it would seem from the wording that it was
exactly three months long. They had started from Rephidim and came
there and camped in front of the mountain.

Moses gets the call from God to come up the mountain and He says to
Moses that they have seen how He had brought them over to Himself as He
puts it “on eagle’s wings” which is as much to say they were brought in
a “speedy and protected fashion”. He also makes note of what He did to
the Egyptians for their sake.

It is here that the Lord makes His offer to Israel. If they are to obey
His voice and keep His covenant, then they would be His own possession
among all the peoples out of all the earth. If they were to agree to
this He would make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Before we go any farther here, we need to realize what was being
offered and what was not. God had presented the offer to them which
would require of them more than the average nation. While they would be
His, they would be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. If one pays
attention here, it is not saying that they would be the most blessed of
all nations although that might come along indirectly with this. They were offered a special place in God’s economy where
intercession and holiness would be the hallmarks for all the world to
see. If we miss this, we find that the rest of the all the Law (moral
and ceremonial portions) make little sense. It will also explain why a
little later on that the Lord’s tone toward Israel changes somewhat
because of their infidelity toward Him.

It has been a couple of months that I’ve pondered over this situation
and now realize that if there were ever a point of tension in the
entire Bible, this would be one of them. Prior to this point, God had
been very patient with them. Once they accepted the terms (and they
will), from that point on, things would be different. God will be
setting up His kingdom of priests and His holy nation. The requirements
of this covenant would be much more than the people would understand at
the outset. Indeed, it would be since there would only be one person
who could fulfill it, Jesus Christ Himself.

So Moses takes the Lord’s proposal before the sons of Israel and as we
are told, they responded, and Moses conveys their response back to the
Lord.

So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them
all these words which the LORD had commanded him. All the people
answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do!"
And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.  Exodus
19:7-8 (NASB)

Upon receiving that agreement from the people, the Lord instructs Moses
how He would present Himself to the people and how He would speak to
him in a manner that would cause all the sons of Israel to believe in
Moses as well. As we will see, the Lord is making sure that as He
approaches the people that they will not be harmed in the process and
that He fully intends to convey that Moses would be His appointed
leader for them.

The details of this visitation is that the Lord would come in a thick
cloud so they could hear Him speak to Moses. The people will be
required to be consecrated for two days, that present day and the next
and on the third day He would meet with them by coming down on Mount
Sinai for all of them to see.  The mountain itself would be cordoned
off so that no one was to touch it or the border of it. Those that did
would die. It was even instructed that sexual relations be prohibited
during that time. It is quite clear that coming before the Lord was
very serious business.

In the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning
flashes and a thick cloud of smoke like the smoke of a furnace on the
mountain, a very loud trumpet sound and the mountain quaked violently.
It was a very frightening display. In spite of this, Moses brought the
people out of the camp to meet God and they stood at the foot of the
mountain.

As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God
answered Him with thunder. The Lord tells Moses to come to the top of
the mountain and Moses obeyed.

The Lord told Moses to warn the people not to break through to the Lord
to gaze because many would perish and that the priests who come near to
the Lord should consecrate themselves or they would perish as well.
Moses repeats the Lord’s earlier words that there would be boundaries
set around the mountain and they cannot come up because He has warned
them earlier about that.

Moses is told to go down the mountain and come back up again, this time
with Aaron with him. The priests and people must not come up or the
Lord would break forth upon them. So Moses goes down and tells the
people of all this.

Before Moses and Aaron return to the top of Mount Sinai, Then God
speaks out for all the people to hear and we see in Exodus 20-23 what
the Lord Himself desires for them to obey. First, they must be rightly
related to their God and then be rightly related to their fellow man
and have proper conduct toward one another. Please take the time to
read those chapters with the idea of how His character shows through
those ordinances and consider how much He desires that not only we are
in right relation to Him but that our relations to each other is good
as well.

Upon the completion of that message, God says to Moses… in Exodus 24

Then He said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and
Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a
distance. Moses alone, however, shall come near to the LORD, but they
shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him."  Exodus
24:1-2 (NASB)

While Moses will receive stone tablets outlining the covenant between
the Lord and Israel, Moses recounts all the words God had spoken to
them and all the ordinances and they agreed to them. So then he writes
them all down and arose early in the morning, building an altar at the
foot of the mountain with 12 pillars for each of the tribes of Israel. They offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. Half the blood was put in basins and the other half was sprinkled on the altar.
  

Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the
people; and they said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we
will be obedient!" So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the
people, and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has
made with you in accordance with all these words." Exodus 24:7-8 (NASB)

What happens next is amazing…

Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the
elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet
there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky
itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the
sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank. Exodus
24:9-11 (NASB)

Once this is over, the Lord said to Moses to come up to Him on the
mountain and remain there, where He will give Moses the stone tablets
with the law and the commandment which He had written for their
instruction.

But Moses does not go alone…

So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. Exodus 24:13 (NASB)

Yet the elders were to remain with Aaron and Hur in his absence and
they were to deal with all the legal matters until he returned.

In the rest of Exodus 24 we learn of some details about Moses’ visit with God on Mount Sinai and for how long…

Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
The glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it
for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst
of the cloud. And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of
the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountain top.
Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and
Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Exodus 24:15-18
(NASB)

During those forty days and nights, Moses would receive instructions
for the tabernacle and the ordinances for the priests, etc.

When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses
the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the
finger of God. Exodus 31:18 (NASB)

However, due to Moses’ long duration on the mountain, some unhappy things were to occur but we’ll save that for another time.

Where we saw a similar covenant being drawn between God and Abraham in
less detail in Genesis, we see that this one is quite detailed and its
implications were wide-ranging. In it all, however, if we care to look carefully, we see a good God who
requires the best from us simply because those things are good and
honoring to Him and ultimately honoring to us as well. In what place do
we see harshness except toward things that simply are “not right” and
should not be done anyway? We simply do not. What the Lord required of
man morally was good and right and would be a protection for all. What
He required of Israel was only appropriate for its position as a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation before God. Those things He asked
of them were right and fitting. Indeed, when Christ came he did not
come to abolish the Law, it was in fact, good. He came to fulfill it
because it showed us what man was really like. He set the good standard
and we in our fallen state cannot come close to meeting it. Thanks be
to God for His mercy so that we might have a hope of having a character
as good as His through His Spirit.  Mr.Vee

A Belated Merry Christmas to all! ... or is it?

I guess I am getting around to posting a little late for an "on time" well wishing. It has been a quiet and peaceful day.  I really needed that. We all exchanged gifts the evening before and simply enjoyed the peace the next day brought.  And perhaps I spent a bit more time than I ought tuning up  my computer later in the day.

Do I really believe that December 25th is the real Christmas? Not really. Would I be interested in knowing when it really was? Sure... simply to know.  The point (to me) is that we still remember Christ's birth at any time and to remember that God kept His promise to have the seed of the woman crush the head of the serpent. Has the world responded appropriately to all this? Certainly not... but it is just as He told us it would be. We shouldn't be surprised. We certainly can find fault in ourselves, too, can't we? Yes. Aren't you glad that the gift of salvation is through Christ and not through anyone of ourselves? I am. If it were up to me, we'd all be in trouble.

Since His sacrifice was absolutely and forever complete, every day is now "Christmas" not just December 25th. Every day is a good day to give the gift of God's love to man... and to love the Lord God as well.  So as I wish you a "Merry Christmas" and it now being December 26th, it is not late but an expression of the eternal verdict on the Cross by one called Christ on a particular date in history.

It is done. It is finished. Sin and death are defeated. Eternal life with Christ is ours. My friends, we really can be joyful now... everyday we live.  Mr.Vee

Discovering God’s Character



Exodus 15-18: Red Sea to Sinai

We start out in Exodus 15 with the song of Moses and Israel over God’s
victory over Pharaoh and the Egyptians. It is quite a passage of praise
to the Lord. However, the wonderful feeling of freedom from bondage
quickly gives way to fear at the end of a three day journey to Marah
with them finding some bitter water located there.  The people grumble
at Moses and the Lord has Moses put a branch in the waters and it turns
them sweet. It is a very curious thing that the Lord instructs them
that He is their “healer”.

And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD
your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His
commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the
diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am
your healer."  Exodus 15:26 (NASB)


One does not experience bondage and oppression of any kind without experiencing “hurt” of some sort. I wonder if the Lord is telling us that one of the very first things we
need to do after experiencing victory over one’s enemies is to purge
the bitterness that is left behind. From a practical point of view, the
Lord knows we don’t do well with bitter hearts.

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of
bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that
there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own
birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when
he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no
place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.  Hebrews
11:15-18 (NASB)

This is a very important verse since Hebrews 11:19 and following speak
of Mount Sinai, the very destination that the people of Israel will
be coming to in the days ahead. The Lord is our Healer… yes, it is necessary to let the past go and
forgive. When the Lord gives us a new start, those things which will
hold us back will appear. Let them go and He will heal us. Just as the writer of Hebrews tells us in verses
26-28 of the same chapter, the Lord will shake out the things that can be shaken in our
lives and leave the things that are unshakeable so that we might stand
before Him in righteousness.

They soon move to Elim where there are 12 springs of water and 70 date
palms. Isn’t it curious that the Lord has “twelve” springs waiting
there as in the 12 tribes of Israel?  Now it also seems curious after
such an experience at Marah that they would come to a place that seems
restful and without tension or worry but a place from which they will
need to move on from in order to be where God wants them to be. It would
seem to be an appropriate respite after dealing with the “bitterness of
Marah”.

They leave Elim and arrive in the wilderness of Sin which is between
Elim and Sinai, halfway through their journey to Sinai… on the 15th day
of the second month after leaving Egypt. As we will see in Exodus 19:1,
the departure from Egypt to Mount Sinai is exactly three months long.

At that point, the people grumble again. This time it is with Moses and
Aaron. It is at this point, the Lord Himself provides the meat (quail)
in the evening and a new thing comes about that has been an interesting
subject surrounding the Wilderness Journey… manna… a name given by the
people for the thing.

From the text we find that manna was created as a flake-like thing from
the evaporated dew of the morning that was fragile enough to be melted
by the heat of the sun. It needed to be eaten the same day that it was
gathered, was white and tasted like wafers and honey. It was described to be like coriander seed. Israel would eat manna
during their entire 40 years of wandering in the wilderness until they
came to the promised land.

We also see the beginnings of the Sabbath starting here with
instructions on how to gather the manna. The people would rest on the
seventh day, probably a vast change from the life of oppression under which they lived while in  Egypt.

As Israel leaves the wilderness of Sin and sets up camp at Rephidim,
again they find no water to drink.  The people are about to lynch Moses
and so he goes before the Lord and the Lord instructs him to strike the
rock at Horeb so that water will come out of it.  The place was given
two names:  Massah (test) and Meribah (quarrel) because the sons of
Israel quarreled and tested the Lord.

While at Rephidim, Amalekites came and fought Israel.  It is here that
Joshua commands Israel’s army and Moses, Aaron, and Hur go to a hilltop
and support Moses’ hands because the battle went well with Israel when
Moses’ hands were in the air. In the end, Israel completely devastates
the Amalekites. It is here we see the Lord makes a promise to
completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven and will war
against Amalek from generation to generation. It is here that Moses
makes an altar and names it “The Lord is my Banner”.

The next scene is Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, showing up with Zipporah, Moses’ wife and two children, Gershom and Eliazer.  It was a wonderful meeting with
Moses sharing all the good things the Lord had done on their behalf and
in spite of the hardships they had faced. Jethro takes heart in this
and rejoiced about the Lord’s goodness and offers a burnt offering to
the Lord and has a meal before the Lord with Aaron and all the elders
of Israel.

The next day, Jethro gives Moses some much needed advice concerning
judging the people.  Moses should be the people’s representative to God
and teach them His statutes and laws, their manner of life and the work
they should do. He also told him to delegate a good deal of the work of
judging the people to able, God-fearing men who love truth and hate
dishonest gain and place them as leaders over thousands, hundreds,
fifties, and tens. Jethro says if the Lord confirms what he was saying then he should go ahead and do it. Moses does and it works out well. We should also note something here.
Jethro understands the heart of God. It shows when he tells Moses to
choose God-fearing men who love truth and hate dishonest gain. Isn’t
this what the Lord looks for in His people?

Jethro then prepares to leave and Moses bids him farewell and Jethro returns to his own land.

After this, Israel leaves Rephidim and travels to the wilderness of
Sinai and they camp in front of the mountain… exactly 3 months after
they left Egypt.

In a sneak preview of Exodus 19, we see what the Lord’s intent was by
what He would tell Moses to the tell the people once they reached the
mountain…

Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain,
saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of
Israel:



'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore
you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will
indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own
possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you
shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'

 

These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.  Exodus 19:3-6 (NASB)


As we might discern, the Lord was never going to let them down on their
journey to Mount Sinai.  In spite of their grumbling, not once would He
have allowed them to go without water or food or the ability to fight
off their enemies. This is a very profound thing. It pleased Him to
call out Israel to do this thing in spite of the doubt and fear that
seem to plague them at every turn. 

This three month trek was one of destiny. One that would bring them
face to face with their Lord and would be a turning point for the
fledgling nation. We will soon be seeing the heart of God expressed in
the law that He will deliver through Moses. 

And the heart of God is not hard to understand since He makes it so plain to us through His Law.  As Jesus clearly said,

And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'  This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it,
'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'  On these two commandments
depend the whole Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:37-40 (NASB)

So whatever you read in the Law of God remember it all comes down to
this. God asks us to be faithful to Him and return His love and
devotion to us back to Him and to treat others as kindly as you would
have them treat you.  There are few verses in the entire Bible so
comprehensive, informative and yet simple. In this, we can both
understand God’s heart and His desire that good comes to His people and
to those we come in contact with… that in the end, everything we
can see represented in Jesus Christ would be a reflection of His benevolent
heart toward sinful man.  Mr.Vee

Catching Up  and a Little Fun...

This week's been intense but the Lord's been good. I'm trying to unwind from it so I saw a "quiz" on FKIProfessor's site and thought I'd go ahead and do it.

You are Spock

Spock 74% Jean-Luc Picard 65% Geordi LaForge 65% Beverly Crusher 55% Worf 55% Mr. Sulu 55% Data 53% Deanna Troi 50% Chekov 50% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 50% Will Riker 40% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 40% Uhura 35% Mr. Scott 35% James T. Kirk (Captain) 20%

You are skilled in knowledge and logic. You believe that the needs of the many   outweigh the needs of the few.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test

Fascinating.... The only problem I see is that I can't do a Vulcan death grip...   Mr.Vee