Wednesday, April 9, 2014

The Last Days Part I


Scriptures for the Day
Mark 13:32-33; Isaiah 11:11-13, 16; Exodus 14; Isaiah 14:1-4; Genesis 32:28; Genesis 35:10; Deuteronomy 32; Jeremiah 17:4; Isaiah 59:1-2; Isaiah 43:5-10; Isaiah 61:9; Isaiah 44:18; Romans 1:16; and Isaiah 54:7-10; Luke 21:36; Jeremiah 32:37-42; Jeremiah 33:14

Mark 13:32-33, “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.”

A few people during these latter ends claim to know the time, date, and day of Christ’s return;; however, we just read in Mark that no one knows when that day and hour will be. Only The Most High knows his days. We know that we are in the season because The Most High has given us signs to watch out for.

We will not be able to say on May 1st 2014 Christ at 12:00 p.m. eastern standard time, Christ will return. We can’t say that. Nobody can say that; however, we will know the season based on the signs that the Most High has given us.     

With each generation that passes we become further and further away from The Most High and his laws and commandments. The earth, at the present time, is pretty much full, it is just about at the capacity, when The Most High will soon consume the earth with the increase of transgression and defiance; therefore, it is important for us not to fall short in these latter days. Christ makes it very clear that as faithful servants it is important that we watch and pray.

Now let’s briefly recap what we went over on Wednesday’s lesson regarding what will happen before Christ comes through those clouds, so we can continue the process of sealing this knowledge in our foreheads so that day will not take us as a thief in the night.   

Remember from our lesson that it will be a thick darkness. You may be having lunch, driving, walking along the road, watching television, cooking, sleeping, shopping and then suddenly the day will turn into complete darkness. Some believe that the grids will be out before this happens making it dark already, but not a thick darkness as described in the Bible. However, that is something to keep in mind.

We know from scriptures that the moon will turn into blood or as some will say wine, but in any case the moon will be red. It will be a dark day with a red moon. We know that there will be a great and mighty shaking, a great earthquake, and rocks will be falling from the sky. Remember this will be the outer picture of the world before Christ returns.

In addition to this, there is going to be so much chaos and confusion because people who haven’t read and studied the scriptures won’t know what is going on. They will be running to and fro trying to escape the calamity at hand. And remember it is going to be dark, a darkness that we’ve never seen before. There will not be a star in sight and the moon will not give us brightness.
    
So when you see these things happening remember for The Most High’s faithful servants there is no need to panic or be sore afraid. We know that The Most High is not angry with us. We know that his wrath will not be geared toward us. This is a time that we can rejoice. This is a time that we can dance like David danced. When we see these events happening we know that we will be shortly going home to our inheritance.

Before the tribulation and wrath of The Most High, has promised his people, the remnant of Israel, an escape.

Isaiah 11:11-13, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up and ensign (now this word ensign in Hebrew means signal) for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Remember as stated earlier The Most High has left us signs to look for.

Now lets go down to verse 16 “And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.” Now remember when the Israelites were fleeing Egypt, and Pharoah and all his chariots and men were right on their trail, and the children of Israel stopped at the crossing of the Red Sea wondering, what now, how do we cross this sea a body of water on foot?

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and The Most High caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land and the waters divided making the children of Israel to walk upon dry land. You can read more of this in Exodus the 14th Chapter.

The parting of the Red Sea begins in verse 21 and goes all the way to the end of the chapter. Now notice that The Most High caused the sea to divide all that night. There were hundreds of thousands of Israelites, it wasn’t 50 or 60. It was about 600,000. The Most High has promised us a similar escape.
    
Let’s stay in the book of Isaiah for a while, because it is in the book of this major prophet Isaiah where The Most High speaks of his promises. Isaiah 14:1-4 and it reads, “For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were, and they shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from they sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! The golden city ceased!”

Notice The Most High is going to have mercy on Jacob and will choose Israel. Now let me just say this before we go any further. We know from scriptures in Genesis 32:28 and Genesis 35:10, that The Most High changed Jacob’s name to Israel. So when we say Israel we are still referring to Jacob, not the country Israel. Some people get that confused.

When we say Israelites we are still referring to the seed of Jacob, or the children of Israel, when we make reference to the 12 Tribes we are referring to the 12 Tribes of Israel, the offspring of Jacob. Those who are living in Israel at the present time are called Israelis, they are not the Israelites. The Israelites are not there, they haven’t been in the land since 70 A.D., they were scattered into the four corners of the earth. They were not placed back in the land in 1948. We need to stop playing that game and grow up to our knowledge and not the knowledge of the Gentiles.

The Hebrew Israelites of the Bible have been scattered into the four corners of the earth, scriptures makes that very, very clear. The Most High has made the remembrance of them to cease from among men and has had them placed/brought in a land among strangers, in the land of the heathen. In a land that is not theirs, in a land that was not promised to Abraham.

They were scattered because they continuously rebelled against The Most High; they continuously did wicked deeds; worshiped other gods; sacrificed their children and made them pass through the fire; they contacted familiar spirits; they were very disobedient with numerous abominations all done in the sight of The Most High; they were a forward, stiff-necked people, children in whom there was no faith.

Deuteronomy Chapter 32 will explain all of this as well as other chapters and verses, right up until the book of Jeremiah 17:4 when our Father decided to turn his face upon the Israelites. It reads, “And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.”

This does not mean that the Most High is done with the children of Israel and now it’s just spiritual Israel. He will save a remnant and will gather them back into the land after the end of the Gentile rule. This is another study that I won’t get into at this moment. But for those of you who know who you are in Christ, you probably are very much familiar with those teachings.

Now, we can also begin to really feel the separation; in Isaiah 59:1-2 where it reads, “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Who is he talking to in this verse? He’s talking to the children of Israel. The Israelites were rebellious and stiffnecked which means stubborn with a hard head.

In the book of Lamentations you can feel the sorrow of the author who just weeps for the children of Israel. Always keep in mind that the children of Israel, Jacobs children, the Israelites are scattered nobody is currently in the land. There may be a handful that took it upon themselves to go to the land or the area surrounding the land but the children of Israel have been scattered throughout the four corners of the earth. The Most High will bring them back. The Most High has promised to gather his chosen people and take them to the land promised to Abraham when he made his covenant with him.

That was just a little bit of history on that subject. History books and what people think or assume may not always coincide with the history of the Bible unless it’s proven with scripture. History doesn’t back up the Bible—the Bible is history and speaks for itself. The Bible is the only book where scripture backs up scripture.

The Last Days Part II 

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

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