Wars Will Intensify

     The Old Testament prophet Zechariah provided a glimpse of a great war that will take place at the end of the future tribulation period.

     “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming…For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem…Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.”  Zechariah 14:1-3

     Zechariah was speaking specifically of the war which will take place at Armageddon.

     The first great war of the tribulation period; however, actually takes place in the heavens.  While this war doesn’t directly involve men, its result will greatly affect everyone living on earth at that time.

     “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.”  Revelation 12:7-8

     That victory by Michael and his angels will be sweet for the inhabitants of heaven but it will spell disaster for the inhabitants of the earth.

     “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!  Woe to the inhabitants of the earth…For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”  Revelation 12:12

     Therefore, Satan will be expelled from heaven and confined to earth where he will inflict God’s chastisement on Israel and the rest of earth’s inhabitants.

     Not only does God allow and sanction wars, He empowers the enemy in order to accomplish His sovereign will.  At the midpoint of the tribulation period God empowers Satan’s puppet, the antichrist, to war against tribulation saints for three and a half years.

     “…And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns…and all the world marveled…saying, ‘Who is able to make war with him?’…And he was given…authority to continue for forty-two months…It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.  And authority was given him…”  Revelation 13:1a, 3b-5, 7

     But at the exact predetermined moment in time according to God’s timeless and perfect plan He sends His Son who is both Warrior and Judge to put an end to the antichrist and his armies.

     “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.  And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war…Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations…And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse…”  Revelation 19:11, 15a, 19

     John continues by describing the results of that war.  Both the antichrist and his false prophet were captured and cast alive into the lake of fire.  The armies of the antichrist were killed by the sword of the horse’s rider and became food for the flying scavengers.

     The devil himself is then locked in the abyss (bottomless pit) for a thousand years.  At the end of the thousand years he is loosed for a short time to make one last attempt to deceive those living on earth in their natural bodies.

     He is swiftly defeated by fire from God and cast in the lake of fire to join the antichrist and false prophet where they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

     During Jesus’ first earthly ministry He foretold of the tension between nations during the present church age.

     “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars…For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…All these are the beginning of sorrows.”  Matthew 24:6-8

     Then how should nations prepare for wars during this age?  Recall an illustration Jesus taught about the cost of discipleship.

     “…what king, going to war does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.”  Luke 14:31-32

     Perhaps our Secretary of Defense should rethink his position.

Is War a Thing of the Past?

     The Secretary of Defense and his boss think that tax revenue could be better spent on entitlement programs than on maintaining a ready military force.  Their thinking is that the United States has recently withdrawn from Iraq and will soon be leaving Afghanistan so it won’t be necessary to maintain the present level of military preparedness.  That raises several questions, i.e. is the threat of war actually lessening in the world?  Is war even sanctioned in the Bible? 

     Recall Paul taught that national Israel’s experiences were to serve as examples for this present age.

     “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.  Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”  1 Corinthians 10:10-11

     The Israelites were involved in war very early in their national history.

     Immediately after the Exodus Pharaoh gave pursuit after the fledgling, fleeing, and defenseless nation.  The Israelites were very much afraid and took their fear and frustration out on Moses.

     “... it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”  Exodus 14:12

     Moses, however, assured the Israelites that God would intervene and destroy the Egyptians.

     “Do not be afraid…For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.  The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”  Exodus 14:13-14

     The Hebrew base for ‘fight’ has several significant synonyms including battle, and war.  Thus the phrase ‘The LORD will fight for you’ means that God would go to war for the Israelites and prevail over their enemy.

     Shortly thereafter when the Israelites were instructed to march boldly into Canaan, after they had searched out the land, Moses reminded them of what God had previously done to the Egyptians.

     “Do not be terrified, or afraid of them.  The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight (go to war) for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes…”  Deuteronomy 1:29-30

     Half a millennium later King David acknowledged that God had taught him how to be a warrior.

     “God is my strength and power…He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.”  2 Samuel 22:33a, 35

     Therefore, not only does God go to war for his people, He also teaches them how to wage successful war. 

     The Bible tells of historical times when Israel was living in relative peace but their enemies would relentlessly pursue them.  Several hundred years after David’s reign when King Jehoshaphat, the fourth king of Judah after the kingdom was divided, learned that he was going to be attacked by kings east of the Jordan.

     The planned attack was totally unprovoked.  In fact the participants were nations that God had previously instructed Israel not to ‘harass or meddle with’.  

     “And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir – whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of…Egypt…here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit..”  2 Chronicles 20:10-11

     King Jehoshaphat and all the people of Israel stood before the LORD.  They confessed that they had no power against such an invading force and pleaded for the LORD to intervene on their behalf.  Shortly thereafter the word of the LORD came to them via the Prophet Jahaziel.

     “…Listen, all you of Judah and…King Jehoshaphat!  Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.’”  2 Chronicles 20:15

     The invaders were utterly confused; they killed each other and were totally defeated.

     Thus God not only sanctions war, but historically has been right in the center of it, especially when it comes to protecting Israel and their land.

     But that was all in the Old Testament; how about in the current generation?  Is war still relevant and if so should a nation prepare for it?

     Those questions will be addressed next week. 

    

    

Universal Resurrection?

     The term ‘universal’ implies the whole of a given population, or more simply, all.  The concept of universality has several profound Biblical applications.

     The first significant use of the term ‘all’ was to quantify the universal consequences of the original sin in the Garden of Eden.

     “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…”  Romans 5:12

     Paul stressed the universality of sin.

     “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”  Romans 3:23

     Universal sin produces universal consequences.

     “For as in Adam all die…”  1 Corinthians 15:22a

     God had announced to Eve in the Garden that disobedience to His commands would result in death.

     “And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat it...lest you die.’”  Genesis 3:2-3

     Satan’s deceitful response:

     “…You will not surely die.”  Genesis 3:4

          The unintended consequence of sin was revealed to King David a millennium before Jesus’ birth.

     “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”  Psalm 51:5

     However, since man was created in God’s own image, mankind will never cease to be.  All will be resurrected from their graves.

     “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”  John 5:28-29

     The wording ‘those who have done good’ does not mean good works or personal efforts; rather it means those who have obeyed Jesus’ teachings and believed in Him for redemption and forgiveness of sins.  ‘Those who have done evil’ refers to those who have rejected His teachings and relied on their self-righteousness for salvation.  Such are embodied in current day Pharisees, which abound.

     Remember Jodi Arias when she thought she would be given the death penalty.  She commented that ‘death was the ultimate freedom.’  How foolish according to the Bible.

     The phrase ‘resurrection of life’ defines the believers of Christ who will be raised in His likeness and spend eternity in His presence.  The ‘resurrection of condemnation’ defines those who will be raised to stand before the great white throne and be condemned to eternal separation and torment.

     Therefore, all of mankind born after Adam:

1)     Are born with a predisposition to sin

2)     Will sin during their lifetime

3)     Are consigned to die for their sin

4)     Will be resurrected

5)     Will remain forever

     Christ was raised from the grave as proof that His propitiation was accepted to appease a holy and righteous God for the sins of repentant mankind.  Furthermore He was raised to judge those who rejected His sacrifice.

     “…He (God) has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.  He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”  Acts 17:31

     Note again the word ‘all’.  It reiterates Christ’s resurrection was/is known to the whole world, i.e. universal awareness.

     Rejecters of Christ will spend eternity in the place prepared for the one who deceived Eve in the Garden and his followers.

     “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels…And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’”  Matthew 25:41, 46

     This teaching is reaffirmed in the final book of the Bible where the destiny of those who rejected the remedy for sin is described.

     “And they were judged, each one according to his works…And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”  Revelation 20:13b, 15

     Therefore, there will be a universal resurrection and each person can choose in which resurrection they will participate and where they will spend eternity.

     Glory to the resurrected Passover Lamb of God!

  

Is Universalism a Valid Theology?

     Recently Joel Osteen was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey when she asked him about the consequences of certain categories of sin condemned in the Scriptures.  He intimated that neither he nor God is in the business of excluding people from the Kingdom of Heaven.

     Such a stand borders on universalism.  The Bible is definitely not silent on the concept of universalism which means in the present context there will be an ultimate universal reconciliation of all mankind with God in the afterlife.

     Let’s examine a common Scripture reference and review its meaning with the aid of a Greek dictionary.

     “For many are called, but few are chosen.”  Matthew 22:14

     The Greek base for ‘many’ in this verse is hosos and has been translated to several English words including ‘all’ or ‘whosoever’.

     The Greek base for the term ‘called’ is kletos meaning those who have received the invitation to enter the Kingdom of God.

     The Greek base for the term ‘but’ is alla meaning ‘opposition’, or on the contrary.

     The Greek base for the term ‘few’ is oligos meaning ‘small’ or ‘little’.

     The Greek base for the term ‘chosen’ is ekloge meaning ‘elect’ or ‘select’.

     One might surmise that there is a universal call to enter the Kingdom of heaven.  That’s true; however, the above verse indicates that the majority of mankind will reject that call.

     Jesus was equally succinct on the subject in His famous Sermon on the Mount.

     “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  Matthew 7:13-14

     Note again the terms ‘many’ and ‘few’.  Jesus reaffirmed the doctrine that the majority of mankind will miss the mark.

     Shortly thereafter He was asked again about the many and the few.

     “Then one said to Him, ‘Lord, are there few who are saved?’  And He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many… will seek to enter and will not be able.’”  Luke 13:23-24

     The ‘many’ includes those who subscribe to any doctrine that assigns any credit to performance or works to earn entrance to the Kingdom.  Such, by default, deny the all sufficient vicarious death of Christ on the Cross.  Those who place their entire hope on the Cross define the ‘few’.

     In addition, the ‘few’ were written in the Book of Life at the foundation of the world.

     Paul further defined the ‘few’ as the children of promise and the ‘many’ as those born according to the flesh.

     “For…Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.  But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise…Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise…So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.”  Galatians 4:22-23, 28, 31

     It should not be surprising that there are those in this age who support universalism because such teaching appeals to the ‘many’.  The ‘many’ do not want to be troubled with the sin issue, its consequences, or the one and only ‘narrow’ remedy.  To satisfy the ‘many’ is the objective of political correctness which is a mill stone for this great nation and sadly, many of its churches.

     Paul also alerted Timothy that such turning away from the truth would take place during the church age, and in fact is happening today.

     “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”  2 Timothy 4:3-4

     As we approach the season to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ many might be surprised to learn that there will be a universal resurrection of the dead, i.e. everyone who has ever died will be raised from the grave in the future.

     That issue will be covered next week.