Who’s In Charge?
Bible Study Time 11-5-06
Church links:
Bible Study Time 11-5-06
The world we live in today is a very complex world. We face many diverse problems which have far reaching consequences. These problems are so complex that understanding the problems is hard enough, let alone coming up with solutions.
Take global warming, for instance. Is global warming real or are we just in a warming cycle? If global warming is real, then what is the cause? Is it a situation that man has created by pumping pollutants into the air, and is it possible that man could somehow reverse the trend? Or is global warming simply a result of natural forces over which man has no control at all?
The global economy is also mystifying. For many years, our country was essentially self sufficient. We produced and bought our own products, and as a result our companies could set their product prices and pay their employees accordingly. But now our companies are forced to compete with companies around the world that often require their employees to work for unacceptably low wages and in intolerably poor working conditions.
Then there’s the problem that relates to the distribution of the world’s wealth. Many people live in opulence and splendor, while others go to bed hungry and still others starve to death. If those who can provide relief try to do so, their efforts are often hindered or sabotaged by belligerent and oppressive governments or warlords.
This leads us to the subject of our own safety and security. We live under the constant threat of attack from people who believe that killing innocent civilians is an acceptable means of negotiating their political agenda. Many of the leaders of the smaller nations of the world show signs of fanaticism and their decisions often defy human reasoning. But at the same time one can hardly blame those legitimate and reasonable leaders who express their fears about negotiating with superpowers who always negotiate from a position of undeniable and overpowering strength.
If this description of our world today gives you a certain sense of anxiety, please allow me to share with you the good news of God’s word. The good news is that God is the creator of the universe and that He is sovereign over all events that take place within the universe. There is nothing that takes God by surprise.
Years ago, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon thought that he had everything under control, but when his heart was lifted up with pride, God humbled him. Daniel, Chapter 4, says that Nebuchadnezzar was:
Daniel 4:33 (NKJ)
33 . . . driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.
But at the appointed time, God healed Nebuchadnezzar and restored him to his position as the King of Babylon. Afterward, Nebuchadnezzar said:
Daniel 4:34-35 (NKJ)
34 . . . I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; he does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, "What have You done?"
Nebuchadnezzar had to learn what Daniel and his friends already knew. They knew about and believed Isaiah, Chapter 45, where God said:
Isaiah 45:12 (NKJ)
12 I have made the earth, and created man on it. I-- My hands-- stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded.
They knew the words of Psalms 78, where we read:
Psalms 78:12-16 (NKJ)
12 Marvelous things (the Lord did for His people) in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; and He made the waters stand up like a heap.
14 In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
16 He also brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
In Daniel’s day, the children of Israel were suffering as a result of their sin against the Lord. They had been taken away from their homes in Judah and were living as captives in Babylon, but still Daniel knew that God was in control.
He knew that the suffering of the Jewish people was a result of their sin against the Lord, so he spent much time in prayer, confessing the sin of Israel and praying for deliverance. Daniel knew the promises of God, and he knew that someday God would deliver Israel from captivity and that He would ultimately fulfill the promises which had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Daniel, Chapter 9, Daniel prayed:
Daniel 9:15-19 (NKJ)
15 " . . . O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day-- we have sinned, we have done wickedly!
16 "O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.
17 "Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord's sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.
18 "O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.
19 "O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."
Oh, how we need to humble ourselves before the Lord in this way. When we face a world this is full of trouble and when we face problems that are too complex for us to understand or solve, we need to turn to the Lord, confess our sins and ask for deliverance.
But the complex problems of our world today really point to one thing, and that is that God is preparing this world for the great tribulation period. The Lord said that when the tribulation period comes, the tribulation of that day will be such as has not been since the beginning of the world.
Just think about that. That one statement speaks volumes because this world has already seen periods of tribulation and suffering which are almost unimaginable. Most of us don’t even want to think about the kinds of things that people have had to suffer through the centuries or even the suffering that is in our present world today. But whatever suffering this world has seen, it pales in comparison to the suffering that will take place during the tribulation period.
For instance, after the first trumpet, there will be hail and fire mixed with blood which will be thrown down upon the earth, and a third of the earth will be burned with fire. After the second trumpet, a great mountain of fire will be cast into the sea, and a third of all living things in the sea will die.
After the sixth trumpet, four angels will be released to stir up the armies of mankind, and they will gather an army of two hundred million soldiers. The Bible says that the heads of their horses will resemble the heads of lions, and out of their mouths will come fire, smoke and sulfur.
As a result of these three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur, a third of mankind will be killed. But then, the Bible says that:
Revelation 9:20-21 (NIV)
20 The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood-- idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
It seems that these people will simply continue on with business as usual. They will continue on in their sin, without ever considering the fact that their suffering is a punishment from God. They will be ignorant of what God is doing, and that is something that God will not allow. He wants people to understand what He’s doing, and He wants people to know what their options are.
Therefore, just before the seventh trumpet, God will send two men to be His witnesses. These two men will preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they will plainly declare that all of their suffering is a result of their rebellion against the true and the living God. So when the seventh trumpet sounds, and the seven bowls of the wrath of God are poured out upon the earth, the people will no longer be ignorant of their sin or of the fact that God is behind all of their suffering.
The Bible says that the seventh bowl of the wrath of God will bring about the greatest earthquake of all time. It will be of such magnitude that every island will disappear and many mountains will be leveled. Hugh hailstones of about a hundred pounds each will fall from the sky.
There will be tremendous suffering, but do you think that the people of the earth will repent? No, not at all. The Bible says that at this point, the people will know that God is causing their suffering and rather than repent, they will curse the Lord. I can just imagine the survivors in their ragged clothes, barely able to stand, but still shaking their fist at heaven and cursing God.
Well, beloved, the problems we face today are complex, and the suffering that we see is immense, but these things are simply a precursor to the suffering that this world is headed for. Today, we live in the age of grace, and at this point God is showing His longsuffering to mankind.
God is fully aware of the rage toward God that exists within the heart of man. God is fully aware that mankind in general has rejected Him as the creator of the universe. God is fully aware of the fact that mankind in general has rejected the Bible, which is God’s personal revelation of Himself. God is fully aware of the fact that mankind in general has rejected Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died upon the cross for our sins. God is aware of all these things, and yet the heavens are silent.
The question is, how long will God’s longsuffering continue? At what point will God say the time for vengeance has come. Even the saints in heaven will ask that question during the tribulation period. Revelation 6 says that when the Lord Jesus opened the fifth seal, John:
Revelation 6:9-10 (NKJ)
9 . . . saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
How long indeed? That is the question which many people have asked, but no one yet has been given the answer. We have no idea when the tribulation period will begin. As Daniel was confessing Israel’s sin and praying for God’s deliverance, God sent the angel Gabriel to tell Daniel about the things that would have to take place before the establishment of the everlasting kingdom, which, by the way, Daniel had already seen in many of his visions.
Daniel knew from Jeremiah’s prophecies that the Jews would return to Jerusalem after 70 years of captivity, but Gabriel went on to tell Daniel, in so many words, that the Messiah would appear in Israel 483 years after the return of the Jews to Jerusalem. However, he also said that the Messiah would be rejected and killed at that time. Gabriel then told Daniel that after the Messiah’s death, there was going to be a seven year period of desolation and suffering before the kingdom could be established.
It is obvious from this passage that Daniel was not shown anything about the period of time in which we live today. We have already seen a period of nearly 2000 years since the death of Christ, and the earth has yet to experience the kingdom.
The only scriptural explanation for this is found in Paul’s revelation concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ. It was Paul who revealed the fact that Israel’s kingdom program had been set aside so that God could call out a body of believers in which there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles, a body in which the Jews have no advantage over the Gentiles in terms of their relationship with God. Paul said that in this Body, Gentiles are fellow heirs with the Jews and of the same body.
Paul said specifically that this revelation concerning our present age and the Church of our present age was never revealed to anyone before it was revealed to him by God. Even the angel Gabriel did not know about this mystery when he spoke to Daniel about the events which would surely come to pass.
Today, we live in this mystery age, and we belong to this mystery church. We have no idea how long this age will last. It may end today, or it may continue for another thousand years, but if we look at the things that are happening in our world, it certainly seems that God is preparing this world for the tribulation period.
We know from the scriptures that at the end of this age, the Church will be caught up to be with Christ in the glory of heaven. Then, there will be seven years of tribulation before the Lord Jesus returns to the earth at His second coming. At that time, every eye shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven as Christ returns to the earth to destroy the antichrist and establish His earthly kingdom.
If you don’t know the Lord today, if you have never accepted God’s free gift of salvation, let me say to you as Paul said to the Corinthians, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
The judgment of the Lord is coming, but those who put their faith in Christ and His finished work upon the cross will be saved from the judgments of the tribulation period, and they will be saved from the eternal punishment of the lake of fire.
Well, I see that our time is gone for this morning. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Take global warming, for instance. Is global warming real or are we just in a warming cycle? If global warming is real, then what is the cause? Is it a situation that man has created by pumping pollutants into the air, and is it possible that man could somehow reverse the trend? Or is global warming simply a result of natural forces over which man has no control at all?
The global economy is also mystifying. For many years, our country was essentially self sufficient. We produced and bought our own products, and as a result our companies could set their product prices and pay their employees accordingly. But now our companies are forced to compete with companies around the world that often require their employees to work for unacceptably low wages and in intolerably poor working conditions.
Then there’s the problem that relates to the distribution of the world’s wealth. Many people live in opulence and splendor, while others go to bed hungry and still others starve to death. If those who can provide relief try to do so, their efforts are often hindered or sabotaged by belligerent and oppressive governments or warlords.
This leads us to the subject of our own safety and security. We live under the constant threat of attack from people who believe that killing innocent civilians is an acceptable means of negotiating their political agenda. Many of the leaders of the smaller nations of the world show signs of fanaticism and their decisions often defy human reasoning. But at the same time one can hardly blame those legitimate and reasonable leaders who express their fears about negotiating with superpowers who always negotiate from a position of undeniable and overpowering strength.
If this description of our world today gives you a certain sense of anxiety, please allow me to share with you the good news of God’s word. The good news is that God is the creator of the universe and that He is sovereign over all events that take place within the universe. There is nothing that takes God by surprise.
Years ago, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon thought that he had everything under control, but when his heart was lifted up with pride, God humbled him. Daniel, Chapter 4, says that Nebuchadnezzar was:
Daniel 4:33 (NKJ)
33 . . . driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.
But at the appointed time, God healed Nebuchadnezzar and restored him to his position as the King of Babylon. Afterward, Nebuchadnezzar said:
Daniel 4:34-35 (NKJ)
34 . . . I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; he does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, "What have You done?"
Nebuchadnezzar had to learn what Daniel and his friends already knew. They knew about and believed Isaiah, Chapter 45, where God said:
Isaiah 45:12 (NKJ)
12 I have made the earth, and created man on it. I-- My hands-- stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded.
They knew the words of Psalms 78, where we read:
Psalms 78:12-16 (NKJ)
12 Marvelous things (the Lord did for His people) in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; and He made the waters stand up like a heap.
14 In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
16 He also brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
In Daniel’s day, the children of Israel were suffering as a result of their sin against the Lord. They had been taken away from their homes in Judah and were living as captives in Babylon, but still Daniel knew that God was in control.
He knew that the suffering of the Jewish people was a result of their sin against the Lord, so he spent much time in prayer, confessing the sin of Israel and praying for deliverance. Daniel knew the promises of God, and he knew that someday God would deliver Israel from captivity and that He would ultimately fulfill the promises which had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Daniel, Chapter 9, Daniel prayed:
Daniel 9:15-19 (NKJ)
15 " . . . O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day-- we have sinned, we have done wickedly!
16 "O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.
17 "Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord's sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.
18 "O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.
19 "O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."
Oh, how we need to humble ourselves before the Lord in this way. When we face a world this is full of trouble and when we face problems that are too complex for us to understand or solve, we need to turn to the Lord, confess our sins and ask for deliverance.
But the complex problems of our world today really point to one thing, and that is that God is preparing this world for the great tribulation period. The Lord said that when the tribulation period comes, the tribulation of that day will be such as has not been since the beginning of the world.
Just think about that. That one statement speaks volumes because this world has already seen periods of tribulation and suffering which are almost unimaginable. Most of us don’t even want to think about the kinds of things that people have had to suffer through the centuries or even the suffering that is in our present world today. But whatever suffering this world has seen, it pales in comparison to the suffering that will take place during the tribulation period.
For instance, after the first trumpet, there will be hail and fire mixed with blood which will be thrown down upon the earth, and a third of the earth will be burned with fire. After the second trumpet, a great mountain of fire will be cast into the sea, and a third of all living things in the sea will die.
After the sixth trumpet, four angels will be released to stir up the armies of mankind, and they will gather an army of two hundred million soldiers. The Bible says that the heads of their horses will resemble the heads of lions, and out of their mouths will come fire, smoke and sulfur.
As a result of these three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur, a third of mankind will be killed. But then, the Bible says that:
Revelation 9:20-21 (NIV)
20 The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood-- idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
It seems that these people will simply continue on with business as usual. They will continue on in their sin, without ever considering the fact that their suffering is a punishment from God. They will be ignorant of what God is doing, and that is something that God will not allow. He wants people to understand what He’s doing, and He wants people to know what their options are.
Therefore, just before the seventh trumpet, God will send two men to be His witnesses. These two men will preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they will plainly declare that all of their suffering is a result of their rebellion against the true and the living God. So when the seventh trumpet sounds, and the seven bowls of the wrath of God are poured out upon the earth, the people will no longer be ignorant of their sin or of the fact that God is behind all of their suffering.
The Bible says that the seventh bowl of the wrath of God will bring about the greatest earthquake of all time. It will be of such magnitude that every island will disappear and many mountains will be leveled. Hugh hailstones of about a hundred pounds each will fall from the sky.
There will be tremendous suffering, but do you think that the people of the earth will repent? No, not at all. The Bible says that at this point, the people will know that God is causing their suffering and rather than repent, they will curse the Lord. I can just imagine the survivors in their ragged clothes, barely able to stand, but still shaking their fist at heaven and cursing God.
Well, beloved, the problems we face today are complex, and the suffering that we see is immense, but these things are simply a precursor to the suffering that this world is headed for. Today, we live in the age of grace, and at this point God is showing His longsuffering to mankind.
God is fully aware of the rage toward God that exists within the heart of man. God is fully aware that mankind in general has rejected Him as the creator of the universe. God is fully aware of the fact that mankind in general has rejected the Bible, which is God’s personal revelation of Himself. God is fully aware of the fact that mankind in general has rejected Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died upon the cross for our sins. God is aware of all these things, and yet the heavens are silent.
The question is, how long will God’s longsuffering continue? At what point will God say the time for vengeance has come. Even the saints in heaven will ask that question during the tribulation period. Revelation 6 says that when the Lord Jesus opened the fifth seal, John:
Revelation 6:9-10 (NKJ)
9 . . . saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
How long indeed? That is the question which many people have asked, but no one yet has been given the answer. We have no idea when the tribulation period will begin. As Daniel was confessing Israel’s sin and praying for God’s deliverance, God sent the angel Gabriel to tell Daniel about the things that would have to take place before the establishment of the everlasting kingdom, which, by the way, Daniel had already seen in many of his visions.
Daniel knew from Jeremiah’s prophecies that the Jews would return to Jerusalem after 70 years of captivity, but Gabriel went on to tell Daniel, in so many words, that the Messiah would appear in Israel 483 years after the return of the Jews to Jerusalem. However, he also said that the Messiah would be rejected and killed at that time. Gabriel then told Daniel that after the Messiah’s death, there was going to be a seven year period of desolation and suffering before the kingdom could be established.
It is obvious from this passage that Daniel was not shown anything about the period of time in which we live today. We have already seen a period of nearly 2000 years since the death of Christ, and the earth has yet to experience the kingdom.
The only scriptural explanation for this is found in Paul’s revelation concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ. It was Paul who revealed the fact that Israel’s kingdom program had been set aside so that God could call out a body of believers in which there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles, a body in which the Jews have no advantage over the Gentiles in terms of their relationship with God. Paul said that in this Body, Gentiles are fellow heirs with the Jews and of the same body.
Paul said specifically that this revelation concerning our present age and the Church of our present age was never revealed to anyone before it was revealed to him by God. Even the angel Gabriel did not know about this mystery when he spoke to Daniel about the events which would surely come to pass.
Today, we live in this mystery age, and we belong to this mystery church. We have no idea how long this age will last. It may end today, or it may continue for another thousand years, but if we look at the things that are happening in our world, it certainly seems that God is preparing this world for the tribulation period.
We know from the scriptures that at the end of this age, the Church will be caught up to be with Christ in the glory of heaven. Then, there will be seven years of tribulation before the Lord Jesus returns to the earth at His second coming. At that time, every eye shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven as Christ returns to the earth to destroy the antichrist and establish His earthly kingdom.
If you don’t know the Lord today, if you have never accepted God’s free gift of salvation, let me say to you as Paul said to the Corinthians, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
The judgment of the Lord is coming, but those who put their faith in Christ and His finished work upon the cross will be saved from the judgments of the tribulation period, and they will be saved from the eternal punishment of the lake of fire.
Well, I see that our time is gone for this morning. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Church links:
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