090930: Rapture I

Rapture

- the word “Rapture” is not in the Bible (neither are the following: the Holy Trinity, Demon)

- Rapture = to be caught up, the catching away; the term originated from harpazo (Hebrew) and is derived from rapere (Latin translation); the idea, however, has been around since the very beginning

- John 14: I am going there to prepare a place for you. 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.

- Acts 11: This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.

- mainstream Christianity: Rapture is often linked to “the end of times,” in terms of the end of this (gentile) era/age; i.e. Judgment happens

When and How will the Rapture occur?

- 1 Corinthians: Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

- Matthew 24: For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

- the general idea: the trumpet will sound (a specific trumpet; we don’t know which one) à the dead is raised à the alive are caught up à all Christians are gathered together for the mark of Jubilee, a time of great peace, where all sins are forgiven

- Matthew 24:40-41: Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

- Luke 17:26-35: Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.

What happens after the Christians are Raptured?

- 1 Thessalonian 4:13-17: Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 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 together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Tribulation

- tribulation = trials

- Tribulation is 7 years; 3 ½ years of peace, 3 ½ years of war

- will occur AFTER the Rapture

090923: Luke 4-5

Luke 4

- Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit: why did Jesus prevent the demon from telling people who He was? Thought: Because it wasn’t time yet.

- Demon: evil spirit, angel casted down from Heaven who have chosen to fight with Satan against God’s rule

(Isaiah 14:12-17 http://www.cresourcei.org/lucifer.html)

- Demons in the Old Testament:

http://www.crivoice.org/demonsot.html

- Demonic possession: evil spirits over-taking the body, controlling the body, forcing it to do evil things with the body (dwelling with the dead, slander, convulse, evil thoughts and deeds, etc.)

Luke 5

- The Man with Leprosy: a “dirty disease” (Leviticus 13)

- Two major themes of the coming of Jesus: He will bring forth 1) forgiveness of sins, engraftment of the Gentiles into the kingdom of God, the proud being humbled; 2) rule, being the King of the world

- Jesus cured the paralytic by first forgiving his sins, suggesting diseases/disasters may be brought upon the self due to sins

- “Old wine is better than new wine”: People resist change, not willing to accept new ideas; people are the "old wineskins," Jesus is the "new wine"; in order to receive Jesus, the new wine, people have to change, have to become the "new wineskins," to give up their old way in order to receive the new way

090916: Luke 2-4

Luke 2

- “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.” à Implies Jesus performed things that men did in order to gain God’s favor.

- “When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.” à Boys start to prepare for the Bat Mitzvah at 12 and start to observe the Feast, etc. Once the child turns 13, he is expected to behave as an “adult,” essentially one who is expected to distinguish right from wrong.

Luke 3

- John is the introduction to Christ.

- Isaiah 40:1-5: prophecy about John preparing the way for Jesus

- James 2:17: In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

- “[Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Fire is not a good thing, as suggested by the rest of the passage and also Number 11 (Fire from the Lord)

- Luke lists Jesus’ genealogy via mother’s side (written for Gentiles—reason being God is the Father of Jesus, hence it would make more sense to follow the line via Mary and not Joseph), whereas Matthew lists the genealogy via father’s side (written for Jews, a patriarch society)

Luke 4

- 40: the number of trials and testing (e.g. 40 days and night; 40 years)

- The devil knows the scripture and knows how all the prophecies will be fulfilled.

- Jesus went to the desert to be tested and did not eat. Why? Numbers 6

- “No prophet is accepted in his own town.” à As shown by what happened to Elijah, it is probably b/c 1) no one was “cleansed,” i.e. no one was pure of heart; 2) they did not ask for his help.

090909: Luke 1-2

Luke 1
- Elijah: a major Godly figure who came after Moses; translated live into the Heaven with a Chariot of Fire; had the power to heal people
- Gabriel, the angel: the only other time he’s mentioned is in Daniel 8, where he was called on to explain Daniel’s vision
- Genealogy of John the Baptist
Aaron, a levite: Moses’s brother, hence making John being born into the lineage of priesthood
- Prophesy of Jesus coming through the lineage of David becomes realized. The prophesy is recorded in Jeremiah 23:5, “’The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.’”
- Joseph was insulted that Mary, the virgin, was pregnant but not with his child, as recorded in Matthew 1:19, “Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”
- Luke 1:41, “When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” à Interesting that she was able to be filled with the Holy Spirit when it is often thought that people didn’t fill with spirit until the Pentecost.
- Abraham is also known as the Father of 3 Religions: Jewish, Christianity, Mulism

Luke 2
- Birth of Jesus
- The Shepherds and the Angels
- Jesus Presented in the Temple
- The Boy Jesus at the Temple

090826: Hour 1 of Bible in 24 Hours

Hour 1 of The Bible in 24 Hours:
http://www.thestreamtv1.com/welcome_032.htm
By Dr. Chuck Missler

No person’s education is complete if they do not know the Bible. Supporters include George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Napoleon, Patrick Henry, Daniel Webster,

A Christian’s specialization must be in the Bible.

In 1963, we outlawed the Bible from our schools; and since then, the society has gone steeply downhill.

The Bible contains 66 books, penned by over 40 different individuals over several thousands of years.

The Bible can be corroborated by…
- Archeological discoveries
- Recent documentary discoveries
- Competent analysis

20th century science has vindicated the Biblical perspectives of reality
- The finite universe
- The Discovery of the nature of time (time is defined by the vibrations of the cesium atoms, which thus can cause time to differ in values due to differences in gravitational forces; space can thus interfere with the measurement of time)
- The realization of hyperspaces (e.g. where angles of the triangle adds up to more than 180 degrees, as is true in spherical trigonometry; Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity states that we live in a 4-D world, and that time and space cannot be separated)

Time is NOT uniform
- time is a physical property/dimension
- time varies with mass, acceleration, gravity, etc.

Albert Einstein
“People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between the past, the present, and the future, is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”

Dimensions of Reality
- Nachmonides (in the 12th century), by studying the Bible, came to the conclusion that we live in a 10-D world, only 4 of which are “knowable”
- Particle physicists (from way back to today), after spending millions of dollars and years of research, have recently concluded that we live in a 10-D world, 4 of which are directly measurable (3 spatial + time); 6 are “curled” into less than 10^-33 cm, and thus inferable only by indirect means

Bible Code
- equidistant letter sequence
- every 7x7 = 49 spaces in the Torah, there is a message :
Genesis à TORH
Exodus à TORH
Leviticus à YHWH
Numbers à HROT
Deuteronomy à HROT
i.e. The Torah always points to YHWH (God in Hebrew):

The Old Testament is incomplete:
- unexplained ceremonies (sacrificial rituals)
- unachieved purposes (the covenants)
- unappeased longings (poetical books)
- unfulfilled prophecies

The Silent Years
- the about 400 years of gap between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament
- it’s not really “silent” because in Daniel 11, it talks about those years, written IN ADVANCE

The OT spans almost 2000 years; the NT spans one life time.

OT
- the Torah – the Books of Moses (5)
Genesis: the Book of Beginnings
Exodus: the Birth of the Nation
Leviticus: the Law of the Nation
Numbers: the Wilderness Wanderings
Deuteronomy: the Laws Reviewed
- the Historical Books (12)
- the Poetical Books (5)
- the Prophets (17): major (5), minor (12)

090729: Genesis 36-45

Genesis 36 “Esau’s Descendents”
- List of Esau’s descendents; all lands belong to the Edomites (the conflicts between Jacob/Israel and Esau : Israelites and Edomites)

Genesis 37 “Joseph’s Dreams”
- Joseph (2nd youngest) is Israel’s favorite son and made him a “richly ornamented robe.”
- Joseph had a dream where all will bow down to him; his brothers got jealous and wanted to kill him; instead, however, they ended up selling him to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph to Egypt.

Genesis 39 “Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife”
- Joseph gets thrown into jail because the Potiphar’s wife lied about him having “took advantage” of her.

Genesis 40 “The Cupbearer and the Baker”
- Joseph interprets dreams of the cupbearer and the baker; the chief cupbearer forgot to fulfill his promise to Joseph in return.

Genesis 41 “Pharaoh’s Dreams”
- Joseph interprets dreams of the Pharaoh
- “Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
- “Joseph named his firstborn Manaseh and said, ‘It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.’ The second son he named Ephraim and said, ‘It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.’”
- During the years of famine, “Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.’”
- “And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world.”

Genesis 42 “Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt”
Genesis 43 “The Second Journey to Egypt”
Genesis 44 “A Silver Cup in a Sack”
Genesis 45 “Joseph Makes Himself Known”

090708: Revelation 1-3

Revelation 1-3

Hour 22 of The Bible in 24 Hours: http://www.thestreamtv1.com/welcome_032.htm
By Dr. Chuck Missler

Quick Review
Old Testament
- Christ in prophecy: “Behold! He comes!”
Gospels
- Christ in history: “Behold! He dies!”
Acts
- Christ in the church: “Behold! He lives!”
Epistles
- Christ in experience: “Behold! He saves!”
Apocalypse
- Christ in coming glory: “Behold! He Reigns!”

Meaning of Revelation
- “THE” Unveiling
- The only book that has the audacity to say, “Read me, I’m special.”
- 404 verses that contain over 800 allusions from the Old Testament
- Contains the climax of God’s plan for Man.

The “Divine Outline” of Revelation (Revelation 1:19)
- “the things which thou hast seen” = The Vision of Christ (ch. 1)
- “the things which are” = The Seven Churches (ch. 2, 3)
- “the things which shall be hereafter” = which follows AFTER the Churches (ch. 4-22); hereafter = “meta tauta” in Greek = after these things

There is a ton of information found within Revelation 2-3

The Seven Churches: Why these 7?
- All these Churches, it is mentioned: “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churchES.”
- Levels of Application
à local
à Admonitory (note the plural of churchES, meaning the message is meant to be shared by ALL churches)
à homiletic (personal)\
à prophetic, i.e. these letters lay out the 7 periods of church history
- Each letter has its own theme, its own message; there are 7 elements shared by these letters:
1. Name of the Church
2. Title of Christ Chosen
3. Commendation
4. Concern
5. Exhortation
6. Promise to the Overcomer
7. “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churchES.” (in the 1st 3 letters, it is written as a post script, i.e. following the promise to the overcomer)
- Prophetic Profile
Group A: Promise is a post-script; could mean they were terminated before the promise gets fulfilled
Ephesus à The Apostolic Church; The Sower and 4 Soils; Ephesus
Smyrna à The Persecuted Church; The Tares and the Wheat; Philippians
Pergamum à The Married Church (when the Church married the world); The Mustard Seed; Corinthians

Group B: Promise is within the letters; could mean they endured to the end; contains explicit references to His Second Coming
Thyatira à The Medieval Church; will go into the Tribulation; The Woman & the Leaven; Galatians
Sardis à Denominational Church; The Treasure in the Field; Romans
Philadelphia à Missionary Church; will be delivered from the Tribulation; The Pearl of Great Price (the Pearl = removed from the Rapture; think about how a pearl is made); Thessalonians
Laodicea à The Apostate Church; The Dragnet; Colossians

The Apocalypse
- Catastrophic End: crisis o present age
- Sepctacular reappearance of the King of Kings in His global empire
- Internment of Satan in the Abousso
- Millennial earth-reign of Christ
- Final insurrection and the abolition of sin
- New Heaven, New Earth, New Jerusalem

10 Days of Persecution
54-58 Nero
96-96 Domitian (John exiled)
104-117 Trajan
161-180 Marcus Aurelius
200-211 Septimus Severus
235-237 Maximinus
249-251 Decius
257-260 Valerian
270-275 Aurelian
303-313 Diocletian

“You see, if you are born twice, then you only die once. But if you are born only once, then you will die twice. I’ll let you chew on this one.”