It is only fitting coming to the end of the made to order considerations built on falsehood within professing Christianity the Lord has led me to address over the past weeks, that I conclude for now, with a false doctrine of the end. As with the Bible, divergence and confusion surrounding the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and gathering of His followers to Him unnecessarily exist within professing Christianity because many have developed their own made to order end.1 This would not be so if everyone would start in the Bible, interpret what it says about the matter in its wholeness using the same principles and event chronology with which it is written!2 The confusion is destroying some.
As with all other sound doctrine, addressing the end of this present age and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ must begin with what the Bible actually says, not falsehood or sinful, mortal presupposition! The teaching that Christ returns secretly to quietly fulfill 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 before the beginning of the last seven years of God’s seventy weeks timeline vision He gave to Daniel is not stated anywhere in Scripture.3 It is presupposed by those that remove the passage from its natural connection to and contextual flow with 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. Also, all of what takes place as tribulation during God’s final seventieth week is wrongly considered His full-on wrath at work.
The secret rapture as a made to order event taking place before the onset of God’s seventieth week is largely and forcefully espoused as an end time doctrine by many evangelical Christians. I wrote about the recent origin of this doctrine launched by a false prophecy as the Lord led in a 2014 post.4 So, I will not address that again here. However, it is important to know that where you start in interpreting Bible prophecy is absolutely essential for accuracy. God has wonderfully given His people knowledge about the future only He has had from eternity! So, we must always start with what He actually says or is deduced contextually in His written prophetic Word about future events.
The fore stated is well known by scholars, prophets, pastors and Bible teachers, but for whatever all of the reasons they do not always follow this common sense principle when it comes to end time doctrine. One major reason, of course, is loyalty (publically at least) to denominational and sectarian employers or donors that will separate them from their income for deviating from the party line which is righteous if the party line is entirely biblical (1 Timothy 6:3-5)! Another is a compromising tolerance many engage in because of the prevalence of so many end time scenarios that include those that reject even the prophesied millennial reign of Christ plainly written (Revelation 20:1-10).5
The ancient Jewish sect of the Sadducees missed the awesome instruction of God revealed in the resurrections He performed plainly written in the Old Testament as well as reality of Christ’s because they chose to reject all but the first five of its books and the possibility of resurrection. The Lord answered them directly: ‘“Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God,’” (Mark 12:18-27, NKJV)? If there is any place to be doctrinally dogmatic it is where the Word of God is plain regardless of whether or not it fits comfortably into one’s or someone else’s carefully constructed theology. As the Lord showed, error is to be confronted!
For this cause, I rejoice in the memory of and pay tribute to godly men like Marvin Rosenthal, a Messianic Jewish brother and Founder of Zion’s Hope Ministries who departed home to the Lord earlier this year, but not before some years back publically changing his mind about the timing of the rapture.6 As a typical evangelical Christian he had towed the party line from his conversion that the event would occur suddenly and secretly prior to God’s final seventieth week. But after studying Scripture more closely as a lifelong dedicated Bible student, he realized such a thing did not arise naturally from an objective, straight forward reading of prophetic texts and reversed himself.
He very humbly, graciously and respectfully made his personal findings public in the magazine his Ministry publishes, Zion’s Fire, speaking opportunities and a book he wrote titled, The Pre-Wrath Rapture Of The Church. He was ostracized. His book’s title accurately presents what would be the outcome of objectively interpreting the words of our Lord Jesus in the Gospels as He answered His disciples about the “sign of” His “coming, and of the end of the age?” This should be everyone’s starting place! He gave several signs to precede His return and the end including “tribulation” and martyrdom (Matthew 24:3-14, NKJV).7 The Lord’s broad event summary to the end links with the first six seals fastening a “scroll” of prophecy God later gives Him to open (Revelation 5:1-10, 6, NKJV).8
1 Read the May 29, 2022 post, Made To Order Bible?, under the category, Instruction.
2 As I also footnote in the Made To Order Bible? post, there are an excellent set of uniform Bible interpretation principles widely taught in reputable seminaries the world over. Scholars, pastors and teachers to include those that major on Bible prophecy however, do not always apply the principles. As the Lord has led, I have put the major Bible interpretation principles and other information in our new Fruitful Bible Study Self-Paced Video Course now, featured on our Strong Man Virtual Institute’s YouTube Channel. The video course and optional (but recommended) Study Guide available for free download in the Strong Man Store replace and expand upon a free one sheet document this Ministry formerly offered.
3 See the January 30, 2022 post, The Right Side Of History, under the categories Bible Prophecy and Biblical Worldview for an introduction to God’s seventy week time- line vision given to Daniel.
4 Read the two-part post that begins March 16, 2014, The Prayers Of The Saints, under the category, Bible Prophecy.
5 Though a millennial reign of Christ is not specifically stated anywhere else in Scripture, it is strongly hinted at through the prophets (Psalm 90:1-4; Isaiah 65:20-23; Ho- sea 6:1-3). Since “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” is “prophecy,” we should not be surprised that God includes details and events in it never before revealed (Revela- tion 1:1-3, NKJV).
6 Out of love for and desire to see the Jewish people come to their own Messiah, our Ministry has been a supporter of Zion’s Hope Ministries for many years. Learn more about it at https://www.zionshope.org/.
7 The fact the Lord gives signs He instructs to watch for clearly indicates they do occur before His return contrary to the secret rapture doctrine. These signs in Matthew are also found with little variation in Mark 13:3-13 and Luke 21:7-19.
8 The total of seven seals that fasten the scroll are not judgments as some teach. Instead, they affirm and preview what has already been foretold about divine permitted or initiated future events while in some cases disclosing new details. For example, the first seal in line with the proclamation of the Old Testament prophets and Christ in the Gospels, confirms again man’s violent conquering will continue until the end of the age. This is seen historically, now, in Russia’s war with Ukraine and on through to the last evil conqueror, the Antichrist (Daniel 7:1-8, 15-27; Matthew 24:6-7a)!
As a black American and male especially on this Father’s Day, I rejoice to have the eternal spiritual freedom I enjoy in God through His Son, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, and the physical freedom which came graciously from His hand to my slave forefathers celebrated today too, on this national holiday, Juneteenth. The overlapping commemorations are not unrelated since slavery did much to negatively impact slave fathers and subsequent male descendents. A lasting harmful effect upon black fathers that has now, spread to all in our land is the feminist driven societal attitude of contempt for and effort to redesign them in their God designed leadership of the family from creation.1
Happy Father’s Day to all of the fathers reading this! This redesign of men is part of the fashionable though, rebellious worldly falsehood also taken up among many professed Christians in their churches that man is whatever he says about himself and can be made to order. Another of the many deceitful “doctrines of demons” in these “latter times,” (1 Timothy 4:1, NKJV), this humanistic philosophy boldly and defiantly as in Eden challenges what God his Creator has to say in His Word, about man the creature (Genesis 3:1-6). If in fact as the Bible teaches, he is the creation of God, then, man has no authority or right to redesign himself and cannot be made to order apart from sin.
Indeed, the Bible teaches man is what God his Creator says he is both in terms of original divine intent, design and destiny as well as present circumstance of being fallen into sin with the consequence of death! For man is the purposeful creation of God in the eternally perfect divine image and likeness with the assignment to rule initially over the earth and fill it with his kind through procreation. God also provided sustenance for man and all of earth’s creatures before looking over what He had created and declaring it, “very good” then, resting (Genesis 1:26-2:3, NKJV). God intentionally gave this creation account to Moses to convey to Israel as real history (Genesis 2:4-25)!2
As the foregoing attests, mortal man was created faultless! There was no sin in him at all. That permanently changed however, the moment the first man and his wife disobeyed God’s one, very direct and specific command as evidenced by their guilt and shame (Genesis 2:16-17, 3:7-13)! Mortal man was now, fallen; perpetually indwelt bodily by sin and a sinner by nature with no hope of self-extrication. In order of their transgression, the Lord judged the serpent and Satan used by him to deceive Eve, then, her and finally, Adam who as promised in the day of his disobedience died spiritually in separation from God later to also die physically (Genesis 3:14-24, 5:3-5; Isaiah 59:1-2).
Mortal man’s existence and rule on earth from the fall has been very wicked. Separated from God’s life and power, abuse, perversions, lawlessness, oppressions, cruelty, violence, brutality, murders, wars and all manner of other evil impacting God’s original intent and design for man as male and female in their respective roles has characterized history to this hour. Fallen males as family leaders and fathers have certainly been far from God’s perfect design and example (Genesis 2:7-17).3 God gave His corrective response in wrath once over the whole earth promising “Yet once more” and many times regionally (Genesis 6:5-7:24, 19:1-29; Jeremiah 25:1-29; Hebrews 12:25-29).
Even so, as purposely asserted in His judgment upon Satan, God with a plan from eternity would send a Deliverer; the “Seed” of the “woman,” (Genesis 3:15, NKJV). He would be born of a virgin and sinless; the eternal Son and Word of God incarnated Jesus Christ come to save those who look to Him from their sins (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-20; John 1:1-18). Rather than a made to order redesign of man by sinful mankind, Christ is God’s perfect second Adam made like the first for whom He was the prototype! He successfully brought forth salvation and transformation to us along with reconciliation to God (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:12-23, 35-57; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21). Transformation by God is restoration to His image with Christ’s as Man too (Romans 8:29).4
It is because of Jesus Christ I am no longer a slave to sin (its power, pollution, penalty and ultimately, presence) and have every prospect today of continuing to grow into becoming more like the father in image and likeness of God the Father He intended and designed (John 8:34-36; Romans 6:1-8:11; Ephesians 3:8-12, 6:4; Colossians 1:3-23). And not only this, but great is my destiny as a redeemed son of God with eternal life and immortal glory as well as restored ruler under Him through Christ (Romans 8:12-25; 2 Timothy 1:8-12; Hebrews 2:5-18)! All of the foregoing is discoverable by any believer who will be a “diligent” student of God’s Word eager to receive His approval and who will not suffer shame from ignorance as they “rightly” interpret and apply it (2 Timothy 2:15, NKJV).5
1 I write about the attempt to redefine and design men in my book, The Strong Man Of God Back To Basics. It is available with the companion Strong Man Of God Men’s Group Study and Great Woman Of God Women’s Group Study in the Strong Man Store, at your favorite internet bookseller or brick and mortar bookstore.
2 All throughout the rest of the Bible God affirms the historicity of His acts as Creator including by the matter of fact statements of Christ (Genesis 5:1-2, 6:7; Deuteronomy 4:32-40; Isaiah 44:24, 45:12; Zechariah 12:1; Mark 10:1-9, 13:19; Revelation 4:11)! Therefore, those that reject God as Creator are calling Him a liar and the testimony of His Word, lies!
3 As the Lord leads me to write in my book and many blog posts (type “father” into the blog search window), from Genesis 2:7-17 God the Father perfectly modeled the unique role and responsibilities of fathering when He initiated the first man’s existence, led, taught, provided for and protected him in Eden.
4 Christ’s image as Man beyond nature, exemplary deeds and demeanor is summed up in His character traits forged and proven in His mortal life experiences. In God's transformation work, Christ’s followers have His character traits of faith and humility for example, also forged and proven in them over time (1 Peter 1:3-9, 5:5-11). Self-reformation nor the limiting shackles of manmade religion can accomplish God’s transforming work which is done exclusively in the freedom of relationship with Christ and biblical truth! Learn more about Christ’s character in my book and respective group studies.
5 Helpful Instruction on how to get the most out of your study of the Bible is available through the free Fruitful Bible Study Self-Paced Video Course the Lord led me to produce on our Strong Man Virtual Institute’s YouTube Channel. An optional (but recommended) Study Guide is available for free download in the Strong Man Store.
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