When Might Christ Come?

 

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Ephesians 1: 10 (GNT)

¹⁰ This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.

 

The phrase, “When the time is right,” or “in the dispensation of the fullness of the times,” (KJV) has caused me to wonder. But I have no answers. Right now, we can divide time roughly into 2,000-year periods: I am working under the assumption that creation was roughly 6,000 years ago.

Creation to Flood                                roughly 2,000 years

Flood to Christ                                    roughly 2,000 years

Christ to the Present.                           roughly 2,000 years

This fits nicely into Adventist understanding. But it is neither suggested by the Bible, nor does it support it. Christ was born “when the fullness of time was come.” (Galatians 4:4 KJV)

Another way to think of it is to have Christ’s first coming at the middle of earthly time:

      Creation to Christ’s 1^st advent                        roughly 4,000 years

      Christ’s 1^st advent to the 2^nd Advent               roughly 4,000 years

In this case Christ’s second coming would not be for another 2,000 years. This definitely does not fit into Adventist understanding. It would allow humans to develop magnificent inventions. This would allow them to enslave the entire human race to a point we cannot imagine! This point might be the entire destruction of civilization; the survivors would be thrust back into the stone age. Who knows?

Can a loving God tolerate human cruelty to each other for another two millennia? This gives human history a balanced symmetry. But I see no evidence that God values this type of symmetry in time.

Christ was born when the time was right: consult Daniel 8:14, Daniel 9: 24-27. Early Adventists used the Daniel 8:14 to calculate when they though Christ would come. They got the date right but the wrong event for that date. Since that 1844 date, there appears to be no more “right time,” that we can predict ahead of time. Christ was absolutely insistent that “no man knows the day or hour.” Consequently, we need to be constantly watchful.

We look forward to sharing in the bringing of “all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.”

 

Labels: #CALIFORNIA, #IE, #INLANDEMPIRE, #CHRISTRETURN, #BIBLE, #CRFEATION, #HEAVEN, #DANIEL, #MILLENIA, #ENSLAVE, #CIVILIZATION, #DESTROCIVILIZATION, #STONEAGE

 

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[1] https://hopeenlightenment.com/2018/01/24/creator-of-heaven-and-earth/

Abraham, God's Friend

 

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James 2:23 Good News Translation

²³ And the scripture came true that said, “Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” And so Abraham was called God's friend.

 

The faith chapter of Hebrews devotes 13 verses to Abraham, far more than to any other person of faith.

We are encouraged to increase our faith by reading the Word of God. And that is indeed a great source of faith. Romans 10:17 KJV states, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The same verse in the Good News Translation indicates that faith comes through hearing: “So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.” We are urged to read Scripture and thereby increase our faith. In this day of audio books, we can listen to God’s word while driving down the street or highway. So even listening while driving can become a faith building event.

Now think back to the times of Abraham. The Bible doesn’t tell us whether Abraham could read or write. That really doesn’t matter because there was no Bible to read. None! So how did Abraham build his faith?

“Hey, God spoke to Abraham all the time,” you might reply. God did indeed speak to Abraham in person, in dreams, and in visions. Read Gensis again; it was only about 5 or 6 times that Scripture records God speaking to Abraham. That’s something like once about every 20 years or so! That would hardly be frequently enough for me to build my faith.

Furthermore, Abraham came out of an idolatrous culture in Chaldea. Where did Abraham get his religious training to worship the one true God. There is evidence that the worship of Yahweh always had followers in the Near East. These included the wise men who came to Bethlehem to celebrate the birth of Christ some 2,000 years later.

Studying the genealogy lists in Genesis gives me a hint. Noah’s son Shem was born 100 years before the flood and survived the flood by about 500 years. He lived with righteous Noah for at least 100 years, and he outlived Abraham after the flood. Maybe, just maybe, Abraham encountered Shem and spent some time with him when he was young. Shem may have instilled the faith in God that gave Abraham the direction he needed to serve God.

Lord, thank You for making a friend out of Abraham who has passed the friendship down to us, some 4,000 years later. Please keep encouraging us in our faith, that we too may be known as friends of God.

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[1] ConformingToJesus.com

Biblical Contradiction

 

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2 Chronicles 17:6 and 20:33 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁶ His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed the high places and the sacred poles (or Asherah) from Judah.

 ³³ Yet the high places were not removed; the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their ancestors.

  

Since January I have been following a plan to read the Old Testament this calendar year. Today, May 31, I read 2 Chronicles 17-20. I don’t think I ever read these four chapters together in one sitting before. 2^nd Kings and 2^nd Chronicles trace the history of divided kingdom of Judah, amongst other things. There were two classes of kings of Judah. One class did right in the eyes of the Lord, and the other class did evil in the sight of the Lord. For those kings who did right, a phrase is usually added stating that although they did right, they did not remove the high places.

My thoughts have always run like this when I read these books. “High places” were common and had existed from the days of Abraham and his offering of Isaac on Mt. Moriah when God substituted a ram for his sacrifice. Solomon, following his worship of God at the high place in Gibeon, received the famous promise by the Lord to be made wiser than any other king. So high places were the traditional places to worship God in those days. However, they often became corrupted, and false gods were also worshipped there.

Most good kings did not take any action against these high places. However, Hezekiah and Josiah did make concerted efforts to remove them. I began to feel that ancient scribes in Hezekiah’s or Josiah’s time who copied the Bible and preserved it for future generations added the criticism that each “good” king was guilty of not removing these high places, to accentuate the reputation of Hezekiah or Josiah, as “better” kings.

Somehow it escaped my notice that in describing the reign of Jehoshaphat, the text indicates that he removed the high places in 17:6, but in 20:33 the standard criticism was attached that he had not been able to remove them. One way to handle this obvious contradiction is to postulate that some scribe had indeed amended the text like I suggest above, but it had escaped his/her notice that what is written in chapter 17 contradicts the later generic statement.

Ellen White comments: “I saw that God had especially guarded the Bible; yet when copies of it were few, learned men had in some instances changed the words, thinking that they were making it more plain, when in reality they were mystifying that which was plain, by causing it to lean to their established views, which were governed by tradition. But I saw that the Word of God, as a whole, is a perfect chain, one portion linking into and explaining another. True seekers for truth need not err; for not only is the Word of God plain and simple in declaring the way of life, but the Holy Spirit is given as a guide in understanding the way to life therein revealed.”[2]

God has preserved His Word with its messages to us to lead us unerringly into His kingdom. And now He is seeing to it that His Word is being provided to everyone who wishes to read His offer of salvation.

Thank You, Lord, for preserving Your Word from antiquity until now.

 

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[1] https://www.bibleplaces.com/blog/2013/04/picture-of-week-high-place-of-dan/

[2] . E, G, White Early Writings, p. 220.2.  (1882)

 

Gird Up the Loins of Your Mind

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1 Peter 1:13 (Margin) Holman Christian Standard Bible

¹³  Therefore, when you have the loins of your mind girded ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

Our church has started a plan this year of reading the whole Old Testament in one year. I encourage you to adopt it. I encourage you to discover YouVersion.com for yourself. I first tried it several years ago, and it had so many features that I finally gave up in disgust. Judson Nelson, my brother-in-law, helped get back on it in a meaningful way a year ago. Thanks. Jud!

However, install it on your phone and sign into it. It has well over a hundred different versions of the Bible The second language I learned as a kid (English was my mother-tongue) was Afrikaans. At one point in my life, I learned the Lord’s prayer in Afrikaans. At the end of its Sabbath worship service, the church urges all its members to pray the prayer out loud together, “In any language that you wish.” So, I started praying it in Afrikaans. Well, after 60 plus years, I didn’t trust my memory. I checked out YouVersion.com, and after some experimentation, I found at least five different translation versions of the Afrikaans Bible! I have no clue how many English versions it has, but there are many.

As you open YouVersion, it gives you the verse of the day. At the bottom are several icons representing various popular features, one of which is “plans.” Click on that one. Click on the button “Find Plans”. One of the plans is “Bible Projects | Old Testament in a Year.” If you start today, you have only thirty-six sessions to catch up.

This morning, we read Genesis 12-14. It starts the story of Abraham. In chapter 14 Lot is captured by a Persian invading army and carted off with his wife and children towards Persia. In Abram’s entourage, he has 318 trained soldiers. Together with his allies they spring a night surprise attack, and he defeats the reveling invaders and recaptures all of their loot including the people they were taking back to sell as slaves in Persia.

What never ceases to amaze me is the size of Abram’s household. If he has 318 troops, he must have had well over a thousand people, including wives and children, etc. In other words, this was no lonely Bedouin camp with a dozen or so people camping out in the desert. He also had his troops ready for action so they could set out at a moment’s notice.

Our verse encourages us to have girded up the loins of our minds, ready for immediate action—in other words, be ready to fight to retain the grace we have been so graciously given. God has freely given us a vast store of His grace. Let us be ready to defend it at all costs until He comes.

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[1] https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2FGNQHGXeC4TKxHrX6_XoXvOTERRJdyNqx5rfu9x4-BHI.jpg%3Fwidth%3D900%26height%3D471.204188482%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D34adac866fccb5d199143cdfe0f3a2124974bf2b

 

Sleep, Peace, and Lions

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Psalm 4:8 King James Version

⁸ I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

 

I love the majestic English of the King James Version of the Bible, don’t you? I read Psalm 4 this morning, and it reminded me of an incident in our Tanzanian experience and also of Rose, our fearless leader, who assigned us the prompt: “Write about the blessings you have in your life.” During this NaNoWriMo month, I am trying to whip my Ikizu Memoirs into final or at least semi-final form. I am on chapter 53 of 58 planned chapters. Sylvia is my editor, and she recently sent me chapter 41 entitled Lion Encounter.

On Sunday night we were camping with our group in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Serengeti National Park. In our tent we had our one-year-old daughter and the three Conway children, too. I awoke in the predawn to the sound of something dropping onto the roof of our tent. Deciding it must be a small branch from the tree we had pitched under, I turned over to go back to sleep. Suddenly, George’s shout: “Get out of here!” from the next tent, shocked me into action. Grabbing a flashlight, I jumped up and raced to the door of the tent, unzipped it, and shone the flashlight out into the darkness.

I stopped dead. Frozen. Not ten feet were the shining eyes of two lions staring back at me. There was nothing between me and two lions! They lay between me and the campfire. Time stretched out. The lions watched me but made no move. I remained still. Slowly, I swung the light of the flashlight in a wider arc. There were at least seven lions around our campfire, staring at me. Their eyes roved a bit to my right. There was George, clad only in his briefs, standing frozen in his doorway—and more lions.

I yelled to wake up the others in the group. Two teenagers sleeping in an old Land Rover looked out their windows. They started the Land Rover, and it backfired into action. All the noise was disturbing the lions’ tranquility. Slowly they got up and stretched. Regally, thirteen lions filed out of our campsite. There was no hurry, no obvious fear in their attitude, maybe only a bit of disgust.

No one got any more sleep. When daylight arrived and we got up to eat breakfast, on the roof of our tent we found two dusty lion footprints. Conversation centered around whether or not the lions were hungry. Two or three miles down the track towards the park headquarters in Seronera, we came upon our thirteen lions, busily polishing off two Thompson Gazelles. That ended the discussion about the lions’ lack of hunger.

This morning, my gratitude extends from not being devoured by lions then to an almost complete Ikizu Memoir now. Rejoice with me!

How grateful we are, Lord, that we can lie down and sleep because of the assurance that You make us dwell in safety.

 

 

 

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[1] https://www.instagram.com/elmarvn/p/CqPs67XKbTg/

God Directed Decision

 

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Genesis 25:7-8

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁷ This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.

When I turned 60, people began asking me when I would retire. As time went by, the question morphed into “Why haven’t you retired yet?” Had this question been asked by my colleagues, I would have taken it as a sign that it was high time I retired, and taken the hint, but it wasn’t. In fact, when I turned in my request in December 2012 to retire in July 2013, my colleague Vernon acted very surprised. He is within a very few months of being my age. “I planned to retire before you,” he exclaimed.

At many points in my life, including the decision to retire, I wished for a direct statement from the Lord telling me which way to decide. I would think back on Abraham’s experience. The Lord directed him to leave Ur. Later he was directed to leave Haran for an undisclosed destination. He was told that Ishmael was not his son of promise but to expect a child by Sarah. Eventually he was instructed to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Then at the very time of slaying his son, he was restrained and given a ram in his place.

Once in my lifetime I feel I received direct communication from God. He had led us to devote our lives to working in Africa. When it came time for us to return to the U.S., it took direct communication to get us to actually accept that decision. I tell that story elsewhere and have not as yet posted it to the blog.

As I came back again and again to my question as to why God could speak so often to Abraham and only once to me, I finally did the math. God spoke to Abraham only about 4 times. He lived 175 years. That means that on the average, God spoke to Abraham about once every 44 years. So I should expect my next direct communication sometime before I reach the age of 88. Besides that, I have something Abraham didn’t have! I have the written Bible, God’s word that I can read for instructions. So I am not discriminated against! I am indeed favored.

Thank You, Lord, for speaking to me in many ways. I’m just sorry that, on occasion, You have to hit me on the side of my head with a two-by-four in order to get me to do Your will!

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[1] https://media.swncdn.com/cms/CW/63718-thinkstock-erikreis-womanoutsideheadup.1200w.tn.jpg

God Thunders Marvelously

Job 37:5
King James Version
⁵ God thundereth marvelously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.

 

God communicates with us in many ways. Sometimes He roars in such a way that everybody knows He is communicating with us. This happened with the Israelites at the base of Mount Horeb when God spoke the Ten Commandments out of fire and thick clouds of smoke. This happened when Christ was on the cross and darkness enveloped everything as the curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place ripped apart from top to bottom.

When God spoke to Elijah after the marvelous appearance on Mount Carmel, some powerful events occurred in nature. But Elijah recognized that these were not God’s communications—they were simply sent to see if he was awake:

1 Kings 19:11-13 And he said, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, “What doest thou here, Elijah?”

God was in the still small voice. God spoke to Abraham, maybe 4 or 5 times; sometimes only in a dream. When God speaks to us, it is usually in a still small voice—a voice that we can choose to ignore because it is so small—maybe to our eternal peril.

There’s an old story, probably apocryphal, that I’m sure you’ve heard. Everything had gone wrong for a man. Finally, he said to himself, “Let me see what God wants me to do.” He opened the Bible at random, put his finger on a text and it read that Judas “went and hanged himself.” (Matthew 27:5). “No,” he said to himself “God can’t be talking to me there.” He closed his Bible and opened it randomly again and read, “Go and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:37). So, he committed suicide.

Consequently, how does one know whether this still small voice is indeed God’s voice? Or is it rather a suggestion from our own inner desires? Or, much worse still, is it the devil making a suggestion?

Isaiah counseled “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20) If it is against the direct commands in the Bible—it isn’t God speaking. That brings up the question:  How do we know whether it is against the direct biblical counsel?

We need to read the Bible daily to keep reminding ourselves what the Bible does teach!

Please, Lord, keep speaking to us, and help us recognize Your voice and do what You are asking us to do.

 

 

 

 

 

The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ

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2 Peter 3:9

Holman Christian Standard Bible

⁹ The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

When I was 12, I was sent off to boarding school. Up until that time I had led a very sheltered life. I attended a preparatory school connected with a college where Dad was a very respected teacher. Over the next six years I picked up my “street smarts.” Originally I found it expedient to stand up for the opinions of the authorities. I regarded their rules, their opinions, their decisions as sacrosanct.

This submersion in boarding school was like taking large helpings of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Being a somewhat normal if nerdy teenager, I tried lots of forbidden things just for the kicks. I tried alcohol and tobacco, shoplifting, and other obvious sins. Worse, I learned subterfuge, deceit, and general distrust of the establishment.

The establishment had taught me the legal aspects of Christianity. They taught me to read inspiration their way. Their way supported church authority at all costs. Therefore I read the Bible with their interpretation. I read the Spirit of Prophecy with their interpretation. Everything I read showed me how evil I had become. Indeed, I quickly recognized that I was damned. Furthermore, there was no way I could change that status.  This led me deeper and deeper into a sinful, lawless life. My fellow students were quick to urge me on in my descent towards hell.

But God had decided to defeat the triumph of Satan and evil over my life. He led me to Germany. I went there to learn German—at another boarding school. This time my fellow students were all German. Knowing no German initially, I felt cut off from my fellow humans. To compensate, I attended a Sunday church on the American military base and joined its choir, merely for companionship. They spoke English, so we could understand each other.

These new friends came from all walks of life and all religious persuasions. Some came to church for exactly the same reason as I had—for companionship. They had as little Christianity as I did. Others came because they loved Jesus and wanted fellowship with other Christians. One of these made it his mission to introduce Jesus to me.

Yes, I knew Jesus. He carried around a big black book with all of my misdeeds in it underlined in red. He was seeking to punish me for all of my evil thoughts and actions. This new Jesus I now met was a savior. At first, I didn’t really know what that word “Savior” meant. But with long patience, this missionary taught me. He had a very simplistic understanding of Jesus, even childlike. But that’s exactly what Jesus had declared as essential to being a Christian. Finally I accepted this new concept of Jesus. Then I spent many years unlearning what my early training had so successfully drummed into every facet of my psyche. I was not doomed but, praise God, forgiven and a child of God.

Thank You, Lord, for working out things for good. Help me to communicate this with those You bring to me.

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[1] https://www.westminster.org.uk/school-life/pastoral-care/boarding/

Fellowship or Communion?

 

 

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2 Corinthians 13:14

King James Version

¹⁴ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

 

I looked up this text in a number of English translations. The vast majority of the translations of the Greek word koinonia use “fellowship” where the King James uses the word “communion”. I asked myself what the difference between fellowship and communion is. Obviously, fellowship comes from the word “fellow” which indicates a person, in particular a friend, a companion. On the other hand, communion comes from “union” which indicates a much more personal, intimate, relationship.

When we think of Jesus Christ, the New Testament writers want us to think of a human being, so He would be a friend in a very real sense. In 1 Corinthians 1:9 “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord,” the word fellowship is translated from koinonia because Jesus Christ is indeed our friend or brother.

When we think of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, we do not think of Him as a human being, but rather as a spirit. As such He would not be a fellow or a human friend, so His relationship with us is much more intimate, much more that of a true union. Paul is hoping that He will become a part of us. Therefore, the King James version probably captures Paul’s intention more accurately than the rather mechanical substitution of the majority of translations that I consulted.

Dear Lord, may Your grace and love and communion be mine today. Amen.

 

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[1] http://goministries.net/koinonia/

A Fruitful Old Age

 

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Psalm 92:14
King James Version
[The righteous] shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

 

I wrote this letter to a friend of mine who suffered a hemorrhagic stroke recently:

Dear John,

    Your stroke both stunned and dismayed me. And this hit you before you even had a chance to retire. However, I don’t believe God is finished with you, I do believe that He is trying to communicate something to you. Dad used to say that in order for God to get things through to him, He sometimes had to hit him across the head with a two-by-four. God waited for three years after I retired to hit me with west Nile virus and recurrent cancer. He wanted me to get my act together and use my retirement to “bring forth fruit” in my old age.

    Now is the time to claim this beautiful promise from Psalm 92: the righteous “shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.” In fact, read the whole psalm, and while you’re about it, read Psalm 91. Our God is strong to save and heal!

Before Christ left His disciples, He reassured them: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John included this in his gospel for us. 

Christ knew we would go through really trying times, but He is never going to forget any one of us. He promised us in Luke 11: “I say unto you, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.’”

You may remember that my friend, Bob, had a nasty stroke some thirty-odd years ago. It left him with a limp, but he recovered well. We are praying that God will heal you, too; and restore you to full health!

Thank You Father, that You never do forget us and promise us a fruitful old age.

 

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[1] https://www.app.com/story/life/home-garden/luxury/mansions/2016/12/29/5-most-incredible-mansions-shore/95870234/