The Early Church Was Not Communist – and Neither Was Jesus

A common misunderstanding is that the early Church practiced communal socialism, which some believe based on what they read in the beginning chapters of Acts.

Source: iStockphoto

Note Acts:2:44-45: “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.”

But this was a unique situation that didn’t last very long. We later see that elderly widows were to be financially provided for by a common church fund only if they had no family members in the Church who could privately support them (1 Timothy:5:3-16). Obviously, all members of the Church’s congregations at this later time were not being provided for out of a common fund—only a select number in real need.

In considering Acts 2, we should note that Christians were being persecuted. Also, thousands of new believers, some from distant lands, had just been added to the Church at the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem.

No doubt many decided to remain in Judea at that time to learn more about their new faith and rely on one another through growing persecution rather than return to their homes far away. These people thus had an immediate need for food and lodging, and a voluntary pooling of resources took care of that.   

The believers at the time felt extremely blessed, grateful, hospitable and generous. Many who had extra assets sold some of them to help finance the living expenses of others. The expression “all things in common” means this: “I love you, and therefore your needs are just as important to me as my own needs. I consider all that I have as being yours also.”

However, keep in mind that they could not sell what they did not own. They were voluntarily selling some of their privately owned property so they could help others. This was charity, not communism. No one was compelled to sell his property, nor did anyone confiscate one’s property or income to give it to others, as many governments do today.

Acts:4:32-35, which follows shortly after in time order, shows that the pooling of resources was still going on. The account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts:5:1-11adds further clarity. God did not execute judgment on these two for their refusing to share, but for their telling a lie to make themselves look good.

The apostle Peter asked Ananias, “While it [their possession] remained [unsold], was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control?” The couple was not obligated either to sell their land or to give away the proceeds. Again, this was not communism or socialism.

The words of Jesus Himself should make it even clearer. In His parables of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20, He portrayed God as a vineyard owner paying different employees the same agreed-on amount even if they worked for less time.

The employees who worked longer thought it unfair. But the owner, representing God, replies to one: “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?” (verses 13-15).

To the final question here, communists and socialists, and those with such leanings, would answer no—since in those systems the community or state decides. Jesus’ statement, while figurative of spiritual principles, is nevertheless a ringing endorsement of both private ownership and free market exchange without wage control. He was certainly no communist—and neither were His followers. 

by Don Hooser, Tom Robinson

The Bible—Miracle of Miracles!

 The year 2011—the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible—is a perfect time to celebrate the “book of books” and its numerous translations. Let’s reflect on the many miracles, over a span of several thousand years, that had to happen to make the entire Word of God available and affordable in many languages!

by Don Hooser

The Bible has probably had a greater impact on the world than all other books combined! The history of the Bible is amazing and fascinating. Let’s consider just a few of the major highlights.

Many amazing steps took place to produce, preserve and propagate the Good Book. And it has been translated into many more languages and distributed in many more places than any other book. All this has required many miracles!

What do we mean by “miracles”?

Many miracles are not overtly and conspicuously spectacular or even immediately apparent. Seldom are there “fireworks” that make a miracle obvious to all. God usually chooses to work invisibly and quietly behind the scenes, steering events to bring about the results He has predetermined—often in surprising ways.

The Creator and Lawgiver does not break His laws, but neither is He confined by His laws. God created nature and all that is natural, but God also frequently does things that are supernatural or outside the normal operations of the universe.

Also, anytime God intervenes in the affairs of men, even when He is working within His laws, we call it miraculous or providential.

Although God is masterminding and orchestrating all His creation, it’s rather amazing how much freedom He allows human beings to have. He doesn’t make us into His puppets. “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets,” His Word tells us (1 Corinthians 14:32, emphasis added throughout).

How God allows freedom of choice and still determines ultimate outcomes is something that is more than we can fully comprehend!

The miracle of divine revelation

God “created man in His own image”—the capstone of His creation (Genesis 1:27). God made man with amazing mental and spiritual capacities, including the ability to learn languages. God’s purpose is to have a personal relationship with each individual.

With the creation of Adam and Eve, God began to increasingly communicate His plan and purpose to humanity “by the mouth of His holy prophets” (Luke 1:70). “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).

The Ten Commandments hold a special place in God’s revelation because God not only spoke them but also inscribed them on stone tablets with His own finger (Exodus 24:12; 31:18; 34:1, 28).

But God told Moses to write the rest of what God was revealing to him (Exodus 17:14; 34:27).

In the greater sense, God is the Author of the entire Bible, but He has used many human writers to record His revelation—about 40 in all!

The realization that Almighty God openly reveals His plans to us human beings is breathtakingly inspiring! What an honor! In fact, God has revealed some important matters to His prophets and apostles that even His angels had been wondering about (Ephesians 3:1-12;
Colossians 1:24-26; 1 Peter 1:10-12).

With the completion of the Bible, God has revealed all the spiritual knowledge that is essential for mankind to know.

The miracle of unity and perfection

In a sense, the Bible is a library of books composed by about 40 writers with different cultures, personalities, occupations and writing styles, living in 10 different countries, at different times over a span of about 1,500 years! One would think that under such circumstances countless contradictions and conflicts would be inevitable.

However, miracle of miracles—in spite of the Bible’s great diversity, there is perfect unity! It is consistent and coherent all the way through. With merely a cursory reading, the Bible appears to have a few internal contradictions and discrepancies, but a closer examination shows complete harmony. As Jesus Christ Himself put it, “The Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).

With mere men this would be impossible, “but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

The miracle of biblical languages

Language is amazing. No one can fully explain how human beings can learn and speak languages.

And here is an intriguing question: When God was communicating everything that became the Bible, how did He decide which languages to use?

The scriptures that make up what we call the Old Testament were revealed and written mostly in the Hebrew language. The exceptions are the few sections written in Aramaic (i.e., Ezra 4:8–6:18; 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:4–7:28). The scriptures that make up the New Testament were written in Greek.

Why did God use primarily one language (Hebrew) for a long time and then switch to another language (Greek)?

We can’t be sure of the answers until Christ returns, but many Bible scholars and others have voiced their speculations. They are fascinating to consider. We do know this: God doesn’t do anything haphazardly. Each language has its special strengths, and God had good reasons for choosing the ones He did.

A crucial point is this: In Old Testament times, God was dealing primarily with one nation, Israel, the nation He “chose” to be a model nation (although they largely failed at that). Hebrew was their national language.

In New Testament times, God was ready to spread His truth to all the world. After Alexander the Great conquered much of the civilized world, Greek (specifically, the koine or “common” Greek) rather quickly became the universal language. This, in turn, enabled Christ’s followers to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15, New International Version). The importance of this factor can’t be overemphasized.

The miracle of translations

God desires for all people to read His Word, and that requires His Word to be translated into the various spoken languages of people around the world.

Nehemiah 8:8 says of Ezra and the Levites who were teaching the gathered people of Judah, “So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.” Not only were the teachers here helping the people to have spiritual understanding of the Scriptures, but they were also translating the Hebrew Scriptures into Aramaic for those who had come out of the Babylonian captivity and did not understand Hebrew very well.

There is abundant proof that God is in favor of translating His Word into all other languages. For example, a team of scholars in Alexandria, Egypt, translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek by 132 B.C. That translation, known as the Septuagint, was the most popular version of the Scriptures in Jesus’ day. When the apostles were writing what became the New Testament and referred to the Hebrew Scriptures, they were quoting a Greek translation. That translation was evidently the Septuagint, at least much of the time.

As far as is known to history, the first translation of the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, was into Latin by Jerome. Later known as the versio vulgata (“common version”) or Vulgate, it was finished in A.D. 405. It was to be the dominant Bible for the next thousand years.

For a while, the Vulgate enabled more people to read the Bible. But with the passage of time, a self-serving clergy, bent on maintaining power over the people, soon began to prevent the common people from owning or even reading the Bible. That contributed in part to the Middle Ages becoming “the Dark Ages,” because without Bible knowledge, people are usually not highly motivated to seek other knowledge.

During the Middle Ages, the Bible was regarded as something to revere rather than read, and Latin was promoted as the “holy” language. Hebrew was ridiculed as the language of the Jews, and Greek was frowned on because the eastern Greek-speaking church had split from the Roman church.

But, thankfully, religious Jews realized that the Hebrew Scriptures were “the oracles [or sayings] of God” and meticulously copied and preserved them (Romans 3:2). Greek-speaking Christians copied and preserved the Greek Scriptures.

When the Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Muslims (climaxed by the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453), many Greek-speaking people fled westward. This contributed to the European Renaissance and revival of interest in Greek, including the Greek Scriptures and their translations into other languages.

One more point is critically important. There have always been people who consider one language to be holier than all others. For example, some people advocate that we speak only Hebrew names for God. If all the Bible had been written in only one language, they would have a stronger argument. But the Bible was written using three languages.

God is calling people out of “every tribe and tongue [language] and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). This requires the Bible to be translated into many languages!

The miracle of survival and preservation of the Scriptures

Over the centuries, Satan the devil has incited and inflamed every imaginable plot to extinguish the light of God’s truth. The prophets and other messengers of God were usually persecuted and often killed. Satan tried to have Jesus killed from the time He was a baby before finally accomplishing that end when Jesus was 33.

Soon after the beginning of the New Testament Church, “a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered” (Acts 8:1). However, this worked for good to spread God’s Word. “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).

Another way persecution has worked for good is this: The willingness of Christians to suffer and even die for their beliefs has been a powerful witness to others!

The earliest persecution of Christians was primarily by Jewish religious leaders who felt their influence jeopardized by the growing new movement. Later persecution was primarily instigated by the pagan Roman rulers who viewed Christianity as a threat to the established order since it required allegiance to a higher power. And later still, after a paganized form of Christianity became the official state religion of the Roman Empire, persecution was largely on religious grounds—to exterminate differing views and teachings.

For hundreds of years leading up to the late Middle Ages, religious leaders frequently confiscated and burned Bibles. People were often put to death merely for having a portion of the Bible in their possession.

The Scriptures survived not only because of God’s divine protection, but also because of the faith and zeal of His people. They knew they had “the pearl of great price” and were willing to risk their lives to protect, preserve and propagate it (Matthew 13:46). Their zeal to make copies and distribute them made it difficult for enemies to find and destroy all the copies.

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

The miracle of printing

The next major step was the invention of modern printing by German inventor Johannes Gutenberg. His invention of movable type, which allowed information to be disseminated widely at relatively low cost, is considered the most important event of the modern period. Gutenberg’s printing press and technique played a key role in three major intellectual advancements—the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation and the scientific revolution.

Gutenberg’s first major project was the printing of the Latin Vulgate Bible, completed probably in 1455. Imitations of his invention quickly spread around the world.

The single most important effect of the invention was to enable mass production of Bibles, which soon greatly lowered the cost of owning a Bible. Once the Bible was more widely available, the flames of the Reformation were unquenchable!

The miracle of English and the English translations

English is a remarkable language in many ways. It has absorbed an amazing number of words from other languages, making it extremely versatile, expressive and colorful. Some would say it has adopted many of the “best” words of other languages.

For example, after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, English absorbed many Norman French words. Later, the far-flung British colonies and the major roles of Britain and America in international trade and foreign wars brought them into contact with many other languages.

In the 15th to 17th centuries, a combination of remarkable factors began to converge to fulfill major Bible prophecies and to enable Christ’s followers to, as earlier noted, “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15, NIV).

There was Gutenberg’s revolutionary invention of movable metal type around 1450, as we’ve seen.

Ambitions to find new trading routes and to preach the gospel led to Christopher Columbus reaching America in 1492. That led to rapid exploration and colonization around the world. It was also a significant step in the fulfillment of Bible prophecies that were fulfilled by Britain becoming a great empire and the United States becoming a great superpower.

By 1500 modern English was developing as an improvement over Middle English. The Protestant Reformation is commonly considered to have begun with Martin Luther in 1517. But John Wycliffe (1324-1384) has been dubbed the “Morning Star of the Reformation.” He and his followers, called Lollards, translated much of the Bible from Latin to English, greatly whetting the appetites of the English people to read the Bible in their own tongue.

William Tyndale (1494-1536) stands as perhaps the greatest of all English translators. He produced English translations of the entire New Testament from the Greek and much of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. Tyndale’s translations were accurate, beautiful and excellent, so much so that about 80 percent of the 1611 King James Version is Tyndale’s wording.

A bittersweet fact is that in the same year that Tyndale was executed for translating the Bible into English (1536), King Henry VIII granted permission for the distribution of English Bibles. That quickly resulted in more English Bibles, including the Coverdale Bible in 1535, Matthew’s Bible in 1537, the Great Bible in 1539, the Geneva Bible in 1560 and the Bishops’ Bible in 1568.

English Queen Mary I, a fervent Catholic known as “Bloody Mary,” reigned from 1553 to 1558. Notice that the only English Bible coming together during that time was the Geneva Bible—produced in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ironically, Catholic Mary fueled the Protestant Reformation in England! The English were so horrified by the gory persecution that many then rejected Catholicism.

After Mary, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I reigned from 1558 to 1603. She outlawed all Catholic services even though three-fourths of her subjects still professed Catholicism. In trying to appease everyone, she incorporated both Catholic and Protestant elements into the Anglican creeds and worship. It was the Puritans who most strongly objected to this. They wanted to “purify” Christianity of all Catholic elements.

In 1603, on the death of Queen Elizabeth, James VI of Scotland assumed the throne as James I of England. On his trip to London to receive the crown, he was intercepted by a delegation of Puritan ministers with a list of grievances against the Church of England. The king responded by ordering a high-level conference to address “things pretended to be amiss in the church.”

The conference took place in January 1604 at Hampton Court, one of the royal palaces. The Puritan delegation was led by Dr. John Rainolds, who proposed a purer English translation of the Bible.

King James liked the idea for a number of reasons. One was that the most popular English Bible was the Geneva Bible, and the king wanted England (and himself) to have the prestige of a popular Bible that would be truly English, translated on English soil. The king also hoped a new Bible would help to unite Puritans with other Protestants as well as the Scots with the English.

The translating began with a team of 54 scholars. They finished their work in 1611, giving the world what we usually refer to as the King James Version.

Officially called the Authorized Version, it quickly rose to be the most popular English translation. Not only was it a highly accurate translation, but the English fell in love with its rhythmic and beautiful wording. The widespread reading, reciting and quoting of the KJV greatly influenced not only English literature but also spoken English from then on.

However, most will be surprised to learn that the English of the KJV was more Elizabethan rather than the common English during the reign of King James. For example, thee and thou were already falling into disuse, as well as the third-person singular verb ending -eth. But the King James translators chose to retain much of the wording from previous English translations.

Furthermore, the “King James Version” has undergone several revisions since 1611 to correct minor errors and to update spelling. The principle revisions were in 1613, 1629, 1638, 1653 and 1762. Today’s standard edition is that of 1762.

This writer has a copy of the 1611 version. Here is a passage from “The Newe Teftament of our Lord and Sauiour Iesvs Christ”: “Distributing to the necessitie of Saints; giuen to hospitalitie. Blesse them which persecute you, blesse, and curse not. Reioyce with them that doe reioice, and weepe with them that weepe” (Romans 12:13-15).

By 1700, the popularity of the KJV had eclipsed all other versions. Since then, many other English translations have been produced, but none even approached the popularity of the KJV until the publication of the Revised Standard Version in 1952. It was the 1978 New International Version that finally dethroned the KJV as the most popular Bible version. At some point between 1986 and 1988 it began outselling the KJV. However, the popularity of the KJV has continued to remain high for a very long time.

The miracle of “spreading the gospel”

Jesus said, “You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). He also proclaimed, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

Clearly, God’s plan calls for the effective preaching of the gospel all over the world in the end time to prepare the way for Christ’s second coming. A parallel to that is the way the preaching of John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ’s first coming.

In the last few centuries, it is the zealous English-speaking people, usually with their beloved King James Bibles, who have been most responsible for the fact that “the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly” (Acts 6:7).

This has been largely enabled by the far-reaching British Empire and the global power of the United States of America. A major reason that the United States has been blessed with wise laws, individual freedom and great success is that its founding fathers looked to the Bible for guidance. But the main reason Britain and America were blessed with great power is that God fulfilled His promises to bless the descendants of Joseph (Genesis 48).

Joseph’s father Jacob prophesied great blessings for the descendants of Joseph, including their being “a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; his branches run over the wall” (Genesis 49:22). Truly their “branches” have reached all over the world!

Why did God plan to greatly bless these nations? It was not because of some kind of favoritism. One reason God enabled these nations to be powerful was so they could and would carry the Word of God to all the world!

The miracles of worldwide transformation and personal transformation

The world is a much better place—in many, many ways—than it would otherwise be because of the influence of the Bible. This is thoroughly explained in two fascinating books by Dr. D. James Kennedy: What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (1994) and What If the Bible Had Never Been Written? (1998).

Likewise, you and I are much better people than we would otherwise be to the extent that we, with the essential help of God’s Holy Spirit, internalize and live by the transforming Word of God.

When the apostle Paul wrote to the young evangelist Timothy, he commented on how Timothy had been supremely blessed “that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

Then Paul reminded Timothy, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (verses 16-17).

The longest chapter in the Bible—Psalm 119—was written in praise of God’s Word. It tells us, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

May you diligently study and drink in God’s Word so that it may always be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path!  GN

The Mystery of Death

Death is one of life’s greatest mysteries. Do we really die, or do we have a soul that lives on apart from the body? Many are confused about this, and this has led to great misunderstandings about death. Does the Bible provide answers?

Death is a fearful, often traumatic event. Sometimes it is preceded by suffering, the result of the infirmities of age, disease or injury. Often death is shocking and unexpected. Family and friends suffer the pain of loss. The Scriptures refer to death as “the last enemy” to be conquered (1 Corinthians 15:26) and point out mankind’s innate fear of death (Hebrews 2:15). Death remains one of life’s greatest mysteries.

Religions offer a variety of answers, some seemingly credible and some beyond belief. Their explanations often contradict one another, adding to the confusion and uncertainty about what happens after death. A very common idea is that people are born with immortal souls. Many believe that after death the soul is conscious and proceeds to a literal place or condition of bliss or torment. Others teach that at death the soul is absorbed into a “greater consciousness.” Some expect to be reincarnated, coming back to earth as another person or as an animal.

Can we pinpoint just what death is? Do we have immortal souls? Are we conscious after we die? Are we destined to go somewhere to experience some form of reward or punishment? What is really going to happen when we die?

To understand, let’s continue with the biblical account of the first human beings.

God personally instructed Adam and Eve, but they chose to disobey Him. They let Satan influence them into choosing their own will rather than obeying God’s instructions. God informed them that, because they had disobeyed Him, their lives would grow difficult and, as He had warned, they would die. “In the sweat of your face,” God said to Adam, “you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).

Our lives are physical; we age and eventually die. Like Adam and Eve, we eventually return to dust. Solomon made a simple but profound observation when he wrote that there is “a time to be born, and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Look around the world at the example of nature. All living processes eventually break down and cease, then the physical remains begin to decay.

Solomon, after observing the cycles of life, noted that we human beings yearn for an eternal existence (verse 11). Knowing that death is inevitable, we search for a deeper meaning of life.

What is a soul?

Much misunderstanding about death is directly related to confusion concerning the “soul.” What is a soul? Does it exist? If it exists, is it separate from the physical body? Does it live on after death?

The Hebrew word most often translated into English as “soul” or “creature” in the Bible is nephesh. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible succinctly defines this word as “a breathing creature.” When used in the Bible, nephesh does not mean a spirit entity or the spirit within a person. Rather, it usually means a physical, living, breathing creature. Occasionally it conveys a related meaning such as breath, life or person.

Surprising to many, this term nephesh is used torefer to human beings and animals. In the Old Testament, man is referred to as a “soul” (nephesh) more than 130 times. But the same Hebrew term is also applied to sea creatures, birds and land animals, including cattle and “creeping” creatures such as reptiles and insects. All are “souls.”

For example, notice the account of the creation of sea life: “And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:21, King James Version). The Hebrew word translated “creature” in this verse is nephesh. In the biblical account, these particular “souls,” creatures of the sea, were made before the first human beings were formed and given life.

Nephesh and man

Let’s further see how this word is used to refer to mankind in the Scriptures. The first place we find nephesh in reference to mankind is in the second chapter of Genesis: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (verse 7, KJV).

The word translated “soul” in this verse is again the Hebrew word nephesh. Other translations of the Bible state that man became a living “being” or “person.” This verse does not say that Adam had an immortal soul; rather it says that God breathed into Adam the “breath of life,” and Adam became a living soul. At the end of his days, when the breath of life left Adam, he died and returned to dust.

The soul (nephesh) is not immortal, because it dies. This is clear in the Bible. For example, through the prophet Ezekiel God proclaimed, “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, see also verse 20). Again, the Hebrew word translated “soul” here is nephesh. Indeed, the same word is even used of corpses—dead bodies (see Leviticus 22:4; Numbers 5:2; 6:11; 9:6-10).So Scripture plainly states that the soul can die. It is mortal—it is in no way immortal—because it is subject to death and decay.

What happens to the dead?

Superstitions and assumptions, all kinds of beliefs, abound about the state of the dead. Many enjoy being frightened by books and movies about ghosts and other weird twists on the afterlife. Movies and television programs portray apparitions and angels sent back to earth to accomplish some final good deeds or rescue people from difficult situations. Cartoons entertain our children with ideas about animals going to heaven and the antics of friendly ghosts.

On the other hand, of course, many religious groups teach that at death a person goes immediately to his reward or punishment.

But the reality of what happens after death is quite different from all of these ideas. There are no disembodied spirits of dead people wandering about frightening or taking revenge on people—or even helping them.

Furthermore, the Bible does not speak of the dead going to live on forever in a place or condition of “heaven” or “hell.” Solomon observed that mankind and animals are destined for, in death, a common fate. “For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other . . . All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust” (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20).

The book of Daniel refers to the state of the dead in an inspiring prophecy: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2).

This passage conveys some crucial information. For one, it offers the promise of life after death—not by people living on apart from their bodies after death but through a resurrection from death that will take place in the future. Some will receive immortality then, and some will not. So clearly we are not immortal souls at present. Moreover, the passage compares death to sleep—and explains the resurrection as waking up from that sleep.

Sleep connotes unconsciousness, and the Bible draws the same analogy in other places. How could people who have died be asleep in their graves, profoundly unconscious—as revealed in the Bible—yet be residing blissfully in heaven and looking down at us on earth (or, presumably, suffering in hell and looking up)?

Solomon noted that the dead have no awareness, nor are they in some other state of consciousness: “For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing . . . for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10). The person who has died is unconscious and unaware of the passing of time.

Life is transitory

The patriarch Job contemplated the transitory nature of physical life. Man, he said, “comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue” (Job 14:2). Directing his remarks to God, Job commented on the physical limitations common to all men and women, stating, “Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass” (verse 5).

Job noted the stark reality of death: “So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep” (verse 12). Job understood that death was the absolute cessation of life.

Notice that in Genesis 2:17 God told Adam and Eve that disobeying Him by taking from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would lead to death. Then, in Genesis 3:4, we read that the serpent (Satan) told Eve that if she ate from that tree, she would “not surely die.” Simply put, God said that man is mortal and subject to death. Satan contradicted God and said that man would not die—that man is immortal.

Isn’t it amazing that, as evidenced by the pervasive belief in the immortality of the soul, more people accept Satan’s teaching than God’s? Yet maybe that’s not so startling after all. The Bible does say that Satan “deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9), and he has certainly deceived many about what happens after death.

The Hebrew Scriptures, commonly called the Old Testament, teach that, at death, the soul dies and consciousness ends. The soul does not live on in some other condition. It does not transmigrate into another form. It is not reincarnated into another creature. In dying, it ceases to live.

What does the New Testament say?

The apostle James understood the temporary nature of life. He compared life with a mist: “You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). Another epistle also discusses this subject, stating that “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

The New Testament uses a word similar in meaning to nephesh to characterize the life or vitality of our physical existence, the Greek word psyche or psuche. (We will use the latter spelling here, as the Greek y, the letter upsilon, was pronounced as a u, and the spelling psyche, now used in English, typically conveys a different sense from the word’s original meaning.)

According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, this word meant “breath” when the New Testament was written. It could be used in the same sense as the Hebrew word nephesh. Recallthat nephesh occurs in reference to the creation of Adam in Genesis 2:7, where the word is translated “soul” or “being.” This verse is paraphrased in the New Testament as “The first man Adam became a living being” (1 Corinthians 15:45), and the Greek word substituted for nephesh here is psuche.

Both of these words often translated “soul” convey the concept that man is a living, breathing creature subject to death. Notice Christ’s use of the word psuche: “For whoever desires to save his life [psuche] will lose it, but whoever loses his life [psuche] for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul [psuche]? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul [psuche]?” (Matthew 16:25-26).

Notice that Jesus, as recorded by Matthew, uses psuche four times in this passage. It is translated into English as both “life” and “soul.” Christ was simply saying that following Him and His message is more important than life itself. What good is it if you gain the whole world and then lose your existence? Jesus knew that the soul, one’s physical being with its consciousness, was temporary and mortal. It could be lost or sacrificed for something of less value.

What did Peter teach?

What did Jesus’ early disciples teach about death? The book of Acts records the apostle Peter’s powerful sermon in which he mentioned ancient Israel’s King David and his lack of consciousness while awaiting his resurrection. “Men and brethren,” exhorted Peter, “let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day . . . For David did not ascend into the heavens . . .” (Acts 2:29, 34).

If people truly are alive in heaven with God the Father and Jesus Christ as so many believe, surely King David would be among them. But Peter said David is dead and buried and not in heaven. In contrast to Christ, who was resurrected so that “His soul was not left in Hades” (verse 31)—this being the Greek word for the grave, as we will later see—David remains in the grave.

His hope, and ours, is to live again through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and the resurrection available through Him.

Paul’s teachings about death

The apostle Paul also comments on the state of the dead. In one of his letters to the church in Corinth he compared the condition of the dead with sleep: “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep” (1 Corinthians 11:30). Notice how Paul, like the Old Testament book of Daniel, likens death to sleep. Paul comments that many in the Corinthian church were weak and sickly. Many had died. Paul uses the word sleep to describe death as a state of unconsciousness.

But that is not the end of the matter. In describing the future resurrection of Christ’s followers, Paul writes in the same letter, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51). This change is yet future—and Christians who sleep unconsciously in death will do so until that time.

In addition, Paul specifically points out that we are now mortal—destructible—and that to receive everlasting life we mustsomehowbecome immortal—indestructible. “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54).

Paul conveyed a similar message to the church at Thessalonica: “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). Paul here again describes the dead as being in an unconscious state comparable to sleep.

On the basis of so much scriptural testimony, Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, wrote at one point: “It is probable, in my opinion, that, with very few exceptions indeed, the dead sleep in utter insensibility till the day of judgment . . . On what authority can it be said that the souls of the dead may not sleep . . . in the same way that the living pass in profound slumber the interval between their downlying at night and their uprising in the morning?” (Letter to Nicholas Amsdorf, Jan. 13, 1522, quoted in Jules Michelet, The Life of Luther, translated by William Hazlitt, 1862, p. 133). Yet the Reformation did not embrace the biblical truth that the dead sleep in total unawareness.

Is the spirit in man the immortal soul?

Earlier we noted a special spiritual aspect of the human mind that gives us our intellectual abilities, separating us from animals in function and purpose (see 1 Corinthians 2:11).

What we’ve seen so far is that the Bible shows a dead person is in no way immortal; his life has perished. So what happens to the spiritual essence that separates man from animal? Does it continue as a conscious, immortal soul independent of the physical body? Certainly not!

The Bible shows that the spirit in man, which originally came from the Creator God, returns to Him. “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). This spirit that returns to God is neither the source of human life, nor is it human consciousness. Life and consciousness both perish when one dies. God does not tell us why this spirit returns to Him, just that it does. This may be the way God preserves the characteristics of each person until the resurrection.

The truth is that man has no spiritual soul with conscious awareness independent of the physical body. This has been proven time and time again when individuals have gone into comas for weeks, months and sometimes years at a time, only to emerge from that comatose state with no memory or recollection of the passage of time.

If one had a soul that existed independently of the human body, wouldn’t that soul have some memory of remaining aware during the months or years the body was unconscious? That would be powerful and logical proof of the existence of an independent soul within the human body—yet no one has ever reported any such thing, in spite of thousands of such occurrences.

Summary

In this chapter we have considered the mystery of death. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be a mystery. The scriptures we have reviewed make clear that a human being is a mortal soul and does not possess an immortal soul. Upon death, life ceases. It does not continue in some other form; a dead person does not transmigrate to be reincarnated as another being.

Since the time of Adam and Eve, all people have died a physical death—even Jesus Christ. But death is not the end. As Paul wrote, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Even though our life is temporary, God has not left us without hope and a greater purpose for living.

Another vital step we have mentioned here and will take up more fully in the next chapter, the resurrection, brings us from death back to life.

Seven Prophecies That Must Be Fulfilled Before Jesus Christ’s Return

Previous generations have thought that Jesus Christ would return in their lifetimes, but they were proven wrong. Many people alive today think that Christ’s return is imminent. Certainly, the Bible contains prophecies that could not have been fulfilled until this generation.

Shortly before His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus Christ delivered a major prophecy of end-time events, recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. He was asked by His disciples: “When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3).

Jesus responded with a description of conditions and events that would lead up to His second coming. Moreover, He said that when these signs became evident, His return would occur within one generation (Matthew 24:34). Could this be that generation?

Throughout the nearly 2,000 years since Christ gave His prophecy, many have thought that theirs was the time of His return—and turned out to be wrong, of course. But interestingly, there are a number of prophecies in the Bible that could not be fulfilled until our modern era, the post–World War II period.

1. The human race would have the ability to exterminate itself

In Matthew 24:22, describing world conditions prior to His second coming, Jesus said that “if that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive; but for the sake of God’s chosen it will be cut short” (Revised English Bible).

The main message that Jesus Christ brought was of the coming Kingdom of God. This is described as “the gospel” (Mark 1:14). Gospel means “good news.” While some of the prophecies concerning events prior to the establishment of the Kingdom can seem negative, we should always keep in mind that the central focus of Bible prophecy is the good news (gospel) of the coming Kingdom of God.

Matthew 24:22 shows us that if Jesus Christ does not intervene in world affairs, the human race will be faced with extinction. It’s crucial to note that humanity has had the capability for self-annihilation for only a little more than 50 years, since both the United States and the Soviet Union developed and stockpiled hydrogen bombs and the world had to learn to live with “mutually assured destruction.”

At that time there were only three nuclear powers ( Britain being the other). By the middle of the 1960s France and China had joined the nuclear club. Today at least eight nations have nuclear warheads and the number looks set to increase with a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

Of course, the more nuclear powers we have in the world, the more likely it is that someone will use this deadly force for evil.

Although international attention has been focused on the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran during the last few years, little attention has been given to the possibility of some or all of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of radical Islamists.

During the ongoing crisis in Pakistan, the Taliban and al-Qaeda and their sympathizers have steadily gained more power, territory and influence, making nuclear terrorism more likely. Consider the consequences for the rest of the world if Osama bin Laden (or others like him) had access to nuclear weapons!

Meanwhile, Russia and China are determinedly flexing their military muscles, raising fears of a return to Cold War–era tensions.

The good news in all this is that Christians have an assurance that Jesus Christ will intervene to save mankind from annihilation. This prophecy could not be fulfilled until man had the potential for self-extinction through weapons of mass destruction. Again, only in the last 50 years has this become possible.

2. A Jewish homeland had to be reestablished in the Middle East

Geopolitically, the central focus of end-time events is Jerusalem and its environs, what many people refer to as the Holy Land.

Luke 21 is a parallel chapter to Matthew 24. Notice Luke’s account of Christ’s long prophecy that answered the disciples’ questions: “Teacher, . . . when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?” (Luke 21:7).

In response, Jesus showed that Jerusalem would be the central focus of the political and military upheavals that would immediately precede His return: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near . . . For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled” (verses 20-22).

Anyone living a century ago would have found these words nearly impossible to comprehend. Jerusalem in ancient times had been fought over countless times, but for four centuries from 1517 the city had been at peace within the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire. Jews lived there as a minority under Turkish rule. But this was going to change dramatically during the course of the 20th century.

It had to change for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy to take place.

The Old Testament prophet Zechariah was used by God to reveal a great deal about end-time events and the second coming of the Messiah. Zechariah lived and prophesied more than 500 years before Christ’s first coming, yet his prophetic book tells us a great deal about our world of today.

In Zechariah 12:2-3 God says: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah [the Jews inhabiting the land of Israel] and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.”

In verse 9 He adds, “It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”

Reading these verses, it is possible to think that they apply to ancient events, as Jerusalem has been fought over repeatedly down through the ages. However, chapter 14 makes clear that this is talking about future, not past, events. The time setting is immediately before Jesus Christ’s return.

“Behold, the day of the Lord is coming . . . For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity . . . Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.

“And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south” (Zechariah 14:1-4).

Clearly the last few lines of this prophecy remain to be fulfilled.

Further in this same chapter we read of how those nations that came against Jerusalem will have to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jesus Christ (verse 16).

These chapters of Zechariah are a prophecy about the events that precede and include the second coming of Jesus. A Jewish-controlled Jerusalem is notice-ably the central focus.

Shortly before Zechariah, another Jewish prophet named Daniel lived during the time of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. His book speaks of the Jews’ daily sacrifices being cut off in the end time (Daniel 12:11; see verses 1-13)—an event that had a forerunner in the temple defilement under Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century B.C.

However, Jesus Christ confirmed this as a future event to precede His return (compare Daniel 11:31; Matthew 24:15). This means that these sacrifices must first be reinstituted in Jerusalem—requiring Jewish rule over the city.

One hundred years ago such developments were hard to imagine for the simple reason that no independent Jewish political entity existed in the Middle East.

After rebelling against the Romans in A.D. 66 and again in 132, Judea was crushed and most of the remaining Jews were dispersed throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. No Jewish homeland existed again until 1948 when the modern nation of Israel was established.

An independent Jewish homeland was merely a dream for a small group of zealots a century ago. It moved a step nearer during World War I, when forces of the British Commonwealth took control of Jerusalem from the Turks in December 1916. A few months later, the British government pledged itself to the establishment of an independent Jewish homeland in the ancient lands the Jews had inhabited for centuries.

It was to be another 30 years before the dream was realized in 1948. Yet since then tiny Israel has had to fight wars for survival in 1948, 1967 and 1973 and has suffered countless terrorist attacks and threats of annihilation from hostile neighbors determined to eliminate the Jewish state.

Once again, here is a prophecy that can now be fulfilled in our time.

3. The end-time king of the North and king of the South

In Daniel 11 we find an amazing prophecy about two leaders, the kings of the North and South, the heads of regions that were geographically north and south of the Holy Land. To understand this prophecy we have to go to the time of Alexander the Great, who lived near the end of the fourth century B.C., 200 years after Daniel.

Alexander figures prominently throughout the book of Daniel, even though Daniel did not know his name and never knew him personally. He couldn’t have, since he died almost two centuries before Alexander appeared on the world stage.

But God revealed to Daniel that after Babylon, Persia would arise as the greatest power of the region, to be followed in turn by Greece. Not surprisingly, the prophecies regarding the rise of Greece are centered on Alexander the Great, one of the greatest conquerors in history.

Daniel 8 gives a vivid account of the coming clash between Persia and Greece. As you read it, remember that a horn symbolizes royal power and authority. Persia had “two horns and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.” This refers to the Medo-Persian Empire, the coming together of two nations or peoples. As foretold here in verse 3, the Persians rose to greatness after the Medes.

In verse 5 we read of Persia’s later defeat by Alexander the Great: “And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes” (verse 5).

The “notable horn” or royal leader was Alexander the Great. The prophecy about his army not even touching the ground is a reference to the incredible speed with which he conquered the known world. All this was achieved in a very short time. Alexander died in 323 B.C. when he was only about 33 years old.

Even his sudden, unexpected death was prophesied: “The male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven” (verse 8).

When Alexander died, his empire was eventually divided between four of his generals—the four “notable horns” mentioned here. Two of these established dynasties would have a profound effect on the Jewish people, caught in the middle between them. These two dynasties were the descendants of Seleucus, who ruled a vast empire from Antioch in Syria, north of Jerusalem, and Ptolemy, who ruled Egypt from Alexandria.

Daniel 11 is a long and detailed prophecy about the dynastic conflicts between these two powers, their respective leaders being referred to as “the king of the North” and “the king of the South.” Of great significance is that whenever they went to battle against each other, the Jews got trampled on. This was to continue from the time of Alexander until the middle of the second century B.C., a period of almost two centuries.

Then, suddenly, the prophecy jumps down to the end time.

In verse 40 we read: “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them and pass through. He shall also enter the Glorious Land [the Holy Land], and many countries shall be overthrown” (Daniel 11:40-41).

While we don’t have space here to cover all the details, the latter part of Daniel’s prophecy of the North-South conflict describes a clash of civilizations between the leader of a soon-coming European superpower—a revived Roman Empire (successor to Seleucid Syrian rule)—and a leader who is the successor to the Ptolemaic rule of Egypt, which is now part of the Islamic world.

We now see geopolitical conditions lining up for this inevitable clash. Here is yet another prophesied circumstance for which the stage has now been set within our lifetime!

4. An end-time union of European nations

In Daniel 2 and 7 we see prophecies about four great gentile empires that would arise in the period between the time of Daniel and the coming establishment of the Kingdom of God (Daniel 2:44). Daniel was himself living in the first of these great empires (Daniel 7:4) as a Jewish exile in ancient Babylon.

Following the fall of Babylon in 539 B.C., Persia would become the greatest power, to be followed by Greece (verses 5-6). After Greece came the Roman Empire, “dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong.” This empire was to have “ten horns” and would continue in some form until the establishment of God’s Kingdom at Christ’s return (verses 7-9).

As we saw in the previous section, horns represent leaders or governments. Here these 10 horns symbolize 10 attempts to restore the Roman Empire to the power it had in ancient times. Various attempts at a restoration have taken place since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in A.D. 476. A final attempt is to be made shortly before Christ’s return.

We find more details in Revelation 17. Here we read of a final attempt to revive the Roman Empire by “ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast” (verses 12-13).

They will also “make war with the Lamb [Jesus Christ], and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings” (verse 14). Again, it is clear that this prophecy is still future.

Previous attempts to forge a united European empire, from Justinian in the sixth century through Charlemagne, Napoleon, Mussolini and Hitler, all involved force. The final resurrection of the Roman Empire will not be attempted in the same way.

Revelation 17 suggests this will be a voluntary union. When these 10 leaders receive power, they will then give their authority to a single leader. Scripture refers to both this individual and the new superpower he leads as “the beast”—acknowledging it as the continuation of the four gentile empires prophesied in Daniel, each one depicted as a beast or wild animal.

Only now is it possible for this to be fulfilled.

In 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed by six European nations that formed the European Economic Community. Today the EEC has grown into the European Union (EU) with 27 member nations. Out of these will likely come the 10 nations or 10 leaders that form the final resurrection of the Roman Empire.

Some have speculated that the 10 kings referred to in this prophecy will be leaders of 10 regions of the EU that will redraw the boundaries of Europe, ending the present nation-states. The Bible is not clear on exactly which 10 regions or nations will configure the final revival of the militaristic Roman superpower—only that this new superpower will indeed emerge just before Christ’s return.

However, it wasn’t until the 10th nation, Greece, was admitted in 1981 that any conceivable fulfillment of this prophecy was even possible.

5. End-time rise and fall of Israel and Judah

” Israel” was the new name God gave the biblical patriarch Jacob in Genesis 32. The 12 tribes of Israel were descended from his 12 sons. These tribes later formed a united kingdom.

It’s been almost 3,000 years since the kingdom of Israel was split in two. Ten of the 12 tribes of Israel rebelled against King Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon and grandson of King David. The Bible continued to refer to these 10 tribes as Israel while the other two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) that remained loyal to David’s descendants were known as the kingdom of Judah or simply Judah.

Sometimes Israel is referred to as the northern kingdom and Judah as the southern kingdom. Dominant among the northern tribes were to be the descendants of Jacob’s son Joseph through his sons Ephraim and Manasseh—prophesied by Jacob to be the chief nations of the world in the last days (Genesis 49:1, 22-26; compare Deuteronomy 33:13-17).

About 200 years after the kingdom split, the northern tribes of Israel fell to Assyria and were deported by the Assyrians to the northern parts of their empire. Often referred to now as the lost tribes, they later migrated northwest across Europe, eventually settling in new homelands far from the Middle East.

The kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon more than a century after Israel’s deportation, but its people were not lost to history. We know them today as the Jews.

The name Ephraim is sometimes used representatively in Scripture for the entire northern kingdom, though it can also refer solely to the descendants of Joseph’s son of that name—prophesied to become a “multitude of nations” (Genesis 48:19). Remarkably, this promise to Ephraim was fulfilled in the British Empire and Commonwealth.

Ephraim’s older brother Manasseh was also prophesied to become a great nation (same verse), separating himself from the multitude of nations. This prophecy would be fulfilled in the formation, growth and dominance of the United States of America.

In a revealing prophecy regarding the United States and Britain, Jacob (Israel) said, “Let my name be named upon them” (verse 16). References to ” Israel” in end-time prophecy often refer to the United States or the English-speaking countries of the British Empire or both. Sometimes ” Israel” can mean all 12 tribes. We have to look at specific verses in their context to see which is meant.

“Judah,” however, always refers to the Jews, the descendants of the house or kingdom of Judah. We must also understand that the modern nation called Israel is really Judah, made up of Jews.

Understanding this critical part of biblical history will help us more fully comprehend a passage of Scripture in the book of Hosea, which is a prophecy about Ephraim (the multitude of nations—Great Britain and some of those nations that came out of her). It warns of destruction to follow the end-time ascendancy of the Israelite nations.

In Hosea 5 we read a prophecy that mentions Israel, Ephraim and Judah: “The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them” (verse 5). The prophecy continues: “With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage” (verses 6-7).

New moons occur a month apart. A new moon “devouring” them would seem to mean that Israel, Ephraim and Judah will all fall within one month.

This prophecy was not fulfilled in ancient times. As already mentioned, ancient Judah fell to Babylon more than a century after Israel fell to Assyria. Yet in the end it appears they will fall together—within one month of each other. This prophecy remains to be fulfilled.

Remember that Israel gave his name to Ephraim and Manasseh, the ancestors in turn of the British and American peoples. As Ephraim is mentioned separately in this prophecy, the reference to ” Israel” must apply to the United States, which is now the more dominant of the two nations.

For two centuries prior to World War II, the roles were reversed with the multitude of nations—the British Empire—a greater power than the single nation, the United States. But today America is the greater.

“Judah” refers to the Jewish people, particularly those who now constitute the modern nation in the Middle East that calls itself Israel.

Here then is a prophecy regarding all three nations—the United States, Britain and Israel (Judah). According to this prophecy, it appears that all three will fall within the span of a month. Verse 6 shows these nations turning back to God, but finding it’s too late. Because of their sins, He will let them suffer defeat and collapse.

This prophecy could not have been fulfilled until after the rise of Britain and the United States as world powers in the 19th century and the formation of the Jewish state of Israel in the 20th.

Lest the idea seem outlandish, consider that Israel and the United States are perhaps the most maligned and criticized nations on earth. Among Muslim hard-liners, America is commonly called “the great Satan” and Israel and Britain “the little Satans.”

6. The gospel will be preached in all the world

In His major end-time prophecy, Jesus answers the question posed by the disciples: “When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3).

After listing a number of signs of the nearness of His coming, He reveals that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (verse 14).

The gospel is the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. This message could not be preached around the world without the Bible and freedom of religion. Both came gradually with the ascendancy of the English-speaking peoples from the 16th century until the present day.

However, it was only with the technological advances of television and radio and other means of mass communication after World War II and their widespread acceptance that it became possible to reach hundreds of millions of human beings with the message of the Bible. The gospel of the Kingdom of God will continue to be preached to all nations as long as we have the freedom to continue The Good News magazine and our other media efforts.

Even so, during the last 50 years it has not been possible to reach all countries. The former communist nations did not allow freedom of religion. China, with one quarter of the world’s people, still does not. Other nations also try to suppress the publication of biblical truth and even the Bible itself. Many Islamic nations do not allow religious freedom. In some countries people risk the death penalty for changing religion.

But the Internet is changing everything. It is much harder for governments to control. The gospel message of the coming Kingdom of God is still going out to the world. It will finish when God has decided that His work is completed and the time is right for the final end-time events to take place.

This is yet another prophecy that could not be fulfilled until recent times.

7. Instant worldwide communications and God’s final witnesses

Another end-time Bible prophecy could not be fulfilled until this era of instant worldwide communications.

In His major end-time prophecy of Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, Jesus gave an outline of disasters that would occur on the world scene with increasing frequency and magnitude—to the point where people would be shaken with fear (Luke 21:26). Discerning an increase in the scale of these events and reacting to them requires knowing about them.

At the time this prophecy was given, it could be many months or years before people heard about various disasters—and many they would never hear about at all, much less be able to put together the fact that catastrophes were on some kind of global increase.

Only with the proliferation of newspapers and other forms of mass communications did this become remotely possible. Yet the level of awareness and consequent fear in many that Christ speaks of implies an even greater availability of information—possible only since the development of rapid electronic communications.

In any case, only with the technological advances of the last few years has it become possible for the events in Revelation 11 to occur—for people around the world to see the fate of God’s final two witnesses.

These two witnesses, reminiscent of other biblical prophets like Elijah and Elisha, will carry God’s final warning to the world in the last 3 1/2 years leading up to Christ’s return.

“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days . . . When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

“Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth” (verses 3, 7-10).

Note that people the world over will be able to see their dead bodies during the 3 1 ⁄ 2 days that they lie on display in Jerusalem. This was not possible before satellite television, portable communications devices and the Internet. Again, only in the last few years has it become possible for this prophecy to be fulfilled. It still lies in the future, of course, but only now it is clearly possible for this to take place.

Will this generation see God’s Kingdom established on earth?

We have seen how seven biblically prophesied circumstances could not have come to pass until recent times. In fact, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 was clearly a major turning point in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, as was the acquisition of the hydrogen bomb by the two superpowers of the 1950s that led to the period of mutually assured destruction.

All has now become possible. This, in turn, makes it much more likely that our generation will live to see Jesus Christ return and establish the Kingdom of God on earth. After all, Jesus Himself said that once these things begin, the generation alive at that time “will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34).

It’s both sobering and encouraging to think that we appear to be living in the generation that will ultimately witness the most important event in the history of mankind. As Jesus Christ tells His followers in Luke 21:28, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

–Melvin Rhodes–

Christ’s Command to Us: Bear Good Fruit and Much Fruit

Jesus Christ taught important spiritual lessons regarding the “fruit” of our lives. What are those lessons, and how well are we applying them? Our eternal life depends on this understanding!

At the mention of fruit, what are your first thoughts? A snack? A dessert? Your favorite fruits?

The Bible refers to literal fruit—such as olives, grapes and figs—many times. More frequently the biblical Hebrew and Greek words translated “fruit” have a symbolic sense. All crops are considered “fruit of the earth.” Children are called the “fruit of the womb.” A man’s words are “the fruit of his mouth.”

In ancient and modern times, people have used “fruit” to mean results, products, outcomes, accomplishments and achievements. An employee must be productive to be worthy of his wage. He must work hard, work fast and work smart to get jobs done and done right. In Scripture, “fruit” has similar meanings.

Defining “good” fruit

The Bible at times likens people to fruit trees or grapevines and portrays God as the owner of the orchards and vineyards. The Master knows our character by our spiritual fruits, just as “a tree is known [identified] by its fruit”—either good or bad (Matthew 12:33).

God’s number one concern is for all fruit to be good—”the fruit of righteousness” (James 3:18). In fact, Jesus warned, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and is thrown into the fire” to be destroyed (Matthew 7:19).

And what is good? Only God has the supreme authority to define good and evil. Jesus went on to say, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21, emphasis added throughout).

And what is God’s will for our lives? It is revealed throughout His Word and is summarized by the two great commandments and the Ten Commandments (Matthew 22:36-40; 19:17).

We must aim high to reach the highest goals. To produce the best fruit requires work, time, patience and perseverance (James 5:7-11).

We are to be fruitful

Closely following God’s desire for good fruit is His desire for us to produce a lot of it—to be highly productive. Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:8, New International Version). Notice, bearing abundant fruit glorifies God and identifies Christ’s disciples!

Later, Jesus states the purpose of our calling: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16, NIV). Hence we must be oriented toward eternal goals and work with all our hearts to bring them to fruition!

The following parable is quite instructive: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down’” (Luke 13:6-9).

The keeper of the vineyard asked for another year, during which time he would fertilize the soil to encourage growth. This illustrates God’s patience with us—how He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

A fruitless fruit tree, however, will eventually be “cut down.” Professing without producing is no good.

We are to grow

The similar parables in Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:11-27 illustrate God’s emphasis on spiritual growth and accomplishment. In each story, two servants obediently invested the master’s money to earn a profit for him. But the third servant merely hid the money for safekeeping. Fear of failure was his excuse for not even trying.

The parable shows that we must obey God with faith and courage even when it may be humanly frightening. The fearful servant is called “unprofitable” and “wicked and lazy” (Matthew 25:30, 26).

To each of the profitable (fruitful) servants, the master said, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21, 23). May this be what we hear when Christ returns to reward His servants!

We can’t bear fruit without God

During His life on earth, Jesus Christ said of His miraculous acts, “The Son can do nothing of Himself” (John 5:19). He explained, “The Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:10).

Neither can we, acting on our own, produce spiritual fruit! It requires a miracle of God through Christ. Let’s carefully read and ponder what Jesus explained to His disciples the evening before His arrest.

He said: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2). “Pruning” includes the Father’s loving discipline to correct our faults (Hebrews 12:5-11).

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). Rely on God and great things will happen!

“If anyone does not abide in Me,” Jesus continued, “he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (verses 6-7). Abiding in Christ includes learning and applying God’s Word. And a major key to bearing fruit is praying for help!

Abiding in Christ also includes abiding in His Church, “the body of Christ,” as numerous scriptures show (1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27; Ephesians 1:21-22; 4:12).

The essential role of God’s Spirit

Jesus said we can bear fruit only if He “abides” in us (John 15:4-5). How is this possible? It is through the gift of God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

How do we receive this gift? Peter said, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

God’s Spirit does many things. It imparts spiritual understanding (1 Corinthians 2:10-14). It imparts a willingness to obey—to be like Christ who said, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). It imparts an ability to obey and love far above human ability. It is the Spirit “of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

The power to bear fruit

With the Holy Spirit, one becomes spiritually alive, beginning a new life! God’s Spirit is like the life-giving sap that flows up the trunk of a tree to all its branches so they can yield fruit!

Notice God’s beautiful portrayal of His people as flourishing fruit trees: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8; compare Psalm 1:3).

The apostle Paul said in Galatians 5, “Walk in the Spirit . . . If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (verses 16, 25). God’s Spirit enables us to act according to God’s principles—to live a godly life!

Without God’s Spirit, we are merely mortal flesh, and the fruits of raw human nature are called the “works of the flesh” in verses 19-21. After listing these sinful “works,” Paul warns that “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (verse 21).

With the help of God’s Spirit, however, we produce something far different: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering [or patience], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (verses 22-23). That is truly good fruit! God wants us to bear much of this fruit!

Spirit-led people have these wonderful virtues of godly character as the result of God’s Spirit acting from within. The credit for this fruit belongs to God and Jesus Christ who supply that Spirit.

And God will let us bear this fruit only when we are trying to give of ourselves to others. This fruit is manifested in relationships. God’s Spirit is like a river (John 7:38). It will flow into us only when it is also flowing out to others.

In a series of future articles we will examine each of the special aspects of the fruit of the Holy Spirit listed in Galatians 5—to thoroughly understand them, to see how we can cultivate them and to see how we can use them in serving God and one another. We will get a good taste of each one.

As we do that, let’s remember to focus on Christ’s overall lesson regarding the fruit of our lives: Bear good fruit and much fruit!

–by Don Hooser–

Why does the Middle East dominate the headlines so often?

One obvious answer is oil, the lifeblood of modern economies. Without oil to run factories, heat homes, fuel transportation and provide energy and raw materials for thousands of uses, the economies of many nations would grind to a halt. The crucial importance of oil alone ensures that the Middle East will remain in the headlines for years.

But there’s more that keeps the Middle East in the news. It is the birthplace of the world’s three great monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Too often it has not been just their birthplace, but their battlefield, with adherents warring against each other for control of territory they consider holy.

Nowhere are these conflicts more obvious than in Israel, and specifically in Jerusalem. It’s hard to imagine how so much history, religion and culture can collide and stand in literal heaps. Nowhere is this more evident than at the Temple Mount, flash point for many a conflict over the centuries.

Today one can watch Muslims praying at the Dome of the Rock atop the Temple Mount, Jews praying at the Western Wall barely a stone’s throw below and Christians praying along the Via Dolorosa and at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher a few hundred yards to the north and west. And all around one sees the rubble of the centuries of conflict over this holy place.

Who will write the next chapter in the history of this troubled city? Believe it or not, the final chapters are already written—prophesied centuries ago in the pages of the Bible. Ominously, they mesh remarkably well with today’s headlines.

Keys to Understanding Revelation

Why was the book of Revelation written? As mentioned before, the book’s very name means to reveal —to unveil, to open to understanding what otherwise could not be comprehended. Yet most people believe that this final book of the Bible cannot be understood at all—that its language and symbols are too confusing to make sense.

Revelation puts many of the earlier prophecies of the Bible into an understandable context and reveals a much-needed framework for prophecies relating to the end of the age. It accomplishes this partly through the use of symbols and figurative language that relate directly to some of the Bible’s other prophetic writings.

For example, the prophetic book of Daniel uses similar language and symbols. Many of its visions and figures of speech are clearly explained. But God revealed to Daniel that the meanings of others were to remain mysteriously obscured until the time of the end. Then they, too, would be understood.

Revelation contains many fundamental keys to that understanding, and the book of Daniel contains keys that help us understand the book of Revelation.

Notice Daniel’s explanation of one of his visions: “Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ And he said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:8-9, emphasis added throughout unless otherwise noted).

Contrast this with God’s purpose for the book of Revelation. God the Father gave the prophecies contained in the book of Revelation to His Son, Jesus Christ. He passed it to Christ in the form of a scroll sealed with seven seals (Revelation 5:1). But as John—who wrote the book under God’s inspiration—tells us in his concluding chapter, an angel specifically commanded him, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book …” (Revelation 22:10).

John explains that God the Father gave most of the book of Revelation to Christ in the form of a scroll sealed with seven seals. Jesus then broke those seals and opened the scroll.

“And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne [God the Father] a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?’ And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it … But one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals’” (Revelation 5:1-5).

Here is the key to understanding the book. Jesus alone can unlock the meaning of its symbols, visions and descriptions. The first verse of this book announces that it is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him” (Revelation 1:1). Christ reveals its meaning. He unlocks its seals. But how does He do it?

Two factors are crucial. First, the keys to unlocking the content of seven seals must be explained by Jesus Himself in His own words.

Second, the Bible tells us that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). Therefore we can expect clarification of some symbols in the book of Revelation in other parts of God’s inspired Word.

By relying on the Bible’s own consistent interpretations of its symbols and figurative language, we can have confidence that our understanding is based on God’s inspired Word rather than on our own opinions (2 Peter 1:20). After all, revealed knowledge is what the book of Revelation is all about.

Remember, God told Daniel that some of the things revealed to him in visions were sealed, hidden until the time of the end. But then He added: “Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand” (Daniel 12:10). At the time of the end God intends that those He calls “the wise” will understand these prophecies.

Who are the wise in God’s sight?

Those who scorn the concept that the Bible is divinely inspired choose to see its symbols as contradictory and confusing. They perceive no value in them. Because they scoff at the idea of God’s inspiration, they are blind to prophetic understanding. They choose to be ignorant of what God reveals about the future (2 Peter 3:3-7).

On the other hand, God tells us that those who respect Him and keep His commandments are the ones who are truly wise. As the Scriptures explain: “The fear [respectful awe] of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments” (Psalm 111:10). Scripture also tells us that “the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7).

The book of Revelation gives us many of the keys that unlock prophetic understanding because it faithfully follows the principle that the Bible interprets itself. Therefore, only those who believe that the Bible is inspired by God and trust what it says will be able to understand the significance of what is revealed in the book of Revelation.

Some of the understanding began in the days of the apostles. One of the stated purposes for Revelation was to reveal to the servants of God “things which must shortly take place” (Revelation 1:1). So some aspects of Revelation applied directly to Christians in the final days of the apostle John’s ministry.

Christ instructed John to record (verse 19): (1) “the things which you have seen”—his visions and their puzzling symbols; (2) “the things which are”—information relating to the Church at that time; and (3) “the things which will take place after this”—prophecies extending far into the future.

Before we examine these keys to the future, we need to understand the circumstances under which this prophetic book was given to the apostle John.

Religious and political setting of Revelation

Within the confines of the ancient Roman Empire, Christianity began in an era of relative peace. The emperors of the time generally followed a policy of liberal religious toleration. This enabled early Christians to evangelize far and wide, both throughout and beyond the empire.

But the situation gradually changed. The Romans introduced and enforced emperor worship in the empire. Suddenly Christians found themselves in an intolerable situation. Jesus, not the emperor, was their ultimate master. They understood that the Scriptures prohibited the worship of anything or anyone besides the true God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Soon incredible pressures were brought to bear on them to participate in the holidays, games and ceremonies honoring the reigning emperor as a god.

Their refusal to participate in emperor worship put them into direct conflict with the authorities at all levels of the Roman hierarchy. By the time Revelation was written, some Christians had already been executed because of their beliefs. Christians everywhere, especially in Asia Minor, encountered wide-ranging ridicule and persecution.

Adding to Christians’ plight, Roman officials, after Jerusalem’s destruction in A.D. 70, ceased to view Christians as just another sect of the Jews. The religious tolerance Rome had extended to them disappeared.

Christians were now often regarded as a subversive and potentially dangerous religious group. Rome saw their teachings of a coming kingdom and a powerful new king as a threat to the stability of the empire. By this time Emperor Nero had already falsely branded Christians as the perpetrators of the great fire in Rome. Their future looked grim.

The apostle John, imprisoned on the island of Patmos near the coast of Asia Minor during a later wave of persecution near the end of the first century, explained that he also was suffering persecution, that he was their “companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:9). John fully understood the stress they endured. Yet he reminded them of their goal—the Kingdom of God. He emphasized the patience and faith they must exercise to endure opposition and abuse until the return of Jesus the Messiah to permanently deliver His servants from persecution and grant them salvation.

This is the context in which Jesus revealed to John when and how this satanic persecution, already responsible for the murder of loyal and faithful servants, would be permanently stopped. He pointed out that the roots of the problem go back to the beginning of humankind—to the birthplace of this age of man so filled with human sin and evil.

The archdeceiver

In the Garden of Eden man first encountered “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9; Genesis 3:1). That evil being’s deception has been so successful that most people scoff at the idea that a devil even exists. But the writers of the Holy Scriptures regarded his existence and power as an unquestionable reality. They reveal him as the unseen driving influence behind evil and suffering.

The book of Revelation sums up the impact the devil has, not just on Christians but on all mankind, from the time of John until the return of Christ. It reveals that the ancient conflict between the forces of good and evil will be resolved.

As noted earlier in this chapter, John told early Christians that the book of Revelation includes both “the things which are, and the things which will take place after this” (Revelation 1:19). Its prophetic fulfillments began in the days of the apostles and extend to our day and beyond.

The Day of the Lord in prophecy

Most of John’s visions focus on that time mentioned by God’s prophets throughout the Scriptures as “the day of the Lord,” also known as “the day of the Lord Jesus Christ,” “the day of Christ” and, here in Revelation, “the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10; compare Isaiah 13:6; Joel 2:31; Zephaniah 1:14; Acts 2:20; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:2).

Paul plainly spoke of this prophesied time: “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3).

Some people assume that when John said he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” in Revelation 1:10 he was referring to worshipping on Sunday. But the context of Revelation clearly shows that John was not referring to worshipping on a day of the week but to experiencing a vision of the coming Day of the Lord mentioned directly or indirectly in more than 50 passages in the Old and New Testaments.

As The Bible Knowledge Commentary explains: “John’s revelation occurred on the Lord’s Day while he was in the Spirit. Some have indicated that ‘the Lord’s Day’ refers to the first day of the week. However, the word ‘Lord’s’ is an adjective and this expression is never used in the Bible to refer to the first day of the week. Probably John was referring to the day of the Lord, a familiar expression in both Testaments … He was projected forward in his inner self in a vision, not bodily, to that future day of the Lord when God will pour out His judgments on the earth” (John Walvoord and Roy Zuck, 1983, p. 930).

The mistaken assumption that John was referring to the first day of the week, Sunday, has no biblical support at all. The only day of the week, biblically speaking, that could possibly be called “the Lord’s day” is the Sabbath or Saturday, the seventh day of the week. Jesus specifically referred to Himself as “lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28). And, through the prophet Isaiah, God also refers to the Sabbath as “the holy day of the LORD” (Isaiah 58:13).

Again, though, John was not referring to any day of the week but to the prophetic time that is theprimary subject of the book of Revelation. John specifically tells us that what he wrote is prophecy (Revelation 1:3; 22:7, 10, 18-19). Therefore, John is merely explaining that “in the Spirit”—in divinely inspiredvisions— he was mentally transported to the coming Day of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord is described throughout the Scriptures as a time of God’s direct intervention in human affairs. It is a time of His judgment on His adversaries—on those who defy His correction and refuse His commandments. Isaiah succinctly sums up the Day of the LORD: “Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty” (Isaiah 13:6).

Who is the object of the destruction? “Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it” (verse 9). As Jeremiah explained: “… This is the day of the LORD GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries” (Jeremiah 46:10).

Notice the prophet Zephaniah’s description of the time of God’s intervention: “The great day of the LORD is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers.

“I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like refuse” (Zephaniah 1:14-17).

Notice how John describes the awesome events that follow the sixth seal of Revelation: “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:17). Just before this, the martyred servants of God are represented as symbolically crying out from their graves: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (verse 10). Later in this book of prophecy an angel is sent with the message: “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come …“ (Revelation 14:6-7).

Then, near the end of the book, John records more details of Christ’s second coming: “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war” (Revelation 19:11).

Hundreds of years before John put these prophecies of Revelation in writing, the prophet Zechariah graphically described Christ’s return: “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming … I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem … Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

“Then the LORD [Jesus, the prophesied Messiah] will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south” (Zechariah 14:1-4). At the end of this battle “the LORD shall be King over all the earth” (verse 9).

From these scriptures the main thrust of Revelation becomes clear. It portrays in vivid symbols the judgment of God in the last days—at, and just before, the return of Christ. He will oversee the final destruction of the satanic system labeled in Revelation as Babylon the Great.

The real issue: Whom shall we worship?

At the heart of the end-time conflict is a crucial question: Who will mankind worship—Satan or God? Notice the religious orientation of most of humanity: “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’” (Revelation 13:4).

How extensive will this idolatrous worship be? “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life …” (verse 8). Even now, almost everyone on earth is unwittingly “under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19)—”that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Satan’s direct control over humanity will dramatically intensify at the time of the end.

Man is not left without a warning, however. John records his vision of an angel “having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people; saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth …‘” (Revelation 14:6-7).

God sends a clear message through the book of Revelation: The time draws near when He will no longer tolerate humanity’s rejection of Him or its worship of the devil. Satan’s system of idolatrous worship must be wiped from the face of the earth before Christ begins His rule as King of Kings.

Pleas of God’s people answered

The temple in Jerusalem was the center of ancient Israel’s worship of God. God’s presence was manifested there (2 Chronicles 5:13-14).

In the book of Revelation God is frequently portrayed as seated in a heavenly temple on His throne (anciently represented by the mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant in the holiest part of the earthly temple). As he watches angels dispense some of the final punishments mentioned in this book, the apostle John notes that “a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’” (Revelation 16:17).

An angel had told John earlier, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there” (Revelation 11:1). Inside the temple God is pictured receiving the prayers of His servants. “Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne” (Revelation 8:3).

What prayer does God hear from His true servants over and over again? “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’” (Revelation 6:10). Revelation reveals the circumstances under which those who are the true worshippers of God will finally have that prayer for justice answered in full.

John quotes Jesus promising His servants: “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God … I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem …“ (Revelation 3:12). The tables finally will turn. God’s faithful servants will be the real winners. God will greatly reward them for their patience and endurance while they waited for Him to fulfill His promises and answer their prayers.

As God intervenes in world affairs and makes His great power visible to the nations, His true worshippers are represented in Revelation as joyfully singing: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested” (Revelation 15:3-4).

Revelation’s patterns of sevens

Another noticeable feature of the book of Revelation is its organization according to patterns of sevens. The first chapter alone mentions seven churches, seven golden lampstands, seven spirits, seven stars and seven angels.

The major events of the book are organized under seven seals, seven trumpets, seven thunders and seven bowls containing the seven last plagues. We also encounter seven lamps of fire and a Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes.

Then there is a dragon dominating a beast having seven heads and 10 horns. Seven mountains and seven kings are associated with the heads of that beast. What do the messages conveyed by the repeated use of seven have in common?

In the Bible the number seven reflects the idea of completeness. For example, seven days make up a complete week. God introduced this concept immediately after He finished creating our first human parents: “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:2-3).

Revelation explains how God will bring His master plan to completion. It outlines a framework on which the prophetic part of that plan is carried out, especially in the last days.

The representation of completeness is also important in understanding the messages to the seven churches in chapters 1-3. When we compare these symbolic expressions in Revelation to imagery in other parts of the Bible, a much more meaningful picture emerges.

In Revelation God is revealing to His servants a comprehensive overview of the most significant factors that will affect their lives—including their hardships and rewards—until His plan for humankind is completed. The concluding chapters (21-22) even give the righteous a brief glimpse into the nature of their relationships with God and each other for eternity. God emphasizes the thoroughness and completeness of this revealed prophetic summary by presenting its most significant aspects in patterns of sevens.

Although biblical patterns of sevens are symbolic in that they represent completeness, they also usually have some real, literal fulfillment. For example, God gave the Pharaoh of ancient Egypt a dream in which seven lean cows ate seven fat cows. Then God arranged for Joseph to explain to Pharaoh that the dream signified that seven years of agricultural plenty would be followed by seven years of devastating famine.

By revealing this information to Pharaoh in a dream, God inspired him to promote Joseph to a powerful role in Egypt. Joseph was then in a position to shelter and feed his father’s family—a small clan destined to become the nation of Israel—during the terrible years of famine. God was in control of the dream and its outcome.

In the same way God can foretell the result of any aspect of history (Isaiah 46:9-10). He can intervene to bring events to pass as He desires (verse 10). He can reveal details about the future with unwavering accuracy and precision. So we should not carelessly assume, as some do, that the patterns of sevens in Revelation have only symbolic value. They generally foretell real events and should be taken seriously.

The role of the saints

When John wrote Revelation, Christians were being persecuted, at times martyred, with the approval of the Roman emperors. Revelation frequently contrasts the injustice of the age by emphasizing the future governing role of both the Messiah and the saints.

This is another important aspect of Revelation. The identity of who will have future control of the world is one of the central features of its prophecies.

At the return of Christ we learn: “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6). In the final chapter we read that God’s faithful servants, given eternal life in the resurrection, “shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5).

Also significant is where they will initially assist Jesus in their governing role. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reignon the earth” (Revelation 5:10, New International Version).

Even at the very beginning of Revelation John speaks of “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5). Then John tells Christians that Jesus “has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever” (verse 6).

Will servants of God who endure trials and persecutions—past and future—be given real authority in the Kingdom of God under Christ? Indeed they will. As the apostle Paul reminded Christians in Corinth: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” (1 Corinthians 6:2).

Notice Christ’s revelation to John: “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4).

This is part of the incredible future Jesus Christ has planned for His faithful followers—to live and reign with Him forever! Now let’s learn what was prophesied to happen to those true followers of Christ down through the centuries until His return.

The Promise of Life After Death

God’s Word provides assurance of life after death—though not in a heavenly afterlife as thought by so many! God promises that life will return through a resurrection of the dead. This is how mankind can receive His gift of eternal life.

Thousands of years ago Job asked the same question we ask ourselves: “If a man dies, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). He went on to answer the question in stating to God: “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee” (verses 14-15, KJV). After death a person is unconscious, waiting for God to call him from the grave and restore him to life.

What does the Bible say about the remarkable phenomenon of restoration to life? When will it take place? What else happens at this time? Will the resurrected still be flesh and blood, or will they be brought back to a different kind of life?

The answers to these questions go to the core of the meaning of our existence. As we study the Bible to find the answers, we can be encouraged, motivated and inspired by God’s plan for life after death.

The promise of the resurrection

Paul, as we saw briefly in the last chapter, spoke of a great change that will take place when he referred to both the resurrection of the dead and the state of those who remain alive at the time of the resurrection at the return of Christ. A marvelous transformation must occur before we can receive the gift of eternal life. The dead in Christ will be resurrected to an “incorruptible” existence, and those in Christ who are still alive will be instantly changed from a mortal, physical existence to an incorruptible state.

Notice again Paul’s description of this astounding event: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

As explained in the previous chapter, those who have died are unconscious, as if they are sleeping a dreamless sleep, awaiting their time to be called out of the grave and resurrected to a new life. The period from the last moment of consciousness until they are awakened in the resurrection will seem as if no time had passed at all, just as if they were waking from sleep or from a coma.

Paul shows clearly that this resurrection will occur when Jesus Christ returns to the earth: “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep [died], lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the cloudsto meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

Two groups resurrected at Christ’s return

In both passages Paul distinguishes between two groups of Christ’s followers—those who have died and those who are still alive when Jesus returns—both of whom will be in this resurrection. Although “it is appointed for men to die once” (Hebrews 9:27), some will remain alive when Jesus returns. So what will happen to these faithful followers who are still alive then?

At that time, these people’s physical lives will be over, because they will be miraculously and instantaneously changed to incorruptible spirit, inheriting the gift of eternal life.

Paul describes this wonderful change a little earlier in the same chapter. “So also is the resurrection of the dead,” he wrote. “The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body [flesh and blood], it is raised a spiritual body [no longer physical, but composed of spirit]. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).

Paul then explains that while “the first man Adam became a living being,” a physical creature of the dust of the earth, “the last Adam [Jesus Christ] became a life-giving spirit” (verse 45)—that is, He was resurrected as a spirit being with a body composed of spirit. And so it will be with us, as Paul explains.

The apostle continues: “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man [Christ]. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption” (verses 49-50).

At the end of our physical lives—the conclusion of this temporary and mortal existence—comes death. After that comes a resurrection in which we must be changed because, as Paul wrote, mortal “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” Those who are “in Christ”—who have been called, repented, been baptized and been led by God—will be transformed in that resurrection to eternal, spiritual life, glorified as spirit beings like the resurrected Jesus Christ (Romans 8:16-17).

What happens after the resurrection?

The words quoted earlier from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 describe Jesus’ triumphant return to earth. Heralded by the shout of an archangel and the sounding of a trumpet, God will resurrect the dead in Christ to eternal life; the living who are Christ’s will be changed from mortal to immortal and will ascend to meet and greet Him.

Scriptures show that those in this resurrection will not stay in “heaven” (in this case the earth’s atmosphere—”the air,” as it states) with Christ, but will descend with Him as He takes control of and begins to reign over the nations (see Daniel 2:44; 7:13-18; Zechariah 14:1-4; Acts 15:15-17; Revelation 11:15; 19:15).

The resurrected saints (this term meaning those sanctified or set apart, applying to all of Christ’s followers) will reign with Christ on earth in His Kingdom. As Revelation 5:10 states, Jesus will make them “a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” Who will be resurrected?

Now let’s look at another important detail regarding the resurrection: Some will be resurrected to receive eternal life, but others will be resurrected to a coming judgment. Jesus makes this distinction Himself: “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29, New American Standard Bible).

God gave us this temporary, mortal life to prepare us for eternal life. The hope and promise of that resurrection is intriguing and inspiring. But knowing there is also a “resurrection of judgment” gives us reason to pause. Why might one person be resurrected to life and another be resurrected to judgment?

The resurrection of life is through Jesus Christ

When he was challenged by religious leaders, Peter made the point that the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). Paul points out that our resurrection can take place because God first resurrected Jesus. Unless He was resurrected before us, we have no hope (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).

Jesus promised: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25)—shall live again, that is. One of the best-known verses in the Bible, John 3:16, promises that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The simple truth is that we can receive the gift of eternal life only through Jesus Christ. “For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). How do we demonstrate our belief in Him? What obligations does that carry?

Jesus said that those who are His disciples must be willing to place everything else in life secondary to seeking the Kingdom of God (Luke 14:25-33; Matthew 6:33; 13:44-46). People have devised many ways to live, with many false values and distractions (Matthew 6:19-20; 7:13-14), but the reality is that there is only one right way and only one Savior.

In concluding the first recorded sermon after Jesus’ death, Peter called on believers in Christ to repent, undergo baptism and receive from God His Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Repentance is a sincere and heartfelt realization of our own sinfulness and inadequacy.

But it is also our resolve to forsake our former way of life to begin a new life in Christ. Baptism portrays that resolve (Romans 6:1-6).

Many scriptures reveal what we must do to demonstrate our belief in Jesus Christ.

For example, Colossians 3-4 is a long passage that describes the complete commitment we must make. We must allow God to change our very nature, and we must learn to imitate Jesus in everything we do. If we are truly yielded to God, Christ will live His life in us through the power of God’s Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:20).

We also learn that our personal reward will be based on how we live. Indeed, God gives “eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil . . . but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good” (Romans 2:6-10).

More than one resurrection

Another major aspect of the resurrection revealed by Scripture is that the dead come back to life in a particular order, in sequence, according to a plan.

Not all will be resurrected at the same time, though Christ’s followers of this age will be: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man [Christ] also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul writes that we must have God’s Spirit within us if we are to be resurrected to life: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Romans 8:11, NRSV).

The resurrection we have described so far occurs when Jesus returns. It will include only “those who are Christ’s” (1 Corinthians 15:23), also called “the dead in Christ” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

These are people who have understood that salvation is through Jesus Christ and who have shown their belief in Him through the commitment of repentance, baptism and obedience to God’s Word as led by the Holy Spirit. As we have seen, they will be transformed into immortal spirit at Christ’s return, thus inheriting eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:50-53).

Others who have died

But now we have a dilemma. What happens to people who never had the opportunity to come to a proper understanding and make the needed commitment to God through Christ? Are they the ones Christ spoke of who will be resurrected to judgment?

What about infants and other young children who die long before they can understand or gain the maturity to receive the Holy Spirit and seek God’s Kingdom? What about people who have lived and died in ages past or in remote regions today without ever even hearing the name of Jesus Christ, much less learning His teachings and being able to respond with any kind of commitment to Him? What about people who adhere to high moral values but don’t hold to any particular religious beliefs or commitment?

What will happen to them and when? Will the treatment these people receive be just? Is God fair? Will He give everyone equal opportunity to receive eternal life? Or is He selective, offering eternal life to only some?

The first resurrection

Let’s begin with what John describes as the first resurrection. He speaks of “those who are Christ’s,” some of whom had suffered martyrdom and all of whom had rejected false religions and deceptive teachings.

He writes of the vision he received in the book of Revelation: “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.)This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection” (Revelation 20:4-6, NIV).

Notice that some come to life after the 1,000-year reign of Christ. Those given eternal life at the beginning of that period, at Christ’s return when they will reign with Him, represent the first resurrection. But here we plainly see that others, “the rest of the dead,” do not come to life again until 1,000 years have passed. If only one resurrection is to occur, John would simply have referred to it as the resurrection. However, since he uses the phrase “the first resurrection,” it is evident that at least one more resurrection must follow.

Summary

We have learned from the highest written authority—the Bible—that at Jesus Christ’s return He will resurrect His true, faithful followers and grant them the incredible gift of eternal life. They are the only ones who will have a part in this resurrection.

Yet we’re told in 1 Timothy 2:3-4 that “God our Savior . . . desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” What, then, of the billions of people who have already died and never had the knowledge of the truth? Is it too late for them?

This brings us to a discussion of one of the most truly amazing aspects in God’s plan for life and death—what God has in store for the rest of the dead.

Do Good People Really Go to Heaven When They Die?

Most churchgoers believe that when they die they will go to heaven, But will they? The Bible reveals some astounding truths about the mystery of life beyond the grave.

William was a teenager when his father died. He was devastated because he loved his dad. He remembered the times when he walked beside his dad with his little fingers clutching his father’s much larger hand.

He couldn’t help but wonder why a loving God, if indeed there were such a Being, would allow his father to die prematurely, before his time. It just didn’t make sense. His anger turned him away from the God that he had learned about in Sunday school. “If God works this way, I want nothing to do with him,” he lamented.

He sought answers from his pastor, but the minister said he didn’t understand it either, that God worked in mysterious ways. This didn’t help young William get over his anger. After a few years, he simply gave up in frustration with the thought that there was no answer as to why or where God took his father.

Sometimes, thinking his father was up in heaven and could somehow hear him, William would try to talk to his dad—but, as always, there was no response. Little did he know that what the Bible revealed about where his father went and his father’s future were quite different from what he had been taught.

Are good people promised heaven?

When good people die, do they go directly to heaven as so many believe? Since life here is so short and eternity is so very long, shouldn’t we want to clearly understand the truth on this crucial subject?

To comprehend what the Bible teaches about heaven, we first need to understand that there is more than one heaven. Often the Bible refers to heavens, plural. In fact, three distinct “heavens” are mentioned in the Bible.

The first of these is simply the sky above us—earth’s atmosphere, containing the air we breathe. It is in this heaven that birds fly and clouds give rain and snow (2 Samuel 21:10; Job 35:11; Isaiah 55:10).

The second biblical heaven is the realm beyond earth’s atmosphere, what we commonly call outer space. Here we find the “stars of heaven”—the planets, stars, constellations and galaxies of this awesome physical universe (Genesis 22:17; 26:4; Deuteronomy 1:10; Isaiah 13:10).

The “third heaven” is different still—it is the location of God’s majestic throne (2 Corinthians 12:2).

Obviously the deceased, Christian or not, are not floating around unnoticed in the first two heavens. No one seriously believes they can be found drifting about the sky or in outer space. Therefore they must be in the third of these heavens, right?

Many people assume so, but the whole argument about heaven being the reward of deceased Christians runs into a brick wall with these words from the apostle Peter’s first sermon: “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day . . . For David did not ascend to heaven . . .” (Acts 2:29, 34, New International Version, emphasis added throughout).

God called this same King David “a man after My own heart,” one who would “do all My will” (Acts 13:22). Surely, if anyone had a right to heaven, wouldn’t it be a person such as David? Yet Peter tells us God did not carry David off to heaven. The only one who had ascended to heaven, said Peter, was Jesus Christ (Acts 2:29-35).

Was Peter mistaken? Did he simply misspeak?

We might assume so, but notice what the Gospel of John says: “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man [Jesus Christ]” (John 3:13, NIV).

Jesus never promised Christians heaven after they died. The New Testament plainly says that of the faithful men and women who had gone before—such spiritual giants as Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses, to name some of those listed in Hebrews 11—not one has ascended to heaven. In fact, says verse 39 of Hebrews 11, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised” (NIV).

If they aren’t in heaven, where are they? And what was it they were promised, if it wasn’t heaven?

No consciousness in the grave

Many people are surprised to discover what the Bible really says about what happens to us when we die. Yet, when we remove our preconceived notions, the answer becomes quite clear from the Scriptures—and it is immensely encouraging to all.

Notice what God inspired King Solomon to write about the state of the dead: “For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten” (Ecclesiastes 9:5).

Scripture clearly tells us that at death we cease to know anything. The dead are unconscious and unaware. All our emotions, thoughts, knowledge and feelings go to the grave with us. No consciousness continues living in another place or state. We do not have an immortal soul that goes on living somewhere else. In Ezekiel 18, verses 4 and 20, God plainly tells us that “the soul who sins shall die”—not continue living apart from the body.

The patriarch Job echoes Solomon’s words. He writes: “. . . Man dies and is laid away; indeed he breathes his last and where is he? As water disappears from the sea, and a river becomes parched and dries up, so man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep” (Job 14:10-12).

Job goes on to ask the most crucial question about life after death: “If a man dies, shall he live again?” (verse 14). His answer is found in Jesus Christ’s own words.

Death’s mystery solved

The key to the mystery of life after death is revealed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

It is because Christ was resurrected from the grave that we can be assured we, too, will be resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:12-21). Throughout the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul eloquently argues this important fact—that since Jesus was resurrected from the grave, He will resurrect all those who have been faithful to Him.

Job, as we saw above, raised the question of life after death. Notice how he answered it: “O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time [the time of the resurrection], and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee . . .” (Job 14:13-15, King James Version).

Job understood that life after death comes about by God’s divine power. Speaking of each person whom the Father would call to understand His truth, Jesus explains, “I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44).

The promise of life after death hinges on Jesus Christ’s resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). The fact that Jesus Christ was resurrected to become “the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:5) means that He has opened the way for others to follow in a resurrection from the grave. The raising of the dead is a mighty and magnificent part of God’s great master plan. Through it, mankind has the opportunity to live again, as faithful Job knew and confirmed.

The doctrine of the resurrection is listed among the fundamental doctrines of the Bible (Hebrews 6:1-2). It is the hope of all true Christians, for it nullifies and makes void death itself (1 Corinthians 15:54).

The resurrection voids death

Paul confirms that many people were eyewitnesses to the fact that Jesus Christ had indeed risen from the grave:

“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas [Peter], then by the twelve [apostles]. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep [in death]. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

Too many credible witnesses saw and interacted with Christ Jesus after He was raised from the dead for His resurrection to be denied.

Paul also offers a simple but incontestable logic about how our resurrection from the dead is directly tied to Jesus’ resurrection: “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

“More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep [in death]. For since death came through a man [Adam], the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man [Jesus Christ]” (1 Corinthians 15:12-21, NIV).

The mystery of what happens to human beings after they die is incontrovertibly solved in the vibrant life of the resurrected Christ. Our future life beyond the grave is directly connected to the resurrected Jesus Christ and the fact that He is the One who will raise us from the dead. When this happens—and it surely will—the Bible reveals it will not be so that we can go to live in heaven forever.

Death likened to sleep

When Christians—or any others—die, they do not go directly to heaven or to any equivalent of heaven. Their bodies simply decay in the grave, returning to the dust from which they were made (Genesis 3:19).

Solomon confirmed the fact that the dead are unconscious, knowing nothing. He illustrated the superiority of life over death with an interesting analogy: “Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing . . .” (Ecclesiastes 9:4-5, NIV).

The writers of the Bible describe our experience after death not as going to heaven or hell, but simply as sleep. Notice, for example, how Daniel refers to the state of the dead in this prophecy of the resurrection: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). When an individual is in a deep sleep, he has absolutely no conscious awareness of the passing of time nor any knowledge of events that are occurring while he is asleep.

Paul repeatedly compared death to sleep (1 Corinthians 11:30; 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15). Peter similarly writes of the patriarchs who “fell asleep” in death (2 Peter 3:4).

Jesus Himself also spoke of death as sleep. Speaking of a deceased girl whom He intended to raise from the dead, He told the mourners, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping” (Luke 8:52; compare Matthew 9:24).

Before He resurrected Lazarus, He told the disciples, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” The disciples misunderstood, thinking Lazarus was sleeping because he was ill. “However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep” (John 11:11, 13).

When will the dead be resurrected?

We can see that the Bible clearly teaches that good people don’t go to heaven at death; instead they sleep in the grave awaiting the resurrection of the dead. All of the dead —good and not so good alike—will eventually be resurrected, each in his own time (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

The dead in Christ will be resurrected to immortal life at Jesus Christ’s return to earth, and those faithful servants who are still alive at that time will be changed from mortal to immortal. Specifically, this happens at the sounding of “the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), called “the last trumpet” in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and corresponding to the seventh trumpet of Revelation 11:15.

This event is called “the first resurrection” in Revelation 20:5. In John’s vision of the future, those in this resurrection came to life and “reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (verse 4), during the period commonly known as the Millennium. Notice that they do not go to dwell in heaven—they live and reign with Jesus on earth, to which He has returned to establish God’s Kingdom!

Verse 6 goes on to explain: “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power [because they will then be the resurrected, immortal children of God], but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Revelation 5:10 confirms that they will be “a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (NIV).

Since Christ is coming back to earth (Zechariah 14:3-4), it makes good sense that that’s where we will be. After all, Jesus said that we would be with Him: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3; compare Isaiah 11:1-9). Clearly, Jesus is coming back to earth and we will reign with Him here, not in or from heaven.

Another resurrection follows

So if there is a first resurrection in which God’s faithful servants are raised to immortality to reign with Jesus Christ, will there be other resurrections? And what happens to those who lived and died without ever knowing or hearing the name of Jesus, the only name by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12)?

Those who died without knowing Christ will be resurrected to physical life and given their time to repent and receive salvation 1,000 years later (Revelation 20:11-13). Verse 5 tells us clearly that “the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.”

Ezekiel 37 vividly describes a second resurrection to a temporary physical existence, when human beings who have never understood God’s truth in this life will be raised from the dust of the earth to learn God’s way for the first time. God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” and “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4). He will not unjustly condemn those who never had an opportunity to come to that knowledge, repent and receive His gift of eternal life.

Each person raised to life again in this great resurrection will be given sufficient time to learn God’s way of life (see Ezekiel 37:12-14, 23-24), during which they will be judged or evaluated according to their works, by the standards and values “which were written in the books” (Revelation 20:12).

These “books” (biblion in Greek, from which we get the word Bible) are the Scriptures, the only source of the knowledge of eternal life and the basic standard by which all are ultimately judged. Most, probably the vast majority, will go on to receive eternal life because the Bible tells us that “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26)—and by extension most of the gentile world likely will be saved as well.

Some individuals, regrettably, will stubbornly choose to reject this marvelous opportunity for eternal life. But rather than suffer torment for eternity in hell (as many people incorrectly assume the Bible teaches), Scripture shows their fate will be to be consumed in the lake of fire, “the second death.” As Malachi 4:3 states, they will be burned to ashes and simply cease to exist.

You can take something with you

People of many ancient cultures, such as the Egyptians, buried items of physical worth with their dead. They believed that the deceased would be able to use those important things in the next life. Yet the patriarch Job refuted this idea: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there” (Job 1:21). This may be where we get the oft-repeated saying, “You can’t take it with you.”

However, this old cliché is not entirely true. In a sense, God will allow you to take something with you when you die—godly character. A true Christian is one who builds God’s character for the duration of his Christian life (1 Corinthians 3:9-15). When raised to life again in the resurrection, that same character will be a part of us in our new life. For the true Christian, that godly character will be with him forever (1 John 2:15-17).

The Egyptians and many other long-dead peoples didn’t know this, or they would not have buried valuable physical objects with their dead. But a young teen learned this truth from God’s Word, the Bible.

A teen learns the truth

Do you remember William, whose father died prematurely while he was a teenager? That youngster is the author of this article; William is my middle name. Eventually I came to understand the purpose of life and the fact that the dead are not lost in the grave, that all men, women, children and babies who have ever lived will be resurrected, each in his or her own time. All will eventually have the opportunity to learn God’s truth.

In time I came to comprehend that the common denominator to all human death was and is the resurrection of Jesus Christ to eternal life, and that His resurrection guarantees our resurrection, too. Although death is a great enemy of human beings—and it has hurt and stung me deeply three separate times—we can take great comfort in God’s truth. As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15:54-58, the resurrection from the dead removes this great enemy and its sting!

Jesus Christ reveals that in time God the Father will come to the earth (Revelation 21:1-3, 10). Listen to Jesus Christ’s description of this time: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

Knowing God’s ultimate plan for mankind—that human death doesn’t end it all—gives us a great and wonderful comfort and sets us free from the myth of a passive eternity in heaven or eternal torment in hell. Finally, the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 urges us to share this holy truth with others: “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

–by Jerold Aust–

The Haitian Earthquake: Where Was God?

The headlines speak of the horrific destruction and mounting death toll in the poorest Caribbean island of Haiti. A major 7.0 earthquake struck this already impoverished nation around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12. The death toll will be staggering, the suffering unimaginable.

The day after the earthquake, Reuters reported: “Television footage from the capital, Port-au-Prince, showed scenes of chaos on the streets with people sobbing and appearing dazed amid the rubble… The presidential palace lay in ruins, its domes fallen on top of flattened walls.”

Why did God allow this to happen?

As we see heart-wrenching photos and video of this latest disaster, we are once again left to ponder the age-old questions: “Where was God? How could a loving God let this happen?” These questions seem to have no answer—but do they?

People like to think of themselves as masters of their own fate. They want to feel like they can control their own destiny. Try talking to survivors of a major natural disaster like an earthquake, and you’ll get a different perspective. They have experienced absolute helplessness to control anything.

So where is God? If there is an answer to this timeless question, where is it? Why don’t we know why God allows such unspeakable suffering to be inflicted upon helpless, innocent victims?

A place to find answers

God does reveal Himself to mankind in the pages of the Bible. We need to read it and understand that God does have a grand master plan for all humanity. The prophet Isaiah begins to answer these questions for us in Isaiah 59:1: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”

Some mistakenly think that this means that those affected by disaster must be more sinful than others. But Isaiah was describing all of humanity, as Jesus Christ made clear. In reference to the victims of disasters in His day, Jesus asked: “Do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4-5).

The truth is that, starting with the famed episode in the Garden of Eden, people ever since Adam and Eve have chosen to live their own way, apart from God’s revealed instruction and involvement in their lives. Romans 8:7 says humanity by nature does not want to live by the laws of God.

Sadly, mankind has chosen to abandon the laws of Almighty God that would bring us blessings, prosperity, happiness and protection from natural disasters. So He allows us to suffer the consequences of living our own way and also allows natural disasters to take their toll in human lives and suffering.

God pleads with mankind to reject going the way that seems right to us and instead open His instruction manual, the Holy Bible, and live by His way of life that will result in His blessings.

Ezekiel records this plea from God: “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:11).

What can I do?

In Matthew 24:7-8, the Bible predicts that we will continue to see earthquakes, along with wars, famines and disease epidemics. It also says these are the beginnings of sorrows. What is God trying to tell us? Will we listen to His wake-up call? Could it be that God knows exactly what He is doing and is warning us to read His Book and find the answers to these perplexing questions?

You don’t have to live in a world of doubt and despair. You can know that God truly is a caring, compassionate and loving God who has a plan that includes the hope of eternal life for everyone—including those helpless little children so tragically struck down in the devastation of this earthquake in Haiti.

There is hope. A new day is coming. One day soon, Jesus Christ will return to establish the government of God on this earth. Zechariah 8:5 speaks of a time when little boys and girls will play safely in the streets of the city. That beautiful world is our sure and certain promise from God.

Seven Prophecies That Must Be Fulfilled Before Jesus Christ’s Return

Previous generations have thought that Jesus Christ would return in their lifetimes, but they were proven wrong. Many people alive today think that Christ’s return is imminent. Certainly, the Bible contains prophecies that could not have been fulfilled until this generation.

Shortly before His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus Christ delivered a major prophecy of end-time events, recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. He was asked by His disciples: “When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3).

Jesus responded with a description of conditions and events that would lead up to His second coming. Moreover, He said that when these signs became evident, His return would occur within one generation (Matthew 24:34). Could this be that generation?

Throughout the nearly 2,000 years since Christ gave His prophecy, many have thought that theirs was the time of His return—and turned out to be wrong, of course. But interestingly, there are a number of prophecies in the Bible that could not be fulfilled until our modern era, the post–World War II period.

1. The human race would have the ability to exterminate itself

In Matthew 24:22, describing world conditions prior to His second coming, Jesus said that “if that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive; but for the sake of God’s chosen it will be cut short” (Revised English Bible).

The main message that Jesus Christ brought was of the coming Kingdom of God. This is described as “the gospel” (Mark 1:14). Gospel means “good news.” While some of the prophecies concerning events prior to the establishment of the Kingdom can seem negative, we should always keep in mind that the central focus of Bible prophecy is the good news (gospel) of the coming Kingdom of God.

Matthew 24:22 shows us that if Jesus Christ does not intervene in world affairs, the human race will be faced with extinction. It’s crucial to note that humanity has had the capability for self-annihilation for only a little more than 50 years, since both the United States and the Soviet Union developed and stockpiled hydrogen bombs and the world had to learn to live with “mutually assured destruction.”

At that time there were only three nuclear powers ( Britain being the other). By the middle of the 1960s France and China had joined the nuclear club. Today at least eight nations have nuclear warheads and the number looks set to increase with a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

Of course, the more nuclear powers we have in the world, the more likely it is that someone will use this deadly force for evil.

Although international attention has been focused on the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran during the last few years, little attention has been given to the possibility of some or all of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of radical Islamists.

During the ongoing crisis in Pakistan, the Taliban and al-Qaeda and their sympathizers have steadily gained more power, territory and influence, making nuclear terrorism more likely. Consider the consequences for the rest of the world if Osama bin Laden (or others like him) had access to nuclear weapons!

Meanwhile, Russia and China are determinedly flexing their military muscles, raising fears of a return to Cold War–era tensions.

The good news in all this is that Christians have an assurance that Jesus Christ will intervene to save mankind from annihilation. This prophecy could not be fulfilled until man had the potential for self-extinction through weapons of mass destruction. Again, only in the last 50 years has this become possible.

2. A Jewish homeland had to be reestablished in the Middle East

Geopolitically, the central focus of end-time events is Jerusalem and its environs, what many people refer to as the Holy Land.

Luke 21 is a parallel chapter to Matthew 24. Notice Luke’s account of Christ’s long prophecy that answered the disciples’ questions: “Teacher, . . . when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?” (Luke 21:7).

In response, Jesus showed that Jerusalem would be the central focus of the political and military upheavals that would immediately precede His return: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near . . . For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled” (verses 20-22).

Anyone living a century ago would have found these words nearly impossible to comprehend. Jerusalem in ancient times had been fought over countless times, but for four centuries from 1517 the city had been at peace within the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire. Jews lived there as a minority under Turkish rule. But this was going to change dramatically during the course of the 20th century.

It had to change for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy to take place.

The Old Testament prophet Zechariah was used by God to reveal a great deal about end-time events and the second coming of the Messiah. Zechariah lived and prophesied more than 500 years before Christ’s first coming, yet his prophetic book tells us a great deal about our world of today.

In Zechariah 12:2-3 God says: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah [the Jews inhabiting the land of Israel] and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.”

In verse 9 He adds, “It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”

Reading these verses, it is possible to think that they apply to ancient events, as Jerusalem has been fought over repeatedly down through the ages. However, chapter 14 makes clear that this is talking about future, not past, events. The time setting is immediately before Jesus Christ’s return.

“Behold, the day of the Lord is coming . . . For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity . . . Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.

“And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south” (Zechariah 14:1-4).

Clearly the last few lines of this prophecy remain to be fulfilled.

Further in this same chapter we read of how those nations that came against Jerusalem will have to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jesus Christ (verse 16).

These chapters of Zechariah are a prophecy about the events that precede and include the second coming of Jesus. A Jewish-controlled Jerusalem is notice-ably the central focus.

Shortly before Zechariah, another Jewish prophet named Daniel lived during the time of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. His book speaks of the Jews’ daily sacrifices being cut off in the end time (Daniel 12:11; see verses 1-13)—an event that had a forerunner in the temple defilement under Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century B.C.

However, Jesus Christ confirmed this as a future event to precede His return (compare Daniel 11:31; Matthew 24:15). This means that these sacrifices must first be reinstituted in Jerusalem—requiring Jewish rule over the city.

One hundred years ago such developments were hard to imagine for the simple reason that no independent Jewish political entity existed in the Middle East.

After rebelling against the Romans in A.D. 66 and again in 132, Judea was crushed and most of the remaining Jews were dispersed throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. No Jewish homeland existed again until 1948 when the modern nation of Israel was established.

An independent Jewish homeland was merely a dream for a small group of zealots a century ago. It moved a step nearer during World War I, when forces of the British Commonwealth took control of Jerusalem from the Turks in December 1916. A few months later, the British government pledged itself to the establishment of an independent Jewish homeland in the ancient lands the Jews had inhabited for centuries.

It was to be another 30 years before the dream was realized in 1948. Yet since then tiny Israel has had to fight wars for survival in 1948, 1967 and 1973 and has suffered countless terrorist attacks and threats of annihilation from hostile neighbors determined to eliminate the Jewish state.

Once again, here is a prophecy that can now be fulfilled in our time.

3. The end-time king of the North and king of the South

In Daniel 11 we find an amazing prophecy about two leaders, the kings of the North and South, the heads of regions that were geographically north and south of the Holy Land. To understand this prophecy we have to go to the time of Alexander the Great, who lived near the end of the fourth century B.C., 200 years after Daniel.

Alexander figures prominently throughout the book of Daniel, even though Daniel did not know his name and never knew him personally. He couldn’t have, since he died almost two centuries before Alexander appeared on the world stage.

But God revealed to Daniel that after Babylon, Persia would arise as the greatest power of the region, to be followed in turn by Greece. Not surprisingly, the prophecies regarding the rise of Greece are centered on Alexander the Great, one of the greatest conquerors in history.

Daniel 8 gives a vivid account of the coming clash between Persia and Greece. As you read it, remember that a horn symbolizes royal power and authority. Persia had “two horns and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.” This refers to the Medo-Persian Empire, the coming together of two nations or peoples. As foretold here in verse 3, the Persians rose to greatness after the Medes.

In verse 5 we read of Persia’s later defeat by Alexander the Great: “And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes” (verse 5).

The “notable horn” or royal leader was Alexander the Great. The prophecy about his army not even touching the ground is a reference to the incredible speed with which he conquered the known world. All this was achieved in a very short time. Alexander died in 323 B.C. when he was only about 33 years old.

Even his sudden, unexpected death was prophesied: “The male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven” (verse 8).

When Alexander died, his empire was eventually divided between four of his generals—the four “notable horns” mentioned here. Two of these established dynasties would have a profound effect on the Jewish people, caught in the middle between them. These two dynasties were the descendants of Seleucus, who ruled a vast empire from Antioch in Syria, north of Jerusalem, and Ptolemy, who ruled Egypt from Alexandria.

Daniel 11 is a long and detailed prophecy about the dynastic conflicts between these two powers, their respective leaders being referred to as “the king of the North” and “the king of the South.” Of great significance is that whenever they went to battle against each other, the Jews got trampled on. This was to continue from the time of Alexander until the middle of the second century B.C., a period of almost two centuries.

Then, suddenly, the prophecy jumps down to the end time.

In verse 40 we read: “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them and pass through. He shall also enter the Glorious Land [the Holy Land], and many countries shall be overthrown” (Daniel 11:40-41).

While we don’t have space here to cover all the details, the latter part of Daniel’s prophecy of the North-South conflict describes a clash of civilizations between the leader of a soon-coming European superpower—a revived Roman Empire (successor to Seleucid Syrian rule)—and a leader who is the successor to the Ptolemaic rule of Egypt, which is now part of the Islamic world.

We now see geopolitical conditions lining up for this inevitable clash. Here is yet another prophesied circumstance for which the stage has now been set within our lifetime!

4. An end-time union of European nations

In Daniel 2 and 7 we see prophecies about four great gentile empires that would arise in the period between the time of Daniel and the coming establishment of the Kingdom of God (Daniel 2:44). Daniel was himself living in the first of these great empires (Daniel 7:4) as a Jewish exile in ancient Babylon.

Following the fall of Babylon in 539 B.C., Persia would become the greatest power, to be followed by Greece (verses 5-6). After Greece came the Roman Empire, “dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong.” This empire was to have “ten horns” and would continue in some form until the establishment of God’s Kingdom at Christ’s return (verses 7-9).

As we saw in the previous section, horns represent leaders or governments. Here these 10 horns symbolize 10 attempts to restore the Roman Empire to the power it had in ancient times. Various attempts at a restoration have taken place since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in A.D. 476. A final attempt is to be made shortly before Christ’s return.

We find more details in Revelation 17. Here we read of a final attempt to revive the Roman Empire by “ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast” (verses 12-13).

They will also “make war with the Lamb [Jesus Christ], and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings” (verse 14). Again, it is clear that this prophecy is still future.

Previous attempts to forge a united European empire, from Justinian in the sixth century through Charlemagne, Napoleon, Mussolini and Hitler, all involved force. The final resurrection of the Roman Empire will not be attempted in the same way.

Revelation 17 suggests this will be a voluntary union. When these 10 leaders receive power, they will then give their authority to a single leader. Scripture refers to both this individual and the new superpower he leads as “the beast”—acknowledging it as the continuation of the four gentile empires prophesied in Daniel, each one depicted as a beast or wild animal.

Only now is it possible for this to be fulfilled.

In 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed by six European nations that formed the European Economic Community. Today the EEC has grown into the European Union (EU) with 27 member nations. Out of these will likely come the 10 nations or 10 leaders that form the final resurrection of the Roman Empire.

Some have speculated that the 10 kings referred to in this prophecy will be leaders of 10 regions of the EU that will redraw the boundaries of Europe, ending the present nation-states. The Bible is not clear on exactly which 10 regions or nations will configure the final revival of the militaristic Roman superpower—only that this new superpower will indeed emerge just before Christ’s return.

However, it wasn’t until the 10th nation, Greece, was admitted in 1981 that any conceivable fulfillment of this prophecy was even possible.

5. End-time rise and fall of Israel and Judah

” Israel” was the new name God gave the biblical patriarch Jacob in Genesis 32. The 12 tribes of Israel were descended from his 12 sons. These tribes later formed a united kingdom.

It’s been almost 3,000 years since the kingdom of Israel was split in two. Ten of the 12 tribes of Israel rebelled against King Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon and grandson of King David. The Bible continued to refer to these 10 tribes as Israel while the other two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) that remained loyal to David’s descendants were known as the kingdom of Judah or simply Judah.

Sometimes Israel is referred to as the northern kingdom and Judah as the southern kingdom. Dominant among the northern tribes were to be the descendants of Jacob’s son Joseph through his sons Ephraim and Manasseh—prophesied by Jacob to be the chief nations of the world in the last days (Genesis 49:1, 22-26; compare Deuteronomy 33:13-17).

About 200 years after the kingdom split, the northern tribes of Israel fell to Assyria and were deported by the Assyrians to the northern parts of their empire. Often referred to now as the lost tribes, they later migrated northwest across Europe, eventually settling in new homelands far from the Middle East.

The kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon more than a century after Israel’s deportation, but its people were not lost to history. We know them today as the Jews.

The name Ephraim is sometimes used representatively in Scripture for the entire northern kingdom, though it can also refer solely to the descendants of Joseph’s son of that name—prophesied to become a “multitude of nations” (Genesis 48:19). Remarkably, this promise to Ephraim was fulfilled in the British Empire and Commonwealth.

Ephraim’s older brother Manasseh was also prophesied to become a great nation (same verse), separating himself from the multitude of nations. This prophecy would be fulfilled in the formation, growth and dominance of the United States of America.

In a revealing prophecy regarding the United States and Britain, Jacob (Israel) said, “Let my name be named upon them” (verse 16). References to ” Israel” in end-time prophecy often refer to the United States or the English-speaking countries of the British Empire or both. Sometimes ” Israel” can mean all 12 tribes. We have to look at specific verses in their context to see which is meant.

“Judah,” however, always refers to the Jews, the descendants of the house or kingdom of Judah. We must also understand that the modern nation called Israel is really Judah, made up of Jews.

Understanding this critical part of biblical history will help us more fully comprehend a passage of Scripture in the book of Hosea, which is a prophecy about Ephraim (the multitude of nations—Great Britain and some of those nations that came out of her). It warns of destruction to follow the end-time ascendancy of the Israelite nations.

In Hosea 5 we read a prophecy that mentions Israel, Ephraim and Judah: “The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them” (verse 5). The prophecy continues: “With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage” (verses 6-7).

New moons occur a month apart. A new moon “devouring” them would seem to mean that Israel, Ephraim and Judah will all fall within one month.

This prophecy was not fulfilled in ancient times. As already mentioned, ancient Judah fell to Babylon more than a century after Israel fell to Assyria. Yet in the end it appears they will fall together—within one month of each other. This prophecy remains to be fulfilled.

Remember that Israel gave his name to Ephraim and Manasseh, the ancestors in turn of the British and American peoples. As Ephraim is mentioned separately in this prophecy, the reference to ” Israel” must apply to the United States, which is now the more dominant of the two nations.

For two centuries prior to World War II, the roles were reversed with the multitude of nations—the British Empire—a greater power than the single nation, the United States. But today America is the greater.

“Judah” refers to the Jewish people, particularly those who now constitute the modern nation in the Middle East that calls itself Israel.

Here then is a prophecy regarding all three nations—the United States, Britain and Israel (Judah). According to this prophecy, it appears that all three will fall within the span of a month. Verse 6 shows these nations turning back to God, but finding it’s too late. Because of their sins, He will let them suffer defeat and collapse.

This prophecy could not have been fulfilled until after the rise of Britain and the United States as world powers in the 19th century and the formation of the Jewish state of Israel in the 20th.

Lest the idea seem outlandish, consider that Israel and the United States are perhaps the most maligned and criticized nations on earth. Among Muslim hard-liners, America is commonly called “the great Satan” and Israel and Britain “the little Satans.”

6. The gospel will be preached in all the world

In His major end-time prophecy, Jesus answers the question posed by the disciples: “When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3).

After listing a number of signs of the nearness of His coming, He reveals that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (verse 14).

The gospel is the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. This message could not be preached around the world without the Bible and freedom of religion. Both came gradually with the ascendancy of the English-speaking peoples from the 16th century until the present day.

However, it was only with the technological advances of television and radio and other means of mass communication after World War II and their widespread acceptance that it became possible to reach hundreds of millions of human beings with the message of the Bible. The gospel of the Kingdom of God will continue to be preached to all nations as long as we have the freedom to continue The Good News magazine and our other media efforts.

Even so, during the last 50 years it has not been possible to reach all countries. The former communist nations did not allow freedom of religion. China, with one quarter of the world’s people, still does not. Other nations also try to suppress the publication of biblical truth and even the Bible itself. Many Islamic nations do not allow religious freedom. In some countries people risk the death penalty for changing religion.

But the Internet is changing everything. It is much harder for governments to control. The gospel message of the coming Kingdom of God is still going out to the world. It will finish when God has decided that His work is completed and the time is right for the final end-time events to take place.

This is yet another prophecy that could not be fulfilled until recent times.

7. Instant worldwide communications and God’s final witnesses

Another end-time Bible prophecy could not be fulfilled until this era of instant worldwide communications.

In His major end-time prophecy of Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, Jesus gave an outline of disasters that would occur on the world scene with increasing frequency and magnitude—to the point where people would be shaken with fear (Luke 21:26). Discerning an increase in the scale of these events and reacting to them requires knowing about them.

At the time this prophecy was given, it could be many months or years before people heard about various disasters—and many they would never hear about at all, much less be able to put together the fact that catastrophes were on some kind of global increase.

Only with the proliferation of newspapers and other forms of mass communications did this become remotely possible. Yet the level of awareness and consequent fear in many that Christ speaks of implies an even greater availability of information—possible only since the development of rapid electronic communications.

In any case, only with the technological advances of the last few years has it become possible for the events in Revelation 11 to occur—for people around the world to see the fate of God’s final two witnesses.

These two witnesses, reminiscent of other biblical prophets like Elijah and Elisha, will carry God’s final warning to the world in the last 3 1/2 years leading up to Christ’s return.

“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days . . . When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

“Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth” (verses 3, 7-10).

Note that people the world over will be able to see their dead bodies during the 3 1 ⁄ 2 days that they lie on display in Jerusalem. This was not possible before satellite television, portable communications devices and the Internet. Again, only in the last few years has it become possible for this prophecy to be fulfilled. It still lies in the future, of course, but only now it is clearly possible for this to take place.

Will this generation see God’s Kingdom established on earth?

We have seen how seven biblically prophesied circumstances could not have come to pass until recent times. In fact, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 was clearly a major turning point in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, as was the acquisition of the hydrogen bomb by the two superpowers of the 1950s that led to the period of mutually assured destruction.

All has now become possible. This, in turn, makes it much more likely that our generation will live to see Jesus Christ return and establish the Kingdom of God on earth. After all, Jesus Himself said that once these things begin, the generation alive at that time “will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34).

It’s both sobering and encouraging to think that we appear to be living in the generation that will ultimately witness the most important event in the history of mankind. As Jesus Christ tells His followers in Luke 21:28, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

A Successful Bible Reading Plan

A successful Bible reading plan is the goal of many people who seek knowledge and who seek God. The Bible is the only book that answers life’s piercing questions: Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is ahead for the world? Is there anything beyond this physical life?

All physical life-forms are governed mainly by instinct, except for human beings. We need a road map—a guidebook for life—or else our intellectual and spiritual interests will go in all the wrong directions.

It makes no sense that God would create His masterpiece and then leave us in the dark as to why we are here. God indeed did give us His revelation of what we need to know but could not learn on our own. It is a handbook for life that we call the Bible.

With that in mind, how can you get the most out of daily Bible reading and studying? The following are some important keys to a successful personal Bible reading plan.

Recognize that the Bible is inspired.

The entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is the inspired Word of God. During your daily Bible reading, keep in mind that He inspired the words you are reading; God is directly speaking to you through them (2 Peter 1:21; Philippians 2:5; John 6:63).

Plan time for Bible study.

It’s easy to let everyday concerns interfere, so schedule daily Bible reading time and try to maintain it. Over time you will look forward to this daily experience (Ephesians 5:15-17).

Pray for understanding.

Before you even begin, ask God to guide and show you His will. Remember that it is the Creator who gives true understanding through His Word. You cannot gain it on your own (Psalm 119:33-40; Proverbs 3:5-8; Jeremiah 9:23-24).

Keep an open mind.

Be willing to admit when you are wrong and change, even if it means letting go of a long-held belief or tradition. If you can successfully apply this one principle, you will be far ahead in the race for spiritual truth (Acts 17:11; Isaiah 8:20).

Seek instruction and correction.

Approach Bible reading with a teachable, humble attitude. The Word of God judges our innermost thoughts. It can show us who we really are. It can reveal every flaw in our character. So be ready to heed its correction (Jeremiah 10:23-24; Isaiah 66:1-2, 5; Romans 8:6-9; Matthew 5:48).

Let the Bible interpret itself.

If something seems confusing or even contradictory, let clear biblical passages shed light on those you find difficult to understand. Scriptures do not contradict each another; they complement each other. Also, to properly understand a verse in the Bible, don’t force your personal point of view into it. Instead use the context and other relevant scriptures to find the correct meaning (2 Peter 1:20; John 10:35; 17:17; Isaiah 28:9-10).

Bible reading topics.

Concentrate, at various times, on one subject, doctrine or book. Use a concordance or other Bible study aid to put together all the scriptures relevant to a subject. This will allow you to see all that God has to say about a particular topic (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV).

You can incorporate a meaningful daily Bible reading plan into your life by utilizing these keys and other such biblical advice on how to gain more knowledge and understanding from God, the source of all wisdom.

The Right Use of Money

Since money is a tool that can be used for good or bad, it is important that we understand the Bible’s instruction on how we are to use it. The Bible gives directions and principles about the way we should use our financial resources. But, before considering the specifics, we need to understand God’s perspective and what He does for each one of us.

God reveals He is the Creator of heaven and earth. As such, everything belongs to Him. “. . . All the earth is Mine,” He declares (Exodus 19:5). This includes all precious metals (Haggai 2:8), animals (Psalm 50:11) and people (Ezekiel 18:4).

When God made man in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), He “put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Adam’s job was to care for the garden.

After Adam sinned by eating of the forbidden fruit, God told him: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:17-19).

Like Adam, we must work to sustain our lives. Human beings, however, are not self-sufficient. God continues to help us, providing for us in ways we cannot. “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth,” He tells us (Psalm 104:14).

When we enjoy the fruit of our labors, we should remember that everything we have is ultimately a gift from God, the Maker of everything. “As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:19). With a few exceptions, working hard and enjoying the resulting fruits of one’s labor are godly principles most people understand and accept as a fundamental part of life.

The work of God

Yet humans are not the only ones who work. Jesus Christ said God the Father works (John 5:17). As a spirit being (John 4:24), God does not need food, shelter and clothing to survive. His work is spiritual and humanitarian. John 3:16 summarizes God’s motivation for everything He does toward mankind: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This work of God, which He began before the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34; Revelation 13:8; 1 Timothy 1:9), continues.

Similarly, God expects spiritual and humanitarian work of us. Just as we work to sustain ourselves physically, we must work for a greater spiritual purpose. The apostle Paul tells us, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). We cannot earn salvation by human efforts, but God makes it clear that we were also created to do “good works” that have a vital spiritual dimension.

The money we earn from our physical and mental efforts can be profitably used to support important spiritual concepts and endeavors. Let’s examine and understand an important biblical principle the early Church practiced.

Our financial priority

Throughout the ages God has seen to it that a true message of hope has been preserved and spread. He first used His patriarchs, prophets and priests. Now, in this age, He uses His Church, His called-out followers. Jesus Christ commissioned His followers to proclaim the “gospel of the kingdom of God” to all nations (Mark 1:14-15; Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20). Christ’s message—”the gospel”—is far more extensive than many understand. Dedicating a portion of our incomes to this noble cause can make it possible for the good news, this message of hope, to be proclaimed throughout the world.

When Jesus sent out His disciples to spread the gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 10:1), He said, “Freely you have received, freely give” (verse 8). The disciples did not have to charge others to provide for their physical needs because those needs were voluntarily supplied by those who heard their message (Matthew 10:11; Luke 9:3-4). As Paul later wrote, “Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14).

The question naturally arises, how much should we contribute to further Christ’s commission to proclaim the gospel? People may debate this answer endlessly, but God has already given a specific answer—10 percent, also called a tithe (Leviticus 27:32). In instructing the ancient Israelites how to manage their financial affairs, God said, “all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30).

This passage shows us that this tithe belongs to God; it is His. It is not ours to do with as we please. Because God owns everything, He has the right to retain whatever He chooses. In reality, He is requesting only that we return to Him a portion of what He has already given to us.

God allows us to keep the greatest portion of the physical blessings He provides us. He asks only that we return a percentage, a tenth, to Him in acknowledgment that He is the source of all good things. If we ignore this principle, we will rob ourselves of God’s blessings (Malachi 3:8-9).

During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ upheld the practice of tithing (Matthew 23:23) and encouraged His followers to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20). Because tithing is a fundamental biblical principle for a more abundant life, let’s examine this scriptural practice in more detail.

Examples of righteousness

The first mention of tithing in the Bible is in Genesis 14. Here, Abram (later renamed Abraham; Genesis 17:5), the same person later extolled as a model of behavior for Christians (Galatians 3:29; Romans 4:11), engaged in a rescue mission to free his nephew, Lot, who had been taken captive (Genesis 14:1-14).

After successfully rescuing Lot and recovering various goods, Abram met with Melchizedek, “the priest of God,” and “gave him a tithe of all” (verses 16-20). Note that Abraham tithed on everything—not just agricultural produce as some have concluded.

Later we read of Abraham’s grandson Jacob making this promise to God: “. . . Of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You” (Genesis 28:22). The practice of tithing, we see, predated the ancient nation of Israel and the national covenant God made with the Israelites.

As time passed, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob grew into the nation of Israel. After rescuing them from slavery in Egypt, God instructed the Israelites on how to be a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). Part of their obedience that would make them “a special treasure to Me above all people” (verse 5) entailed tithing on the “increase” God gave them year by year (Deuteronomy 14:22).

This basic biblical principle applies in our world. A farmer has certain expenses like seed, fertilizer, fuel, cost of equipment and perhaps rent for the land he farms before a crop is sown. The amount of increase is determined by subtracting the costs of doing business from the payment he receives for his harvest. Similar calculations would apply in most endeavors, whether we are self-employed or work for someone else.

Change in the law’s application

After determining the tithe, or tenth, of one’s increase, God instructed that this increase was to be given to the Levites, who were responsible for taking care of the tabernacle (Numbers 1:50-53). After receiving the tithes, they, too, were expected to tithe on their increase (Numbers 18:26; Nehemiah 10:38).

Since Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, He has “become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:20). Jesus serves in the same priestly order as Melchizedek, to whom Abraham paid tithes long ago. This change from a Levitical priesthood back to the Melchizedek order required other changes.

As Hebrews 7:12 says, “For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.” The physical priesthood of the Levites was replaced by the spiritual priesthood of Jesus Christ. The priestly services at the temple, which were supported by tithes, came to an end when the Romans captured Jerusalem and destroyed the temple in 70 A.D. Today Jesus Christ is our spiritual High Priest, and His ministers have the responsibility of serving God’s people. God’s tithes are now to be given to those who are faithfully continuing His work.

Acknowledging God’s blessings with His tithe and honoring Him with offerings is the first step in setting up a financial plan grounded in biblical principles. As Proverbs 3:9 tells us: “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.”

Providing for the needy

Early in the history of mankind, God intended for us to be our “brother’s keeper.” Though Cain failed to understand this principle (Genesis 4:9), God made it clear in His instructions to Israel: “For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land’” (Deuteronomy 15:11).

The principle of helping the needy goes back to God’s original instruction for people to care for each other. Jesus Himself said that serving others (Matthew 25:31-46) and having love for one another were honorable, identifying characteristics of His followers (John 13:34-35).

As we are able, at times we need to provide additional help to the needy. As the apostle John wrote: “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18).

Proverbs 3:27 adds, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.”

When we give to people in need, we follow the example of our Creator, whose nature is love toward others (John 3:16; 1 John 4:8). God wants us to develop the same loving, caring concern He has for all humankind. Describing this giving attitude, Paul wrote, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need” (Ephesians 4:28).

Charitable giving is another fundamental step in a godly financial plan.

Supporting your family

Let’s turn our attention to the family. Paul wrote about the need to provide for your nearest of kin: “. . . If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). God expects families and relatives to take care of each other if they are able, before asking others for help. Refusing or neglecting to obey this principle is an affront to God and His instruction.

Jesus Christ roundly condemned any who would neglect God’s instruction to care for their families (Mark 7:8-23)

egrettably, some fail to support their families. Fathers and mothers who refuse to provide for their children violate God’s most basic financial responsibilities and principles and bring untold hardships on their offspring. The same is true for children who refuse to help their aged parents when they are in need.

Jesus used the principle of providing for family members to illustrate God’s love for us as His children: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11).

Now that we have an idea of how God expects us to use our financial resources, let’s look at specifics on how to establish and maintain a workable financial plan.

How Can We Make Life Work?

Looking for some good advice? You may not realize it, but you probably already own the best self-help book ever published, one that’s loaded with practical guidance to help you achieve success in your career, friendships, finances, family and every other aspect of life. That book is your Bible. We’ve prepared this guide, Making Life Work, to help you discover the Bible’s principles for success.

Frankly, life just isn’t working for some people. Maybe you have noticed the incredible proliferation of self-help books on store and library bookshelves.

Why are so many self-help books published? Could it be simply because people recognize they need help with the many problems, challenges and stresses of everyday life? Writers and publishers recognize this, and their books fly off the shelves by the thousands.

You may not realize that most families already own the best self-help book ever published. Millions of copies have been published, and it’s been translated into hundreds of languages. Its words have been around for thousands of years. This book is your Bible.

Although it’s a perpetual best seller, few people take the time to read and study the Bible. Most think it’s nice to have around and that everybody should have one, but few seem to accept that it means much to us. After all, how could something written thousands of years ago apply to our fast-paced, technologically advanced world? Still others think the Bible is a book for theologians and cannot be understood by the average person.

Those who take the time to study the Bible, however, find it is a timeless book. It addresses the ageless issues and questions: Why are we here? Where are we going? What are the solutions to perpetual human problems? How can we learn to live together in peace? How can we live rewarding, fulfilling lives?

The Bible is filled with practical, down-to-earth advice from our Creator. It can help us see and avoid the pitfalls that come with doing things our way (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). It records for us vital and profound lessons from real people.

The Bible clearly shows the principle of cause and effect—that our choices and actions, good and bad, produce good and bad results. It’s filled with sound counsel on how to have happy families, marriages and friendships, how to properly rear children, how to manage family finances and succeed on the job, how to maintain your health and so much more. In short, it tells us how to make life work.

The challenge of living the truth you learn

Keep in mind, however, that just because the advice is there doesn’t mean it’s easy to follow. It takes effort. Trying to live by the Bible’s instruction is a challenge.

Our natural inclination is to go a different direction from what the Bible teaches (Romans 8:7). We’re surrounded by a secular world largely oblivious to biblical values, and those who wish to obey God often find themselves swimming upstream against popular thinking and ways of doing things. Nor does it help when we see that many who profess to be Christian display little or no commitment to living by God’s instructions.

Also, we need to be aware that things don’t always work out the way we expect, even when we do try to follow God’s instruction. Scripture tells us that “time and chance happen to [us] all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). In other words, in spite of our best efforts, other circumstances and situations beyond our control will affect us—sometimes for the better, at times for the worse. Although we can control our own actions, we sometimes have little or no control over the actions of others that spill over and affect us.

God doesn’t tell us this life will be perfect when we put His instruction into practice. In fact, He tells us to expect adversities (2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 2:20). He assures us, though, that in spite of difficulties and disappointments, “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).

Is living this way worth it?

In the face of such difficulties, some may question whether it is worth the effort to live a godly life. But the Bible assures us that “godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (1 Timothy 4:8, emphasis added throughout).

Some people recognize that living God’s way holds great promise “of the life . . . which is to come.” Far fewer understand that living a godly life also has benefits in “the life that now is”—that is, our present physical lives. They misperceive God’s way as restrictive and detrimental to a happy, fulfilled life.

God’s way of life, however, is not a burden; it is most assuredly a blessing.

After all, God’s purpose for sending Jesus Christ to earth was to give us the opportunity for eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

God is concerned about our eternal well-being. But Jesus revealed another reason for His coming when He said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John l0:l0). Jesus came so we can have eternal life, but He came also to help us understand how we can enjoy fulfilled, productive lives right now.

The apostle John expressed God’s desire for us when he wrote, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2).

Even though living by God’s instruction can bring trials and suffering (John 16:33; Acts 14:22), Jesus promised tangible blessings in the here and now for following God’s way of life and then, in the age to come, eternal life (Mark 10:29-30). We can experience definite blessings in this life for following the instructions found in God’s Word.

The Mark and Number of the Beast

The second beast of Revelation 13 will cause “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (verses 16-17).

What is behind this strange-sounding practice? How will it affect people as the time of the end draws near?

There is historical evidence that, in the ancient Babylonian culture, slaves “were identified … [by] some kind of mark, either tattooed or branded on the face or the back of the hand … ” (H.W.H. Saggs, The Greatness That Was Babylon, 1962, p. 173). There may be parallels between this ancient practice and what God reveals will happen in the end time.

Many have speculated about the meaning of this puzzling prophecy. Some interpret it in terms of supercomputers, unique personal identity numbers and even microchips embedded under the skin.

However, we should consider that receiving a mark on the hand or forehead could well be figurative. Remember from Revelation 7:3 that God’s servants were sealed on their foreheads. And in Deuteronomy 6 Moses told God’s people to “keep all His statutes and His commandments,” noting, “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as front lets between your eyes” (verses 2, 8). The hand and forehead here represent one’s actions and thoughts respectively—which should be dedicated to obeying God.

Likewise the mark of the Beast is evidently a mark of disobedience to God. Many Bible students have pointed to God’s seventh-day Sabbath as an identifying sign of His people in Exodus 31:12-17 and see the mark of the Beast as running counter to it. They believe that forced observance of Sunday—a day originally dedicated to the worship of the sun as a god instead of the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath—could be involved. This view is strengthened by the fact that other prophecies in the book of Revelation show a great counterfeit religious figure and system will play major roles in leading people away from the true God and play into Satan’s hands at this time.

The Bible does not explicitly define the specific methods that the Beast will use to identify those free to participate in -commerce at the time of the end. Some sort of advanced surveillance may be involved.

As to the number of the Beast, 666, we are told to “count the number” and that it is “the number of a man” (Revelation 13:18). One early explanation is attributed to John’s disciple Polycarp, who, according to his student Irenaeus, said this number is derived from adding together the numerical equivalents of the letters in the word Lateinos, the Greek word for “Roman”—this being the name of the Beast empire, its ruler and everyone in it. So the number may well denote this general distinction, though it could also be more specific.

However this prophecy is fulfilled, it is clear that it will involve compromising and contradicting God’s commands. Having proof that one is officially associated in some way with the Beast will be necessary for one to be allowed to engage in commerce.

Exactly how the end-time number of the Beast, 666, will be used and applied is not yet clear. But in some way it will be associated with the Beast’s name and applied to his evil activities.

God, Money and You

God, money and you: What is the proper relationship of these three? Have you ever thought about it? Has God promised you lots of money if you please Him? On the other hand, will you please God if you give Him all your money? Is it even possible to please God if you have lots of money? If you are wealthy, is money your god?

As with all of the great questions, opinions vary. But what does God say?

In short, does the Bible say anything about your relationship to God in the context of money matters?

Indeed it does. However, we must examine all the scriptures that relate to money, wealth and possessions before we can come to a balanced and informed understanding of God’s will. To focus on only one or two scriptures can lead to an unbalanced and erroneous conclusion.

Seek a right perspective

For example, if you limit your scriptural search for insight to verses such as Luke 6:20 (“Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven”) and Mark 10:25 (“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”), you can easily conclude that God wants you to have virtually no money at all, nor the things you can buy with it. You may think you should avoid money like the plague or that it is inherently bad for you.

Some read these verses and conclude that money and physical wealth are curses, a spiritual drag on one’s life. They further conclude that God is displeased with any but the poor. Some even take pride in being one of “God’s poor.”

On the other hand, if your scriptural focus is limited to certain other passages, you might come to an altogether different conclusion. You might conclude that God promises to bless all those serve Him with an abundance of money and material wealth. For example:

• Proverbs 10:22: “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.”
• 3 John 2: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”
• Malachi 3:10: “. . . ‘Try Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’”

Some people use scriptures such as these to support what some have called a “health and wealth” gospel. In this view God promises physical and financial abundance to any who please Him.

Yet we can gain a balanced understanding only by considering the entirety of God’s instructions in the Bible.

Properly framing the issue

The issue of the proper relationship between God on the one hand and you and money on the other is best framed by the scriptures already quoted and others including the following:

Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness . . .” God is the creator and owner of everything. All our wealth ultimately comes from the ground (the earth), and the earth belongs to God.

Mankind in general, and you as an individual, can enjoy the things that sustain and give enjoyment to physical life only by using some of what is ultimately God’s possession.

It’s important to keep this in mind. As the apostle James wrote: “Every good gift and every perfect gift [including material possessions and the money that makes possible their acquisition] is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

God spoke to the ancient Israelites words that are still relevant and instructive. He warned them about developing a wrongheaded, self-reliant, disobedient attitude about wealth and its acquisition:

“For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; . . . a land in which you will . . . lack nothing . . . Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest . . . when your heart is lifted up . . . then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ . . . For it is He who gives you power to get wealth . . .” (Deuteronomy 8:7-18, emphasis added throughout).

Not only do the earth and its wealth belong to God, but we should ponder that even the “power to get wealth,” mentioned in the above passage, is a gift from Him.

That includes our abilities and aptitudes, minds and creativity and the health and strength it takes to work and make a living.

All of these are a gift from our Creator.

If a person recognizes and believes this, His approach toward money and wealth will be quite different from his attitude if he is not conscious of or thankful for God’s blessings.

Jesus warned all who would be His disciples to “take heed and beware of covetousness” (Luke 12:15). Why? Because “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (same verse). God knows that we as physical beings need physical things to sustain us. He provides for our real needs. We are not to worry about or be obsessed by the pursuit of more things, even life’s necessities. Jesus’words should settle our minds:

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on . . . For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matthew 6:25-32).

To yield to covetousness is to put our desire for physical things on a plane that should be reserved for God alone. Money and things can become idols in the human heart. Colossians 3:5 tells us to “put to death” such selfish desires as “fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Put God first

God, not the pursuit of money and wealth, should be first in the lives of those who seek to please Him. It comes down to a matter of whether we humbly and faithfully acknowledge God as sovereign in our lives.

Is His will more important than anything else, including money? Is honoring Him our chief desire?

Our lives consist of time. In most cases (except for inheritances or gifts), the wealth we acquire represents the wisdom we have used in spending our time in productive effort. So our income is usually a monetary reflection of the wise use of our time.

If a person’s life is dedicated to God’s service, so will be a portion of his wealth or income. God’s Word tells us to “honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase” (Proverbs 3:9). If God is a priority in your life, you will desire to honor Him with your life and your time—as represented by your income, your money.

God reveals in His Word that one way to do this is to tithe to Him. Tithing is giving the first 10 percent of one’s income (“increase,” Deuteronomy 14:22) to God. To tithe is to give God what is His, not ours. However, even though it is really all His (Psalm 50:12; 89:11), He lays claim to just the first 10 percent of our increase (Leviticus 27:30).

Obviously we have no way of giving cash or a check directly to God in person. Our Creator has directed, through the ages, that the tithe that is His be given to those on earth whom He designates to receive it, those actively doing His work.

Abraham, the “father” of the faithful (Romans 4:16), gave tithes to Melchizedek, God’s representative (Genesis 14:16-20). Indeed, He was the preincarnate Jesus Christ. Later, under the terms of the covenant between God and the nation of Israel, God assigned the tithe to be given to the tribe of Levi for the work of the tabernacle and later the temple (Numbers 18:21).

However, since Jesus Christ’s resurrection to be the High Priest of the New Covenant (Hebrews 6:20), the tithe no longer goes to the Levites but to His Church and the faithful ministers who serve under Him in proclaiming His true gospel and caring for His flock (Hebrews 7:12).

Does God need our money?

Because God doesn’t need our money, it may seem ironic that God would tell those who want to serve Him to give a tithe for His work. As God, He could devise some other way to finance His work on earth.

Indeed, He could simply miraculously create money and give it to those He designates to oversee His work (compare, for example, the remarkable account in Matthew 17:24-27).

But those who serve God are the ones in need, and one of their needs is to learn to properly honor Him. One way we do that is with a portion of our increase. It keeps us mindful of the fact that God is the source of all our increase when we give to Him the first 10 percent for the purpose of spreading His message to others.

One of the greatest examples of a man who understood that honoring God, by giving back to Him physical wealth, is not a burden but a privilege was David. At a time when this king had led the nation in generously giving offerings for the furtherance of God’s work, he prayed some instructive words. Rather than reflecting smug selfcongratulations at his (and the nation’s) large offering, David’s words capture the essence of spiritually mature giving to God:

“Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given to You” (1 Chronicles 29:13- 14). Truly this is the sort of humble and cheerful giving that God honors and loves (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Another need is that we learn spiritual maturity and develop God’s giving nature (Acts 20:35; 2 Corinthians 9:7). God’s nature helps us not to be covetous, selfish, grasping in physical things. Indeed, it helps us to be ever mindful of something bigger than ourselves.

In the book of Malachi, God puts into stark language the spiritual issues related to tithing: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 3:8-10).

The balanced approach

God’s Word reveals a balanced view of the relationship between God,money and you. At certain times and places, faithful servants of God have been wealthy.

Abraham, the father of the faithful, was a prosperous man. So were Job, David and Joseph. At other times, equally faithful servants of God have suffered poverty.

For example, the faithful church of God at Smyrna suffered not only poverty but great trials and tribulation (Revelation 2:8-11).

Paul the apostle experienced both abundance and need at different times. “. . . For I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased [live humbly], and I know how to abound [live in prosperity]. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Philippians 4:11-12).

Notice how Paul could maintain such contentment whether he was rich or poor: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (verse 13).This was the same Paul whom God inspired to write, for our edification: “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire [in a spirit of covetousness] to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money [not its right use] is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:7-10).

The balanced approach is to recognize that money and wealth are temporary and may be used for good or evil. God’s truth and plan for us, however, are eternal. We should honor God with the biblical proportion of whatever money we have and not set our hearts on—that is, covet—wealth (see King David’s advice in Psalm 62:10), knowing that God in His wisdom will care for our needs.

Again, Jesus’words should be our guide: “. . . Do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you” (Luke 12:29-31). 

Keys to Understanding Revelation (I)

Why was the book of Revelation written? As mentioned before, the book’s very name means to reveal —to unveil, to open to understanding what otherwise could not be comprehended. Yet most people believe that this final book of the Bible cannot be understood at all—that its language and symbols are too confusing to make sense.

Revelation puts many of the earlier prophecies of the Bible into an understandable context and reveals a much-needed framework for prophecies relating to the end of the age. It accomplishes this partly through the use of symbols and figurative language that relate directly to some of the Bible’s other prophetic writings.

For example, the prophetic book of Daniel uses similar language and symbols. Many of its visions and figures of speech are clearly explained. But God revealed to Daniel that the meanings of others were to remain mysteriously obscured until the time of the end. Then they, too, would be understood.

Revelation contains many fundamental keys to that understanding, and the book of Daniel contains keys that help us understand the book of Revelation.

Notice Daniel’s explanation of one of his visions: “Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ And he said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:8-9, emphasis added throughout unless otherwise noted).

Contrast this with God’s purpose for the book of Revelation. God the Father gave the prophecies contained in the book of Revelation to His Son, Jesus Christ. He passed it to Christ in the form of a scroll sealed with seven seals (Revelation 5:1). But as John—who wrote the book under God’s inspiration—tells us in his concluding chapter, an angel specifically commanded him, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book …” (Revelation 22:10).

John explains that God the Father gave most of the book of Revelation to Christ in the form of a scroll sealed with seven seals. Jesus then broke those seals and opened the scroll.

“And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne [God the Father] a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?’ And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it … But one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals’” (Revelation 5:1-5).

Here is the key to understanding the book. Jesus alone can unlock the meaning of its symbols, visions and descriptions. The first verse of this book announces that it is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him” (Revelation 1:1). Christ reveals its meaning. He unlocks its seals. But how does He do it?

Two factors are crucial. First, the keys to unlocking the content of seven seals must be explained by Jesus Himself in His own words.

Second, the Bible tells us that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). Therefore we can expect clarification of some symbols in the book of Revelation in other parts of God’s inspired Word.

By relying on the Bible’s own consistent interpretations of its symbols and figurative language, we can have confidence that our understanding is based on God’s inspired Word rather than on our own opinions (2 Peter 1:20). After all, revealed knowledge is what the book of Revelation is all about.

Remember, God told Daniel that some of the things revealed to him in visions were sealed, hidden until the time of the end. But then He added: “Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand” (Daniel 12:10). At the time of the end God intends that those He calls “the wise” will understand these prophecies.

Who are the wise in God’s sight?

Those who scorn the concept that the Bible is divinely inspired choose to see its symbols as contradictory and confusing. They perceive no value in them. Because they scoff at the idea of God’s inspiration, they are blind to prophetic understanding. They choose to be ignorant of what God reveals about the future (2 Peter 3:3-7).

On the other hand, God tells us that those who respect Him and keep His commandments are the ones who are truly wise. As the Scriptures explain: “The fear [respectful awe] of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments” (Psalm 111:10). Scripture also tells us that “the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7).

The book of Revelation gives us many of the keys that unlock prophetic understanding because it faithfully follows the principle that the Bible interprets itself. Therefore, only those who believe that the Bible is inspired by God and trust what it says will be able to understand the significance of what is revealed in the book of Revelation.

Some of the understanding began in the days of the apostles. One of the stated purposes for Revelation was to reveal to the servants of God “things which must shortly take place” (Revelation 1:1). So some aspects of Revelation applied directly to Christians in the final days of the apostle John’s ministry.

Christ instructed John to record (verse 19): (1) “the things which you have seen”—his visions and their puzzling symbols; (2) “the things which are”—information relating to the Church at that time; and (3) “the things which will take place after this”—prophecies extending far into the future.

Before we examine these keys to the future, we need to understand the circumstances under which this prophetic book was given to the apostle John.

Religious and political setting of Revelation

Within the confines of the ancient Roman Empire, Christianity began in an era of relative peace. The emperors of the time generally followed a policy of liberal religious toleration. This enabled early Christians to evangelize far and wide, both throughout and beyond the empire.

But the situation gradually changed. The Romans introduced and enforced emperor worship in the empire. Suddenly Christians found themselves in an intolerable situation. Jesus, not the emperor, was their ultimate master. They understood that the Scriptures prohibited the worship of anything or anyone besides the true God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Soon incredible pressures were brought to bear on them to participate in the holidays, games and ceremonies honoring the reigning emperor as a god.

Their refusal to participate in emperor worship put them into direct conflict with the authorities at all levels of the Roman hierarchy. By the time Revelation was written, some Christians had already been executed because of their beliefs. Christians everywhere, especially in Asia Minor, encountered wide-ranging ridicule and persecution.

Adding to Christians’ plight, Roman officials, after Jerusalem’s destruction in A.D. 70, ceased to view Christians as just another sect of the Jews. The religious tolerance Rome had extended to them disappeared.

Christians were now often regarded as a subversive and potentially dangerous religious group. Rome saw their teachings of a coming kingdom and a powerful new king as a threat to the stability of the empire. By this time Emperor Nero had already falsely branded Christians as the perpetrators of the great fire in Rome. Their future looked grim.

The apostle John, imprisoned on the island of Patmos near the coast of Asia Minor during a later wave of persecution near the end of the first century, explained that he also was suffering persecution, that he was their “companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:9). John fully understood the stress they endured. Yet he reminded them of their goal—the Kingdom of God. He emphasized the patience and faith they must exercise to endure opposition and abuse until the return of Jesus the Messiah to permanently deliver His servants from persecution and grant them salvation.

This is the context in which Jesus revealed to John when and how this satanic persecution, already responsible for the murder of loyal and faithful servants, would be permanently stopped. He pointed out that the roots of the problem go back to the beginning of humankind—to the birthplace of this age of man so filled with human sin and evil.

The archdeceiver

In the Garden of Eden man first encountered “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9; Genesis 3:1). That evil being’s deception has been so successful that most people scoff at the idea that a devil even exists. But the writers of the Holy Scriptures regarded his existence and power as an unquestionable reality. They reveal him as the unseen driving influence behind evil and suffering.

The book of Revelation sums up the impact the devil has, not just on Christians but on all mankind, from the time of John until the return of Christ. It reveals that the ancient conflict between the forces of good and evil will be resolved.

As noted earlier in this chapter, John told early Christians that the book of Revelation includes both “the things which are, and the things which will take place after this” (Revelation 1:19). Its prophetic fulfillments began in the days of the apostles and extend to our day and beyond.

The Day of the Lord in prophecy

Most of John’s visions focus on that time mentioned by God’s prophets throughout the Scriptures as “the day of the Lord,” also known as “the day of the Lord Jesus Christ,” “the day of Christ” and, here in Revelation, “the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10; compare Isaiah 13:6; Joel 2:31; Zephaniah 1:14; Acts 2:20; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:2).

Paul plainly spoke of this prophesied time: “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3).

Some people assume that when John said he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” in Revelation 1:10 he was referring to worshipping on Sunday. But the context of Revelation clearly shows that John was not referring to worshipping on a day of the week but to experiencing a vision of the coming Day of the Lord mentioned directly or indirectly in more than 50 passages in the Old and New Testaments.

As The Bible Knowledge Commentary explains: “John’s revelation occurred on the Lord’s Day while he was in the Spirit. Some have indicated that ‘the Lord’s Day’ refers to the first day of the week. However, the word ‘Lord’s’ is an adjective and this expression is never used in the Bible to refer to the first day of the week. Probably John was referring to the day of the Lord, a familiar expression in both Testaments … He was projected forward in his inner self in a vision, not bodily, to that future day of the Lord when God will pour out His judgments on the earth” (John Walvoord and Roy Zuck, 1983, p. 930).

The mistaken assumption that John was referring to the first day of the week, Sunday, has no biblical support at all. The only day of the week, biblically speaking, that could possibly be called “the Lord’s day” is the Sabbath or Saturday, the seventh day of the week. Jesus specifically referred to Himself as “lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28). And, through the prophet Isaiah, God also refers to the Sabbath as “the holy day of the LORD” (Isaiah 58:13).

Again, though, John was not referring to any day of the week but to the prophetic time that is theprimary subject of the book of Revelation. John specifically tells us that what he wrote is prophecy (Revelation 1:3; 22:7, 10, 18-19). Therefore, John is merely explaining that “in the Spirit”—in divinely inspiredvisions— he was mentally transported to the coming Day of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord is described throughout the Scriptures as a time of God’s direct intervention in human affairs. It is a time of His judgment on His adversaries—on those who defy His correction and refuse His commandments. Isaiah succinctly sums up the Day of the LORD: “Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty” (Isaiah 13:6).

Who is the object of the destruction? “Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it” (verse 9). As Jeremiah explained: “… This is the day of the LORD GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries” (Jeremiah 46:10).

Notice the prophet Zephaniah’s description of the time of God’s intervention: “The great day of the LORD is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers.

“I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like refuse” (Zephaniah 1:14-17).

Notice how John describes the awesome events that follow the sixth seal of Revelation: “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:17). Just before this, the martyred servants of God are represented as symbolically crying out from their graves: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (verse 10). Later in this book of prophecy an angel is sent with the message: “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come …“ (Revelation 14:6-7).

Then, near the end of the book, John records more details of Christ’s second coming: “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war” (Revelation 19:11).

Hundreds of years before John put these prophecies of Revelation in writing, the prophet Zechariah graphically described Christ’s return: “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming … I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem … Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

“Then the LORD [Jesus, the prophesied Messiah] will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south” (Zechariah 14:1-4). At the end of this battle “the LORD shall be King over all the earth” (verse 9).

From these scriptures the main thrust of Revelation becomes clear. It portrays in vivid symbols the judgment of God in the last days—at, and just before, the return of Christ. He will oversee the final destruction of the satanic system labeled in Revelation as Babylon the Great.

The Bible and Work

Some in the church at Thessalonica who were able to work apparently chose not to do so. Instead, they expected others to provide for their physical needs.

In addressing this issue, the apostle Paul wrote to the church in that city, “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly . . .” (1 Thessalonians 5:14). The Greek word for unruly is ataktos. This word “was especially a military term, denoting ‘not keeping rank, insubordinate’; it is used in 1 Thes. 5:14, describing certain church members who manifested an insubordinate spirit, whether by excitability or officiousness or idleness” (Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, “Disorderly”).

Being idle or lazy is not in step with God’s expectations of our behavior.

In Paul’s second letter to this same congregation, he again addressed this situation: “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly [ataktos] and not according to the tradition which he received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly [atakteo] among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us” (2 Thessalonians 3:6-9).

Paul, to show that his motives were pure and to avoid being accused of taking advantage of the members of Thessalonica, cited his own example of having worked to support himself when he was in the area earlier. Although he had the right to be supported by them in exchange for his ministering to them (1 Corinthians 9:1-18), he chose not to.

Paul continued: “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread” (verses 10-12).

Since other biblical instruction calls for helping the needy (Matthew 19:21; Galatians 2:10), Paul is obviously correcting those who were able to work but chose not to do so. If we are able, God expects us to work so we can provide for our own needs and not unnecessarily burden others.

Teach Your Children About Finances

“Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a real blessing” (Psalm 127:3, Today’s English Version). The New King James version calls them “a heritage from the LORD.” What a wonderful privilege it is for parents to raise the next generation!

When God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, He was interested in the future of the adults and their children. He wanted the Israelites to take root in their new land and prosper for many generations. This is why He repeatedly told the Israelites to carefully teach their children the things He had taught them (Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 40; 5:29; 6:2-9; 11:18-21).

When we learn to handle our money according to God’s instructions, God expects us to share our knowledge with our children so they, too, can be blessed. With God’s perspective in mind, let us consider some ways parents can teach their children to properly manage their finances.

How early can children begin the process of learning about money? There is no set age, but experience indicates that as soon as they learn to use money they can learn fundamental principles about managing it.

Modern marketing efforts, for example, do not exclude children. Children’s television programs often contain advertising aimed directly at youngsters.

Advertisers work to create desire for their toys and other products.

Since children are exposed to advertising and experience desires for various material goods, it makes sense for them also to begin learning about money management. Understanding basic monetary concepts can be a valuable blessing that lasts a lifetime.

Consider giving an allowance

Children can begin to learn some principles of financial management if parents are willing to invest the time it takes to teach them. One way to do this is to start giving children an allowance after they learn to count. The amount of money does not have to be large; even small amounts can provide important opportunities for teaching valuable lessons.

Allowances for young children should be given regularly, at a set time such as once a week. Help your children learn to manage their allowance by depositing it in a safe place such as a toy bank, a wallet or even a jar. This is an excellent time to teach them God’s principles of tithing. Have your child put aside his tithes in a separate container. Each time children receive their allowance, they should be helped in determining and setting aside their tithes. They can also count what is in their bank each time they add to it.

Opinions vary on whether allowances should be tied to chores. Some feel it’s good to give a set amount with the concept in mind that basic chores should be done by everyone in the family. Others like to tie allowances to specific chores such as making one’s bed, cleaning one’s room and washing dishes. Others use a mixture of the two with a set amount that increases for certain chores. Whatever approach a family employs, learning to manage the allowance, and showing that work has its rewards, is where the real value lies for young people.

Financial planning

To lay a simple foundation for budgeting as an adult, children can learn to evaluate and plan their purchases. One way to do this is to have children make a list of items they would like to buy. These may be small items such as stickers, gum, ice cream or special toys. Parents, of course, should monitor choices to make sure they are safe and appropriate.

The next time you go to a store that carries the items on the list, have your child record the prices. When back at home, have him count his money before discussing which items might be purchased now and which will require more savings. Let him decide if he wants to purchase a less-expensive item on his list or wait to accumulate more money for a costlier item. When he is ready to make a purchase, take him to the store and help him count out the money to make the transaction.

While at the store, it is not uncommon for children to decide they want something that costs more than they can afford. When this occurs, loving parents will generally decline to provide the extra funds. It may seem like a tough lesson for a child to learn, but many things about life are better learned early when the consequences are minor. The same lesson applies when children spend all of their money on one item and then do not have additional funds for other things they would like. Experience is an effective teacher.

As children become more conscious of time, parents can point out how long it will take them to accumulate the same amount of money again in their bank. This teaches the valuable concept of planning for purchases.

This process does take a lot of time, but the result is worth it. Children who learn to manage money at an early age will be spared some hard lessons later in life when the consequences are greater.

Older children

As children mature, their allowance can be increased and they can be given the responsibility of purchasing certain personal items. Some parents find it helpful to give their older children a clothing allowance at regular times throughout the year—such as the beginning of a school year.

They allow their children to choose the clothes they want to purchase with that money, as long as it fits mutually agreed-upon style guidelines.

Although poor choices can lead to a limited school wardrobe, this, too, can be an effective teaching tool. It is better to let children live with the consequences of their decisions at this age than for parents to bail them out financially and deny them the opportunity of learning a valuable lesson.

Saving money is another important concept parents need to teach their children. One way to do this is to open a savings account in the child’s name. Depending on a parent’s expertise, older children can also be taught about other types of savings and investments.

Teens can learn how to evaluate and track the value of these kinds of savings and assets. They can also learn the value of compounding interest and learn to set aside funds for the inevitable emergencies that occur in everyone’s life.

It is also wise for older teens to learn how to plan for retirement. Proverbs 13:22 says it is a good man who leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren. This means there must be some forethought and planning about finances to provide for one’s needs later in life.

Those who begin putting funds into a retirement account early in their working career usually see their retirement fund grow to a much larger value than those of people who wait until their 40s

Some adults have been shocked with an alarming wake-up call in their 40s or even 50s when they realize they have not sufficiently planned for their retirement years. Wouldn’t it be much better to have learned that lesson and been educated about the importance of planning for that stage of life while still young?

The best time to plan for retirement is at an early age when investments have more time to grow. Companies offering financial products, such as life insurance and mutual funds, sometimes offer financial advice and assistance to young people.

Children are blessed when they have parents who love them and teach them how to manage their money. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Take this proverb to heart and teach your children the principles of money management. You, and they, can be blessed by your efforts.

Managing your Finances II

The Eye of a Needle

What did Jesus Christ mean when He said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”? (Mark 10:25). Although the scriptural context is clear—Jesus was warning His followers not to put their trust in riches—the question is puzzling. What exactly was Jesus saying? Some have believed that the phrase eye of the needle refers to the name of a small gate into a city through which camels had to kneel to enter. A number of Bible resources show that this interpretation is incorrect. Here is what one representative resource says:

“Jesus’ words [in Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25 and Luke 18:25] that it is easier for a rich man to enter heaven than ‘for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,’ reflect an idea found in early rabbinic writing. There is no archaeological or historical support for the common idea that the ‘needle’s eye’ was a small pedestrian gate through the city wall. The statement simply means that humanly speaking, this is an impossible thing. Only a divine miracle can make it possible” (Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1986, “Tools of the Bible”).

It appears that Christ’s words must be taken literally. Just as it is impossible for a camel to go through the tiny eye of a needle, it is equally impossible for those who trust in riches, instead of God, to enter the Kingdom of God.

The Right Use of Money

Since money is a tool that can be used for good or bad, it is important that we understand the Bible’s instruction on how we are to use it. The Bible gives directions and principles about the way we should use our financial resources. But, before considering the specifics, we need to understand God’s perspective and what He does for each one of us. God reveals He is the Creator of heaven and earth. As such, everything belongs to Him. “. . . All the earth is Mine,” He declares (Exodus 19:5). This includes all precious metals (Haggai 2:8), animals (Psalm 50:11) and people (Ezekiel 18:4).

When God made man in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), He “put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Adam’s job was to care for the garden. After Adam sinned by eating of the forbidden fruit, God told him: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:17-19).

Like Adam, we must work to sustain our lives. Human beings, however, are not self-sufficient. God continues to help us, providing for us in ways we cannot. “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he maybring forth food from the earth,” He tells us (Psalm 104:14).

When we enjoy the fruit of our labors, we should remember that everything we have is ultimately a gift from God, the Maker of everything. “As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:19). Working hard and enjoying the resulting fruits of one’s labor are godly principles most people understand and accept as a fundamental part of life.

The work of God

Yet humans are not the only ones who work. Jesus Christ said God the Father works (John 5:17). As a spirit being (John 4:24), God does not need food, shelter and clothing to survive. His work is spiritual and humanitarian. John 3:16 summarizes God’s motivation for everything He does toward mankind: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This work of God, which He began before the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34; Revelation 13:8; 1 Timothy 1:9), continues.

Similarly, God expects spiritual and humanitarian work of us. Just as we work to sustain ourselves physically, we must work for a greater spiritual purpose. The apostle Paul tells us, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). We cannot earn salvation by human efforts, but God makes it clear that we were also created to do “good works” that have a vital spiritual dimension.

The money we earn from our physical and mental efforts can be profitably used to support important spiritual concepts and endeavors. Let’s examine and understand an important biblical principle the early Church practiced.

Our financial priority

Throughout the ages God has seen to it that a true message of hope has been preserved and spread. He first used His patriarchs, prophets and priests. Now, in this age, He uses His Church, His called-out followers. Jesus Christ commissioned His followers to proclaim the “gospel of the kingdom of God” to all nations (Mark 1:14-15; Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20). Christ’s message—”the gospel”—is far more extensive than many understand. Dedicating a portion of our incomes to this noble cause can make it possible for the good news, this message of hope, to be proclaimed throughout the world.

When Jesus sent out His disciples to spread the gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 10:1), He said, “Freely you have received, freely give” (verse 8). The disciples did not have to charge others to provide for their physical needs because those needs were voluntarily supplied by those who heard their message (Matthew 10:11; Luke 9:3-4). As Paul later wrote, “Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14). The question naturally arises, how much should we contribute to further Christ’s commission to proclaim the gospel? People may debate this answer endlessly, but God has already given a specific answer—10 percent, also called a tithe (Leviticus 27:32). In instructing the ancient Israelites how to manage their financial affairs, God said, “all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30).

This passage shows us that this tithe belongs to God; it is His. It is not ours to do with as we please. Because God owns everything, He has the right to retain whatever He chooses. In reality, He is requesting only that we return to Him a portion of what He has already given to us. God allows us to keep the greatest portion of the physical blessings He provides us. He asks only that we return a percentage, a tenth, to Him in acknowledgment that He is the source of all good things. If we ignore this principle, we will rob ourselves of God’s blessings (Malachi 3:8-9).

During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ upheld the practice of tithing (Matthew 23:23) and encouraged His followers to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20). Because tithing is a fundamental biblical principle for a more abundant life, let’s examine this scriptural practice in more detail.

The Book of Revelation: Is It Relevant Today?

Many people believe the book of Revelation is all about bad news. Although it reveals where our actions and decisions will take us, it also shows how mankind will finally experience a world of peace.

Is the book of Revelation relevant today? Is it possible for us to understand it? Can we know to whom it was written—and why? What are the meanings of its mysterious symbols?

The name of the book, Revelation, is a translation of the title in the original New Testament Greek, Apocalypsis —the origin of the other name by which the book is now known, the Apocalypse. The Greek term denotes an unveiling or uncovering—thus, a revelation. It here signifies an opening up of hidden knowledge to understanding.

This book has perplexed readers for almost 2,000 years. Over the centuries it has been one of the world’s most misunderstood and misinterpreted books. Yet it need not be so.

The fundamental message of the book of Revelation is simple. It promises that God will institute universal peace, prosperity and cooperation over all the earth immediately after the return of Jesus Christ. It reveals how this wonderful new world will be established and why it will never be destroyed or superseded by any other way of life or social order.

The book of Revelation also describes an incredibly deceptive alliance of internationally powerful political and religious entities attempting to prevent Jesus’ reign from ever being established. Their opposition to Him and His saints will result in a time of international turmoil and suffering unlike anything the world has ever seen.

The terrifying weapons developed and manufactured using modern technology are an indication that the terrible time of trouble may be much nearer than we think. Nations have already stockpiled more than enough weapons to annihilate all human life from the face of the earth. Rogue nations increasingly gain the ability to produce and use horrifying weapons of mass destruction.

Even more frightful are terrorist groups, unable to attain their goals by conventional arms or diplomacy, that now have access to such deadly weapons. Respected advisers on international security warn that the danger of nuclear weapons being used by rogue nations or terrorist groups grows ever higher. Nuclear weapons are only one of several means of mass destruction available to unscrupulous leaders and terrorists bent on achieving their ends by any means, including mass carnage.

The book of Revelation presents us with good news and bad news about the future, giving us both aspects of the picture. On the one hand it describes the terrifying tools of destruction our advanced technology will produce —and a deceived humanity will use—at the end of this age. But it also reveals how the living God, the Creator of the universe, will intervene to prevent the annihilation of humankind. It further reveals the wonderful time of peace and a transformed world that will follow those horrible days.

You need to understand God’s description of what lies ahead—and what it means to you. You need to understand how you can be a part of the good news He reveals about the future. Once you grasp the message of Revelation, you, too, will see that it contains the most remarkable message of hope ever written. Its fundamental message is plain and its conclusion certain.

Is money really the root of all evil? (Part I)

Introduction

What advice does the Bible offer about wealth and our attitude toward it? Is money really the root of all evil? Do you know what God thinks about bankruptcy? What does the Bible say about charitable contributions? How much should we give? Be sure to read this teachings to discover biblical answers to these important questions and more.

Money makes the world go round, or so it seems. Vast sums change hands every day in a global economy that affects virtually every man, woman and child on the planet. Paradoxically, in this time of wealth and opportunity, millions of people struggle to survive economically. With consumer credit reaching gigantic proportions, many find themselves mired in debt. Anxiety about money matters takes an enormous toll on mental and physical health and general well-being.

What can you do about money problems? Where can you turn for simple, practical guidelines to help manage your personal finances? Libraries and bookstores provide readers with various principles and theories about money management. Books and videotapes assure readers they can be financially successful; others tell us we can become millionaires practically overnight.

But do you realize that sound principles are to be found in a book you probably already own? The Holy Bible offers proven financial advice and economic guidelines. The book of Proverbs alone reveals much about how to manage your personal finances. When we apply the principles we can find in Proverbs, they usually add up to economic success, financial stability and peace of mind.

Jesus Christ talked about freedom from economic want: “I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Abundant life includes financial peace of mind. Throughout the Bible we can find specific financial principles and advice. When we properly apply them, they work for our benefit.

What Is Money?

People hold widely divergent views about money. Some view it as the root of all evil and believe that poverty brings one closer to God. Others accept the health-and-wealth gospel: that Christians are almost automatically destined to become financially successful if not fabulously wealthy. Those who hold either of these contradictory ideas think it comes directly from the Bible. Is money good or evil? To lay a foundation for managing one’s finances, we must begin by considering what money is and whether it is proper for Christians to accumulate wealth.

Wealth and the Bible

The first time the Bible mentions someone with a lot of money, it speaks of a righteous man, Abraham, who “was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2). Later we find God promising that through this man’s descendants all nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 18:18; 22:18; 26:4). Abraham was wealthy, but he was also “the father of all those who believe” (Romans 4:11).

God is not opposed to riches. In fact, He is the originator of financial blessings (1 Samuel 2:7; Proverbs 10:22) and reminds us that personal diligence can also lead to wealth (Proverbs 10:4).

When we have more money than we need for normal expenses, we are wise to save some for later use. The Bible speaks well of the saver, noting that the ant wisely stores up food for the winter (Proverbs 6:6-11). It speaks favorably of someone who would provide for his children and grandchildren: “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous” (Proverbs 13:22).

Spiritual traps to avoid

These positive examples, however, do not give the whole picture. The follower of God who wants to make money but continue to follow God must avoid certain spiritual traps. It becomes easy, as a person accumulates worldly goods, to view money—rather than God—as a source of protection and stability (Proverbs 18:11).

The apostle Paul talked about money and temptation: “. . . Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

It is from these words that some people get the idea that the Bible teaches that money is the root of all evil. However, Paul wrote something considerably different: that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Money itself is not an evil, but elevating money and material wealth to a greater priority than it is properly due is a great spiritual trap.

In this passage Paul elaborates on the perspective toward wealth that Jesus Christ had given many years earlier. In speaking of a Christian’s proper priorities (Matthew 6:24-33), Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and mammon” (verse 24). The English mammon is translated here from a similar Aramaic word that means riches, especially riches that turn one’s attention away from God.

While recognizing that people have physical needs, Christ emphasized that our priority must always be God. Jesus taught that we must “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added . . .” (verse 33).

Paul’s comments to Timothy teach us not to make money a god or to allow it to come between us and God. Money is simply a tool that can be used for either good or bad. The key lies in our attitude. Paul adds this advice to the wealthy: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19, emphasis added throughout).