Article: What’s Next In Prophecy & What’s Holding It Back?

New article at my prophecy site:

What’s Next In Prophecy & What’s Holding It Back?

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Seven Antichrist Myths Not To Fall For

Check out and comment on the new article on Seven Antichrist Myths Not To Fall For:

http://www.escapeallthesethings.com/antichrist-myths.htm

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New Jerusalem – No Gentile Gate? + Rom 11 Olive Tree – Israel?

If you eavesdrop on Messianics long enough, eventually you will hear a little ditty like this on the true significance of the 12 gates of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:2):

In Revelation 21, there are 12 gates to the New Jerusalem for the 12 Tribes of Israel. There are no gates for “Gentiles.” Hence, Messiah cannot marry any Gentile woman until she joins his tribe! Ruth is a prophetic “type” of the remnant in the “Gentile” Christian Church who join the House of Judah and then she was able… to marry Boaz who is a “type” of Messiah.

Those outside of the gate are “dogs” and Yahushua (sic) called the Cannanite woman a “dog” which is a nick name for a “Gentile.” So those outside of the gate are Gentiles/Dogs. You cannot inherit the Kingdom as a Gentile, you must be converted by the Jewish Messiah to become like him—-a Jew!

Yes, you heard that right. It is believed by many of these Hebraic believers that you cannot be saved as a Gentile but must become Jewish/Israelite to be saved. They prop up this heresy (as it is labeled by Acts 15 and Galatians) with many side arguments. The 12 gates of the New Jerusalem is one of them. It’s based on this passage about New Jerusalem:

Revelation 21:10-12 (NIV) — 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

It’s an interesting theory about the purpose of the twelve tribal gates. It makes sense at first until you realized there is an assumption behind it that is neither provable nor sensible.

Wrong Assumption About Why the 12 Gates Are Named

The assumption is this: that each of the twelve gates is assigned to one of the twelve tribes for the exclusive passage of only that tribe and no one else. That’s quite silly if you imagine the scene that would play out:

“What tribe are you?

“Dan…”

Oh, well you can’t pass here, it’s Naphtali. Go through the gate to the right, please. Next!”

Instead, it’s more reasonable that the twelve gates are named for twelve tribes to *honor* them since Israel was called first. As a matter of fact, we find if we keep reading in Revelation 21 we find another similar endowment for the twelve apostles:

Revelation 21:14 (NIV) The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

In other words, each gate for each tribe is sitting a top a different foundation with the name of the assigned apostle. Obviously these are named to honor the twelve apostles, each of whom will rule one of the twelve tribes (Mt 19:28). No doubt, their name will be under the gate for the tribe they rule.

But using the logic of Messianics, only the twelve apostles can pass beyond the gate their name is written under. For that is what the naming of the of foundation must mean…exclusive access, right? Wrong.

The real problem with accepting that we all must be assigned to one of the tribes to be in the Kingdom and New Jerusalem is the many places where it is emphasized that “there is neither Jew nor Gentile in the Kingdom” (Gal 3:27-29). If we all must “become Israel,” then why did Paul look forward to when we are “in Christ” instead of once we are “in Israel” as Messianics teach?

Is the Olive Tree We Are Grafted Into “Israel?”

After I saw all the verses contradicting this “Become Israel for Salvation” theology, I took another look at the Romans 11 Olive Branches grafting. This is another passage often cited as proof that we must become Israel. It is believed that there is one olive tree described that we are grafted into as Gentiles and it is Israel and therefore we become Israel by being grafted there. But does it say that?

If you look closely, you find out that there is more than one olive tree. Olive branches are among them based on keeping the “holy root” tree pure and righteous; not for the purpose of making wild branches natural or Israel branches. It never says or implies that. In fact, the first olive tree we are grafted into is called the “elect” (Ro 11:7) or “righteous remnant according to grace” (Ro 11:5) by Paul, not “Israel.” If the hardened unrighteous original branches of this remnant tree are removed and the righteous wild branches from the other olive trees are added, this means we can’t have that olive tree be the “Israel tree.” It’s the righteous remnant tree, a tree of mixed olive branches; some natural to that tree, and some wild or cultivated. However, all are remnant righteous branches only “by grace” and not by nationality or being or becoming Israel. The root of the olive tree that sustains the righteous branches is Christ, not Israel (Jn 15:5).

Conclusion

Gentiles are not called dogs in Revelation, the unrighteous are. Gentiles do not need to live in Israel or become Israel to be saved or blessed. They need to believe in the Word of God and do it just as Israelites need to (Lk 8:21). When they do, they are in Christ receiving his grace, and their Jewishness or Gentile-ness is not counted, as Paul said. In the New Jerusalem, all who have become righteous and have white clothing will be able to go through all the gates (not just “one gate” or “their own gate”).

Revelation 22:14 (NIV) “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.

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Have You Committed the Unpardonable Sin (Without Knowing It)?

A reader sent me this question:

My question is in regard to the “unforgivable sin”. What is your perspective on that particular subject? I have to say personally that I wonder if I have done that myself. And that is half the reason why I get so confused and study so much.

Which of us have not read this verse and wondered the same thing:

Matthew 12:31 (HCSB) — Because of this, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

My Pastor’s Common Sense Answer

I remember the answer my pastor gave back in church during the 90′s to this question. He said that as believers seeking to serve God, “if you are worried you have committed this sin, then you have not done it.” In other words, the people who might commit this sin are the people who are enemies of God, not the ones worried about what God thinks.

This fits with the audience that the verse above was directed at, the Pharisees (Mt 12:24).  The Pharisees were doing everything they could to contradict, undermine, and trap Jesus, a man sent by God by their own admission (John 3:2). They saw him as a threat to their position, power and glory which was their primary concern, not serving God (John 11:47-48). In fact, Jesus plainly said that they did not serve God (John 7:17-19), but followed men and their traditions (Mt 15:3-9) because Satan was their father  (John 8:44). Their evil desires and animosity for Jesus caused them to commit many intentional sins and all could be forgiven—except blaspheming acts that were done by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As long as you have always been neutral or friendly towards God, you could not have possibly committed the unpardonable sin.

Understanding Accountability For Punishment

But what  if in the past you were acting as an enemy of God, much like Paul while he was a Pharisee before his Road to Damascus conversion? How do you know for sure that you did not commit the unpardonable sin then, especially when you did not know enough to realize what it was?

You can know for sure you did not because God is reasonable, fair, and just. He will not damn you eternally for a sin done in ignorance. A sin of ignorance may bring an immediate penalty or curse  for breaking his rules (such as the many curses that Philistines suffered after they captured and touched the untouchable Ark of the Covenant in 1Samuel 5 or the curses on Abimelech for unknowingly taking Abraham’s wife in Genesis 5), but not the ultimate penalty of the Second Death. For you to be accountable for that final punishment, you must first be fully informed in advance of the behaviors that would lead to that punishment. In other words, you must know you are doing it to be accountable for it.

Therefore it’s impossible to commit the unpardonable sin and not know it. You have to consciously be opposing God to commit it and also be aware of God’s will on the subject. The Pharisees, if they really were Satan’s seed as Jesus implied (John 8:44) , were already nonredeemable and had nothing to lose and everything to gain by making a blasphemous lie about the source of power Jesus used to cast out demons.  However, it is unlikely that any believer reading has knowingly blasphemed like that.

Unpardonable Sin Impossible To Commit Today

Besides the aforementioned knowledge prerequisite, a final consideration about this sin is the question of the situation needed for it to happen. Jesus was able to do “many signs” because he was filled with the Holy Spirit. There miracles (and his ministry) began when he was baptized in water by John the Baptist followed by the spirit descending on him like a dove. This was his own private “Day of Pentecost” event, if you will, filling him with the Holy Spirit.

From that day forward, he was able to do the signs he did because of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees witnessed this power repeatedly (along with his irresistible, wise and superior teaching from God’s word). He warned them they were in danger of the unpardonable sin because they knew where his power really came from and yet continued to attribute his power to the Devil instead of God. This same power was also seen in the the apostles and others present in Jerusalem at Pentecost and those who they then laid hands on. Jesus predicted this. He said “these signs shall surely follow” and they did as we can read all about in Acts.

However, today it’s different. Today there is nobody left who had hands laid on them by someone with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is not to say miracles and healings do not happen still. They do, but through the fervent prayer of faith by righteous men (James 5…I have personally received divine healed three times this way). Yet, we are not presently familiar with the easy or accidental miracles like those that Acts tells us constantly surrounded those full of faith and the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5). For example, Acts implies that healings happened by Peter’s shadow passing over the sick in the streets or by receiving a clothing that Paul had worn. That’s the difference between being filled with Holy Spirit and miracles surrounding you constantly and merely being a faithful righteous person who prays to receive miracles and gets them a small percentage of the time.

Given that you are unlikely to find a person filled with the Holy Spirit today, you are not going to see a real miracle that was clearly and obviously done by the Holy Spirit for you to blaspheme. Thus, you cannot commit the unpardonable sin today even if you wanted to.

Hebrews confirms that the presence of the Holy Spirit is a necessary prerequisite of a sin you cannot repent of:

Hebrews 6:4 (HCSB) — For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, became companions with the Holy Spirit

This passage is not talking about generic salvation as salvation of itself does not make you “a companion of the Holy Spirit.” The laying on of hands is what gives that gift (1Ti 4:14; 2Ti 1:6). That was the special situation of the First Century. People had “enlightenment” or the Holy Spirit as their “companion” because of the laying on of hands (Acts 19:1-6). The passage is saying that if they then fall away after tasting such a level of intimate understanding with God’s way and power (or “enlightenment”) then they were accountable for knowing better if they then abandoned that way. This differs from the accountability people have today without the spirit filling them. We are generally in confusion and doubt on even what the Bible says when we attempt to read it. Such as, for example, what the Bible teaches on what sins you can never be forgiven for =).

Conclusion

There is no need to worry about being guilty of the unpardonable sin and not knowing it. In Scripture God’s enemies are the ones who are in danger of it. Further, it probably has been impossible to commit this sin ever since soon after the First Century. Unlike then, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not poured out on all believers so that you can witness many signs done by the spirit and then blaspheme it. If you still do catch yourself worrying about having committed it, then that might be the best evidence one can point to that you have not done so.

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If You Think A Recent Disaster Is Prophetic…

New article at my main site, in response to the BP Gulf Oil Spill Disaster and many emails asking me what I thought about it. If You Think A Recent Disaster Is Prophetic…

Comments are open and welcome…

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How Long Was Jesus’ Ministry?

A friend asked:

Tim, where do you come down on Jesus ministry being only One year in length and not three years ? Is there a source I can read more about it ?

The length of Jesus’ ministry is not a topic most Christians wonder about. They are universally taught that it was 3½ years long.  What they do not realize without personal investigation is that this is only one traditional teaching of several possibilities ranging from 1 – 3 years in length.

I, too, did not realize this for decades as a believer…until meeting Michael Rood. He was teaching a ministry of Jesus of only about a year, or 62 weeks to be exact (70 if you include Jesus’ work up until Pentecost as a glorified man appearing intermittently). This fell in line with what Daniel 9 says about the Messiah being cut off after 62 weeks (Dan 9:26). While the weeks are traditionally interpreted as groups of seven years, not literal weeks of days, in prophecy, there often are dual fulfillments. This allows for both weeks of years and (normal) weeks of days to be intended by the passage. In other words, Jesus died after exactly 62 weeks in ministry as the ministering servant Messiah (from the day John baptized him when he was baptized by the Holy Spirit descending as a dove).

Origins of the 70 Week Ministry

When I asked Michael where he got this theory, he told me about a conference he went to where a couple scholars were teaching it. They claimed that the oldest Greek manuscript fragment for part of the Gospel of John had a different reading than most Bibles follow. I think it was John 6 which in most Bibles has:

John 6:4 (HCSB) Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near.

However, in this oldest fragment that the Critical Apparatus of the Nestle Aland had for that chapter, that verse was missing. If the oldest fragment preserved the original, then that verse was not original to John but added later by some scribe.

Michael Rood was intrigued but thought at the time that these scholars were just trying to be controversial to make a name for themselves. Later when he tried to resolve difficulties in The Chronological Gospels (his next book), this bit of trivia came in handy to resolve there being huge gaps in the narrative.

The gaps occurred because certain verses in John inserted extra Passovers without any account of Jesus observing them nor the other of the intervening three annual pilgrimage feasts which the Torah required all males to attend (Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles). If these Passover accounts were accurate, then Jesus would be breaking Torah which he said he came to fulfill and not to destroy. It would also simply be inconsistent with all the other festivals we see recorded that he always attended like the obedient Jew that he was.

Michael found that two of the four Passovers ascribed to Jesus’ 3½ year ministry were not defensible. John 6:4 did not exist and John 5:1 generic festival reference was not Passover as is normally assumed, but another festival. This left two Passovers, the one soon after the start of his ministry in John 2:23 and the one he died on. Thus, rather than a ministry of over three years, Jesus had a ministry of just over one year (62 weeks) just as some Church fathers had already said.

Why Getting Jesus’ Ministry Length Right Matters

Like Michael, I was not looking for an alternative theory for Jesus ministry either when I encountered it. It just fell into my lap and I accepted it as superior to the 3½ year ministry theory on that merit alone. I did not realize then how key it was that I learned this.

Years later in other research I found compelling research for the correct years of Jesus birth and death: Fall 3 BCE and Spring 30 AD, respectively. These years only leave room for a life span of 31 years, not the 33 years that you need to make a 3½ year ministry beginning at age 30 fit. Only a short one year ministry works. If I still believed the 3½ year ministry at the time of the discovery of those two data points, I probably would have rejected one of this as wrong when all along it was the 3½ year ministry that was wrong. (Note: when you find the difference between 3 BCE and 30 AD be sure to subtract 1 for no year zero! And another 1 because Jesus died six months before his birthday that year. If you don’t, you’ll end up with an age at death of 33 or 32 instead of 31.)

This year of 29 AD for the start of Jesus’ ministry was later confirmed when I discovered that Jesus’ ministry must begin in a sabbath year. This is derived from his public reading of Isaiah 61:1-2, a declaration of a sabbath year in Luke 4:18-20 at the start of his ministry. When I researched sabbath year records, I found the best-supported theory had a sabbath year fall from Spring 28 to Spring 29 AD (documented in my book). This sabbath year cycle is the basis for all the many possible years of fulfillment of the 70th week on, since Jesus must return in a sabbath year, the final year of the 70th Week. (In this way, his two comings are parallel. Both come in the sabbath year end of one of the 70 Prophetic Weeks: the 62nd or 69th and the 70th respectively.)

If you want to learn more on Jesus one year ministry, check out Michael Rood’s Jonah Code.

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Newsletter: The Rapture – Are You Old Enough?

Despite all the discussion and debate about the rapture among Christians, several important aspects of the rapture issue are still not widely understood. Besides the important timing question, there is also the question of the purpose of the rapture (it’s not what you think) and the fact that not only the wicked will be “left behind” but some of the righteous will not make it either! Learning these finer points of the rapture will deepen your understanding of God’s plan.

Read the article here: http://www.escapeallthesethings.com/rapture-secrets.htm

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What Kind of “Earthquakes” (Mt 24:7) Is An End Time Sign

If you wonder about increasing earthquakes and Bible prophecy, check out the new major article at www.EscapeAllTheseThings.com:

What Kind of “Earthquakes” (Mt 24:7) Is An End Time Sign?

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Aviv Barley Found, Biblical Year Begins Sunset March 17

From Nehemia Gordon of Karaite-Korner.org http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karaite_korner_news/message/476

Find updated calendar in an easy to read format here:

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Did the Chilean Earthquake fulfill “Unless Those Days Were Shortened” (Mt 24:22)?

The powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile killed more than 700 people and triggered tsunamis. NASA scientists say that is not all it did. It also affected the earth’s axis, speeding up the rotation a little. In other words, the quake shortened the day by 1.26 microseconds. (That’s not one thousandths of a second, but millionths of seconds.)

Many readers have forwarded this news to me probably with the same thought in mind. Could this be what Jesus referred to when he said the following in the Olivet Discourse?

Matthew 24:22 (KJV) — And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

One reader phrased it this way:

If we interpret Scripture literally, can we say that the event in Chile has to do when Jesus said days are going to be shortened? What do think? Is it possible ? I know that PX will cause something similar too…but this earthquake literally shortened days according to a scientist … this is getting better ! we are heading to end times…

This question highlights the ambiguity with what Jesus said as it is rendered in the antiquated KJV English version. It can either be understood figuratively or literally. The more common figurative meaning of “those days being shortened” signifies that the length of the tribulation is going to limited by God. The strictly literal reading of it would mean that the literal length of our 24 hour day will be shorter. So which was intended by Jesus?

The reader is leaning towards literal. But is he on the right track? The question also highlights confusion on what “literal interpretation” means. Let’s get to the bottom of it using to approaches.

Approach 1: Think It Through Logically

First a clarification. Some of my students might choose literal because I’m known to teach taking the Bible literally. But this is constantly misunderstood. It does not mean to read everything in the Bible literally even when there are figures of speech, idioms, parables, allegories and metaphors being used. The literal method follows the cues in the text that tell us how to read it. This is instead of deciding to allegorize it without such cues and despite the fact that our reading breaks Scripture (John 10:35) just to suit our preconceived doctrinal positions.

Literal interpretation is really just same way we attempt to understand people everyday. If someone tells us that “I’m dying of thirst!”, do we take it literally and rush them to the hospital for an I.V. drip because we “always wanted to do this” (i.e. be a hero)? No, if we want to stay out of trouble we stop and look at them, see they look fine, think a moment and recognize the person used as a common hyperbolic expression. We process it as such and offer them a drink.

In other words, some common sense thinking is required to go along with proper interpretation. You can solve many questions yourself this way if you just ask yourself questions on what the ramifications are of the interpretation to the surrounding thoughts. Question does it fit or not?

In this case, how does a literal shortening of a 24 hour day prevent the implied extinction of the human race? It makes no sense. On the other hand, the figurative shortening of those days read as the curtailing of the Great Tribulation makes perfect sense as a reason that genocide would be prevented. Satan wants to enslave or destroy the human race and God must step in to prevent this.

Approach 2: Compare Multiple Bible Versions

I realize that we sometimes cannot always see the forest for the trees. We cannot think of the questions ourselves that would lead us to the right answer. (This is why I love the questions I receive by email. They powerfully provoke me to thought on the Bible everyday.)

But sometimes the answer can come through another method. One of the best practices I share constantly is that of checking multiple versions on any passage you are having trouble with. We are very blessed to have the myriad English translations of the Bible we have. If you saw how few Bible versions there are for Spanish speakers, you would feel pity for them.

In this case, checking other versions indeed comes to the rescue. A simple check of a more modern and accurate version like the HCSB produces:

Matthew 24:22 (HCSB) — Unless those days were limited, no one would survive. But those days will be limited because of the elect.

That is clearly a vote for the figurative rendering that the days of the Great Tribulation will be limited. The Greek for this passage means “cut short” which can be rendered as “shortened” like the KJV or “limited” like the HCSB depending on the context. Here, as demonstrated above, the context is talking about limiting the Great Tribulation, so “limited” is best for giving a reader the right idea without them having to go through the mental gymnastics of Approach 1 above.

Does this work all the time? No, sometimes it is no help. But it is always worth a try, especially for people who primarily use the KJV. I cannot tell you how many times people have asked me about a verse in the KJV reading that I answered just by showing them it in the NIV. It’s time for people to update their Bibles and read them through again in the new version. You’ll be amazed at what you can finally understand in the Bible.

But is the Chilean earthquake in any way a sign of the End Times being nearer? Stay tuned for when I address Matthew 24:7 ^“There will be famines, and earthquakes in various places.”…

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Bible Studies: ■ Rapture Timeline? 2010, 2011, or 2012? ■ Bible Codes, Catholic prophecies, dreams and visions vs. The Bible? ■ Signs of the Apocalypse: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and Bible Prophecy, and Hurricane Wilma? ■ Is the Battle of Armageddon/End of the Age Near? ■ Is America/USA in Bible Prophecy as Mystery Babylon? ■ Who is the Antichrist or False Prophet? ■ Book of Revelation symbolic? ■ Is Wormwood Planet X or Nibiru or Xena (and Gabrielle)? ■ Reliable End Times Events Timeline/Chronology? ■ Are the 30, 360, 1260, 1290, 1335 days literal? ■ Which year is the return of Jesus Christ/Yeshua Messiah or when is the End of the World? ■ Which Prophetic Feast of the Torah is Next? ■ How to survive the Great Tribulation? ■ The 144,000? ■ Bible Verses