By Gene Lawley -
God looked down on Earth and saw that the imaginations and thoughts of mankind were only evil continually (Genesis 6:5) and Called on a man named Noah to build an ark. There had never been raindrops before then, and it took Noah something like 120 years to complete the ark, a large boat. The earth had been watered by the mist from the ground. Who ever heard of such a thing-raindrops?
Peter wrote of that time when God's patience and longsuffering waited until Noah had finished the ark, when the condition of mankind He had seen could be judged. That was a long time, for people in those days lived more than 900 years. But God was also making a way for the salvation of the righteous in that time.
Some people today are saying it has been a long time since the promise of Jesus coming to take out of this world those who belong to Him. "Where is the promise of His coming," so they say, just as Peter proclaimed in 2 Peter 3:3-4. In somewhat the same way of delay, Jesus has held back His coming until a future "appointed time" in the hands of His Father, that He might "take out of the Gentiles a people for His name" (Acts 15:14-17). When the fullness of that number is completed, the "ark of His salvation" will be ready for boarding-in the twinkling of an eye.
As it was in the days of Lot, as soon as that "ark of His salvation" sets sail, God's judgment will take place. In Lot's day, as soon as Lot and his family were out of the city, destruction fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah; and nothing is left of those cities that is identifiable. As with those of Noah's time, judgment came upon those left behind. (And remember Lot's wife.)
Drip, drip, drip-in the last days perilous times will come (2 Timothy 3:1).
Drip, drip, drip-evil men will become worse and worse (2 Timothy 3:13).
Drip, drip, drip-the masses are calling good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20).
Drip, drip, drip-evil and injustice seek to rule the people (Job 34:17).
It was a sure thing. Late in the fourth quarter, Obama would make a "Hail, Mary" pass to Hillary Clinton, and she would continue the plan for complete destruction of American sovereignty. He gave it away in April and August, 2016. First, he could not contain his excitement over his accomplishments during his eight years, saying, "The end of the Republic has never looked better!" at the annual Correspondent's Dinner in Washington, D.C. on April 30. Then, in August, it has been revealed, he knew the Russians were tinkering with the USA electoral process, but he did not let that information out since it was a sure thing that Hillary would win the election and take his program forward. Both of them are disciples of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals."
But did God intercept that pass in the hands of one Donald Trump? Frankly, I was caught by surprise as the election campaign unwound and Trump won the Electoral College votes. Obama had been "primed to lead us into a New World Order," according to Henry Kissinger, after the sweep for Obama in 2008. Obama had campaigned on the promise to "fundamentally transform America forever," and it looked like he was succeeding with little quiet allowance from anyone who could have taken a hand in any strong opposition. Obama thought so, too, as well as many prominent public leaders, having a "one-world-government" frame of mind.
No wonder candidate Trump's promise to "drain the swamp" sent spurts of fear racing up the backbones of many who have hidden in that swamp for years.
It was not God's timing for the rise of that Beast of Revelation, that end-time one-world-government. Forgotten was the declaration revelation of Jesus in Matthew 24:37-38 and Luke 17:26-37, especially the latter:
"And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot - They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
"In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left."
In Noah's day there was lots of time before judgment came, even after the rain began to fall. But in Lot's time, judgment came immediately after he was out of the city. In the coming "return of the Son of Man," the Apostle Paul tells it like this:
"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).
In the context, beginning near the end of the prior chapter 4, he describes the time when all of His body of believers will be taken out of the path of judgment, just as he confirms in the verses following the quotation above. (This is when believers will escape the wrath of God, not between the 5thand 6thseal in Revelation 6, as some people claim in their "pre-wrath rapture" theory.) Here is that verse with its confirming declaration, and you can read more all the way to verse 10 for the full context:
"But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief."
The descriptions in the Luke 17 passage are portrayals of heightened economic and social activities that could only happen in a growing economy. It will definitely not be the picture of life during the last half of the seven years of the tribulation. Read again Revelation 13-19. The physical condition of the land and the seas and the freedom of mankind to "build and plant," while enjoying "eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage," makes a "post-tribulation rapture" position very illogical.
The pivotal clue is in that passage above, "when they shall say, 'Peace and safety,' then sudden destruction shall come upon them...."
Watch for it; for when the nations confirm a covenant with Israel, as Daniel 9:27 says, that exclamation will come forth from Israel, which has longed for peace for many years. This one will only last three and one-half years, however, and that with much tribulation.
Meanwhile, sinfulness of man becomes more open and with blatant "in your face" carelessness. Hidden secrets from the darkness-immorality and conspiracies that boggle the mind-are coming to the surface. It brings to mind this declaration in 1 Timothy 5:24. Is this another sign the end of days is upon us?:
"Some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later."
Drip, drip, drip-and God's appointed time approaches.
No comments:
Post a Comment