The Israel of God and the Rebuilding of the Temple

Dome of the Rock

God is in control of history, and all that is happening in the world is bringing us to what he has foretold. As we look back we can see how one thing led to another. Much of our foreign policy today is a result of the heresies I have discussed in the previous posts. The religious fundamentalists and their world view have shaped our foreign policy and are directly responsible for the seeming mess we are in, and will continue to be in, in the Middle East. That sounds like a terrible statement, but let us look at the evidence, and what the Bible says.
We have treated Israel with a special care because we have believed that they are Gods chosen people and there is a special purpose for them. As a result we have been unfair and unjust to the Palestinians. No wonder they have been against us. It was true that the Jews were God’s chosen, but that is no longer the case. They were chosen because they were the line through which God was going to bring forth the Messiah and were charged with preserving the scripture. Once he was born, then Gods chosen people became “Who so ever believeth” Rom:9:6: “Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8: That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” (May I suggest you read the entire chapter of Romans 9.) This scripture makes it very clear who Abraham’s seed is; those that are born of the spirit by faith. If you remember when God told Abraham that he was going to have a son, Sarah laughed. Then they tried to fulfill Gods word themselves through Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid. Sarah was too old they thought to have a child. They didn’t give God credit for being able to accomplish his word. The result of this union was Ishmael. He became the father of the Arab nations. Sure enough, in Gods time Isaac was born. The name Isaac means son of laughter or delight. Isaac was a type of Christ. (An item of interest, when Jesus was baptized by John and the heavens opened God said “This is my beloved son in whom I am DELIGHTED”. That would be the more accurate translation.) They have always warred with each other, and always will. Ishmael is a type of the flesh and Isaac is a type of the spirit. Gal: 5:17: “For the flesh lusteth (wars) against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” Now look at what Jesus said about Abraham’s seed. John 8: 33: They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34: Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35: And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth forever.” Notice only the son abides forever. The son is that which is directly begotten of the Father, those truly born of the spirit. Not those of the flesh. He goes on.. John 8: 37: “I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 38: I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.39: They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40: But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41: Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; (accusing Jesus of being born as a result of fornication because his mother was not married when he was conceived) we have one Father, even God.
42: Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.”
No where in scripture has God given any special plan after the Messiah for the Jews to come to God. Jn:14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” The Fundamentalist heresy says “but God promised the land of Israel to Abraham’s seed forever”. Gen:13: 14: “And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
15: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
16: And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Now in the face of what we have just read, you can clearly see, that Jesus said that only the Son would abide forever. Also in Paul’s writings he says that “Not all Israel is Israel” but that which is of the Seed of faith. God also never gave any specific boundaries to this promised land. Now we must also ask our selves two more things about modern Jews. One; God said that their number would be too numerous to count. That is not the case now. There are only several million Jews in the world today. So God must be speaking of some other SEED. Two; The Jews that are in Israel today had been scattered through out the world. They have mixed blood with every other tribe and race. They are not this day even of the blood line of Abraham.
Please do not take this as anti-Semitic. Jews have the same opportunity as anyone to belong to Christ. Not any special opportunity. There were many Jews that have come to Christ through the ages. In fact most of Jesus’ disciples were Jews. What did not come to Christ was the religious establishment of that day. Just like the religious establishment today, they had too much to give up, too much wealth and power to lose.
What we see in Israel today is man’s attempt to bring about Gods promise just the same way Abraham and Sarah did in having a child with Hagar. In order to have created this current nation called Israel they plotted and planned and it was brought about as a result of an appearance of the forerunner to the Antichrist; Adolph Hitler. Israel is the Fundamentalists Ishmael. God has no special interest in that piece of real estate. His interest is in the entire earth, and Jesus said “The meek (Abraham’s seed) shall inherit the earth”. That is the land that God promised to Abraham, and the countless seed are all the believers.
There is also this talk about the restoration of the Temple. The scripture about the literal temple being restored has already been accomplished. It was recorded in the book of Ezra. 1:1 “ Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 2: Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.”
Man keeps looking at the material world and marveling at the works of our hands. God said Isa: 66:1: “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest?”
Jesus said when he saw how even his disciples were impressed with the Temple that “not one stone would be left upon another.” He wanted it to be utterly destroyed. The only Temple God is interested in is the Temple of his body. John 2: 19: “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20: Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? (Still blind and thinking materially) 21: But he spoke of the temple of his body. 22: When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.” 1Cor:6:19: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” As I have said in the previous posts like “What Day is It” and others. The body of Christ is the only Temple God is interested in. If you don’t think it has been torn down then you don’t know what has happened during the last 2000 years. After the early church, the Body of Christ (His Temple) was in ruins. It no longer walked in power. Don’t believe those that tell you that it was another dispensation. That is only an excuse for their unbelief. Hosea:6:1: “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. 2: After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. 3: 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.” As we read in the Book of Acts, the early church walked in great power. If just Peter’s shadow fell on someone they were healed. The day that is coming shall be greater than what the early church walked in. Hag:2:9: “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.”
We look at the apostasy of the Right Wing Fundamentalists. They want to blow up the Dome of the Rock that sits on the Temple mount. This so they can rebuild the Temple. They care not of the horrible havoc, death and destruction that it may bring, possibly the apocalypse. But the flesh must glory, Hagar must attempt to bear Ishmael. The wicked must do Satan’s bidding. That Temple may or may not be built, but if it is it is the works of man’s flesh. The only Temple God is interested in is the Temple which is His Body, which he will bring through the refiners fire to burn away the flesh. Mal:4: 1:”For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3: And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. (Doesn’t sound much like a “Rapture” to me) 4: Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
There is a new day dawning. The day of the Lord. Satan’s time is ending.

The Creation of Man. ---- Why?

In the Image of God

It amazes me to see just how few people really understand what God had in mind when he created man. I know I have posted some deep and thought provoking teachings. Much of it may be going right over some people’s heads. My posts were an endeavor to feed those who are hungering for more insight into Biblical Prophecy. This Blog grew out of the increasing realization that the Antichrist has been revealed. I feel God has used Stephen Hanchett’s prophetic vision to make clear some things that many of us may have felt for quite sometime, but couldn’t really believe. I am thankful for the work he has done to fit many of the pieces together.
In this post I think it would be good to have some basic understanding of true foundational orthodox Christian milk.
All of creation was made by God, nothing exists without him. A fundamental difference between Christian theology and eastern philosophy is that the Christian believes that God made all things SEPARATE from himself. He is everywhere but not everything. Eastern religions believe that everything is a part of God. Therefore they do not believe that evil really exists, they say it is just a state of mind. If God is everything and evil existed, then God would be part evil. That is how the thinking goes. Tell that to those men that had their heads cut off by Islamic terrorists.
God is capable of fellowship within himself (he is a triune God) but he chose to have a love object apart from himself. Therefore he created man. In order for man to love God and not be like a machine, he had to give us a free will to choose, and an opportunity to use it. He placed in the garden that opportunity. We chose to know good and evil on our own rather than have God teach us. Man went from being God conscious to being self conscious, and then he knew that he was naked. Satan (was also created by God, and there is some theological debate as to if he was made evil or became that way) is very subtle and deceiving. He came to Eve, (who had not gotten the commandment directly from God, she had heard it from Adam, and this is why God brought our salvation through the seed of the women. She was deceived; Adam knew what he was doing.) and said “Hath God said?” He had caused her to question Gods word. Then he asked her if she could eat of all the trees in the garden. This took her attention off all that she could have and put it on the one thing she couldn’t have. Covetousness and desire entered into the world. Now God foreknowing that man would fall, could have just destroyed it all and started anew, but he had built into his creation a redemptive plan. All of creation fell with Adam, and was cut off from God. Our eyes were veiled from seeing God. Adam was a “Son of God” in that he was directly begotten of God. We are the sons of man, our father is Adam. What people don’t understand when they say “if I don’t come to Jesus I am going to hell?” is that they are in a sense there already. We are cut off from God in a dying suffering world. Jesus came into the world to save us, offering us a way to life instead of this death. Jn:3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” When we are born into this world we are born of Adam and the flesh. When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we are then “born again” .This is not just a doctrine, this is a reality. It is received by faith. If we have been born of God it changes us to walk as though Christ is come in our flesh. Antichrist says one thing and then does another like George Bush. I believe there are many that know the doctrine but don’t know Christ and there are those that don’t know the doctrine but are born of the spirit ( I can expound on that some more if anyone asks about it). As I have said before we are not saved by our doctrines, we are saved by faith, and a walk with the Living God. Doctrine is given to communicate, and help us to grow in our knowledge of God and mature us spiritually.
If we are then “bought with a price” the blood of Jesus, good works will come as a result. This is your new nature. Good works come because you are God's, not to earn your place.
Eph:2: 8: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” No one will be able to come before God and say “I deserve to be here”. If we got what we deserved we would all go to Hell. Every false religion in the world is a system of works. Only Biblical Christianity says you can’t earn it. It is a gift. So there is nothing for you to boast about. The catch is in order to receive this gift you must realize you are a sinner and no good in you. You must humble yourself to know you are sick and need the “physician”. God resists the proud. Now this is where most of Christendom stops. They are born and only interested in being a baby and being saved from Hell. We are called to much more. Salvation is just the beginning. Everything Jesus did, he did not as God but as Man. He was not just the revelation of what God was like, but what God intended Man to be like. 1Jn:3:2: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
I will talk more about growing up into maturity and moving in the power of the spirit in these last days in another post. For now I want to stay with more foundational truth.
I have said in another place that we are NOT all Gods children. We are all part of His creation, but not all are his children. As you have read this I hope you have understood, that we are born into a fallen creation, and there are many evil influences stalking mankind. There are those that find selfishness, rather then selflessness; pride rather than humility; lies rather than truth, more appealing. These are not of the seed of God.
Jn:8: 42: “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
43: Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
44: Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 47: He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”
This seems to lead us to another question. Can they be saved? Do they have a free will?
I can only say God is just and he knows what he is doing. Can the Clay ask the Potter why hast thou made me so? The Bible seems to be teaching two different doctrines, Free Will and Predestination. Both are true. In Exodus it tells us that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Jn:6:44: “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.” Maybe you will understand it somewhat with this analogy. As you are approaching the Gates to the Kingdom, over the top you see sign that says “Enter according to your free will” then as you pass through the gates and turn around and look back from inside the sign over the gates says “Predestined of God”. We think we are seeking, but we wouldn’t be, lest the father was drawing you. As you struggle with this world you fight battles with your will, but as you move in the spirit and become closer to God you realize how you were preordained from the foundation of the world. In a sense you have always existed in the mind of God..
True Christians know that God is supernatural and with Him all things are possible.
We as young Christians need to be fed and kept from error. How do we do this? The early church fathers knowing that many false teachers were seeking to corrupt the truth of the gospel, designed a simple creed that we could commit to heart, knowing that everyone in those days couldn’t have a Bible. “The Apostles Creed” If we could keep the tenants in that we could never wander too far into error. Now we have access to the Bible, and I have said in another place that it is without error. I also believe that it was written by God through men. Mt:22:29: “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” When I said without error I meant in its original form. We read translations. But we can study in the original languages. Some would say that it has been corrupted over the years. That is not true, only people that don’t know what they are talking about would say that. We have so many copies of the original texts that it is almost embarrassing. The scribes that made these copies were professionals. There was a rigid system of checks to make sure that every “Jot and Titel”
was accurate. Rom:15:4: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
This is what the Scripture says about itself; 2Tm:3:16: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” Now when we take the Bible if we say I can believe this but not that, what we have done is made our selves the author of truth, deciding for ourselves what we want to believe. It says in that verse ALL SCRIPTURE. Now I realize that it takes faith to believe this. I didn’t wake up one day and decide to believe, but it was built on evidence through seeking to know the truth. We take steps. St Augustine said “Man seeks to have knowledge without faith but without faith he will have neither knowledge nor faith.” When you take a step of faith you will get the conformation that the step you took was real. When you sit in a chair you sit in it because you look at it and there is evidence that it will hold you. Then you take that step of faith and sit in it and have the confirmation that it will hold you. I know also some would say “how about all the evil that has come as a result of the Bible and religion”. That is just what the devil would love you to believe. There is a very simple answer to truth, It bears good fruit. Every tree is known by its fruit. Mt:7: 15: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16: Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17: Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18: A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19: Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20: Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
Gal:5: 22: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23: Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
This brings us to the answer at the top of this post, WHY? He did it for Love.
Jn:3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“God is Love” 1Jn:4:16
Be comforted and encouraged by this in the days ahead.

The Mark of the Beast

Fifth Ave. NYC (4 shots of same building)

I have suspected that George Bush is the Antichrist for a long time. The hardest thing to believe about it is; “Can this really be happening?” We all like to think “Some time in the future, but not in my lifetime.” Or another land or religion, but the Bible says “They went out from us, but they were not of us.” The truth is He is here now. The time is right the place is right and George Bush’s spirit is right. Prince of lies, Ruler of this world, Lusting for Money and Power, Ruthless, Torturing, Killing, Cheating, Deceiving and being Deceived. 2Tim. 3: 1: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (notice he is telling the church that perilous times shall come, because they need to know this. If we were going to be raptured out before, why would Paul be warning us about them?)
2: For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3: Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4: Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;”. For more see Stephen Hanchett’s page> http://www.bushisantichrist.com/ I would also recommend his book. How should we as believers be living now and what should we be doing now? This whole system is corrupt when we will pay a basket ball player 100 million dollars to put a ball in a hoop but won't take care of health care or the poor. Do we think that democracy and capitalism is the Kingdom of God? Or is it of the spirit of Antichrist? The revival of the Roman empire. (as is explained in my other post) As many of you may know the Greek and Hebrew used their alphabet for numbers, and numbers have meaning. This is why in Revelation we see a number that has a meaning. The Bible gives us the keys to understanding the meanings by the way they are used. There are several books available on the subject. I will give you a few that are relevant here. The number 3 is the number of divinity (trinity) and 8 the number of new beginnings, resurrection and life. Jesus rose on the 8th day of the week, or the first day of the new week. This signified a new beginning a new day. That is why the early church met on the 8th day, it was a breaking from the Old Testament Sabbath. To the Christian our rest is in the Lord, it doesn’t matter what day it is. The name Jesus in Greek, Iησους (iota=10, eta=8, sigma=200, omikron=70, upsilon=400, sigma=200 ) adds up to 888. This name and its numerical value speak very well for him; Divine Resurrection and Life. 6 is the number of man (God created man on the sixth day). So with antichrist we have 3 sixes. He has 3 because he will “be as God” Gen:3:5. Christ was God making himself man = 888, Antichrist is Man making himself God = 666. That is the essence of the spirit of Antichrist. In the Garden this was the lie the devil told them. “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Ever since, man has thought he was his own god, deciding for him self, what is good and what is evil. This is the whole idea of relativism. We all have our own truth. You have heard some say, “well that may be true for you”. Truth is true even if you don’t believe it. If you are standing in front of a train and you don’t believe it is coming does that mean it won’t hit you? It is not just a question of believing something that makes it true, even if you have no doubt. If someone had stolen your engine out of your car, and you went out to start it fully believing it would start, it still would not, because there was no engine, and you would have believed a lie. If you don’t believe the devil exists, that does not mean he doesn’t. Truth is discovered as we seek, and it is personified in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. “I am the truth”.
If man is the problem, man is not the answer, yet he continues to worship the works of his own hands. Right in the heart of NYC, on Fifth Ave, the only building that had it's numbers displayed on it and lighted up in RED at the top of the building, was 666 Fifth Ave. ( pictured above) Red is the color of man, the name Adam means Red Blood. Here is a link to the picture above> http://www.fashion-planet.com/windows/666/index.html . After 9/11, and the Bush administration was in control, the name was changed to Citi, representing the money power and god Mammon. Now that the Beast is revealed, the sign 666 could come down ( it was as though it was fore telling his coming). Yeah, tell me this is all just coincidence. NYC represents the height of man making himself god and the worship of the works of his hands. Rv:13:16: “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:” The mark in your forehead and in your hand speaks of who you serve with your mind and hands (body), or mentally and physically. 17:” And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name”. Notice it says ALL!!! including the small, poor and the free. That would seem to include the saints. None of us today are able to feed our families or take care of our needs without serving this antichrist beast system to some degree. We can not buy or sell without being on this grid, and a part of the system. The difference is those that belong to the beast believe in this system, those that belong to God hunger and thirst for Gods kingdom. Those that are of the beast are the ME first people, seeking to get more money and power. Those that belong to the Lord seek to help others and minister unto the Lord. Remember God resists the proud. We are in the world, but not of it. Your job is not your provider, the Lord is. The great Whore Babylon false religion and the religious right give power and justification to this beast.
I would like on this site to expand on the discussion of Biblical prophecy and things like the "Rapture" which is one of the main heresies affecting the Church today. I welcome your comments, and questions.We can discuss money, politics, and religion. I believe as a body we will find more truth together. This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.

What Day is it?

Sunset -- Sunrise

What Day is it?

I have been wanting to write on the true Israel, and it’s relation to the church in this time, but I will get to that in another post. I feel God has given me a sense of urgency to write about the time we are in.
We live in a time where we are all deceived into thinking that this is the way life has always been. People in NYC and everywhere think it has always been this way, going to shops, buying the latest designer fashion, the work a day world, and so on. We are eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage. We have our nice churches and Sunday rituals all set. We think we have God in our nice little box and, not to worry if it gets really bad we will be Raptured. People look back at history and lose site of what has gone on. They don’t see God bringing things to a point. America is a flash in the pan, Egypt was around as an empire over a thousand years. How blind we are, lost in our own little world. God is in control of history, and his hand can be seen throughout. We are so short sighted, and forget so quickly. 2Pt:3:8: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, ( in other words if we are ignorant of anything else, don't let it be this)that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” With this in mind, let us look at history.
If we use the Bible to trace back the time through out history from now to Adam, using the genealogies provided and other references, Adam lived about 6 thousand years ago. WOW, that means that to God it hasn’t even been a week since creation fell. Interesting, since that would mean that this is the end of the 6th day. Wouldn’t it be possible and just like God to put things right under our nose, and to put the entire history of the world in the first chapter of Genesis. Let us look at those first 6 days and think of them as thousand year periods in history, and compare. On the first day God separated light from darkness. It was that first day that Adam fell, and light was separated from darkness. Remember God said in the day you eat ye shall surely die. They didn't die that 24 hour day but not one of them lived to be a thousand, Methuselah was 969. The second day, we see waters and a firmament. It was that second day or second thousand years that the flood occurred. The firmament is the Ark ( the ark is a type of the kingdom of God) God sat on the Ark. It was the place of refuge. I could expound a lot more on all of this but I believe most will see the picture. The third day God said let the waters be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear. Ex:14:21: And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. (gathered together and stood on heap and the dry land appeared).”and he called the waters seas (the Red Sea).:22: And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Then they were led to the Promised Land where there were fruit trees yielding fruit. This occurred in that third millennium or third day. The forth day we see lights in the firmament. It was that forth day that Christ appeared. Remember light had already existed, but now we have the manifestation of that light. God has made the creation as a picture of understanding spiritual truth. The Sun is a type of Jesus. He is the “light of the world “ it is the giver of life, it sets and rises again. We are the children of the day and not of the night. The Day Star. Mal:4:2: “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” The moon is a type of Satan. It has no light of it’s own but appears as though it has light. It is the ruler of darkness. Lunar is where we get the word Lunatic. Now I know the devil was here from the beginning, but it was Jesus that exposed him for what and who he is. The Stars are a type of the saints and angels. They are lights in a dark place. The next day we see the fish. The fish has always been a symbol of the church, and the fowl of antichrists, that steal the word and devour it. This is the church age, and all things after their kind.
Then the last thing God does on the sixth day before he creates man is The BEAST of the earth after his kind. This is the Antichrist being revealed. He has been revealed. Then the very last thing God says is (the Last Trump) “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” True spiritual man Like Christ. “And Let them have Dominion “. The Seventh Day. The day of rest. We are giving birth to the new day.
If that is not a strong enough picture, let us look at more. We as Christians believe we are the body of Christ. What does that mean? The Fundamentalists because of their lack of true faith dispensationalize the power of God away because they don’t see it. They try to tell you that we don’t need it any more because we have the Bible. My God is the same yesterday, today and forever. When Peter walked, if just his shadow fell on someone, they were healed. Where is that today? The church has been in effect, dead since the early church. There were the Dark Ages, and a “Great falling away”. Then God began to restore truth to the church. The Renaissance, and the printing of the Bible. The body of Christ was in the grave for two days and on the third day he rose again. We are that body of Christ. Hosea:6: 1: 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.
2: After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
3: 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. “The Glory of the latter house shall be greater than that of the former.” Hag:2:9.
Now one more little thing. The early church fathers held another epistle in high esteem if not even as Scripture. This was the Epistle of Barnabas. It wasn’t until the Nicene Council when they set the New Testament Cannon, that they excluded it. They excluded it for this one verse that they didn’t like. They were expecting an imminent return of Jesus, they didn’t want to wait almost another two thousand years. I will let the scholars fight over this issue of Cannon, but let’s look at what it said. Verse 15. “ Moreover concerning the Sabbath likewise it is written in the Ten Commandments, in which He spake to Moses face to face on Mount Sinai; and ye shall hollow the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and a pure heart (no 666 in the hand or heart). And in another place He saith; If my sons observe the Sabbath, then I will bestow my mercy upon them. Of the Sabbath He speaketh in the beginning of creation; and God made the works of His hands in six days, and he ended on the seventh day, and rested on it, and he hallowed it. Give heed, children what this meaneth; He ended in six days. He meaneth this, that in six thousand years the Lord shall bring all things to an end; for the day with Him signifieth a thousand years; and this He himself beareth me witness, saying; Behold, the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years. Therefore, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything shall come to an end. And He rested on the seventh day. This He meaneth; when his Son shall come, and shall abolish the time of The Lawless One, (Antichrist) and shall judge the ungodly……"
I have not written this to strike terror in anyone’s heart, but hope and joy of a better time.
The world is not coming to an end, it is just coming to a start. When we look at the corruption and evil, I cry Come Lord Jesus. He is not going to deliver us from tribulation but through it.
“Blessed are ye that hunger and thirst for righteousness sake, for YE SHALL BE SATISFIED!!! “

What the Bible says about the Rapture

Is this really the Rapture?

I believe Mr. Hanchett has done an excellent job with the history of the "Rapture" heresy. I will endeavor to now give you some sound biblical basis for why it is evil to its core. First let's take a quick look at what the doctrine teaches for those that are not familiar with it. The idea is that there is coming a 7 year period of tribulation in which the Antichrist will be ruling. During this time, the "born again" believers will be "raptured" out of the earth and meet the Lord in the air and clouds thereby escaping the terrible times on the earth. All that will be left to suffer because of their sins are the unbelievers and the Jews that God has a plan to be evangelized again. At the end of that time, Jesus will return again to defeat the Antichrist and set up the Kingdom of God.
We can start with the scriptures that are used to build their doctrine. First let us look at the words of Jesus. In Mt:24.40-41:

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.

At first glance it would appear to confirm the idea of the rapture. But.....All scripture should be taken in context. Let's look back a few verses Mt:24:37: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.38: For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, (this is a description of people just going on about their daily lives as though nothing was wrong and all things are the same. Look at our society today. People think that life has always been this way, going to the movies or ball games and living our self indulgent lives.) until the day that Noe entered into the ark,39: And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; ( who knew not? Noe knew because he entered into the ark. Who was taken all away? It was the wicked that were taken, Noe and his family were safe inside the ark.) so shall also the coming of the Son of man be".

In the same manner shall his return be. The wicked one in the field and at the grinding wheel are taken. People that are expecting to be raptured before any trouble will just be skipping merrily along completely blind to what is happening because it doesn't fit in to their plans. Now it is important that we believe that the bible is consistent. Also a cornerstone principal in interpreting the bible is to let the bible define what it means (this is called a Hermeneutical principal). In other words, if we read the word clouds, we think of some white stuff in the sky, but that may not be what the bible means. So we should let the bible tell us what it means by seeing how it is used in other places. With this in mind, we can look at the cornerstone scripture of this heresy. 1st Thess.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 must take this in context, so let us look back a few verses again.

13: 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.

14: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15: 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.

The context of what Paul is talking about is the saints that are asleep ( the dead in Christ ). He is trying to answer the questions as to what happens to those that have died or may die before the Lord returns. Then he goes on to say;"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven " Now where do you suppose he is descending from? Where is Heaven? Is it a quarter of a mile beyond the most distant star and every time we invent a more powerful telescope He moves it back a bit? No Of course not. Jesus told us that the Kingdom of God is within you. Paul told us in 2Cor:12:2 that he was "caught up to the third heaven". Did he leave the earth? No! That is the highest heaven. The bible shows us many “types” of these heavens.

In the book of Exodus we see the design of the tabernacle. It had three courts, the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holiest of All. The Holiest of All was where the Ark was placed. God sat upon the ark (like his throne). It was a type of the third heaven, the realm of the spirit. The three courts are significant of Body, Soul, and Spirit, or the material physical world, soul and spirit. The Outer Court is where the sacrifices were made and blood was shed. The Holy Place is where the Lampstand, the Table of Shewbread and the Alter of Incense were placed. These represent the parts of the soul: mind, will and heart. In the Holiest of All inside the Ark were also 3 objects, Moses’ tablets of stone (Ten Commandments) Aaron’s rod that budded and the pot of Manna. These represent the powers of the spirit; faith, hope and love.

One more time, Rv:4:2

"And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne."

This clearly tells us where heaven is. It is in the Spirit; another realm or dimension. John never left the island. Heaven does not now exist in a material sense. Those that think it does have an overly materialistic view. It will, because Jesus prayed "thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth" but it is not here yet. Now with this understanding, we see that when it says that the Lord is descending it means he is coming back from the realm of the spirit to be revealed to our souls CLEARLY! To arise in our hearts. 2Pt:1:19:

"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star ( Christ ) arise in your hearts"

Finally He will be physically manifest. In a sense there are two comings. One in us and one for us. 1Jn:3:2:

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, (by faith) and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

Now let's look at this portion back in 1st Thess. "with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:" This is telling us of a messenger and Gods word going forth. The Trumpet always means a proclamation. We will look again at the Trump later. Next portion “and the dead in Christ shall rise first” again the context is the dead in Christ. 17: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them that are in the clouds,” Notice it doesn’t say we are going into the clouds it is talking about those that are in the clouds. If you search the scriptures, you will see that the clouds are significant of the abode of the dead, the dwelling place of the spirits of the dead and the Angels, the realm of the spirit. Mt:17:5, Mt:24:30, Mt:26:64, Mk:13:26.

In Acts:1:9: “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud RECEIVED him out of their sight.” It didn’t say he faded off in the distance till he was in the clouds.

1Cor:10:2: “And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ”
We are to be baptized in water and the spirit.

Heb: 2:1: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.” Those are the saints and the angels.

Again in one place it says Rv:1:7 “behold he cometh with CLOUDS” then in Jude:1:14:” Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,”.
Which is it, with saints, or with clouds? Or are they the same? Remember we interpret the bible by the bible. Now let’s look at the words “caught up”. That refers to the time when we shall be changed, This mortal putting on immortality. 1Cor:15:52:

“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.”

So now we know that it is the LAST trump. This is the same event. The next part in 1stThess. says “to meet the Lord in the air:” The word “Air “ here is the same word used when Paul said in Eph:2:2: “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the AIR, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:” 2Cor:4:4:” In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Air means here the lower atmosphere, this material dimension, or the Outer Court, where Satan rules. “and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” We are not going up and coming back because His kingdom will be here. Rv:11:15 “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Hallelujah!!!! In Genesis 1:26 26: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion.” At the end of the sixth day the very last thing God says “the Last Trump” man in our image, after our likeness: True spiritual man in the image of Christ. I will write more about the seven days of creation in another post. Remember the bible is consistent. Jesus said “the meek shall inherit the earth” Not the wicked.

Mal:4:1: For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. Prov:10:30: The righteous shall NEVER be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. Did you notice the NEVER in the verse? No not ever not even for 7 years. At the end of the age it is the wicked that are taken first, not the rightious, Mt: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”. Psalm 37 also. This is why the Rapture is so damnable. They think we are to be born and stay a baby and get raptured out. They want to add Jesus to their plans instead of seeking Gods plan. God wants to raise us up to the greater work he has called us to. 2nd Thess.2: 7-12

7: For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8: And then shall that Wicked be revealed, (the Antichrist) whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (They are blind and can not see that the Antichrist has been revealed. George W.Bush)
9: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10: And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, (the rapture) that they should believe a lie:
12: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

---- Beware the Ides of March ------ middle of March 2005 -- 3 ½ years since 9/11
What happened? A death watch, First Terri Schavio, Then the Pope.

The picture at the top of this post is from a Hal Lindsey site where they mock liberals and those that are not a part of the rapture; bosting about themselves. That just shows their ungodliness, and just how concerned they really are about the lost.