THE RETURN OF THE KING:PART 2
Luke 21:25-28 ESV
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
https://billygraham.org/answer/is-jesus-christ-going-to-return-again-to-this-earth-some-day/
It is very clear in Scripture that Jesus Christ will bodily and visibly return to this earth. In the Old Testament there are prophecies which can be fulfilled only by our Lord’s return. In the New Testament there are over 300 references to Christ’s second coming. Christ Himself emphasized that He would come again. On one occasion He said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3).
John 14:3 And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to be with me, so that you may be where I am.
(BBE)
On another occasion Jesus said, “You will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62; see also Mark 13:26, Matthew 24:30 and Luke 21:27).
Mr 14:60 And the high priest got up in the middle of them, and said to Jesus, Do you say nothing in answer? what is it which these say against you?
61 But he kept quiet and said nothing. Again the high priest questioning him said, Are you the Christ, the son of the Holy One?
62 And Jesus said, I am: and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.
(BBE)
Mr 13:26 And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then he will send out the angels, and will get together his saints from the four winds, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven.
(BBE)
Mt 24:30 And then the sign of the Son of man will be seen in heaven: and then all the nations of the earth will have sorrow, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
(BBE)
Lu 21:26 Men's strength will go from them in fear and in waiting for the things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of the heavens will be moved.
27 And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory.
(BBE)
The Apostles continued the emphasis on Jesus’ return. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Paul said, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” Revelation 1:7 says, “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.” The bodily, visible return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the Christian’s “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).
Signs of the times moments:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/06/07/national/nankai-trough-megaquake-cause-1410-trillion-damage-japan-dent-economy-20-years-report/#.WxvY6dVKjIU
A massive earthquake predicted to occur in Japan within the next 30 years could cause ¥1.4 quadrillion ($12.8 trillion) in damage to the economy, much more than a government estimate, a construction industry body said Thursday.
The estimate is based on an analysis of a magnitude 8 to 9 quake, followed by tsunami, along the Nankai Trough that extends southwest from the Pacific coast of central Japan.
And then the President began:
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/10/17445976/trump-trudeau-g7-communique
Just hours after leaving the G7 (Group of Seven) summit in Quebec on Saturday, President Donald Trump abruptly retracted US support for a joint statement signed by every nation in the group and blasted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “meek and mild.”
Firing off tweets aboard Air Force One, Trump said he was reversing the US position in response to Trudeau’s comments at a press conference at the end of the summit. Trudeau had pledged to impose tariffs on the US in response to Trump’s recent steel and aluminum tariffs against Canada.
“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around,’” Trump tweeted. “Very dishonest & weak.”
Trump’s confrontational moves capped off two days of tense negotiations between the US and some of its most treasured allies. The annual meeting is typically marked by near consensus on issues like free trade.
This move means Europe will accelerate its building of its armed forces and will perceive the need of a strong man "Face of the Franchise" to stand against the Russian War Machine. Trump has succeeded in giving them a common enemy, the USA, and in weakening, perhaps forever, the set of alliances needed to bring Russia and China down. Putin relishes seeing a rich Europe without its NATO bodyguard.
Trump followed that act with a grand gesture of making North Korea a "player" on the world stage. Kim got validation by giving up the visible portion of his nuclear testing program. Maybe since it was just a piece of paper. Plus he got China to smile at Trump's promised removal of US forces from the region. Something China had lobbied him for and clearly had negotiated with Trump for ahead of time. The President may have paved the way for China to continue to undermine Asian governments this time with no US armed forces strategically placed for a timely intervention. The rise of the 200 million man army goes higher still.
The strategies suggest something: if the Democrats win significant victories in the election this year and they may be able to with no ballot fixing, I suspect they will be the last free elections in the country and may even be countermanded for "national security. The Supreme Court has already paved the way for ballot fixing ahead of time with their Ohio ruling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN7fnrTyG9w
It may be a good idea for every democrat and independent in the country to make certain they are recorded as voters.
All news agencies would become Fox affiliates. Blogs like this would disappear along with their writers. And the other world powers would have to decide if they could stomach an indefinite Trump reign.
I only suggest it because that fits where the world is headed with the AC about to appear. In the US, we have been protected and the church has been allowed to grow, but it has carried a cost in that the safety for growth has become the safety for the growth of "variations" and sects. The tares have also flourished. Many Christians have risen to levels of power in the government. Trump's arrival gave them all manner of opportunity to speak out about his misinterpretation of the Bible and of Christianity. Insead, most seem to have jumped on the bandwagon and ignored both the Word and their "family values" labels. Like the Pharisees of Jesus time, they now have too much to lose to want the boat rocked. And so they are turning their backs on their religion for earthly rewards.
I understand that action. In the past, I have done it for a good deal less or to keep friends rather than rock the boat of my own simple life. But sometimes we forget that getting thrown from the boat was what God planned for Jonah's success. And we act like Jonah when God's will is done however unwilling we are for it to come. Right now, doing this blog, I have become a bit like a reversed Jonah, in that I don't want Jesus to come because of those I know who will be lost. I keep hoping He holds off until they come to Him or are back in the fold. I'd like to see their familiar faces again in forever.
But it is time to say enough with the current events and more with the Bible. If those who don't see the End Times blossoming haven't seen it by now they either never will or it will take something besides me placing letters on a page to help sway them. Trump was put in place to usher in the reduction of the US and the end of our world influence. Our USA world is falling as the AC rises as it must for the Word to reach completion. A lot of this is beginning to sound like "I told you so." It should sound like "Come to Christ!"
Pray for Trump and for the nation, for the world, for evangelization everywhere.
Now we harp on prophecy because it has been given by God and is one hundred per cent accurate. The prophecy we refer to in End Times has to do with promises to Israel and to the nations. To the Jew and the gentile.
The Tribulation is the boiling point of sin to which man will either turn his back on the heat and return to God or do the Frog analogy, sit in the gradually heating water until he is boiled to death. As it ends, things begin to fall into place.
In Revelation 18 we see that "God remembered Babylon." This can be contrasted to Noah way back in Genesis, when God "remembered" him and his family in the ark. God never forgot either the family then of the city here. I mentioned it was likely destroyed by man when the harlot lost her spiritual power to the False Prophet sometime around the middle Tribulation. But in 18, people still mourn the city, some form of commerce still goes on, but it has fallen to hard times. Man did not totally destroy it. Now God takes his turn.
I want you to try to understand the difference from human destruction and Godly destruction. For centuries, the story of the Trojan war in the Iliad was thought to be a complete fabrication of Homer. A myth and nothing more. Then in the late 1800's archeologists and a conman or two discovered the ruins of that great city, the dig showed the place had been conquered at least ten times, razed and rebuilt over and over. The city that became myth actually had a much more colorful history. There are cities like that throughout the ancient world. In the Americas the Aztecs and Toltecs and Inca left their ruins as monuments to failed civilizations.
Now consider Sodom. No one knows where it is but there is this:
Seeking to answer the question “Where is Sodom?” and using the Biblical geography of Genesis 13 as a guide, Collins decided to excavate Tall el-Hammam, an extensive and heavily fortified site located in modern Jordan at the eastern edge of the kikkar. First inhabited during the Chalcolithic period (4600–3600 B.C.E.), the site attained its maximum size during the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–1600 B.C.E.) and became one of the largest cities in Canaan. But unlike other Canaanite cities that continued to flourish in the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 B.C.E.), Tall el-Hammam was destroyed by fire at the end of the Middle Bronze Age and remained uninhabited for centuries.
Across Tall el-Hammam, archaeologists found widespread evidence of an intense conflagration that left the Middle Bronze Age city in ruins. They found scorched foundations and floors buried under nearly 3 feet of dark grey ash, as well as dozens of pottery sherds covered with a frothy, “melted” surface; the glassy appearance indicates that they were briefly exposed to temperatures well in excess of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the approximate heat of volcanic magma. Such evidence suggests the city and its environs were catastrophically destroyed in a sudden and extreme conflagration.
But this is not Sodom but another city in that area. It seems many cities were destroyed then. Oh, volcanoes don't seem to be anywhere around there.
When men destroy there is still a spot to rebuild after a time. And the marks of war remain.
When God destroys, the marks of His power remain.
It is essential that Babylon be destroyed before Jesus return. I represents the entire world system. It is the example of the Fallen Flesh epitomized in a city. The system of kings and serfs is gone. The system of capitalism dies with it. The system of communism fades away. Humanity's competition to do better than each other. Magic, demonic, pointless, futile dies with her. And God allows and angel to write her epitaph:
Re 18:21 And one strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, So on an impulse the great city, Babylon, will be thrown down and not at all will be found any more.
22 And the voice of harpers, and of musicians. and flutists, and of trumpeters will be heard no more at all in you. And every craftsman of any craft will not be found any more in you. And the sound of a mill will never more be heard at all in you.
23 And the light of a lamp will never more shine at all in you. And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will never more be heard at all in you. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth; for by your sorceries all nations were deceived.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all those who were slain on the earth.
(MKJV)
Now the city becomes nothing. No one will every live there again. No humans will be allowed to deceive humanity as ever again with the lust for power and riches and glory, all of which can't survive the grave.
God allowed her to exist to fulfill His goal of hardening hearts that would never receive Him anyway. Now He has purged her excesses from the world and paved the way for His Son's arrival.
Re 19:1 And after these things I heard a great sound of a numerous crowd in Heaven, saying, Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and honor and the power of the Lord our God!
2 For true and righteous are His judgments. For He has judged the great harlot who defiled the earth with her fornication, and He has avenged the blood of His servants out of her hand.
Recall those calling for God to act way back before the middle of the Tribulation. Now they are satisfied that He has kept His word and I am amazed at his patience with us all.
3 And secondly they said, Hallelujah! And her smoke rose up forever and ever.
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God sitting on the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah!
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all His servants, and the ones fearing Him, the small and great.
6 And I heard as the sound of a great multitude, and as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of strong thunders, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns!
And we have that famed "foretaste of glory divine". Once we are married, joined to Him by the Holy Spirit in an eternal relationship. we emerge into our Final Flesh. Our old bodies were thrown off and the new became ours at the Rapture, but now.. now we are complete in our union and our flesh becomes like His. Notice:
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and we will give glory to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself.
We have prepared ourselves. As the Hebrew bride-to-be, we have studied the ways of our new family before we wed. We have learned the customs, the rules of the family and the way the patriarch behaves. Like the new Duchess in England, we are now entering into the things of our new family, our new life, guided by the female relative that trained us while we were in waiting, betrothed, while our beloved built us a place in his Father's land.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.
9 And he said to me, Write, Blessed are those who have been called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God.
Th angel gives guidance and then we learn that this angel is not the Angel of the Lord whom we read about in Genesis, the one who accepted worship. He is a fellow servant. This is an interesting way of putting it. He serves as we serve. I wonder of this is someone from the future, a Christian leader, perhaps even John himself, come back to tell John what to say, to open his eyes to all this. Or are the angels now considering us their equals and, if we have the Spirit of God in us, do they as well? Or do they merely see us as servants as they are because the Spirit allows that?
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, Stop! I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Now consider that: the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. If we have the testimony of Jesus we have the spirit of prophecy IN us. IN US! This is why prophecy speaks to us. Why we read the Word and are stirred. This is essential to understand. If prophecy is speaking the Word of God and speaking it with understanding, we can all understand that: we can in fact all have that gift of prophecy Paul wished for us. To understand the Word. Our relationship with Jesus lets us understand His Word as a gift. IF we choose to recognize it as the Word of God and if we choose to be walking in His Spirit over the worldly things of making a show of ourselves. That last part is very hard to do. Our Final Flesh calls and our Fallen Flesh translates and, yes, something gets lost in the translation, so we need to learn to speak the language ourselves over the lure of "our old man."
11 And I saw Heaven opened. And behold, a white horse! And He sitting on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness He judges and makes war.
12 And His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head many crowns. And He had a name written, one that no one knew except Himself.
13 And He had been clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
This isn't the Jesus we expected. No more "Lamb of God". This is the Lion of Judah:
https://www.gotquestions.org/lion-tribe-Judah.html
lion of the tribe of Judah Question: "Who/what is the Lion of the tribe of Judah?"
Answer: The Lion of the tribe of Judah is a symbol found in Genesis and Revelation. In Genesis, Jacob blesses his son Judah, referring to him and his future tribe as a lion’s cub and a lion (Genesis 49:9). In Revelation, this symbol is seen again when the Lion of the tribe of Judah is declared to have triumphed and is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals (Revelation 5:5). Jesus is the One who is worthy to open the scroll (see John 5:22). Therefore, Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
In Genesis, as Jacob blesses his children, he promises Judah that his brothers will praise him and that they will bow down to him. Jacob also tells Judah, “You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?” (Genesis 49:9). Jacob says that in the future the scepter and ruler’s staff will not depart from Judah “until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be His” (Genesis 49:10). This messianic prophecy points forward to the second coming of the Lord Jesus, the descendant of Judah who will rule the earth (Revelation 19:11–16).
Based on Jacob’s blessing, the lion is a symbol of the tribe of Judah, which is known as the kingly tribe (King David was of the tribe of Judah). Lions symbolize power, fierceness, and majesty. Lions are the king of the beasts, and the Lion of the tribe of Judah is the king of everything. In the Old Testament, God is sometimes described as being like a lion. In Isaiah 31:4, just “as a lion growls, a great lion over its prey—and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against it, it is not frightened by their shouts . . . so the LORD Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.” The Lord is not afraid of His enemies. He protects His people and does not allow them to be conquered. In Hosea, God is angry at Israel because they became proud and forgot Him. God says, “I will be like a lion to them. . . . like a lion I will devour them. . . . You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your helper” (Hosea 13:7–8). It is better to experience the help and protection of the Lion than to deny His kingship and face His fierceness.
In Revelation 5, Jesus is the long-awaited Lion of the tribe of Judah. John weeps because no one was found worthy to open the scroll of God’s judgment or even to look inside it. Then one of the elders says to John, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” (Revelation 5:4–5). Both of the genealogies in Matthew and Luke record that Jesus is a descendant of the tribe of Judah. When Jesus is revealed as the promised Lion of the tribe of Judah, it reveals His deity. He is the true king and the One to whom belongs the long-awaited obedience of nations. Yet it is not His fierceness or the force of His power that makes Him worthy. The Lion has triumphed because He became a Lamb (Revelation 5:6–10; cf. John 1:29). Jesus Christ is worthy because He lived a perfect, sinless life and in shedding His blood defeated sin and death. His death and resurrection have resulted in a protection for His people and an eternal kingdom that will honor and worship God. Ruling this kingdom will be Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
But we do have a promise the lion will lie down with the lamb.
Notice also that John mentions Jesus' name twice. It is the foundation of his power in relationship to
God. names in the bible reflect the character and destiny of the person with the name. Jesus name is The Word of God, one we have learned to treasure and carry in our hearts by memory and by "feel." A reference to our link to Him through the Spirit. We don't know that name yet but we will ride with Him who bears it and we have eternity to understand completely the awe which will likely consume us then.
14 And the armies in Heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, so that with it He should strike the nations. And He will shepherd them with a rod of iron. And He treads the winepress of the wine of the anger and of the wrath of Almighty God.
16 And He has on His garment, and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
THAT is the description of the Lion of Judah that every Jew has waited to hear.
17 And I saw one angel standing in the sun. And he cried with a great voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come and gather together to the supper of the great God,
18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders, and the flesh of strong ones, and the flesh of horses, and those sitting on them, and the flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth and their armies, being gathered to make war against Him who sat on the horse, and against His army.
Now the bad guys have also been waiting. They just don't know it. All those gasses and grenades and missiles and guns and all the tools of war, from the jungle spear to the atom bomb, have been man searching for the thing that will kill God. We do it daily, thousands of times, by taking the Lord's name in vain and all the wrongs we do. Every sin can inflict a hurt on the one on the Cross and on his Father. Satan wants one last shot at the Big Guy. Satan's the underdog here. He's been trying to distill sin into one perfect weapon of death for the source of life and love. He will always fail but that doesn't mean anything. He will always try. In the eternity of every day of life on this time bound planet, he will try to develop the one thing to kill God. Until this last moment, this time overlooking a blood choked valley with storms raging and clouds being parted by the appearance of the eternal enemy. Until looking up at an army of purified humans galloping toward the filthy, dying world they left behind. Until he faces the truth that he has always denied. Until he faces the true power of the Word he has always misused.
In Tolkien's novel where I borrowed the title of this post, the king and his "fellowship" do heady battle with the evil kingdom powered by Sauron, the Satan twin villain of the piece. It lasts for a good portion of the book. Here, we see God's true take on all the battles and wars of Man. We were always in it for the adrenaline rush, the glory of the fatherland, the thrill of victory over the agony of defeat. We were always trying to prove we were bigger and stronger than the other guy. Even when God won the battles for us, we kept ignoring that it was Him. We praised Him in words and then told everyone how great WE were. Even when we suffered a defeat like 9/11, we first went to God then rushed out to seek our revenge, but at the wrong target. We always pick the wrong target unless God guides us.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet doing signs before it, (by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast), and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the rest were slain by the sword of Him who sat on the horse, it proceeding out of His mouth. And all the birds were filled from their flesh.
(MKJV)
No mounting up the forces, no sending the privates to their death while the Kings observe battle with their Balaams. The same as that false prophet's fate and his king's fate, doom eternal for those who battle God. The Antichrist and his False Prophet are the first humans to go into that fate in the Lake of Fire. And the human army instantly falls dead becoming bird food. Their souls await their fate in Sheol, the holding place apart from God where the torture is worse because apparently Heaven is in full view of the accursed.
And we can hear Isaiah 's promise in the distant past come back as a shout from the grave:
Isa 35:4 Say to those of a hasty heart, Be strong, fear not; behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the full dealing of God. He will come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness waters shall break out, and streams in the desert.
7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land shall become springs of water in the home of jackals, in its lair, and a place for the reed and rush.
8 And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The Way of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it. But He shall be with them; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err in it.
9 No lion shall be there, nor any beast of prey shall go up on it; it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there.
10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
(MKJV)
Though 19 ends here, one last bit of the victory business remains:
Re 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from Heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.
3 And he cast him into the abyss and shut him up and set a seal on him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that he must be loosed a little time.
(MKJV)
Recall when Jesus trapped demons and sent them into pigs? Refresher:
Luke 8:26 And they sailed down to the country of the Gadarenes, which is across from Galilee.
27 And He going out onto land, He met a certain man out of the city, who had had demons a long time, and put on no clothes, nor stayed in a house, but among the tombs.
28 And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him and said with a loud voice, What is to me and to You, Jesus, Son of God the Most High? I beseech You, Do not torment me!
29 (For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had seized him. And he had been kept bound in chains and in fetters, and he broke the bands and was driven into the deserted places by the demons.)
30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is your name? And he said, Legion; because many demons had entered into him.
31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.
32 And there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain. And they begged Him that He would allow them to enter into them. And He allowed them.
33 And coming out of the man, the demons entered into the pigs. And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake and were choked.
34 And those feeding the pigs, and seeing the thing, fled. And leaving, they reported to the city and to the farms.
35 And they went out to see what had been done. And they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
36 Also those who saw it told them how the demon-possessed one was healed.
37 And all the multitude of the neighborhood of the Gadarenes were seized with a great fear, and asked Him to depart from them. And entering into the boat, He returned.
38 And the man out of whom the demons had gone out begged Him, desiring to be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
39 Return to your own house and declare what God has done to you. And he went his way and proclaimed throughout all the city what great things Jesus had done to him.
(MKJV)
The abyss. The fear of that haunted the demons, haunts them to this day and will for their eternity in it.
I know I mentioned some discussion of Zechariah and Jesus arrival here, but I want to wait a bit and this is already longer than intended. I feel like a joke my father's old friend Clarence Long once told: "When the minister takes off his watch and lays in on the lectren before the sermon, what does it mean?" Most people reply that it means he is keeping track of how long he has gone so he can end in his allotted time. The punch line: "Absolutely nothing." We do go on.
Next time I will pause a bit to discuss that abyss. I think it is one of the most telling aspects of science and the Word no one wants to touch. It is also essential to understanding our Final Flesh and the nature of it. And how it all relates to the Second Death. And THEN we will return to the completion of the Resurrection andt Zack and the Lord landing on the planet and what follows. the physical victory arriving even as He long ago won the Spiritual victory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN0OJGb2Pjg
Luke 21:25-28 ESV
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
https://billygraham.org/answer/is-jesus-christ-going-to-return-again-to-this-earth-some-day/
It is very clear in Scripture that Jesus Christ will bodily and visibly return to this earth. In the Old Testament there are prophecies which can be fulfilled only by our Lord’s return. In the New Testament there are over 300 references to Christ’s second coming. Christ Himself emphasized that He would come again. On one occasion He said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3).
John 14:3 And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to be with me, so that you may be where I am.
(BBE)
On another occasion Jesus said, “You will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62; see also Mark 13:26, Matthew 24:30 and Luke 21:27).
Mr 14:60 And the high priest got up in the middle of them, and said to Jesus, Do you say nothing in answer? what is it which these say against you?
61 But he kept quiet and said nothing. Again the high priest questioning him said, Are you the Christ, the son of the Holy One?
62 And Jesus said, I am: and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.
(BBE)
Mr 13:26 And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then he will send out the angels, and will get together his saints from the four winds, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven.
(BBE)
Mt 24:30 And then the sign of the Son of man will be seen in heaven: and then all the nations of the earth will have sorrow, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
(BBE)
Lu 21:26 Men's strength will go from them in fear and in waiting for the things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of the heavens will be moved.
27 And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory.
(BBE)
The Apostles continued the emphasis on Jesus’ return. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Paul said, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” Revelation 1:7 says, “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.” The bodily, visible return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the Christian’s “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).
Signs of the times moments:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/06/07/national/nankai-trough-megaquake-cause-1410-trillion-damage-japan-dent-economy-20-years-report/#.WxvY6dVKjIU
A massive earthquake predicted to occur in Japan within the next 30 years could cause ¥1.4 quadrillion ($12.8 trillion) in damage to the economy, much more than a government estimate, a construction industry body said Thursday.
The estimate is based on an analysis of a magnitude 8 to 9 quake, followed by tsunami, along the Nankai Trough that extends southwest from the Pacific coast of central Japan.
And then the President began:
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/10/17445976/trump-trudeau-g7-communique
Just hours after leaving the G7 (Group of Seven) summit in Quebec on Saturday, President Donald Trump abruptly retracted US support for a joint statement signed by every nation in the group and blasted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “meek and mild.”
Firing off tweets aboard Air Force One, Trump said he was reversing the US position in response to Trudeau’s comments at a press conference at the end of the summit. Trudeau had pledged to impose tariffs on the US in response to Trump’s recent steel and aluminum tariffs against Canada.
“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around,’” Trump tweeted. “Very dishonest & weak.”
Trump’s confrontational moves capped off two days of tense negotiations between the US and some of its most treasured allies. The annual meeting is typically marked by near consensus on issues like free trade.
This move means Europe will accelerate its building of its armed forces and will perceive the need of a strong man "Face of the Franchise" to stand against the Russian War Machine. Trump has succeeded in giving them a common enemy, the USA, and in weakening, perhaps forever, the set of alliances needed to bring Russia and China down. Putin relishes seeing a rich Europe without its NATO bodyguard.
Trump followed that act with a grand gesture of making North Korea a "player" on the world stage. Kim got validation by giving up the visible portion of his nuclear testing program. Maybe since it was just a piece of paper. Plus he got China to smile at Trump's promised removal of US forces from the region. Something China had lobbied him for and clearly had negotiated with Trump for ahead of time. The President may have paved the way for China to continue to undermine Asian governments this time with no US armed forces strategically placed for a timely intervention. The rise of the 200 million man army goes higher still.
The strategies suggest something: if the Democrats win significant victories in the election this year and they may be able to with no ballot fixing, I suspect they will be the last free elections in the country and may even be countermanded for "national security. The Supreme Court has already paved the way for ballot fixing ahead of time with their Ohio ruling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN7fnrTyG9w
It may be a good idea for every democrat and independent in the country to make certain they are recorded as voters.
All news agencies would become Fox affiliates. Blogs like this would disappear along with their writers. And the other world powers would have to decide if they could stomach an indefinite Trump reign.
I only suggest it because that fits where the world is headed with the AC about to appear. In the US, we have been protected and the church has been allowed to grow, but it has carried a cost in that the safety for growth has become the safety for the growth of "variations" and sects. The tares have also flourished. Many Christians have risen to levels of power in the government. Trump's arrival gave them all manner of opportunity to speak out about his misinterpretation of the Bible and of Christianity. Insead, most seem to have jumped on the bandwagon and ignored both the Word and their "family values" labels. Like the Pharisees of Jesus time, they now have too much to lose to want the boat rocked. And so they are turning their backs on their religion for earthly rewards.
I understand that action. In the past, I have done it for a good deal less or to keep friends rather than rock the boat of my own simple life. But sometimes we forget that getting thrown from the boat was what God planned for Jonah's success. And we act like Jonah when God's will is done however unwilling we are for it to come. Right now, doing this blog, I have become a bit like a reversed Jonah, in that I don't want Jesus to come because of those I know who will be lost. I keep hoping He holds off until they come to Him or are back in the fold. I'd like to see their familiar faces again in forever.
But it is time to say enough with the current events and more with the Bible. If those who don't see the End Times blossoming haven't seen it by now they either never will or it will take something besides me placing letters on a page to help sway them. Trump was put in place to usher in the reduction of the US and the end of our world influence. Our USA world is falling as the AC rises as it must for the Word to reach completion. A lot of this is beginning to sound like "I told you so." It should sound like "Come to Christ!"
Pray for Trump and for the nation, for the world, for evangelization everywhere.
Now we harp on prophecy because it has been given by God and is one hundred per cent accurate. The prophecy we refer to in End Times has to do with promises to Israel and to the nations. To the Jew and the gentile.
The Tribulation is the boiling point of sin to which man will either turn his back on the heat and return to God or do the Frog analogy, sit in the gradually heating water until he is boiled to death. As it ends, things begin to fall into place.
In Revelation 18 we see that "God remembered Babylon." This can be contrasted to Noah way back in Genesis, when God "remembered" him and his family in the ark. God never forgot either the family then of the city here. I mentioned it was likely destroyed by man when the harlot lost her spiritual power to the False Prophet sometime around the middle Tribulation. But in 18, people still mourn the city, some form of commerce still goes on, but it has fallen to hard times. Man did not totally destroy it. Now God takes his turn.
I want you to try to understand the difference from human destruction and Godly destruction. For centuries, the story of the Trojan war in the Iliad was thought to be a complete fabrication of Homer. A myth and nothing more. Then in the late 1800's archeologists and a conman or two discovered the ruins of that great city, the dig showed the place had been conquered at least ten times, razed and rebuilt over and over. The city that became myth actually had a much more colorful history. There are cities like that throughout the ancient world. In the Americas the Aztecs and Toltecs and Inca left their ruins as monuments to failed civilizations.
Now consider Sodom. No one knows where it is but there is this:
Seeking to answer the question “Where is Sodom?” and using the Biblical geography of Genesis 13 as a guide, Collins decided to excavate Tall el-Hammam, an extensive and heavily fortified site located in modern Jordan at the eastern edge of the kikkar. First inhabited during the Chalcolithic period (4600–3600 B.C.E.), the site attained its maximum size during the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–1600 B.C.E.) and became one of the largest cities in Canaan. But unlike other Canaanite cities that continued to flourish in the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 B.C.E.), Tall el-Hammam was destroyed by fire at the end of the Middle Bronze Age and remained uninhabited for centuries.
Across Tall el-Hammam, archaeologists found widespread evidence of an intense conflagration that left the Middle Bronze Age city in ruins. They found scorched foundations and floors buried under nearly 3 feet of dark grey ash, as well as dozens of pottery sherds covered with a frothy, “melted” surface; the glassy appearance indicates that they were briefly exposed to temperatures well in excess of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the approximate heat of volcanic magma. Such evidence suggests the city and its environs were catastrophically destroyed in a sudden and extreme conflagration.
But this is not Sodom but another city in that area. It seems many cities were destroyed then. Oh, volcanoes don't seem to be anywhere around there.
When men destroy there is still a spot to rebuild after a time. And the marks of war remain.
When God destroys, the marks of His power remain.
It is essential that Babylon be destroyed before Jesus return. I represents the entire world system. It is the example of the Fallen Flesh epitomized in a city. The system of kings and serfs is gone. The system of capitalism dies with it. The system of communism fades away. Humanity's competition to do better than each other. Magic, demonic, pointless, futile dies with her. And God allows and angel to write her epitaph:
Re 18:21 And one strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, So on an impulse the great city, Babylon, will be thrown down and not at all will be found any more.
22 And the voice of harpers, and of musicians. and flutists, and of trumpeters will be heard no more at all in you. And every craftsman of any craft will not be found any more in you. And the sound of a mill will never more be heard at all in you.
23 And the light of a lamp will never more shine at all in you. And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will never more be heard at all in you. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth; for by your sorceries all nations were deceived.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all those who were slain on the earth.
(MKJV)
Now the city becomes nothing. No one will every live there again. No humans will be allowed to deceive humanity as ever again with the lust for power and riches and glory, all of which can't survive the grave.
God allowed her to exist to fulfill His goal of hardening hearts that would never receive Him anyway. Now He has purged her excesses from the world and paved the way for His Son's arrival.
Re 19:1 And after these things I heard a great sound of a numerous crowd in Heaven, saying, Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and honor and the power of the Lord our God!
2 For true and righteous are His judgments. For He has judged the great harlot who defiled the earth with her fornication, and He has avenged the blood of His servants out of her hand.
Recall those calling for God to act way back before the middle of the Tribulation. Now they are satisfied that He has kept His word and I am amazed at his patience with us all.
3 And secondly they said, Hallelujah! And her smoke rose up forever and ever.
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God sitting on the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah!
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all His servants, and the ones fearing Him, the small and great.
6 And I heard as the sound of a great multitude, and as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of strong thunders, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns!
And we have that famed "foretaste of glory divine". Once we are married, joined to Him by the Holy Spirit in an eternal relationship. we emerge into our Final Flesh. Our old bodies were thrown off and the new became ours at the Rapture, but now.. now we are complete in our union and our flesh becomes like His. Notice:
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and we will give glory to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself.
We have prepared ourselves. As the Hebrew bride-to-be, we have studied the ways of our new family before we wed. We have learned the customs, the rules of the family and the way the patriarch behaves. Like the new Duchess in England, we are now entering into the things of our new family, our new life, guided by the female relative that trained us while we were in waiting, betrothed, while our beloved built us a place in his Father's land.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.
9 And he said to me, Write, Blessed are those who have been called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God.
Th angel gives guidance and then we learn that this angel is not the Angel of the Lord whom we read about in Genesis, the one who accepted worship. He is a fellow servant. This is an interesting way of putting it. He serves as we serve. I wonder of this is someone from the future, a Christian leader, perhaps even John himself, come back to tell John what to say, to open his eyes to all this. Or are the angels now considering us their equals and, if we have the Spirit of God in us, do they as well? Or do they merely see us as servants as they are because the Spirit allows that?
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, Stop! I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Now consider that: the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. If we have the testimony of Jesus we have the spirit of prophecy IN us. IN US! This is why prophecy speaks to us. Why we read the Word and are stirred. This is essential to understand. If prophecy is speaking the Word of God and speaking it with understanding, we can all understand that: we can in fact all have that gift of prophecy Paul wished for us. To understand the Word. Our relationship with Jesus lets us understand His Word as a gift. IF we choose to recognize it as the Word of God and if we choose to be walking in His Spirit over the worldly things of making a show of ourselves. That last part is very hard to do. Our Final Flesh calls and our Fallen Flesh translates and, yes, something gets lost in the translation, so we need to learn to speak the language ourselves over the lure of "our old man."
11 And I saw Heaven opened. And behold, a white horse! And He sitting on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness He judges and makes war.
12 And His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head many crowns. And He had a name written, one that no one knew except Himself.
13 And He had been clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
This isn't the Jesus we expected. No more "Lamb of God". This is the Lion of Judah:
https://www.gotquestions.org/lion-tribe-Judah.html
lion of the tribe of Judah Question: "Who/what is the Lion of the tribe of Judah?"
Answer: The Lion of the tribe of Judah is a symbol found in Genesis and Revelation. In Genesis, Jacob blesses his son Judah, referring to him and his future tribe as a lion’s cub and a lion (Genesis 49:9). In Revelation, this symbol is seen again when the Lion of the tribe of Judah is declared to have triumphed and is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals (Revelation 5:5). Jesus is the One who is worthy to open the scroll (see John 5:22). Therefore, Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
In Genesis, as Jacob blesses his children, he promises Judah that his brothers will praise him and that they will bow down to him. Jacob also tells Judah, “You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?” (Genesis 49:9). Jacob says that in the future the scepter and ruler’s staff will not depart from Judah “until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be His” (Genesis 49:10). This messianic prophecy points forward to the second coming of the Lord Jesus, the descendant of Judah who will rule the earth (Revelation 19:11–16).
Based on Jacob’s blessing, the lion is a symbol of the tribe of Judah, which is known as the kingly tribe (King David was of the tribe of Judah). Lions symbolize power, fierceness, and majesty. Lions are the king of the beasts, and the Lion of the tribe of Judah is the king of everything. In the Old Testament, God is sometimes described as being like a lion. In Isaiah 31:4, just “as a lion growls, a great lion over its prey—and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against it, it is not frightened by their shouts . . . so the LORD Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.” The Lord is not afraid of His enemies. He protects His people and does not allow them to be conquered. In Hosea, God is angry at Israel because they became proud and forgot Him. God says, “I will be like a lion to them. . . . like a lion I will devour them. . . . You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your helper” (Hosea 13:7–8). It is better to experience the help and protection of the Lion than to deny His kingship and face His fierceness.
In Revelation 5, Jesus is the long-awaited Lion of the tribe of Judah. John weeps because no one was found worthy to open the scroll of God’s judgment or even to look inside it. Then one of the elders says to John, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” (Revelation 5:4–5). Both of the genealogies in Matthew and Luke record that Jesus is a descendant of the tribe of Judah. When Jesus is revealed as the promised Lion of the tribe of Judah, it reveals His deity. He is the true king and the One to whom belongs the long-awaited obedience of nations. Yet it is not His fierceness or the force of His power that makes Him worthy. The Lion has triumphed because He became a Lamb (Revelation 5:6–10; cf. John 1:29). Jesus Christ is worthy because He lived a perfect, sinless life and in shedding His blood defeated sin and death. His death and resurrection have resulted in a protection for His people and an eternal kingdom that will honor and worship God. Ruling this kingdom will be Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
But we do have a promise the lion will lie down with the lamb.
Notice also that John mentions Jesus' name twice. It is the foundation of his power in relationship to
God. names in the bible reflect the character and destiny of the person with the name. Jesus name is The Word of God, one we have learned to treasure and carry in our hearts by memory and by "feel." A reference to our link to Him through the Spirit. We don't know that name yet but we will ride with Him who bears it and we have eternity to understand completely the awe which will likely consume us then.
14 And the armies in Heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, so that with it He should strike the nations. And He will shepherd them with a rod of iron. And He treads the winepress of the wine of the anger and of the wrath of Almighty God.
16 And He has on His garment, and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
THAT is the description of the Lion of Judah that every Jew has waited to hear.
17 And I saw one angel standing in the sun. And he cried with a great voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come and gather together to the supper of the great God,
18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders, and the flesh of strong ones, and the flesh of horses, and those sitting on them, and the flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth and their armies, being gathered to make war against Him who sat on the horse, and against His army.
Now the bad guys have also been waiting. They just don't know it. All those gasses and grenades and missiles and guns and all the tools of war, from the jungle spear to the atom bomb, have been man searching for the thing that will kill God. We do it daily, thousands of times, by taking the Lord's name in vain and all the wrongs we do. Every sin can inflict a hurt on the one on the Cross and on his Father. Satan wants one last shot at the Big Guy. Satan's the underdog here. He's been trying to distill sin into one perfect weapon of death for the source of life and love. He will always fail but that doesn't mean anything. He will always try. In the eternity of every day of life on this time bound planet, he will try to develop the one thing to kill God. Until this last moment, this time overlooking a blood choked valley with storms raging and clouds being parted by the appearance of the eternal enemy. Until looking up at an army of purified humans galloping toward the filthy, dying world they left behind. Until he faces the truth that he has always denied. Until he faces the true power of the Word he has always misused.
In Tolkien's novel where I borrowed the title of this post, the king and his "fellowship" do heady battle with the evil kingdom powered by Sauron, the Satan twin villain of the piece. It lasts for a good portion of the book. Here, we see God's true take on all the battles and wars of Man. We were always in it for the adrenaline rush, the glory of the fatherland, the thrill of victory over the agony of defeat. We were always trying to prove we were bigger and stronger than the other guy. Even when God won the battles for us, we kept ignoring that it was Him. We praised Him in words and then told everyone how great WE were. Even when we suffered a defeat like 9/11, we first went to God then rushed out to seek our revenge, but at the wrong target. We always pick the wrong target unless God guides us.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet doing signs before it, (by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast), and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the rest were slain by the sword of Him who sat on the horse, it proceeding out of His mouth. And all the birds were filled from their flesh.
(MKJV)
No mounting up the forces, no sending the privates to their death while the Kings observe battle with their Balaams. The same as that false prophet's fate and his king's fate, doom eternal for those who battle God. The Antichrist and his False Prophet are the first humans to go into that fate in the Lake of Fire. And the human army instantly falls dead becoming bird food. Their souls await their fate in Sheol, the holding place apart from God where the torture is worse because apparently Heaven is in full view of the accursed.
And we can hear Isaiah 's promise in the distant past come back as a shout from the grave:
Isa 35:4 Say to those of a hasty heart, Be strong, fear not; behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the full dealing of God. He will come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness waters shall break out, and streams in the desert.
7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land shall become springs of water in the home of jackals, in its lair, and a place for the reed and rush.
8 And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The Way of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it. But He shall be with them; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err in it.
9 No lion shall be there, nor any beast of prey shall go up on it; it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there.
10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
(MKJV)
Though 19 ends here, one last bit of the victory business remains:
Re 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from Heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.
3 And he cast him into the abyss and shut him up and set a seal on him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that he must be loosed a little time.
(MKJV)
Recall when Jesus trapped demons and sent them into pigs? Refresher:
Luke 8:26 And they sailed down to the country of the Gadarenes, which is across from Galilee.
27 And He going out onto land, He met a certain man out of the city, who had had demons a long time, and put on no clothes, nor stayed in a house, but among the tombs.
28 And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him and said with a loud voice, What is to me and to You, Jesus, Son of God the Most High? I beseech You, Do not torment me!
29 (For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had seized him. And he had been kept bound in chains and in fetters, and he broke the bands and was driven into the deserted places by the demons.)
30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is your name? And he said, Legion; because many demons had entered into him.
31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.
32 And there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain. And they begged Him that He would allow them to enter into them. And He allowed them.
33 And coming out of the man, the demons entered into the pigs. And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake and were choked.
34 And those feeding the pigs, and seeing the thing, fled. And leaving, they reported to the city and to the farms.
35 And they went out to see what had been done. And they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
36 Also those who saw it told them how the demon-possessed one was healed.
37 And all the multitude of the neighborhood of the Gadarenes were seized with a great fear, and asked Him to depart from them. And entering into the boat, He returned.
38 And the man out of whom the demons had gone out begged Him, desiring to be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
39 Return to your own house and declare what God has done to you. And he went his way and proclaimed throughout all the city what great things Jesus had done to him.
(MKJV)
The abyss. The fear of that haunted the demons, haunts them to this day and will for their eternity in it.
I know I mentioned some discussion of Zechariah and Jesus arrival here, but I want to wait a bit and this is already longer than intended. I feel like a joke my father's old friend Clarence Long once told: "When the minister takes off his watch and lays in on the lectren before the sermon, what does it mean?" Most people reply that it means he is keeping track of how long he has gone so he can end in his allotted time. The punch line: "Absolutely nothing." We do go on.
Next time I will pause a bit to discuss that abyss. I think it is one of the most telling aspects of science and the Word no one wants to touch. It is also essential to understanding our Final Flesh and the nature of it. And how it all relates to the Second Death. And THEN we will return to the completion of the Resurrection andt Zack and the Lord landing on the planet and what follows. the physical victory arriving even as He long ago won the Spiritual victory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN0OJGb2Pjg
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