A layman's commentary on John chapter 3. Nicodemus and the incredible assertion.

 Previously, in John's gospel, we watched as Jesus chased the sellers out of the court of the Gentiles. I imagine that the word Gentiles is hard for many of you to understand, as you seem to refuse to apply a Jewish understanding to it.

In Scripture, you won't find a reference to the court of the Gentiles, but you will find this:

Revelation 11:2 NASB "Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread underfoot the holy city for forty-two months.

Nations is the Greek word ethnos and is interchangeable with Gentiles.

We also talked about Jesus' genealogy, or bloodline, and how that in Nazareth, where Mary and Joseph both came from, Mary did something no one had ever done before: she stuck to her “story” of how this pregnancy was God's baby; and by the way, we already know His name, Yeshua.

It is easy to be negative and say, " We have nothing in prophetic scriptures that would validate your having God's baby". But they did have an announcement of this very thing.

Isaiah 7:14 NASB "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

How easy it would have been to say, " Okay, Joseph and I gave in to sexual desire," but that did not happen.

Matthew 1:21 TLV “She will give birth to a son; and you shall call His name Yeshua, for He will save His people from their sins.”

If Mary told those gossips, who would have gladly stoned her for her sins, that they would refer to this baby as Yeshua, it would have been another reason to stone her.

Look at the predictive words in the Prophet Micah, and think about the fact that when the scribes and chief priests were brought before Herod and questioned concerning this prophesied King of the Jews, a two-year-old child at this point.

Micah 5:2-4 NASB "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity." 3) Therefore, He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brethren will return to the sons of Israel. 4) And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth.”

Notice that scribes and chief priests did not deny that Scripture spoke of Yeshua, but they would NOT recognize or acknowledge Him. It is interesting that the wise men from another nation, who had followed His star, came to see this child King.

In the world of theatrics, there is a team of people who set the stage for the next scene. We are not given a time frame, and so neither can I tell you how much time has passed between the cleansing of the temple, the confrontations with the scribes and chief priests, and Nicodemus emerging onto the stage. When we watched The Chosen, Nicodemus was clearly understood to be a strong presence, but as he comes to Jesus, we find a touch of humility.

John 3:1 NASB “Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;”

The NET Bible commentary simply tells us that Nicodemus was "a ruler of the Jews" (denoting a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). 

Finis Dake's commentary makes this unusual statement: 

“a)[There was a man] One would be as justified to make this a parable, or any other passage where 'there was a man' is used (Matthew 12:10; Mark 3:1). While there are numerous scriptural references, Dake ends this paragraph by simply stating, All these passages are plain historical ones. Within Dake's commentary is a piece of information that I was not aware of,

“b)[Nicodemus, ruler of the Jews] A Jewish Rabbi, member of the Sanhedrin, and one of the three richest men in Jerusalem.

I had no idea of his wealth. 

John Gill's Exposition of the Bible informs us that this leader, Nicodemus, was frequently mentioned as “Nicodemon ben Gorion", the brother of Josephus ben Gorion (p), the writer of the Wars and Antiquities of the Jews; and there are some things which make it probable, that he was the same with this Nicodemus; for the Nicodemon the Jews speak so much of, lived in this age; as appears, not only from his being the brother of Josephus, but also from his being contemporary with R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, who lived in this time, and until the destruction of the temple; since these two are said (q) to be together at a feast, made for the circumcision of a child. Moreover, he is represented as very rich, and is said to be one of the three rich men in Jerusalem (r), and who was able to have maintained a city ten years

The verse (John 3:1) testifies that Nicodemus was of the Pharisees.

Did you forget that Paul, who used to be called Saul, was, too, a Pharisee?

Philippians 3:4-5 BSB “though I myself could have such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5) circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;”

“A ruler of the Jews.” Ruler is the Greek word archōn, and according to the Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary, this word means that Nicodemus carried any one of these titles: one invested with power and dignity, chief, ruler, prince, magistrate.

Considering that Nicodemus was this powerful, it is puzzling that he came to Jesus in humility and that he could not understand what Jesus was trying to tell him.

As I sit here pondering my statement above, I am reminded that the scribes and Pharisees, for the most part, wanted Jesus and anyone who followed Him dead. There is no way that Nicodemus would have been unaware of such emotions among his subordinates, and what would have stopped them from killing Nicodemus?

John 3:2 NLT “After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

Just moments ago, I posed the question: why did such a powerful man come to Jesus in humility?

As you should see from the New Living Translation, Nicodemus waited until it got dark. The majority of translations casually proclaim, “The same came to Jesus by night.” To point out that Nicodemus waited demonstrates apprehension and planning.

If you watched The Chosen, a Television series that elaborates on situations, such as the meeting between Nicodemus and Jesus, with details that the Bible does not give us, you would have seen two things: 1.) The disciples, generally, did not know where Jesus was, as He would go off by Himself to pray until He was done. That type of communication leads to scheduling problems. It seemed as if, knowing that Nicodemus wanted to have a talk with Jesus, one of the disciples was fortunate enough to make contact with Jesus and, therefore, made the arrangements, such as setting up the location, some lovely candles, and a table with two chairs. 2.) Note what Nicodemus said: “ Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

Nicodemus declared Jesus a Rabbi.
Pause for a moment because that is an incredible assertion.

What did the thief on the cross say to Jesus?

Luke 23:39-43 NKJV Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." 40) But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41) And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." 42) Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." 43) And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

Nicodemus also professed that Jesus was a “Rabbi”; he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

If Nicodemus had the briefings about Jesus, then he would have understood that the gossips in Nazareth would have declared that Jesus was a Mumzer; and according to Levitical law, he would have been banned from access to the temple and Sabbatical schooling. There would have been questions about where and how He was educated. The problem with all this was undone by a portion of Nicodemus' assertion, “Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

Jesus was not the son of an undeclared father; He was the Son of God, by declaration of the angel Gabriel.

Luke 1:26-33 NAS95 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27) to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28) And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." 29) But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 30) The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31) "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32) "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33) and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."

Joseph, a good man, that statement alone carries more weight than pastors or bible teachers care to communicate, was also informed, in a dream, that this was God's baby.

Matthew 1:18-24 NASB: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19) And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20) But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21) "She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22) Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23) "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." 24) And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,"

Is it possible that Joseph could not have understood the concept of a Holy Wind from God?

Let's falsely assume for a moment that this concept of the Holy breath of God is a new thing to Joseph's ears.

First, I must tell you I was told by multiple speakers over the years that Hebrew had been banned during the era of Roman rule. Apparently, that was not the case. A website entitled Why did Jesus primarily speak Aramaic instead of Hebrew? gives us this information:

“Aramaic, a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew, emerged as a lingua franca in the Near East long before the time of Jesus. Its rise to prominence can be traced back to the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. When the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BCE, they brought with them their administrative language, Aramaic. The subsequent Babylonian Exile in the 6th century BCE further entrenched Aramaic in Jewish life, as the Jewish people were taken to Babylon, where Aramaic was widely spoken. Upon returning from exile, the Jews brought Aramaic back to Judea and its surrounding regions. Over time, Aramaic became the common spoken language among the Jewish population, while Hebrew remained the language of religious texts and liturgy.”

In “The Chosen,” there was the logical implication that the Romans, by mandate, only spoke Greek. “The Chosen” even had Jesus speaking to some travelers in Egyptian; when questioned about that, He merely replied that He spent some time in Egypt; we know that is true because the angel warned Joseph to flee Bethlehem and go to Egypt when Jesus was around two years old. Having been told that Hebrew was banned and “printed documents – scrolls were destroyed, you would think that this would clearly have a detrimental impact on education. If anyone should have had problems getting educated, it would have been Jesus, and yet “The Chosen” showed Jesus, on several occasions, in Synagogues, where, in one case, the scroll of Isaiah was read from.

Honestly, I am not sure what to believe.
Secondly, even if these scrolls were not banned, the expense of having a scroll copied would have been such a large expenditure that the only copies would have been kept in the Synagogues. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that impoverished communities, like Nazareth, might have been able to only afford one scroll; since Deuteronomy played a significant role in Jesus' conversations and responses, this could have been the primary option for a large, expensive purchase.

What does any of this have to do with Bible study?

Because our “Bible teachers” incessantly make foolish assertions that imply they all had individual Bibles, which borders on the impossible. If I could imply that the disciples would go and grab their Bibles, it would have been the Old Testament only, and they certainly would not have called it that. The “New Testament” was being written in their daily lives.

Holy is the Greek word hagios, and has meanings (according to Mounce) like this: dedicated. Luk_2:23; hallowed; used of things, τὰ ἅγια, the sanctuary; and of persons, saints, e.g., members of the first Christian communities; pure, righteous, ceremonially or morally; holy.

Spirit is the Greek word pneuma and has meanings (according to the NASEC) along the line of: wind, spirit: — breath (3), Spirit (239), spirit (103), spirits (32), spiritual (1), wind (1), winds (1).

The following information comes from a Website called “Hebrew Names for God – The Holy Spirit. It is subtitled, The Holy Spirit as revealed in the Brit Chadashah.

Their website can be found here by clicking Hebrew Names for God - Ruach HaKodesh.

Ruach Ha-Kodesh is the Holy Spirit.

The Hebrew version, found when I did a translation comparison, reads Ruach HaKodesh.

Note: HaKadosh is a substantive that means "The Holy One" (as in Ha-Kadosh baruch hu, "the Holy One, blessed be He").

The accent falls at the end: ha-ka-DOSH.

Ruach HaKadosh (Note the spelling) would mean "the spirit of the holy one" (as in a saint).

It is NOT used for the Holy Spirit... Ruach HaKo'desh means "the holy Spirit," just like har ha-ko'desh means "the holy mountain," admat ha-ko'desh means "the holy land," ir ha-ko'desh means "the holy city," and so on.

So, the virgin girl, Mary, has now been impregnated by the spirit of the holy one; and it is a term that was familiar to the Jewish community.

If it were not for the uneducated, willing to give the new family, with Joseph playing the role of step-dad, a dreadful time, the revulsion of how Joseph and Mary felt would not be known to us. Jesus intentionally placed Himself into the earth's atmosphere, where some would say He had no hope. And yet, the young Jesus, at an age just before He would be brought into manhood, stood His ground, exercising His apologetic with the scribes and Pharisees in the temple at Jerusalem.

It seems that there is a massive pause. Rev 11:1-4

 So, here we are, beginning to read Revelation chapter 11. It seems like just minutes ago that we read

Revelation 10:6-7 NASB and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, WHO CREATED HEAVEN AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE EARTH AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE SEA AND THE THINGS IN IT, that there will be delay no longer, (7) but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.

The transition between verses six and seven is the word but; that word could indicate anything coming immediately after this conversation or another future event. The usage of the term “delay” should eliminate any future events. The problem we escapees from the nations have is that we have the worst time separating ourselves from the church age we live, as we apply our mindset and current issues to the book of Revelation. If I think in terms of the immediate and overall context, the conversation is taking place during the time of the seven trumpets; and what they bring to the earth begins in chapter eight.

• Hail, mixed with fire and blood;

• A third of the sea becomes blood, and a third of the sea life dies.

• One-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.

• One-third of the water sources become undrinkable, and many people died.

• A third of the sun became darkened along with the moon.

I suspect, you get the picture, yet this is only how this “trumpet” phase begins. Any of these events could lead to devastating results. Having already, in our chronology, experienced the seal judgments, the bowl judgments, and now the trumpet judgments, you might think that those who are going to repent and come to the Lord have done so.

And yet, John is still under a directive to -

Revelation 10:11 CEV Then some voices said, "Keep on telling what will happen to the people of many nations, races, and languages, and also to kings."

Considering where John is when this vision occurs, how is he going to make verse 11 happen?

I suppose, depending on your age and how painful it is to get up and walk, you should rejoice. However, this thought process makes me think about the many ways you could keep on telling what will happen and to whom, and writing could be one of them.

On that note, what is the next thing that John does?

He writes out what he saw and heard, with minor exceptions – like the information he was commanded NOT to share. Yet almost two thousand years later, someone like me is still writing about understanding the Revelation.

Now we have moved into chapter eleven, and it seems that there is a monumental interruption. I say this because, even though “there will be no more delays,” and yet the seventh trumpet does not come until Revelation 11:15. At this point, we need to understand WHY God inserted this coming information about measuring the temple and the two witnesses. These two witnesses are a mystery to most but vital to Israel's repentance. Remember context, and try to think like a Jew.

Page one.

Revelation 11:1-4 CJB I was given a measuring rod like a stick and told, "Get up, and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count how many people are worshiping there! (2) But the court outside the Temple, leave that out; don't measure it; because it has been given to the Goyim (Gentiles,) and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months. (3) "Also I will give power to my two witnesses; and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth." (4) These are the two olive trees and the two menorahs standing before the Lord of the earth.

At the time of this vision was there a temple?

No, it had been destroyed in 70 A.D., and the Bible Knowledge Commentary tells us that “Most evangelical scholars affirm that Revelation was written in a.d. 95 or 96. This is based on accounts of the early church fathers that the Apostle John had been exiled on Patmos Island during the reign of Domitian who died in a.d. 96. John was then allowed to return to Ephesus.”

John, was well aware that the temple was gone, and would not be thinking in terms of Solomon's nor Herod's temple so those would not apply to Revelation 11:1,2. But a future temple, in the millennial kingdom, would, and he had learned of that temple from Ezekiel chapters 40-42, 45.

Ezekiel had been taken captive into Babylon. Since the captivity was to last seventy years, the chances of Ezekiel seeing home again was slim to none. Under these circumstances, the Lord gives him a vision.

Ezekiel 40:1 CEV Twenty-five years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, and fourteen years after the Babylonians had captured Jerusalem, the LORD's power took control of me on the tenth day of the first month. The LORD showed me some visions in which I was carried to the top of a high mountain in Jerusalem. I looked to the south and saw what looked like a city full of buildings.

• “But don't measure the courtyard outside the temple building. Leave it out. It has been given to those people who don't know God, and they will trample all over the holy city for forty-two months.” Revelation 11:2.

The outer court was the only place women could go, and, it was where Jesus overthrew the tables of the money-changers and sellers of sacrificial animals.

In the previous post I showed you this passage.

Ezekiel 8:5-9 NASB Then He said to me, "Son of man, raise your eyes now toward the north." So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance. (6) And He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations." (7) Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. (8) He said to me, "Son of man, now dig through the wall." So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. (9) And He said to me, "Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here."

As far as God was concerned the courtyard was filled with abominations at the hands of the nations (ethnic groups). What then are abominations?

According to Webster's Dictionary: defilement, pollution - in a physical sense, or evil doctrines and practices - which are moral defilements, idols and idolatry, (all of which) are called abominations. So God is giving us, once again, a definition of why He has poured out His wrath upon Israel and the nations;

Page two.

in all of this He wishes to see repentance, but for many, it never comes. We have been using the term nations and gentiles quite freely, perhaps we need to go over how this word was perceived by the Jews. Nation and Gentiles were synonymous terms, however, the Greek term is ethnos. That should sound familiar as it is a base from which we get ethnicity. Sadly, ethnicity is wrapped up in racism, and everyone practices some form of racism. By Jewish standards, it referred to anyone outside of the Jewish religion. Since the time of Christ and the age of grace, “the nations” refers to anyone who is not in Christ. We, by the way, became a part of Christ's body of believers when we accepted Him and the life He gave for us. Nations then simply boils down to the haters outside of Christ.

Do you know that even within religions there are many haters?

We might assume the Gentiles would be the abomination, but no, it's aliens (I jest, sort of.) Look at what Jeremiah tells us.

Jeremiah 51:51 NASB We are ashamed because we have heard reproach; Disgrace has covered our faces, For aliens have entered The holy places of the LORD'S house.

Aliens seems to be a hot topic lately. Here it is the Hebrew word zur and means strangers, enemies, illegitimate, adulteress, and outsiders. Maybe it would help you understood if you consider that because Mary stood her ground and insisted that God was Jesus's Father, that Jesus was deemed to be a mumzer (an illegitimate child.) Do you think for a second that the tightly knit community believed Mary's story? If you never watched The Chosen, there is a scene when Jesus, and all the disciples, walked into a local synagogue. The priest was reading, with what seemed like a vile anger, Deuteronomy 23.

Deuteronomy 23:2 NASB "No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the LORD.

By this standard Jesus could not and should not have entered a Synagogue, nor be taught in the Rabbinical schools; and yet Jesus, at age 12, stood His ground with the learned men in the temple. Jesus birth, by all standards, should have made Jesus the alien because he was thought by most to be illegitimate. Fascinating, and yet He was well educated in the scriptures. Some would use the lame reasoning that He was God and therefore, had special understanding or privilege. The problem with that kind of thinking is that the majority of us only accept that He was God as head knowledge, and then, only because we have heard someone say it; and yet, many will fight with you if you say that Jesus had NO special privilege and had to be taught just as the pharisees were. There is a logical explanation for this but this is not the time or place.

Moving on with Revelation 11:3,4.

“Also I will give power to my two witnesses; and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth." (4) These are the two olive trees and the two menorahs standing before the Lord of the earth.”

I find the introduction of the two witnesses uncomfortable as I try to make them fit into MY scheme of things. (Yes, that's what we do, and because we are prone to do that, we have to force ourselves to pay attention to context and let scripture define scripture.)

How and why is any of this information that we see in Revelation 11:1-4 significant?

I hope this short dive into the potential chronological events associated with Revelation 11:1-4 that initiate the rapture and immediately after that might help.

Page three.

• The rapture of the church must be the first thing that happens, and then the antichrist comes on the scene. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Geneva “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a departing first, and then that man of sin be disclosed, even the son of perdition,” (I made it a bit more readable.) I used the Geneva bible because it was one of the first printed translations and they got it right. 

• The Revelation makes me believe that God's judgments begin shortly after the church is removed, and with the opening of the first seal (Revelation 6:1) we get the antichrist – the rider on the white horse. A common understanding is that a person scripture calls the antichrist, will make a peace treaty with many. It does not specify Israel and is foolish to think so. The Muslims will not listen to someone who is not a Muslim, and since the majority of players in this war are Muslims, well you do the math.

  Doesn't the fact that there is a call for peace imply that there will be another hellish war going on? Everything I see tells me that this war will be against Israel, and there is a great chance that the mosque that is on the temple mount will get destroyed.

• Moments after the removal of the church people will be trying to kill each other. Revelation 6:2,3, the second seal is broken and the rider on the red horse takes peace from the earth. Some might say, that this is nothing new, just look at the news. Yeah, I get that, but the escalation in the number of killings will be horrific.

• In the midst of all this, the temple in Jerusalem will have to be built, but something has to be done about that Mosque before that can happen. War may take care of that, or the firestorm that Ezekiel 38,39 speaks of. The temple will only function, as the Jews expect, for 1260 days - give or take, and then the abomination that Daniel informed us about will be set up, and the people will be forced to worship the image. There might be months in between the onslaughts, but who can say. Many think building the temple would be time-consuming, not really, for two reasons: First, they can use a temporary structure that can be put up overnight. Secondly, because the design and concrete walls are already made, they merely need to be bolted together. Everything is ready, including the high priest, a fairly young man named Rabbi Baruch Kahane. An article from August tells us about him.

  https://www.israel365news.com/74772/sanhedrin-appoints-high-priest-preparation-third-temple/

Ah, finally, the two witnesses.

• Let’s assume that the two witnesses have arrived from heaven at the same time as the construction of the temple. The two witnesses are only here for 1260 days; considering what they have come out of their mouths, they might help serve as force protection for the temple and those making sacrifices. Why say that? Because with their deaths, we have the false prophet shoved down our throats, and he acts similarly to these prophets of God; for example, the prophets stop the rain, and the false prophet turns it back on again. The false prophet also becomes the enforcer of Sharia law. It seems that the death of God's prophets enables the last half of the seven years to take place.

Page four.

While I would love to talk about these two witnesses briefly, the conversation about the two witnesses is a post in itself, and I will pass until the next post.

• As the third seal is opened, food becomes more scarce, and we all get hit with hyperinflation. So, if you can find any food, you won't be able to afford it. Revelation 6:5,6.

• “When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.” Revelation 6:7-8. How are these riders killing? Sword, famine, pestilence, and by beasts of the earth. Pestilence, according to The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, is defined as any sudden fatal epidemic. The Greek word is thánatos and means death. The question is, aren't we currently dealing with a so-called pandemic with a “deadly” Covid virus?

If you are reading along with me in your bibles, then you are aware that God is NOT scheduling these events on the calendar for our direct benefit. He does, however, have a calendar if we are paying attention, and we are deeply entrenched in His calendar right now.

Having spent my life in the church, I have seen everything, and not all of it was good. Several “teachers” have tried to come up with chronological views. One resource on my computer is Rev. Clarence Larkin's Book of Charts. If this was supposed to make sense and be helpful to me, then why can I NOT grasp most of what I see there?

I am not so unlike you; I want to understand and clearly explain what I see there. Having been attacked by a pastor who said, no one understands the Revelation, I have taken the position that says, I do; and if I don't, then I will have to rely on doing my homework and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to come up with an answer. (By the way, I do not have to answers immediately and will allow myself time to come up with one.) Study your bibles and lean on the Holy Spirit. Don’t allow someone else to tell you what it means; most of the time, what they are saying is garbage. After several weeks of explaining the Revelation, one such pastor merely noted that the twelve elders were the church. He did not explain why; trust me, it needed an explanation; not just because I say so, but because there is little to define how or why the twelve are the church. Oh, it’s there in scripture, and it took Pastor John MacArthur to explain it, and I can hardly stand the man because he is so mean.

We, the church, are on the edge of eternity right now. Those who are not part of the church are going to have the worst time possible. Just the little bit that I have pointed out here should make that plain.

Put your faith in Jesus Christ. He died for your sins and rose again so that you might have a life with the Father. None of this is automatic and asks that you put your faith in Him. If you do that, you will be His forever, and you will live in His peaceful kingdom.