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On August 16, 2024 By In Culture, Politics

How to Make America Christian Again (A Call to Christians to Become Leaders)

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. – Exodus 20:12

THE IMPORTANCE OF A CULTURE OF HONOR

The first commandment in the Decalogue that comes with a promise is to honor your father and mother. This promise, originally given to the Old Testament Israelites, assured them that if they adhered to this command, their days would be prolonged in the land the Lord had given them. While this was specifically spoken to the Israelites regarding their covenant inheritance, the principle carries a broader spiritual truth: any society that upholds a culture of honor, rooted in God’s law, will generally experience stability and longevity.

This principle is as true today as it was in ancient times. A nation cannot thrive without a culture of honor. When children are incentivized to disobey their parents, societal hierarchy begins to disintegrate, leading to moral chaos, political instability, and geopolitical vulnerability. We are witnessing the results of this breakdown in our own nation, where generations of children have not been taught to honor their parents, elders, or any authority. The resulting compromise of the family structure has sent adverse ripples through education, vocation, military, government, and every other facet of society. We are raising a generation of coddled, ego-sensitive narcissists who cannot receive orders, follow commands, or defend any cause greater than themselves. God help us in the days ahead.

THE NEED FOR A CULTURE OF HONOR

As daunting as this may seem, Christians can and must be part of the solution. But that solution goes beyond merely pulling our children out of public schools, homesteading, and drinking raw milk. The Westminster Larger Catechism rightly deduces that the command to “honor your father and mother” extends to all rightful and lawful authorities that God has placed in our lives. Yes, children must obey their parents, but adults must also honor their bosses, congregants must honor pastors, and citizens must honor governors. A culture of honor and respect for authority must permeate every level of society, for when it does, it preserves a nation and lengthens its lifespan. Conversely, when such a culture is lost, societal division and decay are inevitable.

If we desire to see American society redeemed and transformed into a Christian nation once more, we must “build it,” like Ray Kinsella, and pray that the spirit of honor “will come.”

THE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM

To achieve this, we must embrace the mantle of leadership not only within our churches but also in the broader culture. We must move beyond the gnostic tendencies that have crept into Christendom, which suggest our only work is in the spiritual realm. Christians must re-engage with the public square, reclaim leadership in the public sector, and once again become thought leaders, inventors, CEOs, and politicians. While this calling is not for every Christian, it is a necessary pursuit for some.

Consider the absurdity of retreating from culture and expecting it not to decay. How can we assume that unregenerate men will take up the reins we have abandoned and provide Christocentric leadership that heals our land? Expecting the darkness to act as if it had the light is as foolish as waiting for a blind man to paint the next Mona Lisa. If we desire true transformation in our land, we cannot leave the leadership of this world to the morally blind, spiritually deaf, and ethically mute.

As Christians have retreated from institutions of leadership, the vacuum has been filled by sinful men. Here are a few examples: As we abandoned politics, the presidency has been handed over to greedy, narcissistic men leading our country into disaster. As we left the halls of power, they were occupied by bought-and-paid-for degenerates who vote according to who offers the biggest payday rather than according to the Word of God. The courts have become corrupted by men of compromise, college campuses have been overrun by irrational materialists, and corporate boardrooms are now occupied by spineless ideologues who promote insanity, like bikinis with a penis pocket. Most critically, as we have abandoned leadership in the home to government-run schools, babysitters, and daycares, our nation’s moral fabric has rotted in just a few generations, leaving us on moral life support.

THE SOLUTION TO A NATION IN CRISIS

But we are not without hope. If we simply change our level of involvement, we can begin to see improvement. Instead of fleeing from leadership, Christians should embrace it. Why? Because while common grace enables even non-believers to contribute to societal good, Christians, uniquely equipped by the Holy Spirit and guided by Scripture, bring a God-centered approach to leadership. When we step into the public square as Spirit-indwelled believers, we come as walking temples that house the presence of Almighty God. As we work hard, create excellent products, and demonstrate godly wisdom, we let the light of Christ shine in areas of life that have been devoid of a Gospel witness for far too long.

But what about those Christians who pursue leadership for selfish gain? They must repent and act like Christians! The problem of a few undisciplined Christians should not deter us from the discipline of leadership. On the contrary, we should strive all the more to become godly and righteous leaders, so the light of Christ shines brightly at the top of companies, counties, and countries, providing the world with a clear picture of Jesus rather than the caricatures they often receive.

The Westminster Larger Catechism offers a paradigm for how this can happen, stating: “Superiors are… to work inferiors to a greater willingness and cheerfulness in performing their duties to their superiors, as to their parents.”

When we speak of “superiors,” we refer to anyone in a position of authority or leadership. “Inferiors” are those in a position of following, including children under parents, employees under employers, congregants under church leaders, and, within the family, wives under husbands. It is not only the responsibility of the child to obey the parent but also the responsibility of the parent to exercise holy and righteous leadership. It is not only for the employee to honor his boss but for the company president to rule with integrity and Christ-like morality. Only Christians, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can grow into this kind of leadership, and such leadership is desperately needed in our time.

The catechism assumes that Christians will step into leadership roles. Since there will always be superiors guiding inferiors, the goal of Christian maturity is to grow out of childlike ways and into Christian leadership. Out of love for Christ and to the glory of God, we are called to strive for leadership positions in the world, instructing, guiding, and nurturing those who do not know Him, thereby creating a culture where even pagans will thrive. If we desire a godly culture, we must build it, teach it, and disciple it.

This responsibility goes beyond mere instruction to imparting the knowledge of God through our verbal witness and Christ-like living. We are the ones who get the privilege of modeling Christ to those who have never seen Him and glorifying God in front of those who do not perceive Him. Just as parents teach their children to navigate life’s challenges, preparing them to live according to a prescribed manner, Christians must guide those under their charge—both Christian and pagan—to fulfill their roles and responsibilities in a way that honors God. We must create a culture where even atheists recoil at the thought of chemically roasting an infant in the womb, where the influence of the Church is so pervasive that when homosexuality is abolished and outlawed, unbelievers will cheer.

BUILDING A GODLY CULTURE

How can this be done? The Westminster Larger Catechism provides at least two starting points:

1. Expressing Love and Tenderness

Leadership, at its core, is not about authority or titles but about influence shaped by Christlike character. True leaders model the love and tenderness of Christ, demonstrating sincere care for the well-being of others. This is not merely passive kindness but active engagement with the needs, struggles, and burdens of those around us. As Christians, we are uniquely equipped to reflect the compassionate heart of our Heavenly Father, who is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness” (Psalm 103:8). By embodying these qualities, we do more than improve individual lives—we begin the profound work of rebuilding a culture fragmented by godless ideologies. Leadership rooted in Christ stands in stark contrast to the cold, utilitarian approaches that have left society hollow. Through such leadership, we can restore the very fabric of our communities and ultimately guide our culture back to a foundation that honors God.

2. Inspiring Willingness and Cheerfulness

When leaders express love and tenderness, they do more than fulfill their duties—they inspire others to rise to the occasion with willing and cheerful hearts. Godly leadership creates an environment where people are motivated not by fear or obligation but by a shared sense of purpose and joy. In every sphere—whether in the home, workplace, or church—leaders who are genuinely invested in those they lead cultivate a culture of enthusiasm, dedication, and excellence. This isn’t about merely getting tasks done; it’s about inspiring others to embrace their roles with a sense of calling and joy. When Christians lead in this way, we not only fulfill our own responsibilities but also empower others to fulfill theirs in a manner that glorifies God. This kind of leadership is transformative, creating communities where Christ is not only seen but experienced, leading to a broader cultural renewal that touches even the hearts of unbelievers. While this doesn’t mean salvation for them, it does mean that unbelievers will recognize that God is at work among His people, a concept deeply rooted in Scripture (1 Peter 2:12).

But this transformative leadership is not something we can merely admire from a distance—it demands action, reflection, and, where necessary, repentance. If we are to lead as Christ did, we must first examine our hearts and lives to ensure we live up to this high calling.

A CALL TO REPENTANCE

As we stand on the brink of a culture in desperate need of godly leadership, we must first look inward and ask: Are we embodying the leadership qualities Christ has called us to? Have we truly embraced our leadership roles, or have we allowed fear, complacency, or worldly distractions to sideline us? The time for passive Christianity is over; now is the moment for action, commitment, and—where necessary—repentance.

In the Workplace: Have you been content with mediocrity, avoiding leadership roles to escape responsibility? By shying away from these opportunities, you miss the chance to shine for Christ in places that desperately need to see Him. Imagine the impact if you stepped up, leading with integrity, compassion, and a commitment to righteousness. Your leadership could transform your workplace into a beacon of Christian values.

In Public Office: Have you been silent when your voice was needed? Our nation desperately needs leaders who will govern with justice, mercy, and truth. If you have avoided the political sphere out of fear or a sense of inadequacy, consider this a call to step forward. We need Christians in public office who will uphold godly principles and advocate for the well-being of all.

In the Home: Parents, what culture are you cultivating within your family? Are you actively teaching your children to honor God and respect authority, or have worldly influences crept in? Your home is the first place where godly leadership must be exercised. If you have neglected this responsibility, it is time to repent and recommit to leading your family in a way that reflects Christ’s authority.

In Marriage: Husbands and wives, does your marriage embody the leadership of Christ and the submission of His Church? Have you honored your spouse with love, respect, and selflessness, or have selfishness and strife taken root? Strong marriages are the foundation of strong families and communities. If your marriage has fallen short, seek God’s forgiveness and strive to model Christ in your relationship.

In Discipleship: Finally, are you taking the call to disciple others seriously? Have you invested in the spiritual growth of those around you, or have you focused solely on your walk with Christ? Discipleship is not optional—it is a command. If you have neglected this vital aspect of Christian leadership, it is time to change. Step into the role of mentor, guide, and spiritual father or mother to those who need it.

Now is the time to act. God has placed each of us in positions of influence, no matter how small they may seem, to lead and to shine His light in a dark world, to live out His plans and priorities, and to bring His truth into a world of lies. We all get to play a part, not by hiding, but by leading.

Let us repent where we have fallen short of this. Let us seek God’s forgiveness and strength to fulfill our calling, living publicly for Him with renewed vigor and determination. Brothers and sisters, embrace the mantle of leadership that God has placed upon you, and let us work together to rebuild this culture, God willing, so that it will honor Him in every sector and sphere.

May the Lord bless us with the wisdom, courage, and grace to lead well, to His glory, and to the advancement of His Kingdom. Amen.

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"Homosexuality, lesbianism, and transgenderism violate the Sixth Commandment by killing future generations through fruitless unions and mutilating surgeries. These practices reject God's design for procreation, promoting a culture of death and barrenness instead of life and godliness."

On June 4, 2024 By In Culture, Sexuality

The LGBTQ Cult And The 6th Commandment

THE BIBLICAL COMMAND FOR LIFE

At the foot of Mt. Sinai, God handed down to Moses, on two stone tablets, the Ten Commandments, which would form the basis of all Biblical law and societal ethics from that point forward. The Sixth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” stands as an unambiguous defense of life. It condemns murder, yes and amen, but its scope extends far beyond the apparent sins like serial killing and suicide bombing. It also denounces any kind of action that undermines the sanctity of human life or promotes a culture of death, including behaviors and ideologies that stifle the production of future generations in the womb. If the womb of a woman was to be fruitful and multiply with her husband, any action that robs fruit from the womb of a woman is akin to a kind of killing. Not just killing the actual children of her womb, which is undoubtedly the case in abortion. But also in destroying the potential fruit from her womb, engaging in behaviors that shrivel and prevent her from bringing new life into the world, which today are legion.

For instance, homosexuality, lesbianism, and transgenderism are more than mere deviations from Biblical sexual ethics; they are direct violations of the Sixth Commandment. These practices, under the guise of love and identity, tragically result in the killing of future generations by engaging in fruitless sexual unions and surgeries that mutilate the body God has fearfully and wonderfully made.

MURDERING FROM BARREN UNIONS

When two men or two women come together, their union is intrinsically sterile. This sterility is not only biological but profoundly spiritual, as it defies God’s design for human sexuality. In Genesis, God commands humanity to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Homosexuality and lesbianism reject this divine mandate, choosing instead a barren path of emptiness and void. Every act of homosexual or lesbian sex is a deliberate choice against the potential life that heterosexual unions naturally produce. It is a silent yet profound killing of the unborn, future generations, legacy, and a denying of the very possibility of future life to come from bodies committed to death. Homosexuality is not only about the unholy use and practice of your genitals, it is the implementation of pure unadulterated selfishness, to rob the future of life to enjoy a commitment in the present to death.

MURDERING IN MULTILATED SELFISHNESS

Transgenderism, with its invasive surgeries and hormone treatments, takes this violation a step further. It not only prevents the natural procreation process but also destroys the God-given body, crafted with a specific purpose. These actions are the epitome of societal selfishness, where personal desires are placed above the natural law and the greater good of humanity. The surgeries that render a person infertile or the hormonal treatments that disrupt natural biological processes are acts of violence against God’s creation, ensuring that no future generations can come forth from such mutilated bodies.

A GENERATION ADDICTED TO DEATH

The LGBTQ movement’s refusal to populate society with sexually healthy and moral citizens, as commanded by Scripture, is one the greatest act of societal selfishness imaginable. Rather than embracing the blessing of children, the movement celebrates death, and only stays alive by perverting the offspring of the heterosexual unions they detest and reject. They rely on the very system they abhor to continue propagating their ideology, like a parasite who cannot live without the life of the host, their dependence on the fruit of our wombs highlights the utter emptiness of their lifestyle.

By refusing to bring forth life, they not only violate the Sixth Commandment but also contribute to a culture of death, where the value of life is diminished, and the sanctity of procreation is discarded. They perpetuate a legacy not of life and godliness but of barrenness, all-out rebellion against God’s design, and stand ready to receive the awful judgment that God has been patiently and mercifully withholding.

A CALL TOWARD THE REVIVAL OF LIFE

As Christians, we must be people who stand for life. Life in the womb, life that comes from covenant marriages, and we must stand against anything that stands in the way of that. From the policies that promote death written by politicians who are the grandchildren of eugenicists to defending the Sixth Commandment in all its fullness, we must advocate for the sanctity of life in every form, from the womb to natural death, and reject any ideology or practice that undermines this sacred principle. Our society’s future depends on our willingness to populate it with godly, moral people and to speak the truth against the culture of death.

As the culture around us swims in its own filth, reveling in death, let us be places where vibrant living and the production of life occur. And may our joy and jubilant love for God and His creation become so infectious that all who are addicted to death will come home to the God of life, embracing life in Christ, repenting of deathlike living, and helping us kill the culture of death forever.

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On May 2, 2024 By In Postmillenialism

The War For The Soul of the World

INTRODUCTION

From the most humble of beginnings, Jesus launched an unstoppable invasion of Satan’s realm that would shake the foundations of the world and wrestle back control from the prince and power of the air. With just twelve unlikely men, this peasant Rabbi from Nazareth set in motion a spiritual tsunami sweeping over Jerusalem, flooding through Judea and Samaria, and eventually inundating the entire Roman empire – toppling history’s greatest superpower from within.

What started as a fringe rabble of outcasts and nobodies exploded into a global force that now totals over 2.5 billion worshipers, with no signs of slowing. This was no accident in human history. This is not the story of a band of losers who bumble along in a world getting increasingly rotten until the Savior tractor beams us back home to the mothership. This was always the Creator’s intent – that His image-bearing people would multiply and fill the Earth with true worshipers who willingly obey His reign (Genesis 1:28). Though sin brought devastation and ruin, Jesus, the greater Adam, has restored humanity to her purpose. He has forgiven us of our sins and re-invested us with our original Adamic authority to advance God’s Kingdom to all peoples and places, leading the Church to bring God’s blessings to every family and ethnicity on Earth (Genesis 12:1-3). Just as Jacob prophesied, the nations will one day rally under Judah’s scepter of righteousness, rendering complete allegiance to Shiloh, who is Christ the King (Genesis 49:10). From that tiniest mustard seed, a revolution was unleashed that cannot be stopped until it has brought the entire world under the shade of its branches. This is the kind of unstoppable Kingdom that Jesus is building.

Beyond the book of Genesis, Exodus, the story of Israel, the hymns of Israel, the collapse of the Israelite and Judea empires, the prophetic promises, and every line of the Old Testament points to this kind of Kingdom that is coming. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the epistles of Paul and Peter, and the history of the Church reported to us by Luke in Acts all look forward to a Kingdom that will take over the world like Georgia Kudzu. 

In this article, I want to show how this Kingdom landed on the shores of Earth like the Americans upon the beaches of Normandy. I will show how Jesus eradicated the fiercest enemy of His Kingdom, which are the devil and His demons, along with the unlikely Judean loyalists who aligned themselves with his unholy vision. And, in conclusion, I will attempt to demonstrate from the four Gospels how this Kingdom that put down its first century enemies will continue to build and grow throughout all centuries until there is nothing left for it to conquer. 

PHASE 1: THE ARRIVAL OF THE KINGDOM

For centuries, the prophets strained to glimpse through the veil, longing for the day when Heaven’s invading force would storm the sin-stained beaches of this embattled world. Isaiah foretold a light shattering the darkness (Isaiah 9:2), a Son given who would bear endless peace upon His shoulders (Isaiah 9:6-7). The Prophet Malachi proclaimed the Lord was coming, but who could endure the day of His arrival (Malachi 3:1-2)?

At last, with the coming of Christ, the longships of God’s Kingdom were sighted on the horizon. As the prophesied Dayspring from on high (Luke 1:78), Jesus marched through the dusty paths of Palestine, sounding the trumpet blasts that the long-awaited invasion was now imminent – “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” (Mark 1:15) John the Baptist’s voice echoed from the wilderness – prepare, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near (Matthew 3:2)!

This was no temporary skirmish but the beginning of an unstoppable, eternal occupation. As the angel decreed, Christ’s Kingdom would know no end, unlike the fragile, fading dynasties of mere earthly kings (Luke 1:33). The joyous shouts of the people greeted the Messiah’s advent into Jerusalem – “Blessed is the coming Kingdom of our father David!” (Mark 11:10) They recognized in this humble rabbi the Conquering King who would reestablish David’s throne forever.

Jesus was the D-Day of the ages, the point-man of Heaven’s liberating army who had burst upon the world’s beaches to re-subjugate the planet to its rightful Ruler. His very presence revealed that the ancient prophecies had found their fulfillment – the Kingdom Moses foretold was no longer a vision but a tangible reality unfolding before their eyes (Luke 10:9). This was no political coup achieved through human strength, but an unstoppable invasion from the realm of untainted holiness and omnipotent authority (John 18:36).

As Christ’s feet hit the embattled shores, every ritual, tradition, and earthly pretension was exposed as a hollow symbol that must now submit before the unveiled reality. He was the true Temple, the sacrifice to end all sacrifices, the Feast of Heaven’s own deliverance. The old order lay obsolete before this invading Sovereign who had come to pitch His beachhead into the human heart and raise His flag of willing allegiance over all people and nations.

This spearheaded an advancing occupation – not to timidly coexist alongside the capitals of sin and death but to utterly displace them. What began as a small force would grow into an ever-increasing onslaught until the entirety of enemy territory was liberated and reclaimed for God’s eternal dominion (Mark 4:30-32). This mustard seed of a regiment would become an overwhelming surge, unfurling its banner of freedom outward until filling the whole Earth. 

Satan’s blitzkrieg of deception and oppression had now met its match in the infinite reserves of the invading Kingdom. The beachhead had been secured. The Kingdom had landed on Earth’s bloodied shores. From its foothold in the Galilean hills, this invasion would now relentlessly push its liberating march into every sphere of human existence until the entire global theater fell in resignation before the undisputed reign of God. The remaining resistance pockets of darkness could either concede and be emancipated into restoration or face the decisive overthrow the prophets foretold. This invading Kingdom would not cease its march until all enemies, foreign and domestic, were expelled and the Earth was filled with the glory of Christ the King.

PHASE 2: THE BATTLE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL

As Jesus landed upon the shores of this fallen world, being born of a virgin, He was not greeted with celebratory fanfare. In His earliest years, Satan tried to kill him through the mentally depraved puppet king named Herod, and this was just the beginning of the war efforts from hell that would be leveled on Christ. Satan and his demonic forces recognized the dire threat Jesus posed. They knew Jesus had not come to Earth to affirm their right to rule. He had come to dispel the spiritual squatters who had been living in God’s world, ruining His good Earth for far too long, which means His arrival signaled their demise. This is why Satan and the demons come out in a full-on military assault on Jesus all throughout the Gospels. This was their last stand before surrendering the world back into the hands of Christ (Matthew 28:18).

From the wilderness, where the serpent once slithered into the garden and brought deception to the line of men, Satan comes out to meet his Creator in the earliest part of Jesus’ ministry. After baptism and 40 days of fasting, Jesus was in a state of profound physical vulnerability when the enemy struck like the Luftwaffe over Poland. Wielding his age-old weapons of temptation and lies, Satan hurled his fiery darts upon our Lord, hoping to corrupt Him in the same way he had corrupted Adam. Yet, as we know, Christ deflected every assault and succeeded where Adam had failed.

With each repelled advance, the path was cleared for Jesus to launch an overwhelming counteroffensive on the powers of hell. Armed not with swords but with the word of God as His blade, the Lord engaged hellish minions all throughout Judea and Galilee.

Like surgical drone strikes levied against strategic targets, Christ precisely aimed His ministry at the forces of hell to liberate those held captive by unclean spirits. In the Capernaum synagogue, a man possessed by a demon cried out at the sight of Jesus, sensing his doom had arrived. With a single authoritative command from the Lord’s lips, the evil Spirit was silenced and expelled, powerless to disobey. Later in the Gerasene region, Jesus encountered a man invaded by a horde of demonic spirits who called themselves “Legion.” These foul entities pleaded not to be cast into the abyss. Yet with a single word from Christ, they were driven howling from their human host into a herd of pigs that then drowned themselves in the sea.

So thorough was this rout of demonic forces that the war-torn people of Galilee flooded to Jesus, bringing “all who were oppressed by the devil” to be liberated by Him. Like napalm torching an enemy-infested forest, the Lord’s commands incinerated the stranglehold the enemy had on the region, restoring those in captivity to freedom. Even the disciples were trained by Jesus to make war with the devils, exercising them and bringing deliverance to the captives, which became a hallmark sign that Jesus had shared His authority with them.

The final conquest, however, was reserved for Jesus alone. He dealt the crippling blow to Satan’s operations by binding “the strong man” through His sacrificial death. Rising triumphant over sin and death’s tyranny, Christ forever stripped the dark powers of their weapons, parading them as spoils of war in His wake as the conquering King.

The aftermath of this Heaven-sent D-Day left liberated multitudes in its wake, stunned casualties of divine grace, who encountered a love much more potent than any of their chains of oppression. In those days, Jesus launched much more than a few pop shots and guerilla skirmishes, but a full-on invasion. He came to the capital of Satanic oppression, where the enemy had centralized His power, and He threw down their strongholds and stranglehold over the people of God once and for all. That work began in Judah and Galilee; hell’s gates are still falling down as we faithful advance His Kingdom today. 

PHASE 3: JUDGMENT POURED OUT ON JUDAH

While Jesus was engaged in warfare against the spiritual forces of wickedness, it became increasingly clear that the first-century Jewish people were not allies of God’s Kingdom. At every turn, they opposed Jesus, leading the Savior to expose them bluntly, declaring that they were not true descendants of Abraham but rather children of Satan who loved darkness and whose deeds were evil (John 8:44, John 3:19). This opposition is why Jesus also trained His sights on them in the spiritual battle.

In the incarnation, the long-awaited invasion of God’s Kingdom was sighted on the horizon, and the powers of hell were not its only target. As the Lord Himself marched through the dusty paths of Palestine, entering town after town like Joshua conquering Canaan, He sounded the trumpet blast that the long-prophesied Kingdom of God had finally arrived, proclaiming, “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” (Mark 1:15). For those willing to repent and turn to Jesus, this was glorious news of liberation. But for those who remained stubbornly opposed to Him and His Kingdom, they would be overwhelmed by the fury of its triumphant advance.

This was not merely a peaceful Kingdom endeavor but the outbreak of a spiritual war. For centuries, Israel had been God’s strategic outpost on Earth, the staging ground where His Kingdom could grow strong to eventually push outward in all directions. However, due to repeated disobedience, they allowed foreign oppression and influence to overrun the holy land. By the New Testament era, malign spiritual forces had been welcomed in through disobedience, revealing the destructive spiritual landscape the Jewish leaders had created. Their calling was to be a conduit of God’s blessing to all peoples, yet they had summoned His curses by breaking the covenant with Him.

In their blindness, the Jewish people obstructed and rejected their only hope of rescue, continually working to subvert Jesus’ mission at every turn. As His Kingdom invasion advanced, Jesus encountered the fiercest resistance from His own covenant people. The religious leaders arose as hostile insurgents – a militia in the service of hell itself – implacably opposing the Messiah. Like the Nazis seeking to exterminate God’s purposes in the 20th century, these hardened Jewish sects became entrenched pockets of opposition dedicated to destroying the Deliverer they should have embraced.

Despite witnessing Christ’s miraculous credentials and supernatural wisdom, they stubbornly rejected His rightful authority to rule. Their rejection metastasized into treacherous plots to murder the Prince of Peace Himself. Arrogantly clinging to their narrow ethnic prejudices over God’s plan to redeem the nations, these Pharisees, Sadducees, and sectarians exposed their unfaithfulness, hardness of heart, and covenant betrayal. This comprehensive rejection of God’s purposes would soon break out against them as the catastrophic covenant curses warned by Moses in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 would be poured onto their own heads.

Along with this, the Temple they loved would be reduced to rubble, allowing the nations to come to Christ, the true Temple, where all the world would know and worship God. The priesthood would be abrogated as a new and eternal priesthood was installed in Christ. The feasts would become null and void as Jesus is our supper and sabbath rest. All of the trappings of that old covenant world would be replaced by Jesus, who refused to allow them to keep standing in competition with His New Covenant Kingdom. Many Jews would embrace this vision and rejoice that something better than the types and shadows had come. Others would be buried under the torrent of His war, white-knuckling their Old Covenant forms to the bitter end. 

This war and Jesus’ battle plan became astonishingly clear as His ministry neared its end, and He rode into the city that final time. As He approached on the back of a humble beast, the doomed city ironically shouted, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” (Mark 11:10). But this city, chosen to bear spiritual fruit for God, offered Him only leaves without substance (Matthew 21:8).

Confronted by this fruitless scene, Jesus wasted no time going to the fruitless Temple, doing the kinds of works the Temple should have been known for and cleansing it one last time before it would be destroyed forty years later (Matthew 21:12-17). 

The following day, in a symbolic act, He cursed a barren fig tree, foreshadowing the coming judgment on the fruitless city, its fruitless Temple, and the fruitless people (Matthew 21:18-22). In the same way, it would be chopped down and set on fire, and Jerusalem would soon undergo a chopping down and a fiery end at the hands of Rome. 

As Jesus arrived in the city that day, the Jewish leaders, who were threatened by Jesus’ authority, came out to meet Him for a spiritual firefight, demanding to know the source of His authority and power. In response to their challenge, the Lord lobbed a trio of grenade-like parables exposing their treachery and fate and promising that their Kingdom was about to be taken away from them and given to the Gentile nations. In the first parable, He likened them to a son who promised obedience to his Father but failed to deliver (Matthew 21:28-32). Next, Jesus depicted the Jewish leaders as wicked tenants entrusted with the Father’s vineyard (Matthew 21:33-46). But, when the owner sent two sets of servants to collect his share of the fruit, the tenants viciously attacked them, even killing the owner’s Son when he arrived on His Father’s behalf. Appalled by this story, the Jewish leaders unwittingly condemned themselves, saying that anyone who did such a thing deserved a wretched end. Jesus then revealed that the tenants in the story were them and that they were on the cusp of killing the Father’s Son and losing all rights to the vineyard. Jesus even explicitly tells them that the vineyard – the Kingdom of God – would be taken away from them and given to a nation producing godly fruit (Matthew 21:43), which Father always desired. After the Kingdom is taken away, Jesus tells them that they will be crushed and scattered like dust (Matthew 21:44), which is a phenomenon that has existed for the Jews for 20 centuries and counting.

In the final parable, a king prepared a wedding feast for his Son, but the first guests – representing Israel – refused to come (Matthew 22:1-14). Enraged by this insult, the King sent troops to burn the defiant people’s city – foreshadowing the coming destruction of Jerusalem by Roman armies as judgment for rejecting God’s ultimate invitation through Christ.

Some, especially those who like to think of Jesus as an overly emotive man/girl, may object that the severity of this is out of character for Christ or altogether unjust. But you must remember, Jesus came to bring a sword, and He is only repeating the same oracles of doom given by the prophets centuries before. In the face of their covenant God, their centuries-long chickens have come home to roost. The covenant nation had forfeited its calling by continually breaking the covenant despite God’s remarkable patience. As prophesied in Psalm 110, one of the most central aspects of Jesus’ ministry would be putting His enemies underneath HIs feet, and He is doing that to the nation that first rejected His rule on Earth, the first-century reprobate Jews. 

The escalating conflict between Jesus and the unbelieving Jewish leaders reached a boiling point as He finished that third parable. With the religious elite openly mocking His authority and challenging His claims, Jesus mercilessly embarrassed them before the watching masses by delivering a stinging set of condemnations upon them. In a blistering storm of judgment, Jesus assumed the mantle of an ancient Hebrew prophet, invoking the severest curses upon the impenitent Jewish nation, echoing the warnings from Moses in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26 in the covenant woes of Matthew 23.

One by one, He pronounced “woe” after “woe” upon the scribes, Pharisees, and the entire city that killed the prophets and now rejected the final Prophet who had come. Jesus recited the horrific covenant maledictions awaiting those who broke the covenant with the living God – which involved things like abject poverty, famine so severe it would drive women to cannibalize their own children, utter destruction raining from enemy armies, you get the point.

In fact, the first-century historian Josephus provides gruesome validation that these curses fell upon Judah under Rome’s attack on Jerusalem in 70 AD. In chilling detail, he records the famine so dire that it caused “the dreadful practice of mothers devouring their own children, and instances of even more relentless craving than this.” The covenant maledictions Jesus spoke came to appalling reality within a single generation of Him telling them. 

With finality, the Lord proclaimed in white-hot anger: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:37-38). All the wrath and judgment God had stored up since that first murder of Abel would now pour out upon that generation for their ultimate rejection of the Messiah (Matthew 23:35). Not one stone of the Temple would be left upon another within forty years – one generation by biblical reckoning (Matthew 23:35-36, 24:2,34).

As the conflict with the unbelieving Jewish leaders reached a boiling point, Jesus pulled no punches in detailing the cataclysmic judgment awaiting those who rejected His reign. In the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24, the Lord provided a terrifying, blow-by-blow prophetic vision of the coming devastation upon Judah and Jerusalem – a holy spiritual warfare waged by the very King they scorned.

Jesus meticulously laid out the battle plans like a field commander briefing His troops. Within a single generation’s timespan (Matthew 24:34), not one stone of the rebellious people’s architectural glory – the magnificent Temple – would be left upon another after its destruction (24:2). False prophets and deceivers claiming to speak for God would proliferate in the very midst of Judea, as Acts 5:35-37 confirms was already starting to occur.

Though outwardly an era known as a century of Roman-enforced peace better known by the term “Pax Romana,” Jesus warned His disciples that the peace would break with “wars and rumors of wars” within those forty years before Jerusalem’s downfall (24:6). Conflicts such as the civil wars of Rome that plunged the empire into chaos and the siege upon Jerusalem by Vespasian were not typical of this period, but fulfillments of Jesus’ prophecy. 

Other tremendous upheavals and terrors would also unfold – like famines of such great severity that desperation would drive mothers to cannibalize their own children, to great earthquakes violently shaking the cosmic order, as happened during the crucifixion, the resurrection, and on other occasions in the book of Acts (Acts 11:28, 16:26, Matthew 27:51, 28:2).

The fledgling Church would not be spared from the tribulation of those days but would face violent hatred and persecution throughout the empire solely based on their allegiance to Christ (24:9). Yet before this “time of Jacob’s trouble” reached its crescendo, the Gospel of the Kingdom would be heralded as an ultimate witness throughout the entire Roman world, penetrating every synagogue and reaching the ears of every last remaining Jew before the great tribulations would be poured out on Jerusalem (24:14, Acts 24:25).

This global proclamation of the Gospel, especially to the diaspora Jews, revealed God’s profound mercy even amid His judgment. He would ensure that all living Jews had the opportunity to hear the Gospel and either receive or reject it before Judah’s fateful hour struck. This is why Paul could rightly say the Gospel went “to the Jew first” before extending to the Gentiles (Romans 1:16). And indeed, Luke’s testimony verifies how the message preached by Paul and others was upsetting all of the scattered Jewish communities throughout the Roman empire as early as the mid-50s and early 60s AD (Acts 17:6, Romans 10:18, Colossians 1:23).

Only after this witness reached the ends of the Roman world and the full number of elect Jews from that volatile century had been gathered would the prophesied “abomination of desolation” appear, desecrating the Temple in the mid-60s AD as the final blasphemous act had come (Matthew 24:15). This ultimate sacrilege would be the sign to Christ’s followers still in Jerusalem to urgently flee to the surrounding hills, as the unstoppable Roman armies were soon to encircle the city and tighten its noose around her neck (24:16, Luke 21:20-24).

The first-century historian Josephus provides eyewitness confirmation that this mass Christian exodus from Jerusalem occurred just before the Roman siege began in earnest (“The Wars of the Jews” 2.19.7). Apparently, the Christians took Jesus’ words in Luke 21 seriously, and they fled, knowing that prophecy was being revealed before their eyes. What followed was a period of “great tribulation” unlike any other in human history – God’s wrath finally exploding upon the unbelieving people who rejected their promised Messiah after centuries of rejection and rebellion (Matthew 24:21).

The way the Lord likened Jerusalem to being filled with rotting corpses circled by rapacious vultures was now becoming a grotesque reality in the baking Judean sun. As famine and rampant bloodshed left piles of decomposing bodies strewn throughout the streets, the haunting stench of death rose to the heavens, summoning carrion birds to feast on the grisly remains (Matthew 24:28, 21:28).

Combining visceral historical detail with profound spiritual prophecy, Jesus used the apocalyptic language Scripture employs to depict the fall of world powers and empires. He spoke of cosmic disturbances and celestial powers being shaken accompanying Judah’s cataclysmic downfall (Matthew 24:29-31), the exact same language God uses in the Old Testament to describe the fall of Egypt, Tyre, Babylon, and Judah (Ezekiel 32:7-8, Isaiah 13:9-10, Joel 2:30-31). For the Jewish nation horrifically complicit in killing their long-awaited King, this would be an earth-shattering, world-altering event of biblical proportions.

A part of those world-altering effects this war Christ brought had was eliminating the rival Temple, putting away the false religion of the Judaizers, and clearing the path for His Church to be the unrivaled and sole path whereby the nations would come to God. No one would ever need to pilgrimage to Jerusalem to see the smoking pile of stones. Now, they could go directly to the Rock of Ages and truly and fully know Him in the face of God’s Son! 

Having defeated His greatest foes – Satan on the cross and the apostate Jews in AD 70 – the risen Christ would now empower His disciples throughout all ages to bring HIs victory to every nook and cranny left on Earth. The torch passed from the decimated old guard to this revived apostolic company that would blaze the trail of gospel conquest to Earth’s farthest reaches and has been doing so for the last 2000 years.

PHASE 4: BLESSING AND SPREADING HIS KINGDOM

From the ashes of apostate Judah, Christ sent forth His Church upon the world, slowly but surely bringing all nations into His family through His newly wedded bride (Luke 24:47). Having routed His greatest enemy, the risen Commander lavished incomparable blessings upon this apostolic battalion, bestowing the very “keys of the kingdom” unto His Church, who will bring the authority of Heaven upon the Earth at Christ’s command and blessing (Matthew 16:19, 18:18; 28:18-20).

“Wherever this company gathers on the Lord’s Day, His resurrected presence is with them, leading them, and guiding them (Matthew 18:20), which makes the Church the Temple of God on Earth. He gave His authority to these ecclesial troops, sending them out to bring all nations still at war with God into His Kingdom of multiplied grace and peace (Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Peter 1:2-4). When the Church advances with the indwelling Spirit’s power, the gates of hell fall down (Matthew 16:18), and the forces of darkness are put to flight (Mark 16:17-18).”

This revived company of ordinary misfits received the permanent indwelling of the “Helper” who would lead them into all truth, bringing them into depths that the Old Covenant could not bear (John 14:16-17, 16:13-14), completing the canon of Scripture, and leading them on a mission far more extensive than His exploits in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee (John 14:12). Jesus promised they would do greater things because He intended on them to build upon the foundation He laid in Judah and bring His reign and His fruit into all the other continents, countries, commonwealths, counties, and cities (John 15:16).

Anointed with “power from on high” (Luke 24:49), this fearless battalion was told that it delighted the Father to hand over the Kingdom Christ had purchased to them (Luke 12:32). This once-tiny mustard seed was growing into a towering tree that would eventually shelter all of God’s predestined people under the canopy of its shade (Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:19). Like charged leaven, this revolutionary Kingdom will bring its spiritual reaction to the lumpy world until the whole thing is changed and made to look like the Messiah wants it (Luke 13:21). No one can resist this! It is as sure as the rising sun and the waxing moon. 

Christ’s death was the seed that fell to the ground and died to produce a never-ending harvest from every tribe, tongue, and ethnicity, drawing all peoples to Himself (John 12:24, 32, Revelation 7:9). As living branches united to the True Vine, Christ’s Church is hardwired for multiplication, sprouting new creation life everywhere they gather (John 15:5).

Since Christ conquered death, crushed insurgent enemies, and equipped His Church with Heaven’s full authority – His Kingdom can do nothing but continue to grow in influence until every malignant power is eliminated. The Earth is overwhelmed by the one who is “all in all” (1 Corinthians 4:20, 15:25, 28, Habakkuk 2:14).

PHASE 5: CHRISTIANIZING THE WORLD: 

As the Church faithfully carries out Christ’s Great Commission, the Gospel does not merely save individuals – it systematically reshapes entire societies from the inside out. Wherever the truth of God’s Kingdom takes root, it inevitably challenges and transforms the core beliefs, values, and practices that form the foundations of human civilization (Luke 13:20-21).

Like yeast permeating a lump of dough, the presence of Spirit-empowered communities devoted to Jesus catalyzes cultural renewal on a corporate scale. Ancient pagan practices and idolatries are abandoned as peoples renounce their former ways of life (1 Thessalonians 1:9). Systems of exploitation, injustice, and oppression give way to the Gospel’s radically new ethics of sacrificial love, mercy, and human dignity (Ephesians 4:31-32, Philemon 1:16).

No sphere of society remains untouched by this transformative power. Education is re-oriented around Christ’s wisdom rather than mere human philosophy’s speculations (Colossians 2:8). Corrupt power structures are reformed to model humble service rather than self-exalting pride (Mark 10:42-45). The arts birth new forms of creative expression, celebrating the beauty and glory of the one true God (Exodus 31:1-11). Even economic principles are altered to uphold values of generosity, diligence, and care for the poor’s needs over crass greed or materialism (Acts 2:44-45, 2 Thessalonians 3:10, James 5:1-6).

Most profoundly, the Gospel reshapes the very fabric of family life – redefining marriage, parenting, and gender roles according to God’s creation design (Ephesians 5:22-33). In homes transformed by Christ, wives relate to husbands not as inferior property but as “co-heirs of the grace of life” (1 Peter 3:7). Children are no longer commodities but treasured gifts to nurture in the Lord’s ways (Ephesians 6:4). Men lead not through brutality. Still, by exemplifying Christ’s self-sacrificial love (Ephesians 5:25), the world witnesses a revolutionary countercultural model for human relationships in these new Kingdom households.

Ultimately, over the past two thousand years, the unstoppable momentum of the Great Commission propels the steady Christianization of entire people groups and civilizations (Matthew 28:19-20). The idolatrous pantheons of Greco-Roman antiquity crumble before the supremacy of the one true God (1 Corinthians 8:5-6). Tribal codes are displaced by the perfect law of Christ’s righteousness and Kingdom ethics (James 1:25). Old establishments of tyranny, depravity, and spiritual darkness are progressively dismantled as redeemed nations reconstruct their beliefs, behaviors, and societal structures to align with Heaven’s pattern (Isaiah 60:12, Revelation 11:15).

In this world-inverting manner, the Gospel quite literally turns the world “upside down” (Acts 17:6) – demolishing the decrepit dominions of sin while establishing a “new creation” founded upon the lordship of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Through this same power, future generations continue to witness Almighty God fulfilling His promise to make “all things new” until the eternal reign of righteousness finds its everlasting home in the new heavens and new Earth (Revelation 21:1, 5).

CONCLUSION

The cosmic battle rages on. From the shores of Galilee to the ends of the Earth, King Jesus has been waging an unstoppable invasion to reclaim this fallen world for His eternal Kingdom. His advent was the D-Day of the ages, where Heaven’s liberation forces landed to overthrow the tyranny of sin and death. Christ bound the strong man, Satan, disarmed the dark powers, and rendered judgment on the apostate Jewish nation which rejected Him.

Through His Church, this same risen Conqueror has been advancing, century after century, to make His triumph complete. Everywhere His Gospel spreads, it dismantles the decrepit dominions of evil while establishing a “new creation” under the lordship of Christ. Like charged leaven, this revolutionary Kingdom brings its spiritual reaction to the sin-stained world until cultures, peoples, and nations are transformed into the glorious pattern of Heaven.

The torch now passes to us, the revived company of Christ’s End Times army. Having been lavished with incomparable blessings and equipped with Heaven’s full authority, it is our charge to carry His unstoppable advance into every sphere of society. Through the weapons of the Church, the means of grace, faithful evangelism, and multiplying discipleship, we push forward Christ’s Kingdom invasion into territories still held captive.

Brothers and sisters, the war for the world’s soul rages on! Will you take your place among the ranks of this fearless battalion? The Commander calls us to urgent duty—to see every enemy of God rendered helpless at the throne of Christ as the knowledge of His glory overspreads the Earth like waters covering the sea. We cannot resist this divine onslaught nor shrink from the field of battle to which we have been deployed.

Let us go forth boldly as devoted warriors of the Conquering King. May we be found faithful ambassadors of His eternal reign until that glorious day when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father! Onward Christian soldiers, do not cease your march until the entire world capitulates in joyful submission before the majesty of our Sovereign! The victory is His! 

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On January 5, 2024 By In Theology

God Revealed In Our Terms

Introduction:

Have you ever pondered the majestic imagery in the Psalms, where God is depicted with “wings” sheltering His people, or the powerful depiction in Exodus of God’s “mighty hand” delivering the Israelites from Egypt? These vivid descriptions captivate our imagination, drawing us into a deeper understanding of the Almighty. Yet, this kind of language also raises an intriguing question: How can the infinite God, who transcends physical form, be portrayed with human-like or bird-like features? This enigma brings us to the doorstep of a profound theological concept in Scripture called anthropomorphisms. These literary devices are more than mere poetic expressions; they are bridges connecting the human tactile and material experience with the vastness of the metaphysical and transcendent God. 

Defining Anthropomorphism:

Anthropomorphism, in its essence, is the Biblical attribution of human traits, emotions, or physical characteristics to the description of the infinite God as a way for finite creatures to understand Him. While indeed paradoxical, this concept does not conflict with a proper understanding of Yahweh, as described in John 4:24, which teaches us that He lacks a physical body and transcends human comprehension. Instead, it is a literary tool that God employs to convey His actions and attributes to fallible man in a relatable and understandable manner to His creation. It’s a theological bridge, helping us cross the chasm between our limited perception and the boundless reality of God.

Scriptural Examples:

In its rich and varied narrative, the Bible frequently employs anthropomorphic language to describe God, allowing believers to relate to the divine in more familiar terms. This use of human-like imagery is not an attempt to define God in human terms but rather a way to make the nature and actions of the infinite God comprehensible to our finite minds.

Imagine standing at the edge of the Red Sea, feeling the formidable power of God as described in Exodus 15:8, where His might is likened to the “blast of His nostrils” parting the waters. It’s a vivid and awe-inspiring metaphor that paints a picture of divine intervention in a way that speaks to our senses. Then, consider how Isaiah 59:1 brings us closer to God’s nature, not by depicting Him with physical attributes but through the metaphor of a “hand” and an “ear” — symbols of His ability to act and His readiness to listen. This imagery stirs the soul, bridging the human and the divine gap.

Envision further: the “eyes of the Lord” roving across the earth in 2 Chronicles 16:9, a poignant reminder of His all-encompassing watchfulness, or the “arm of the Lord” in Isaiah 53:1, symbolizing a strength that reaches out to save. In Exodus 31:18, the “finger of God” is not a literal digit but a powerful metaphor for divine authorship, as God inscribes the Ten Commandments. Then, there’s the “face of God” mentioned in Genesis 32:30 — not a physical face but an expression of God’s manifest presence. The “voice of the Lord” echoes through Psalm 29:3, not as a sound we hear with our ears but as a declaration of His sovereign will that resonates in the heart.

These are not just poetic words; they are a language that speaks of the divine in terms we can grasp. They remind us that the limitations of human form or senses do not constrain God. His “ear” hears more than we can imagine, His “hand” works beyond the bounds of human capability, and His “breath,” as mentioned in Job 33:4, is the very essence of life itself. In Psalm 17:8, being hidden in “the shadow of Your wings” evokes a sense of divine protection and comfort, drawing us into the assurance of God’s encompassing care.

However, it’s vital to recognize that these anthropomorphic descriptions are not literal. For instance, attributing a physical hand or ear to God would paradoxically limit His omnipresence and omnipotence, confining the infinite to finite dimensions. Instead, these images are intended as metaphors, communicating real truth about God’s attributes and actions in a manner relatable to human beings. They reveal aspects of God’s nature—His power, care, protection, and attention—in ways that resonate with human experience and understanding.

The Bible’s symbolic use of anthropomorphic language bridges the gap between the divine and the human mind. It allows believers to develop a more personal and intimate understanding of God. When Scripture describes God with human characteristics, it invites us into a deeper relationship with Him, one where we can connect to His divine nature through our human experience. Therefore, these descriptions are not just poetic flourishes but are essential tools in helping us grasp the incomprehensible aspects of God’s nature, reminding us of His transcendence and immanence.

Historical Understanding:

The Early Church’s Interpretation:

The journey of understanding anthropomorphisms begins with the early church fathers, who played a pivotal role in shaping Christian thought. Among them, Augustine of Hippo stands out as a significant figure. Augustine grappled with the scriptures rich in anthropomorphic language and sought to interpret these descriptions in a way that aligned with the transcendent nature of God. In his work “De Trinitate” (On the Trinity), Augustine argued that such language was not a literal depiction of God’s nature but a means to make the divine mysteries accessible to the human intellect. He contended that these human-like descriptions were symbolic, communicating spiritual truths about God’s nature and actions in a way humans could relate to and understand. Augustine’s interpretations set a foundation for later theologians, emphasizing the importance of discerning the spiritual truth underneath the literal text.

Medieval Theology and Analogical Language:

The medieval period saw further development in the understanding of anthropomorphisms, particularly with the contributions of Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas, a towering figure in medieval scholasticism, expanded upon Augustine’s ideas, introducing the concept of analogical language. In his “Summa Theologica,” Aquinas argued that these descriptions are analogies when Scripture ascribes human attributes to God. They offer a comparative, yet not exact, understanding of God’s attributes. For Aquinas, anthropomorphic language was a way of speaking about God that was true to the extent that it affirmed God’s actions and qualities. Yet, it remained inherently limited and could not fully encapsulate His essence. This analogical approach acknowledges that while God’s ways are vastly different from ours, there is still a correspondence that allows us to speak honestly and accurately about Him, though certainly not exhaustively. Aquinas’s approach profoundly influenced subsequent theological thought, providing a nuanced framework for interpreting anthropomorphisms.

Reformation and the Language of Accommodation:

The Reformation era marked another significant milestone in understanding anthropomorphisms, with reformers like John Calvin offering insightful contributions. Calvin, known for his influential work “Institutes of the Christian Religion,” emphasized the idea of divine accommodation. He argued that the anthropomorphic language in Scripture was God’s way of stooping to our level of understanding. By using human terms and concepts, God was accommodating Himself to our limited human capacity, making His nature and will understandable to us. Calvin stressed that these descriptions were not to be taken as literal attributes of God but as metaphors that help humans grasp something of the divine mystery. This emphasis on accommodation reflected a deeper understanding of the gap between God’s infinite nature and our finite understanding, reinforcing that while Scripture speaks about God in human terms, these terms are merely a condescension to human limitations.

Application

Understanding God through anthropomorphic language isn’t just a theological exercise; it’s a transformative experience that profoundly impacts our faith and worship. When Scripture describes God in human terms, it does something remarkable—it brings the infinite within reach of our finite minds. For many Christians, God can seem distant and abstract, a vast entity far removed from the intricacies of our daily lives. However, when we read about God’s “hand” guiding, His “ear” listening, or His “eyes” watching over us, the Divine suddenly becomes more relatable, more intimate.

This intimacy is crucial, especially in our prayer and worship, which are inherently relational. Imagine the difference in your prayer life when you think of God not as a distant force but as a loving Father who listens attentively, a Shepherd who guides with care, or a Friend who understands your deepest needs. This isn’t about simplifying God but about deepening our connection to Him. It’s about finding comfort in the idea that God cares, loves, and interacts with us in ways we understand and respond to. This understanding fosters a stronger emotional bond with God, enhancing the richness of our spiritual experience.

On the other hand, anthropomorphisms do more than make God relatable; they also remind us of His majesty and our humble place before Him. When we realize that these human-like descriptions are mere metaphors, we begin to grasp the vastness of God’s true nature. This realization leads to a more profound reverence for God. It reminds us that while He can be known, He can never be fully comprehended. This balance between intimacy and awe is vital in our spiritual journey. It keeps us from becoming overly familiar with God, preserving His majesty and otherness while inviting us into a relationship with Him.

Furthermore, these anthropomorphic descriptions serve as powerful moral guides, but within the context of the Gospel, their role is understood in a deeper, grace-filled dimension. When we read about God’s “just hand” or His “listening ear,” we’re not just learning about who God is but also about who we are called to be in Christ. These metaphors become models for our behavior, yet this is not a call to moralism or self-reliance. As Christians, we recognize that true moral transformation is not about mechanically imitating God to earn His favor or salvation. Indeed, our efforts to emulate divine attributes like compassion, justice, attentiveness, and love — qualities that these anthropomorphisms beautifully illustrate — are not what justifies us before God.

The Gospel teaches us that we cannot achieve moral perfection on our own; our righteousness is like “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) compared to God’s holiness. It is only through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who perfectly embodied all these divine attributes, that we find salvation and are declared righteous. This foundational truth reminds us that our growth in virtue is not a means to salvation but a response to the salvation already secured for us. We emulate God’s character not to impress Him or earn His approval but as a grateful response to the grace we have already received in Christ.

Furthermore, the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is crucial to our spiritual growth. As we rest in the finished work of Christ, trusting in His righteousness and not our own, the Spirit works within us to conform us more to the image of Christ. This is the essence of sanctification — a process not of human striving but of divine transformation. The Spirit helps us to understand and apply these anthropomorphic descriptions in our lives, not as a legalistic checklist, but as a joyful pursuit of holiness rooted in the grace and love we’ve received from God.

Conclusion

In summary, anthropomorphisms in Scripture offer us valuable insights into God’s character and provide a model for Christian living, but they are always understood in the light of the Gospel. They are not a ladder to climb to reach God but signposts pointing us to the grace that is already ours in Christ, and they inspire us to live in a way that reflects our gratitude and understanding of this profound truth.

God bless you

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On December 23, 2023 By In Christmas

The Apocalyptic Christmas

INTRODUCTION

When we think about Christmas, our minds often conjure images of serene tranquility: a sleeping babe swaddled in linen, nestled in a manger under a starlit sky, surrounded by gentle animals lowing. We envision angels strumming golden harps, their melodies echoing sweetly with promises of peace on earth and goodwill toward men, heralding the birth of heaven’s all-gracious King. However, a starkly different, yet equally significant, portrayal of the Christmas narrative unfolds in the book of Revelation. Here, instead of peaceful stillness, we encounter a dramatic scene with dragons, falling stars, and a celestial war centered around a particular child. This apocalyptic vision of Christmas, far from the traditional manger scene, challenges us to expand our understanding of what Christmas means and how to apply its incredible and profound implications.

With that, let us explore the apocalyptic Christmas from Revelation 12 and discover what it teaches us.

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child, crying out in labor and pain to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. His tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; her child was caught up to God and to His throne. – Revelation 12:1-5

THE APOCALYPTIC CHARACTERS

Now… For a moment I want to examine the apocalyptic characters in this scene, look at who they are, what they represent, so that we can understand what is going on.

On the surface, the meaning seems obvious. This passage is clearly talking about Jesus. He is the male child born to the woman and delivered to us on Christmas Day. He is the King who ascended into heaven after His resurrection as Revelation 12 alludes. But, this passage also presents the familiar scene to us in a very different sort of way. The book of Revelation does not present these events in the material realm like all of the other Christmas passages, which are set in our world, where men and women observe events in space and time (with stables, innkeepers, cities, stars, and wise men or with gifts like gold, frankincense, and myrrh that could be held in the hands).

Yet, Revelation tells the Christmas story, it seems, from an entirely different dimension. Instead of communicating events in the physical world, it portrays them in the spiritual, cosmic, and apocalyptic realm, which means that if we are going to understand them, we must be careful to examine them in their proper setting, identifying what each of the characters in the drama represent and mean.

THE APOCALYPTIC WOMAN

The passage from Revelation 12 introduces us first to a woman “clothed with the sun,” which is a beautiful portrayal of a holy female, set apart by God and enveloped with God’s dazzling creative light. Now, this is not just any female. Many might want to attribute the woman from Revelation 12 to Mary, the physical mother of Christ, but this is not her. The imagery in our passage allows for only one interpretation of this woman’s identity: it is not Mary, but is instead faithful Israel.

Remember, faithful Israel was God’s Old Testament bride (Isaiah 54:5-6) as she is cast in feminine terms. But, since the church is the Israel of God, God’s bride is also the New Testament Church (Ephesians 5:25-27), who was grafted into Israel by the working of Christ (Romans 11:17-24). She, the faithful people of God, is the one whose maker is her husband (Isaiah 54:5) and who in the Old Testament was promised to be restored from her covenant unfaithfulness in the new covenant coming in Christ (Hosea 2:19-20; Jeremiah 31:31-34). At every turn, Israel, the people of God (Past, Present, and Future) are compared to a woman, which is why Revelation describes her this way. She, and by that I mean the people of God, are the ones covered in His loving light through our relationship with Yahweh (Numbers 6:24-26). His face beams on us so that we shine like a radiant lights to all the nations (Isaiah 49:6).

Thus when we see in Revelation, a shining apocalyptic woman clothed with the sun, we should immediately recognize her as symbolic of God’s bride, the people of God in both Testaments.

Our suspicions are further confirmed when we see that the moon is under her feet and that she is crowned with 12 stars, which is directly alluding to Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9. As you will remember, Joseph dreamed that the sun (representing his father, Jacob), the moon (his father’s wives), and the 11 stars ( all of his brothers) would all bow down to him and serve him in the future. And because of this dream, Joseph’s brothers become furious at him, selling him into slavery to a midianite caravan, which left him in Egypt, falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, eeking out a living in prison, all before God elevated him to the position of second in command in Pharaoh’s empire. In this way, he was positioned at just the right place, to deliver his family from a massive famine in Egypt, making the dream true. His father and wives, along with his brothers (all of the people of Israel) bowed down and served Him.

Now, what is pertinent in Joseph’s dream to the description of the apocalyptic woman in Revelation, is that she is depicted with the sun, moon, and stars, which in Joseph’s dream applied to the entire people of Israel. Knowing this, it is especially clear that she is the embodiment of the true covenant Israel that Joseph dreamed about all those years ago. She represents the people of God, who are called the bride in the Old Covenant, but also in the New Covenant. We know this because this passage is not just a reference to a bygone Israelite era but a vibrant, living link that connects the ancient people of God, represented by the twelve tribes, to the unfolding narrative of salvation history in the New Testament. This woman is God’s bride who brought forth the man child messiah, but she is also the bride of Christ, who while persecuted will follow her Lord to victory. We see that as the passage develops (Revelation 12:13-17; 19:7).

We see this unfolding by the apocalyptic woman’s condition, as she is besieged by labor pains, which is more than a mere depiction of her physical anguish. This pain encapsulates, not only the long travail of Israel until the messiah was born, but also the tumultuous journey of the early Church, marred by struggles and persecution, especially under the harsh rule of the Roman Empire. These pains are not just symbolic of her suffering; they are indicative of birth, of new birth, of something new and transformative emerging from the throes of the old. Which is why this woman is the perfect picture. She is the Israel by which the Messiah was born… From her very womb. And she is also the bride of Christ who was birthed by His ascension into heaven. That event, began the shift from the Old to the New Covenant, a pivotal moment in the redemption where the Law and Prophets find fulfillment in Christ and where all the types and shadows of the Old Covenant fade away to make room for what they pointed to all along… Him.

In that sense, this apocalyptic woman stands as the people of God at a crossroads. She is the people of old whose temple, priests, and sacrificial system always anticipated Him and now were fading to make room for Him, and she is the people of Christ who are welcomed into His end time Kingdom of justification and grace.

Interestingly, this transition period also aligns with the themes of Christmas, a time traditionally associated with joy and peace yet deeply embedded in a context of struggle and divine intervention. Christ’s birth, celebrated during Christmas, is a transition from prophecy to fulfillment, from expectation to realization. It is God’s intervention in human history, much like the protection offered to the woman in Revelation 12.

In essence, the woman “clothed with the sun” is a multifaceted symbol. She is Israel at a crossroads, the early Church in its nascent stages, and a beacon of hope for believers facing adversity today. She is the true people of God, past, present, and future, who find hope in the messiah… Born to die, risen to ascend, ascended in order to reign! This imagery of the apocalyptic woman, set against the backdrop of Christmas, reminds us that even in times of our greatest struggle, the promise of salvation and triumph in Christ remains our anchor and hope. It’s a message that resonates through the ages, from the dusty roads of ancient Israel to the modern-day celebrations of Advent in Christian Churches. We all with unified voice echo these enduring truths of divine providence and cling to the protection Jesus offers for all God’s people everywhere.

THE APOCALYPTIC CHILD

In exploring the depths of Revelation 12 and its connection to the eschatological themes of Christmas, we find ourselves drawn to the figure of a male child, a pivotal character in this cosmic drama of Revelation. This apocalyptic child, unmistakably a representation of Jesus Christ, stands at the heart of this narrative that connects prophecy, celestial conflict, and divine triumph all in one fell swoop.

John the revelator begins by telling us that the child would rule the nations with an iron rod (Revelation 12:5), which is.a picture of Christ we are not to oft to celebrate. But, this comes directly from the messianic Psalms (Psalm 2:9), where David tells us that the Messiah “will break them with a rod of iron; and will dash them to pieces like pottery.” This Psalm gives us a glorious picture of Christ as having an unchallengeable rule! He has unrivaled authority and power and the advance of His Kingdom totally unstoppable no matter how much earthly opposition and tumult the nations try to throw at Him. He will establish His Kingdom, and the nations will either bow down and worship this King or they will be crushed by the weight of His holiness.

The narrative in Revelation 12 reminds us why this king was born… Yes He was born to die. But death was not the terminus. He was also born to rise. And in His rising He was born to rule the nations!

This passage also mirrors the historical events surrounding Christ’s birth at Christmas, particularly Herod’s pursuit of the infant Jesus. Herod, in his attempt to thwart the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy, ordered the massacre of all male infants in Bethlehem starting with the boys who were two years old or younger. This tragic episode, often referred to as the Massacre of the Innocents, reflects a broader theme of satanic opposition to God’s salvific plan that unfolds across all Scripture.

Yet, our passage in Revelation doesn’t end with Herod’s cruel decree or even with the earthly life of Jesus. It skips everything from just after birth to death, periscoping all the way past calvary to the Mount of Olives where Jesus was ascended! By juxtaposing His birth and ascension, Revelation is symbolizing not just a physical ascension to heaven but the ultimate defeat of the dragon, who will be cast out of heaven by Jesus triumphant arrival. This passage typifies the inauguration of Christ’s eternal kingdom that began when He sat down at the right hand of God in His throne room, and cast the dragon and His angels clean out of the heavens. While indeed these events are historical, Revelation presents them in the terms of a cosmic battle. A battle the infant Jesus was born into and a battle the ascended Jesus will bring to completion.

The victory of Christ, celebrated at Christmas as the birth of the Savior, is not just about His birth but about His victory He won in resurrection and ascension. That victory grows in every age by the spread of Jesus’ Church. Now, as the body of Christ, we get the awesome privledge of participating in this ongoing cosmic drama. We get to join the male Child in the war against the dragon. We get to bring His life and light to a world still addicted to the shadows and darkness. And… serving this King reminds us that the joy and hope we celebrate during Christmas are not mere commemorations but vibrant realities, calling us to participate in the unfolding story of redemption and to witness the continued unfolding of God’s kingdom on earth.

THE APOCALYPTIC DRAGON

As we conclude our examination of the characters in this cosmic apocalyptic war drama, we encounter a formidable antagonist: the dragon, identified as Satan or the serpent of old. This character represents not just a singular evil entity but the embodiment of spiritual opposition to God’s redemptive plan throughout history.

The imagery of the menacing apocalyptic dragon in Revelation 12, poised to devour the male child, is rich in biblical symbolism. This scene echoes the constant spiritual warfare that has existed from the beginning, but it narrows the focus onto the spiritual warfare experienced by Christ. From the Herod attempting to kill Him at birth, His temptation by Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11), to his many battles with the demons (Mark 1:34, Luke 4:35, Matthew 8:28-34, etc.), all the way to the cross where He bound the strong man and disarmed the cosmic powers (Colossians 2:15), Christ’s life was a series of confrontations with the forces of darkness. The dragon’s failed attempt, one after the other, to destroy the Christ is emblematic of his ultimate defeat and Christ’s ultimate victory.

To understand this imagery fully, we can turn to the Old Testament, which lays the groundwork for this cosmic conflict. Isaiah 27:1 speaks of the the Messiah punishing Leviathan, a twisting serpent, often interpreted as a symbol of evil forces opposing God’s plans. Similarly, Psalm 74:13-14 describes God crushing the heads of sea monsters, including Leviathan. These passages are not just ancient poetry but are part of a larger narrative that Revelation 12 is drawing upon.

All throughout the Scriptures, we see a pattern of the divine triumphing over evil. And by interpreting this image in Revelation 12, correctly, within all of its manifold historical and symbolic frameworks, we can see that the dragon experiences ultimate defeat in the male child’s Kingdom. This is not merely a future event, that will happen at the end of time, but an ongoing event that is happening here and now on earth, as the church follows Christ into all the nations. This is certainly made possible by the events of the ascension and Easter but it finds its roots in the Christmas story.

This ongoing spiritual warfare underscores the themes of Christmas as a time of divine intervention. In Christ the light has come. War upon the demonic realm has come. The invasion and plundering of Satan’s Kingdom has come in a babe wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. The birth of Christ was not just a miraculous event contained within the past; it was a decisive moment in the spiritual realm that broke the power of evil and inaugurated His rule of peace that will overtake the nations. Christmas marked the beginning of the end of Satan’s reign and the inauguration of Christ’s victorious kingdom.

Moreover, this narrative provides a profound assurance for believers: the Church’s ultimate victory is coming as we continue our work to expand God’s kingdom on earth to the all the nations (Matthew 28:18-10). The Church, born out of Christ’s victory, is engaged in this ongoing spiritual battle, continuing the work that Jesus started by putting satan under our feet as well (Romans 16:20). As Christians gather worldwide to celebrate these glorious truths that dawned upon us at Christmas, we are all reminded of our role in this cosmic drama. Like Israel, we are called to be bearers of light in a world that often seems dominated by darkness. And we are to herald His victory until peace on earth and goodwill toward men has reached all His blood bought people.

The story of the dragon in Revelation 12, interpreted in the light of the entire biblical narrative, is not just a tale of ancient cosmic conflict. It is a living narrative, particularly relevant during Christmas, as it reminds us of the birth of the One who came to defeat evil and restore all creation. This eschatological perspective transforms our understanding of Christmas from a mere celebration to an ongoing, victorious reality in our present and future.

CONCLUSION

In our journey through the apocalyptic Christmas narrative of Revelation 12, we have traversed a landscape far removed from the serene manger typically associated with this season. This exploration has revealed a Christmas story that encompasses not only the physical realm but also a profound spiritual and apocalyptic dimension. It invites us to see the birth of Christ not just as a historical event but as a pivotal moment in a cosmic saga that will see everything God planned and promised coming to fruition in Him.

The characters of this narrative – the radiant woman symbolizing the entire people of God, the male child as the Christ, and the dragon as the Satan – each play a crucial role in unfolding the truths of Christmas. The woman, clothed in celestial light, reminds us of God’s enduring faithfulness to His people never ends.

The male child, fulfills the ancient prophecies and initiates a kingdom that will never end. This reminds us that Christmas is not just about the birth of a baby but the inauguration of a reign that would forever alter the course of history and forever change the world.

The dragon, representing Satan, though a figure of formidable power, ultimately stands defeated in this narrative. His presence in the Christmas story deepens our understanding of the gravity of Christ’s mission. It underscores the reality that Jesus’ birth was the dawn of Satan’s defeat, which is why we scream Joy to the world!

This apocalyptic Christmas narrative reorients our understanding of the season. It’s a reminder that the peace, joy, and goodwill come through death, war, and dominion. Theses are not just sentimental ideals but realities grounded in the triumph of Christ over the powers of darkness.

As we celebrate Christmas this year, do so with a renewed sense of awe and gratitude, recognizing that in the birth of Jesus, evil has been defeated, it is being defeated, and one day will be perfectly defeated. This Christmas, do not sit on the sidelines any longer. Join the male child and work to see His Kingdom advance in your neighborhood, job, school, or wherever the Lord may call you. And this Christmas, celebrate that light has come into the world. You no longer live in darkness. You are a part of a church that is wrapped in heavenly light who is called to bring that light to the land of Shadows. This Christmas, do not merely commemorate a past event but celebrate a living cosmic reality.

May the truths brighen your hearts and propel you to serve Him Joyfully.

Merry Christmas! 

Kendall

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On December 9, 2023 By In Christmas

Merry Christmas. This Means War!

In one of the classic holiday songs, John Lennon harkens that the war is over, saying:

“And so happy Christmas, for black and for white, for yellow and red ones, let’s stop all the fight.”

John Lennon & Yoko Ono

According to Jesus, Christmas signifies that the war has just begun.

A WARLESS PEACE

One of the most significant accomplishments in antiquity, which is littered with wars and violence, was a hundred year stretch of peace known as the Pax Romana, which in English means the peace of Rome. This unique and peculiar era of warless tranquility is unmatched in any other period known to man. During this peace nation no longer rose up against nation, rumors of wars no longer leaped from the lips of women in the marketplace, and the myriad of complex personalities and cultures, usually unwilling to submit to world empires, were now contained within a burgeoning peace, that lasted from 27BC, under the reign of Augustus, to the death of Nero Caesar in 68 AD. This is the world and setting that the Savior of the world was born.

On that first Christmas morning in Judea, God did not show up for a press conference at a palace or a “Precious Moments” commercial in the big city. Instead, in a surprise attack, He stormed the beaches of Bethlehem. He blitzkrieg’d the stables of that old country barn and assembled all the legions of heaven to herald Christ is Lord to shepherds in their fields. He held His fiery star in the sky to announce kings and kingdoms would either worship Him or be put down. While under the peace of Rome, God was bringing war. 

And He was bringing war because this old world had fallen into bitter, soul-crushing slavery to an evil dragon. A serpent of great beguiling who tricked our only king into trading in his scepter for over-tight handcuffs… His crown for rusty chains. On that first Christmas morning, after legions of failed men who came before Him, the heaven-sent God-Man was born the royal Man-King. Delivered as a helpless babe to deliver and set the helpless free. 

Isaiah said it like this: 

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. – Isaiah 9:6-7

INCARNATION AS INVASION

Every Christmastime we celebrate that the invasion has begun. The world was not left to pine away in oppression and deep darkness. The Light of the world has come! Human governments, which all have limits and ends, would be replaced by a government that knows no end. A government that would not bring a measly hundred-year ceasefire but would bring His wonderful and perfect peace forever. 

Our King is the one who put the world on notice. That babe in swaddling clothes announced to the nations you will either bow down and worship Him or be trampled underneath His glorious feet. The Son of Man, the Prince of Peace, entered brokenness and brought His Shalom. He went raiding behind enemy lines, rescuing His elect and delivering them safely back to God. He triumphed not only over the manger but also over the grave. He wrestled control of the cosmos away from the fallen serpent, disarming his authorities, powers, and spiritual forces, and began an uprising that would turn the world upside down (as far as the curse is found). And for 2000 years, this is precisely what our King has done. 

NEVERENDING REIGN

When you look at what God says in Isaiah 9, He promises nothing less than total dominion. He claims that the government Jesus inaugurates will continue until no ground on earth is left to take. He will rule until His Kingdom comes on earth as it already is in heaven. This means Christmas is about the downfall of sinful nations. Christmas is about the end of corrupt politicians padding their pockets and allowing their children to live above the law. Christmas is about the war of God that will end sex trafficking, annihilate abortion mills, and will put the world back right again. Christmas is the first fruits of the death of democracies, oligarchies, and socialism. The Christ Child in the manger signifies that the world is now under the rule and authority of a King, and His rule of total peace is coming deeper and deeper in

CONCLUSION

This Christmas, as you enjoy eggnog and figgy pudding, ham, and hot cocoa, remember that Christ was born as King. As King, He was born to reign. And in that reign, all the iniquity we see on earth will one day be put under our messiah’s feet. Instead of despair, allow the Light of hope to fill your heart. Remember, He is Lord! And He will make all things new in good time. 

Merry Christmas! 

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On November 30, 2023 By In Culture

Love the Sinner. Hate the Movement.

A MATTER OF LOVE

Generally speaking, every Christian has some level of understanding that God has called us to love. It is kind of the point of being a Christian, right? Paul says if we do not have love, we are nothing. Jesus said that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And He did not provide such a glorious and precious Son to reproduce more Grinches on Mt. Crumpit or more Ebenezer Scrooges on Business Street in London. 

God saved us and did it through the greatest act of love ever recorded to make us loving people. Jesus even said that they (the world) will know that we are true disciples of Jesus by the way that we love one another, which means how we love other Christians (John 13:35). But, Jesus also taught us that we are to love our enemies and to pray for the ones who persecute us, which means our love must extend beyond the people who attend Church with us. We must be willing and ready to love anyone, even those who hate us most ferociously. 

And this is where the confusion occurs. Just because we are to love people does not mean we are to love what they do or the sinful movements that they have ensnared them. It is my contention, and what I will be arguing here, that standing against a MOVEMENT is wholly necessary, and it is one of the chief ways that we genuinely love the PERSON. 

For a moment, pardon me for my pungency. I will grab the flame thrower to light a couple of candles, and I will do this on purpose. Sometimes, we need a mother’s soothing lullaby to help us fall gently to sleep. Yet there are other times when we need to be shaken from our slumber by the father because the house is on fire. Today will be more like the shaking. 

THE ABORTION MOVEMENT

I said above that we must love the sinners caught in sinful movements while hating the movements that trapped them. This is true. Which means we must not hate women who have had abortions. We must love them (profoundly so). This means we must love them enough to hear their stories of pain, to empathize with their struggle, but also to refuse to sugarcoat what they have done and to bid them to repent for murdering one of their children. If that language seems overly harsh, perhaps you are part of the problem.

Think about it, how many children in this country, and around the world, have to brutally die before we start taking this issue seriously? How many heartbeats need to stop for us to go beyond conservative incrementalism and heartbeat bills to flat-out abolish this disgusting, immoral practice? And let me just ask the obvious question: can our actions really be called loving if we allow this culture of death to continue? Are we really being kind to all the innocent babies who were chopped up into bloody pieces inside their mommy’s womb or chemically roasted by toxic abortifacients when we say things to the mother like: “It wasn’t your fault” or “You had no other options.” How sick and demented do we need to be to believe this garbage? Biblically speaking, abortion is the wanton sacrilege of human life, plain and simple, and total abolition of it is the only just outcome. To tell a woman anything else is to lie to her, make excuses for her sin, and allow her to believe the lie that God is not enraged over the shedding of innocent blood. He is the one who heard Abel’s blood crying out from the ground, and He is the one who hears every tortured fetus screaming from the cold metallic pan. And He will avenge them. 

From a Biblical and ethical standpoint, there is nothing morally different between a woman getting an abortion and hiring a hitman to kill her toddler. In both instances, she bought and paid for a professional to kill someone she was supposed to love, care, and protect. We must stop euphemizing our language and call this precisely what it is. Abortion is not healthcare. Abortion is the intentional, inexcusable, and unauthorized decision to terminate a precious life that belongs to God alone, who endowed it with significance, dignity, and personhood. 

And, while you may still be reeling from my descriptions, this is precisely how we love people. We love them by telling it to them straight and by pointing them to the risen Christ as their only hope. We love man and woman by exposing the lethality of sin, which is awful news, and then by providing them with the remedy, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can heal the wounds of a mother who killed her child. He is the only one who can forgive a man for pressuring his wife to let medical serial killers in planned parenthood dismember his legacy. He is the only one who can forgive the murderous doctors who have gallons of blood dripping from their hands. And the only way to truly be loving is to point everyone to Him. 

And, what I find most astonishing is how the amazing grace and tender mercy of our perfect spotless savior totally and completely buries all of our sins! As reprehensible as abortion is, and as much shame as that should induce if left to our own devices, a woman who turns to the Lord Jesus Christ is not only forgiven but her shame is also eliminated! Her sins have been washed white as snow, and He restores her to royalty in His Kingdom. She has been given a new and glorious nature that cannot be taken away from her. She is healed! She is loved! She is restored! She is no longer known by a scarlet letter. And she may well worship in eternity alongside her aborted child. How? Because He took the curse that she deserved and gave unto her the honor she could never earn! Jesus Christ, her Lord and Savior, overpowered the putrescence of our iniquities and rescued us for His glory and our great good. This is true for all sinners! Why do we hold back from declaring this message? Why do we think this is unloving? And because of that, why do we entirely pervert this glorious Gospel by avoiding nearly half of it, skipping past the bad news of sin and death, to accommodate a sinner’s fragility? If you throw out the bad news, the good news makes no sense! If you throw out the need for a savior, you no longer have the Gospel! That is not the path of love or how we ought to love anyone. 

At the same time, while I love the woman who has had an abortion, I must hate the abortion movement with every bone in my body. I will ever be at war against this modern day temple to Moloch! Why? Because it is the movement that is promoting, cheering on, and subsiding the murder of nearly a million image-bearing humans every year! This movement was dreamt up in the recesses of hell, fueled by the power of demons, and has captivated a swampy and pathetic government of fiends who would rather kill its citizens than lose political power or funding. I will love the person enough to hate such a despicable movement. And I will hate the movement enough to make war with it all my days. 

THE LMNOP MOVEMENT

We must not hate the sodomites or lesbians who are caught in nature-denying, God-hating behavior. We also must not hate transgender people who have denied one of the most basic tenets of reality: their own biological gender. And, furthermore, we must not hate human beings who are mired in such delusional confusion, that single persons now want to identify as plural pronouns, or the genetic human who now want to use a litter box instead of a toilet. This is not to mention the kind of mental disorder that would cause a homosapien to identify as a two-spirit penguin. This would be hilarious if it were not true. Being true, I am heartbroken for them. I am shocked and grieved that such an apparent mental health crisis, of this magnitude has broken out in the Western world, and the “adults in the room” are trying to cure it with identity politics and clever deceptions. This is like trying to put a fire out with gasoline or trying to plug that hole in the Titanic with bubble gum. Instead of receiving the help they need to confront such vivid and wretched delusions, people today are force-fed horse manure from a society that absolutely hates them and a medical establishment that is profiting from lopping off their genitals. 

Remember, love always seeks the best for a person. And what is best for a person is what God says in His Word. We must love men and women who are being led to the slaughter enough to point them away from these diabolical fantasies, the damned identity politics dreamt up by demons and instead bid them to turn to the truth of the Holy Scriptures. We must love them enough to call them out of their sins and perversions, leading them toward the belly of the fiery abyss. We must love them enough to call them to repent and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ before it is too late. Placating them is not loving them! A parent who gives into every demand of the child to reinforce their inner totalitarianism is not loving them!

In the same way, patting people on the head, leaving them with warm and fuzzies in their sin, while they are eternally separated from a Holy and Righteous God, is to despise them! It is to wish them doubly dead with a disturbing smile on our faces. That is not love; we must love the person enough to behave differently! 

But, simultaneously, I pray that the LGBTQ movement dies a thousand deaths. A movement that cheers on abominations mocks the living God with flags of rainbow-colored debauchery and prays upon the most insecure and impressionable minds. A campaign that calls its victims to abandon nature and reason for social clout and swelling subscriber lists. A movement that is championed by an unhinged government that will take children away from their parents for not allowing them to degrade their own bodies in the most lude, disgusting, and abhorrent ways. A movement that is weaponized by doctors who threaten body butchering as the only escape from suicide. A movement peddled by freaks on Youtube and TikTok that promise you will be well-liked, ever-celebrated, and left always with a feeling of belonging if you would only come out. I loathe that movement. And I will do whatever it takes to see it come to a total and complete end. Why? Because it is destroying men and women, and it is devouring children! It is toxifying the country my children will inherit. And it is damaging the social fabric of the nation. 

Very simply, we are called to love our enemies, love the ones who are caught in soul and body-degrading sins, and love them enough to speak the truth to them before it is too late. Yes, and amen! But we are never commanded to love the ideologies that are destroying them. We are never once called to cheer for the movements that trap humanity like fish in the net. Yet, as I said before, this is where so much confusion has occurred in the Church these days. This is where the enemy has divided and conquered in legionous ways. By leaving the Church in the West so divided on this issue, typically into four camps as it related to this issue, we have become easy pickings for the author of these Luciferian fables, the lord of darkness himself.  

For a moment, I want to sketch out three erroneous views and how those views are wrong, and then I want to end with the right approach. 

THREE ERRONEOUS VIEWS

1) LIBERALISM- THE DEMONIC LEFT 

This view barely needs to be explained. Proponents believe the sinner and the movement should be lauded, supported, and championed. This means that there is no view of sin or hell, there is no Biblical understanding of what love is and what it calls for, and all that is left is just a watered-down “gospel of tolerance,” and the twin bricks of “love is love” and the “you do you’s” that pave the path to destruction. This view is not the Biblical Gospel because it begins with the assumption that what people need most is acceptance of their sins instead of repentance from them. And sadly, this view has infected entire churches, denominations, and conventions.  

Every lumberjack lesbian pastor to every dove-award-winning male musician who now sings in dresses proves my point. This is not loving, and they are not Christians. They have abandoned Christ for hedonism and pluralism. They have abandoned the Biblical Gospel for infatuation with immorality. They have not chosen the path of love but are on a highway to hell. And thankfully, they are not very difficult to spot in the wild. Just look for the bright colors or the 6’4 muscle bound woman on the swim team who still has a cringy bulge. 

We must reject the lie of liberalism. Instead, we must love each and every person caught in sin. We must love them enough to call them to repent. And we must be at war with ideologies that ensnare them. 

2) FUNDAMENTALISM – THE HATE-FILLED RIGHT

On the other end of the spectrum is a nearly equally abhorrent view. Instead of being known for unbiblical and degenerate forms of tolerance and love, this group is known for its rigid intolerance, as well as a refusal to love anyone. And while the fundies rightly understand the need to hate the sinful movements that trap so many souls in the bogs of sin, they forget that they are also sinners and peddle a gospel that is devoid of humility or grace. They turn their pharisaical ire upon anyone and everyone who exists “out there,” and they chide them all to hell. 

Sadly, this view has also infected the Church in small but shrinking pockets that usually do not spread as quickly as liberalism since no one likes being around them enough to join them. Where does this disease show up? It shows up in every megaphone screaming street preacher who is not out there to see men and women saved but to remind them they are damned. It shows up on Sunday mornings in every Westoroesque Church where the blowhard behind the pulpit screams, “God hates fags.” It shows up wherever men and women caught in these sins become the object of our hatred instead of the mission field we have been sent to. 

We must reject the hate of fundamentalism. Instead, we must love sinners enough to get to know them, eat with them, and call them to repent. We must be at war with the ideologies that ensnare them and the pride that entangles us. 

3) EVANGELICALISM – THE MUSHY MIDDLE

The evangelical Church is always trying to land in the mushy middle, whose spine seems to be made of pudding or jello. And, before you object, let me remind you that the vast majority of squishy pastors these days will not preach on the reality of hell, the ugliness of sin, or the dire need for repentance because of the holy, righteous wrath of God. I have been to these churches. I have served on staff in these churches. Where men are so afraid of offending men that they regularly offend their God by either apologizing for God’s Word or refusing to herald it. How many sermons have you ever heard on the covenant curses in Deuteronomy 28, the list of sins that are called abominations, or any other topic that our society is struggling with in any meaningful way? If there is a potential for offense, the modern-day pastor runs like a coward from the battle. And this is not mere opinion. It is an epidemic in evangelicalism. 

This gets to my point. You cannot love someone you are lying to, and if you refuse to tell them the truth or call them to repentance, then you are lying to them. That is like knowing a man has stage 4 cancer, and instead of giving him the diagnosis so that he can begin the treatment or settle his affairs, you refuse to tell him because it may hurt his feelings. That is the opposite of love! That is to become the equivalent of a moral monster. And it was certainly not the way Christ loved people in the Gospels. Yes, He knelt down in the sand to restore a sinner, but He also said, “Go and sin no more.” In fact, there is no single account where Christ doesn’t point out the sin, call the man or woman to repentance, and extol them to holy living moving forward. To adopt an ethic that Christ will vomit out of His mouth just to save face in public is not loving. It is criminal! That is the picture of a very sinister sort of hatred that watches as a person asphyxiates when all they needed was to be turned onto their side. In this case, men and women must be pointed to Jesus Christ! He is the hope! He is the cure! To trade in the Gospel for niceties is repugnant, unloving, and something every cowardly pastor will answer for. 

Furthermore, you cannot hate a movement that is destroying human beings when you refuse to call it out. I am talking to you, pastor yellow-belly, when you sit silently on the sidelines as sexual predators fester, as women in your congregations believe the lie that it was just a clump of cells, and as diabolical trends in Hollywood disciple your people, just remember that your silence was akin to hating them. You wasted your office. You impaled your people on the post you were supposed to care for them with. And you have hated your own ministry. When you have mold growing in your home, you spray it; you don’t ignore it. And yet, your sugar and spice mentality that never rocks the boat, never calls out evil in our society, has let something far more sinister seep in and spread among your people, and you did nothing to stop it! Instead of being the salt of the earth, you have become the high fructose corn syrup that has made our society fatally unhealthy, and I am calling upon you to repent! 

Yes, you should love the person. Love them enough to confront their sin and call them to Christ. And yes, you should grow a backbone to perform the role of shepherd, who not only pets the sheep but takes out a sawed-off shotgun to take down the wolf. Repent, brother! 

THE RIGHT VIEW

4) THE BIBLICAL APPROACH 

Now, the right approach is the Biblical approach. Look at what Paul says about this: 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:12

Paul tells us that our struggle is not against the individuals caught in the nets of sin. Instead, our war is against the net makers, the wicked powers who are making the traps that drag men and women away to their doom (2 Timothy 2:26)! This certainly includes evil politicians, woke corporations, and degenerate government agencies who spend taxpayers money on evil. But Paul is alerting us to the power that is underneath them all and fueling them. He is telling us of the kind of power that caused Roman men to find it socially acceptable to abandon their female infants to the elements because they wanted a son. We are talking about the kind of power underneath the hubris of the Enlightenment, which captivated men’s hearts with scientific pride instead of humility before their God. We are talking about the elemental forces, the rouge spirits in high places, and the kind of power that gave birth to the bastard child named liberalism, who questions the authority and veracity of Holy Scripture. The kind of power that is underneath every godless movement, from the Freudian psychology that undermines faith in God to the Sangarian ethics inflicting genocide upon the womb to the Kinneyism that unleashed rank sexual perversions upon our populace. Paul is telling us that behind every Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, behind every pagan ideology and philosophy, and behind every movement that brings devastation and rebellion upon man are the demonic forces led by their commander Satan, who want nothing more than to destroy the masterpiece of God’s creation, man and woman. God called male and female – in covenant marriage, reproducing offspring to the glory of God, and extending His dominion to the ends of the earth – “very good,” the hounds of hell cannot keep themselves from trying to destroy us. It is in their nature, and we must resist them (James 4:7). 

LOVE THE SINNER. HATE THE MOVEMENT

I know this article may seem a tad inflammatory to you, but I make no apologies. I simply implore you not to be soft on movements like abortion and sexual deviancy. Because underneath them is the power of demons who want nothing more than to pervert, manipulate, butcher, and destroy God’s creatures. If you are soft on these movements, you are complicit with the war crimes of demons, and you are a reviler of the humanity you claim to love. 

Our job is to love the sinner enough to call them to repentance. And to hate the movements that accost them. Dear Christians, the mission Christ has called us to requires that we declare the true Biblical Gospel no matter who it offends and that we continue advancing until every sulfuric stinking gate of hell falls limply down. We aim as emissaries in His Kingdom to see all of Jesus’ enemies put under His feet. He will do that work, but He has also called us to be about that work (praying, declaring Christ, making disciples, having godly children, attending public worship, feasting at His table, etc. ). We live in the Kingdom of Christ and we pray to see abortion abolished so that no more child is decapitated in her mother’s womb. We labor in Jesus’ fields to see sodomy eliminated and a wholesome, godly, and covenantal view of sex and marriage proliferated. And as Christians, we do not bury our talents in the sand… We keep after it, worshipping, praying, seeking Him, and doing what He has commanded us to do until all two-spirit penguins are entirely extinct because we do not believe allowing people to live in their madness or delusions is healthy, proper, or holy. We labor till every family comes under the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ, as promised to Abraham, and until our enemy is put swiftly under our saviors heel. Until that day, we must love people enough to herald the one true Gospel to them and we must hate the sinister movements sufficiently enough to work for their demise. No other behavior is Biblically legitimate.  

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On October 12, 2023 By In Culture, Politics, Theology

IS ISRAEL THE CHOSEN PEOPLE OF GOD?

THIS DISPENSATIONAL MOMENT

Every time a rocket is launched from the Gaza strip, a dispensationalist gets his wings. And by wings, I mean like Red Bull, in that he will receive a rather large boost of courage, enough, in fact, to crawl up and out of the hole he has been hiding in from his last failed prediction and to flood the internet with a panoply of reasons why the end times are really here this time and happening right before our eyes. This confusion is entirely unhelpful and could be cleared up if any of my former 28 articles and podcast episodes on the topic of eschatology were seriously engaged with. Shameless plug intended.

Along with this, I have also seen a litany of social media posts proclaiming solidarity with Israel in their current war with Hamas, because they are God’s chosen people and we do not want to be on the wrong side with God. For this reason, before getting on to our topic today, I thought it might be wise to mention a few things to consider regarding the covenantal status of modern-day Israel.

STILL GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE?

Perhaps the best place to start would be with what the word Israel means. From the Scriptures, the first time the word is used is when God wrestles with Jacob and then renames Him Israel, which means “the one who wrestles with God.” Knowing this, it is obvious that “Israel” is not a genetic term that is passed through bloodlines down through families in the same way “Egyptian” would be. To be a member of Israel was a spiritual activity, of knowing God and wrestling with Him in intimate fellowship, not just merely inheriting the right DNA.

We know this is true, because God calls all kinds of ethnic peoples “Israel.” For instance, when the Israelites leave the land of Egypt, escaping from the slavery to be a free people serving their covenant God, the text tells us that a “mixed multitude” went out with them (Exodus 12:38). Apparently, there was a contingency of Egyptians who were so impressed by Yahweh, that they abandoned the empire of the Pharaohs and joined themselves with Israel, becoming followers of Jehovah. Just like the ethnic born sons of Abraham, they too were accounted as Israel.

Moses also reiterates that Israel was a spiritual distinction, when he admonishes the people to “circumcise their hearts” (Deuteronomy 10:16). All of the men of Israel had performed the physical sign of circumcision on their genitals, but there were many of them who were not true Israel in the heart (Romans 9:6). This is because being a member of true Israel was never about biology or physicality, but of spiritual allegiance to Yahweh.

Thinking also of the lineage of Christ, from the genealogies recorded in the Gospels, we can ascertain that Ruth the Moabite was a part of His lineage and was grafted into Israel. Along with Ruth, Rahab the Canaanite prostitute was a part of His line as well as Bathsheeba, who was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and could have been a Hittite herself (the text is unclear). Regardless, the Servant of the Lord, whom Isaiah calls “true Israel” was the one who assimilated people who were far off, and foreigners to His covenant promises, and brought them into Him as one people. This is why Paul says that there is neither Jew nor Greek (Galatians 3:28) because all are one in Christ, made one through His finished work (Ephesians 2:14-16), to be children of Abraham by faith (Galatians 3:29), and have been made into a new nation, the “Israel of God” which includes slaves and free, male and female, Jews and Gentiles together as one unified people of God (Galatians 6:16).

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On October 2, 2023 By In Postmillenialism, Theology

When Do The “Last Days” Really Begin? (Part 2)

INTRODUCTION

As you will remember from Part 1, a great noise exploded from the Upper Room in Jerusalem. Within those walls, a hurricane-like wind came rushing in, a torch-like flame settled onto the crown of each disciple’s head, and a crowd began forming to make sense of the confusion. Amid this pandemonium, all of the elect believers in the group, meaning everyone whom God had chosen for salvation, began hearing Peter preaching in their native language, causing wonder to come over the crowd. For the ones whom God chose and poured out His Holy Spirit, this was an exhilarating affair, watching the plague of Babel dissolve right before their very eyes. 

But, men and women were standing there that day who were not elect. There were some whom God did not pour out His Spirit and for whom this dramatic display was patently absurd. They even began hurling the accusation that the recipients of the Spirit must be inebriated from drinking too liberally of spirits. This was a terrible mischaracterization. And suggesting the Holy Spirit’s work was on the same level of foul inebriation was likely a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit that Jesus previously warned about. 

Against this context, Peter began preaching from a text in Joel that perfectly fit the situation and precisely addressed both groups. Last week, we saw the situation. God was bringing the Old Covenant period of a temple, a priesthood, a sacrificial system, kosher laws, and clean and unclean statues to an abrupt halt. He ended that transitional era to bring about the final epoch of human history, where His Son, the true and better Adam, would recapture everything the first Adam lost. Because of this, that old Kingdom of types and shadows needed to go away because our Lord would not allow any rival kingdoms to become a distraction from His purposes. 

With that, Joel also declares that there will be dramatic signs in the heavens, on the earth, and among the people of God, showcasing exactly when the last days began. According to Joel, “the last days” were not a future end of human history but the final moments of the Mosaic era, and when that glorious era faded away, there would be undeniable signs proving it was happening. As we saw last week, some of those signs applied to the believers, to the ones who experienced the outpouring of the Spirit, spoke in tongues, prophesied, had visions, and dreamed dreams. These signs would confirm that the old boat was sinking and they were on the new covenant raft. Today, we will look at the five remaining symbols, the ones that are signs of judgment for all those who have rejected Christ, and we will understand how all of this proves the last days Peter, Luke, and Joel were speaking about already occurred. 

A NOTE ABOUT EARTHLY SIGNS AND HEAVENLY WONDERS

For many, Acts 2:19 guarantees that the events described concern things that have not already occurred. They will tell you that the first-century sky over the top of Jerusalem wasn’t filled with any significant wonders, the earth during those forty years was not full of various perturbations and signs, that the blood, fire, and smoke have no historical referent, and the sun and moon did not go dark and stop casting their light. Because, they say, these things have not yet happened; we cannot be living in the last days, and anyone who says so is full of malarkey. 

One need only reply to that assertion with: “Hold my beer.”

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On September 22, 2023 By In Postmillenialism, Theology

When Do The “Last Days” Really Begin? (Part 1)

SWING AND A MISS

When Christians hear the phrase “The Last Days” or “The End Times,” what images come to mind? For some, a clandestine government laboratory where a pseudo-scientist whose name rhymes with Dr. Ouchie is busily brewing the next super woo-flu that will kill a quarter of the population is well in view. For others, it could be a one-world cryptocurrency, planes falling from the sky, a maniacal and blood-lusting monarch, or the Romish pope (if you’re really old school). Whatever the case, for the vast majority of evangelicalism, we have utterly missed it. 

Now, when I say we have missed it, I don’t mean a booming foul ball ovah tha Green Monstah, kid! No. We missed it like an undersized middle schooler trying to make contact against a Randy Johnson slider. It wasn’t even close. 

Instead of the final fleeting moments at a cataclysmic end to human history, when the Bible talks about the “Last Days,” it means the last days of the old covenant era. It refers to the winding down of that redemptive epoch where priests mediated between God and us, temples were where you traveled to meet with God, and animal blood sacrifices stood between you and the almighty. The “Last Days” picture the close of that significant era and the dawning of the final chapter of human history, where the world will know God through His one and only Son. 

We are not waiting for that great eon to materialize in the uncertain future. The old covenant has been closed already, the new and final covenant era is fully here, and the events we will look at today, from Acts 2:17-21, will overwhelmingly confirm this. 

THE TEXT:

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. – Acts 2:17-21 KJV

TEN PROOFS THE “LAST DAYS” ARE IN THE PAST

A BIT OF BACKGROUND:

Whenever one of the three great pilgrimage feasts prescribed in the Law occurred, Jerusalem’s population would swell from a couple hundred thousand to well over a million. This is because all Jewish males were required by the Law of God to attend these three festivals every year. And, since most Jewish males were also married with sizable families, the city would balloon up rather quickly. 

Intriguingly, history reveals that numerous Jewish pilgrims embarked on journeys from the farthest reaches of the known world to partake in these festivals. While some hailed from nearby Judea and Galilee, a significant contingent had settled in the distant corners of pagan cities, towns, and nations across the vast reaches of the Roman empire. This widely scattered group bore the title of “diaspora Jews,” they arrived in Jerusalem, each carrying the rich history and traditions of their native people and the languages from their far-flung homelands.

Now, on the morning of Pentecost, downtown Jerusalem would have been packed with no shortage of extra bodies. Once-quiet city blocks, home to only a handful of families, now teemed with hundreds, even thousands, of individuals pressed tightly together. According to the account of Luke, as the Spirit descended, a deafening crescendo of sound erupted, undoubtedly piquing the curiosity of neighbors, onlookers, and the naturally inquisitive. 

They found a group of very ordinary, a run-of-the-mill assortment of blue-collar Galileans. But, with one extraordinary twist. Instead of those Galileans praising God in Aramaic, the common tongue of the Jews, everyone present heard them praise God in their native tongue. For instance, picture those from Rome hearing hymns sung in Latin or Greek while those from Egypt listened to Peter’s preaching in the elegant flow of Coptic. Even pilgrims journeying from as far as Seluecia, modern-day Iraq, were met with the disciples speaking fluently in their Parthian tongue. They all collectively saw the ancient curse of Babel being miraculously reversed before their very eyes. Well… Not all of them.

Among them stood a few who remained untouched by the Holy Spirit’s power, hearing only an incomprehensible babel crescendoing from a cacophony of gibberish. Instead of recognizing the nature of this event as a fulfillment of eschatological prophecies, they hurled derision and ridicule upon the disciples, accusing them of inebriation. 

For the one group, God had chosen to freely give them the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That outpouring caused them to praise Him, to hear His praises in their own dialects and languages, and to go on to serve Him for a lifetime. For the skeptical party, God intentionally chose to withhold His Spirit, leading them from skepticism to utter ruination, poignantly demonstrating His total sovereignty over election and regeneration. 

To clear up any confusion between these two groups and let everyone in earshot know what was happening, Peter stood up and declared precisely what was happening from the prophet Joel. Within those very poignant words from Peter, we will see ten undeniable proofs that the end times have already come. 

This week, we will look at the first five that Peter mentions, describing the situation for those who love Christ and receive Him. They are the ones who will experience the Holy Spirit’s power, inherit the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit, and they are the ones who will endure to the end, and be saved in those last days. 

Next week, we will look at the final five signs that Peter mentions from Joel’s prophecy, which concern those who hate Christ and reject Him. For them, incredible signs and wonders will demonstrate they are on the wrong side of the end-times debate. They will not make it alive into Jesus’ Kingdom; they will be buried in the ashes of Jerusalem, along with all of the other old covenant trappings and shadows. 

With that, let us look at the first five proofs that the “last days” concern the events in the first century, focusing on how that applies to believers and Christians. 

PROOF 1: PENTECOST SETS THE TIME FRAME

Peter addresses the concerns that they were drunk before the second breakfast by saying: “in the last days” God will pour out His Spirit “upon all flesh” (v. 17). Peter is acknowledging the loud sound they just heard and the miraculous gifting of this group to speak in each other’s languages, is proof that the outpouring of the Spirit had just happened, which makes this an eschatological event. Peter isn’t overlooking the scene unfolding beside Him to opine about something that will happen in the distant future. He claims that the last days had come upon them, and His chief evidence for this is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as Joel describes, just happened. Based on this, we can confidently say that the last days are not something we are waiting on but something that has already occurred. 

PROOF 2: YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTER WILL PROPHESY

Along with the loud whooshing clamor in the Upper Room and the Holy Spirit’s miraculous appointment of tongue speaking among the crowds, Peter also claims that young men and women will prophesy in the last days. According to Luke, Joel, and Peter, the onset of male and female prophets in the first century was one of the sure signs that the Old Covenant era was drawing to a close because, in these last days, God had chosen to speak through His Son (Hebrews 1:2). 

These men are clear: when you see young women and young men prophesying in the Spirit, then you will know that the temple, the priesthood, the ceremonial law, and the sacrificial system are on their last leg and the final chapter of redemption, where the world will be conquered by God’s reigning Son, will be fully inaugurated. For some time, both redemptive eras coexisted simultaneously. Meaning the new covenant era of Christ’s advancing Kingdom lived alongside the waning Herodian temple, the Aaronic priesthood, and the Mosaic system of sacrifice for about forty years (from the time of Christ’s ascension in AD 30 or 33 until the destruction of the temple in AD 70). 

That Biblical generation (about 40 years) was the God-appointed season where men and women could prophesy, which is precisely what occurred in the first century. For instance, when Jesus was born and brought into Jerusalem to be circumcised, he was greeted by an elderly woman named Anna, and an elderly man named Simeon, who were called prophets and ones with whom the Spirit of God was speaking (Luke 2:25, 36). Paul also alerts us that young men and young women were prophesying in the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 14:1-6) and needed specific instructions on how to implement this gift appropriately (1 Corinthians 11:4-5). Luke also tells us that Philip, who was one of the seven Hellenistic deacons, had daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:8-9) and that there was a man named Agabus in the Christian Church who prophesied (Acts 11:27-28 and Acts 21:10-11).

Do not miss the fact that prophets had been notably missing from Judah since the death of Malachi, the final prophet. For four hundred years, God was silent, refusing to raise up new prophetic voices to speak to the people until the birth of His Son. When Christ was born, God unleashed the prophetic tongue once more and brought both men and women to speak prophecies in the early church, which again is a sign that the last days were occurring in the incredible events described in the first century. 

There is one last point to consider before moving along. When God raises up prophets, especially female prophetesses, it is always in transitional periods during the waning of epochs. Think about it like a book with various chapters. The nation of Israel went through a chapter called slavery, a chapter about being set free and given a new covenant, a chapter about the occupation in a new land, a chapter of rule by judges, a chapter that describes the rule by various kings, an exile, a homecoming, and a period of silence that lasted 400 years. During each of these chapters near the closing moments of each, God raises a prophetic voice to bring that chapter to a close. For instance, God raised up Moses and Miriam (both described as prophets) in the waning years of the slavery period, just before a new era of communal Torah observance, called the Mosaic covenant, began. The same is true for Deborah, a prophetess before the Lord, presiding over some of the final years of theocratic rule by judges just before the Jewish Monarchy was installed. This was also the case for Huldah, a prophetess who had a significant role to play in the life of Josiah, a mere 30-40 years before the end of the Monarchy and the beginning of exile (2 Kings 22). 

As the final grains of sand in the Old Covenant hourglass fell, it is not surprising that a proliferation of the prophetic occurred. It is also clear that this was a specific prophecy given by Joel, recounted by Luke, that confirms this would happen when the last days of the Old Testament had come. All of this points us to the fact that these prophets and prophetesses were a forty-year sign to the first-century believers and us that the last days had already begun and that a new era was dawning. That era is the epoch of Christ and His Kingdom, which we live in today.

PROOF 3: YOUNG MEN WILL SEE VISIONS

In the same way that a rise in prophetic activity would signal the last days of the Old Covenant era, visions among young men would also be used by God as a powerful testimony that the changing of ages was occurring. This is precisely what we see going down in the New Testament, and we do not need to speculate whether this sign was fulfilled in the first century. We know unequivocally that it was. 

For instance, while Paul was on his way to kill the believers hiding in Damascus, he was confronted by a dazzling vision of the resurrected Christ (Acts 9; 26:18-20), where he was told to go into the city and wait for a man named Ananias to pray for him. When he arrived, the Lord also gave Ananias a vision as well, comforting the reluctant disciple that it was His will that Paul be healed (Acts 9:10-18). Beyond this, Cornelius the centurion saw a vision (Acts 10:2-4), Peter saw a vision (Acts 10:9-23; 11:5), Paul had multiple additional visions (Acts 16:10; 18:9), and John the apostle wrote an entire book of the Bible, which is the book of Revelation, based on a vision (Revelation 9:17).

Peter cited visionary experiences as critical evidence that the last days of the Mosaic period were occurring in the first century. By the Lord’s grace, we have a plethora of evidence pointing to this being true. 

PROOF 4: OLD MEN WILL DREAM DREAMS

In addition to noises, tongues, the outpouring of the Spirit, prophesying, and visions, God continued piling up evidence that the last days were happening more than 2000 years ago by citing the fact that the old men would be dreaming dreams. This also occurred in the New Testament period, with examples such as Joseph, who, like his Old Testament counterpart, had many dreams (Matthew 1:20-24; 2:13, 19, 22), the Magi (Matthew 2:12), and even Pilate’s wife, who is not a man, but was given a specific dream by God as a warning to her husband, Pilate (Matthew 27:19). Once more, we see a proliferation of these events in the first century, not so we will be confused on the timing of the last days, but so God can give us exacting clarity. 

PROOF 5: A JEWISH REVIVAL

Peter’s quotation from Joel 2 also states, in verse 18,: “On my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit.” When we realize that “my servant” is a common way for God to refer to Israel and Judah as a nation (Isaiah 41:8-9; 44:1; 49:3; 53:11; and Jeremiah 30:10), then we can understand that the prophecy of Joel is a prophecy, not just about the salvation of the nations, but also about the events beginning with a revived Jewish people who will have the Holy Spirit poured out upon them in the first century. 

This certainly did not happen in full at the events of Pentecost, nor during this forty-year window we have been describing. And, for that matter, Joel does not predict a monolithic revival in Judah where everyone is converted to Jesus. That did not happen in history, and that is not at all what Joel says. When he describes the revival of Judah, he talks about it like there is a remnant that survives while the majority of the unfaithful Jews will perish. For instance, in Joel 2:32, the prophet says: “For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.” 

Joel tells us that God will set apart a remnant of Jews to be a part of His elect people that will eventually take over the entire world. This happened most assuredly since the vast majority of the first-century church was Jewish converts to Jesus, beginning with the 3000 who were cut to the heart while listening to Peter preach (Acts 2:41). A future revival of Israel may still be coming. We pray to the Lord it does. But, it is no small matter that droves of Jewish people began worshiping a resurrected man named Jesus Christ in the first-century city of Jerusalem. Let us not take for granted how shocking that would have been at that time and in that context. 

CONCLUSION

As we have seen from this text, Joel lays out five initial pieces of evidence that the first-century people were living in the last days. These passages have proven that the “last days” are not esoteric events in OUR future but clear events within the forty-year future of Peter and the first-century church. We have seen how the glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit caused men and women to hear Peter, who was preaching in a foreign language, perfectly and clearly in their mother tongue. We have seen how the Holy Spirit’s outpouring caused His people to prophesy, His elect young men to dream dreams, predestined old men to hear visions, and a remnant of Judeans to come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ for their salvation. 

The last days began in the first century and ended with the end of Jerusalem and her temple. That isn’t to claim that the Bible contains nothing in our future; it does. But when we consider this text and the ones that have come before, we can conclusively conclude that these events have already happened. Until next time, enjoy living in the last chapter of human history and get to work building Jesus’ Kingdom.

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