An interruption of the Layman's commentary. Are there prophets in this enlightened time of the New Testament?

 My pastor, who is not the only one, will adamantly proclaim that there are NO prophets since the arrival of the New Testament.

Is that true? 

Let's see what the scriptures say.

“For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith.” 
Romans 12:4-6 NASB

These passages clearly identify prophecy as one of God’s gifts to us, Jesus’ followers. 

We may be missing something, and the terminology prophecy may be mistranslated, causing us to mishandle it.

Here, in Romans 12:6, the word used is prophēteía, from prophēteúō (Strong’s#G4395,) meaning to prophesy. It also conveys the idea of prediction, foretelling future events, including the prophets’ declarations, exhortations, and warnings while acting under divine influence. Thayer's definitions tell us it is “a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; especially by foretelling future events.”

Since we tend to struggle with this divine inspiration part, we may add, “Thus saith the Lord,” when, in fact, you are not sure.

• According to Webster's dictionary, Declaration is "An affirmation; an open expression of facts or opinions, or a verbal utterance; such as he declared his sentiments. We should keep our opinion out of the affirmation.

  • Affirmation is the act of affirming or asserting as true, as opposed to negation or denial. It is also a confirmation, ratification, or establishment of what had been done or decreed before.

• Exhortation - The form of words intended to incite and encourage. It also means advice or counsel.

• Warnings - Caution against danger or against faults or evil practices that incur danger.

• This sounds more like common sense. As a former group leader for the anger group in recovery, my advice, in many cases, could have easily been perceived as a caution against danger or faults, as they will lead to further dangers.

The words (which scare us) are merely a way of understanding the practical forms in which we share God's word. With an understanding of prophecy that looks like common sense, why do we need to lose our minds over the prophetic? 

This might explain some of the reasons we get so upset about the prophetic.

Some time ago, on a Sunday morning, I was verbally assaulted by a “brother in Christ” with a theological doctorate who attended the same church that I did, as he angrily explained that under no circumstance should anyone operating in what they believe is a prophetic word say, “Thus saith the Lord.”

The reasons behind this admonition were defined by saying: 

• By doing so, you falsely qualify the word you give as a valid word from God. This is true because we consistently insert some aspect of our broken lives and emotions into every word we give. 

  I could not disagree with this assertion, and though I could not stand this “brother’, I have since integrated his “exhortation” to me about the words I gave to others.

The man with the doctorate went on to say,

• The phrase “thus says the Lord” is solely designed to raise the status of the word, which you believe is necessary to provide. 

  Therefore, you are trying to force people to accept what you are about to say. 

Habit is part of the problem.

• We have developed the habit of adding “thus saith the Lord” as an introduction and announcement; sometimes, it is simply a tradition. 

  Some would even tell you that God does not need to speak in Elizabethan English; therefore, this archaic word “thus saith” falls on deaf ears and sounds foolish. 

“Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;”
Romans 12:6 NASB

Wow, according to the grace given to each of us.

First, the gifts differ according to the grace given to each of us.

This can imply that some have all or many gifts, but that rarely happens.

Grace is the Greek word charisma and, according to the Strong’s concordance, means a (divine) gratuity, that is, deliverance (from danger or passion); a (spiritual) endowment, that is, (subjectively) a religious qualification, or a (free) gift. The Word Study dictionary conveys that grace is to show favor. A gift of grace, an undeserved benefit.

I know many of us think that we deserve God’s benefits (grace) merely because we make lots of money, have a theological doctorate, wear fine clothes, and when we talk, people listen. If you are not aware, we were all born into sin, and all your self-applied traits will burn up at the Bema seat should you happen to get caught up in the rapture of the church. Perhaps the best way to picture this sin issue is to perceive the fact that by eating that fruit, Adam permanently damaged and changed his DNA, and he passed that damaged DNA to all humanity through the inescapable generations of sexual intercourse so that no one escaped the damage.

Some will say that it is not possible that ingesting some fruit could damage your DNA. Well, in taking that attitude, you have set yourself above, the one that knows all things and created this body that you perpetually damage with chemically laden “foods” on a daily basis. You are also living in denial that these so-called flu vaccinations are changing and damaging your DNA when it has been proven that this is precisely their purpose.

Secondly, the gifts are given according to the grace given to each of us individually. 

What does that mean? 

It means that we are individuals, and there isn't an all-consuming blanket coverage. 

Romans 12:6 tells us that prophecy, for example, is given according to the proportion of that person's faith. 

Having operated in this realm, I can tell you it requires much faith. You must trust that you are hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit, which often sounds like your own inner voice.

A dear lady, who, on previous occasions, operated frequently in giving words to people, stopped me one day as I walked into the church and said, why aren't you doing what God told you to do? 

Do you know that we are to judge the prophetic?

Therefore, I responded, “I know what that means to me, but why don't you explain what you think it means?” She was dead on in her explanation. If I had been honest, I would have said I have run from giving God's words to crowds because they are incredibly intimidating, and I can hear all the negative voices telling me that I might lead people astray and fail. 

When I gave words to the church body, I was always in tears, and I can tell you that having the pastor whine at me and say, could you give these words to the church without tears; didn't help. My lady friend repeatedly told me that no one could hear me except for the two rows in front of me. Once I started obeying God and giving these words, it went on for six weeks (Suddenly, the others that had been giving words went silent.) I worked to bring the volume up, and I am sure I could be heard on the street on the last occasion. I was told that a couple (who had the ability to control things that happened in the church because of their significant contributions) complained to the pastor because I made God sound angry (what a peculiar thing to say, as though I could control God,) and the following week, I was met at the door by the pastor, as I tried to enter. 

The pastor told me of this complaint and said, "you are done giving these words, though, as he said, he could find no fault in what I said. Should you think that you have a word beyond this point you will run it through me and I will let you know if you get to deliver it." If only God worked that way with me. When the Holy Spirit's motivation hit me, I would ask Him to give me a clue as to what I would say (all this happened in my head.) The Holy Spirit's response was, as always, trust me. Trust Him is all I could do; therefore, the preposterous idea of running it past the pastor was improbable.

I told the Lord that I was through and to never ask me to give anyone a word again. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit laughed me off, and His speaking to me never stopped; some words were as simple as “God is not through with you yet.”

Here, in the days before the catching away of the bride, the implications are that we live in the age of grace (God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.) 

Let me remind you of the words of a song that goes like this - “He paid a debt I could not pay.” In so doing, we receive the benefits awarded to those who accept His (Jesus) death and resurrection, which gave us all of God’s benefits to those who love Him. 

We are also given this exhortation.

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
Romans 12:3 ESV

Every one of us has been given the measure of grace, but faith clearly varies among us, though that was not God's plan. Faith is faith, but having experienced the pressures that can affect faith, it is easy to see that events can put enough pressure on you to NOT trust and that lack of trust can affect your ability to trust God's plan. Paul tells us not to get high-minded; perhaps that is because you can be brought down quickly and with a crushing blow.

To be honest, I do not remember if this is the verse my pastor was referencing when he denounced New Testament-era prophets, but let's look at it anyway.

“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”
1 Corinthians 13:8-10 ESV

• “As for prophecies...”

  The Greek word for prophecies is the same word we saw in Romans 12:6. We did a deep dive into the background of this word prophēteia , and we found that it can also mean declarations, exhortations, and warnings while acting under divine influence. Some of us are very adept at giving out words like this.

• “They will pass away;”

  Pass away is also translated (in some versions) as done away. The Greek word for “pass away” is katargéō , which means to render inactive, idle, useless, or ineffective.

  What would be the most logical reason to make giving declarations, exhortations, and warnings while acting under divine influence inactive, idle, and useless?

  The first place this would have an impact would be when the church leaves the earth.

  Why here?

  Because we no longer have to interact with those who are struggling with their faith and relationship with Jesus. This is valid because we will now be with Jesus and the Father, the source of all knowledge.

  But there is a problem, as there will be many who did not go up in the rapture but thought they would.

  Who then would give out these prophetic words once the church is gone?

  Those who may have had a bit of knowledge of God's word and thought they should have gone. 

  In a sense, there will be an amazing revival on the earth, and this will be the second reason for the prophetic.

  In the Old Testament, the Prophet Joel speaks about the last days on earth before Jesus returns to end the pain down here and begin the millennial reign. Here is how he sets the tone.

  “...Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand: A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; … Joel 2:1-2 NKJV.

  And yet, in the midst of all this tumult.

  “"And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28-29 NKJV

  People will try to tell you that the Holy Spirit leaves the earth when the church goes up in the rapture. How about NOT!

In case you have not read it, I will give you this bit of insight. A common translation reads like this.

“I bowed at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Don’t do that! I am your coworker and a coworker of the Christians who hold on to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy!”
Revelation 19:10 GW

So as long (7 years) as there is the possibility of people on earth giving testimony to Jesus, then the spirit of prophecy (the Holy Spirit) will be active and necessary.

Let's just admit it—for the most part, we don't know what we are talking about when we say that prophetic words have not existed since the New Testament. I get it—there is nothing new under the sun, but people get beat down and forget who they are—a Child of the Living God and an heir to the kingdom.

Is there any doubt that we (humans) have turned the prophetic into money making schemes, none whatsoever. As irritating as their actions are that doesn't make all of us bad or self-seeking.

We merely need to learn to judge correctly. 

Qualifications for a deacon. 1 Timothy 3:8-13.

 Paul started this third section of his letter to Timothy discussing the qualifications for a Pastor; depending on the translation, you might see terminologies such as an overseer or a shepherd.

I am surprised anyone qualifies, as we are all so broken, and many people I know should quickly shy away from being a pastor. I struggled with being a group leader in the recovery group, but there was a leader who was brave enough to tell the crowd what got him into recovery, and this brother in Christ took me under his wing and calmed me down on several occasions.

Fortunately, God sees us in a better light than we do and believes better things for us; (I am speaking bluntly because, by Paul’s admonition, he forbids women from being overseer’s of the flock,) so if a man had problems in the past, they might not have those problems now, because that man has put his faith and trust in Christ Jesus, and allowed for God to change him.

Now when it comes to skeletons in the closet, I am not sure how you prevent those skeletons, some of which should never again see the light of day, from being made public. Perhaps making sure you only talk with safe people is one way, but my trust-er is seriously damaged, and believing that people can be safe is difficult. Another idea you can try is to keep your mouth shut; it works for me.

One of the methods of background checking, according to Paul, is to ask those that know the person what they are like. Many could see that as a problem especially if they saw you get hauled away in cuffs during the night. And even if you did not get arrested, what makes you think we neighbors can’t hear you screaming at your wife and kids. Look, WE ARE ALL BROKEN and have a propensity to blab/sin to make ourselves look better, and we will rat you out. Phenomenon such as this is highly prevalent in religious circles as we seem to be competing for promotions, I guess.

When we covered Pastors in the previous post on Timothy, I told you that I do not fully understand alcoholism. Oh, sure, I can comprehend the effects, and I have seen the damage it causes the person and their family. Now, I am not an alcoholic, but I had a terrible struggle with rage. The point of this is, having a cold beer, for me is NOT a problem.

Yeah, I can hear some of you whining now about how I am making you stumble in your walk Jesus. We will get into that shortly. First, look at this, just in case you did not see Paul’s advice on selecting potential pastors.

So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money.
(1 Timothy 3:2-3 NLT)

I am faithful to my wife, but I don’t always practice self-control, and my belly demonstrates that fact, however, I have seen what alcohol can do to me, and I must say, I don’t enjoy being out of control. I also know how much it takes for me to get out of control, and I make a conscious choice NOT to go there. So yes, when it comes to alcohol, I do practice self-control. By the way, I am not looking for a job, so I don’t care what you think about this startling revelation, but if you are a religious zealot and love to judge people, you need to know something.

God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them. (Matthew 7:1-2b CEV)

For the past twenty + years, I have gone out of my way to develop a sound and godly reputation.

Thanks to some terrible decisions many years ago, I ended up working for Home Depot; there, I quickly found out that cussing, among the employees, is a skill set, and I learned that skill. However, I had been straining to be the kind of Christian that my mother wanted me to be, and the internal emotional pressures were pushing me to my limits. To maintain my sanity while I worked there, I would exit the building at lunchtime. In a short time, I began taking my bible to the places I would stop for lunch. I spent at least thirty minutes at lunch, studying my bible, and I read every day, taking notes and writing down the questions and challenges I had for God about what I read. This reading program became a part of my morning breakfast stop before work. I would leave the house an hour earlier to spend the extra time in God’s word. And I would take my bible to dinner with me. I worked at Home Depot for seven years, and I operated on this pattern almost every day. The result of this behavior was that I became skillful with God’s Word and would respond to people’s questions about the Word of God, Jesus, and God’s nature and character.

Now I am up against another set of standards, but this time, for deacons.

1 Timothy 3:8-9 NASB Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, (9) but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

Let's start with this word deacon. First, there are a variety of translations, such as:

• Church officers (this makes sense to me as deacons, as far as I know, play a considerable role in church financial decisions.);
• Eugene Peterson's Message gives us this, “those who want to be servants in the church.” Well, that’s a rather broad definition as some servants, like a friend of mine who before he retired, was a school principal and teacher, but now, among other things, rearranges the chairs in church several times a week.
• And lastly, the Tree of Life Translation calls them Servant-leaders. They, like Stephen, should be servants and leaders.

These deacons have similar demands to the pastors.

• One that catches my attention is the statement that they are not to be addicted to wine.
• From the TLV, not greedy for dishonest gain.
• Men of dignity. The word in Greek is honorable.
• Not double-tongued. Don't change the rules to fit the status of the person. Be a person that people can confide in and trust.

1 Timothy 3:10 NASB These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.

Tested is to approve or examine. No, we are not merely talking about taking tests, it is watching how the person trying to be a leader performs under pressure. How do they respond to people in the church clamoring for their spiritual help and guidance. 

Note that Paul says these men must also first be tested, but gives no extensive definition like he did the pastors; however, he does give us tests we can use.

Reproach is the Greek word anegklētos and, according to Thayer, means that they cannot be called into account. In defining reproach, the dictionary tells us that this has to do with someone being able to censure you. To censure is the act of blaming or finding fault and condemning as wrong.

So, how or why would someone want to blame or find fault with your choice of a deacon?

Our first example has Paul speaking of women, but we can apply it to men as well.

1 Timothy 3:11 NASB Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.

We already covered dignity when we addressed the men. It is the Greek word semnos and means to be venerated for character, honorable. So nothing, in importance, has changed.

If we think that being a malicious gossip is reserved for women, then we are either naive or deceived as we men are quite skilled in this regard.

Temperate is another term that we covered, as it applies to abstaining from wine (in excess,) just like men.

Faithful applies to persons who show themselves faithful in business transactions, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties. This should be expected of anyone, especially since you are dealing with the church finances.

1 Timothy 3:12 NASB Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households.

I included the emphasis (italics) provided by the NASB.

Note how it says only one wife. Many of the men I have known, and at least one pastor, have been married several times. There is no need to get all judgmental; simply remember that we are ALL broken. The hope is that somewhere over time, we get that brokenness fixed.

I will let you in on a little private information; I am on my third marriage.

How did my brokenness affect my marriages?

Well, with the first, I was a novice raised under highly religious legalism, and seriously co-dependent. If you don’t know what it is to be co-dependent, it means that you become dependent upon how others think and feel about you and, therefore, create a relational atmosphere in your mind based upon their perceived like or dislike of you. If a co-dependent marries a broken individual, this can be an explosive mix. Add to the marriage the fact that she cheated on me twice. I can only handle it once. Still not free of the co-dependency that affected me, I married a second time to a woman with two children. The short of it, I destroyed this one. I know now, that my psychological problems and inadequacies caused that marriage to fail. The third marriage only happened in the last few years, but my desire and attempts to be married were initiated over twenty years ago. With only two weeks before we were to get married, my brother-in-law, the associate pastor, told me that he was disallowed from marrying us and that we would have to obtain counseling from the lead pastor. Now mind you, that lead pastor and I had been involved in a strained relationship which initiated about ten years prior. The other part of this disaster came into play as he had also played a role in my wife’s ill-fated marriage to her first husband. Combined, he saw no hope for us and made hateful accusations concerning the fact that we had both been married previously and had failed marriages. That day he seemed to forget how he also had a failed marriage. Since a rather large religious organization ordained this broken man to be the pastor, I guess the fact that he had been married before was no hindrance to his being a pastor now.

So, this term only implies that you should NOT be married to more than one woman at a time.

“and good managers of their children and their own households.”

Again, I am looking at the italicized words, and the word “and” does not change the understanding of the sentence, however, the usage of the italicized word“their” creates the idea that these deacons should be able to handle children, period. What that means, I am not sure.

The word manager is proistēmi and means to be set over or rule. There is nothing here that means rule with an iron fist, but considering that parental attitudes, the influence of education; and, governmental themes and laws have created a generation of children that will refuse to comply with reasonable demands, like sit down. (And we get to watch children like this at the daily riot.)

We will finish this section with this.

1 Timothy 3:13 NASB For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Well is defined as honestly.

And to obtain is to get possession of.

While there is the possibility that you may obtain some reward now, here on earth, but the greatest probability will be at the Bema seat.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 NASB

On several occasions, I have talked about this idea of being recompensed. When you look at the Greek, it conveys the idea of rewards and wearing a victor's crown as you might in the Olympics.

So if you serve, do it with honesty, and then allow Him to pat you on the back and say, well done, my good and faithful servant.

• Holding to the mystery of the faith.
• He who was revealed in the flesh,
• Was vindicated in the Spirit,
• Seen by angels,
• Proclaimed among the nations,
• Believed on in the world,
• And taken up in glory.
•  

This is the Messiah Jesus that I serve.

 

Can we know when Jesus will return for...

Monday morning Bible Study, which I typically abbreviate as Monday Morning BS, opened with Matthew 24:42. Ignoring the context and theme of chapter 24, the leader, in typical fashion, spun this to validate the direction he wanted to take and the questions he wanted to ask; in this case - are you ready for His return to catch up the church? And, what bizarre things are your thoughts focused on throughout the day?

Much of the morning was like a stew consisting of conjecture and manipulation, as the leader pushed forward. As he continued to emphasize these horrid questions, he elaborated by asking, how differently would you act if you knew the Lord was coming back in six hours?

Maybe it was confusing situations such as this that motivated Jesus to say,

“for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”

Since the Jews standing around him had little perception of the Lord's return would mean, I doubt their questions had the same motivation as Jesus'. Since we who have a relationship with Jesus Christ, have a hope in His coming, then we await the day when he comes to gather His church. The problem with this emphasis on waiting is that we, in our religious communities, verbally accost those who express anything that sounds like they are prescribing a time frame.

I happen to think Jesus was very direct with his answers; everything he said was standard terminology and something with which Jesus followers were familiar.

How do I back up a statement like this?

First, let me say that this topic was placed before me by the Holy Spirit just days before. More than just a bit of a coincidence. The topic came in the form of a video excerpt intending to sell a movie about to hit the markets, called, The Coming Convergence. Sorry, I did not pay enough attention to who the speaker was, but the segment took my breath away as he spoke about Matthew 24:36. I give you a piece of that here.

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”

The speaker in the video was saying the same things that I have been saying for several years now about how this Bible we read is a Jewish book. Let me give you some additional guidelines to help you understand the Bible: Never lose sight that Jesus was a Jew; that he was speaking to Jews, and that he was talking with standard terms and phrases that would mean something to his audience.

The man in the video explained that the expression we see in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone,” was typical of the day. Jesus' audience would have understood that he was referring to the observance of the New Moon, the indicator of the first day of the month. The express implication, however, applied to the visual sighting of the new moon that would have indicated the New Year – Rosh Hashana, which astronomically will begin at sunset on September 20th.

This observance of the New Moon had to be accomplished by two reliable witnesses and announced to the High Priest at the Sanhedrin. After evaluating the witnesses, the Sanhedrin would then declare the New Month, or the New Year. The thing that makes Jesus statement so valid and yet variable is that weather could obscure the sight of the New Moon. The priests had a contingency for this variability. Since the Jewish calendar worked off of thirty day months, knowing that the moon should have been there, they would, on the next day, decree the new month or year, making that month 31 days.

While I have yet to find a direct reference that associates this phrase “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone,” with Rosh Hashana. I simply applied some logic to what I just shared with you, and found it to convey a similar message to what I see in scripture – variability.

The speaker went on to say that in effect, Jesus told the disciples exactly when He would be returning, on the New Moon of the New Year, Rosh Hashana.

Now, please don't stop reading, choosing to respond to the adverse voices in your head. Instead, try applying another piece of logic.

The problem with such a challenging and yet simple subject was that the leader of the Monday morning Bible study had no intention of entertaining challenges from the group. Avoiding questions, although there weren't many, the leader moved rapidly forward through chapter 24 and on into Matthew 25. I am staying focused on Matthew 24:36.

So let's say that you agree with the idea that Christ could return at the Jewish New Year, the 'head' of the year.

• Even if you are correct and Jesus has the logical arrival time of September 20th of 2017, try sharing that information with most any religious person; you will have an intense fight on your hands, and they will not believe you. I might add that they will use this same phrase, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone,” against you.
• If you are unlucky, they may merely call you a false teacher as they ignore obvious scriptures which tell us that we are not in the dark, and, that we should not know when that day will come.

Do we have scriptures that tell us that we can have a strong clue as to when Jesus will return?

Yes.

Although Isaiah tends to answer the question in reverse, it will lead me to another scripture, along with the same vein, that speaks more specifically to our knowing when the end will come.

Isaiah 6:9-12 NIrV So he said, "Go and speak to these people. Tell them, "'You will hear but never understand. You will see but never know what you are seeing.' (10) Make the hearts of these people stubborn. Plug up their ears. Close their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes. They might hear with their ears. They might understand with their hearts. And they might turn to me and be healed." (11) Then I said, "Lord, how long will it be like that?" He answered, "It will last until the cities of Israel are destroyed and no one is living in them. It will last until the houses are deserted. The fields will be completely destroyed. (12) It will last until I have sent everyone far away. The land will be totally deserted.

The context applies to Israel, although it could easily speak to the modern church.

Having been spoken to, by an authoritative source: The Word; prophets; evangelists; pastors, and teachers, why would they not listen?

Jesus was asked by the disciples about why he used parables. I suppose that is because they too did not understand. Look at the interaction in Matthew 13:10-11.

Matthew 13:10-11 NASB And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" (11) Jesus answered them, "To you, it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, it has not been granted.

Regardless of whether they understood or not the sentence still stands to this day. “To you, it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.”

I just pointed out that Israel was blind to the mysteries, but here in the letter to the church at Colossae, we have Paul telling us that God's mysteries have been manifested to us, His saints.

Colossians 1:25-27 NASB (25) Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, (26) that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, (27) to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

I get it. Clearly, there was a time when I might even say. We could not understand. (I could easily debunk that statement because of the Magi. You remember them, foreigners from another nation, who were able to ascertain Christ's arrival, and, explain this information to the elders of the Sanhedrin.) “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit,” now I will give you some grace on this, for the Spirit was not sent until Jesus ascended the last time into the heavenlies. [You should comprehend that we are talking about the Holy Spirit of God, the comforter.]

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NASB (9) but just as it is written, "THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM." (10) For to us, God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

Times and the epochs are certainly an aspect of what we are talking about. Paul writes, “you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you, yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.” He is saying what Jesus said, but there is a distinct difference, as he is no longer talking strictly to Jews. Paul and the Holy Spirit know full well that this letter will be spread to all the languages that comprise the body of Christ, and that we too “are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief.” Jesus, carrying out God's plan, is not sneaking up on anyone, unless they are choosing to remain in the darkness; refusing to accept the truth in God's Word, not mine.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 NASB (1) Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. (2) For you, yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. (3) While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. (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;

It would seem that the Apostle John, in conveying the Revelation, understood that we could know the hour Jesus would come; either that, or it is a rhetorical statement and means nothing at all.

Revelation 3:3 NASB 'So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

Unfortunately for those that hold this rhetorical point of view, we find that there is nothing in scripture that is unimportant. The Jewish community has held to this idea so much so, that even the spaces between the letters carry great meaning and we see this in the study of Kabbalah. If what John says is true and they who do not wake up will not know the hour, then the inverse must be true and those of us who are awake must be able to ascertain the hour with some certainty.

What then are some of the major clues in scripture?

• Jesus responded to disciples question with this:

Matthew 24:32-34 KJV Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: (33) So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. (34) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

The fig tree is Israel becoming a nation, and that happened in 1948. What I cannot say with certainty is how many years it takes to define a generation. In an effort to figure out what a generation might be I went to the definitive source – the internet. I am kidding, sort of, and found this, (http://www.bible-codes.org/old-prophecy_5c-Yeshua-codes.htm)

"As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there... In the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here... (Gen 15:16)

God said to Abraham that after 400 years He would deliver Israel, "...in the fourth generation". A generation in the Bible is normally 40 years. However, here a generation is 100 years (4 * 100 = 400 years). This is understood by virtue of the fact that Abraham had his promised child when he was exactly 100 years old (Gen. 21:5); it is evident, therefore, that the age of a man when his first child is born is the raw definition of a generation.

Nevertheless, notice that the full number (400 years) is exactly ten times that of a regular generation of 40 years. Both 100 years and 40 years are a generation in the Bible. However, the average of these two, 70 years, is on occasion also found in the bible, (Psalm 90:10). But "70 years" is a generation according to the average age of a man at his death, rather than when his first child is born (as with the example of Abraham).

40 + 100 = 140 years. 140 ÷ 2 = 70-years as a generation. (Significantly, king David died at age 70 and reigned 40 years.)”

Let's assume then that the average age is seventy. A bit of quick math: 2017 – 1948 = 69 years. Interesting, especially since we right on the verge of a multitude of fascinating, scriptural, and prophetic events, most of which we “Christians” do not have a clue about, but the Jewish community does. Israel, by the way, is, as we speak, celebrating their 69^th birthday as a nation.

Continuing with scriptural clues, that tells us if we can know when the end of time is soon upon us.

Luke 21:34-36 KJV And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. (35) For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. (36) Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Key words and phrases in Luke 21:34-36:

• “take heed to yourselves”

What does that mean? You are responsible for yourselves, no one else.

• Or, as the Complete Jewish Bible puts it, “your hearts will become dulled.”

Dulled? A dull knife is useless. Try cutting a tomato with one; you might as well be using a rock. The Websters dictionary defines dull as Stupid; doltish; blockish; slow of understanding.

• Surfeiting - Oppressing the system by excessive eating and drinking;

So it is not just drunkenness that clouds your mind, but an obsession with food can do it as well.

• And the “cares of this life.”

These take on every shape and form and will create enough anxiety within you to kill you. Since this is an aspect of deception, it is easy to ascertain that it is a weapon of the enemy, Satan.

Although the context of this verse is directed at the Jewish community, as a direct answer to when the Kingdom would be restored, this phrase “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” can speak to anyone. Sadly, the religious can read this and have one or both of these reactions: I have never tasted alcohol and therefore cannot be included in this paragraph, or, they are blind to the overall context, choosing to ignore it.

Perhaps it is best summed up by the Easy-to-Read Version

Luke 21:34 ERV "Be careful not to spend your time having parties and getting drunk or worrying about this life. If you do that, you won't be able to think straight, and the end might come when you are not ready.

Can you see that life and things will make you unaware through distraction?

Once again, mathematically speaking, there is an inverse to this equation. The obvious answer is that doing your best to steer clear of distractions should put you in a position to be aware of when that day should come.

One of the things I wanted to do was to keep our focus within the New Testament, effectively Paul's letters. I wanted to do that because we as a church want to believe that Paul's writings supersede the Old Testament allowing us to ignore God's word there. That supposition isn't always true because most teachers and preachers will gladly dip back into the OT for the purpose interweaving some guilt and manipulation into their discourse. This type of manipulation comes out deception and distraction from Satan. 

I am not saying the Old Testament is wrong by any stretch – Jesus and Paul both pulled segments from the Law and the Prophets to demonstrate some freedom hidden in it, this is why Paul calls it a mystery. The Law and the Prophets are only a mystery to those who choose not to dig for the treasure buried there.

Jesus, knowing full well that most of the audience was symbolically blind and deaf, spoke to them in parables. He was not trying to confuse them further, he was speaking plainly, openly, and, in language, they should have been familiar with. Much of what he said was directly pulled from the OT. What we see in Mark's gospel is one of those cute parables. (There is nothing cute, hidden, or insignificant about the parables. Most of them are a slap in the face of those who choose to play the Pharisee card.)

Mark 13:28-30 KJV Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: (29) So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. (30) Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

You find this same theme in Matthew 24:35. I feel as though I cannot say this enough; Jesus said these things to his Jewish followers/disciples, as an answer to their question about when He would restore the kingdom and take the throne. This information is not exclusive to Jewish ears and can be easily applied to the modern church age.