Christmas And The Second Coming...

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.(Micah 5:2)

The story of the birth of Jesus, is perhaps the most familiar and loved portions of the Bible. But the problem with familiar passages of scripture is that people think they know what needs to be known about them and often aren’t open to a fresh look at the same text from another angle.

It is called the Christmas story, but I believe we should look at it as an account of some of the same conditions that will be prevalent at the time of the second coming of our Lord and Saviour to this earth. As it was in the first coming, so shall it be at the second coming.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.(Luke 2:1)

Rome ruled the Mediterranean world, in the days of the first coming of the Messiah, and there will be a revived Roman empire, a European super state at the time of the second coming.

*And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.(Revelation 13:16-17)

Once again a man claiming to be god will seek to count and number the people of the world at the time of the return of the Saviour. Caesar Augustus was the first Roman Emperor to be deified while yet alive, his decrees were called ‘gospels’, his emissaries were called evangelists, he was described as “Divine Saviour of the world” and was thought to have ushered in a golden age. The world worshipped him.

The World is being prepared for another ultimate Caesar, the antiChrist, he will be heralded by all, at first, as the leader we have long-awaited, and will seem to have solved many of the world’s most intractable problems, such as the economy, terrorism, and the mideast peace problem.

People will have no problem rendering worship to Him. After so many decades of our own impotent, feckless, terror appeasing leadership in the western world, the man the Bible warns of,calling him “the Beast” will seem like a breath of fresh air.

And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? (Revelation 13:3-4)

* Once again Jerusalem and Judea will exist under foreign domination. True Israel is a reborn nation, as of May 1948, and this is a major sign of the second coming. But the U.N. and the European Union, and the USA and Russia have formed a quartet, and they presume to determine the boundaries that Israel should have and what territory she should cede to her enemies.

Just as Jesus came at first unto an occupied Israel, languishing under the domination of gentiles, Jesus shall come again to an Israel in the same situation. An ancient prophesy by Jacob, concerning the future of each of his twelve sons, foretold that the coming of “Shiloh”, that is the Messiah, would be at the time that Judah should lose her national sovereignty.

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.(Genesis 49:10)

The situation today is similar, for though Israel captured the city of Jerusalem in 1967, she immediately ceded the custodianship of the most sacred piece of real estate , the Temple Mount, to the Muslim Wafq. Israel watches helplessly while Muslims dig out the Holy mountain, destroying priceless relics from the first and second temple, crushing them into gravel! Neither Israel or Judah wield a sceptre to this day .

The logical capital of Israel, would be Jerusalem, right? But virtually all the nations of the world,including the USA refuse to have their embassies there, in order not to offend the Muslims. As at the first coming ,so the second coming of Christ. Jesus himself predicted this,and that it would be an issue until he returned-

…Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:24)

* Once again, popular religion will not be ready for his return, as they were unprepared for his first coming. Herod had a Jewish Rabbi in his court. When there were rumblings about who the Magi were and what they were seeking, Herod asked the Rabbi where in scripture was Christ to be born.

The Rabbi immediately rattled off the scripture from Micah 5 that I opened this article with. Messiah will be born in Bethlehem Ephratah! But there is no record that he made the slightest effort to go see for himself. He knew the scripture but he wasn’t expecting anything real to happen.

* Once again, very few will even be aware of what is happening. What happened at the first coming of Jesus?

>Shepherds were watching their flocks at night – He came at night-He comes again in the night, the moral and spiritual night of apostasy,moral decline, darkness and rebellion. But some Shepherds,(Pastors) who were watchful for their flocks, they were ready when the Angels came, they saw him.

> Zechariah and Elisabeth a pious priest and his wife in a time of corruption, they saw what was coming.

> The Magi- who were a caste of gentile wise men from Persia(Iran) whose school was once headed up by the prophet Daniel, and who searched the prophecies of Daniel, they saw Him and worshipped him. Another earlier gentile prophet that they were no doubt well aware of named Balaam had predicted the star which would lead them to Jesus .

The 9th chapter of Daniel alone is an amazing prophecy which pinpointed the exact timing of the Messiah’s coming, death and the destruction of te temple following it.Jesus would tell us in Matthew 24 that once again an understanding of Daniel the Prophet is essential to being ready for his second coming.

The events of the first Christmas are history indeed, but they are prophecy as well, and we are all in the story somewhere. Ready or not, Jesus is coming again! Maranatha! Merry christmas!

Israel today is not the promised reconstituted, re-gathered Israel of God. When the appointed time comes, God will bring the people of Israel back into their land. No one or no thing will be able to prevail against them. Today we have a group of Jews who have gathered in a land that once belonged to them a long time ago; but, this little slice of land was given by man to man. (England and the United Nations). Ownership has been hotly contested ever since other people began to see what these Jews were able to accomplish.

This group of Jews has done wondrous things through their own determination, ingenuity, hard work, industriousness and their faith in God. They have developed flourishing farm lands where there was desert. They have developed innovative technologies. They have created whole new industries. They have consistently displayed superior military prowess. But, all this has been done because of the Israeli people themselves. The Jews.

These Jews in this little piece of real estate are the object of the most intense hatred imaginable. Other nations, primarily Muslim nations, want to destroy Israel and all its inhabitants. The president of Iran, Ahmadinajad, aka “Ahmanutjob,” constantly proudly proclaims that his country will annihilate Israel and all the Jews. He denies that the Holocaust ever happened, but if it were to happen again he wants to make sure it is done right this time. Yes, the Muslim world has as one of its top priorities the destruction of Israel, the complete extermination of all Jews. This is an attitude so prevalent it needs no documentation.

I sincerely believe an enemy has done this, that is, produced such a widespread intense hatred of Israel and its people. The enemy is trying to destroy Israel. The enemy would like to attack God directly, but that can’t happen. So, the enemy tries to get at what God loves. God has a special love for Israel. Thus, the focus on destroying Israel and the Jews. Also, as an added bonus, the enemy desires to thwart God’s plans in general.

That’s what it’s all about. The enemy has created and is using a counterfeit “religion” as one of its main weapons in this warfare. This enemy-energized counterfeit religion has one god, one prophet, one holy book, just like Christianity. The one true religion glories in life, the other glories in death. Can you name that tune? Which is which?

The enemy doesn’t limit itself to one device or weapon only. No, it has even used and manipulated various Christian leaders very effectively, including “great church men” such as Martin Luther. It has used inquisitions. It has used writings and teachings. It has used every device imaginable. Jew hatred is at an all time high. An enemy has done this.

But, what about the Jews? They were, and they will again be a special people unto the Lord. They will be re-gathered and repatriated by the Lord, and no one will be able to stand against this. They will be where the “mountain” of the Lord will be, that is, from where the Lord’s government will flow. Since these things are so, therefore, the enemy must try and stop all this from happening. The enemy knows this must be stopped! Stopped at all costs!

The important consideration is that when God establishes His kingdom here on this earth, the Nation of Israel will have a very special place in His government. The mountain of God (another term for the government of God) will flow out through Israel to all nations on earth. During the kingdom period, there will be only one place on earth where the descendants of Jacob (Israel) will be able to live – in the land that God gives them, and which no man can ever take away from them. This is the land flowing with milk and honey, the land that was called Palestine. God will regather all the people of Israel from all parts of the world where they are living, and bring them into the land. Those living in the land and not of the Israeli people will have to leave. They will not be allowed to stay there. Regarding the nation of Israel, this land (Palestine) is their land.

KJV Ezekiel 28:24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 25 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. 26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.

A blessed Lord's day morning to you. Let's sort a few things out. You deserve a more coherent response.

* I never said there had to be ten states in the EU ! Easy to set up straw men and knock them down, but not honest-Thou shalt not bear false witness!

No, but you associate with those who once did make those assertions, back when admission to the EU was a painstaking process, and the "prophecy experts" eagerly awaited the critical end-times signaling event of the ninth and tenth members being added. Last time I checked, there were far more than ten members in the euro-zone, because of something my generation's prophecy pimps never imagined, never predicted -- the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian school children now study the Bible and Christian doctrine as part of their curriculum. The largest Protestant church in Europe is a Pentecostal assembly in Kiev.[1]

*Your rank comment about ‘memory holes for wives and books’ makes no sense- ... I will pray for you!

Thank you for your prayers. They will do both of us a great deal of good. You may not push your books and wives into the memory whole as each is overtaken by time -- but you associate (at least metaphorically) with Hal Lindsey, who recycles his books and his marriages. New faces, new names, same plot. Last time I checked, Hal was on marriage #4. And, somehow, the basic ideas of The Late Great Planet Earth keep getting tarted up and sold as The Latest Great Truth.

*I make no predictions I just comment on scripture, as I understand it-

As you understand it, Scripture tells us that we are at the end of history. You are reading fulfilled prophecy into the future, a process called eisogesis (opposite of exegesis). You view the Great Tribulation as something to look forward to with apprehension (unless, like many "prophecy" teachers, you preach a pre-trib "rapture" that makes the Great Tribulation irrelevant for us, anyhow), rather than back upon with gratitude, as the final element of our Lord's first-century Incarnation.

*Who but you stated that God is going to take a dive? certainly not me-

You predict with utter certainty the failure of the Gospel within history,[2] the rise of a one-world superstate and superchurch, a globe-striding Ultimate Dictator, and a massive bloodbath that will slaughter most of our peers. Strange -- my Bible speaks of a God who is violently allergic to such human messianic figures, ever since the Tower of Babel. As fast as aspirants appear, He humiliates them. See Psalms 2 and 110.

I would appreciate a little more integrity and civility in further discussions

I will do my best to emulate your gracious example, and do exactly that.

brother you are just bitter for some reason.

Suppose you were a parent who withheld your child's insulin, in order to demonstrate / apply the faith it would take in invoke divine healing -- then watched your teenage daughter expire in a diabetic coma. How would you feel about a false doctrine of faith healing after that event? False doctrine is a harsh taskmaster, and I have a dog in this fight. A mighty revival swept our nation four decades ago -- and was aborted by the prophecy pimps. Along with many careers, many vocations, many educations, many marriages. If, as our "experts" so confidently predicted, Jesus would return real soon now, perhaps as soon as 1975, who has time for any long-range projects? Let's evangelize the whole country in one big Key 73 project! In one of history's ironies, that same year, Roe v. Wade happened in the backyard of Dallas Theological Seminary, our nation's leading dispensational school -- and they were too busy drawing their pretty maps of imaginary futures to speak prophetically to and about what was happening right under their noses. Their vaunted ability to see into and predict the future blinded[3] them to the significance of human sacrifice, being legalized, in their own home town. They were asleep at the switch, blind guardians, derelict in their Christian duty.

Bad theology is a harsh taskmaster.

A faulty eschatology asserts the long-run impotence of the Gospel, and the eventual global triumph of evil, "because the Bible tells me so." A sane, sober, and wholesome eschatology asserts the power of the Good News of the Great King to transform lives, families, churches, and nations as we grow in wisdom, experience, and godliness. A God-honoring eschatology rejoices in calling Jesus Lord, and in trusting Him to subdue His foes, and ours, one by one, through the normal processes of our preaching and applying His Word, and through His supernatural and providential interventions from time to time. ("Coincidence is God acting anonymously") A man loses his cigars, his army loses a crucial battle.

[1] Beautiful, ancient, and pedestrian-friendly city, BTW. I hope to teach there someday.

[2] "Within history" is the key, here. Your team asserts that only the physical reappearance of Jesus, in a post-historic event, can set things right again. In this age, you assert, the Gospel does not demonstrate the power of the One who has "all power in heaven and on earth," does not grow from a stone "not cut with men's hands" into a world-filling mountain, does not bring the nations into grateful submission to the King od Kings and Lord of Lords.

[3] When I was in my early 20s, and fully convinced of the position you espouse now, I could rattle off the standard prophetic spiel with the best of them -- but could not think more than a week or two ahead concerning my own life. In my early 30s, a guy I'd evangelized a decade earlier turned me on to "Calvinism on steroids." As I learned that "Lord" is not a neutered synonym for "guru," my life, family, and vocation were all transformed along with my mind. I learned to think and live in terms of generations, plural, and to conduct my life in such a way as to bless unborn great grandchildren. Personal ambitions, such as higher education, took a backseat to child rearing, for example. I finally entered a graduate degree program at the age of 39, and entered a new stage in my career after writing a dissertation that is still encouraging Christian parents 18 years later. If you google the terms "home school socialization," my name will probably be on the first page. Today, I'm 59, and have just finished a PhD, with the goal of enhancing my influence for my Lord during "the second half of my adult life." More important than that -- after 32 years, my wife and I are happier than ever with each other. My two adult children are walking in the faith. My youngest two children share my love for Turkish sojourners, and participate in our outreach to them. God has been so good.

The future is as bright as His promises -- and those promises are far brighter than you've been led to believe.

This is to those who would scoff at those of us who believe that many of the prophecies in the Bible speak of future end times events and promises.

I don’t know whether you are getting duped or if you go along with the teachings of RJ Rushdoony and his son in law Gary North but either way you’re a scary bunch. You use derogatory and demeaning words about those who believe the dispensational view but lets look at some of the beliefs of RJ Rushdoony, his son in law Gary North, Gary DeMar and those who push the Dominionist view.

You make fun of the date setting done by some of those on the Dispensational side yet Gary North himself has the 2070 and 3070 dates. Interesting millennial coincidence I suppose. Your disingenuous mocking of date setting gets a little weak when your side does it as well.

Then there’s the tone you try to use of claiming that dispensationalists “get orgasmic at the thought of most of the earth suffering gruesome death -- then they call us the strange ones?” and “is it condign for Christians to drool with anticipation over the imagined slaughter of most of the folks we share this planet with?”. Phrases like “extreme psychic garbage, in the confidence that there's a sucker born every minute.” Your try to tie every person who interprets prophecy to those who have in the past been off for one reason or another.

But let’s look at what your Dominionist leaders want to happen. The goal is to have “dominion” over the whole world in order for the Millennial reign of Jesus to begin. (the Muslims claim they must conquer the entire world and be the only religion for their version of paradise to begin as a point of comparison) Your Dominionist leaders believe that humans must set up a theocracy worldwide. Return to what they refer to as “Biblical” law and punishment.

While telling their followers that this hopefully can be done by evangelization in reality they admit that it may need to be done by force. (remind you again of Muslim similarities?) The laws and punishments would include stonings, burning at the stake, and the death penalty by a theocratic government for such things as rebelling against parents, adultery, homosexuality, and apostasy among others. (once again compare that to Muslims who state that anyone who converts from Islam must be slain)

“Death is also the punishment for apostasy (abandonment of the faith), heresy, blasphemy, witchcraft, astrology, adultery, “sodomy or homosexuality,” incest, striking a parent, incorrigible juvenile delinquency, and, in the case of women, “unchastity before marriage.”

According to Gary North, women who have abortions should be publicly executed, "along with those who advised them to abort their children." Rushdoony concludes: "God's government prevails, and His alternatives are clear-cut: either men and nations obey His laws, or God invokes the death penalty against them." Reconstructionist theologian Rev. Ray Sutton, who claims that the Reconstructed Biblical theocracies would be "happy" places, to which people would flock because "capital punishment is one of the best evangelistic tools of a society."

The Biblically approved methods of execution include burning (at the stake for example), stoning, hanging, and "the sword." Gary North, the self-described economist of Reconstructionism, prefers stoning because, among other things, stones are cheap, plentiful, and convenient. Punishments for non-capital crimes generally involve whipping, restitution in the form of indentured servitude, or slavery. Prisons would likely be only temporary holding tanks, prior to imposition of the actual sentence.

Now, take a look at the world around us and contemplate if, as the Dominionists like Rushdoony and his son in law North assert, humans are the ones to judge and carry out the executions how many “honor killings” would be carried out. Yet they assert that we are the ones who “drool with anticipation over the imagined slaughter of most of the folks we share this planet with”.

I would claim that the Dispensationalists leave the judging and the carrying out of justice to God who rightly should and that the Dominionists are the ones who think, like the Muslims, that they need to “rule the world” before Jesus can comes.

I’m going trust that God is in control rather then try to wrest control from God like the Dominionists are trying to do. I will trust God to see the heart of man rather then some self appointed human. I will leave it to God’s timetable as to when Jesus returns rather then to force His return by some misguided attempt to set up an earthly kingdom for Him.

Aslan is truly on the move. A pagan representative of Jesus. A satanic attempt to water down the true Lion of Judah. As Leam Neeson (the voice of Aslan in the movie) stated. "Yes, Aslan symbolizes a Christ-like figure, but he also symbolizes for me Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries."

Matthew 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible.

thanks RJR you did a little better on that response, but you are still being presumptous:
* You still wrongly insist that I teach/taught that there must be a ten nation confederacy in Europe(a straw man)
* I see why you would want to associate me with serial marryer Hal Lindsey- his theology and his personal life would be hard to defend- but I have no association with him- another presumption on your part-
*You wrongly assert that I “eagerly look forward to the great Tribulation”, actually I dread it though it is a necessary period
*I have never, never, never predicted with utter certainty the failure of the gospel-(Can you see how presumptous you are RJR?)
* After all of the above, you indirectly associate me with “faith healing” theological excesses! Is there any other aberration you want to accuse me of?
* I agree about the harshness of false teaching- I have written three books to adress heresy in my own circles(Pentecostal world). But that doesn’t justify calling me a PIMP!
* I actually agree with you about the Evangelical failure of the 1970’s and 80’s, although there were more reasons than eschatological ones, such as merging psychology into the church, Word of faith heresy, etc etc
*What is your name?- I am interested in Home schooling, we have home schooled our six children as well
* I am weary of having to clear up false assertions attributed to me, but I do give you props and respect for a much better tone- Thanks Your Brother in Jesus- Pastor Bill Randles

If all my dispensational friends were as gracious as you, their better manners might be contagious.

I'm not asserting that you made the patently false predictions that other prophecy teachers have in the past -- the certainty of a ten-member EU, for example. I am, however, gently pointing out that "Making predictions is hard. Especially about the future." What do you do when your prophecies fail to materialize? The Millerites call the non-show of our Lord in 1844 "The Great Disappointment," and came up with the explanation of "the investigatory judgment" -- Jesus started coming back, but got tangled in the paperwork halfway between heaven and here.

Granted, few "Bible teachers" could go through four wives and still be considered credible. However, old Hal's message seems to have such a powerful appeal that readers are willing to overlook this "minor" character issue. Hal's message seems to have such a powerful appeal that even people of better character preach it.

Sorry if you took the "faith healing" horror story personally. It wasn't meant that way -- just as a parallel[1] example of how false doctrine is a harsh taskmaster. People do not question the good intentions of the parents -- but the results (and as much as I hate to ever use the sodomite descriptive verb) ... suck.

I coined the term "prophecy pimp" in imitation of the widely-used pejorative "poverty pimp." In both cases, you have people who are personally profiting from the despair and miseries of others. I'm sure Jesse Jackson and Hal Lindsey are both heroes in their own eyes -- but neither man helps people overcome their problems. People who consult fortune tellers, people who try to predict the future, people who go to crystal-ball gazers and "prophecy teachers," imbibe an addictive poison. Pandering to this kind of anxiety does not render the customer any better-prepared to face the future. For this reason, Gypsy fortune-tellers refuse to have their own fortunes told. They know, from routine contact with their clients, that fatalism disables and cripples its victims.

Why not simply trust the God who holds the future, rather than worry about what the future holds?

"Prophecy" teaching has not done anyone any good. We can both point to many sad examples of the harm it does.

[1] Parable is an interesting compound word, combining the preposition para (beside) with the verb bolo (I throw). A parable is a story you throw beside the point you are trying to make.

>>We scoff because we find no testimony of the dispensational teachings on the Bible, especially in the NT.<<

Your Dominionist mindset has a long history. From the tower of Babel, the crusades, the rule of England under the Church. None of which turned out well. Then there is the whore of Revelation, that One World Religion that will rule with the Anti Christ. Is that perhaps what describes today’s Dominionist push?

There is no doubt that the goal is total domination as a quote by Gary North indicates. “it is the moral obligation of Christians to recapture every institution for Jesus Christ.”

The doctrines of Dominionism are rooted in the earth. Their basis is the (false) teaching that man must take dominion of this earth and change it for the better before Jesus can come. The emphasis, therefore, has shifted from ‘looking up’ to ‘looking around’ to see what can be done to patch up the environment and change society into a more godly one. This scheme is unscriptural and should be rejected as heresy.

What we know today as Dominionism doctrine is a hybrid of Roman Restorationism, Dominionism, Preterism, liberal A-millennialism, Post-millennial eschatology, and Later Rain doctrines. The Latter Rain revivals of the early 20th century introduced an ideal new to Christendom - that of achieving religious unity and a golden age for the Church by means of revelation knowledge and spiritual power. Much more was entailed in the scheme, but this heresy, though largely debunked in the 1950’s, seeded the charismatic movement and linked with other groups to form the Restoration Movement, Latter Rain, etc..

Thus, much current heresy on the “birth of the Manchild” and the role of an elite army of saints in taking the nations for God - which came to our present time in the Toronto Blessing, Brownsville, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, and a host of false apostles and prophets on TV- has been able to implant itself most readily in charismatic churches where restoration teachings had already paved the way.

Many have discovered from bitter experience in Dominionism fellowships that behind the smiling faces, camaraderie, loving embraces and victorious praise, there lies a spirit of dominion that will wound and crush any who do not toe the line. An empire-building, self-seeking arrogance pervades much of the Dominionism leadership, and they have proven themselves closed to correction. Greed, corruption, immorality and spiritual abuses have thrived in this climate - and the teaching which focuses so much on the earth as our inheritance had led many to become so in love with this present world as to adopt almost all its values.

Without denying that there are many sincere people who claim to be Christians within this system, it needs to be said most strongly that Dominionism churches are a foundation of sand, and the doctrines taught are unscriptural, unsound and finally heretical where they deny the bodily return of Jesus Christ to earth to rule and judge..

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