Problems with a parable

I want to talk about a parable that has been on my mind. The reasons why will become clear.

I am using Eugene Peterson's Message for the parable,

Common vineyard (ca. 1910) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

not because I am thrilled with it but it is broken down in a clear way, and he uses a dollar, something we can relate to. However, the parable, no matter what the translation, has nothing to with money; it is more about the manager's choice to pay everyone that worked, our future in eternity, and how poorly we react when things do not go the way we thought they should.

Jesus had been talking about end times, so this parable is just a continuation of the theme.

"God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. "Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went. "He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing? ' "They said, 'Because no one hired us.' "He told them to go to work in his vineyard. "When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.' "Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.' "He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?' "Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first." (Matthew 20:1-16 MSG)

If we could equate our relationship with Jesus Christ to work, in what form do we get paid?

Our payment then would come in our salvation - a hope of being snatched off this earth before all hell breaks loose, and eternal life with the Father.

Is there anything that impedes that relationship?

There are always things that can pull your attention away from God, but overall, it is not that difficult, unless you start thinking too hard, complicating a simple life of loving people with religious rules, and become confused to the point where you are unable to sort out things like tribulation, resurrections, judgment, and who the dead are brought to the white throne at the end of the thousand years.

It is really not that difficult but I get into these conversations with people who are just stuck and refuse to consider truth. The unsettling conversations that I have had (they are unsettling because of the intense lack of mercy I meet) are about the dead brought before the white throne. Many have the understanding that all those brought before the throne, are judged immediately and thrown into the lake of fire with its eternal punishment. Sorry, but that is just not the case, and here is why.

We find the last judgment in two places, Revelation 20:11-15, and Matthew 25.

Revelation 20:11-15 NASB (11) Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. (12) And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. (13) And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. (14) Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. (15) And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

This passage comes across like a movie we once paid to see but is now on television, and they had to cut out some of the scenes we liked for the sake of time. This section of Revelation has a huge variable in it, which you find in verse 15. It says, “and if”. This is reminiscent of math class and it's “if then” statements. Scripture tells us of books, not just one, so Jesus/God is probably reading from the only book important to Him, the Book of Life. I suppose “if” a name is not there, “then” it has to be in the other, and those in the other book have an appointment with hell. But keep in mind that Jesus was here on a mission and at this stage in the plan, it did not include judgment.

Revelation 20:11-15 is describing the same throne as Matthew 25:31-46. The exception is that Jesus, in Matthew's gospel, fills in the background, explaining that there are sheep, and that they obtain mercy, but we do not see this aspect in Revelation, we only see judgment.

Matthew 25:31-46 NASB "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. (32) "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; (33) and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. (34) "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (35) 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; (36) naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' (37) "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? (38) 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? (39) 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' (40) "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' (41) "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; (42) for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; (43) I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' (44) "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' (45) "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' (46) "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

The first question I need to discuss is: How are these the same scenario?

If this is a misconception, it is a common one. Look at the terminology we see in Matthew's gospel: "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.” Now, contrast this with Revelation 20: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.”

Both exude the power and presence of a glorious king taking the throne, exactly what Israel was looking for. However, Revelation – the premier book that demonstrates God's judgment upon the earth, and the rewarding of the steadfast – shows you the side willing to clean house, and taking the throne. Let there be no doubt that Jesus was and is the express image of the Father, both here on earth, and there in eternity. So, if you see God as sitting on the throne you would be right, because Jesus and the Father are one. However, this is Jesus here.

We find Matthew's gospel using the phrase, the Son of Man. That is the terminology Jesus used in reference to Himself. Our impression, as the dead are brought to the throne, is still that of a shepherd who cares for a flock. My thought is, why these two personas? God has always loved his human creation, but it is obvious that it did not love him back. Here is where my human thinking gets in my way, for I think back on a relationship I had with a dog that could care less about me. Fortunately, God does not sink to our level of thinking, and no matter how lousy we have treated him, he still loves us and gave his only son, so that we could have the opportunity for a restored relationship with Him. That is why Jesus is portrayed a bit more gently in Matthew's gospel.

Is Christ now on His throne?

Currently yes, we see him seated at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us.

Hebrews 12:2 NASB fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Having the ear of the Father, Jesus is constantly running blockade and defending us to the Father as Satan fires off our failures at the throne like a mortar barrage, to defame and convict us.

Hebrews 7:25 NASB Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

That does not mean He stays glued to the throne.

• We certainly see Him in the clouds, as He comes to snatch His church away;
• we see Him at the end of the time of judgment (we mistakenly call it “the tribulation”.)
• We see Him in the end, riding a white horse and slaughtering those who would choose to fight against Him;
• we see Him standing upon the mount of olives as it splits in two, and we also see Him reigning in the new Jerusalem.
• One last example of Jesus apparently off the throne. He is showing up in the dreams of Islamic's on a consistent basis. They know who He is, and they either turn to Him or he directs them to someone who can explain who this Jesus is that they saw.

I can see where some might try to exclude Jesus from the throne of Revelation 20:11 because it talks about “Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them”, and we cannot perceive of Jesus as being or doing this.

Do you not recall how John defined Jesus?

John 1:1-3 NASB In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

John 1:14 KJV And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Jesus was and still is that Word, and he spoke this way about himself all the time.

John 8:51 NASB "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death."

The only separation between He and the Father, was His choice to be a man, and that was because it was the only way to pay the ransom for this world full of people who the Father loved.

So picture this: The earth has been filled with peace for a thousand years. I cannot even imagine what that will be like. Christ reigns upon a throne in the new Jerusalem, as nations continue to come before him once a year and bow in obeisance during the feast of tabernacles. Even then, there is no forced compliance to accept God as the ruler of your heart, however there is a consequence if you do not. These people are still considered the nations. The thousand years comes to an end with a last battle, and now it is time to clean house. This is where we are as we look at Revelation 20, the Great White throne.

The dead are brought before the throne. At this point you need to keep your inventory straight.

• Since the death and resurrection of Christ, all who have died in Him, are already in his presence, so we are NOT talking about them.
• Prior to Christ's death, those that died were either in torment, as the rich man was, or they were in Abraham's bosom. Our definitions of where they are and condition comes from the parable about the beggar Lazarus, the psalmist's declaration that the dead know nothing, and Jesus telling the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in paradise.

We are merely making assumptions that Paradise is the only place that Jesus “visited” upon his death. Seriously, think about what transpired there on the cross? Christ became sin, He did not merely take it on as a boxer might, He submitted himself as the sacrificial (“scape”) goat and took all the world's sin upon himself. That goat was led off into wilderness or killed. This is what Leviticus is trying to tell us. The priest had to lay his hands on the head of the goat and they certainly laid their hands upon Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:21 Moffatt NT (21) For our sakes He made him to be sin who himself knew nothing of sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

What changed that permitted anything different to happen to those incarcerated either in Abraham's bosom or torment?

This is not a time to try to argue details, I hear that garbage all the time. It is time to accept the fact that God is beyond your control, and He did something so beyond your comprehension that you cannot explain it, so you fight against anyone that breaks with your tradition. That explanation was Jesus Christ, and He changed everything. What do we have to prove that, or as the cantankerous guy at bible study demanded, show me that in the bible! He was directed to Ephesians 4:7-10, to which he replied, where is that in my bible? My guess is that you can see the problem, but don't laugh, it is a common one.

Ephesians 4:7-10 NIrV But each one of us has received a gift of grace, just as Christ wanted us to have it. (8) That is why Scripture says, "When he went up to his place on high, he led a line of prisoners. He gave gifts to people." (Psalm 68:18) (9) What does "he went up" mean? It can only mean that he also came down to the lower, earthly places. (10) The One who came down is the same as the One who went up higher than all the heavens. He did it in order to fill all of creation.

Verse seven establishes that we are talking about Christ. Verse eight, in this translation, states that “he led a line of prisoners.” Other translations read, “he led captivity captive”, but how does that make any sense when they moments later refer to Him going up, and if Christ is going up, where is He going and why is He taking these “captives” with Him? The explanation comes when you go the source of the reference Psalm 68:18.

Psalms 68:18 NIrV When he went up to his place on high, he led a line of prisoners. He received gifts from people, even from those who refused to obey him. The LORD God went up to live on Mount Zion.

If you look at parable of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man, where do you find Lazarus? Resting in Abraham's bosom. Does it sound like he is a prisoner, or captive? No, but that would probably be your first impression of the rich man's destination. He is across a chasm that cannot be crossed, at least by Lazarus, which he was demanding Lazarus to do. There is no doubt in my mind that Christ was not only put there, but led those willing to come out with Him free, as he rose to the Father.

Revelation 1:17-18 (MKJV) tells us, “..., Do not fear, I am the First and the Last, and the Living One, and I became dead, and behold, I am alive for ever and ever, Amen. And I have the keys of hell and of death.”

My commentary typically sounds like this, “were the keys merely lying on a shelf up in heaven and Jesus simply had to go get them?” Not hardly, Satan had them and Jesus went to where he was and took them forcibly. Freedom was then offered to those trapped there, and obviously, many chose to follow Him out – who would not?

Remember, we are still trying to keep the inventory straight. So, who are the dead?

• After the Harpazo – the rapture – all who die in Christ, the martyred saints, will be resurrected. This is the FIRST resurrection. (This is another place where we make huge assumptions. We religious tend to think that when we leave the earth we take the opportunity and method of salvation with us; we do not.) These martyred saints are no longer considered among the nations or the dead and reign over the earth for the thousand years.
• The only people left are those whom we consider to be among the nations. This is the second resurrection. It does not matter your language or nationality, what matters here is that technically you died without a “formal, religious” recognition of God in your life.

These, brought before the Great White throne are those among the nations whom have died since Christ arose from the dead. This includes all who partook in the last rebellion, a strong determinate of which leader you intend to follow – there will, by the way, be no survivors in that last battle.

So, now that we have that sorted out, why do any of them gain mercy, and entrance into heaven?

This is where our parable of Matthew 25 kicks in hard.

1. Because these did not do any of the mandatory religious acts we consider necessary, at we are not aware that they did.
2. Having lived an unswerving life of devotion with a payment of heaven as my reward for not breaking any of the rules, these are coming in at the last-minute; even worse, God has brought them back to life and given them another chance.
3. It seems that all they did was act in a manner outside of selfishness.

This may be a little too graphic, but I need you to think through something. God's judgment falls upon those that what? Take the mark, AND, worship the beast. Those that do not are beheaded, or in general, martyred in some horrific fashion, all because they would not worship the beast. You cannot let this idea of a “beast” get you confused. It may be that the beast is Islam. I happen to find that very plausible, and by the way, Islam's primary method of dealing with non-believers is, yes you got it – beheading. Since many of these “Christians” - they are in many cases given that title by Islamic fighters – are not so Christian by American church standards, so their last gasps for breath may merely be to deny the tenets of Islam and die. Ask yourself, is it possible that a merciful God sees that as a rejection of the enemy and an acceptance of Himself, the one true God? Even if it isn't, having pointed out what Jesus does - as He sits upon the final throne - separating people because their heart moved them to act in a manner that God had actually prescribed. What was the answer when Jesus asked, “what is the greatest commandment? Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself.

I am sorry, I know this makes so many mad; Jesus would have made you mad as well then. Treat this as your wake up call, because time is short and God is calling you to set people free, not enslave them. Show them this Jesus.

See why a person could have a problem with Matthew 25. It is not because God's word is disputable or untrue, but because it challenges our religious ideas. It also demonstrates a mercy that is beyond our comprehension, and opens the door for fools to try to gamble with God.

When I began to look at the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, I knew nothing about them, outside of what Jesus testimony was, and He points out, by the voice of the rich man's demands, that the true nature of the man, was still strong and clear, even in hell. Having watched so many in recovery make great strides only to crash and burn, repeatedly, you come to realize that it is not so easy for a cow to change its spots. It is possible to live a life as a moral person, but in reading about God's reasons for destroying the earth, the blatant evidence of selfishness and violence take precedent. It is much like swimming upstream in a strong current. Can you do that for a lifetime? Some do. I am not a strong swimmer, and not willing to take that chance, especially when I know that simply turning my life over to Christ, submitting to his will, puts me in his care, and Jesus said, I will never lose one of them.

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The questions I hear.

I am deeply troubled to hear such lack of understanding among “God's” people. Far to many, in trying to convey their knowledge of end times events and the Revelation of Jesus, speak from tradition and what someone else has told them. It is confusing to say the least. 

This came out of multiple interactions with followers of Christ that do not have a clue, and many vehemently argue their incorrect positions without adequate scripture to back them up. Do we not realize how foolish we look to the world and to other believers when we do this? What will it take to get you to read your bibles? How can you possibly know and understand the character of God unless you go to the source instead of conjecture.

Since I began writing this I started a new job. That is vital to my welfare, as you might imagine, but it also pulled me away from writing and studying; aspects of my life in Christ that I love. I also came across Pastor Raul Reis speaking on the radio about this very thing. Raul is the senior pastor at Calvary Chapel Golden Springs, in Diamond Bar, California. He was speaking on end times prophecy, specifically the last seven years. Sadly, I found myself disgusted, as even he quickly got into fallacy.

Why are we afraid to boldly declare the truth? An example: God's word tells us with certainty that before the coming of the Messiah that He will send Elijah the prophet. Since it is appointed unto man once to die, and Elijah never did, then he is a perfect candidate to return, especially since we know that the two witnesses must be killed and resurrected at the end of their three and one half-year span of witnessing. There are so many other aspects that bothered me about his talk, but we do not have time for that here.

The questions I hear revolve around how many judgments are coming upon the earth, the timing of these judgments (as though more thrones and explicit judgments are dished out), who is doing the judging (Christ – the Son, alone. John 5:22. And yet in Revelation 20:4 we see the martyred saints reigning with Him for the thousand years), and upon whom do they fall (Malachi 4 and Zechariah 14:16,17 both speak to this). The approach to answering the questions can be simple, presenting the argument with a minimalist chronology, but that typically evokes a further argument. Another approach is by using two or three witnesses – we do that by backing up the chronological approach with clear evidence from God's word (this of course implies that the reader is willing to accept God's word as the final say on the matter, and exclude opinion and tradition if it does not align with God's word.)

The day of the Lord

One of the problems we have, when trying to grasp end times scenarios and prophesy, are phrases like this: “the day of the Lord”. Our minds tend to take that statement literally, and therefore expect nothing outside of a self-mandated, twenty-four hour day. To help with our understanding, let us look at some verses from 1 Thessalonians that might explain the day of the Lord, or day of Christ (they are both the same.)

1 Thessalonians 5:1 NASB (1) Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.

The word translated epoch is kairos, and means a measure of time. It can be large or small. We only have two things guiding our thinking on this - the seven-year period of judgment upon the earth (we mistakenly call the tribulation,) and the physical events attributed to Jesus Christ's return to the earth at the end of the seven-years.

I want you to take note of the variations in how this word, kairos is translated.

1 Thessalonians 5:1 KJV (1) But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

Without having to deal with a word like epoch, the mind quickly comprehends that a season is clearly longer than a day, but do not place that time frame into the constraints of a growing season because the word, like eon, means a measure of time, with no clear-cut beginning or end, unless it has modifiers to assist with defining it. Verse two, however, uses a different word.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 KJV (2) For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

The translations are consistent with this being a day. The Greek word is hemera, and is used of the interval between sunrise and sunset, but don't get excited yet, for in the Eastern mindset “any part of a day is counted as a whole day, hence the expression “three days and three nights” does not mean literally three whole days, but at least one whole day plus part of two other days.” Thayer's definitions.

What is my point? This concept of “the day of the Lord” is not something that we can be so rigid about, especially if it constrains or limits God. Yes, I can hear you and your logic, as you say, how can I, the reader, limit God. You do it in your mind and your spirit as you tell God and others how and when He gets to act out the scenario he designed, which, if you are a believer really has no major impact on you, because it is a time of wrath upon the nations; unless you are going to try to share these things as a part of our hope.

It would not be appropriate for me to take Peter's explanation (See 2 Peter 3:10-11 MKJV), where he states, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. And the earth and the works in it will be burned up” and put my own constraints upon it by saying, this could not happen in a day. But I can ascertain that it takes longer because I have other evidence that tells me that it does happen over a seven years. Daniel 9:27, speaking of the antichrist, informs us, “he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice”. It is widely understood that the reference to “one week” represents seven years, and that the antichrist will stop the temple sacrifice half way through that period. So, “the day of the Lord” is not just “a day” but the entire 7 years of judgment upon the earth, culminating in his sudden appearing.

Why would I say that? If you are going to be strictly literal then you have constrained yourself to only looking at that time in which Jesus physically touches down on the earth and slaughters all those that are attempting to fight against him.

Zechariah 14:3-7 NIV Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. (4) On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, ... (5) ... Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. (6) On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. (7) It will be a unique day--a day known only to the LORD--with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.

If you insist on treating what is to come as a solitary day or time, you just have too many problems. There is what seems like a non-stop destruction coming upon the earth. The prophet Jeremiah stated, 9:25 NIV "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh--” and, we know with a certainty that the time of wrath lasts seven years.

The prophet Daniel is one of our primary sources of understanding, and yet even he was given the time frame in a code. He had to ask for an explanation, which he received.

Daniel 7:25 JPS “and he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.”

Bible interpreters have come to understand that “a time and times and half a time” means three and a half years. The Good News Bible said it clearly; “God's people will be under his power for three and a half years.” We know this period of judgment from the Lord, and deception, and war from the antichrist, lasts seven years. Again, we must consider the code, and for that we go to Daniel 9:27.

Daniel 9:27 KJV And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

“until a time, and times, and the dividing of time; by "a time" is meant a year, the longest part of time; by "times", two years; and "the dividing of time", half a year; in all three years and a half, which is the same with 1260 days, or forty two months, the time of the witnesses prophesying in sackcloth, and of the reign of antichrist; so long shall he continue, exercising his power and authority, his wrath and rage, and blasphemy, and no longer; see Rev_11:2. John Gill's commentary

Revelation speaks of the same time, the last three and a half years, but refers to them as months.

Revelation 11:2 KJV But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Timing is based upon the Jewish calendar of 360 days.

The bottom line for me is that the day of the Lord includes every aspect of the seven years.

Many will say, but I do not understand.

They think it is impossible to figure the end times out; besides that, he is coming as a thief in the night and we can not possibly know when he is coming. Wrong!

1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 NASB (4) But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; (5) for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;

You are right, no one knows the precise timing, not even Jesus knew that, but we, like wise men and women, can be keenly aware of bible prophecy and associate the events of the day with them, knowing that His coming is just over the horizon.

Why do you think a homeowner would be able to avert being surprised by a thief? Because, they have forewarning, which we have, and they put up a monitoring system with lights and alarms to alert them. This is exactly what God's word does, and has done for us by giving us the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Peter helps to fill in some of the details about this idea of “thief in night”.

2 Peter 3:10-11 MKJV But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. And the earth and the works in it will be burned up. (11) Then, all these things being about to be dissolved, what sort ought you to be in holy behavior and godliness,

God, and the judgment that is coming, is not sneaking up on those that are aware. I am trying to make you aware, but to the unaware, the disbelieving, and unconcerned it is coming as a thief. But note: this time is coming with commotion, violence, and heat. A person we call the antichrist will attempt to dominate everyone, but two people, sent from God will prevent his total domination for three and a half years. Those two people are called the witnesses from God and by Jehovah's timing they will be killed and lay in the street for three days. They will be raised to life again and taken up into heaven before everyone's eyes. With momentary restraints lifted hells fury will be poured out upon the remaining faithful (those that did not previously go up in the rapture of the Christians). All the while God is pouring out his wrath upon the earth. It will be a dismal place as the economic systems have collapsed; violence fills the streets; fishing is destroyed; water is undrinkable, and there are overwhelming earthquakes.

God does not want you in the dark. He wants you to ask Him.

Isaiah 45:11 Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: "Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons, And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.

Moreover, the Holy Spirit will show the heart of God to you.

John 16:13 NASB "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

Judgment and gleeful joy

It almost seems sinister when they ask, because we seem to want retribution; either that, or we gain some pleasure in knowing that offenders will pay severely someday. Some can fling out the curse, “go to hell” without a second thought. Perhaps venting anger and frustration in this way is easy because we do not understand the eternal fury of such a place, or they just do not have a clue about what hell is. The problem is that we believers are too quick to seek judgment and not mercy. Even though the time of wrath is coming, and many will continue to reject Him, there is still hope as long as people can still breathe.

We keep forgetting that there is something more here. Paul writes about this in his letter to the body of Christ in Rome.

Romans 8:19-23 GW All creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal who his children are. (20) Creation was subjected to frustration but not by its own choice. The one who subjected it to frustration did so in the hope (21) that it would also be set free from slavery to decay in order to share the glorious freedom that the children of God will have. (22) We know that all creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time. (23) However, not only creation groans. We, who have the Spirit as the first of God's gifts, also groan inwardly. We groan as we eagerly wait for our adoption, the freeing of our bodies from sin.

The truth be known, we all are anxious and frustrated with our own frailties, and the impact of broken people that surround us. We also see this frustration as the martyred saints cry out:

Revelation 6:10 ISV They cried out in a loud voice, "Holy and true Sovereign, how long will it be before you judge and take revenge on those living on the earth who shed our blood?"

Will God sit as a judge over the nations after the seven-years?

There is no denying that thrones are setup, but it is not as you suspect for the entirety of the seven-year period is a time of wrath and judgment upon: The nations; Israel – for its rejection; and the earth, because it must be purified, and yet God, in his mercy, does not arbitrarily destroy everyone. If you are awake, then you know that Islam has parents teaching their children from the time they can comprehend, to hate and kill the Jew and infidel; anyone outside of Islam, are the infidel. But children have an advantage because God considers children to be under an age of accountability until age twelve. I believe we are safe in making this assumption because this bible of ours originated from a Jewish orientation, therefore by the Jewish standard that age is twelve. On the other hand, a child is deemed to be a combatant by Islam as long as they can throw a rock or carry a bomb; thankfully, God does not. And this is what we see going into the thousand years on earth under the reign of those who were martyred for their faith in Christ.

It troubles me that I have to explain these things, but experience has demonstrated that religious folk will stand there, continuing to argue their broken point that is based upon tradition, so I give you one more reference from the mouth of God, to illustrate that there are survivors that go into the millennial reign, and they are not arbitrarily punished.

Zechariah 14:16 NASB Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

Peter explains much of what the day of the Lord is, but also helps to define why we should pay attention to end times events.

2 Peter 3:10-12 LITV But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with rushing sound, and having burned the elements will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be burned up. (11) ISV Since everything will be destroyed in this way, think of the kind of holy and godly people you ought to be (12) ISV as you look forward to and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire.

The following is from The MacArthur Bible Commentary where he is speaking about 2 Peter 3:10. (Allow me to make a disclaimer here. I have listened to John MacArthur more than I care to admit, and my major problem with the man is what I perceive as his general disdain for the Holy Spirit. No doubt he is a smart man and I have gained much insight into God's word through his commentaries, but I do so with a skeptical eye, comparing everything he says against what the word of God says. I suggest you do so as well.)

The day of the Lord. "Day of the Lord" is a technical term pointing to the special interventions of God in human history for judgment. It ultimately refers to the future time of judgment whereby God judges the wicked on earth and ends this world system in its present form. The OT prophets saw the final Day of the Lord as unequaled darkness and damnation, a day when the Lord would act in a climactic way to vindicate His name, destroy His enemies, reveal His glory, establish His kingdom, and destroy the world (cf. Isa_2:10-21; Isa_13:6-22; Joel 1, 2; Amos 5; Oba_1:15; Zech. 14; Mal. 4; 2Th_1:7; 2Th_2:2). It occurs at the time of the tribulation on earth (Rev_6:17), and again 1,000 years later at the end of the millennial kingdom before the creation of the new heavens and new earth (2Pe_3:13; Rev. 20:1-21:1).

as a thief in the night. The Day of the Lord will have a surprise arrival, sudden, unexpected, and disastrous to the unprepared (see notes on 1Th_5:2).

the heavens will pass away with a great noise. The heavens refer to the physical universe. The great noise connotes a whistling or a crackling sound as of objects being consumed by flames. God will incinerate the universe, probably in an atomic reaction that disintegrates all matter, as we know it (2Pe_3:7, 2Pe_3:11, 2Pe_3:12-13).

the elements will melt with fervent heat. The elements are the atomic components into which matter is ultimately divisible, which make up the composition of all the created matter. Peter means that the atoms, neutrons, protons, and electrons are all going to disintegrate (2Pe_3:11).

the earth and the works. The whole of the physical, natural earth in its present form, with its entire universe will be consumed. Cf. Isa_24:19-20; Isa_34:4.

Again from MacArthur

1 Thessalonians 5:2 “day of the Lord.”

There are nineteen indisputable uses of the Day of the Lord in the OT and four in the NT (cf. Act_2:20; 2Th_2:2; 2Pe_3:10). The OT prophets used Day of the Lord to describe near historical judgments (see Isa_13:6-22; Eze_30:2-19; Joe_1:15; Amo_5:18-20; Zep_1:14-18) or far eschatological divine judgments (see Joe_2:30-32; Joe_3:14; Zec_14:1; Mal_4:1, Mal_4:5). Six times it is referred to as the "day of doom" and four times "day of vengeance." The NT calls it a day of "wrath," day of "visitation," and the "Great Day of God Almighty" (Rev_16:14).

a thief in the night. This phrase is never used to refer to the rapture of the church. It is used of Christ's coming in judgment on the Day of the Lord at the end of the seven-year tribulation which is distinct from the rapture of the church (see note on 1Th_4:15) and it is used of the judgment which concludes the millennium (2Pe_3:10). As a thief comes unexpectedly and without warning, so will the Day of the Lord come in both its final phases.

I have stated several times that there are only three people groups that God is concerning himself with: The Jews, the nations, and the church. Since 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 defines for us that none of the judgment will take place until his church is removed from the earth, our discussion is limited to the remaining two people groups – The Jews/Israel, and the nations. Because the nations are inclusive of everyone outside of Israel, this becomes important because the nations are defined as everyone non-accepting of Jesus Christ, and Israel certainly could be included in that definition, but Israel is in its own class due to the fact that they were God's chosen, and their repeated rejection of the Messiah.

God's word is very clear about the reasons for this wrath that is to be poured out upon the earth.

I would suggest you read Isaiah chapter 2 in its entirety.

A time of judgment upon the nations.

Isaiah 2:4 MKJV And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; ….

Isaiah 34:1-6 MKJV Come near, nations, to hear; and, you people, listen; let the earth hear, and its fullness; the world, and its offspring. (2) For the anger of Jehovah is on all nations, and His fury on all their armies. ...

Zechariah 12:9 KJV And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

It is meant to humble man.

Isaiah 2:11 MKJV The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the pride of men shall be bowed down, and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.

Jeremiah 50:31 NIV "See, I am against you, you arrogant one," declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty, "for your day has come, the time for you to be punished.

It is a time of judgment upon Israel.

Judges 10:13-14 KJV Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. (14) Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

Jeremiah 33:11 KJV 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.

This is meant to end oppression of man on man.

Isaiah 49:24-26 MKJV Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? (25) But so says Jehovah, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the fearful ones shall escape. For I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your sons. (26) And I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine; and all flesh shall know that I Jehovah am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Isaiah 61:2 MKJV to preach the acceptable year of Jehovah and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

It is a time of God's vengeance.

Isaiah 63:4-6 MKJV For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come. (5) And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold; therefore My own arm has saved for Me; and My fury upheld Me. (6) And I will tread down the people in My anger, and make them drunk in My fury, and I will pour their juice to the earth.

Micah 5:15 NIV I will take vengeance in anger and wrath on the nations that have not obeyed me."

Can we create a time line for any of this?

Now that we have an overview of God's intent and upon whom, can we create a time line for any of this? Since we have established that NO MAN can give you a precise time for these, and we can only work on generalizations. Fortunately, our generalizations are amazingly precise, and associated with prophecy.

Smarter men than I have concluded that there are no prophecies left to fulfill. You can argue with that, you would not be the first, but you are not changing my mind, and it seems that there is nothing to restrain God from sending Jesus back to gather the church.

If you watch You Tube videos, you will see a lead in comment declaring how someone gets owned due to a verbal or physical put down. Jesus did just that; he owned the Pharisees and Sadducees when he said,

"When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' (3) and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”Matthew 16:2-3 NIV

Can we do any better? I already pointed out how God wants us to ask him what is coming, and since we have the Holy Spirit to tell us of things to come, we have no excuse for having an understanding of the times.

Jesus said this to his disciples:

"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. (33) Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” Matthew 24:32-33 NIV

If Israel is that fig tree, and I believe it is, then its leaves have come out. If Israel is not being spoken of, then what are we waiting for?

Why is any of this important?

I feel I must include this aspect of discussion because I have had it thrown in my face multiple times lately: Why is any of this important and why do we as believers need to talk about what is to come? So we go to the source and ask, what does the bible say about our paying attention to prophecy and end times event?

2 Peter 3: 10 – 18 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with rushing sound, and having burned the elements will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be burned up. (11) ISV Since everything will be destroyed in this way, think of the kind of holy and godly people you ought to be (12) ISV as you look forward to and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire. (13) But according to His promise, we look for "new heavens and a new earth," in which righteousness dwells. Isa. 65:17 (14) MSG So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace. (15) And think of the long-suffering of our Lord as salvation, as also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him; (16) as also in all his epistles, speaking in them concerning these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the unlearned and unsettled pervert, as also they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. (17) NIrV Dear friends, you already know that. So be on your guard. Then you won't be led down the wrong path by the mistakes of people who don't obey the law. You won't fall from your safe position. (18) But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

If I looked at what Peter said as the basis for my zeal for an understanding of end times events, then here is what I see:

• Think of the kind of holy and godly people you ought to be (12) ISV as you look forward to and hasten the coming of the day of God,
• According to His promise, we look for "new heavens and a new earth," in which righteousness dwells
• So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace.
• Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him; (16) as also in all his epistles, speaking in them concerning these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the unlearned and unsettled pervert, as also they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
• So be on your guard. Then you won't be led down the wrong path by the mistakes of people who don't obey the law
• You won't fall from your safe position.
• But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

Titus tells us that we are looking for a blessed hope, the appearance of Jesus Christ. That statement is slightly different from what I had thrown at me from our resident theologian in bible study. He seemed to feel it was good to have hope, but that our hope should be in the basics of Christian living. You know, the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness. I responded back harshly, how does that give you hope. I could not tell you what he said in response; I had tuned him out.

Titus 2:11-15 MKJV For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (12) teaching us that having denied ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live discreetly, righteously and godly, in this present world, (13) looking for the blessed hope, and the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (14) who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify to Himself a special people, zealous of good works. (15) Speak these things, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.

Since we have an assurance that Jesus is coming again someday, you would think it would be party time, time to relax. And yet that seems to be the opposite of what Titus wants for us; for we deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, living discreetly, righteously, and godly in this present world, as we look for his appearance. How many people do you know that live like that?

However, Titus was not done, for he added, “Speak these things, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority.” What things are we speaking about, our Lord's return and the impending destruction that awaits those that miss the bus. If I based my life on what Titus said, then I have a mandate to preach the end times, with an emphasis on the Holy living that it should motivate you to live.

I keep thinking about Noah. Jesus used him as an example of what was to come, and what I noticed about that scenario is that in a place where it had never rained and there was no water to float a boat, he built an ark as a testimony of what was coming. The people mocked and ignored his message, and yet it came. Does this sound like anything you hear today. It does, if you, like me, are asking the questions and getting responses like, why does any of this matter?

Paul wrote a letter to the Thessalonians in response to fears they had.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 KJV (3) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

How would you prevent deception if you did not know the truth, but resisters decry the preaching of end times prophecy, and therefore truth. If no one preaches the truth to you, and you will not read for yourselves, how will you know?

What is revelation? The disclosure of a thing whether it is physical, mental, or spiritual. Christ was revealed spiritually when I received him, but a day is coming when he will be revealed, once again, physically.

1 Peter 1:13 KJV 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 Jesus Christ;

What then does it mean, “and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”? Good question. Cynics would tell you that hope is primarily entwined in the basics of our salvation, but most of us cannot even comprehend what that means. However, we can comprehend that because of our acceptance of His grace toward us, that we can have a solid hope in His return to catch us away.

If it is not important, then why does John say this in the Revelation?

Revelation 1:3 NET. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy aloud, and blessed are those who hear and obey the things written in it, because the time is near!

There is a blessing upon: the one who reads the words of this prophecy aloud. Now I understand that reading aloud can and does have a profound effect, but I can see an added benefit if I was reading it, with the purpose of making it understood, before a small bible study group. The underlying message is that the reader is reading to comprehend.

A second aspect of this verse can come from the first, but not necessarily. The hearer can be a recipient as they sit in a bible study. Now comes the hard part, obeying the things written in it. A quick mental recap of the first three chapters of Revelation, speak about admonishment to churches, many of which John might have been familiar with. I will tell you from a prophetic point of view, we are the Laodicean church, you know, the one that gets spewed out because they are neither hot nor cold. Should you have doubts as to whether this is reality, try to find a church that acknowledges and allows for the power of God to act and move in the service. Almost all of them are on time schedules due to the taping of a service, and though we sing songs about the Holy Spirit being welcomed there, He is really not.

All the following speak toward his soon return and the need to watch, and patiently wait.

Proverbs 8:34 NET. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching at my doors day by day, waiting beside my doorway.

Daniel 12:12 NASB "How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!

1 Peter 4:7 NASB The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

James 5:8 NASB You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

Revelation 22:6 NASB And he said to me, "These words are faithful and true"; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

Revelation 22:12 NASB "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.

Revelation 22:20 NASB He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Who is the “He” who testifies to these things? Jesus Christ. This is his testimony and revelation, is it not? Since a day is as a thousand years to the Lord, the concept of soon is irrelevant. He is coming. His death and resurrection were proofs that this is all true. We are not chasing rainbows, this is reality, and those that know him will be caught up to be with Him. Those that do not will have to struggle though the wrath to come.

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