Posted on 11/29/2010 4:03:52 PM PST by GiovannaNicoletta
I was talking with a friend recently, and we were discussing questions we get while speaking.
One of the most popular is, “How do we know we are in the last days?” A perhaps more popular version of this question is, “How do we know Jesus is coming back soon?”
Ninety-nine percent of the time, I hear this question answered with a New Testament verse or verses. That of course is legitimate. However, there is a fascinating reference in the Old Testament, and it has become my favorite answer.
In Psalm 102:16, we read:
“When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.”
Preterists and others hostile to Israel and predictive prophecy answer that this must refer to Christ’s first coming. Yet…was the Lord building Zion on that electric night in Bethlehem? An emphatic “no.”
The Romans were pressing the inhabitants of the Holy Land under a dictatorial heel at that precise moment, and for a few centuries after that. In fact, after several decades of Jewish sovereignty under the leadership and aftermath of the Maccabees, who had taken control of Judea from the Seleucid Empire, that sovereignty came to an end.
In the first century, B.C., this Jewish rebel army gave way to the powerful Romans.
So at that stage of history, the Lord was not building Zion.
He has, however, been building Zion since the late 19th century, and now millions of Jews live in their ancestral land.
Logic — the great hallmark of Bible-believing Christians, and the Achilles’ Heel of the liberals — tells us that since Zion is being built-up right now, we can confidently expect the Lord to return at any time.
One of my favorite books is an obscure title from Prof. Benzion Netanyahu, entitled: Don Isaac Abravanel — Statesman and Philosopher. The 15th century financier-turned-biblical scholar was a fascinating character, a Jew who saw much of the turmoil of Jewish life in Europe at a seminal moment in history.
At one point, upon seeing the brutal and callous treatment of Jews in Spain and elsewhere, Abravanel — in order to make sense out of circumstances — turned to Scripture in order to understand what was happening. It was there he developed a thrilling and significant worldview that had as its bedrock the truth that the Bible is supernaturally inspired.
This reality of course is hateful to liberals, among them certain Christian leaders who have crept in unawares, as they say. For them, predictive prophecy is a formidable weapon that can be used against their diabolical attacks on the faith. That’s why they hate it, and why they hate the Jews.
Netanyahu, the historian, went to the heart of the matter in discussing Abravanel’s epiphany:
“The spearhead of the drive against the Jews in Spain, as against those of any other medieval country in the west, was the clergy."
Isn’t that chilling?
Do you see?
The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 was one of those highlighted historical markers, in which human history is traced by how men have treated the Jews. And Abravanel observed up-close just who in fact led the efforts to persecute Jews: the Church.
Of course, in those days it was the Catholic Church. Although it’s a topic for another time, the Catholic involvement in this area is somewhat of a mixed bag since World War II (on the one hand, a virulent stream of anti-semitism still infects Catholicism; on the other hand, significant inroads have been made to bring Catholics and Jews together).
Today, the problem area for Jew hatred is center-left Christian leadership, and what are still legitimately evangelical leaders. I promise you, they completely loathe Psalm 102:16. This represents one side in a massive war going on today between biblical truth and paganism. Let’s look at a critical aspect of Abravanel’s emerging worldview, as told by Netanyahu:
“The position of Abravanel was thus simple and direct. It was based on his triple axiom: the Bible is the word of God; the Bible represents truth; the Bible must be taken literally before it can be interpreted symbolically.”
Yes!
More on Abravanel’s epiphany:
“If the Bible is to be believed, miracles must be believed as well, and they can be explained only by God’s omnipotence, by His complete independence of nature and of matter. How can we establish the veracity of the Bible, which is threatened by the doubts placed in the miracle stories, and make it unchallengeable by the skeptics? Only by accepting creation ex nihilo, the greatest of all miracles.”
Wow, and wow. Leave it to a Middle Ages Jewish philosopher and a modern Jewish historian to hit the nail on the head. Ironically, they are giving us the principle reason young people (and people of all ages) are leaving our churches in droves.
The relationship-and-self-driven, narcissistic, lights-and-laser-show programs of the modern American church are the antithesis of a New Testament church, and therefore, of reality itself. Modern Christian leadership in America has, by and large, either capitulated to liberal scholarship, or has turned to smarmy and ultimately pointless programs that have nothing to do with teaching the Bible as the guide for life. They have let the attacks on the miracle stories of Scripture cut the guts out of faith for millions.
You might think I’ve digressed in this column, but I argue that I have not. For what is the return of the Lord if not the ultimate modern miracle? That cosmic return will tear open the fabric of time and space and provide a way of rescue for a planet that is coming apart at the seams.
He said a long time ago that when he builds up His people in their ancient land, He will come. That’s it. He will come. Again, Netanyahu, writing about Abravanel:
“His position is that the universe has been endowed by its Creator with the power to endure a limited time, at the end of which it must cease to exist.”
I’m not saying that the long-dead Abravanel, or the now 100-year-old Benzion Netanyahu believe exactly as modern, Bible-believing Christians do regarding present-day and future history. But I am saying that these ideas are shedding light on what is really going on in our world right now.
As the great prophecy teacher Tommy Ice likes to say, “Maranatha!”
Your Welcome! Your Up. I just got up from sleep at 3:30 could not go back to sleep! Thanks for Post. I first saw John Mcternan on sky angel last year. I have been following his blog posts since.
My Thanksgiving was good- every year I vow that we're going to go out instead of staying home but I ended up cooking this year because we had family come home. I like to cook except when I don't. But next year, I vow, we will go out. We will, we will, we will.
Christmas this year will be kind of quiet I think. One of my sons, who was able to get time off for Thanksgiving, won't be able to come home for Christmas which is very sad for me. But we don't have any little ones, and we'll probably spend the day with my parents, and I'll probably end up cooking again....
I'd love to see your little brother when he gets the train set! Is he a train fanatic? I know so many little boys are. It'll be a precious moment for you and your family.
Have you ever seen this?
I meant to ping you to this thread....
what can you do? Jesus is the end of prophecy.
True.
Though sometimes it’s fun object lesson material . . .
Revelation 19:10
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
WHEN
The Perfect One, Jesus The Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords returns to overtly set up His perfect Kingdom,
THEN,
evidently, prophecy, knowledge as we have known it, tongues, as operant in the NT Church era/age/dispensation,
will be done away with, fall away as unnecessary, superceded by a more perfect way.
UNTIL THEN, as Scripture amply indicates, prophecies, dreams, visions will be increasing, particularly in this
END TIMES era/age/dispensation.
Old men will be dreaming prophetic dreams more as Scripture indicates.
There will be more prophetic visions, as Scripture indicates.
. . .
And, Christians around the world have been reporting exactly that with increasing frequency the last decade or 3.
I view any other construction on reality as irrational, UnBiblical, grossly heretical and too often, likely, eternally destructive to souls.
Do you still have handy the link on
100 proofs that these are the END TIMES?
Or something like that.
Might be worth posting every time some idiotic REPLACEMENTARIAN noise gets posted.
I know that feeling! :)
we'll probably spend the day with my parents, and I'll probably end up cooking again....
I bet your cooking is good too! What is your favorite dish to make?
Is he a train fanatic?
He sure is! It all started when he got exposed to Thomas the train shows with some friends. Now, even though he is only two, he knows the names of many train parts, including the cab, funnel, dome, buffers, and etc.
I see those who differ on Israel are posting here as on other threads, same argument's as well. Does seem nothing will change either side of the equation of who Israel is and their place past, present and future. However it is more than difficult, from just the perspective of the scriptures as a whole, that someone cannot see Israel woven throughout all the way thru Revelations...and all Gods promises to them...conditional and those which are not.
As I see it God knows those who are truly His within the Christian community, and those who are not. Equally so those of Israel who are truly Jewish and what determines this in His eyes, not mans, and those who are not. Splitting hairs only creates divisions and uncertainty. What is interesting are many who now debate about who Israel is generally understood clearly Israels position thru the ages and ages to come....but then took another road along the way...................... But in the end we all will bow before our Christ Jesus.....some will bow by faith others by force but all will bow before the Christ when all is said and done..
AMEN! The sum total of prophecy all points to Christ.
Men need to thank God they have been born after the death and resurrection of Christ which is the very reason for everything in this life.
All history leads up to the cross and all future leads from the cross. We are in the clean-up stage as the word of God goes forth and prospers in all who hear it.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." -- Acts 17:29-31 "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
"All men" given assurance by the resurrection. "All one in Christ Jesus."
Anything that passes for The Truth® from the futurist camp is purely accidental.
The problem here is that most folks in the futurist camp are unwilling to admit the strong possibility that what we know of “Israel” in the Bible has little if anything to do with the secular state in the present Middle East that happens to go by the same name.
We see Israel just fine in the Bible. We do not see it in contemporary terms according to the imaginations of prophecy gurus.
A Biblical Outline of End-Time Events
And here are a couple of good places that organize everything that is happening:
Thanks thanks.
Will get to them when I get home, hopefully.
Thank you for the ping. Bookmarking this for a later read. :)
Saying it is a "possibility" is rather revealing topcat...as I do see the present state of Israel as Israel...be it nation, race or religion, however one wants to name it...and that Jerusalem within Israel is also the biblical Jerusalem just as Israel is. They are no more secular than many Christians who claim Christianity.
We know some of Gods promises were conditional and others were not. The land will indeed be theirs...all in Gods timing. God is more than capable of distinguishing the Jewish people topcat....just as He is those who are Christians and claim Christianity.
I do not see Israel AS the Law...rather a nation who was GIVEN the Law. They broke them as surely as we do. In fact we as so called Christians in our nation are going down the same path Israel did in turning our backs on God.
However when it comes to Israel recognizing Christ as their Messiah...and they will, (debated and gone over in prior threads), I do not see God excluding them as a nation though they are blinded now until the fullness of the gentiles is in. Were it not for them we would not have Christ at all. He will not abandon them anymore than he did in the past and has always brought out those who seek Him by faith.....and one day their faith will indeed be in Christ.
There are far too many scriptures which refer to the Israels position before God throughout the Bible to somehow even suggest He will cast them off completely.. Anymore than he would cast believers off from the promises of salvation he has given us, which we have for the blindness Israel has currently. Just as we ourselves, as Christians now, were formally blind to the gospel. God has determined when their blindness will be removed and they too will see.
.....After all none of us Gentiles, who are Christians now, were looking for a Messiah at all....how much moreso then will the Jewish people recognize Christ when their blindness is removed, because they are looking for their Messiah. Christ Himself is Jewish...why would He deny Himself?
Thank you so much for sharing your testimony, dear brother in Christ!
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