20 August 2018: So we proceed with Part II of this subject.
Eschatology Today believes it would be remiss to not begin with a brief side-bar regarding the brethren of Berea, Macedonia, due to the invoking that term we use today which carries the name of their city.
How many are aware of the phrase "first to the Jew, then the Greek (Gentile)"? We all know it comes from Paul in Romans 1:16. We should also know that when the Apostles departed Israel to preach the Gospel their first stop wherever they went was to the local synagogue in the various foreign lands. The Jews were in diaspora all across the ancient world well before the Romans sack Jerusalem in 70 AD. Many Jewish communities, like the one in Berea, Macedonia had been there for as many as four centuries prior to the time of Jesus Christ on this earth. Jewish colonies existed throughout Asia Minor, Greece and ultimately Rome itself. The Book of Daniel contained the prophecy of the coming of the Greek Empire of Alexander, and its eventual division into four lesser kingdoms. Paul was himself a Hellenized Jew living is Tarsus, Seleucid Empire.
So, it was to this Jewish diaspora that the Apostles first presented the Gospel of Jesus Christ as Messiah. The intense political upheaval within the Macedonian-Greek Empire after the death of Alexander the Great in the 2nd Century BC led to a pronounced revival of Jewish messianism. So, little wonder that Paul and Silas in presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Bereans in their synagogue received the word they preached after searching their Jewish Scriptures. See: Acts 17:10-15. "...they received the word in all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." This is what we should do also on a day to day basis to determine if something we read online is so, Eschatology Today included. There is no better example of a Jewish or Gentile Christian than those of ancient Berea, Macedonia.
In true Bereanism, more references to the unprecedented event have been found and need to be shared. In the second chapter of the prophet Haggai's book, there are a pair of distinct references indicating that shortly after the 3rd Temple is standing in Jerusalem the events discussed in this now two-part series will take place. In Haggai 2:6 and 2:22 there are what I believe a dual-purpose prophetic passages concerning the Lord's shaking of heaven and earth and judgment upon nations while the temple stands in Jerusalem.
Also direct your attention toward Hebrews 12:26 where the prophetic promise of a greater shaking is found: "Yet once more i will shake not only the earth, but also heaven." Verse 27 amplifies this by saying: (emphasis added) "Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain."
Then we have Isaiah 24:1-6. Many commentators of years past would explain this language as simply an ancient Hebrew prophet venting, as if he were going off on some kind of ancient Jewish rant. An "it's what they do" kind of thing. To that I say nonsense. The ancient prophets ALL spoke with the authority of God by the Holy Spirit. They spoke what He wanted to be written down. None of this is to be taken as merely figurative Hebrew language.
And then there is a reference to the great darkening and the great shaking of heaven and earth in the very distinctive past tense. The reference is by John of Patmos, and it is found in Revelation 20:11 where we read, "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them."
Another thought to consider. The others planets in our solar system. Mercury, Venus, Mars. The so-called wandering stars. Since the Lord shakes the heavens and the earth is moved out of its place, it stands to reason the other planets would not be immune to the Lord's handiwork.
Another thought to consider. The others planets in our solar system. Mercury, Venus, Mars. The so-called wandering stars. Since the Lord shakes the heavens and the earth is moved out of its place, it stands to reason the other planets would not be immune to the Lord's handiwork.
There's a whole lotta shaking going on!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading to the very end of Isaiah 24 and the dire circumstances facing the heavens and earth, it is God answering our prayers that His kingdom come on this earth and His King reign in Jerusalem.
Is24:23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
Our prayers, imploring God to establish His kingdom are being answered.
Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,
7And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
All of this shaking is for that purpose and will reveal what type of foundation the people of earth have built their house upon.
All the religions of the world will crumble at the shaking of the heavens and earth. A very clear choice will be given by the preaching of the 2 witnesses, the 144,000 and the angels flying in mid-heaven proclaiming the gospel.
Come Lord Jesus!
Sean, concerning the other planets, or "wandering stars" being shaken, doesn't that occur during the 6th seal judgment?
ReplyDeleteHartdawg,
DeleteAll of these things occur concurrently... dark sun, red moon, cosmic disturbance ... it's all the same Divine Intervention. God showing Satan and all Creation who's the boss.
Sean, I was thinking, do you think the orbit around the sun and our 24hr rotation will be the same after the shaking event, I'm trying to determine the final 1260 days and how would anyone on earth would know how to count it?
ReplyDeleteJmoll,
DeleteIMHO 1260 days are still 1260 days whether they are long, or have been shortened as they Lord has declared He will do during the megas thlipsis. They are humanly comprehensible days.
Perhaps this might due to an increased rotation of the earth upon its axis?
Thanks, seeing it in writing, makes perfect sense. :)
DeleteSean,
ReplyDeleteKeeping up with you is getting me way behind and I am studying as fast as I can. But are you sure the days haven't been shortened already. The night seems to be coming on way too soon or I am getting very old and slow. However, digging in day light or night light is still my objective so I am just checking in and keeping up with the conversations.
GG5/SHALOM,SHALOM
GG5 - one of the greatest Bereans I know -
ReplyDeleteIf the days had already been shortened to something less than the standard of 24-hours the entire planet would have gone into a chaotic situation.
Yet this is precisely what will occur on the day when God actually causes the shortening of days to occur during the 70th Week.
For us today there are still 24-hours per day as the evenings and mornings have been quantified since the Creation of the stars, sun and moon (Genesis 1:14-19) on the fourth day (rev-e-e yom) of Creation.
(Side-Bar: I routinely get in trouble with 7-day literalists - first time and every time - the "days" of Creation are discussed.
This is because I explicitly rely upon Genesis 2:4 to define the time-scale of the Creation.
"These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when the were created in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens."
The key word within that sentence of Hebrew Scripture is towlĕdah, (pronounced: toe-le-doth) which literally means generations. Most everyone I know in any discussion of Creation completely ignores the key verse of Genesis 2:4 and what it is telling us.)
I have long wondered where and how this well known section of Second Peter fits into the scenario being discussed in this thread. There was a time I thought this would coincide with the very last part of Revelation, where the New Jerusalem descends out of heaven - but now I am starting to wonder if this might occur during the last 3 1/2 years of the tribulation. I think this also has a bearing on the purpose of studying the coming events, including those that we will not be participating in:
ReplyDelete8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Miriam,
ReplyDeleteYes indeed 2 Pater 3:8-13 is spot on what we're talking about in this series! Excellent addition! Verse 13 is especially poignant for us: "... we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth..."
It occurred to me within the past couple of days that one of the things which could be done by God to cause the heavens such convulsions as described would be for the black hole at the center of the Milky Way to suddenly become a Quasar.
ReplyDeleteSuch an event would seem to fit what Scripture has to say.