Seven Shofars and a Shout

In the last few days I learned something about shofars (trumpets made from ram's horns).  In the Bible they are used to lead people into battle.  Sometimes these are spiritual battles, as when the priests blew the shofars to gather the people for fasting and prayer.

In one particular battle, priests blew their shofars once a day for six days to warn the enemy of the coming judgment of God.  The city under siege was Jericho, and the commander of the invading army was Joshua.  On the seventh day, the army marched around Jericho seven times, then blew their shofars seven times, and then when the people shouted God brought down the walls of Jericho by the power of His word.

So it is in the end of time, that the blast of the angel's shofars will pronounce doom on the city of Babylon, which is the dominion of Satan.  Six times the shofars will sound the solemn warnings, and after the seventh blast, with the shout of a great multitude of believers and angels, the Lord will bring down the walls of Satan's kingdom by a great earthquake and by the power of His word.

Indeed, our entry into the eternal kingdom must be preceded by this great battle, in which the promised land is cleansed from all the powers of sin and darkness.  It was an inspiration to me to see this prototyped in the battle of Jericho, to demonstrate the power of God when His people enter the promised land.  Get ready to shout, people of God, and watch the gates of Hell come down!

The Four Seasons of Man

For way longer than I've been around, people have compared their lives to the seasons of the year.  I see parallels in Bible prophecy.

The Four Seasons of Life
Springtime brings new birth, fresh growth, and wonderful awe in the eyes of a young child who has nothing but hope and expectation for the future.  Springtime is bursting with innocence and trust; no doubt or fear is found here.

Summertime brings the fevered heat of adolescence and young adulthood.  Desperate searching for purpose, frantic pursuit of pleasure, and rebellion against authority accompany the lives of young people as they become adults.

Autumn brings a time of settling down; ambitions give way to wealth accumulation and retirement planning. The kids grow up and begin their own families; those in the autumn of their lives are left with an empty nest and silent hallways.  Some in this season of life are overcome by doubt and fear, and enter winter earlier than the rest.

As autumn ends the cold winter wind grows stronger. Our bodies begin to show the process of death that has been at work in us since the beginning of autumn. Winter white dusts whatever hair is left and we realize our own mortality. For those of us with eternal hope, new life grows within our hearts even as the body decays.

The Four Seasons of Man
The kingdom of man also has four seasons.

The first season of man is the age of authority. The people cry "Give us a king to rule over us!"  Peace is guaranteed by the king or the emperor.  One empire overtakes another until the domination of the final empire reaches to the ends of the earth.  Inevitably the worldwide empire becomes overstretched and grows weak from within.  Under worldwide imperial control, organization of a large opposing army is not possible. But discontented mobs and opportunistic gangs finally break through and plunder the lazy, overindulged empire.

In the second season mankind enters the dark ages. Chaos and war is the outgrowth that naturally follows in the wake of the washed-up empire.  In the post-imperial era, warring tribes eventually settle far enough apart or annihilate themselves until they live in isolated cloisters of well protected villages.  Enough of the centralized structure has been decimated to allow independent thinking.  Among those who are literate and have access to the word of God, some discover the concept of grace and liberty.

The third season of man could be called the Age of Reason.  It is characterized by regions that are liberated from the mental and spiritual bonds that remain from the empire, led by those that have found the light of salvation.  The light of salvation and liberty soon leads to increasing knowledge and scientific advancement. Without repression from the state or the church, mankind pushes the boundaries of knowledge to enrich themselves in ways only emperors could previously have known.  This continues until they reach that dreaded time when they declare themselves to be like God.

The fourth season of man begins when the dominion of wealth and knowledge suddenly collapses of its own weight. The tables have instantly turned and specialized intellectual and legal skills become worthless almost overnight.  It is this suddenness that prevents this season from reverting to a tribal warfare cycle. People simply aren't organized enough without the thin fabric of civilization to survive and organize.  Death and disease spread so rapidly that the entire social order is permanently destroyed.  Out of those ashes comes one who brings the final destruction.

Where Are We Now?
If you overlay the four horsemen of Revelation 6 on the four seasons above, you will see where I believe we stand.  The horseman on the white horse is like the springtime of mankind, the red horse like the fiery summer of chaos. The rider on the black horse is like the autumn of enlightenment and wealth, and the final riders like the winter of death.  We stand perilously close to the blasphemy that is the beginning of the end of time.  Is it inevitable that we become puffed up and reject God who has brought us this far, or do we gather together as a body of believers and pray God's mercy back into our fallen world? The end is prophesied, but the timing is not. It may still be possible that another great revival will delay God's wrath again.  Please join me as I pray for that outcome!

Balaam's Error

I have been wandering around the Bible lately studying prophecy.

[Actually I'm surfing around the Biblos Bible Hub web site, which I'm convinced is God's special gift to mankind for these last days.  When else in the history of mankind could a lay person like myself have the best concordances, multiple translations, commentaries, Greek and Hebrew text and dictionary references and more, all available for no charge, only a mouse click away?  History has not always been so kind to Christians seeking the truth.  Roman Catholics authorized by King Henry IV of England burned people at the stake for publishing or translating the Bible.  Thankfully, and owing a huge debt to those who laid down their lives for this privilege, there is a greater opportunity today than ever before for the body of Christ to "rightly divide the word of truth."]

A Canaanite in the House 

So, one verse caught my attention recently:

Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.
Zechariah 14:21 NASB

That thing about the Canaanite no longer being in the house of the LORD just didn't quite click.  To be sure, God was totally opposed to the Canaanites from the day Ham walked in on Noah's hangover.  That's another whole topic.

However, Jesus didn't reject the Canaanites.  After all, the disciple Simon the Zealot was also called a Canaanite (Kananaios) in Matthew 10 and Mark 13.  In Matthew 15 a Canaanite woman had such great faith that Jesus healed her daughter.  So, why won't there be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD?

I had two thoughts (maybe equally valid and possibly both true).  First, is the antichrist a Canaanite?  This could be a prophecy about the day when the antichrist no longer stands in the temple and proclaims himself to be God.

The other thought is a bit deeper and less speculative.  The word for Canaanite here is also the Hebrew word for merchant or trader.  I suppose that because they settled on the Mediterranean coast, the Canaanites became traders and thus their name became synonymous with trade.  Some translations read more like "And there will no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day."

That sheds a whole new light on this verse (and illustrates why you need more than one translation of the Bible when you study deeply).  During the Millennial reign of Christ everything is holy, from the animals to the cooking pots to the people.  There won't be any demand for merchants to sell holy animals and vessels to the people like they were doing when Jesus cleansed the temple.  Merchandising in the temple of God was one thing that made Jesus very, very angry.  Which brings me back to my original topic.

Balaam's Error

But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.
Jude 1:11-13 NASB

Balaam was a merchant in the house of the Lord.  In other words, he offered his prophetic gifts for money.  Worse, he offered to help the enemies of the Lord and curse God's chosen people for money.  Of course, God wouldn't let him do that.  It didn't help Balaam much to be in direct communication with God because he also consulted demons.  Balaam is on Satan's all-star team because he thought he could profit from being a prophet.  In fact, he was blaspheming the Holy Spirit and bringing a curse on himself.

Notice the term "wandering stars" in the verses above.  The Greek is "asteres planetai".  Asteres is the Greek word for star, from which we get the word "asterisk".  The English word planet comes from the Greek word for "wandering".  Astronomers at the time couldn't figure out why planets didn't stay in the same constellations as the other stars, so they called them "wanderers."

The "error of Balaam" in Greek is "plane".  Basically it is the same Greek root, implying that the error of Balaam was to wander away from his gift and into error.  How many of those gifted by God have gone astray into using their gift for obscene financial rewards - and then because of the love of money have introduced error into their message to maintain or magnify their gains?  Like planets, we will drift slowly away into darkness if we are not under the control of the light of truth.

According to John in the book of Revelation, when Balaam could not pronounce a curse on Israel, he taught the Canaanite king Balak how to weaken Israel by enticing them into idolatry and fornication.

The love of money is indeed the root of all kinds of evil, but when the love of money is mixed in the temple of God, Balaam's error is born.  We must be particularly careful to avoid the many snares that are laid for us by those that follow the error of Balaam.

His Name is "Maher Shalal Hash Baz"

I'm reading Isaiah now.  I realized after an intense foray into eschatology (study of end-time prophecy) that having an increased understanding of prophecy is an open door for me to re-read the prophets and discern more of God's word.

 

As a matter of fact, I feel a desperate need to read and understand as quickly as possible because the time is short and there is much to do.

 

Today I was reading Isaiah 8: Then the LORD said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey.

 

Isaiah was so impressed by these words that they became the name of his next son - Maher Shalal Hash Baz.  (Talk about opening the door for witnessing!  Try naming your kid Maher Shalal Hash Baz and let me know how it works out.  I guess the poor boy would get a lot of chances to explain the prophecy right before he got beat up.)

 

I can imagine the prophet and prophetess telling people about their cute baby - "his name is swift the booty speedy the prey" - with their fiery prophet gaze.

 

Whoa where is this conversation headed? Well I'll tell you where.

 

"...for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

(Isaiah 8:11-15 NASB)

 

One principle in the Bible is the testimony of two witnesses, which are required to pronounce judgement.  In this case the two witnesses are Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the prophet. The law and the prophet - this might sound familiar if you read my earlier post (Two Witnesses at the End of Days).  The wrath of God is immediately preceded by the testimony of two witnesses.

 

The testimony also serves as a sort of contract to prove that God is faithful and His judgments are true.  God's judgment is conditioned upon the people's response to the testimony.  Repentance will always turn away God's wrath.  This is why the LORD has delayed His final judgment on creation.  This is why the "apostacy must come first" - the people must become so hardened that repentance is impossible.  Notice the response in Isaiah 8:

They will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward. Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness. (Isaiah 8:21-22 NASB)

 

This is a prophetic reference to the final judgment, as in Revelation 9:

 

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts. (Rev 9:21-22 NASB) 

 

Finally...

 

Satan has had plenty of antichrists ready for the final conflict, but God has always had a people who would repent and pray for God's mercy; thus the final wrath has been withheld even until now.  It is when God's people are finally "taken out of the way" then "...that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming." (II Thessalonians 2:7-8 NASB)

 

There may yet be time to delay God's wrath, but the answer won't come through politics or economic genius or military might.  It will come only

 

"...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways" (II Chronicles 7:14 NASB).

 

Remember,

 

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (II Peter 2:9 NASB)

The Final Apostasy

At church this morning our interim pastor followed one of his deep theological bunny trails into the book of Romans and landed on chapter 1, wherein Paul describes the process of falling from the grace of God.

I memorized about half the book of Romans about 40 years ago and if you ever memorized that much scripture you might know that I have recited the first chapter of Romans in my mind more than any other scriptures, just to keep those memorized verses from slipping into the dust bin of my distant memories.

At any rate, I was inspired to tie these verses starting with Romans 1:18 to scriptures I have been studying most recently in the second letter of Paul to the church in Thessalonica.  Specifically,

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (the day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

I wondered if the apostasy to which Paul referred here would look like the process he described in the first chapter of Romans.  When I got home I got this confirmation from research of the Greek text on the Bible Hub web site.

Apokalyptetai gar orge theo ap ouranou... (Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is revealed from heaven...)

After studying prophecy so intensely, I am starting to recognize prophetic language I didn't see before.  The first word of this section of Romans is the same Greek word as the beginning of the book of Revelation (Apokalypsis).

So there are two ways of reading this section of Romans, one in a historical sense, in which the wrath of God revealed from heaven could be seen in the sun, a lake of fire hotter and larger than anything one could imagine on earth, perhaps like the one that awaits the devil and his followers.

The other is in a prophetic sense; Romans 1 describes the apostasy that is to come before the antichrist is revealed at the end of time.  OF COURSE, where else in the Bible is the wrath of God coming down from heaven to punish the ungodly?  I NEVER SAW THIS BEFORE!

We have refused to honor God or give thanks, we have become futile in our speculation, we have accepted a form of earth-worship in place of God, we have accepted and embraced unnatural sexual behavior and are plunging headlong into a state of societal depravity which can only be paralleled by Rome at its worst or by Sodom and Gomorrah.  As I recall both of those eras ended in flames.

When the times of the Gentiles come to full fruition, God will suspend His wrath one final time(Rev 7:3) to fulfill His promise to the descendants of Jacob.

Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. (Matthew 24:22)

The elect are those predestined for salvation from the tribes of Israel, who will finally see and embrace their Messiah:

...and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,
“THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,
HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”
“THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”
(Romans 11:26-27)

I am excited to see these prophecies fulfilled, but as I said before, we Gentiles will be watching the final act from heaven.  Oh! What a glorious day!

Searching for the Lost Ark?

I think I found the lost Ark of the Covenant!  It's in Revelation 11:19:

And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

So the Ark of the Covenant is in the temple of God in heaven.  It figures.  When the veil of the temple in Jerusalem was torn from top to bottom, is it possible that God himself left the temple with the Ark in His hands?

It would be just like those faithless chief priests to keep it a secret for another 40 years:

"Hey you know that Ark thing?  Well, we sort-of lost it around the time we crucified that Troublemaker.  Maybe some looters took it during that earthquake, you know?  Anyway we figured you folks wouldn't miss it since only the chief priest sees it once a year.  It's really not that important anyway since you folks just come here to offer your sacrifices and give us some really nice steak and lamb chops."

I supposed the priests had another veil made, just to cover the empty room that used to be the Holy of Holies.  The symbolism of the Jews continuing their religion after the presence of God had departed is bitterly similar to a church "having a form of godliness but denying its power".

Last night I had this convicting thought - would I continue to live like a Christian on the outside when God had departed on the inside?  Sometimes it feels that way.  So I prayed this way:

Father, take me to your temple in heaven.  Burn your testimony into my heart and soul.  Fill me with your presence even as your temple is filled.  Let my life have the sweet smell of incense from your altar!  I don't want to live without your awe inspiring presence; fill me with your Holy Spirit once again!

In the name of Jesus, so let it be.

The Mark of the Beast and the Seal of the Living God

The Mark of the Beast introduced in Revelation 13 has always fascinated people who study apocalyptic prophecy.  Most discussions of this topic tend to focus on that number, that 666 thing you know.  Everybody seems to know that the number 666 is associated with evil, whether they study prophecy or have never even heard of the Bible.

The number 666 impressed on your hand or forehead could look a lot like the imprint of chains.  This is an awesome and disturbing thought, that the mark of the beast could be the imprisonment that he imposes on your thoughts (forehead) and actions (hand) when you are enslaved to sin.  Jesus said he who commits sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34).  This has application to all times, not just the end times.  If that applies to you, Jesus Christ can break those chains and set you free.  I know because He did it for me!

What I would like to focus on in this post is the meaning and implications of a mark on the forehead and right hand.  Let me take you through a few verses that illustrate what these signs represent, starting with the seal of God.

The seal of the living God

And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads." (Revelation 7:2-3)

The seal of the living God is used by the angels in Revelation to stamp God's name on the foreheads of believers.  As we shall see, this is not the first time this symbolism has been used to identify believers.  This is a reference to Old Testament laws and ancient customs.

Exodus 13:9
This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a sign of God's deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt, which is to be remembered each year and taught to the children.  The right hand represents power; Jesus is at the right hand of God to exercise His power over all creation.  As such Jesus was the mighty hand of God that delivered Israel out of bondage, and He is the mighty hand that can deliver us from the evil one today.

The sign on the hand is a reminder of God's power and deliverance; the sign on the forehead is the spoken expression of God's law that is in our minds and written on our hearts.

Exodus 28:36
You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, 'Holy to the LORD.' ...and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

The seal that the high priest wore on his forehead symbolized his sanctification to the Lord and his priestly role as intercessor for the people.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might... You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.

Deuteronomy 11:18
You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.

The greatest commandment to love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and all your soul is illustrated by His words on the forehead (love) and on the hand (service). The hypocritical Pharisees wore ornate phylacteries to outwardly demonstrate their righteousness, but they neglected to love God and impress His word on their hearts.

Revelation 22:3-4
There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

An ancient custom of slavery or servitude (including military service under some despotic rulers) was to brand slaves with the name of their master on the forehead and hand.  When we are redeemed from slavery to sin and become bond-servants of God, we are sealed with His righteousness and are labeled "Holy to the Lord".

 The Mark of the Beast

And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17)

Given the background of laws and customs, it should be easy to understand that the mark of the beast is a symbol of servitude which is demanded by the Anti-Christ in order to purchase or trade.  This mark signifies that its bearer has been completely dedicated to worship and serve the evil ruler of this world, who is the bodily vessel of Satan.

How terrible and sad it is that mankind will face this kind of choice one day.

Revelation 14:9-10
Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

The act of receiving this mark will signify abandonment of God and commitment to Anti-Christ.  I don't believe that simply having an ID or number in a global system of identification will be the damning mark of the beast.  Whoever has the misfortune to be alive on earth when Anti-Christ comes into power will be fully aware that they are accepting him as their supreme master and deity before they receive the mark.

Notice that the mark is not unique to the individual, it is the name or number of the beast.  As such this mark would not be useful as an identifier, but rather to simply brand this person as the property of the beast.  There may come a day of world government and a global identification scheme may be part of that system, but when the Anti-Christ stands in the place of God, then you must refuse to worship him or take his mark on your body.

In a way, the mark is parallel to Christian baptism - it is the outward expression of an inner spiritual allegiance.  The worship and proclamation of the beast as God is what brings condemnation.

Encouragement

Notice one difference between the seal of God and the mark of the beast.  The seal of God is on the forehead only.  In the Old Testament law, we were commanded to bind the law as a sign on our hands.  The New Covenant with God is only on our foreheads (hearts).  Our hands are no longer bound by the Law of Sin and Death.  Slavery to sin and slavery to the law both bind your hands; only the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus sets you free.

We don't really have a choice to "opt-out" of a decision about whom we shall serve.  Before the bowls of God's wrath are poured on the kingdom of darkness, there will be only two choices - serving the Living God or bowing to that hideous seven-headed beast and suffering God's wrath.  The time is now to make that decision and prepare to be an overcomer in Christ.  Overcomers will be delivered from God's wrath and enjoy eternity with the One who truly loves us.