Strong Man Of God Blog

          There is an end God has had planned before there was ever a beginning and shepherds bringing to fulfillment.  That I should be alive to be as close as we are now, in the world to the day of the Lord and end of this present age abundantly foretold in Bible prophecy is exceedingly awe inspiring to me!  Any of us who are faithful Christians have only one legitimate cause for sorrow about this and that is the reality not everyone we love or know will come to God’s end saved in spite of our best efforts (Jude 20-23).  Truly, God’s holy wrath approaches as the destructive dawn of His eternal day and punishment of all unsaved sinners for their wicked deeds (Zephaniah 1:1-3, 14-18)!

          From creation God in sovereignty has been shepherding events toward His predetermined end bound up in His Kingdom and Son, Jesus Christ, as noted in last week’s post and proclaimed by His apostles after His first century appearance (Daniel 2:44; Acts 2:22-36, 3:17-26; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; Ephesians 1:3-23; 1 Peter 1:20-21; Revelation 1:1-8).¹  As in every generation following those days described as “the last,” ours are still an outworking of God’s plan toward His end in Christ (Acts 2:1-21; Hebrews 1:1-4; 1 John 2:18, NKJV).²  These are the last days for a number of reasons one of which is God has allocated none after to offer His gracious salvation to mankind (Titus 2:11-15).³

          Bible prophecy speaks of the “latter days” or “times” which as the phrase conveys are the last part of the last days when God begins to fulfill the most severe foretold events in His prophetic plan especially His warning judgments before bringing His wrath and end to this present mortal age as we have known it (Jeremiah 30:23-24; Daniel 10:14; 1 Timothy 4:1, NKJV).  Now, many professed Christians that love this present age do not want for their selfish motives to see it end.  But end it must since all that has taken place after Adam’s fall during it is a wicked deviation from God’s perfect will for His creatures to be eternally together with Him as Creator (Genesis 1:26-31, 2:7-3:11, 22-24).

          Foreknowing man’s fall into sin and His just consequence of separation by death from Him, love moved God to make a way before our creation to save the willing.  That foretold way was the incarnation of the Word and His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die in our place to make atonement for our sins so God would be righteously free to forgive them and enable us to be reconciled to Him (Isaiah 53; John 1:1-18, 3:16-21, 36; Romans 5:6-11).  The completely unselfish death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ heralded in the Gospel restored God’s original plan of eternal life and immortality for all mankind that would believe (1 Corinthians 15:45-57; 2 Timothy 1:8-12).⁴ 

          The Lord Jesus waits for the end and awesome day of the Lord in Heaven with all of the saints departed to Him as we do here on earth.  Among the many moving parts of His predetermined end only the Almighty God could perfectly weave together and bring about, are the foretold specific plans for His chosen Man and nation, Israel.  The formal reappearance of the nation on the world stage in 1948 after nearly 1,900 years of dispersion throughout the world was the clear launch of God’s latter days since Israel is the central reason prophesied events of the end unfold as they do (Isaiah 49:1-3, 66:5-13; Zechariah 1:12-2:13; Romans 11:25-29)!  To know where we are in God’s plan watch Israel!

          Indeed, not only are we to watch Israel prophetically for what God is doing now and up until the very time of the end, but what He has done with them in the past “as examples” for us Christians the apostle Paul warns “upon whom the ends of the ages have come,” (1 Corinthians 10:1-11, NKJV).  Thus, besides not sinning against God to avoid punishment, we are not “to put far off the day of doom” as part of God’s predetermined end pretending it may yet be thousands of years into the future as many of them did (Ezekiel 12:21-28; Amos 6:3-7, NKJV).⁵  Too, unlike them who did not believe their prophets we are to believe the prophecies God has given in His whole Word about these latter days we now, live through and the end (Jeremiah 19:14-20:6, 40:2-3; Luke 21:5-24, 24:13-27, 44)!⁶

          Regarding the end, it comes with the outpouring of God’s promised wrath upon sinners who right up until that very moment refuse to accept His offer of forgiveness through repentance and faith in the Gospel.  All of the plagues of climate change controlled by God including scorching heat come upon them (Revelation 14:6-7, 16:1-11).  After this they even conspire to impossibly war against Him (Psalm 2:1-3; Joel 3:1-14; Revelation 16:12-16)!  Having given His fallen creatures every chance to repent to no avail, God pours out His full wrath upon them and the earth (Psalm 2:4-12; Isaiah 13:6-13, 24:1-13, 17-23; Joel 3:15-17; Revelation 6:12-17, 16:17-21, 19:11-16).  Only a mortal remnant from among the Jews and Gentile nations survive the end (Isaiah 10:20-23, 24:14-16; Ezekiel 7).

1 Read the July 23, 2023 post, The Nations Do Not Impress God, under the category, Call To Repent, and see the eighth footnote.

2 If Christ’s coming as the Judge was “at the door” in the first century, when do you really think it is now, nearly two thousand years removed (James 5:7-9, NKJV)?

3 Read the February 6, 2022 post, The Divine Delay, under the category, Bible Prophecy.

4 Through Christ, resurrection from the dead to immorality will also become the experience of all the wicked when He does this as a prelude to their final judgment and
   “condemnation”  to  Hell  (John  5:24-30;  Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15, NKJV)!  But as the apostle Paul makes clear, God has established an “order” of the resurrections
   (1 Corinthians 15:20-23, NKJV).

5 Many  professed  Christians  today,  not  only  nonchalantly kick the day of doom can down the far off in the future road, they do not want to hear about it; some even
   being  “scoffers”  with  unbelievers  so  anchored  are they into this present world and age (2 Peter 3:1-9, NKJV)!  This is a grave error especially in light of the Lord’s
   specific  command  to  His  followers  to  “watch,”  (Matthew 24:36-44,  NKJV).   All  such  professed  Christians  should  watch  the  Strong Man Of God Online Rally,
   Return To The Lord, on our YouTube Channel to hear His appeal.

6 The  world  has  its definition of “woke,” but aspiring strong men and great women of God in the image of Christ are joyfully “awake” to the nearness of “our salvation”
   because  of  believing  and  doing  God’s  Word  (Romans 13:8-14, NKJV)!  To learn more, get my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics in the Hard or Soft
   Cover   or  E-Book  Editions  along  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, among internet booksellers and brick and mortar bookstores.

          Patriotism is found among individuals in all of the nations on earth!  It becomes idolatry when the love for and devotion given to one’s nation including service and gifts exceeds that which is given to “the only true God,” (John 17:3, NKJV).  This prescription for idolatry also applies to anyone or thing that we may become devoted to beyond our nation.  For the first commandment of ten proclaimed by God to and written for Israel that also embodies the uppermost of His eternal transcendent spiritual principles is ‘“You shall have no other gods before Me,’” (Exodus 20:3, NKJV).¹  Excessive devotion to a nation in idolatry is as precarious and detrimental as it is with any other god of this age!

          Adam at the beginning and all mankind thereafter in whatever ethnic and/or national groupings were supposed to exclusively bow to and worship the God of the Bible as our Creator and sovereign Ruler (Genesis 2:7-9, 15-17; Acts 17:22-28).  However, Satan, that fallen angel, worked to turn the first man’s heart from God by successfully enticing his wife, then he, to disobey Him (Genesis 3:1-11). Later, God did what He had never done or would do again.  He purposely formed a nation through the elect men Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Personally acted to bring them out of bondage to another nation to be His own people, Israel (Exodus 2:23-25; Deuteronomy 4:32-40; Romans 3:1-2, 9:1-5).²

          It is in the context of making a covenant with Israel that God gave them His Law contained in Ten Commandments He audibly spoke to them then, along with Moses wrote them and related ordinances, statutes and judgments (Deuteronomy 5:1-22, 9:9-11, 31:24-29; Psalm 147:20).  I opened this post quoting the first commandment. The second is related.  It prohibited the making of and bowing to an image of anything in the sky, earth or water.  In it God transparently declared He is “a jealous God” as the reason (Deuteronomy 5:8-10, NKJV).  Not the nation as a first priority, but God was to be the primary object of loving devotion by every individual Jew and the nation as a whole.

          The Lord Jesus Christ affirmed the foregoing when He quoted from the written Law answering a question about the chief commandment saying, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength,” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Mark 12:28-30, NKJV).  Clearly, the Lord also applied His answer to Himself as the Son of God (Luke 14:25-26).  Despite this, many professed Christians revere and exalt our nation to such an extent as to easily be idolaters and offensive to Heaven.  Some even attempt to justify their excessive devotion by asserting America is “a Christian nation” and imply God established it as He did Israel.³

          If in fact America is a Christian nation it has apostatized and will suffer fully as Israel over the millennia, but with no hope for a future recovery through deliverance by Christ since the nation now, willfully rejects Him they once all believed in (Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:26-31)!⁴  And as it concerns the good intentions of the professed Christian founders of the nation to anchor it to the Bible’s morality, the guilty began the slide to where we are today by retaining slavery.  Others even corrupted the Bible by ripping out pages to take the hope of freedom away from slaves.⁵  Besides this, a Christian nation apart from all being born again Christians precludes submitting to God’s moral Law (Romans 8:6-9).⁶

          In a prophetic context that announces the time near at hand when God in majestic greatness will show up in Person to “comfort” His doubly punished people, Israel, with all of the accompanying upheaval on the earth and in the universe, He makes known in no uncertain terms what He thinks of the Gentile nations formed by men (Isaiah 40:1-14, NKJV).  The prophet declares, “Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and counted as the small dust on the scales…All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless,” (Isaiah 40:15-17, NKJV).  The normal meaning of “all” here would have to include our nation too.  In His sovereign will and for His temporal purposes, “He makes nations great, and destroys them,” (Job 12:23a, NKJV).⁷

          “To whom” or what can God be compared to?  Surely, nothing in creation or made by men in idolatry will do which is another reason God forbids making images of anyone or thing and worshiping them; nation worship being no exception since you insult the only living God (Isaiah 40:18-20, 44:6-8; Romans 1:18-23, NKJV)!  He looks down from Heaven on the earth and “its inhabitants” in the midst of the universe He in wisdom and power created (Isaiah 40:21-26, NKJV).  He rules the nations as He raises them and their rulers up and brings them down (Psalm 22:27-28; Daniel 2:20-21).⁸  “Blessed” indeed, “is the nation whose God is the LORD,” (Psalm 33:10-12, NKJV)!  Yet, God is also gracious to rebel nations; giving them opportunity and time to repent if they will (Jeremiah 18:7-12).⁹

1 Faithfulness to God is one of several eternal character traits of Christ He forges in the hearts of His aspiring strong men and great women in His Son’s image I write about in
   my  book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics.  I invite you to pick up a Hard or Soft Cover or E-Book Edition of the book as well as the companion Strong Man Of God
   Men’s Group Study and Great Woman Of God Women’s Group Study in the Strong Man Store, among internet booksellers and brick and mortar bookstores.

2 Read  the  July  2,  2023  post, Christians Are To Fulfill God’s Written Law, under the category, Instruction.  Continuing His original intent with Israel under the New Covenant
   still to be fully realized by them at Christ’s return, God has included Gentiles at present in fulfilling His creation of a “holy nation,” (Matthew 22:1-14; 1 Peter 2:4-10, NKJV).

3 I  have already asserted directly from Scripture why such a thing could not be the case in the second paragraph of this post and others previously.  See for example, part two
   of the two-part post that begins August 2, 2020, Flavorless Salt Is Worthless, under the category, Call To Repent.

4 An apostatized America is preposterous!  Read footnote 8 of the above cited post.

5 See and learn more about The Slave Bible on this Ministry’s The From Slavery To Victory Education Project Web Site.

6 Here  is  absolute  truth  from  apostolic  instruction  that  cannot be brushed aside without seriously corrupting the faith.  The Lord recently led me to warn that the attempt to
   force  obedience  to His moral law upon our secular nation through legal means will be disastrous.  Read the August 7, 2022 post, Saving Souls Not Nations, under the cate-
   gory, The Cause.

7 In  the  eyes  of  God,  America  is not exceptional or too big (important) to fail!  Rather than the arrogant stance of exceptionalism, professed Christians holding to this belief
   should  be  humbled  and petitioning God not to righteously destroy our nation for its wickedness while repenting from their sins displeasing Him beginning with arrogance as
   well  as  those  of  the nation’s fathers with it idolatrously venerated!  Watch the Strong Man Of God Online Rally, Return To The Lord, on our YouTube Channel and consider
   this from His Word along with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

8 God  is  not  being  capricious,  but is working all  things toward His predetermined end in Christ (Daniel 2:44; Ephesians 1:7-10)!  See the January 10, 2021 post, Praying At
   Cross-Purposes With God, under the category, Bible Prophecy. 

9 Israel is the poster child for the nation both blessed of God and punished for rejecting His call to repentance from sinning against Him (Jeremiah 18:13-17; Ezekiel 36:16-38).