Sunday, February 28, 2016

The Puppet King

I will soon be helping with a children's puppet show at our church. One of the key puppet characters in the show will be the king who had Daniel thrown into the lion's den. But that's not the character I want to write about.



During the ministry of Christ on earth, Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee. Though some called him king, he was anything but sovereign. He served at the decree of Augustus emperor of Rome, as did his father Herod the Great. Thus he was in a sense a puppet of the Roman emperor. But those weren't the only people pulling his strings.

The descendants of Herod the Great were raised as Jews because of the forced Jewish conversion of Herod the Great's father Antipater, who was Idumean (Edomite) by descent. In order to rule the land of Israel, Herod and his descendants would not only collaborate with Rome, but with the Jewish religious leaders. In that line Herod Antipas, wanting to be accepted by his people, would receive the scalding preaching of John the Baptist, even when the finger of chastisement was pointed directly at him and his illegitimate wife Herodias.

Herodias wanted to execute John because of the public scorn she had to endure, until she finally found a way to pull Herod's strings. When Herodias' daughter danced at Herod's birthday party, Herod was filled with such incestuous lust that he offered her a gift of up to half the value of his kingdom. Herodias instructed her daughter to request John's head on a platter, an action which Herod reluctantly performed. It was not Herodias who pulled these strings however, but Herod's own sinful lust, probably augmented by a generous helping of alcohol and epicurean debauchery.

Jesus said "everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin". We don't see the puppet strings that control our own desires and decisions, but they are there nonetheless. We can never truly be rulers of our own destiny, but we are free to choose whom we serve. If you think you are truly free serving your own desires, look behind the curtain and see who pulls the strings. If it is not the God of Love, it is most certainly the one who seeks your destruction. Choose this day whom you will serve!

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Seventy Times Seven

Thoughts regarding the seventieth Jubilee, the kindness and patience of God, and the end of sin...

II Peter 3:9 NASB

Just how patient is God and just how long will he wait for us? In Noah's generation it was many years from the time Noah began to build the ark until the flood came. After the prophecy of Jonah, God waited more than 100 years to destroy Nineveh and the kingdom of Assyria. After the crucifixion of Christ, the church endured 38 years of Jewish persecution before Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jewish nation was scattered. None of these time periods indicate a time limit for sin, but they do prove that there is a limit to God's patience and that an end of sin is coming. A clue can be found in Matthew 18:

Matthew 18:21-22 NASB

In this passage and the following parable, Jesus indicates that we must always be ready to forgive, since we have each been forgiven an unimaginable debt to God ourselves. The condition in the parable that triggers God's wrath is not a number or a time limit, but rather the unmerciful behavior of the one who was given great mercy. (Note that Jesus commands heart-forgiveness; to do less is to leave our debtors in prison.)

There is another "seventy times seven" in the Bible, an interesting coincidence or maybe something more:

Daniel 9:24 NASB

Those weeks (Hebrew "shabuim") are generally interpreted by Christian scholars as periods of seven years, thus the prophecy primarily refers to the 490 years from that time until the final atoning sacrifice of Christ and the anointing of the body of Christ for world outreach. This prophecy was to be sealed and only released after it was fulfilled. If the math seems strange, consider that seven years is the time designated by God for the remission of debt. The last year of this shabua is known as a "Sabbath year" (Hebrew "shemittah"). Seventy times the shemittah would be observed in the land of Israel, seventy times seven times the high priest would offer the yearly atonement for their sins. After this time God would turn his face away from the Jews and send his Jewish church to the Gentiles. (Remember that after God lifts his hand of protection, there may be years before the natural consequence of sin causes the inevitable disastrous effects.)

The question remains how long before the "times of the Gentiles" is fulfilled and the Messiah returns to reconcile the Jews to himself. There is another type of "shabua" or period of seven known as "Jubilee" (Hebrew "yobel"). Jubilee occurs after seven shemitta periods, or every 49 years. Jubilee is a year when Jews are to return to their tribal homeland, and when the land of Israel should revert to its original tribal allotments. Thus Jubilee has a special relationship to the promised return of Messiah and the establishment of his kingdom on earth.

It turns out that, according to many who have studied this subject, we are in the seventieth Jubilee since the promised land was first given to the tribes of Israel. There are two possible implications regarding this time that we live in now. First, that the seventy times seven prophecy of Daniel applies also to the second coming of Christ, and that the time has come for sin and transgression to end and the promised everlasting righteousness to be established on earth. Second, that the grace of God extended to mankind may have a limit of "seventy times seven" after all, as alluded to by Christ in the book of Matthew.

I'm not suggesting that there is a time limit on God's forgiveness, or that Messiah must come within a certain known time window, but rather that now is a special time and should be treated with utmost diligence to seek a right relationship with God through the mercy offered to us in Christ.

Jubilee is a season of liberation, and a time of spiritual renewal. Though the land may sit idle (i.e. we should not focus on material gain), it is a time when we should use our storehouse of spiritual treasure to reach those in need. Here's a good article on the positive aspects of this Jubilee year:

If this Jubilee is bringing the kingdom of Satan to an end, let's consider what that could mean. The One speaking in Daniel 12 says this:

Daniel 12:1-3 NASB

The final jubilee will be a time when all property returns to its rightful owner (God). Such a financial catastrophe will lead to a time of great distress for those who don't have faith, but in the midst of this trouble the people of God will be delivered, and will shine like the stars of heaven. Stars shine at all times, but they can only be seen in darkness. People will be drawn to the light, or they will run to the darkness, so that the fruit will be evident and the harvest can begin.

The true church will stand and grow, while the apostate church will descend with the reprobate culture. At some point this apostasy will exhaust the patience of God, and then the end will come. Truthfully, I don't know how or when this will end, but I know The One who will end it. I'm sure it will be crystal clear at that time, as clear as the glassy sea around His throne. Until then we must work while it is called today, so that Christ may present us to himself as his spotless bride.