Friday, July 25, 2014,
6:00 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put the song in mind, “To Be Like Him.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Jeremiah 30 (NIV).
A Time of Trouble
This
is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “This is what the Lord, the
God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. The
days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and
Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors
to possess,’ says the Lord.”
These
are the words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah: “This is what the
Lord says:
“’…How
awful that day will be!
No other will be like it.
It
will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
but he will be saved out of it.
“‘In
that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty,
‘I will break the yoke off their necks
and
will tear off their bonds;
no longer will foreigners enslave them.
Instead,
they will serve the Lord their God
and David their king,
whom I will raise up for them.
“‘So
do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;
do not be dismayed, Israel,’
declares
the Lord.
‘I
will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their
exile.
Jacob
will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid.
I
am with you and will save you,’
declares the Lord.
‘Though
I completely destroy all the nations
among which I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I
will discipline you but only in due measure;
I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’
~ vv. 1-11
It appears, from historical accounts, that this prophecy was
at least partially fulfilled somewhere between 609 BC and 539 BC. The
Israelites were taken captive by King Neb of Babylon as a judgment of God upon
them, and they remained in captivity for a period of 70 years. At the end of that
time, Cyrus conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem. The
city was restored and the second temple was built (the temple rebuilt).
From what I can gather, and from what I have read in Isaiah
and Jeremiah, it appears to me, and I am not alone in this thought, that the 70
years of captivity was a prefiguring of the 7 years of tribulation, and Cyrus
was a prefiguring of Christ, who is “David,” our king. He will return for his
people, will judge those he allowed to judge us, and he will restore the land
to us in his millennial kingdom, at which time we will rule and will reign with
him.
And, yet, I see another 70 years present here, and another
Babylon of our day and time which I believe is spoken about in the book of
Revelation. I believe Mystery Babylon, the Great Prostitute, is the U.S.
government and their allies in the U.N. (+ the institutional church of the west,
which is in bed with the government). When WWII ended in 1945, the U.S. rose to
become the world’s super power. Next year may mark the 70th anniversary
of their superpower status, though I am making NO predictions here whatsoever.
The statistics vary, depending upon the source, but it would
appear that the U.S. has established control over perhaps as many as 200
countries worldwide and that we have military deployments in more than 150
countries. Depending upon the source, we may have as many as up to 1,000 U.S.
military bases outside of our own country worldwide. And, we are 70% of the
NATO forces in Afghanistan alone. Our nation (plus their allies) creates
situations (false flag operations) so that they can go in to other countries to
take them over. We have been doing this a very long time. We are the world
terrorists. First we kick the squirrels out of their nest, and then we go in to
“save” them – NOT! We go in as conquerors bent on conquest. We kill, pillage,
rape and destroy in order to gain control.
The things talked about in Revelation concerning the
antichrist and concerning the conquering of peoples and nations and the
persecution and murdering of the saints of Almighty God are happening now, and
they are happening at the hands of the U.S. government, under the orders of the
Elite and powerful of the world, and in cooperation with the U.S.’s allies,
including the nation of Israel. So, are we already in the period of time known
as the tribulation? I don’t know. And, I also don’t know if the seven years are
a literal seven years or not, either. Maybe these are the birth pains. If they
are, they are pretty bad in some parts of the world. “Cries of fear are heard –
terror, not peace.”
Another thing that occurs to me here, with regard to the
fulfillment of this passage in the end of time, is that Israel is now the
church, because the physical nation of Israel is no longer God’s people, and
the city of Jerusalem is now of Hagar, the slave woman. Only the children of
promise, i.e. the true Body of Christ, the church, are God’s chosen people, so
only we can be in adultery against our Lord. The Jews, if they do not know
Jesus, are the same as the Gentiles who do not know Jesus. They need to be
saved, but they are not God’s people being judged for their idolatry and
spiritual adultery. This can only apply to the adulterous church of the last
days.
Future Restoration
“This
is what the Lord says:
“‘I
will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents
and have compassion on his dwellings;
the
city will be rebuilt on her ruins,
and the palace will stand in its proper
place.
From
them will come songs of thanksgiving
and the sound of rejoicing.
I
will add to their numbers,
and they will not be decreased;
I
will bring them honor,
and they will not be disdained.
Their
children will be as in days of old,
and their community will be established
before me;
I will punish all who oppress them.
Their
leader will be one of their own;
their ruler will arise from among them.
I
will bring him near and he will come close to me—
for who is he who will devote himself
to be close to me?’
declares
the Lord.
“‘So
you will be my people,
and I
will be your God.’”
See,
the storm of the Lord
will burst out in wrath,
a
driving wind swirling down
on the heads of the wicked.
The
fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he fully accomplishes
the purposes of his heart.
In
days to come
you will understand this. ~ vv. 18-24
We read in Revelation 2-3 concerning warnings to the church which
is living in spiritual adultery and idolatry that they must repent of their
wickedness or face the judgment of God. I believe God will judge his adulterous
church, and perhaps this has already begun, yet not to destroy her, but to save
her out of slavery to those who have taken her captive to do their will, and/or
from those who have deceived her, and to whom or to which she is now giving her
allegiance and devotion. He will judge her in order to revive her and to bring
her back into proper fellowship with him. Then he will come to deliver her from
this earth, and she will reign and will rule with him on the earth during his
millennial kingdom reign. That is when she will truly experience peace and
security, and no one will make her afraid. Amen!
So, when we think of Jerusalem and the temple being restored
and rebuilt at the end of days, we have to interpret this in light of the cross
of Christ. Since Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, and was
resurrected, only those who have believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior
are the people of God; the children of promise. We are the heavenly Jerusalem,
the City of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit in whom Christ dwells by his
Spirit. So it is us who will be restored and rebuilt, i.e. the church will be
revived and we will become what God intended us to be all along. Amen! No
longer will the church be in captivity to those who now deceive her and who
wield power over her, for God will wake her in judgment so that her eyes are
opened and she will see what she is now blinded to. Amen!
When Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, he
crucified our sins with him, and through his resurrection he conquered hell,
Satan, death and sin. Through faith in him, we can be delivered from the
ultimate penalty of sin – eternal damnation – and from slavery to sin, and we
can be set free to love, honor, worship, and obey our Lord Jesus, and to walk
in his ways the rest of our lives, in the power and working of the Spirit
within us. That is the captivity that Jesus came to deliver us out of. Our
relationship with God is then restored to what it was before the fall of man in
the Garden. And, we now have the hope of eternal life with God in heaven. [See:
Ro. 6-8; 2 Co. 5:15; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; & 1 Jn. 1-5.]
So, in some ways, we have been in a period of tribulation
ever since the church had its beginnings, and Jesus’ return for us will be our
deliverance. Our physical restoration will be during the millennial kingdom
reign of Christ, during which time we will rule and will reign with him on the
earth. Oh, how I look forward to the day I get to be with him forever!
To Be Like Him /
An Original Work
March 16, 2014 / Based
off Scripture
Crucified you are with
Jesus.
To be like Him, oh,
you’ll be,
Because He died at
Calv’ry,
So from sin you’d be
free.
Oh, what joy He brings
into your life,
Giving life with Him
endlessly.
Oh, what plans He has
for your life.
Share the gospel
faithfully.
Show the people He
loves them.
Now His witness you’ll
be.
Tell the world of sin
about Jesus,
How He died for them
on a tree.
Purifying hearts, He
saves them,
Who believe on Christ,
God’s Son.
Turning now from their
idols,
New lives they have
begun.
Jesus saves from sin;
we’re forgiven.
Over sin, the vict’ry
He won!
When He comes again to
take us
To be with Him
evermore,
There will be no more
crying.
Gladness will be in
store.
Heavens joys will now
overtake us:
We’ll be with our Lord
evermore.
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