Prepare for the Return of the King

CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THE RETURN OF THE KING

Ms. Smallback

Blog Post Date:  8-30-2020

You know how we say things like “it’s raining cats and dogs”? We understand that to mean it’s raining really hard. You have to dig back a couple centuries to understand the origin of that phrase was when they had thatch roofs and the animals sometimes nested in them, and when it rained really hard they’d fall through the roof. That’s an idiom.

The Bible is full of them.

When I tell people we can know the season of the Lord’s return, they act like I’m either a raving lunatic or an idiot. [Eh, fine. I’ve never been one to care much what someone else thinks of me. I do, however care about understanding the Word of God.]

We have this well-known passage from Paul who tells us that we are not in darkness like the rest of the world, so we will not be caught off guard like the rest of the world. Really look at what he says here*:

Just the first sentence is a mouthful! Paul said we don’t need anything written to us about the times and epochs (sometimes translated seasons). Why would that be? Why does Paul assume his reader(s) – the early first century Church – know the times and seasons – specifically about the return of Christ?

Interestingly, this passage immediately follows the infamous “rapture” passage of the return of Christ and the apantesis of the believers in escorting Christ from the air to the earth.

Speaking of a rapture….

So let’s debunk the rapture myth. Christians aren’t going to be raptured up and leave the earth while some seven year tribulation is hitting the earth. That’s a lie, and a dangerous one. Someone find me this teaching before 1830 and we can have a meaningful conversation about it.

The “rapture theology” originated when a young Scottish girl named Margaret MacDonald told a “vision” she had. John Darby ran with it, enveloped it in his pre-tribulation theory, and as they say, the rest is history. But it’s not solid Biblical teaching. It’s not Biblical at all, in fact.

[As an aside, I would say most of the serious false teachings on the return of Christ have occurred in the last couple centuries. The early Church did not have the “doctrines” today’s Church promotes. But that’s a whole other story.]

It’s really that simple. I don’t need to go on about a rapture that doesn’t exist in Scripture because it’s a false teaching and no one can prove it by Scripture. So let’s talk about an “apantesis” instead…

Now this word “apantesis” is really important and carries serious implications. The Greek word literally means “to meet one” and is used only three times in the Bible: Matthew 25:6, Acts 28:15 and 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

In each of the three uses of “apantesis” in Scripture, it clearly depicts a scenario of:

“Apantesis” according to Vine:

“It is used in the papyri of a newly arriving magistrate. It seems that the special idea of the word was the official welcome of a newly arrived dignitary”…

It’s a welcoming party, if you will, to receive royalty or dignitaries. They send a delegation for a reception of the coming dignitary. The welcoming party leaves the destination point to receive the coming dignitary a bit out of the city or locale, and then accompanies him/her back to the destination point.

If a visiting monarch, president, or head of state was visiting our city, an apantesis would occur. There would be a welcoming group of people go out to the point of entry into our city, perhaps an airport. That group would then escort the visiting dignitary back into the city and the point of destination.

This is the context of Christ’s Second Advent. He will return to earth the same way He left.

Acts 1:9-11 [NASU]: “And after He [Christ] had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

When He returns, the believers still on the earth will actually meet Him in the air and escort Him back to earth.

1 Thess 4:17 [NASU]: “ Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…”

That word “meet” here in the Scripture they like to quote for their rapture theory is apantesis – used only three times in Scripture — and defined as a welcoming party to accompany or escort a magistrate or dignitary to the point of destination.

Please note one of the other three times apantesis is used is in the parable Jesus gives of the Bridegroom’s return, and it is the instruction given to the virgins for the arrival of the Bridegroom (King): go out and meet Him! Accompany Him to His destination (the wedding feast).

So no, there is no “left behind” scenario of a rapture that whisks believers away. That is a lie. (and that book series has done considerable damage to the Church) There is, however, a far greater scenario: we will meet our Lord in the air and accompany Him back to the earth at his Second Advent.

But back to the return of Christ not catching believers by surprise…

In verse nine of 1Thess 5, Paul reminds the believers we’re not destined for the wrath of God, which is also why he took pains to explain that upon Christ’s second advent (where He comes to exact judgment on the earth), the believers still alive on the earth are caught up in the air to Him (as He is descending from Heaven) to accompany Him back to the earth. (theapantesis) The believers accompany Christ on the “day of the Lord”; they are not left on the earth to fend for themselves (as His return is described in Isaiah 63 or Revelation 19:11-16), for they are with Him as Paul described in 1 Thess. 4:15-18.

The Thief in the Night

So what is this thief in the night that Paul, a devout Jew and Pharisee extraordinaire speaks of? And why is this a perfect descriptor for why Christians will not be caught too much by surprise by Christ’s return?

This descriptor is another idiom for something Paul’s audience would have been familiar with, but the western mind would not. In the times of the temple in Jerusalem, part of the priests’ duty was to keep the fire on the altar burning. They had schedules for their duties to keep watch. The night shift was more difficult for obvious reasons. The High Priest would make random visits to the watchman priest of the fire to make sure the fire was still lit. If the watchman priest had fallen asleep, the High Priest would take burning coals and shovel some on the priest’s robes. The priest would awaken in a start as his robes began smoldering and pull off his robes. This was considered an obvious disgrace as he would be exposed naked (or in undergarments) when the next priest came on shift. On the night shift, the High Priest was known by the nickname “thief in the night”.

Paul is telling us the High Priest (who is now only Christ Himself) will come like a thief in the night, and the immediate understanding would be of this scenario. Obviously we are the priests responsible for keeping the fire lit on the altar. (God calls us His priests in Rev. 1:6, 5:10, 20:6.) If we’re doing our job, there’s no way we’ll be overtaken because we will see the High Priest coming! Now does this passage make sense?

Rev 16:15 NASU (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”)

Do you see the reference to keeping our clothes and not walking about naked?? Doesn’t that make more sense now? Can you see how Christ’s disciples should be prepared for the return of the King? If they’re at their tasks with the fire on the altar being kept, they will see as the High Priest is coming. But if they’re asleep, they will be caught off guard, suffer for their slothfulness, and be exposed (naked) for those who were awake and ready.

It is, in fact, assumed by Paul and in the early Church, that Christians will not be caught by surprise at Christ’s return. In fact, look at the comparison Paul draws from the believers to the world. The believers will not be caught by surprise, but the world will be in the midst of declaring “peace and safety” unaware of the actual season they are in. Selah.

Christ’s admonition in these passages is to the believers, not the world. The world doesn’t know or care about God and His ways. The world will keep on keeping on like it always has with wars, ethnic wars, droughts, famines and plagues, etc. People will have their agendas of peace or war, of unity or division. As the famous preacher said, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” To these people, the return of Christ will catch them by surprise. They’re the same mockers Peter refers to here:

2 Peter 3:3-7 NASU  A Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

Yet Peter continues and here we have another reference to the thief….

2 Peter 3:10-13 NASU  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Planet earth is actually wrapping up, if you’ve been paying attention. God’s timeline for humanity has an actual expiration date. God, in His great mercy, has been gracious to let us in on His purposes and plans. We only need to seek Him. Paul said we don’t need the times and epochs written to us, why? Because we already know them. (or we should if we’re disciples of the Son) Our job is to occupy until He comes, clothed and ready, with the fire on the altar burning.

No King In Israel

NO KING IN ISRAEL, PART 1

By Dr. Stephen Jones:  Jul 01, 2019

Blog Post Date:  9-30-2019

The last five chapters of the book of Judges appear to be out of order insofar as chronology is concerned. However, when Samuel wrote this book, his intention was first to give an actual history of the Judges in the main portion of the book and then transition us into the book of Ruth in the final five chapters. The history of Judges from Othniel to Samson gives us the revelation of sonship through the Judges’ names, but it also ends in failure. Samson died without delivering Israel from the Philistine captivity.

The theme of the final section (Judges 17-21) is “No King in Israel,” stated three times: Judges 17:6, 18:1, and 21:25. Samuel intended for the readers to understand that during the three centuries of Judges, the Israelites were responsible to obey the laws of God without a king to enforce those laws. The examples set forth in these chapters show Israel’s failure to be self-governed by personal conscience.

The Conscience

One’s conscience, of course, is man-made and is only as reliable as the condition of one’s heart. This is easily seen in the fact that various cultures have developed their own laws and traditions, and their sense of conscience reflects those values, whether they are of God or not. One culture may see nothing wrong with making war on a neighboring tribe to capture wives, slaves, or wealth.

More recently, an increasing number of people in the West and around the world see nothing wrong with killing babies in the womb or in gay marriage. Many see nothing wrong with disinheriting people from the land, buying and selling real estate, incarcerating those convicted of theft, or charging interest on loans. Such things are done routinely, and few people have an understanding of what life in the Kingdom even is.

The fact is that one’s conscience must be based on the Word of God and His laws, rather than upon the prevailing culture in which men live. We all need to abandon our own culture and to seek the Kingdom of God and its way of life. Until we do that, there will be no peace among men and nations, most will remain uprooted from the land, and the disparity between rich and poor will continue to widen.

The deeper problem is that the law has not been written on the hearts of most people, including most believers. This is evidence that the New Covenant has yet to do its work in most people. The church put away the law of God quite early, not understanding that the task of the New Covenant was to write those laws upon our hearts by the work of the Holy Spirit, so that we might receive the nature of Christ. Only then might our conscience actually be trusted to be our guide, for our conscience will lead us according to whatever laws are written therein.

A law rejected is a law not written on one’s heart. Whatever law of God that we reject as being somehow ungodly is replaced or substituted by a tradition of men based upon an unregenerate conscience. Whenever men claim that some law of God is unjust or unloving, they blaspheme the nature of the One who gave that law. Thankfully, most such blasphemy from believers is spoken out of ignorance, rather than outright malice, but the effect upon conscience is the same. The result is that the Kingdom of God and God’s culture has remained elusive in history.

Old and New Covenant Faith

Religions in the world are all based in some way on the Old Covenant. That is, it is based on men’s vows and intentions to achieve righteousness (or self-improvement) by means of one’s own self-discipline or obedience to the revelation of self-proclaimed prophets and sages. In the case of the Israelites, they enjoyed an advantage in that the laws they received through Moses were from genuine revelation, as we believe.

However, the Old Covenant in their case still involved the vows of men, and so righteousness was still based upon men’s ability to keep their vows. The Apostle calls this “works,” as opposed to “faith.”

Paul’s doctrine was foolishness to the Jews of his day, because they all believed that they had faith in God. They prayed daily that God would assist them in keeping their Old Covenant vows, and they had great faith that God would do so. But this was not New Covenant faith. The New Covenant is God’s vow to men, making Him responsible to fulfill His vow. New Covenant faith is “being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21).

Most Christian denominations are based on the Old Covenant, and so it is not surprising that they believe that only a few will be saved in the end. After all, if salvation is based on the decisions and vows of men, and so few make such decisions for Christ during their lifetime, it is only natural to draw that conclusion.

Christianity as a whole has failed as much as Israel did in the pre-Christian era, because both groups based their salvation on men’s vows, rather than God’s vows (promises). In both cases, they taught that the promise of God was to help us fulfill our own vows, leaving the result fully in the hands of men. But New Covenant faith is based on God’s ability to make it happen, not just His assistance to help us make it happen. So Hebrews 8:10 says,

¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them upon their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. ¹¹ … For all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them.

There is no uncertainty in this promise, nor does its result depend upon men. In the end, in spite of men’s resistance, God will win, for His will is stronger than the will of men. This is, in fact, the New Covenant promise given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for Deuteronomy 29:12-15 says,

¹² that you may enter into the covenant with the Lord your God, and into His oath which the Lord your God is making with you today, ¹³ in order that He may establish you today as His people and that He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ¹⁴ Now not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath, ¹⁵ but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not with us here today.

In other words, the promise that God made with Abraham, that in his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed, was the same covenant that God was making with Israel in the plains of Moab. This was the second covenant with Israel (Deuteronomy 29:1), and it was inherently different from the first covenant at Mount Horeb (Exodus 19:8). The first was based on men’s vows, while the second was based on God’s oath (or vow).

If the people had understood this covenant and had placed their faith in God’s ability to keep His oath, they would have been New Covenant believers. In fact, there was always a remnant of grace throughout history who had such faith in God—even though the majority blindly clung to their Old Covenant faith in their own ability and works.

In the types and shadows, we take note that Israel did not enter the Promised Land under the Old Covenant, for their disobedience and rebellion in the wilderness had disqualified them by their Exodus 19 covenant. They entered the land under the New Covenant under which Joshua (Jesus) brought them into the Promised Land.

This teaches us that no one can enter the Promised Land except by faith in the promises of God. The Old Covenant invariably leads men to Kadesh-barnea, where men conclude, “we are not able” (Numbers 13:31). They were unable, because their faith was based in themselves, rather than in God. Hebrews 3:19 says,

¹⁹ And so we see that they were not able to enter [His rest] because of unbelief.

There is no “rest” for those who still base their salvation upon their own ability to keep their vows. Such people continually strive to achieve perfection in their own strength, hoping that the Holy Spirit will assist them sufficiently. He will indeed assist them, but yet they cannot attain righteousness except through the New Covenant.

The Role of Overcomers

The overcomers are, by definition, New Covenant believers. This is not to say that they must have a clear and full understanding of the New Covenant. Matters of the heart are not always apparent to all, and in the end, God decides such things. Paul tells us only that the remnant of grace has removed the Old Covenant veil from their eyes (2 Corinthians 3:14-16), while the rest remain blinded by that veil (Romans 11:7 KJV).

The “remnant” is the main Hebrew word describing the overcomers, especially in the prophecies of Isaiah. In the days of Elijah the remnant of grace numbered just 7,000 (Romans 11:4) out of the millions of Israelites in the land. These, Paul says, were God’s “chosen” (NASB), or “the election” (KJV). The Greek word is ekloga, which has a numeric value of 144, a number that is associated with the overcomers in the book of Revelation.

The overcomers are the New Covenant remnant in the sea of Old Covenant religion. They are the forerunners, the first-fruits of the greater harvest yet to come. They are the ones who believe and understand the promises of God, and so they are assured not only of personal victory but of God’s ultimate victory over all of creation.

They are the ones who keep alive the idea of Kingdom government and culture. The Spirit of God writes the law on their hearts through daily experience, learning, and spiritual growth. As these laws begin to form their own nature in conformity to God’s nature, they become capable of judging the world (1 Corinthians 6:2), knowing when to apply justice and how to apply mercy. They understand that the purpose of the law is ultimately to bring correction, not to destroy, because the destruction or loss of any man would cause God’s promise to fail.

The overcomers are called to bear witness to the nature and plan of God. Though few may hear their testimony in the present age, their message will prevail in the end when every knee bows and joyfully concurs that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11).

The Period of the Judges

Samuel’s book on the history of the Judges was designed to show the failure of conscience to bring about Kingdom law and culture. The same could be said about the reign of Saul, for if the heart and conscience of men could not submit to the rule of God, how could a king’s decrees make them righteous?

The problem was that “in those days there was no king in Israel.” This is not to say that King Saul was the solution. Rather, it speaks into a deeper problem that the people had rejected God’s rule over them, as we see in the people’s demand for a king. 1 Samuel 8:4-7 says,

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; ⁵ and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.”

Whether they were ruled by military Judges or by kings, the people themselves remained lawless in the sight of God, and for this reason they were in a state of rebellion against the true King. Neither could a lawless and rebellious king change the hearts of the people to bring forth the Kingdom of God.

Yet in spite of the general condition of the people, there were men like Boaz who reflected the heart of God, especially in his kind treatment of foreigners, and in his generosity toward Ruth, and in his willingness to secure Elimelech’s inheritance through the principle of sonship.

Boaz, then, was one of the overcoming remnant in his day, a type and shadow of One who would come later from Bethlehem as the Son of God and as the King of Kings. The period of the Judges from Othniel to Samson (and Samuel) represented the broader interim leading to the coronation of the King of Kings and the day when all things are subject to His rule.