Daniel Nine: Twenty to Twenty-Seven

DANIEL NINE: TWENTY to TWENTY SEVEN

 

We know that Daniel was a man God trusted to reveal many of His secrets to, a man that was "very precious to God", as Gabriel told him when he appeared from heaven while Daniel was still praying to God and confessing the sins of his Jewish people. This is possibly one of the most important passages of scripture in the entire Bible. It reveals 6 important things that God will settle with His chosen people Israel, after removing His Church from the scene by the "rapture", see (1 Thess 4:15-18) for details. Verse 27 is often referred to as "Daniel's Seventieth Week", and as I've come to understand, it represents the very last 7 year period of life as we have known it on Planet Earth. The first "ruler" mentioned in verse 26 would of course be the Roman Empire who destroyed Jerusalem and their temple in 70AD, and the second "ruler" mentioned would have to be the Antichrist who pretends to be a "man of peace" who signs a treaty with Israel for a period of 7 years, only to break it at the "Mid-point" of this 7 year period, and reveal himself as the Antichrist or the "beast" of (Rev 13:1-10). Paul refers to him as "the man of lawlessness" in (2 Thess 2:1-6). His revelation of not being a man of peace, at the mid-point of this 7 year period but instead the "beast" will be the start of the "Great Tribulation"

 

Jesus describes this period of time in (Matt 24: 21-22) "For there will be a Greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones". The truth is that the Church will certainly be here at the beginning of this great tribulation, for without a Church to receive the wrath of Satan through his beast, there could be no tribulation, plain and simple! This tribulation time will last until God cuts it short with the return of Christ for His "Church/Bride". (Matt 24:22) This will be the rapture, not pre-tribulation, but Certainly before the wrath of God is poured out on the wicked unbelievers who are left behind? To me this should end any possibility of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture in anyone's mind.

 

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                14/12/15

 

Two Beginnings

TWO BEGINNINGS

 

A few years ago I put together an article called "In the Beginning", since then I have reason to believe that there could be two beginnings, so to speak, mentioned in scripture. The first is in (Gen 1:1) which happened sometime in the prehistoric past, know only to God. (Deut 29:29). The second time it is mentioned is in (John 1:1-14), and I believe this could be considered as the beginning of time as we have come to know it as described from (Gen 1:2) through to (Rev 22:21). It would seem that this period of time started with the reconstruction of planet earth, to make it suitable to sustain life, after it became "without form and void" (NKJV), then approximately 6000 years ago as we humans reckon time God created Adam. I believe our Creator God is perfect, and couldn't have created our planet as it is described in (Gen 1:2). This would leave a period of undetermined length between verses 1 and 2. I   realize there has been much speculation about this apparent gap between the original beginning, and what I'm suggesting might be considered a second beginning.

 

The facts pertaining to fossils, and the evidence of so-called prehistoric creatures, and the evidence of science that our universe is much older than 6000 years, has always bothered me since becoming a follower of Jesus. I consider myself to be a seeker after truth, since coming to accept Jesus, who is "The Truth!" (John 14:6). I have recently read a series of articles by a respected Christian leader, in which he attempted to prove that everything mentioned in the Bible has happened in this 6000 year period. Then shortly after reading these articles, and not understanding why he thought he needed to prove the universe could not be any older, I read another article by a Christian brother who holds a completely different view. I tend to agree with the latter view, and see no reason why we cannot leave room in our scriptural view for more proven scientific discoveries. I certainly don't believe in the "theory of evolution", or in the belief that there could be life on some other planet, which I consider is simply man's attempt to discredit the Bible. But since the discovery of the Hubble telescope, much more is being revealed about the size and age of God's creation. In (Ps 115:16) NLT we read "The heavens belong to the Lord, but He has given the earth to all humanity." I take from that statement that the earth as we know it was given as the only perfect environment in the universe to sustain human life! Why should we be spending money looking for some other place?

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                          21/04/12                                                                                     

 

Agape Perfected

AGAPE PERFECTED

This is a term taken from the teaching series by Bob Mumford called "The Agape Road". It consists of eight thirty minute sessions that clearly explain what is involved in receiving and walking in a new lifestyle that pleases God our heavenly Father. It is based on the truth of (John 14:6) where it records a very important statement of Jesus "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". Since we know from scripture that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, the perfect God/Man, because He was born of a virgin so He was "sinless", so He was 100% human and 100% God at the same time. So we can safely say that He was "Agape Perfected" because we know that Agape is the Greek word that is translated as "Love". The Greek language has several different words for love, but in English we only have one. So we can say "I love God", but we can also say "I love pizza", or "I love my cat or dog" etc. The apostle John declared in (1John 4:8) that "God is love" [Agape], so we can say that Agape is God's kind of love since "God is Agape".

 

Back in the last part of the 19^th century there was a lot of church groups teaching "holiness", and some developed a doctrine called "sinless perfection" which told people they could become so holy they would be "perfect" in this life. We can only be "faultless", or without sin when we stand before God in our resurrected bodies (Jude: 24-25). As long as we still dwell in our earthly bodies we have our fleshly nature which is rebellious and opposes the things of the Spirit. (Gal 5:16-21). Only as we yield to the prompting of the Holy Spirit who indwells every "born again" adopted child of God can we live a life of liberty that pleases our heavenly Father. We live in a "fallen world" in which we have an enemy who hates God with a passion, and since he can do little directly against God he takes out his wrath against God's children. His kingdom of darkness is a well organized army consisting of millions of "fallen angels" who still have access to heavenly places (Eph 3:10). And also a huge number of "earth bound" wicked demon spirits who because they are "bodiless creatures" have an intense desire to inhabit a body to carry out the enemy's plan to hinder God's plans. These demons naturally prefer a human body. But will settle for the body of an animal rather than be unclothed. (Mark 5:1-20). This is only one of many incidents that show how Jesus dealt with demons in the gospels. And in (Mark 16:17) Jesus declares the believers in Him shall cast out demons!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                     30/08/12                                                                                                                                                            

The Rest of The Lord

THE REST OF THE LORD

 

In the book of Hebrews, chapter 4, we find a discussion about this subject and in verse 9 we read in the NLT version "So there is a special rest still waiting for the children of God". Then in the devotional booklet called ODB today the topic was "Tree of Rest", which caught my attention. Apparently the author lived near a farmer's field with one lone tree out in the center of the field, which had once been a pasture for his cattle. It seems that was a common practice when they cut down the trees to clear the land, they would often leave one large tree as a "shade tree" that would be a place of rest for the animals from the sun on a hot summer day. I can personally relate to that having been brought up on a farm, I can well remember seeing a group of cattle resting in the shade of an old tree of some kind.

 

The OT speaks of a remnant of Israelites whom God spared when the nation was sent into exile. This remnant preserved God's law and later rebuilt the temple (Ezra 9:9). The Apostle Paul referred to himself as part of the remnant of God (Rom 11:1-14). NLT He spared them to become God's messengers to the Gentiles (non-Jews). Praise God for His faithfulness to His original "chosen people", who will one day come to saving faith in Jesus Christ as their Messiah! At this present time their minds are veiled from the truth until the fullness of the Gentiles has come into the Body of Christ, and then as we read in (Rom 11:25-36) NLT that at the proper time God will redeem the remnant of Israel. This has always been part of His ultimate plan since before He created our time and space world.

 

How important it is that as followers of Jesus, we become familiar with the often difficult plan of our Great Creator, that He had recorded for us in the Bible so that it can be understood by true seekers after truth. Since we know that when "doubting Thomas" said he didn't the way that Jesus said He was going, He replied "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me". (John 14:6) NLT Part of our responsibility as a follower of Jesus is to be a "Tree of Rest" to others who are also followers of Jesus.  How can we do that you might ask? I believe that God would expect us to speak "encouraging words" to those who might be discouraged with life for any one of many possible reasons. Often all that is needed is a listening ear so they can feel that you are really interested in them as a person, who is a real brother or sister to them in the Lord!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                                                       02/05/14

A Wedding Ring

A WEDDING RING

 

This is a universal symbol of a married couple's "One Flesh covenant" made before God by a man and woman who wish to join their lives together before their family and friends. This ring is usually made of gold, which is a precious metal that speaks of something of "value" and "permanence"! The fact that it is in the form of a "circle", represents the personal circle that their one flesh covenant has brought them into. No one else can be part of this circle, not their parents whose circles they have both left, and not their close friends, but only any future children they might have from their union plus their possible spouses! This is their exclusive "family circle", with no possible exceptions! This is a sure prevention against any possibility of a separation by a divorce which God hates. Read from the OT prophet Malachi from (Mal 2:13-16) to see God's reason for the marriage between one man and one woman for life! His intentions are made clear there, "He seeks godly offspring", so this makes the so-called "gay marriages" a misnomer at best, and an abomination to God at worst! This only shows us how far our 21^st century has got away from God's Word, that we would ever consider such a thing! We as a society need to repent corporately, and ask God to forgive us for allowing such a thing to happen. I'm sure this opinion is held by many people. But as Edmund Burke once said "All it takes for evil to rule, is for good men to do nothing".

 

So it's high time for followers of Jesus to support the Biblical understanding of marriage, and why God "hates divorce". The reason He created Adam and Eve as different gender persons was so that they could reproduce children after the image of God. This is why He placed them in a pure environment, to raise a godly family. We know from reading scripture that His enemy Satan interrupted this perfect plan, and he has been trying to destroy godly families ever since. Just look around at the number of broken homes and emotionally damaged children, and guess who is causing these things. Our job as followers of Jesus in these days as I see it is to support families who have been affected, by having compassion on those single parents, and doing anything we can to promote reconciliation and healing to those involved. And to spread the truth about God's plan for godly marriages and the homes and families these produce. This is why we should keep in mind what a "wedding ring" really stands for, a "personal circle" consisting of a wife and husband who have become a "one flesh covenant" before God!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                               Revised 06/03/16                                                                                                            

Bull's Eye

BULL'S EYE

 

We are all familiar with this expression, which represents the center of a target we might use for target shooting with a gun or a bow and arrow. The goal is always to hit the bull's eye, but we seldom do. (Rom 3:23) tells that "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God". In other words we have not hit our goal which is always the bull's eye. For us as followers of Jesus, this would be the perfect will of God, or as scripture defines it as "holiness". In (Heb 12:14) we read "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord". NKJV. I heard of a man who bragged about hitting the bull's eye painted on the side of his barn with an arrow, which he left in place to show his friends. The truth was however that he had first shot the arrow, and then painted the bull's eye around it! In (Prov 14:12) we read "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death". In other words our ways or ideas are not always in line with God's ways!

 

We might say that God has painted a bull's eye around certain truths, so to speak, and these should be targets for us to aim for as we live our lives as followers of Jesus. God's overall goal is for us to become more like Christ in our behavior day by day. And for this reason He has written His Word as our guide. (2 Tim 3:16-17). We need to read the scriptures daily, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what He gave to the authors who wrote the words they used in the original documents. Remember, whichever English translation we use is some translator's choice of words, and not necessarily always the best choice. That's why we need to check out important passages in other translations, to get the best understanding of the real meaning. Like the believers in Berea did, as recorded in (Acts 17:11). We need to pray "Teach me your way, O Lord; I will walk in your truth" (Ps 86:11)

 

We all need to aim at the right target, which God has been faithful to direct the original authors of His Word, to use plain easy to understand words and phrases. Some theologians have complicated God's Word with their theories, which have been accepted by the church as being inspired by God. Some of these theories line up with scripture, but some do not, and have brought a lot of confusion to believers. To borrow a phrase from a recent ODB devotional "When we aim our lives at God's Word, we'll discover that His ways are right on target—every time"!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                                            Revised 15/07/14