-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE TO RULE OVER THE PLANET AND ALL LIFE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gen 1:5 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen 1:27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Gen 1:28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIN ENTERS: GOD PROMISED THAT THE SEED OF WOMAN WOULD PREVAIL OVER SIN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gen 2:15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. Gen 2:16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; Gen 2:17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." Gen 2:18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" Gen 3:2 The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; Gen 3:3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" Gen 3:4 The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! Gen 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Gen 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. Gen 3:8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Gen 3:9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" Gen 3:10 He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." Gen 3:11 And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" Gen 3:12 The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." Gen 3:13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Gen 3:14 The Lord God said to the serpent," Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOD TOOK ENOCH, HE DIDN'T DIE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gen 5:21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. Gen 5:22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. Gen 5:23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Gen 5:24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. Jud 1:14 It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOD PROMISED ABRAHAM THAT HE WOULD BECOME A GREAT NATION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gen 12:2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; Gen 12:3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOD PROMISED AN EVERLASTING COVENANT WITH ISAAC AND HIS DESCENDANTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gen 17:19 But God said, "No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOD PROMISED THE LAND TO ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB AND THEIR DESCENDANTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deu 1:8 See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them.' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISRAEL WAS CALLED BY GOD TO BE HIS PEOPLE; HE BROUGHT THEM OUT OF EGYPT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exo 19:3 Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: Exo 19:4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CALL / TRUMPET OF GOD - THE FIRST: A CALL TO ISRAEL TO BE PRIESTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exo 19:5 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; Exo 19:6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISRAEL FAILED TO UPHOLD THE COVENANT: ONLY THE LEVI'S WERE CHOSEN AS PRIESTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Num 3:6 "Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. Num 18:2 But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be joined with you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. Deu 10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day. Deu 18:1 "The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the Lord's offerings by fire and His portion. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISRAEL WAS EXILED TO BABYLON BECAUSE IT FAILED TO OBSERVE THE LAND SABBATH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lev 25:2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the Lord. Lev 25:3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, Lev 25:4 but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IF ISRAEL FAILED TO OBSERVE THE LAND SABBATH OF LEVITICUS 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lev 26:32 I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it. Lev 26:33 You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste. Lev 26:34 'Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. Lev 26:35 All the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your sabbaths, while you were living on it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE PROPHET ELIJAH TAKEN UP INTO HEAVEN - DOES NOT DIE - HIS FUTURE ROLE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2Ki 2:11 As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. Mal 4:5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. Mat 11:14 And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. Mat 16:14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." Mat 17:3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISRAEL WAS EXILED TO BABYLON FOR 70 YEARS - 490 years without a land sabbath -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jer 29:10 "For thus says the Lord, 'When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHADRACH, MESCHACH and ABED-NEGO - ISRAEL will be protected IN THE TRIBULATION DANIEL WAS NOT PRESENT - HE WAS RIGHTEOUS, A PICTURE OF THE CHURCH, NOT THERE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, "Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?" They replied to the king, "Certainly, O king." Dan 3:25 He said, "Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DANIEL PRAYED KNOWING THAT THE TIME OF THE EXILE WAS NEARLY COMPLETE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dan 9:18 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 are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. Dan 9:19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name." Dan 9:20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, Dan 9:21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. Dan 9:22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. Dan 9:23 At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GABRIEL FORETELLS THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL AND THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dan 9:24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. Dan 9:25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Dan 9:26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. Dan 9:27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISRAEL RETURNS TO THEIR LAND - DECREE OF ARTEXERES March 14, 445BC NOTE: 3 decrees, exact dates are uncertain - calendar differences -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ezr 6:14 And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONCEPT OF A WEEK BEING SEVEN YEARS - JACOB AND LABAN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gen 29:18 Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel." Gen 29:20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JESUS ENTERED INTO JERUSALEM 483 YEARS AFTER DECREE - Nisan 10, 32 AD 69 weeks of years - Daniel 9:25, 26 - leaving ONE WEEK of 7 YEARS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Mat 21:5 "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'" Mat 21:7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Jn 12:15 "FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY'S COLT." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PASSOVER, UNLEAVENED BREAD, FIRST FRUITS - JESUS FULFILLED THE TORAH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mat 12:40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Gen 1:5 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. Lev 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. (THURSDAY 14 NISAN) Jn 19:31 Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. (THURSDAY 14 NISAN) Mar 15:42 When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, (THURSDAY 14 NISAN) Lev 23:6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. Lev 23:7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. (FRIDAY 15 NISAN) Luk 23:54 It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Mat 27:62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, (SATURDAY 16 NISAN - the SABBATH according to the COMMANDMENT) Mat 27:64 Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead, 'and the last deception will be worse than the first." Mat 27:65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how." Mat 27:66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone Mat 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. (SUNDAY 17 NISAN) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JESUS ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, ANGELS EXPLAIN HE WILL RETURN IN THE SAME WAY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Act 1:6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" Act 1:7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; Act 1:8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." Act 1:9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. Act 1:10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. Act 1:11 They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHURCH STARTED ON PENTECOST -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mat 16:18 I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Act 2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Act 2:2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Act 2:3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CHURCH IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE WRATH OF GOD; ISRAEL WILL BE PROTECTED -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1Th 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 1Th 5:10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 1Th 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WE ARE SEALED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT - WHEN THE RESTRAINER IS REMOVED, WE WILL BE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jn 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Jn 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Eph 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, Eph 4:30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WATCHING FOR JESUS - WE DO NOT KNOW WHEN HE WILL RETURN FOR THE CHURCH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mat 24:42 "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. Luk 21:36 But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." Mar 13:32 But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Mar 13:33 "Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. Mar 13:34 It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Mar 13:35 Therefore, be on the alert--for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning-- Mar 13:36 in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. Mar 13:37 What I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!'" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JESUS HAS GONE TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR HIS BRIDE - THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mat 22:2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. Jn 14:1 "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. Jn 14:2 In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. Jn 14:3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Jn 14:4 And you know the way where I am going." Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." Rev 19:9 Then he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are true words of God." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE WORLD WILL KNOW TO THE DAY WHEN JESUS IS TO VISIBLY RETURN TO SAVE ISRAEL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dan 12:9 He said, "Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. Dan 12:11 From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Mat 24:15 "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), Mar 13:14 "But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISRAEL FAILED AGAIN, LONGER EXILE - 7x7x7x7 = apx. 453 BC + 2401 yrs = 1948 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lev 26:18 If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. Lev 26:21 'If then, you act with hostility against Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins. Lev 26:24 then I will act with hostility against you; and I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins. Lev 26:28 then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins. Deu 4:27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAY 14, 1948 - ISRAEL BECOMES A SOVEREIGN NATION AGAIN AFTER 2,400 YEARS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isa 66:8 "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. Eze 36:17 "Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. Eze 36:18 Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. Eze 36:19 Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. Eze 36:20 When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, 'These are the people of the Lord; yet they have come out of His land.' Eze 36:21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. Eze 36:22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. Eze 36:23 I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord," declares the Lord God, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. Eze 36:24 For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Eze 37:21 Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; Eze 37:22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. Rom 11:25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery--so that you will not be wise in your own estimation--that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; Rom 11:26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." Rom 11:27 "THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JESUS WILL KEEP HIS BRIDE, the church, OUT OF THE TRIBULATION. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rev 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Rev 3:11 I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAUL COMFORTS THOSE ABOUT THE LORD'S RETURN. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1Th 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 1Th 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 1Th 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 1Th 4:18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE LAST TRUMPET OF GOD - A CALL TO THE CHURCH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1Co 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 1Co 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SON OF DESTRUCTION CAN NOT BE REVEALED UNTIL THE RESTRAINER HAS DEPARTED -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2Th 2:3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 2Th 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 2Th 2:5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 2Th 2:6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 2Th 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 2Th 2:8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 2Th 2:9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 2Th 2:10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FALSE PROPHETS WILL ARISE, LAWLESSNESS WILL INCREASE, BUT AS GOD SPARED LOT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2Pe 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2Pe 2:2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 2Pe 2:3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 2Pe 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; 2Pe 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 2Pe 2:6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; 2Pe 2:7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 2Pe 2:8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), 2Pe 2:9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, 2Pe 2:10 and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, 2Pe 2:11 whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. 2Pe 2:12 But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, 2Pe 2:13 suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, 2Pe 2:14 having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; 2Pe 2:15 forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 2Pe 2:16 but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet. 2Pe 2:17 These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. 2Pe 2:18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, 2Pe 2:19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 2Pe 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 2Pe 2:21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. 2Pe 2:22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CHURCH - A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rev 1:6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father--to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE TIME OF TESTING, OF JACOB'S DISTRESS, BUT ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jer 30:7 'Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob's distress, But he will be saved from it. Zec 12:2 "Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. Zec 12:3 It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. Zec 12:8 In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. Zec 12:9 And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Zec 12:10 "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. Rom 11:26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRIBULATION OF ISRAEL AND GOD'S JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD - REVELATION 6 - 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://bibletech.net/pix/Promises-n-Prophets.jpg notes from 8 January 2022