THE REAL CHURCH

                                           THE REAL CHURCH

Matthew 16:18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Deuteronomy 13:1-3
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The first thing we want to deal with in part is the church and it's role. We find in the old testament that all God's people are away from him at the end of time. We can except those who are under Yeshua for this discussion. What is the church of Yeshua and who are it's shepherds?
I started really studying the Bible intently in 1996. I first listened to the Bible on cassette before I established any opinions. As many others, I have listened to many ministers many hours in church, on radio and television for many years. When I started studying for myself, I found many, what I feel, are discrepancies with the mainline theological thinking of the ministry today. Traditions of past societies are espoused more than the word of God in many cases. I'm sure that many preachers really feel as though they are doing the calling of God. I am fast coming to the conclusion that that is not the case at all. As much as we feel like we must respect these so-called men of God, I'm becoming more uncomfortable with the teaching of many. This sounds kind of extreme, but in the old testament, anyone who prophesied falsely was put to death. If we relate prophesying to teaching, which I think we can, then can we accept false teaching without speaking out? If any teacher of the Word, which is the Spirit of Yeshua Christ, teaches falsely, then what is his part in the apostasy of the church?
I can remember when the teaching in the church was from the Bible and not so much related to and individual's opinion, but not so today. Many teachers espouse their interpretation of the Bible as absolute truth deceiving many. This is not only a part of the apostasy of the Church, but also leading the sheep astray. The Bible pretty much answers all our questions if we search enough. Of course, without some spiritual discernment, we will never find those answers. Those who earnestly seek God will find him. If Yeshua is the Word as defined in the Book of John, and we earnestly seek him, how do we find him unless we experience him in the Word of God, which is Yeshua Christ. You can't find him in any building listening to a choir. God, in the old testament says that books and words by mouth are not sufficient, he will teach you. The New Testament says study the Word of God to be approved.
I have taken as an example, the so-called rapture theory, and that's exactly what it is, a theory. So many of the main-line ministers today teach it almost without exception. It is not at all Biblical. In fact the Bible is very plain about the subject. Why are the scriptures so perverted by the teachers of the Word.
One of the things that bothered me most when I first started studying the Bible was, how can the church become so defiled in the end times and even conspire with the Anti-Christ to deceive man. I thought, where and how could the church go wrong. If you accept everything the church does as the will of God, there are no obvious problems. But, when you try to understand what the original intent of God was and what is happening now, it becomes more obvious of the shortcomings of the church. The church is even covering up it's apostasy by saying it will be gone before the final seven year period which is the consummation of the age prior to the revelation of Yeshua.
Probably, the most misunderstood of all is the meaning of the church itself. The church Yeshua intended may not at all resemble the one you are in now. We know that Yeshua didn't necessarily condemn the destroying of the temple because it had become a den of thieves. The hierarchy of the temple were using it as a profit making business. The real nature of God had been killed many years before. I always have to use a clique' when I think of this, could God visit your church without consuming all it's people. God really wanted to visit his people on the mount when he brought Moses the commandments. If you remember, Moses is the one who cautioned God that He would consume them all. Not because of his fury, but because of the sinfulness of the people. Moses knew they would all die. Could this have been a test for Moses, or did God want to burn them all up? I hardly think so. You know, we read these things over and over, the preachers preach it over and over, but we still do not understand the Holiness of God and our vulnerability to that Holiness, or the consuming fire we are subject to.
So, you say where or what is the problem? The problem is, we have been led astray by the spirit of Babylon. What is that? The spirit of confusion! We are not being fed the truth of God by the shepherds proclaiming to be called by God to teach us. I think many, probably years ago, were called by the Spirit of God to minister, but now, I wonder if any are called. The education of man is of Satan, not God. Over and over God told us in the Bible, He would teach us his ways, yet we are not doing his ways, just as he said would happen. I can give you one example of this from the Bible and I'm sure you will deny the truth, but I'll try. Listen to these two passages and try to deny the truth.

Luke 16:15
And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

John 14:29,30
And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.
Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

Micah 5:2,3
But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

Now comes the first test. The first scripture means nothing other than what we feel is good to do is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. I assume, nothing we are doing in our spiritual lives has anything to do with any man's ways or traditions of men. This could be any of a number of things such as celebration of Easter or of other pagan days. Maybe, not understanding the real meaning and celebration of Christmas. Was Christ born or conceived on December 25th? Could the same celebration we call Easter, or the pagan sex goddess (Ester, wife of Nimrod of Babylon) with the eggs be the same that the pagans say conceived Yeshua on December 25th? What do eggs have to do with Yeshua dying for our sins? What does his death have to do with killing trees, except to hang him on.
Second test. When Yeshua left, who was the Prince of the world? If you guessed Yeshua you would have been wrong. If you guessed Satan, himself, you would have been right. Now, do you think Yeshua or Satan has the spiritual power we claim to revolve in. Whose spirit is in the world and governing things. If you guessed the Anti-Christ, you would have been right. As anyone can clearly understand, in the 18th century, incidentally three sixes add up to 18, the most Hellenistic men that have ever been in the world except maybe Hitler, lived in the first part of that century. Who is Charles Darwin? Probably Satan's greatest disciple. Karl Marx, father of communism. John Dewey, father of the perverted educational system of our country. Sigmund Freud, the instigator of the sexual revelation. Julius Wellhausen, the first contradictor of the inherent truth of the Bible, planting doubts just as Satan himself has been doing in Heaven. John Maynard Keyes, father of a form of godliness without God. Man is everything in himself.
The last test is, did Yeshua give us up until the times of the gentiles were fulfilled. Well, that is debatable, but if we read what it says, till Israel was reborn in 1948 (the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.) he did. Can you believe that until that time Yeshua was not active in the world? What did the inherent Word of God say? Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. Read and learn. Who were his Brethren? The Jews, of course. We know that at some point and time the House of Israel, whom he came to save, will also return, but this is not that time. Again, look at scripture. You can't ever doubt what I say about scripture unless you know what it says and if you do not know what it says you are deceived today, not tomorrow, but today,

Hosea 6:1,2
Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

How long would Yeshua be gone from us as we saw before? he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. We see here he will give us up for two days or two thousand years according to;

II Peter 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Which has happened? This dispensation of time or the time we call now is the great divider, dividing the time when Yeshua was and when he will be revealed again. The time has come and what do you do? Nothing, unless you read on.
The scripture says that Yeshua left, for the coming ruler had nothing in him. If the ruler from 33 A.D. until 1948 was Satan, then who is everything around us fashioned after? Could it be Satan? God says that the times must be cut short so that some flesh would be saved. If God was ruler of this present world, I can assure you, we would not be in any danger of being wiped out. Adam gave that covenant away almost six thousand year ago. Now, you might ask where are all the miracles of God coming from? Are these truly miracles of God? Why is the Bible so intent in redeeming the lost in forgiveness of God through Yeshua if we are all doing so good? The facts are that God says we are perverted and sinful and abhor judgment and pervert all equity or truth. Why is this? Is this the truth you are being taught, know, or understand? Surely not! We are not being taught the truth. That is probably our saving grace, so to speak, for if we know the truth and do not obey, we are hell bound. And I do not take pride in saying that because if we know the truth and do not hearken, we are in danger of hellfire.

Micah 3:6-9
Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God. But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

There have been no prophets since the birth of Yeshua. The phychics are in danger of hell and all others teaching falsehoods are equally guilty. Yeshua, himself was not a prophet. He fulfilled prophecy and teached it. He taught the disciples about the end which was already prophesied in the old testament. Can you feel good about the following statement? the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. For most Americans, this is you. How are we so Holy in our eyes and yet so ungodly.
Where have all the shepherds gone? If any doctrine in the church is contradictory to the word of God, how can that church be of God. If you have broken one law, you have broken them all. The pastors would say that the law has been fulfilled by Yeshua and what I say is falsehood. I say, if this is falsehood, why do you teach the law in tithing 10% when the law was fulfilled by Yeshua? You can't have it both ways. If the church has doctrine contrary to the Word of God, what or who is that church.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

If the church teaches contrary to the Word, which is Yeshua, then who are they teaching about?

I John 2:18,19
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

I John 4:3
And every spirit that confesseth not that Yeshua Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

II John 1:7
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Yeshua Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

I John 2:22
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Yeshua is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

Does your church condone anything that is an abomination to God, such as homosexuality? Does your church condone women preachers? It's not of the Word. Does your church criticize the government of your country? The Word says to live in peace. The church was never exhorted to rise against government in any form, yet many leaders of the church teach a form of rebellion. We must understand that all these things must come to pass whether we agree with it or not. It is the will of God. If you think not, then you are not in the relationship that God wants you to be, of one mind and spirit. Any shepherd or pastor of the church should not lead any of his sheep into any doctrine not in the Word, or of Yeshua.

I Timothy 2:1,2
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

What qualifications should our shepherds have?

Hebrews 5:4
And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.

Jude 1:3,4
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Yeshua Christ.

We are told here that we should, after understanding the faith delivered to the Saints, go on to a higher understanding of the Word. Who are these ones of old? These are the fallen angels, spirits of the Anti-Christ, who are perverting the Word, denying the truth of God that we discussed a few paragraphs ago. We can't seem to put this in perspective. If I know what the Bible says and I go to a church that teaches or condones any of these non-truths, then according to the Book of John, this is the spirit of Anti-Christ, which is the same as is mentioned in the Book of Jude above, so I must get out. These are deceiving spirits also mentioned by Yeshua in Matthew 24. If the church is doing so good, then why is God so condemning of what is going on and how the churches are managing their affairs. Going even farther, Yeshua, himself, is critical in Revelation concerning the activities of the church. We surely do not take pride in the apostasy of the church. The only intent is to recognize fallacies that can deceive us. Yeshua said, let no one deceive you. If we know the Word, how can we be deceived? The Word is Yeshua. It all boils down to you, yourself understanding God's Word to you, and you not depending on others to tell you God's message to you.
So many seem to think that if they do not listen to a preacher they will go to hell. This is not true, in fact the exact opposite is likely to occur.

II Timothy 4:3,4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Is this your scenario?
Biblically speaking, the only thing that had to happen to be saved through Yeshua was the planting, watering and increase or the harvesting. One planted the seed, another watered and God gave the increase.
Anything else that has to happen is not necessarily of God, but of man.
Why does God declare such is the church below. We know this is not isolated to olden times and not relevant to today because it says "even in the year of their visitation." What is that? It's when Yeshua comes to judge. Look carefully at what the teachers of the Word or of Yeshua or of Salvation have become and what God will do about it.

Jeremiah 23:11-40
For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD. And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God. Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD; Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

Deuteronomy 18:20-22
But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

I Corinthians 14:37-39
If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.

Deuteronomy 4:1,2
Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

Micah 3:11,12
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

Deuteronomy 31:29-35
For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselve , and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

Psalms 25:8,9
Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

Psalms 25:12
What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

Psalms 32:8,9
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

Isaiah 28:10-15
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

Ecclesiastes 12:8-14
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Jeremiah 25:34,35
Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashe , ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.

Isaiah 56:11
Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.

Jeremiah 50:6,7
My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.

Jeremiah 23:4
And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.

Ezekiel 34:9-15
Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.

John 10:14-16
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

I Peter 5:4
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Matthew 9:35,36
And Yeshua went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

Matthew 26:31
Then saith Yeshua unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
Zechariah 11:15-17
And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

I Peter 2:25
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Amos 1:2
And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

Ezekiel 37:24
And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

Micah 3:5,6
Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

Micah 3:9-12
Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

Hebrews 5:12-14
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Many will now say that the Holy Spirit has been active doing miraculous signs and wonders. Let's look at that before we move on. This is a difficult subject because no one really knows. But we look at it because so much is made of it and again we do not want to be deceived.

Deuteronomy 11:14
That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

Deuteronomy 32:2
My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

Hosea 6:2,3
After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

Joel 2:23
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

Joel 2:24
And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

Joel 2:25
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

Joel 2:26
And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

Joel 2:27
And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

Zechariah 10:1
Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.

Zechariah 10:2
For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.

Zechariah 10:3
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.

Job 29:23
And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

Exodus 16:4
Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Exodus 16:5

And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

II Samuel 23:3

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.


II Samuel 23:4

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.


II Samuel 23:5

Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all thing , and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.


II Samuel 23:6

But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:


II Samuel 23:7

But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

the most misinterpreted prophecy in the Bible, the rapture

 

The second thing we will deal with is, who we are and what is our heritage in the text of the Bible. . .and thirdly, the return of Yeshua, which also deals with the taking of the church to be with Christ.

 

Isaiah 25:4:12
For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

Disclaimer:
As I write this, I will be using text from other sources because of time constraints and for the reason that why spend time writing what can be copied from sources comparable to what I would say myself. I do this only to save time and to get out my message sooner. In doing this there is no attempt to plagiarize or to violate anyone's copyrighted materials. I find that there is a lot of good material out there that should be read, but a lot of it gets off base even when it may have some good in it. Therefore I use the good and throw away the bad, thus getting the message out in a lot less time. All the messages, ideas and arrangements are mine. So, if there is anything you want to disagree with, you can disagree with me.
Nothing here is of divine revelation, but discernment with a lot of study. Nothing is guaranteed to be absolutely true, God will do his will in line with scripture foretold by his prophets.

The verse of Isaiah above is a good example of what you will read. How would you interpret this scripture? Probably not the same as I. At the end of this I will give you my interpretation.
You might say, what's going on here! Why all the noise about nothing. What is really going on. Do the pastors and preachers tell us, no! Do we study for ourselves, not much.
Is anyone wrong? Probably most.
Assumptions That Are Invalid! Conclusions that Cannot Be Drawn from the Evidence!
The number one reason people draw bad conclusions is they consider only part of the data -- always the part that supports their beliefs. Sir Francis Bacon talked about this phenomenon many years ago. According to Bacon, it did not matter how much data one could find to prove his position. What mattered was whether a position could be disproven.
What we must remember is that every opinion in this universe can be proven. No matter how absurd an idea might seem to be, some philosopher has said it. Since there is data to support every notion that man can imagine, it becomes a task to sort out what is true, what is almost true, what is partially true, and what is plain foolish.
To sort out the good from the bad, we must ask ourselves if our opinions agree with all of the information we have available. If there is data that contradicts our views, then our views need to be modified. Unfortunately, few of us are open-minded enough to change our minds on our cherished ideas.
Another reason we draw wrong conclusions is that we do not have a reasoning process that steers us away from folly. Or in other words, we do not know what the rules are. We do not know what constitutes a valid assumption and what conclusions we can draw from the data.

A few prime examples of an invalid assumption:

* All we need is one passage of Scripture to establish a doctrine. That is like saying that if there is any glass at all in an automobile, then the whole car must be made of glass.

* If we do not see all of the data stated in the passage, we can assume that the passage is stating what we do not want it to state. As an example, the word "church" is not found in the Book of Revelation after chapter 3.

Can we conclude from that information that the Church is not on Earth after chapter 3? Not if the text just uses a different terminology to describe the church. There is reference made in chapter 6 to the saints of God. Furthermore, who are those who have the testimony of Yeshua and keep His commandments?
If absence of information is sufficient to prove a point, then what about the verse in

Revelation 16:15
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Couldn't it's timing and placement in scripture be the place and time when he announces his coming. If absence of data means something, then surely timing and placement in scripture means something.
As you can see, whether right or wrong, we start downhill rapidly when we assume anything in scripture.
As for a conclusion that cannot be drawn from the data, consider the statement by Christ that we should pray that we be counted worthy to escape the things that are coming to pass. Many people say this passage is stating that the church will not go through the Tribulation. However, God could let the church go through the Tribulation unharmed. If He did so, He would not be violating the meaning of His Word. The primary fallacy here is that by pure speculation alone or assuming doctrine not specifically spelled out is not acceptable. By the letter of the law and that is where doctrine originates, it is false doctrine, therefore the spirit of Anti-Christ has entered into church teachings.
Nowhere in the books of the Prophets is it said anyone will be removed from the earth. Many times it says they will be protected from the wrath of God. A good analogy is when;

Daniel 3:1-3
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Revelation 13:15
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Daniel 3:10-17
Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king,
O Nebbuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. ( Compare Matthew 10:19; But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak).
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
If this is so, then why can't god perform the same type rescue, which he did in many instances of the Bible. The primary point that can be made here is the fact that Saints were tried and delivered during similiar circumstances. Could the next verse be the rapture at some point and time, as previously mentioned, at the last trump. But, even as some believe there will not be a rapture, there is considerable proof in scripture that God will not forsake his people.

Isaiah 57:1,2
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.

Matthew 27:52
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

The following random passages are the truth in god's word of his ability and determination to save us from unnecessary wrath and judgment. As nothing can happen except it is foretold by the prophets, then I think we need to fully research everything we accept as doctrine.

Amos 3:7
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Everything in the entire bible has been foretold by the prophets. Some of the following verses can be interpreted to mean that God's people will somehow escape his wrath in the last days. Nowhere can we find that God will take anyone to the third Heaven prior to the end of the Millennium. Paul indicates he was taken up to the third Heaven, but this is the only account of this type I find. How God will protect his people is still a mystery, but we will look at some scripture.
The Psalms seem to give us the most insight.

II Peter 2:9
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

Jeremiah 30:7
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Jeremiah 30:11;12
For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

Psalms 30:5
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Psalms 31:3;4
For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.

Psalms 31:20;22
Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.

Psalms 32:6;8
For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Psalms 34:6;8
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psalms 37:28
For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

Psalms 37:39;40
But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

Psalms 91:10;11
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Psalms 91:14;16
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Psalms 94:12;14
Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

Nahum 3:11,12
Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy. All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.

Zephaniah 2:3
Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.

Along the same lines, the Philadelphian Church is promised it will not be tempted when the rest of the world is tempted. Do we conclude this passage is stating the Philadelphian church will be raptured?
As in the case above, we could draw that conclusion from the data. However, as with all conclusions we draw, we must test our hypothesis further. Could not the passage mean that the Philadelphian Church will be on the earth at the time of the Tribulation but will not be tempted? If indeed we can draw this conclusion from the data, then we need to look elsewhere to find the answer to our questions.
The most dangerous example of a bad conclusion drawn from the data is the belief that because salvation is a free gift of God's grace (a view I do not question) and since works are not involved (again I agree), then once we are saved we can live any way we want to live. If works did not bring us our salvation, so the reasoning goes, then works cannot take it away.
Think about it. On the surface that seems logical enough. Again though, we must ask ourselves does that line of reasoning fit every situation? What about an automobile? Do the brakes supply it with the power to move? If they do not, then can we say that if the brakes did not supply the power to make a car go, the brakes cannot stop it from going either.
When does the Lord's second coming occur? This question gets to the heart of the reason I began this study.
The standard view among evangelical Christians today is that the Lord's second coming consists of two phases.
The first phase is known as the Rapture. This is believed to be the beginning of the seven-year tribulation where Christ comes to Earth to catch away His saints.
The second phase occurs at the end of the Tribulation when Christ comes to Earth riding a white horse, fights the Battle of Armageddon, and sets up His Kingdom that lasts a thousand years.

Matthew 24:27
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ???????????

Luke 10:17-24
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Revelation 12:7-12
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Revelation 9:4
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

Jeremiah 3:14-25
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors (teachers) according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel. For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

I Corinthians 12:27-31
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

Mark 9:49
For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. (those salted by fire).

Let's look closely at this issue.

Jeremiah 23:20
The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.

The time has surely come for us to understand the truth of the scriptures. The verse most of the church is hung up on today is,

I Thessalonians 4:13-18
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Yeshua will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
The question here is how long is it till "Then"

1 Corinthians 15:23
But every man in his own order:

I Thessalonians 4:17
"Then" (emphasis added) we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Does 'then' happen immediately or could it be later in time, regardless of how long a period of time. Many times in scripture there is passage of time between events that seem long to us, but fits in with the will of God. After all, this earth age will not last but for a week in the sight of God. We have been in the last days for almost 2000 years. Surely, we must be living somewhere in late Saturday night in God's plan.
Look, for a moment at a very similar and defining scripture,

I Corinthians 15:20-24
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; ( the ones that are asleep or dead in Christ) afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. ( those who are alive and remain) Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

All dead spirits are already in heaven with God and surely we will be caught up with them at some period in time. The problem is there is not enough information in these scriptures to prove a doctrine of man. Then we have those who and alive in Yeshua, both dead and the ones that are alive and remain alive at the coming of Yeshua. The ones who are alive or the children of the day and not of the night. The children of the night are they that are asleep. So, the ones who are alive in Yeshua and remain alive in the flesh until Yeshua comes will be taken together to be with the Lord and for judgement.

I Thessalonians 5:4-8
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

"Of the day", for the hope of salvation and not of the night like those who sleep in the night.
If we believe that many of these are unsaved ones, then we can relate this to Matthew 13:27-30. We see here the similarity between the taking of the tares prior to the gathering to the wheat to himself compared to those who are asleep, whether dead or alive in flesh, and those who are alive which is the wheat, being children of the day.

Matthew 13:27
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

The spirits of the dead are already with the Lord. Maybe they return with the Lord Yeshua at the battle of Armageddon --- Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

I think we need to look at who are those who are asleep. Are they the dead who belong to Yeshua? The "dead in Christ", I think causes some confusion. Through the death of Yeshua, all have become eligible to become children of God. "Many will be called, but few chosen", is a key to understanding this subject. The dead in Christ here are not necessarily saved individuals. Read the scripture that defines my position. Clearly, all will be raised up from the dead to the judgement. Also, this is clearly the first judgement and not the Great White Throne Judgement.

John 5:21-29
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth the ; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Daniel 12:1-3
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

The descepancy between Daniel with "many shall be raised" and "all will be raised" can be explained by the fact that Yeshua has already taken from the dead the ones whom were dead prior to the age of grace. Now, all the dead whom are under "Grace" or the blood of Yeshua, will be included in this judgement whether they have believed or not. I think this is representative of the fact that everyone, whether saved by grace or not, will face Yeshua face to face at the judgement seat. If they were not raised, they would not answer to Yeshua at the judgement, for the second judgement of of God.

Are these two events of the coming of Yeshua separate phenomena? Or are they one and the same? If you read the Book of Zechariah, you only see two events of Yeshua coming to earth. This clearly defines the rapture as I see it in Corinthians.

I Corinthians 15:51;52
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Zechariah 9:14
And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.

Here, we plainly see Yeshua returning and the last trumpet being blown. There may be some ambiguity here as to whether this is the seventh trumpet of Revelation or a separate trumpet blown by God himself as the words imply. We have mentioned previously that there are two trumpets in the Bible blown by God himself. I think the two trumpets are the same mentioned in different verses of scripture. This plainly reinforces the fact that no one but the Father in Heaven knows when the appointed time will be.

Matthew 24:36
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Isaiah 27:13
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

I think that without any stretch of the word that we can assume that the Trumpet of God and the Seventh trumpet of the Angel are closely linked in time based on the following scripture.

Revelation 10:7
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

In the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, all the declarations of God to the prophets would be finished. Did the prophets mention the return of Yeshua? Yes, we read in the Book of Zechariah that God would send his Arrow as lightning. And chapter 6 verse 12

Zechariah 6:12
And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

Yeshua, the BRANCH, who grew up on earth, out of his place which was heaven.

Zechariah 6:13
Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

Clearly, this is a prophesied return of Yeshua to be fulfilled. Just prior to the sounding of the seventh angel, God will blow the Great Trumpet signifying the return of Yeshua and the rapture.
One can make a case for placing the Rapture at the beginning of the Tribulation if he uses only part of the data to draw his conclusion. However, this conclusion does not agree with all of the data. For instance, how can the dragon make war with the people who have the testimony of Yeshua and keep His commandments if those people are gone to Heaven? After all, the dragon has just been cast out of Heaven to Earth.
Furthermore, when Christ says "when ye see" in the Olivet Discourse, He is stating that His people will be here to see the things He is talking about.
If Daniel 11, the Olivet Discourse, and Revelation are chronological accounts, as I believe, then there is no place for a pre-tribulation Rapture in any of their narratives.
Here is something else that may discount the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture.

Revelation 11:3
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Most agree these two are Elijah and Moses or Enoch. Personally I think they are Elijah and Enoch, because both were prophets. Two did not die, but must. Surely, Moses can't die twice. Although, his body was hidden, the Bible clearly indicates he died and was buried by God in the valley of Moab.

Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Deuteronomy 34:5-7
So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

Based on the facts, we see here that Moses probably will not be the other witness, for he would have to die a second death and the only ones who will do that are the ones thrown in the pit.

Mark 9:12
And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.

Here, very plainly Yeshua, himself, tells us Elijah precedes his coming. We know his happens after the beginning of the tribulation. If nothing else this nullifies the theory in the major denominations today who say the next prophecy to be fulfilled is the rapture of the church. We see here that is not so, Elijah will be a prophecy fulfilled prior to the coming of Yeshua.

Matthew 26:64
Yeshua saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Revelation 1:7
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

There is no mention here of Yeshua coming in the clouds to gather the church without the world seeing him. "Every eye shall see him".

Yeshua, himself tells us that he cannot return till all prophecy is fulfilled, and to this point it isn't.

Luke 24:44
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Another fact to deal with prior to the church being raptured is this prophecy by Daniel, the primary prophecy book in the Bible along with Revelation.

Daniel 7:24;25
And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

How can the Saints be at the hand of the Anti-Christ and be raptured too?
Oh yes, there are those who say that Revelation 4 is a reference to the Rapture. However, making a voice call John to come up to Heaven to see what will happen in the future -- which is what Revelation 4 is about -- equivalent to the Rapture is like comparing a kiwi to a grapefruit.
There is one parallel here and that is I Corinthians 15:51-52

I Corinthians 15:51;52
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

This clearly refers to flesh and not the spirit as we discussed before. The Spirit is already gone in I Thessalonians 4:13. The Spirit has been with God for a time. Now, the "Then", capital letter, new verse, referred to earlier in I Thessalonians 4:17 takes place, "Then, we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The last trump being prior to the bowl judgments, the rapture could very well be here. This is somewhere around the midpoint of the tribulation period, which satisfies Daniel's prophecy and also I Corinthians 15:51-52.
Another anomaly to deal with is the fact there is a war going in Heaven. Will the Saints be taken alive to a war?

Matthew 11:12
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Revelation 12:7
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Satan has already been cast out one time and that was in ancient days, probably prior to this earth period.

Isaiah 51:9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

////

 

Carefully note the following scriptures which reveal that the Saints will rise on the third day.

II Peter 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Hosea 6:2
After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Luke 24:46
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

Isaiah 26:19,20
Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

Luke 24:21
But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

If you trust today that Yeshua is the Savior of the world, this verse has to be prophetic. Let's read it in the present tense.

We have trusted that it is you that will redeem Israel and besides, we are just a short period of time till the third day and these things will be done.

I Peter 1:13
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Yeshua Christ;

I Peter 2:12
Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

 

 

Revelation 10:7
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Daniel 7:22
Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Daniel 7:25-27
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

This clearly, in my mind, demonstrates that the saints were given to the Prince of the Covenant for 31/2 years. This is not the Anti-Christ. The little horn is the Prince of the covenant or the individual who makes the covenant between the Jews and the Arabs. The Anti-Christ is not the covenant maker, only the "confirmor". The church T.V. prophecy evangelicals are wrong about this one too. Or, could this covenant be the original Abrahamic covenant reinstituting animal sacrifice by the Jews? The Anti-Christ will do away with him at some point and time, probably about the end of the first half of the tribulation. the Anti-Christ prepares the way for Satan himself to enter the body of man. Those who say that the church is not going through tribulation need to read and listen to something besides secular television. The Saints are being persecuted every day all around the world. Just because the church of America is safe, it doesn't mean the rest of the church is safe. The primary reason the church in America is safe is discussed later.
The plain meaning of some of the texts is difficult. This answer may seem redundant, but it cannot be given enough. We have superimposed our cherished doctrines on so many of our beliefs that we change the meaning of the Word of God if that meaning does not fit our preconceived ideas.
Consider the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. They did not all get to meet the bridegroom when He came. Christ warned repeatedly that when He came, He would punish many, including those who had been His servants. Some would be beaten with many stripes, some with few stripes; and some would be cast into outer darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Some would beg to get in (Matthew 7:21-23) but would not be permitted to do so.
We need to organize the various bits and pieces of prophecy that are contained in the Bible. The Scriptures were not written like an ordinary book in which events are placed in chronological order. The Bible was written by several men over periods of many centuries. Even an individual writer often did not write in chronological order because he did not receive his messages all at once. Usually, revelations came a little bit at a time.

Isaiah 28:13
But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Only with divine help, often referred to as spiritual discernment, can we understand the scriptures. You can read what will happen to those who do not have spiritual discernment. God will teach us. The verse above says, "they will be snared and taken". Who is it talking about here? Sure, Satan and his people.
Sometimes a writer received several revelations about the same subject, but each revelation would contain different data on that subject. Daniel's four visions about the Antichrist and the four Gospels' accounts of the Lord Yeshua Christ are examples of this type of parallel writing. Each writing is basically about the same topic, but no two stories are identical. Various writers in the Bible often talk about the same events; yet each has details that are not mentioned by the other authors.
All of the prophets in both the Old and New Testaments are telling parts of the same story -- though to none of them was the entire drama revealed. Even in modern times, very few people who study these prophecies seem to comprehend the entire scope of the events which are to happen. Almost everyone has heard bits and pieces of the prophetic Scriptures, but practically no one seems to be able to fully explain how these bits and pieces form the whole picture. Every effort must be made by the Bible student to understand the entire prophetic scene.
A word of caution: No one who studies the Bible should claim only his idea is right. Everyone must be invited to examine the Scriptures to form his own conclusions. The more Christians read the Word of God, the better their understanding of it will be.
So much of the Bible is not understood today. For one thing the average Christian rarely reads God's Book, thus making him a prey for any false teacher who sounds right. We can know what the Bible says only by diligently reading it for ourselves.
What if we find passages that we do not understand? Well, join the crowd. After all, as John Bunyan, the writer of The Pilgrim's Progress, said, "God is wiser than we are." If some of His sayings at first seem hard to understand, we can look to the commentaries for meanings of difficult passages. Explanations are available for every verse -- some of which are excellent. We should seek as many opinions as we can for the meaning of a difficult verse as well as seek Divine guidance, above all, before forming an opinion on what a difficult passage means. "Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth . . . and he will show you things to come" (John 16:13).
Anyone who studies Christian writers will quickly see that many of them are convinced only their ideas are correct. This is not the proper attitude one should have in studying anything -- much less the Bible! People who study the Word of God must do so with humility and not try to make the Bible say what they want. ". . . let God be true, but every man a liar . . .," Paul said (Romans 3:4). One fact that always enters the picture when we read the writers of today and that is how the dollar enters into the facts. We like to think that this isn't true, but we know it cost money to write and print books. I do not see many of the writers and tape producers giving many away.
If there is one Scripture that contradicts an idea we hold, then we must abandon that idea. It is easy to form interpretations that agree with some passages of Scripture, but our opinions must agree with all of Scripture. Finding the true meaning of the Bible and sorting out the false doctrines from the true ones cannot be done without Divine help.
When we diligently study the Bible, we may arrive at conclusions concerning prophetic events that seem unconventional. Do not be afraid of where your studies will lead.
depending on the person it may or may not take a great deal of prayer, thought, or long hours of study to discover the meaning of the prophetic Scriptures. ". . . The word is nigh thee . . . ," Paul said (Romans 10:8); and we do not have to go to Heaven or to the pit to find the truth. The main requirement is a willingness to learn. The opinions of others should be sought but not followed blindly.
We do not have to spend much time in the study of prophetic Scriptures to realize opinions on the subject are wide-ranging. No point is universally agreed upon; every issue is highly controversial. Even the validity of the prophecies is questioned -- often by high-ranking clergymen. Therefore, we cannot rely on authorities to interpret the Scriptures for us; each of us is responsible for interpreting them ourselves as we depend upon the Lord for guidance. ". . . he (the Holy Spirit) shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26).
The Bible is able to speak for itself; or in other words, it is its own best commentary. Most prophecies are repeated several places in the Bible, and many difficult Scriptures have parallels. Thus, if we find difficulty in understanding one passage, we often can find the meaning of that passage in another part of the Bible.
We should express no prophetic ideas that cannot be verified by the Scriptures. The only revelation needed now by the Bible student is a revelation to understand the messages already revealed by the Lord.
Be wary of those who claim to have extra-biblical knowledge about prophecies concerning the end time. The Lord still talks to man; but concerning events of the last days, there is enough told in the Bible already that new revelations are not needed.
Christ often spoke in parables, but the parables illustrated the heavenly Kingdom in human terms so that the Kingdom would be understood more easily. He was not trying to cloud the meaning of the Scriptures but to make them clear. His Word is meaningless only to those who are spiritually blind.
All Scripture is assumed to be valid. Whether a passage occurs in the Old Testament or the New has nothing to do with whether God intends to do what He has said. If the Bible says something will happen, it will happen. If a prophecy has not been fulfilled in its entirety, it will be fulfilled in the future.
Some prophecies have been fulfilled partially in the past. In fact, if we study prophecy, we may conclude some predictions may be fulfilled more than once.
For instance, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. (Joel 2:28-29) Yet it seems certain Joel's prophecy will be fulfilled again after Israel is settled in the land and restored. (Joel 2:1-27) Isaiah's prophecy about a young woman conceiving (Isaiah 7:14) was a sign both to King Ahaz in the Old Testament and to the Jews when the Virgin Mary conceived Yeshua. (Matthew 1:23) Furthermore, when Yeshua came the first time, He was preceded by John the Baptist who was much like Elijah the prophet. When Christ comes the second time, He will be preceded by the real Elijah. (Malachi 4:5-6) Numerous other examples of prophecies being fulfilled twice could be pointed out.
More is prophesied about the last generation of the age of grace than about any other subject. Ancient biblical lands play the prominent role in this future world. Idolatry is rampant as is lawlessness. The time of the end is not yet -- although with the way the world is shaping up, that time could begin very soon. A few changes must take place on the political and spiritual scenes, but those changes could come about rapidly. As the one world order comes to fruition, we can see the similarities between that event and the days of Babylon. Men of one mind are or eventually become evil. The end will come as a flood, meaning when the seven year cycle starts things will unfold rapidly.
Some who read biblical prophecy find it depressing. All that talk of war and destruction! Yet for God's people, there is hope. Christ admonished us to pray we be counted worthy to escape those things. The rewards for the overcomer are more than we can presently imagine! Nevertheless, there are hard times ahead for humanity and for the church too for which we must prepare ourselves.
This work is an account of the events that will happen sometime in the future in the order in which the Bible seems to be saying they will occur. As you will note, I am leaning more and more toward the second coming of Christ being placed at the end of the Tribulation. Many will not agree with this placement of the Advent -- as it is sometimes known, but careful study of the Scriptures is leading more and more people to this conclusion. Read with an open mind.

One last point. Can we leave this earth without dying? Even though this is not a happy subject, it is necessary to look at it to understand the entire subject.

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Genesis 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Yeshua Christ our Lord.

Psalms 116:3-19
The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars. What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, In the courts of the LORD'S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

How do we take the death of Saints as being precious in the sight of the Lord?
We can begin to see some revelation by looking at some verses. First, what are saints? Are they the same as Christians? Or, are the Saints dead Christians?
We know there will be one time that some in Christ will not die.

I Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Again, we say, when will this occur? From the previous chapters, we know Elijah must come first. What else has to happen? Yeshua said,

Matthew 23:39
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

This says that until we confess we need him, he will not come.

Psalms 110:1
{A Psalm of David.} The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Here again, the enemy will be subdued before the return of Yeshua.
As we refer back to the rapture segment, we again have to determine who will be taken and who will be left.

Matthew 24:39-41
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

We have to determine here who is taken. Are the Children of God taken here or the tares (evil ones)?
Some scripture may help us here. As it was in the days of Noah seems to indicate that Noah stayed while his foes were taken.

 

Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Matthew 15:13-14
But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

It seems to me here that those that are taken, harvested or uprooted are not gods people. Could it be that we have it all backwards in an effort to somehow get out of here? It seems to be the same idea that Heavens Gate Cult had when they flew away.

Matthew 13:38-43
The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Here again, all the harvesting and reaping seem to be associated with the evil ones. Nowhere have I read of the Saints going anywhere. If New Jerusalem descends from Heaven to earth, why are we going anywhere, except to come back. It seems the general consensus among Evangelicals is that the Christians are going somewhere and I don't see that. Even if we go up to meet Yeshua in the air to join the dead in Christ, it doesn't necessarily mean we will stay in the air. The ones who are going to take the ride are those who are not of God's family. During the millennium Yeshua will rule from Zion and God's glory will fill the temple.

Isaiah 60:12
For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

Isaiah 63:19
We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.

I Samuel 2:9,10
He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
Again, out of Heaven will he come to judge the earth and give strength to Yeshua.

 

 

Psalms 106:16-18
They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.

No rapture here, only the destruction of the wicked.

Matthew 13:24-30
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Incidentally, you pre-trib rapture persons, look who gets gathered first.

Matthew 13:36-42
Then Yeshua sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Psalms 97:10
Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

Psalms 37:28,29
For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.

Deuteronomy 33:2,3
And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.

Matthew 26:53
Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

Revelation 20:9
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

At the end of the age, after the Millennium, we find here the Saints still here being compassed about by Satan for the last time.

Psalms 89:7-10
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.

This is when god has made the enemies of Yeshua his footstool.

Zechariah 14:5-12
And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. The LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

PART II

Now, if you think the rapture is controversial, try this.
Question?
Who did Yeshua come to save?
All peoples, tongues and nations of the world would be a good answer. I'm sure any minister of the gospel would agree with that. Unfortunately the ministers of the gospel, for the most part, are not up on or do they care what or who Yeshua came to save. Next weeks sermon and pay check is sufficient. Modern ministry is for the most part about reconciling the church and the secular world into one or at least to the state where they can mutually function together.
Why do I say this? This fits in with the last subject I discussed earlier. Who will be saved? Not when we go to Heaven as before, but who will go.
I feel there are many with an understanding of salvation without knowing the plan of salvation. The whole Bible is written for the express purpose of revealing the plan of salvation and our part in that plan. I guess today, and in the church, the plan doesn't matter, just the results. I might agree with that to a point, only to realize when the going gets tough, I have no road map to go by. The preacher might not be there at some point and time to guide me through the times.
I have put many hours of thought into this subject and have come to some conclusions that interest me, although they may be foreign to some. One verse I would like to look at before we continue this one-sided discussion.

John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In thinking on this verse, I can only deduct that to know God is to know the word of God.
If I take this further then I can assume that the more I understand the word, the more I understand God. If I go on, can I also assume that if a person doesn't know or study the Bible, his intimate association and/or knowledge of God is limited?

I John 2:18-22
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Yeshua is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

Now, if the knowledge of God is what gives us light, then what is darkness. It has to be the Anti-knowledge which is of the Anti-Christ. Can we deny God by not knowing the Word, or is the hearing about the Word through a third party sufficient. Who is responsible for the crucifixion of Yeshua? It must be the Anti-Jesus people. Are these the Anti-Word people. People who do not know the word. Then these are the same ones who do not know Yeshua, undoubtably.
So, these are the spirits of the Anti-Christ. And the Anti-christ himself must be their eventual leader when he comes on the scene. For the believers and students of Yeshua, that is, knowing the word, how do we understand salvation which was the purpose of this article.
Not to go back too far, we know at some point and time man fell from the grace of God or God's grace to the point he could not redeem himself. Man continually rebelled against God and we are now at the point where Yeshua has come to die as we know, or most in the western world know.
We can now begin to understand why Yeshua came and died. Before we get into this, it would be easier to put it in the form of some questions.
Is God the father of all people of this earth?
Did Yeshua die for all the people of this earth?
Did Yeshua pray we might all be saved?
Does God want us to all be saved?
Is the House of Israel and Judah the same?
These are some questions to start with, although there are many more that will surely rise as we go on. Everything will be taken literally from scripture without subjectivity, believing the Word to be the absolute authority.
Question #1
The answer is no.
Question #2
The answer is no.
Question #3
The answer is no.
Question #4
The answer is yes
Question #5
The answer is no

Question #1 Is God the father of all people of this earth?

Amos 3:1-2
Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Isaiah 63:19
We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.

Deuteronomy 7:6
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

He was the creator of all the peoples of earth, but couldn't have been their literal father because he knew them not.

Question #2 Did Yeshua die for all the people of this earth? To understand just what God's purpose for us is to understand what the Bible is trying to tell us about ourselves. Too many times it seems that we are confused about events because we are confused about who God is dealing with in his prophecy's. We are going to make an attempt to explain this.

Matthew 15:24
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 3:4-5
And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;

He was sent to save the lost of the House of Israel.

 

 

Matthew 10:5,6
These twelve Yeshua sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Luke 24:48,49
And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

The disciples were not to go to the gentiles until they had received the Holy Spirit. The promise to the gentiles would begin after that. Back to the House of Israel.

Luke 19:9,10
And Yeshua said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

What was lost? The House of Israel!

Luke 24:44-49
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Yeshua was gone into heaven when the gentiles were offered salvation.

John 6:35-45
And Yeshua said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Yeshua, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Yeshua therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

John 6:11-14
And Yeshua took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. (See the similarity between this and the preceding verse.) John 6:39
that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Yeshua did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

Are the fragments the lost whom Yeshua came to save, declaring that nothing be lost? Are the twelve baskets the twelve tribes of Israel?

John 10:14-18
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Who are these other sheep that shall hear my voice? Evidently these are the gentiles who will receive the word and become the other sheep.

John 10:25-30
Yeshua answered them, (the Jews) I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.

Gave them me surely has significance in that Yeshua was given to the House of Israel as a means of salvation. So, the salvation has came through the sacrifice of Yeshua as we have learned.

The scripture above says that the Jews are not the sheep of Yeshua reinforcing scriptures that Yeshua came to save the lost sheep of the House of Israel and not the Jews. I think that the old testament scriptures clearly indicate that God will deal with the House of Judah himself. It may not be scripturally clear at this point, but I can go out on a limb, so to speak, and say that God will deal with the Jews, Yeshua came for the House of Israel, and the Holy Spirit calls the gentiles, because it's clear the disciples were not to go to the gentiles until the Holy Spirit had come at the Pentecost.
Also, trying not to stretch facts, it seems that because Yeshua was of the tribe of Judah, he will not judge his own family, as is customary, even in courts today.

John 4:22
Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. (Yeshua)

Not of the Jews themselves, but for the offspring Yeshua.

John 11:51-54
And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Yeshua should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. Yeshua therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; ( HIS FAMILY) but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.

Here we see that the children of God are not gentiles, for they have not became Children of God as yet. These are the lost children of Israel. We see here also Yeshua taking his disciples into the city of Ephraim, a tribe of Israel that had gone astray. This surely symbolizes Yeshua taking the gospel to the lost of the House of Israel. And could possibly also indicate taking the gospel to the gentiles because of the fact that Ephraim was a rebellious son of Joseph whom was cast out.
Also, the fact that Yeshua did not walk openly among the Jews indicate that now he is symbolically not part of the judgment of the Jews, leaving them to God as we stated earlier? The book of the Revelation seems to indicate that most of the judgments of the end days are related to the Jews and not the children of Israel as a whole.

 

Question #3 Did Yeshua pray we might all be saved?

John 17:8-21
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Yeshua could not pray for all the world because he knew all the world would not accept him and if he prayed they all would be saved then God would have had to save them, therefore negating the whole salvation plan redeeming only the righteous, therefore the righteous would be mingled with the unrighteous still.

Question #4 Does God want us to all be saved?

I Timothy 2:3-4
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Question #5 Is the House of Israel and Judah the same?

Jeremiah 5:11
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 31:27-28
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.

I think this pretty well says that God is specifying two distinct groups here.

Now, we say, what is the importance of all this?

Genesis 17:1-7
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

Where are the people who are blessed today for no apparent reason other than existence.
Who and where is God's wife, who has cheated, left and forgotten him to a great extent.

Jeremiah 3:14-18
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.

The picture on the next page is by no means accurate, but will show how many of the lost tribes or House of Israel migrated. The next prophecy clearly not only identifies, but illustrates how the House of Israel migrated and to the degree it migrated in that direction. Remember, all the children of Israel were married to God, not just the Jews.

Jeremiah 33:17
For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

Where is this located? Of course, England and Scotland.

 

Jeremiah 33:9-11
And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it. Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast, The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.

When the joy and voices of the Bridegroom and the voice of Bride are gone from this country as is now happening, the land will be desolate and the return of Yeshua will bring the Bride ( the House of Israel ) back to Israel.
Can we say that all the latter day judgments will be in Israel? I don't think so. They may be physically there or start there, but God will deal with all his family and the whole creation.
Am I trying to say that the only ones that will be saved on earth are the Israelites or descendants? Yes, that is exactly right. You are either a child of Israel or you won't be saved. Read the following very carefully, and I think you will be pleasantly surprised when you understand the true purpose and plan for the Israelites. Even though the House of Israel has stumbled, it has managed to support most of the world at some time or other, even after victories in war.

Romans 11:1-36
I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Romans 15:26-27
For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

If we are all Israelites, God's people or grafted in, what happened with all these other people who are running amuck today. Where did they come from? Easy question, long answer; listen!

You might ask one last question. Where are we at now? I can say that what has happened will happen, and I will put some verses pertinent to today. You might say that this has happened before, but I will say it will happen again.

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

Jeremiah 12:14-15
Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.

This is not the return from Babylon, but the present return of the House of Judah.

Matthew 24:32-34
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

In closing, which I'm not too good at, there always seems to be more that gets longer and longer, I would surmise by saying there are two entities here on earth. Of God and of Satan. When Yeshua said you can only serve one or the other, he wasn't trying to get around the issue. From scripture here you can readily see the options available and they are confined to a very low denominator of two. If you haven't decided by now which of the two you want to confide in for the long term future, I suggest you get to know Yeshua and study Yeshua, the Word.

Twice in recent history, the last two thousand years, God's people have had the opportunity to serve God without repercussion. The latest has been the U. S. A. But in America the church has become very materialistic and embracing theology that is an abomination to our God.
The other generation crucified Yeshua.
It seems the people of God cannot manage themselves.
Does this mean that the church cannot be pure unless it is persecuted?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, for our interpretation of the beginning scripture. It may be interesting to see the difference between my interpretation and yours so make sure you have put together your thoughts prior to reading this.
God has and is protecting us from the blast of the terrible ones.

Who are the terrible ones?
Satan and his fallen spirits who inhabit the earth and heavens.

Bring down the noise of the strangers?
He will bring them down because they do not belong on the earth, they are strangers.

The branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low?
The offspring of Satan and Cain, his son, and their descendants

He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over the people?
The spirit of Satan which has the people blinded....Satan was the covered Cherubim

The veil spread over and the nations?
The sin that keeps people from seeing God.

Moab shall be trodden down?
An incestuous son...offspring such as Cain, who continue to pollute the earth

He shall bring down the pride and fortress of the high fort of thy walls?
For pride Satan rebelled from the Heavens where his and his fallen Angels fortress was, his high fort and walls being his and their place of refuge in the Heavens.

 

How did we compare? Hope we were right together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Season of the coming of Yeshua

Matthew 24:36
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Matthew 24:32
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

Matthew 24:33
So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

Matthew 24:34
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Jeremiah 25:12
And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

continue with
seventy

Isaiah 23:15
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

Isaiah 23:17
And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ruler of the world

John 12:31
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

 

Micah 5:1

Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.


Micah 5:2

But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.


Micah 5:3

Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.


Micah 5:4

And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.


Micah 5:5

And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.


Micah 5:6

And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

Hebrews 10:37

For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.


Hebrews 10:38

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

John 15:16

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Matthew 22:14

For many are called, but few are chosen.

THE REAL CHURCH

Matthew 16:18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Deuteronomy 13:1-3
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The first thing we want to deal with in part is the church and it's role. We find in the old testament that all God's people are away from him at the end of time. We can except those who are under Yeshua for this discussion. What is the church of Yeshua and who are it's shepherds?
I started really studying the Bible intently about 18 months. I first listened to the Bible on cassette before I established any opinions. As many others, I have listened to many ministers many hours in church, on radio and television for many years. When I started studying for myself, I found many, what I feel, are discrepancies with the mainline theological thinking of the ministry today. Traditions of past societies are espoused more than the word of God in many cases. I'm sure that many preachers really feel as though they are doing the calling of God. I am fast coming to the conclusion that that is not the case at all. As much as we feel like we must respect these so-called men of God, I'm becoming more uncomfortable with the teaching of many. This sounds kind of extreme, but in the old testament, anyone who prophesied falsely was put to death. If we relate prophesying to teaching, which I think we can, then can we accept false teaching without speaking out? If any teacher of the Word, which is the Spirit of Yeshua Christ, teaches falsely, then what is his part in the apostasy of the church?
I can remember when the teaching in the church was from the Bible and not so much related to and individual's opinion, but not so today. Many teachers espouse their interpretation of the Bible as absolute truth deceiving many. This is not only a part of the apostasy of the Church, but also leading the sheep astray. The Bible pretty much answers all our questions if we search enough. Of course, without some spiritual discernment, we will never find those answers. Those who earnestly seek God will find him. If Yeshua is the Word as defined in the Book of John, and we earnestly seek him, how do we find him unless we experience him in the Word of God, which is Yeshua Christ. You can't find him in any building listening to a choir. God, in the old testament says that books and words by mouth are not sufficient, he will teach you. The New Testament says study the Word of God to be approved.
I have taken as an example, the so-called rapture theory, and that's exactly what it is, a theory. So many of the main-line ministers today teach it almost without exception. It is not at all Biblical. In fact the Bible is very plain about the subject. Why are the scriptures so perverted by the teachers of the Word.
One of the things that bothered me most when I first started studying the Bible was, how can the church become so defiled in the end times and even conspire with the Anti-Christ to deceive man. I thought, where and how could the church go wrong. If you accept everything the church does as the will of God, there are no obvious problems. But, when you try to understand what the original intent of God was and what is happening now, it becomes more obvious of the shortcomings of the church. The church is even covering up it's apostasy by saying it will be gone before the final seven year period which is the consummation of the age prior to the revelation of Yeshua.
Probably, the most misunderstood of all is the meaning of the church itself. The church Yeshua intended may not at all resemble the one you are in now. We know that Yeshua didn't necessarily condemn the destroying of the temple because it had become a den of thieves. The hierarchy of the temple were using it as a profit making business. The real nature of God had been killed many years before. I always have to use a clique' when I think of this, could God visit your church without consuming all it's people. God really wanted to visit his people on the mount when he brought Moses the commandments. If you remember, Moses is the one who cautioned God that He would consume them all. Not because of his fury, but because of the sinfulness of the people. Moses knew they would all die. Could this have been a test for Moses, or did God want to burn them all up? I hardly think so. You know, we read these things over and over, the preachers preach it over and over, but we still do not understand the Holiness of God and our vulnerability to that Holiness, or the consuming fire we are subject to.
So, you say where or what is the problem? The problem is, we have been led astray by the spirit of Babylon. What is that? The spirit of confusion! We are not being fed the truth of God by the shepherds proclaiming to be called by God to teach us. I think many, probably years ago, were called by the Spirit of God to minister, but now, I wonder if any are called. The education of man is of Satan, not God. Over and over God told us in the Bible, He would teach us his ways, yet we are not doing his ways, just as he said would happen. I can give you one example of this from the Bible and I'm sure you will deny the truth, but I'll try. Listen to these two passages and try to deny the truth.

Luke 16:15
And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

John 14:29,30
And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.
Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

Micah 5:2,3
But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

Now comes the first test. The first scripture means nothing other than what we feel is good to do is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. I assume, nothing we are doing in our spiritual lives has anything to do with any man's ways or traditions of men. This could be any of a number of things such as celebration of Easter or of other pagan days. Maybe, not understanding the real meaning and celebration of Christmas. Was Christ born or conceived on December 25th? Could the same celebration we call Easter, or the pagan sex goddess (Ester, wife of Nimrod of Babylon) with the eggs be the same that the pagans say conceived Yeshua on December 25th? What do eggs have to do with Yeshua dying for our sins? What does his death have to do with killing trees, except to hang him on.
Second test. When Yeshua left, who was the Prince of the world? If you guessed Yeshua you would have been wrong. If you guessed Satan, himself, you would have been right. Now, do you think Yeshua or Satan has the spiritual power we claim to revolve in. Whose spirit is in the world and governing things. If you guessed the Anti-Christ, you would have been right. As anyone can clearly understand, in the 18th century, incidentally three sixes add up to 18, the most Hellenistic men that have ever been in the world except maybe Hitler, lived in the first part of that century. Who is Charles Darwin? Probably Satan's greatest disciple. Karl Marx, father of communism. John Dewey, father of the perverted educational system of our country. Sigmund Freud, the instigator of the sexual revelation. Julius Wellhausen, the first contradictor of the inherent truth of the Bible, planting doubts just as Satan himself has been doing in Heaven. John Maynard Keyes, father of a form of godliness without God. Man is everything in himself.
The last test is, did Yeshua give us up until the times of the gentiles were fulfilled. Well, that is debatable, but if we read what it says, till Israel was reborn in 1948 (the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.) he did. Can you believe that until that time Yeshua was not active in the world? What did the inherent Word of God say? Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. Read and learn. Who were his Brethren? The Jews, of course. We know that at some point and time the House of Israel, whom he came to save, will also return, but this is not that time. Again, look at scripture. You can't ever doubt what I say about scripture unless you know what it says and if you do not know what it says you are deceived today, not tomorrow, but today,

Hosea 6:1,2
Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

How long would Yeshua be gone from us as we saw before? he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. We see here he will give us up for two days or two thousand years according to;

II Peter 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Which has happened? This dispensation of time or the time we call now is the great divider, dividing the time when Yeshua was and when he will be revealed again. The time has come and what do you do? Nothing, unless you read on.
The scripture says that Yeshua left, for the coming ruler had nothing in him. If the ruler from 33 A.D. until 1948 was Satan, then who is everything around us fashioned after? Could it be Satan? God says that the times must be cut short so that some flesh would be saved. If God was ruler of this present world, I can assure you, we would not be in any danger of being wiped out. Adam gave that covenant away almost six thousand year ago. Now, you might ask where are all the miracles of God coming from? Are these truly miracles of God? Why is the Bible so intent in redeeming the lost in forgiveness of God through Yeshua if we are all doing so good? The facts are that God says we are perverted and sinful and abhor judgment and pervert all equity or truth. Why is this? Is this the truth you are being taught, know, or understand? Surely not! We are not being taught the truth. That is probably our saving grace, so to speak, for if we know the truth and do not obey, we are hell bound. And I do not take pride in saying that because if we know the truth and do not hearken, we are in danger of hellfire.

Micah 3:6-9
Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God. But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

There have been no prophets since the birth of Yeshua. The physics are in danger of hell and all others teaching falsehoods are equally guilty. Yeshua, himself was not a prophet. He fulfilled prophecy and teached it. He taught the disciples about the end which was already prophesied in the old testament. Can you feel good about the following statement? the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. For most Americans, this is you. How are we so Holy in our eyes and yet so ungodly.
Where have all the shepherds gone? If any doctrine in the church is contradictory to the word of God, how can that church be of God. If you have broken one law, you have broken them all. The pastors would say that the law has been fulfilled by Yeshua and what I say is falsehood. I say, if this is falsehood, why do you teach the law in tithing 10% when the law was fulfilled by Yeshua? You can't have it both ways. If the church has doctrine contrary to the Word of God, what or who is that church.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

If the church teaches contrary to the Word, which is Yeshua, then who are they teaching about?

I John 2:18,19
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

I John 4:3
And every spirit that confesseth not that Yeshua Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

II John 1:7
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Yeshua Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

I John 2:22
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Yeshua is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

Does your church condone anything that is an abomination to God, such as homosexuality? Does your church condone women preachers? It's not of the Word. Does your church criticize the government of your country? The Word says to live in peace. The church was never exhorted to rise against government in any form, yet many leaders of the church teach a form of rebellion. We must understand that all these things must come to pass whether we agree with it or not. It is the will of God. If you think not, then you are not in the relationship that God wants you to be, of one mind and spirit. Any shepherd or pastor of the church should not lead any of his sheep into any doctrine not in the Word, or of Yeshua.

I Timothy 2:1,2
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

What qualifications should our shepherds have?

Hebrews 5:4
And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.

Jude 1:3,4
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Yeshua Christ.

We are told here that we should, after understanding the faith delivered to the Saints, go on to a higher understanding of the Word. Who are these ones of old? These are the fallen angels, spirits of the Anti-Christ, who are perverting the Word, denying the truth of God that we discussed a few paragraphs ago. We can't seem to put this in perspective. If I know what the Bible says and I go to a church that teaches or condones any of these non-truths, then according to the Book of John, this is the spirit of Anti-Christ, which is the same as is mentioned in the Book of Jude above, so I must get out. These are deceiving spirits also mentioned by Yeshua in Matthew 24. If the church is doing so good, then why is God so condemning of what is going on and how the churches are managing their affairs. Going even farther, Yeshua, himself, is critical in Revelation concerning the activities of the church. We surely do not take pride in the apostasy of the church. The only intent is to recognize fallacies that can deceive us. Yeshua said, let no one deceive you. If we know the Word, how can we be deceived? The Word is Yeshua. It all boils down to you, yourself understanding God's Word to you, and you not depending on others to tell you God's message to you.
So many seem to think that if they do not listen to a preacher they will go to hell. This is not true, in fact the exact opposite is likely to occur.

II Timothy 4:3,4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Is this your scenario?
Biblically speaking, the only thing that had to happen to be saved through Yeshua was the planting, watering and increase or the harvesting. One planted the seed, another watered and God gave the increase.
Anything else that has to happen is not necessarily of God, but of man.
Why does God declare such is the church below. We know this is not isolated to olden times and not relevant to today because it says "even in the year of their visitation." What is that? It's when Yeshua comes to judge. Look carefully at what the teachers of the Word or of Yeshua or of Salvation have become and what God will do about it.

Jeremiah 23:11-40
For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD. And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God. Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD; Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

Deuteronomy 18:20-22
But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

I Corinthians 14:37-39
If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.

Deuteronomy 4:1,2
Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

Micah 3:11,12
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

Deuteronomy 31:29-35
For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselve , and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

Psalms 25:8,9
Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

Psalms 25:12
What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

Psalms 32:8,9
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

Isaiah 28:10-15
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

Ecclesiastes 12:8-14
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Jeremiah 25:34,35
Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashe , ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.

Isaiah 56:11
Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.

Jeremiah 50:6,7
My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.

Jeremiah 23:4
And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.

Ezekiel 34:9-15
Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.

John 10:14-16
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

I Peter 5:4
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Matthew 9:35,36
And Yeshua went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

Matthew 26:31
Then saith Yeshua unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
Zechariah 11:15-17
And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

I Peter 2:25
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Amos 1:2
And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

Ezekiel 37:24
And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

Micah 3:5,6
Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

Micah 3:9-12
Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

Hebrews 5:12-14
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Many will now say that the Holy Spirit has been active doing miraculous signs and wonders. Let's look at that before we move on. This is a difficult subject because no one really knows. But we look at it because so much is made of it and again we do not want to be deceived.

Deuteronomy 11:14
That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

Deuteronomy 32:2
My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

Hosea 6:2,3
After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

Joel 2:23
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

Joel 2:24
And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

Joel 2:25
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

Joel 2:26
And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

Joel 2:27
And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

Zechariah 10:1
Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.

Zechariah 10:2
For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.

Zechariah 10:3
Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.

Job 29:23
And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

Exodus 16:4
Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Exodus 16:5

And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

II Samuel 23:3

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.


II Samuel 23:4

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.


II Samuel 23:5

Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all thing , and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.


II Samuel 23:6

But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:


II Samuel 23:7

But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

the most misinterpreted prophecy in the Bible, the rapture

 

The second thing we will deal with is, who we are and what is our heritage in the text of the Bible. . .and thirdly, the return of Yeshua, which also deals with the taking of the church to be with Christ.

 

Isaiah 25:4:12
For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

Disclaimer:
As I write this, I will be using text from other sources because of time constraints and for the reason that why spend time writing what can be copied from sources comparable to what I would say myself. I do this only to save time and to get out my message sooner. In doing this there is no attempt to plagiarize or to violate anyone's copyrighted materials. I find that there is a lot of good material out there that should be read, but a lot of it gets off base even when it may have some good in it. Therefore I use the good and throw away the bad, thus getting the message out in a lot less time. All the messages, ideas and arrangements are mine. So, if there is anything you want to disagree with, you can disagree with me.
Nothing here is of divine revelation, but discernment with a lot of study. Nothing is guaranteed to be absolutely true, God will do his will in line with scripture foretold by his prophets.

The verse of Isaiah above is a good example of what you will read. How would you interpret this scripture? Probably not the same as I. At the end of this I will give you my interpretation.
You might say, what's going on here! Why all the noise about nothing. What is really going on. Do the pastors and preachers tell us, no! Do we study for ourselves, not much.
Is anyone wrong? Probably most.
Assumptions That Are Invalid! Conclusions that Cannot Be Drawn from the Evidence!
The number one reason people draw bad conclusions is they consider only part of the data -- always the part that supports their beliefs. Sir Francis Bacon talked about this phenomenon many years ago. According to Bacon, it did not matter how much data one could find to prove his position. What mattered was whether a position could be disproven.
What we must remember is that every opinion in this universe can be proven. No matter how absurd an idea might seem to be, some philosopher has said it. Since there is data to support every notion that man can imagine, it becomes a task to sort out what is true, what is almost true, what is partially true, and what is plain foolish.
To sort out the good from the bad, we must ask ourselves if our opinions agree with all of the information we have available. If there is data that contradicts our views, then our views need to be modified. Unfortunately, few of us are open-minded enough to change our minds on our cherished ideas.
Another reason we draw wrong conclusions is that we do not have a reasoning process that steers us away from folly. Or in other words, we do not know what the rules are. We do not know what constitutes a valid assumption and what conclusions we can draw from the data.

A few prime examples of an invalid assumption:

* All we need is one passage of Scripture to establish a doctrine. That is like saying that if there is any glass at all in an automobile, then the whole car must be made of glass.

* If we do not see all of the data stated in the passage, we can assume that the passage is stating what we do not want it to state. As an example, the word "church" is not found in the Book of Revelation after chapter 3.

Can we conclude from that information that the Church is not on Earth after chapter 3? Not if the text just uses a different terminology to describe the church. There is reference made in chapter 6 to the saints of God. Furthermore, who are those who have the testimony of Yeshua and keep His commandments?
If absence of information is sufficient to prove a point, then what about the verse in

Revelation 16:15
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Couldn't it's timing and placement in scripture be the place and time when he announces his coming. If absence of data means something, then surely timing and placement in scripture means something.
As you can see, whether right or wrong, we start downhill rapidly when we assume anything in scripture.
As for a conclusion that cannot be drawn from the data, consider the statement by Christ that we should pray that we be counted worthy to escape the things that are coming to pass. Many people say this passage is stating that the church will not go through the Tribulation. However, God could let the church go through the Tribulation unharmed. If He did so, He would not be violating the meaning of His Word. The primary fallacy here is that by pure speculation alone or assuming doctrine not specifically spelled out is not acceptable. By the letter of the law and that is where doctrine originates, it is false doctrine, therefore the spirit of Anti-Christ has entered into church teachings.
Nowhere in the books of the Prophets is it said anyone will be removed from the earth. Many times it says they will be protected from the wrath of God. A good analogy is when;

Daniel 3:1-3
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Revelation 13:15
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Daniel 3:10-17
Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king,
O Nebbuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. ( Compare Matthew 10:19; But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak).
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
If this is so, then why can't god perform the same type rescue, which he did in many instances of the Bible. The primary point that can be made here is the fact that Saints were tried and delivered during similiar circumstances. Could the next verse be the rapture at some point and time, as previously mentioned, at the last trump. But, even as some believe there will not be a rapture, there is considerable proof in scripture that God will not forsake his people.

Isaiah 57:1,2
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.

Matthew 27:52
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

The following random passages are the truth in god's word of his ability and determination to save us from unnecessary wrath and judgment. As nothing can happen except it is foretold by the prophets, then I think we need to fully research everything we accept as doctrine.

Amos 3:7
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Everything in the entire bible has been foretold by the prophets. Some of the following verses can be interpreted to mean that God's people will somehow escape his wrath in the last days. Nowhere can we find that God will take anyone to the third Heaven prior to the end of the Millennium. Paul indicates he was taken up to the third Heaven, but this is the only account of this type I find. How God will protect his people is still a mystery, but we will look at some scripture.
The Psalms seem to give us the most insight.

II Peter 2:9
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

Jeremiah 30:7
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Jeremiah 30:11;12
For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

Psalms 30:5
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Psalms 31:3;4
For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.

Psalms 31:20;22
Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.

Psalms 32:6;8
For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Psalms 34:6;8
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psalms 37:28
For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

Psalms 37:39;40
But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

Psalms 91:10;11
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Psalms 91:14;16
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Psalms 94:12;14
Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

Nahum 3:11,12
Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy. All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.

Zephaniah 2:3
Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.

Along the same lines, the Philadelphian Church is promised it will not be tempted when the rest of the world is tempted. Do we conclude this passage is stating the Philadelphian church will be raptured?
As in the case above, we could draw that conclusion from the data. However, as with all conclusions we draw, we must test our hypothesis further. Could not the passage mean that the Philadelphian Church will be on the earth at the time of the Tribulation but will not be tempted? If indeed we can draw this conclusion from the data, then we need to look elsewhere to find the answer to our questions.
The most dangerous example of a bad conclusion drawn from the data is the belief that because salvation is a free gift of God's grace (a view I do not question) and since works are not involved (again I agree), then once we are saved we can live any way we want to live. If works did not bring us our salvation, so the reasoning goes, then works cannot take it away.
Think about it. On the surface that seems logical enough. Again though, we must ask ourselves does that line of reasoning fit every situation? What about an automobile? Do the brakes supply it with the power to move? If they do not, then can we say that if the brakes did not supply the power to make a car go, the brakes cannot stop it from going either.
When does the Lord's second coming occur? This question gets to the heart of the reason I began this study.
The standard view among evangelical Christians today is that the Lord's second coming consists of two phases.
The first phase is known as the Rapture. This is believed to be the beginning of the seven-year tribulation where Christ comes to Earth to catch away His saints.
The second phase occurs at the end of the Tribulation when Christ comes to Earth riding a white horse, fights the Battle of Armageddon, and sets up His Kingdom that lasts a thousand years.

Matthew 24:27
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ???????????

Luke 10:17-24
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Revelation 12:7-12
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Revelation 9:4
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

Jeremiah 3:14-25
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors (teachers) according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel. For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

I Corinthians 12:27-31
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

Mark 9:49
For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. (those salted by fire).

Let's look closely at this issue.

Jeremiah 23:20
The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.

The time has surely come for us to understand the truth of the scriptures. The verse most of the church is hung up on today is,

I Thessalonians 4:13-18
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Yeshua will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
The question here is how long is it till "Then"

1 Corinthians 15:23
But every man in his own order:

I Thessalonians 4:17
"Then" (emphasis added) we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Does 'then' happen immediately or could it be later in time, regardless of how long a period of time. Many times in scripture there is passage of time between events that seem long to us, but fits in with the will of God. After all, this earth age will not last but for a week in the sight of God. We have been in the last days for almost 2000 years. Surely, we must be living somewhere in late Saturday night in God's plan.
Look, for a moment at a very similar and defining scripture,

I Corinthians 15:20-24
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; ( the ones that are asleep or dead in Christ) afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. ( those who are alive and remain) Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

All dead spirits are already in heaven with God and surely we will be caught up with them at some period in time. The problem is there is not enough information in these scriptures to prove a doctrine of man. Then we have those who and alive in Yeshua, both dead and the ones that are alive and remain alive at the coming of Yeshua. The ones who are alive or the children of the day and not of the night. The children of the night are they that are asleep. So, the ones who are alive in Yeshua and remain alive in the flesh until Yeshua comes will be taken together to be with the Lord and for judgement.

I Thessalonians 5:4-8
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

"Of the day", for the hope of salvation and not of the night like those who sleep in the night.
If we believe that many of these are unsaved ones, then we can relate this to Matthew 13:27-30. We see here the similarity between the taking of the tares prior to the gathering to the wheat to himself compared to those who are asleep, whether dead or alive in flesh, and those who are alive which is the wheat, being children of the day.

Matthew 13:27
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

The spirits of the dead are already with the Lord. Maybe they return with the Lord Yeshua at the battle of Armageddon --- Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

I think we need to look at who are those who are asleep. Are they the dead who belong to Yeshua? The "dead in Christ", I think causes some confusion. Through the death of Yeshua, all have become eligible to become children of God. "Many will be called, but few chosen", is a key to understanding this subject. The dead in Christ here are not necessarily saved individuals. Read the scripture that defines my position. Clearly, all will be raised up from the dead to the judgement. Also, this is clearly the first judgement and not the Great White Throne Judgement.

John 5:21-29
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth the ; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Daniel 12:1-3
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

The descepancy between Daniel with "many shall be raised" and "all will be raised" can be explained by the fact that Yeshua has already taken from the dead the ones whom were dead prior to the age of grace. Now, all the dead whom are under "Grace" or the blood of Yeshua, will be included in this judgement whether they have believed or not. I think this is representative of the fact that everyone, whether saved by grace or not, will face Yeshua face to face at the judgement seat. If they were not raised, they would not answer to Yeshua at the judgement, for the second judgement of of God.

Are these two events of the coming of Yeshua separate phenomena? Or are they one and the same? If you read the Book of Zechariah, you only see two events of Yeshua coming to earth. This clearly defines the rapture as I see it in Corinthians.

I Corinthians 15:51;52
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Zechariah 9:14
And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.

Here, we plainly see Yeshua returning and the last trumpet being blown. There may be some ambiguity here as to whether this is the seventh trumpet of Revelation or a separate trumpet blown by God himself as the words imply. We have mentioned previously that there are two trumpets in the Bible blown by God himself. I think the two trumpets are the same mentioned in different verses of scripture. This plainly reinforces the fact that no one but the Father in Heaven knows when the appointed time will be.

Matthew 24:36
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Isaiah 27:13
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

I think that without any stretch of the word that we can assume that the Trumpet of God and the Seventh trumpet of the Angel are closely linked in time based on the following scripture.

Revelation 10:7
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

In the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, all the declarations of God to the prophets would be finished. Did the prophets mention the return of Yeshua? Yes, we read in the Book of Zechariah that God would send his Arrow as lightning. And chapter 6 verse 12

Zechariah 6:12
And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

Yeshua, the BRANCH, who grew up on earth, out of his place which was heaven.

Zechariah 6:13
Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

Clearly, this is a prophesied return of Yeshua to be fulfilled. Just prior to the sounding of the seventh angel, God will blow the Great Trumpet signifying the return of Yeshua and the rapture.
One can make a case for placing the Rapture at the beginning of the Tribulation if he uses only part of the data to draw his conclusion. However, this conclusion does not agree with all of the data. For instance, how can the dragon make war with the people who have the testimony of Yeshua and keep His commandments if those people are gone to Heaven? After all, the dragon has just been cast out of Heaven to Earth.
Furthermore, when Christ says "when ye see" in the Olivet Discourse, He is stating that His people will be here to see the things He is talking about.
If Daniel 11, the Olivet Discourse, and Revelation are chronological accounts, as I believe, then there is no place for a pre-tribulation Rapture in any of their narratives.
Here is something else that may discount the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture.

Revelation 11:3
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Most agree these two are Elijah and Moses or Enoch. Personally I think they are Elijah and Enoch, because both were prophets. Two did not die, but must. Surely, Moses can't die twice. Although, his body was hidden, the Bible clearly indicates he died and was buried by God in the valley of Moab.

Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Deuteronomy 34:5-7
So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

Based on the facts, we see here that Moses probably will not be the other witness, for he would have to die a second death and the only ones who will do that are the ones thrown in the pit.

Mark 9:12
And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.

Here, very plainly Yeshua, himself, tells us Elijah precedes his coming. We know his happens after the beginning of the tribulation. If nothing else this nullifies the theory in the major denominations today who say the next prophecy to be fulfilled is the rapture of the church. We see here that is not so, Elijah will be a prophecy fulfilled prior to the coming of Yeshua.

Matthew 26:64
Yeshua saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Revelation 1:7
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

There is no mention here of Yeshua coming in the clouds to gather the church without the world seeing him. "Every eye shall see him".

Yeshua, himself tells us that he cannot return till all prophecy is fulfilled, and to this point it isn't.

Luke 24:44
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Another fact to deal with prior to the church being raptured is this prophecy by Daniel, the primary prophecy book in the Bible along with Revelation.

Daniel 7:24;25
And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

How can the Saints be at the hand of the Anti-Christ and be raptured too?
Oh yes, there are those who say that Revelation 4 is a reference to the Rapture. However, making a voice call John to come up to Heaven to see what will happen in the future -- which is what Revelation 4 is about -- equivalent to the Rapture is like comparing a kiwi to a grapefruit.
There is one parallel here and that is I Corinthians 15:51-52

I Corinthians 15:51;52
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

This clearly refers to flesh and not the spirit as we discussed before. The Spirit is already gone in I Thessalonians 4:13. The Spirit has been with God for a time. Now, the "Then", capital letter, new verse, referred to earlier in I Thessalonians 4:17 takes place, "Then, we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The last trump being prior to the bowl judgments, the rapture could very well be here. This is somewhere around the midpoint of the tribulation period, which satisfies Daniel's prophecy and also I Corinthians 15:51-52.
Another anomaly to deal with is the fact there is a war going in Heaven. Will the Saints be taken alive to a war?

Matthew 11:12
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Revelation 12:7
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Satan has already been cast out one time and that was in ancient days, probably prior to this earth period.

Isaiah 51:9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

////

 

Carefully note the following scriptures which reveal that the Saints will rise on the third day.

II Peter 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Hosea 6:2
After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Luke 24:46
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

Isaiah 26:19,20
Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

Luke 24:21
But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

If you trust today that Yeshua is the Savior of the world, this verse has to be prophetic. Let's read it in the present tense.

We have trusted that it is you that will redeem Israel and besides, we are just a short period of time till the third day and these things will be done.

I Peter 1:13
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Yeshua Christ;

I Peter 2:12
Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

 

 

Revelation 10:7
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Daniel 7:22
Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Daniel 7:25-27
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

This clearly, in my mind, demonstrates that the saints were given to the Prince of the Covenant for 31/2 years. This is not the Anti-Christ. The little horn is the Prince of the covenant or the individual who makes the covenant between the Jews and the Arabs. The Anti-Christ is not the covenant maker, only the "confirmor". The church T.V. prophecy evangelicals are wrong about this one too. Or, could this covenant be the original Abrahamic covenant reinstituting animal sacrifice by the Jews? The Anti-Christ will do away with him at some point and time, probably about the end of the first half of the tribulation. the Anti-Christ prepares the way for Satan himself to enter the body of man. Those who say that the church is not going through tribulation need to read and listen to something besides secular television. The Saints are being persecuted every day all around the world. Just because the church of America is safe, it doesn't mean the rest of the church is safe. The primary reason the church in America is safe is discussed later.
The plain meaning of some of the texts is difficult. This answer may seem redundant, but it cannot be given enough. We have superimposed our cherished doctrines on so many of our beliefs that we change the meaning of the Word of God if that meaning does not fit our preconceived ideas.
Consider the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. They did not all get to meet the bridegroom when He came. Christ warned repeatedly that when He came, He would punish many, including those who had been His servants. Some would be beaten with many stripes, some with few stripes; and some would be cast into outer darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Some would beg to get in (Matthew 7:21-23) but would not be permitted to do so.
We need to organize the various bits and pieces of prophecy that are contained in the Bible. The Scriptures were not written like an ordinary book in which events are placed in chronological order. The Bible was written by several men over periods of many centuries. Even an individual writer often did not write in chronological order because he did not receive his messages all at once. Usually, revelations came a little bit at a time.

Isaiah 28:13
But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Only with divine help, often referred to as spiritual discernment, can we understand the scriptures. You can read what will happen to those who do not have spiritual discernment. God will teach us. The verse above says, "they will be snared and taken". Who is it talking about here? Sure, Satan and his people.
Sometimes a writer received several revelations about the same subject, but each revelation would contain different data on that subject. Daniel's four visions about the Antichrist and the four Gospels' accounts of the Lord Yeshua Christ are examples of this type of parallel writing. Each writing is basically about the same topic, but no two stories are identical. Various writers in the Bible often talk about the same events; yet each has details that are not mentioned by the other authors.
All of the prophets in both the Old and New Testaments are telling parts of the same story -- though to none of them was the entire drama revealed. Even in modern times, very few people who study these prophecies seem to comprehend the entire scope of the events which are to happen. Almost everyone has heard bits and pieces of the prophetic Scriptures, but practically no one seems to be able to fully explain how these bits and pieces form the whole picture. Every effort must be made by the Bible student to understand the entire prophetic scene.
A word of caution: No one who studies the Bible should claim only his idea is right. Everyone must be invited to examine the Scriptures to form his own conclusions. The more Christians read the Word of God, the better their understanding of it will be.
So much of the Bible is not understood today. For one thing the average Christian rarely reads God's Book, thus making him a prey for any false teacher who sounds right. We can know what the Bible says only by diligently reading it for ourselves.
What if we find passages that we do not understand? Well, join the crowd. After all, as John Bunyan, the writer of The Pilgrim's Progress, said, "God is wiser than we are." If some of His sayings at first seem hard to understand, we can look to the commentaries for meanings of difficult passages. Explanations are available for every verse -- some of which are excellent. We should seek as many opinions as we can for the meaning of a difficult verse as well as seek Divine guidance, above all, before forming an opinion on what a difficult passage means. "Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth . . . and he will show you things to come" (John 16:13).
Anyone who studies Christian writers will quickly see that many of them are convinced only their ideas are correct. This is not the proper attitude one should have in studying anything -- much less the Bible! People who study the Word of God must do so with humility and not try to make the Bible say what they want. ". . . let God be true, but every man a liar . . .," Paul said (Romans 3:4). One fact that always enters the picture when we read the writers of today and that is how the dollar enters into the facts. We like to think that this isn't true, but we know it cost money to write and print books. I do not see many of the writers and tape producers giving many away.
If there is one Scripture that contradicts an idea we hold, then we must abandon that idea. It is easy to form interpretations that agree with some passages of Scripture, but our opinions must agree with all of Scripture. Finding the true meaning of the Bible and sorting out the false doctrines from the true ones cannot be done without Divine help.
When we diligently study the Bible, we may arrive at conclusions concerning prophetic events that seem unconventional. Do not be afraid of where your studies will lead.
depending on the person it may or may not take a great deal of prayer, thought, or long hours of study to discover the meaning of the prophetic Scriptures. ". . . The word is nigh thee . . . ," Paul said (Romans 10:8); and we do not have to go to Heaven or to the pit to find the truth. The main requirement is a willingness to learn. The opinions of others should be sought but not followed blindly.
We do not have to spend much time in the study of prophetic Scriptures to realize opinions on the subject are wide-ranging. No point is universally agreed upon; every issue is highly controversial. Even the validity of the prophecies is questioned -- often by high-ranking clergymen. Therefore, we cannot rely on authorities to interpret the Scriptures for us; each of us is responsible for interpreting them ourselves as we depend upon the Lord for guidance. ". . . he (the Holy Spirit) shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26).
The Bible is able to speak for itself; or in other words, it is its own best commentary. Most prophecies are repeated several places in the Bible, and many difficult Scriptures have parallels. Thus, if we find difficulty in understanding one passage, we often can find the meaning of that passage in another part of the Bible.
We should express no prophetic ideas that cannot be verified by the Scriptures. The only revelation needed now by the Bible student is a revelation to understand the messages already revealed by the Lord.
Be wary of those who claim to have extra-biblical knowledge about prophecies concerning the end time. The Lord still talks to man; but concerning events of the last days, there is enough told in the Bible already that new revelations are not needed.
Christ often spoke in parables, but the parables illustrated the heavenly Kingdom in human terms so that the Kingdom would be understood more easily. He was not trying to cloud the meaning of the Scriptures but to make them clear. His Word is meaningless only to those who are spiritually blind.
All Scripture is assumed to be valid. Whether a passage occurs in the Old Testament or the New has nothing to do with whether God intends to do what He has said. If the Bible says something will happen, it will happen. If a prophecy has not been fulfilled in its entirety, it will be fulfilled in the future.
Some prophecies have been fulfilled partially in the past. In fact, if we study prophecy, we may conclude some predictions may be fulfilled more than once.
For instance, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. (Joel 2:28-29) Yet it seems certain Joel's prophecy will be fulfilled again after Israel is settled in the land and restored. (Joel 2:1-27) Isaiah's prophecy about a young woman conceiving (Isaiah 7:14) was a sign both to King Ahaz in the Old Testament and to the Jews when the Virgin Mary conceived Yeshua. (Matthew 1:23) Furthermore, when Yeshua came the first time, He was preceded by John the Baptist who was much like Elijah the prophet. When Christ comes the second time, He will be preceded by the real Elijah. (Malachi 4:5-6) Numerous other examples of prophecies being fulfilled twice could be pointed out.
More is prophesied about the last generation of the age of grace than about any other subject. Ancient biblical lands play the prominent role in this future world. Idolatry is rampant as is lawlessness. The time of the end is not yet -- although with the way the world is shaping up, that time could begin very soon. A few changes must take place on the political and spiritual scenes, but those changes could come about rapidly. As the one world order comes to fruition, we can see the similarities between that event and the days of Babylon. Men of one mind are or eventually become evil. The end will come as a flood, meaning when the seven year cycle starts things will unfold rapidly.
Some who read biblical prophecy find it depressing. All that talk of war and destruction! Yet for God's people, there is hope. Christ admonished us to pray we be counted worthy to escape those things. The rewards for the overcomer are more than we can presently imagine! Nevertheless, there are hard times ahead for humanity and for the church too for which we must prepare ourselves.
This work is an account of the events that will happen sometime in the future in the order in which the Bible seems to be saying they will occur. As you will note, I am leaning more and more toward the second coming of Christ being placed at the end of the Tribulation. Many will not agree with this placement of the Advent -- as it is sometimes known, but careful study of the Scriptures is leading more and more people to this conclusion. Read with an open mind.

One last point. Can we leave this earth without dying? Even though this is not a happy subject, it is necessary to look at it to understand the entire subject.

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Genesis 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Yeshua Christ our Lord.

Psalms 116:3-19
The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars. What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, In the courts of the LORD'S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

How do we take the death of Saints as being precious in the sight of the Lord?
We can begin to see some revelation by looking at some verses. First, what are saints? Are they the same as Christians? Or, are the Saints dead Christians?
We know there will be one time that some in Christ will not die.

I Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Again, we say, when will this occur? From the previous chapters, we know Elijah must come first. What else has to happen? Yeshua said,

Matthew 23:39
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

This says that until we confess we need him, he will not come.

Psalms 110:1
{A Psalm of David.} The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Here again, the enemy will be subdued before the return of Yeshua.
As we refer back to the rapture segment, we again have to determine who will be taken and who will be left.

Matthew 24:39-41
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

We have to determine here who is taken. Are the Children of God taken here or the tares (evil ones)?
Some scripture may help us here. As it was in the days of Noah seems to indicate that Noah stayed while his foes were taken.

 

Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Matthew 15:13-14
But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

It seems to me here that those that are taken, harvested or uprooted are not gods people. Could it be that we have it all backwards in an effort to somehow get out of here? It seems to be the same idea that Heavens Gate Cult had when they flew away.

Matthew 13:38-43
The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Here again, all the harvesting and reaping seem to be associated with the evil ones. Nowhere have I read of the Saints going anywhere. If New Jerusalem descends from Heaven to earth, why are we going anywhere, except to come back. It seems the general consensus among Evangelicals is that the Christians are going somewhere and I don't see that. Even if we go up to meet Yeshua in the air to join the dead in Christ, it doesn't necessarily mean we will stay in the air. The ones who are going to take the ride are those who are not of God's family. During the millennium Yeshua will rule from Zion and God's glory will fill the temple.

Isaiah 60:12
For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

Isaiah 63:19
We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.

I Samuel 2:9,10
He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
Again, out of Heaven will he come to judge the earth and give strength to Yeshua.

 

 

Psalms 106:16-18
They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.

No rapture here, only the destruction of the wicked.

Matthew 13:24-30
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Incidentally, you pre-trib rapture persons, look who gets gathered first.

Matthew 13:36-42
Then Yeshua sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Psalms 97:10
Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

Psalms 37:28,29
For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.

Deuteronomy 33:2,3
And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.

Matthew 26:53
Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

Revelation 20:9
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

At the end of the age, after the Millennium, we find here the Saints still here being compassed about by Satan for the last time.

Psalms 89:7-10
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.

This is when god has made the enemies of Yeshua his footstool.

Zechariah 14:5-12
And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. The LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

PART II

Now, if you think the rapture is controversial, try this.
Question?
Who did Yeshua come to save?
All peoples, tongues and nations of the world would be a good answer. I'm sure any minister of the gospel would agree with that. Unfortunately the ministers of the gospel, for the most part, are not up on or do they care what or who Yeshua came to save. Next weeks sermon and pay check is sufficient. Modern ministry is for the most part about reconciling the church and the secular world into one or at least to the state where they can mutually function together.
Why do I say this? This fits in with the last subject I discussed earlier. Who will be saved? Not when we go to Heaven as before, but who will go.
I feel there are many with an understanding of salvation without knowing the plan of salvation. The whole Bible is written for the express purpose of revealing the plan of salvation and our part in that plan. I guess today, and in the church, the plan doesn't matter, just the results. I might agree with that to a point, only to realize when the going gets tough, I have no road map to go by. The preacher might not be there at some point and time to guide me through the times.
I have put many hours of thought into this subject and have come to some conclusions that interest me, although they may be foreign to some. One verse I would like to look at before we continue this one-sided discussion.

John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In thinking on this verse, I can only deduct that to know God is to know the word of God.
If I take this further then I can assume that the more I understand the word, the more I understand God. If I go on, can I also assume that if a person doesn't know or study the Bible, his intimate association and/or knowledge of God is limited?

I John 2:18-22
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Yeshua is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

Now, if the knowledge of God is what gives us light, then what is darkness. It has to be the Anti-knowledge which is of the Anti-Christ. Can we deny God by not knowing the Word, or is the hearing about the Word through a third party sufficient. Who is responsible for the crucifixion of Yeshua? It must be the Anti-Jesus people. Are these the Anti-Word people. People who do not know the word. Then these are the same ones who do not know Yeshua, undoubtably.
So, these are the spirits of the Anti-Christ. And the Anti-christ himself must be their eventual leader when he comes on the scene. For the believers and students of Yeshua, that is, knowing the word, how do we understand salvation which was the purpose of this article.
Not to go back too far, we know at some point and time man fell from the grace of God or God's grace to the point he could not redeem himself. Man continually rebelled against God and we are now at the point where Yeshua has come to die as we know, or most in the western world know.
We can now begin to understand why Yeshua came and died. Before we get into this, it would be easier to put it in the form of some questions.
Is God the father of all people of this earth?
Did Yeshua die for all the people of this earth?
Did Yeshua pray we might all be saved?
Does God want us to all be saved?
Is the House of Israel and Judah the same?
These are some questions to start with, although there are many more that will surely rise as we go on. Everything will be taken literally from scripture without subjectivity, believing the Word to be the absolute authority.
Question #1
The answer is no.
Question #2
The answer is no.
Question #3
The answer is no.
Question #4
The answer is yes
Question #5
The answer is no

Question #1 Is God the father of all people of this earth?

Amos 3:1-2
Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Isaiah 63:19
We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.

Deuteronomy 7:6
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

He was the creator of all the peoples of earth, but couldn't have been their literal father because he knew them not.

Question #2 Did Yeshua die for all the people of this earth? To understand just what God's purpose for us is to understand what the Bible is trying to tell us about ourselves. Too many times it seems that we are confused about events because we are confused about who God is dealing with in his prophecy's. We are going to make an attempt to explain this.

Matthew 15:24
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 3:4-5
And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;

He was sent to save the lost of the House of Israel.

 

 

Matthew 10:5,6
These twelve Yeshua sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Luke 24:48,49
And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

The disciples were not to go to the gentiles until they had received the Holy Spirit. The promise to the gentiles would begin after that. Back to the House of Israel.

Luke 19:9,10
And Yeshua said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

What was lost? The House of Israel!

Luke 24:44-49
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Yeshua was gone into heaven when the gentiles were offered salvation.

John 6:35-45
And Yeshua said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Yeshua, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Yeshua therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

John 6:11-14
And Yeshua took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. (See the similarity between this and the preceding verse.) John 6:39
that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Yeshua did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

Are the fragments the lost whom Yeshua came to save, declaring that nothing be lost? Are the twelve baskets the twelve tribes of Israel?

John 10:14-18
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Who are these other sheep that shall hear my voice? Evidently these are the gentiles who will receive the word and become the other sheep.

John 10:25-30
Yeshua answered them, (the Jews) I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.

Gave them me surely has significance in that Yeshua was given to the House of Israel as a means of salvation. So, the salvation has came through the sacrifice of Yeshua as we have learned.

The scripture above says that the Jews are not the sheep of Yeshua reinforcing scriptures that Yeshua came to save the lost sheep of the House of Israel and not the Jews. I think that the old testament scriptures clearly indicate that God will deal with the House of Judah himself. It may not be scripturally clear at this point, but I can go out on a limb, so to speak, and say that God will deal with the Jews, Yeshua came for the House of Israel, and the Holy Spirit calls the gentiles, because it's clear the disciples were not to go to the gentiles until the Holy Spirit had come at the Pentecost.
Also, trying not to stretch facts, it seems that because Yeshua was of the tribe of Judah, he will not judge his own family, as is customary, even in courts today.

John 4:22
Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. (Yeshua)

Not of the Jews themselves, but for the offspring Yeshua.

John 11:51-54
And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Yeshua should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. Yeshua therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; ( HIS FAMILY) but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.

Here we see that the children of God are not gentiles, for they have not became Children of God as yet. These are the lost children of Israel. We see here also Yeshua taking his disciples into the city of Ephraim, a tribe of Israel that had gone astray. This surely symbolizes Yeshua taking the gospel to the lost of the House of Israel. And could possibly also indicate taking the gospel to the gentiles because of the fact that Ephraim was a rebellious son of Joseph whom was cast out.
Also, the fact that Yeshua did not walk openly among the Jews indicate that now he is symbolically not part of the judgment of the Jews, leaving them to God as we stated earlier? The book of the Revelation seems to indicate that most of the judgments of the end days are related to the Jews and not the children of Israel as a whole.

 

Question #3 Did Yeshua pray we might all be saved?

John 17:8-21
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Yeshua could not pray for all the world because he knew all the world would not accept him and if he prayed they all would be saved then God would have had to save them, therefore negating the whole salvation plan redeeming only the righteous, therefore the righteous would be mingled with the unrighteous still.

Question #4 Does God want us to all be saved?

I Timothy 2:3-4
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Question #5 Is the House of Israel and Judah the same?

Jeremiah 5:11
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 31:27-28
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.

I think this pretty well says that God is specifying two distinct groups here.

Now, we say, what is the importance of all this?

Genesis 17:1-7
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

Where are the people who are blessed today for no apparent reason other than existence.
Who and where is God's wife, who has cheated, left and forgotten him to a great extent.

Jeremiah 3:14-18
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.

The picture on the next page is by no means accurate, but will show how many of the lost tribes or House of Israel migrated. The next prophecy clearly not only identifies, but illustrates how the House of Israel migrated and to the degree it migrated in that direction. Remember, all the children of Israel were married to God, not just the Jews.

Jeremiah 33:17
For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

Where is this located? Of course, England and Scotland.

 

Jeremiah 33:9-11
And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it. Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast, The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.

When the joy and voices of the Bridegroom and the voice of Bride are gone from this country as is now happening, the land will be desolate and the return of Yeshua will bring the Bride ( the House of Israel ) back to Israel.
Can we say that all the latter day judgments will be in Israel? I don't think so. They may be physically there or start there, but God will deal with all his family and the whole creation.
Am I trying to say that the only ones that will be saved on earth are the Israelites or descendants? Yes, that is exactly right. You are either a child of Israel or you won't be saved. Read the following very carefully, and I think you will be pleasantly surprised when you understand the true purpose and plan for the Israelites. Even though the House of Israel has stumbled, it has managed to support most of the world at some time or other, even after victories in war.

Romans 11:1-36
I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Romans 15:26-27
For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

If we are all Israelites, God's people or grafted in, what happened with all these other people who are running amuck today. Where did they come from? Easy question, long answer; listen!

You might ask one last question. Where are we at now? I can say that what has happened will happen, and I will put some verses pertinent to today. You might say that this has happened before, but I will say it will happen again.

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

Jeremiah 12:14-15
Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.

This is not the return from Babylon, but the present return of the House of Judah.

Matthew 24:32-34
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

In closing, which I'm not too good at, there always seems to be more that gets longer and longer, I would surmise by saying there are two entities here on earth. Of God and of Satan. When Yeshua said you can only serve one or the other, he wasn't trying to get around the issue. From scripture here you can readily see the options available and they are confined to a very low denominator of two. If you haven't decided by now which of the two you want to confide in for the long term future, I suggest you get to know Yeshua and study Yeshua, the Word.

Twice in recent history, the last two thousand years, God's people have had the opportunity to serve God without repercussion. The latest has been the U. S. A. But in America the church has become very materialistic and embracing theology that is an abomination to our God.
The other generation crucified Yeshua.
It seems the people of God cannot manage themselves.
Does this mean that the church cannot be pure unless it is persecuted?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, for our interpretation of the beginning scripture. It may be interesting to see the difference between my interpretation and yours so make sure you have put together your thoughts prior to reading this.
God has and is protecting us from the blast of the terrible ones.

Who are the terrible ones?
Satan and his fallen spirits who inhabit the earth and heavens.

Bring down the noise of the strangers?
He will bring them down because they do not belong on the earth, they are strangers.

The branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low?
The offspring of Satan and Cain, his son, and their descendants

He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over the people?
The spirit of Satan which has the people blinded....Satan was the covered Cherubim

The veil spread over and the nations?
The sin that keeps people from seeing God.

Moab shall be trodden down?
An incestuous son...offspring such as Cain, who continue to pollute the earth

He shall bring down the pride and fortress of the high fort of thy walls?
For pride Satan rebelled from the Heavens where his and his fallen Angels fortress was, his high fort and walls being his and their place of refuge in the Heavens.

 

How did we compare? Hope we were right together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Season of the coming of Yeshua

Matthew 24:36
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Matthew 24:32
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

Matthew 24:33
So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

Matthew 24:34
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Jeremiah 25:12
And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

continue with
seventy

Isaiah 23:15
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

Isaiah 23:17
And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ruler of the world

John 12:31
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

 

Micah 5:1

Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.


Micah 5:2

But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.


Micah 5:3

Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.


Micah 5:4

And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.


Micah 5:5

And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.


Micah 5:6

And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

Hebrews 10:37

For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.


Hebrews 10:38

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

John 15:16

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Matthew 22:14

For many are called, but few are chosen.