In my last post, I went over three of the seven ways Christians and angels are similar. Let’s go over the final four now.

1.      Both are Called to Obey and Enact Christ’s Word (that is, the Logos of God)

David tells us about angels in Psalm 103: “Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word” (Ps 103:20).

John tells us what Jesus said about us: Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching [Greek: logos: i.e., word]. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (Jn 14:23).

The Holy Spirit enables us to do, or possess, at least six things: (1) Our Speech: “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit” (Jn 3:34). So, the Holy Spirit allows our speech to be in alignment with God’s Word; (2) Our Authority: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ep 2:6). Therefore, we have authority given us though the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us as we yield to his control; (3) His word to not return void: “It [my word] will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Is 55:11). Therefore, if we speak God’s words, they will also not return void; (4) His word to not fail: “For no word from God will ever fail” (Lk 1:37). So, if we speak his words, they also will not fail; (5) Us to remember His words: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (Jn 14:26). We can rely on the Holy Spirit to bring to our minds God’s words appropriate for whatever occasion we need them, as long as we have stored them in our minds; and (6) Us to have the mind of Christ: The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1Co 2:16). Therefore, the Holy Spirit will help us to think like Christ does.

Scripture (words of God) impacts both us and angels. When we pray Scripture, we are giving voice to God’s Word causing angels to respond. Angels will serve us: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hb 1:14). Therefore, they minister for us because they obey God’s word. If we have the mind of Christ, then we will be praying his words which will be effective and enable angels to act on our behalf. This does not mean we are praying to angels, but we are aligning our thoughts and desires with those of God. And angels act on God’s words. The Holy Spirit allows us to do this. It is amazing how the Trinity works in concert in our lives.

We influence angels according to Scripture because angels observe us. Paul tells us, “. . . We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings” (1Co 4:9). We should therefore be conscious of our actions because not only are others looking at us but so are the angels. Are we teaching the right things to those who observe us?

We help angels understand salvation. Peter tells us, “Concerning this salvation . . . Even angels long to look into these things” (1Pt 1:10-12). Salvation is an awe and mysterious thing to angels. We should not take it for granted for, indeed, it is awesome and a mystery. While the angels had a choice to make, they did not have multiple opportunities as we do or have their status change by choosing Christ over Satan as has been done for us. We are now joint heirs with Christ. That is not true for angels.

What can praying scripture do for us? It aligns our thoughts and will with that of God. We cannot be effective if we are not in his will. It gives us confidence in our prayers because they are aligned with the word of God. Only his word is powerful and effective; ours is only if they repeat back to him his words or our words are spoken according to his will. It increases our faith because God cannot go back on his word so we can pray with confidence in his response. His words will not return to him void.

God’s word is powerful. Scripture tells us: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hb 4:12). His word changes us inside and out. Scripture also tells us: Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word (Ps 103:20). His word sends angels into action.

2.      Both are to Fight Against Evil

Paul tells us in Ephesians: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ep 6:12). We often forget this and make our struggle with other individuals forgetting the dark forces which are manipulating many human beings. We need to focus on the spiritual. God’s angels also fight these dark forces. Scripture tells us that Michael the archangel helped to defeat a principality of Persia so another angel could get a message to Daniel (Dn 10:13); Michael will defeat Satan in the end (Rv 12:7-8).

Angels fight for us and with us. We have examples in Scripture of this to encourage and strengthen us. In one example, the king of Aram, a country in Mesopotamia where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are located, which is today’s Iraq, went to capture the prophet Elisha because he was telling the King of Israel how to evade the Aramean army. The king of Aram thought he had a spy in his army but was told the prophet Elisha was telling the King of Israel his own battle plans. He therefore sent his army to the city of Dothan in Samaria where Elisha was staying so he could capture him and thereby prevent him from speaking further to the king of Israel.

We find what happened in 2 Kings chapter 6: “When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots [of Aram] had surrounded the city. ‘Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?’ the servant asked. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hill full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2Ki 6: 15-17). God had his angels to protect Elisha with an entire angelic army and in greater number than the king of Aram could muster in the physical.

Angels fight other angels of Satan. An angel fought a demon to get an answer to Daniel concerning his prayer (Dn 10:12-14). Angels fight against human foes as well. A large host of angels came with God to Mt. Sinai (Dt 33:2) and provided protection to Israel (Ps 68:7, 17). As we just mentioned, an angel army surrounded Elisha when the Arameans came to take him (2Ki 6:17). Jesus had access to more than twelve legions of angels at his beck and call (Mt 26:53). We would likely be surprised at what we would see if we could visualize what is going on around us in the spiritual realm.

3.      Both Have Abilities to Fight and Serve

Not all angels are of the same rank and purpose, and, therefore, have different missions in how they follow and obey God’s purpose, whether it is to deliver messages, protect, or to fight against the enemy. Christians are given different gifts of service and ministry for fighting spiritual battles as well. All Christians have access to the armor of God (Ep 6).

Angels do God’s bidding on our behalf. There are many examples in Scripture of this as well: Angels visited Lot and his family in Sodom to keep his promise to Abraham (Gn 19:1); an angel helped Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, obtain a wife for Isaac (Gn 24:40); an angel guarded the children of Israel along their way (Ex 23:20); an angel kept Daniel safe from the lions (Dn 6:22); an angel fought a demon to get a message from God to Daniel (Dn 10:13); an angel rolled the stone away from Christ’s tomb (Mt 28:2-7); an angel opened the gates of the prison for Peter to escape (Ac 5:19); and an angel caused Herod Agrippa to be struck with a sickness causing him to die quickly (Ac 12:23).

We are also equipped to do God’s bidding. God has given us both defensive and offensive weapons (Ep 6): the belt of truth holds the armor together understanding that Jesus Christ and his words are the only truth in this world; our minds are protected with the helmet of salvation as the knowledge about our present and our future is based upon what Christ did for us on the cross; we have the breastplate of righteousness which we have only because of Christ’s blood which he shed for us. God who is above any and all declares us righteous. Anyone who says otherwise are in error to the One True God. We have the shield of faith which is strong enough to defend anything the enemy sends our way because we are solid in our belief in what Christ has done for us. And we have the Sword of the Spirit; the Word of God; which wields only truth and is sharper than any two-edged sword which penetrates to the very essence of one’s thoughts and world perspective to deliver that truth. All of this is accomplished through the footwear which delivers the Gospel of Peace beyond all comprehension to all those who we come in contact with: both friend and foe alike. All of this makes us truly powerful in our spiritual battles with the enemy.

4.      Both Encourage Each Other

We are told in Psalms: “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (Ps 91:11). While this is also a prophetic psalm about Christ, the psalmist is also stating what is true about his followers.

The psalmist also tells us: “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them” (Ps 34:7).

Peter tells us: “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things” (1Pt 1:10-12).

We need to be more mindful of our actions because the spiritual realm is listening, watching, and being taught by us. Next time, we’ll look at some cautions we need to consider as we partner with angels to follow God’s commands.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

In the last several posts, we have looked at examples of how God showed up in a big way. In the last post, I asked whether we expect him to show up for us today. Do you? Are you expecting him to show up in a big way?

Currently there are two main ideas that are currently prominent as to how God will show up for us today:

1.      Rapture (1Th 4:13-18; 1Co 15:51-52; also called Receiving of the Bride): God will come in the sky and receive to himself those who have placed their trust in him, and we will ever be with the Lord. This is the ultimate hope of all believers.

2.      Revival (Da 7:26-27; Mt 24:14; Rv 17): Before that ultimate hope of all believers is realized, God will send a final and most glorious revival which will sweep the whole earth.

Both of these events seem to be recorded in Scripture. Neither are direct, yet neither are they hidden. Yet, some believe in neither, some in one or the other, and others in both. I will not debate the Rapture in this post as the idea of a coming revival is somewhat newer to many than the idea of a Rapture. Let’s see if there is evidence for Revival to come first.

In Daniel Chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a vision of a statue composed of gold (head), silver (torso), bronze (loins), iron (legs), iron & clay (feet & toes). Then a stone came and crushed the statue to dust. God revealed to Daniel that Babylon represented the head of gold and other kingdoms would come after him. History tells us the silver portion of the statue was the reign of the Medes & Persians, bronze portion was the reign of Greece, and iron portion was the reign of Rome. So far, no kingdom has seemed to represent the iron mingled with clay. Yet, is it possible that iron mingled with clay is actually a representation of today?

Why do I suggest this? There is another vision given to Daniel in Chapter 7 that many biblical scholars say represents the same kingdoms as the vision given to Nebuchadnezzar. Yet, perhaps this is not about the entire statue, but about the feet alone to give more details for Daniel to understand this period of history that would be in his distant future but may be at our doorstep today. Perhaps we are even on its threshold with the door already open.

Why iron and clay? It means such a kingdom is authoritarian in its demands but lacks cohesion and stability to always carry them out.

Daniel was extremely curious about the fourth beast that God revealed to him in his vision in Daniel Chapter 7. Let’s look at part of how God interpreted the fourth beast that Daniel saw: “He gave me this explanation: ‘the fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. The ten horns are then kings who will come from this kingdom. After them, another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set time and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time. But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him’” (Dn 7:23-27, NIV).

Now, let’s think about what has been happening in our world over the last three years or so. The World Economic Forum has been very active, acting almost like a government even though it isn’t a government. Despite this fact, this organization has influenced and affected the entire world almost like the empires of old but has done so in a way totally different from any previous empire. One could say it has had a unique influence: almost as if it was higher than governments by utilizing its influence alone through various individuals trained in its philosophies. As this passage of Scripture above indicates, it has indeed crushed the entire world with many of its decisions and forced mandates for a little over 3 years now. It is strong in its claims and mandates (iron) but weak in maintaining complete control of the narrative (clay).

In addition, one of its top advisors, Noah Yuval Harari, has become very brazen and some say, even blasphemous, in his talks. He has given many talks, has several books, and has spoken at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It is obvious his philosophy has shaped his view of history and the world at large. He seems to believe all religions are composed of myths without fact and truth. He speaks almost like a prophet would speak. While he seems to point out warnings and potential concerns of the fast rise of Artificial Intelligence, it seems the World Economic Forum and those around the globe who follow their polices are trying to enact the very things he warns about. Some of the things he has said include the following:

“And every technical problem has a technical solution. We don’t need to wait for the Second Coming in order to overcome death” (Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, 2018, Harper Perennial, New York, 2018, p. 23).

“Many of the big changes in history were unlikely. If you think for example the rise of Christianity, if you go about the Roman Empire third century then you have so many different religions and cults and philosophies or whatever, you have this esoteric Jewish sect that believes that a Jewish preacher who was crucified by the Romans two hundred years ago is actually the Lord of the Universe and it’s a very tiny esoteric sect. Nobody would imagine that within a couple of decades this sect, Christianity, will take over the Roman Empire. But it happened.” (Chanel 4 News, Ways to Change the World, interview with Yuval Noah Harari, Will artificial intelligence create useless class of people? YouTube video, Oct 20, 2021).

“Biological knowledge multiplied by computing power multiplied by data equals the ability to hack humans. If you know enough biology and have enough computing power and data, you can hack my body and my brain and my life, and you can understand me better than I understand myself. You can know my personality type, my political views, my sexual preferences, my mental weaknesses, my deepest fears and hopes. You know more about me than I know about myself. And you can do that not just to me, but to everyone.” (World Economic Forum, Yuval Noah Harari: How to Survive the 21st Century – Davos 2020, YouTube video, Jan 24, 2020)

“The only thing God managed to create was organic beings, trees, giraffes, and humans. If we succeed, then very soon we will be beyond the God of the Bible" (Excerpt from a talk given by Yuval Noah Harari, Frank: The Voice of Free Speech, Clay Clark, Dec 19, 2022).

“Within the next century or two, we humans are likely to upgrade ourselves into gods and change the most basic principles of the evolution of life. Traditional mythologies depicted gods as powerful beings that could design and create life according to their wishes. In the coming two centuries we will probably learn how to engineer and manufacture various life forms according to our wishes. We will use bioengineering in order to create new kinds of organic beings; we will use direct brain-computer interfaces in order to create cyborgs (beings that combine organic and inorganic parts); and advances in machine learning and AI might even allow us to set in motion the creation of completely inorganic beings. The main products of the future economy will not be food, textiles, and vehicles but rather bodies, brains, and minds” (Our Nonconscious Future, written by Yuval Noah Harari, published in Britannica, 2018).

Yet, we also see he has not just warned about the effects of AI and transhumanism, he has begun to embrace the very things he has warned us about:

“Humans are now hackable animals. The whole idea that humans have this soul or spirit, and have this free will and no one knows what goes on inside me so whatever I choose, whether in the election or whether in the supermarket, this is my free will. That’s over.

“We are really upgrading humans into gods.

“The test of AI is not whether it is perfect, but whether it is better than humans.

“We don’t have any answer in the Bible what to do when humans are no longer useful.

“You need completely new ideologies, completely new religions, and they’re likely to give people visions based on technology and everything the old religions promised: happiness and justice and even eternal life.

“For the first time in history it is possible to completely eliminate privacy. It was just never possible before, and it is possible now. Something fundamental has changed. When dictators always dreamt about completely eliminating privacy, monitoring everybody all the time and knowing everything you do, and not just everything you do but everything you think, and everything you feel. Whether it’s a tyrant in ancient Greece or whether it’s Stalin, they always dreamt about it and never do it because it was technically impossible. Now it’s possible.” (Excerpts from various talks given by Yuval Noah Harari, Thrivetime Show: The Reawakening versus The Great Reset, Rumble video, 2022)

It seems Satan has tried to push up the timeline to bring about his One World Government before it is time for him to do so. Granted, he has tried this before, but he has been preparing this time for at least one-hundred years or more. He has been very subtle this time but is now becoming brazen again. Satan is trying to bring his time on his schedule and prevent this generation from accepting God as their Savior. While he has always tried to do this, this is the first time in history that standing for right is considered wrong and actively suppressed. We have reached a “do or die” moment in current history.

It would be in God’s character to bring a revival for a great harvest of souls before he gives Satan his time. Satan doesn’t want a revival and is doing all he can to ensure that doesn’t happen, but God is the one in control of the timeline.

How should we pray for God to manifest himself today? We should ask him to reveal himself as Jehovah Nigelah, the Lord who Reveals, and pray for God to reveal himself mightily in our time. We need him as El Emet, God of Truth. Let’s pray for his truth to be revealed and reign supreme. Pray for him to come as Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who Heals, and pray for God to heal us physically and spiritually so we can live for him. He tells us, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2Ch 7:14). And we should ask him to reveal himself as Elohim, God Eternal, and pray for God to reveal himself as the One True God to all the world.

Through all the examples presented, we have seen how God shows up when things become the darkest– but not necessarily in the way expected. This gives us hope for today because the characteristics of God manifest themselves when mankind has almost given up, and God loves us despite how we often seem to not even love ourselves. Satan has always tried to control the timeline, but God has never allowed him to do so.

I found this motivational saying: If you want something different, you gotta do something different. While this is a good saying to stir up an audience, and there is some biblical truth to it, perhaps the better question to ask is to rephrase it slightly: If you want something different, you gotta be something different. We should ask ourselves: How does God want us to change to accomplish that? And, what is God asking us to do that perhaps we are not doing?

Not only do the unsaved need revival, but the church as a whole also needs a revival. Many, many denominations not only exist, but so many of them are antagonistic to each other. Are we really performing as Paul stated the Bride of Christ should perform? He said in 1st Corinthians, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body . . . (1Co 12:13). And in Philippians, “Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and of one mind” (Pp 2:2). Are we as the Church really in one Spirit and like-minded?

So, how do we prepare for God to show up for us today? Well, whether you believe it is time for the Rapture or time for a great harvest of souls, our response should be the same: lift our fellow believers up to God in prayer and ask God to empower all his children. Let’s pray within the armor of God, resist the devil, and pray for God’s favor. We know our battle is a spiritual one and we fight such a battle on our knees. We should pray for God’s will to be done and not what we wish to have done and ask for our expectations to match his – and that we will be ready for however he manifests himself. Let our hearts be open to however he desires to work and whatever character of his he wishes to express.

Believe it or not, prayer is the most powerful weapon. Christ used it a lot. And if he needed to pray, then we most definitely need to do so. Let’s all be united in order to allow God’s will to work through each of us so we’ll be ready for him stepping into our world in a mighty way.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

God had not spoken prophetically to Israel for nearly 400 years! Then he showed up in a big way fulfilling many prophetic announcements of his arrival. Was Israel ready? No, not really. It’s hard to realize you are living through fulfilled prophecy. Doing so tests all your preconceived ideas of what it would be like if you were to do so. But now, it’s not a thought process. It’s real. It tests the mettle of your beliefs. We find this awesome time of God becoming human in Matthew Chapter 1 and Luke Chapter 2.

His coming was on the heels of the Hasmonean Dynasty. Around 168 BCE, Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire of Persia suppressed the Jews greatly and went so far as to desecrate their temple in Jerusalem, and a priest by the name of Judas Maccabeus initiated a seven-year rebellion which gained momentum very quickly, known as the Maccabean Revolt. During this time, Jerusalem and the temple was regained with the temple being rededicated. This time became known as the celebration of Hanukkah where the amount of oil for the temple menorah was just enough to last a day, but it lasted for eight days giving time for more of the sacred oil to be prepared. After a seven-year battle, Judas was killed in battle and his brother, Jonathan, led the Jews to an eventual defeat of their enemies and was made not only High Priest, but king as well, initiating the Hasmonean Dynasty where the priesthood and kingship were merged for almost twenty-two years. Rivalry between sons for kingship brought Rome into their midst due to these siblings’ thirst for power, and Rome never left. Eventually, Rome took over the position of power and even controlled the power of the high priest by housing the ephod worn by the high priest within the Roman Tower of Antonia built adjacent to the temple.

Various religious sects emerged which diluted the truth of scripture even through the tradition of scripture became even stronger in their culture. While Scripture became a nationalistic symbol of the Jews, it became less about personal belief in God and more about the celebration of tradition surrounding those beliefs. Israel had lost their way both as a nation physically and spiritually. Now, God decided to step in and show the error of their interpretation of scripture as well as reveal to them how they had come to serve the Law rather than having the Law serve them and point them to God.

God revealed himself as El Hakavod, God of Glory. God revealed his glory to mankind through the birth of Jesus Christ just as the ancient prophets had foretold. He was Jehovah Ori, the Lord my Light. Jesus illuminated the way to the proper way to God. He was El Tamim, Perfect God. Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for mankind. He was El Nasah, God who Forgives. His action on the cross gives us forgiveness. He was Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness. We are declared righteous because of him taking our place. Christ, as our Messiah, restored what Satan took from Adam and gave us power to be the Children of God and joint heirs with Christ.

From this example presented today and all the examples presented in previous posts we have discussed, I think we can conclude that God is predictably unpredictable. He always showed up, and while he presented a side of himself that fit the occasion, he did not typically present himself as people expected or desired. Let’s do a quick recap:

Flood – God was decisive, appeared malicious at first glance, but we find him extremely gracious once we understand what was at stake and what Satan had actually done. We must see the why and not just the what.

Tower of Babel – Here God appears lenient—just the opposite of what we observed from him showing up at the Flood. Here, he let people continue but with new confinements. We see here that God wants the best for us.

Red Sea – God made the Israelites sweat it out to get them to realize their dependence on him. Our battle is not with those we can see but with those forces we can’t see.

Hezekiah – God even let others get destroyed to teach a valuable lesson to those who remained. God let Hezekiah help preserve his people but made him realize only through dependence on him would their victory be assured. Turning to God is not insurance but assurance. Through this example we see the powerful weapon prayer actually is for us.

Birth of Christ – Jesus did not come as the religious leaders had expected their Messiah to come and reveal himself. Jesus taught what they did not expect. He seemed practically anti-Scripture to them because they had applied their own desires to Scripture and not let Scripture formulate their ideas. We need to be on the same page as God and not vice versa.

Today – Do we have an expectation of how God will show up? Do we expect him to show up? Are we willing to be surprised and willing to change and adapt to how he decides to show up? We do not want to be like the Pharisees and miss the blessings that are in store for us.

Join me next time when we take these examples and apply them to our situation today. You may even be surprised at our findings. Please join me.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, destroyed Samaria in 722 BC and took the northern kingdom of Israel as captives to Assyria. Then, eight years later, Sennacherib attacked Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, and laid siege to all fortified cities, including Jerusalem. We find this in 2Kings chapters 18 and 19.

Hezekiah accomplished several mighty engineering feats to try and prepare for the coming invasion by Assyria. One thing he did was connect the Gihon Spring just outside the city wall in the northern part of Jerusalem to the Pool of Siloam in the southern part of Jerusalem by digging an underground pathway through solid rock so the spring could flow within the city. Then, even if surrounded, the people would still have water and thereby preserve life longer for them to try and defend themselves. He also built another wall outside the current one so it would encompass the Gihon Spring, and he reinforced the terraces of the City of David (the southern portion of Jerusalem). He also made weapons and shields.

This achievement by Hezekiah is still observed today: called Hezekiah’s tunnel. It still has water running through it, and one can observe where the two teams of miners met. Hezekiah had one team dig from Siloam north and another dig from Gihon south. Today, there is a plaque where the two teams met. It is amazing how much Hezekiah was able to accomplish without modern technology.

Another play Hezekiah instituted was bribery. This was something kings would often do: either bribe the attacker with monetary gain, or bride another nation to help come defend them from their attacker. Hezekiah had all the silver stored in the temple treasury (300 talents – 11.25 tons, worth about $70.8 MM in today’s value) taken out for part of the bribe and then stripped gold off from the doors of the temple (30 talents – 1.125 tons, worth about $8.4 MM in today’s value) to bribe and ask Sennacherib to leave (for a total value in today’s money of $79.2MM). Yet, Sennacherib did not leave but fortified his efforts.

Hezekiah took the letter he received from Sennacherib and laid it before God at the temple and pled for Jerusalem’s salvation. He also had the prophet Isaiah beseech God as well. Hezekiah realized that all the preparation he had made, which was brilliant, significant, and formidable would not be enough. He realized only God himself could save them. God answered Hezekiah’s prayer in a big way.

That night, 185,000 of Sennacherib’s men were slain (2Ki 19:35). The remaining fled and retreated to Assyria. God accomplished in one night what Hezekiah could not accomplish in months and months of preparation. Because Hezekiah had the faith to depend upon God rather than in all the work he had done to prepare for defense, God intervened in a way Hezekiah could have never conceived.

It seems God always works in ways that are above and beyond our way of thinking. He had a way prepared through our dilemma even though our efforts haven’t been able to conceive of a possible solution. God revealed himself as being Jehovah Nissi, The Lord Our Banner or Victory. God destroyed the power of Sennacherib in one night. He only needed a short time to accomplish complete deliverance for Hezekiah and all of Jerusalem. God became Jehovah Maginenu, the Lord our Defense. He demonstrated that he was on their side and would defend them by his own might. In addition, he was Elohim Aizar, God our Helper. He had led them out of Egypt and proved he would be with them in all situations if they just trusted in him.

God was revealing to Hezekiah how victories are won. God wanted Hezekiah, and all of Jerusalem, to understand that their struggle was not necessarily with man but with powers in the spiritual realm which only God can defeat (Ep 6:12). Prayer was their weapon to overcome these forces, and prayer is still our weapon today to overcome these forces that battle against us.

Are you fighting your battles this way, or are you, like Hezekiah, doing your best to prepare for the fight only to find all your efforts are fruitless? You cannot win. Yet, with Christ, all things are possible (Pp 4:13). Use your most powerful weapon imaginable: go to God in prayer.

Next time, we’ll see God show up in even a bigger and more personable way. Until then. God bless!

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

We find this experience in Exodus chapter 14. Only a short time earlier, the Israelites had left Egypt after the ten plagues had devastated the economy and spirit of the Egyptian people. The Egyptians had asked them to leave and even gave the Israelites gold, silver, and precious stones to bribe them to leave and never return. I can image the Israelites were on an all-time high. Just a few days before, they were being oppressed beyond comprehension, and now, almost overnight, they were free! Free! I’m sure they felt like they had to pinch themselves to believe their experience was real. Yesterday, they had been slaves with nothing. Today, they were free with more wealth than they ever dreamed!

After the Israelites left, Pharaoh realized he had just let go the slave force the Egyptian empire had relied upon for centuries. How was the empire now going to function? Despite their hatred for the Israelites, he realized their economy still needed them. So, he and his army went after them. The Israelites were now squeezed between the Egyptian army behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. Mountains stood on their right and left. They literally had no place to go. Without God intervening, they would be destroyed, or recaptured and go into an even more severe servitude than they had lived through previously. What the Israelites did not know was that God had forced them into this place where they now had to rely totally on him.

Israel needed to understand God was the Faithful One despite the time they had been in slavery. God needed to show the Israelites they could depend on him for all things and that doubt was the path to destruction, but faith was a path to salvation. Freedom does not come freely but comes with responsibility. God had plans to make them into an ambassador nation to reveal himself to the world (Ex 19:6). Therefore, the Israelites needed to learn how to rely on the Lord for all their needs. He could not only supply their needs but do so in ways they could not ever fathom.

God revealed himself as Jehovah Yishi, the Lord my Salvation. God held the Egyptians at bay at the same time he made a way through the Red Sea for the Israelites. He did something for them that was so extraordinary they could never have conceived of such as act. Never would them being able to escape the Egyptians by walking through the Red Sea on dry ground even be a considered possibility. They were experiencing a God who could save my impossible means. In addition, he showed himself to be Jehovah Ozi, the Lord my Strength. He demonstrated that only he had the power to get the Israelites out of their situation. God had put them in an impossible situation that human actions, thoughts, and abilities were unable to do or conceive. God demonstrated he was Jehovah Mazud, the Lord my Fortress. He had led them out of Egypt and proved he would be with them in all situations if they just trusted in him. If they rested in him, their fortress, they would be protected and safe. God was creating in them a mindset that with him they were safe from all foes and could become a nation to be his influence in the world. Satan has tried to thwart this plan ever since.

Next time, we’ll see how God can accomplish the impossible in hardly any time at all. Give God a day, and one’s world can change drastically. I hope you join me.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

We find the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis chapters 10 and 11. Nimrod rebelled against God and created a kingdom rather than having people spread throughout the world as God had commanded. It is believed that this biblical figure is the same historical figure as Gilgamesh. He and his wife created a new, separate, religion apart from God where they worshipped the stars, the Nephilim, and all the hybrid creatures these fallen angels had made. This was likely the start of all the mythologies of the various cultures we know about today and became the counterfeit to what God established. His wife, Semiramis (Summer-amat) became known as Queen of Heaven and her son as Tammuz, the sun god, as he was touted to be a resurrection of his father, Nimrod, who supposedly had manifested himself in the sun after his death and had impregnated Summer-amat via rays of the sun.

Satan again tried to establish his one-world government through Nimrod (Gilgamesh) and to unite the people through a polytheistic form of worship that was opposed to God. As counter to this, God confused their language so they would have to obey his requirement to spread throughout the world (Gn 11:9). Man had become arrogant and full of pride and wanted to do things their way rather than how God wanted things to be done.

God worked differently this time. He demonstrated himself to be Jehovah Royi, the Lord my Shepherd. He forced the people to separate into various languages and dialects so they would spread throughout the earth as he ordained. Shepherds sometimes must do something drastic to some of his sheep to force them to obey him and prevent the other sheep from following along with the sheep that is disobedient. This is what God had to do in this situation as well. He showed himself to be El Kanna, Jealous God, by limiting how one group of humans could force their will onto the entire population – at least for a time. He wanted their worship and praise and was making every opportunity for them to do that. God was also Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our Peace, as it would be quite some time for mankind to overcome their differences and be able to act globally again. God protected man from Satan’s influence and made Satan have to start over again on his plan. Satan was not as brazen this time as he was previously, but he was certainly not subtle either.

Tune in next time when we will see how God began to work with a group of people to portray his character to the world and how Satan did all he could to prevent that.

Until then, God bless.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

We find the story of the Biblical world-wide Flood in Genesis chapters 6-9, and we find the purpose for the Flood in chapter 6, verses 1-10. Certain of Satan’s angels somehow married human women and had children by them (Gn 6:2). The Bible itself is somewhat cryptic of what actually occurred. This could be because the story was well known at the time, so the writer of Genesis (who is believed to be Moses), may not have thought detail was important.

At first glance, this chapter in Genesis sounds as if God is vindictive in his actions, and some have touted this to be the case, saying God was vindictive in the Old Testament, but loving in the New Testament. Yet, that can’t be the case. God states he doesn’t change (Ml 3:6) and that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hb 13:8). Therefore, something else must be going on here. One thing to consider is how words are translated from Hebrew into English. For example, the word translated “regret” in this passage actually means “a big sigh” in Hebrew. Now, if you have children, I’m sure you’ve given a big sigh yourself many times. That didn’t mean you were willing to get rid of your children but were deeply wounded and hurt by some of their decisions. I think that is how God was feeling here. While, granted, his actions were drastic, it would seem something bigger was at play here. We need to understand the why and not just the what. There are extra-Biblical sources, like the Book of Enoch, while not Scripture, which can at least give us a good flavor of what may have been happening during this time of Earth’s history.

The Book of Enoch tells us there may have been 200 angels involved in appearing on Earth and marrying human women. Their offspring became giants, called Nephilim (Gen 6:4). This extra-biblical source also states the height of these Nephilim when fully grown may have been up to 300 cubits (450 ft). That’s quite high: half the height of the Empire State building in New York City! Now, that could be an exaggeration, but this information certainly helps us see the gravity of the situation. With their large size came an extremely ravenous appetite. Mankind could not produce enough to feed them, so they ate birds, beasts, reptiles, and fish to satiate their hunger – including the animals’ blood. This turned the beasts of the earth violent.

Scripture also states these Nephilim became mankind’s heroes, men of renown (Gn 6:4). This would seem to imply they fought with each other, and humans looked up to them for their bravery and skill. The animal kingdom was originally designed to be one of peace and harmony, but Satan had now made it violent between beast of the animal kingdom and between men as well. Bloodshed became common whereas it was not supposed to be that way because God had set the world up to be a peaceful, accommodating place for humans. Satan polluted the creation God had made and turned it violent.

In addition, it seems Satan tried to remake mankind in his own image and changed humans from the way God had made them. He was infusing angel DNA into mankind’s genome. It seems the human genome was being subverted. Apparently only Noah and his family were the only ones left pure in their genome. The word “blameless” used in this passage can also mean “pure.”

The Flood was a way for God to not only bring judgment to the guilty but as a way to preserve humankind as God had made them.

Prior to the Flood, God had revealed himself utilizing three names. The first of these was Elohim. He was the Eternal God, the Creator, the Three-in-One. He was the one who had made everything. He also presented himself as Jehovah (or Yahweh). He was Lord, the Self-Existing One. He was without beginning or end. Uncreated. Omnipresent. Omniscient. Then, he was also Jehovah Elohim, the Lord God. He is the one who keeps his covenants.

Now, God was revealing himself through the manifestation of his characteristics. While these may have been announced in Scripture later, in hindsight we can see these traits being exhibited here as well. He was Jehovah Shaphat, the Lord Our Judge. He did away with all that Satan had made wrong. He wiped from the face of the earth those who had yielded to Satan and let their human genome become contaminated to be more like Satan. Yet, we see God was also El Rakhum, the Merciful God. He protected Noah and his family from judgment and allowed mankind to continue as he designed them. In addition, he presented himself as El Khanun, the Gracious God. He gave the people on the earth 120 years to repent and get ready for what was coming. God could have healed their bodies if they had repented, but, sadly, they did not. He demonstrated himself to be Jehovah Boray, The Lord the Creator. During the Flood, God re-sculpted the Earth through his judgment. The water canopy surrounding the earth collapsed producing a deluge, the waters under the earth broke forth to help produce enough water to cover the face of the entire earth. In addition, the continent(s) were further divided, producing large seas and oceans with mountains and valleys. The earth Noah and his family exited onto from the ark was very different from the earth they left to enter the ark. God also presented himself as El Amen, the Faithful God. He provided a promise which he will never go back on. The promises given to Adam were now given to Noah, and God promised to not destroy the world again by a Flood. The rainbow was given as a symbol for this promise.

In Satan’s first attempt to overthrow God’s efforts and set up his kingdom on the world, we see he was very brazen in his attempt. God was equally brazen in his response to Satan’s efforts so that he could preserve what he had created and given to Adam with a promise for his race to continue and for God to redeem them back to himself. Going forward we’ll see how Satan became less and less brazen in his efforts. Each attempt seemed to become more subtle, but just as deadly.

Join me next time when we’ll see how God showed up at the Tower of Babel. Until then, God bless!

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Perhaps you consider this a strange question because God is always with us, so he always shows up. While true, there are grander times, so to speak, when we expect God to do something on a grand scale. When does he show up to do that?

Let’s look at a few Biblical examples and then see if we can apply what we learn from those.

God first showed up at Creation, right? Do we know when that occurred? The short answer is No, but some people have tried.

Here are five individuals who have attempted to do just that. Of course, there are some assumptions that must be made which many who make such predictions seldom seem to point out. Yet, surprisingly, they all came to the same general conclusion as they used the Bible as their main source of predictability.

James Usher was an Archbishop of the Church of Ireland in the 17th century. He arrived at the date of 4004 BCE for the year of Creation, and this seems to be the date most used by Christian scholars (but typically not Jewish scholars).

Then there is Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author, who also lived in the 17th century. He predicted the year of Creation to be very close to that predicted by Usher: 4000 BCE.

Then Johann Kepler, the famous German astronomer who lived in the 16th century, predicted 3992 BCE.

Then there was Venerable Bede who was a monk in Northumbria, Scotland who lived in the 8th century, and who dated Creation to occur in 3953 BCE.

Then there is Yose ben Halafta, a Rabbi in Sepphoris, Israel, in 2nd century who derived the year of Creation to be 3761 BCE, and this is the year the Jewish calendar typically goes by.

Many who try to predict when Christ will return abide by the notion that the six days of creation are symbolic of God working in 1,000-year intervals. They believe each day of creation to be an actual 24-hour day but believe the creation week to be a template for the time for the Earth to exist. This is based upon two scriptures (2Pt 3:8 and Ps 90:4) which state, “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day,” and “a thousand years in your sight are like a day.”

If literal, then Earth will exist for 6000 years and then the Millennial Kingdom will represent the final 1000-year interval because it is symbolic of the Sabbath, a day of rest after Creation was accomplished. This thereby gives the total time of Earth’s existence to be 7000 years to match the creation week.

So, after 4,000 years following Creation, Christ was born, died, and rose again. Then after an additional 2,000 years, Christ will return and set up his earthly kingdom. If we take into account that Christ will return after 6000 years (meaning his second coming), then we have to take away 7 years for the length attributed to the Tribulation Period and then add a year since there is no year 0, to come up with a year of Christ appearing in the sky for the Rapture Event that ranges, based upon the five years for Creation which was just presented, from 1990 CE to 2233 CE – quite the span:

Usher: 6000-4004+1= 1997 – 7 = 1990 CE (a year in the past)

Newton: 6000-4000+1= 2001 – 7 = 1994 CE (a year in the past)

Kepler: 6000-3992+1= 2009 – 7 = 2005 CE (a year in the past)

Bede: 6000-3953+1= 2048 – 7 = 2041 CE (18 years from now)

Halafta: 6000-3761+1= 2240 – 7 = 2233 CE (210 years from now)

This indicates that, while, in general, it looks like they came up with roughly the same year for creation, when looking at more specific details, they are vastly different.

Knowing that the Rapture has not yet occurred, this means three of these dates are already incorrect. Of the remaining two, it means the Rapture could happen from 18 to 210 years from now. What does this mean? Either you believe the first three predictions of Creation were incorrect and the Rapture is close or far away, or it means we cannot go by dates – which the Bible has already told us (Mt 24:36).

Yet, what this can do for us is allow us to put a historical timeline together to help us see when various occurrences happened in history. This allows us to compare what happened in the Bible with other known extra Biblical events. This is very useful for our understanding of our history.

Also, knowing these dates can help us have a better understanding of the order of Biblical events. For example, if we break the timeline into 500-year gaps of time, we can memorize the following:

~4000 BCE– Creation (4004 BCE)

3500 BCE – Jared, father of Enoch (3544 BCE)

3000 BCE – Noah (2948 BCE)

2500 BCE – Shem (2446 BCE)

2000 BCE – Abraham (1996 BCE)

1500 BCE – Moses (1491 BCE)

1000 BCE – David (1060 BCE)

500 BCE – Return from Babylonian Captivity & Dedication of 2nd Temple (516 BCE)

0 – Birth of Christ (2 BCE)

500 CE – Bible Ratified (397 CE – Council of Carthage)

1000 CE – Schism (1054 CE) & Crusades (1095 CE)

1500 CE – Protestant Reformation (1517 CE)

2000 CE – World Economic Forum (1971 CE)

Now let’s look at some of these more specifically and see how God showed up. But before we do that, we need to understand that God didn’t show up and say, “I’m God. Listen to me.” No, he demonstrated various characteristics of himself and presented himself by using many different names to suit the occasion of what was going on at the time. God is multidimensional and has presented himself and his different characteristics over time. In hindsight, we can see that he had these characteristics even before he officially presented or announced a specific characteristic of himself. We want to see how God presented himself differently in each example we are going to go through. We will see that he rarely presents himself the same way twice and adapts how he will reveal himself to the situation at hand.

We now want to go through several examples of how God showed up and presented himself for the occasion. We’ll investigate the first example next time. I hope you join me to see how he showed up during the time of the Biblical Flood. Until then, God bless!

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Promise: © 1295 BC (Joshua 9:1-27)

Year of Promise Broken: © 1051 (2 Samuel 21:1)

Time until fulfillment: ~ 244 years

As previously noted, God made many prophecies through people He chose to speak for Him. These usually spoke proclaiming their words were directly from God. However, others spoke prophecies that they themselves spoke, although they were God inspired. In addition, God sometimes held people to the promises they made as well. An example of that is presented here.

When Joshua and the Israelite army started their conquests in Canaan, the people from the town of Gibeon decided to try trickery to save their lives. God had told the Israelites to drive out completely all those who lived in Canaan, over time, and not to make any covenants with them (Ex 23:31-33). However, having seen their neighbors being wiped out by Israel, the people of Gibeon, descendants of the Amorites (2Sa 21:2) of whose land was promised to Israel through Abraham (Gn 15:21) and who lived in a nearby section of Canaan, put on old clothes, packed moldy bread, and feigned they had traveled a long distance. They did this so they could make a peace treaty with Israel and would agree to be their servants if Israel agreed to spare their lives (Js 9:1-13). Joshua and the leaders, knowing God’s command to them about the inhabitants of Canaan (Js 9:7), did not trust them at first, but later believed them. Yet, they did not seek the Lord in regard to their decision (Js 9:14). Later, Joshua found out about the ruse, and made the Gibeonites slaves to Israel (Js 9:15-27).

However, during the time of Saul, the first king of Israel (1Sa 11:17-25), Saul tried to annihilate the Gibeonites (2Sa 21:2) and God showed his displeasure by sending a 3-year famine during the reign of King David (2Sa 21:1). The reason God did this is unknown but may be tied to the command God had given Israel, which stated the alien within their land should be treated as native-born (Lv 19:33-34). When David asked the Gibeonites what they wanted for retribution, they replied they wanted seven of Saul’s sons delivered to them for execution (2Sa 21:6). This was done and later, David gathered their remains as well as those of Saul and Jonathan, who had previously died in battle, and buried them in a family tomb within Saul’s family (2Sa 21:7-14), and God again blessed the land (2Sa 21:14).

You may find this a bizarre story. I will admit it is one of the more unusual stories in the Bible. Yet, it does show how seriously God takes his promises and the promises of those who he has placed in charge. Even after 200 years, God still held to what Joshua had promised the Gibeonites. Maybe Saul focused on the deception of the Gibeonites and felt he was being patriotic by taking them out. This is a caution to us to understand carefully the history of an event before we take action based upon our own beliefs without all the facts. God upheld Joshua’s original promise, and Saul should have also. I think we can see time is inconsequential to God. We cannot use it as an excuse.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: © 1745 BC (Genesis 49:5-7)

Year of Fulfillment: © 1295 BC (Joshua 19:1-9; 21:1-42)

Time until fulfillment: ~ 450 years

As we have noted, God made many prophecies through people He chose to speak for Him. These usually spoke as their words being directly from God. However, others spoke prophecies that they themselves spoke, although they were God inspired. One example of this was Jacob pronouncing that both Simeon and Levi would have no major inheritance.

When Jacob was on his deathbed, he gathered his sons around him and stated what would happen to them in coming years (Gn 49:1). For Simeon and Levi, he stated the following, “I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel” (Gn 49:7). The reason for this goes back to earlier days of Jacob’s life when he had left his father-in-law, Laban, to return to be near his father. He dwelt in Shechem in Canaan and bought a plot of ground there (Gn 33:18-19). Jacob’s daughter, Dinah (and the sister to Simeon and Levi), started interacting with the local women and became involved with the son of Hamor, the ruler of that area. Hamor’s son wanted to marry her but had already had intercourse with her prior to this request (Gn 34:2-4). Simeon and Levi were enraged at this but kept their anger to themselves—for a time. They told Hamor that in order for his son to marry Dinah, all the males of the city had to be circumcised. While the men were still very sore and unable to fight well, Simeon and Levi killed every male and brought their sister back to their home (Gn 34:13-31). Jacob was very displeased with his sons, and scolded them, but took no further action (Gn 34:30-31).

Hundreds of years passed after Jacob’s prediction. The Israelites were made slaves in Egypt for 430 years (Ex 12:40), they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years (Js 5:6), and they had several years of conquest before each tribe finally had their inheritance provided (Js 13-21). Who remembered what Jacob said by that time? Also, there was no specific attempt in Joshua 13-21 to limit these two inheritances. However, God did not forget. The tribe of Levi became the priests, and they had no specific parcel of land, but had certain cities throughout the land assigned to them (Js 21). Simeon was given an inheritance within the territory of Judah (Js 19:1-9). Therefore, Simeon had no clearly defined area, just a number of cities mentioned. Later, by the time the kingdom of Israel was divided into the Northern (Israel) and Southern (Judah) kingdoms (1Ki 12), Simeon is not mentioned. The Southern Kingdom was stated to be composed of Judah and Benjamin (1Ki 12:21). There is some evidence that some descendants of Simeon migrated east of the Jordan (1Ch 4:38-43) and may have been taken captive with the Northern Kingdom by Assyria.  However, for the most part, it seems that most of Simeon had been absorbed into Judah’s territory. God ensured that Jacob’s prediction came true. The process of time did not change the outcome. Although people forgot, God did not.

I think this helps us to see that we can rely upon what God promises or what is recorded in his Word. We may think time has a way of diluting or dissolving things, but we would be wrong.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: © 1462 BC (Leviticus 23)

Year of Fulfillment:  32 AD (Matthew 21:1-11; 27:32 - 28:15; Mark 11:1-11; 15:21 - 16:14; Luke 19:28-44; 23:26 - 24:12; John 12:12-19; 19:16 - 20:18; Acts 2)

Time until fulfillment: ~ 1494 years

The prophecy through the feast of Israel is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the tenth of the ten examples.

God has a way of interweaving multiple aspects and meanings into events so that they are meaningful for the present, for the past, and for the future. This is especially true for the feasts that He provided to the nation of Israel in Leviticus. They were practically meaningful to the Israelites since God tied many of them to the different harvests times, but also made them memorials to commemorate His appointment with them so they could look back on the events and their original occurrence to see how He had guided and protected them and to give a visual to what He would be doing in their future. Their significance cannot be understated, because they were to be held in perpetuity (Ex 12:14, 17, 24; Lev 23:14, 21, 41). We will briefly look at four of them here since in our “present”, their “future fulfillment” has already occurred.

Feast of Passover (Pesach; 14th day of the first month: Lev 23:5)

Passover is probably the most known feast and the one which most people identify with those being Jewish. It commemorates the exodus of the children of Israel, under the leadership of Moses, from Egyptian slavery (Ex 12). The preparation for the feast began on the 10th day of the first month (Ex 12:3), called Preparation Day, when a lamb was chosen for Passover. The animals were to be examined to be sure they were without defect (Ex 12:5). This Preparation Day has demarcated other significant events in Jewish history. It was the day Joshua led the children of Israel across the Jordan River into the Promised Land (Js 4:19), and the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey (Zc 9:9; Mt 21:1-17; Mk 11:1-11; Lk 19:28-48; Jn 12:12-17). Since Jesus ate with Lazarus six days before Passover (Jn 12:1), being the ninth day of the First Month, this indicates His entry into Jerusalem was on the tenth day of the First Month.

Passover itself was held on the 14th day of the First Month (Ex 12:6, Lv 23:5). Since the day began at sundown (Gn 1:5), the lamb was slaughtered just before sundown (Ex 12:6; i.e., on the 13th day) and roasted over a fire. Therefore, the Passover meal was observed at the start of Passover (i.e., that night, the beginning of Passover). On that first Passover, the people took the lamb’s blood and marked it on the sides and top of the doorframe (Ex 12:7), which, if these marks were connected, would form a cross. The people then ate the meat of the lamb roasted in the fire, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread (Ex 12:8). Each subsequent Passover was observed as a memorial of this ‘passing over’; blood was sprinkled only on this first Passover (Dt 16:1, 3). The Passover sacrifice could only be done in the place God would choose as a dwelling for His Name (Dt 16:5). Jerusalem was the place God chose for His dwelling (2Ch 3:1, 1Ki 8:29), and the place where Christ was later crucified (Mt 27:22-56; Mk 15:12-41; Lk 23:13-49; Jn 19:1-37).

Therefore, Preparation Day marks judgment and Passover marks deliverance. During the exodus, the lamb was secured so that its blood would deliver the Israelites from the judgment of death (Ex 12:12-13). When the Israelites crossed the Jordan, they consecrated themselves to the Lord (Js 3:5) and stones were erected to signify God’s fulfilled promise of their deliverance (Js 4:19-24). When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the colt, he spoke of judgment as well (Jn 12:30-32) which was a fulfillment of the judgment of which the prophet Isaiah had spoken (Is 6:10, 53:1; Jn 12:38-40) due to their spiritual blindness. Jesus was then crucified on Passover about the same time as when the lamb was slain for Passover (Jn 19:31). Therefore, just as the lamb from the original Passover saved the Israelites from physical death, Jesus, the Lamb of God, saves us from spiritual death (1Co 5:17).

These events are not mere coincidence and are mentioned in the Bible for their significance. The original Passover then pointed to the purpose of Jesus Christ’s first coming. The prophet Daniel even pinpointed the time in history when Christ would be presented to Israel (Dn 9:25-26). The time from the decree of Artaxerxes given to Nehemiah (Ne 1-2) to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls and defenses until Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt was 483 years, as stated by Daniel. Therefore, the end of the 483 years or “until Messiah the Prince” (Dn 9:25) was in 33 A.D. Both Daniel (Dn 9:25) and Zechariah (Zc 9:9) refer to Christ as a Prince or King. Therefore, Christ was presenting himself to Israel as their King as prophesied; however, the Jewish leaders rejected him (Lk 19:47, Jn 12:37). Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they did not recognize him or his significance to them and for the judgment that would befall them (Lk 19:41-44). If the Jewish leaders were such scholars of the Scriptures as they claimed (Jn 9:34), they should have known to have looked for him on that very day since Daniel had prophesied, and recorded, it so many years prior. God had given them many years to understand the prophecy. Besides, they knew of the Magi and their seeking of the Messiah’s birth (Mt 2:3-6). All they had to do was put two and two together; but alas, history records their rejection through spiritual blindness (Is 6:10, Jn 12:37-40) instead.

Feast of Unleavened Bread (Matzah; 15th - 21st day of the first month: Lv 23:6-8)

This feast followed immediately after Passover with the first and last days of the feast being Sabbaths (or days set aside from normal activities). During the Exodus, unleavened bread (bread without yeast) was eaten because they left Egypt in haste and did not have time to make bread with yeast (Ex 12:34). Leaven (or yeast) symbolizes sin and how its effects readily permeate one’s life (1Co 5:7-8; Ga 5:9). Three commandments were given with this feast: i) to sanctify (or dedicate to the Lord) their firstborn (Ex 13:2), ii) remember the Exodus by eating unleavened bread (Ex 13:6), and iii) to observe the feast when they entered the Promised Land (Ex 13:5, Js 5:11). These commandments symbolized God’s deliverance (God protected their firstborn while those of the Egyptians died), their separation from the moral pollution of Egypt and their separation unto God (Js 5:9), and their recognition of God keeping His promise to Abraham (Gn 13:15). They were to also teach their children of this significance (Ex 13:8) to remind them of the historical appointment the nation had with God on that day as well as the lesson of separation and holiness.

This feast speaks of sanctification, a separation from something/someone and a separation unto something/someone else. The first Sabbath of the feast commemorated the day the Israelites left Egypt (Ex 13:3) and crossed the Red Sea - separating themselves from Egypt. The completion of this feast, the second Sabbath, was not held until they entered Canaan, the Promised Land (Ex 13:5; Js 5:10-11). The five days in between these two Sabbath days then represented the period of time the children of Israel were in the wilderness. Therefore, the first Sabbath was the Israelites separation of Egypt and unto the Lord, after which they grew in their relationship to God during their travels to the Promised Land. The final Sabbath of the feast represented the finality of their Egyptian separation (Js 5:9).

Since Christ’s death occurred just before the beginning of Passover (Mk 15:42-43; Lk 23:54; Jn 19:42), Jesus’ sinless (unleavened) body was in the tomb during the beginning of the feast of unleavened bread. Therefore, this symbolizes his death and the accomplished positional sanctification in those who believe in Him (1Co 6:11; 2Th 2:13; 1Pt 1:2; Hb 13:12). Just as the Jews (slaves) were separated from the Egyptians (masters), the apostle Paul states that through the shed blood of Christ’s death for our sin, we are now separated from our former masters, Sin and Satan (Ro 6:1-7:6). Therefore, the first part has already been accomplished through Christ’s death. However, the prophetic nature of the remainder of this feast is now and future. Those who are believers have the capacity to be conformed to the image of Christ (1Co 2:16; Pp 1:6), and are therefore undergoing progressive sanctification. Final sanctification (or glorification) will occur in the future when Christ makes us like Him (1Th 3:13; 1Jn 3:2).

Feast of First Fruits (Bikkurim; 16th day of the first month: Lv 23:9-14)

The first occurrence of this feast was not until the Israelites entered Canaan (Lv 23:10; Js 5:11-12). As was noted above, the Israelites entered the Promised Land on the 10th day of the First Month. This was the beginning of the harvest season—first barley and then wheat. This six-month period enabled the Israelites to eat off the land during their conquest of the land (Js 5:12).  This demonstrates the appropriateness of God’s timing. After crossing the Jordan River, the Israelites recommitted themselves to God by reinstating the rite of circumcision (Js 5:2) which God has provided as a symbol of His covenant with Abraham (Gn 17:9-14). The Israelites then observed the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of First Fruits (Js 5:10-12). It is noted that they did eat roasted ‘old corn’ (i.e., corn they did not personally gather) on the day after Passover (Js 5:11). They did not eat of the new grain until the wave offering of the new grain was made and presented to the Lord (Lv 23:14). Although this feast occurred at the time of the first harvest, the feast of First Fruits memorialized the event of entering the Promised Land; it did not function as an agricultural or fertility feast as some of the surrounding nations perhaps practiced, and was later expanded to thank God for his provision and acknowledge His supremacy over all.

The apostle Paul interprets the significance of this feast by declaring that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the first fruit of our resurrection to come (1Co 15:20). Therefore, just as Christ was crucified just before Passover and his body was in the tomb on the first day of Unleavened Bread, His resurrection occurred on the day of First Fruits. The idea of “first fruit” is giving the best of something with it being a representative of what is to come. Physically, this represented the coming crops. Spiritually, Christ’s resurrection symbolized the first fruits of resurrection with a whole harvest of resurrected believers to someday follow (1Th 4:13-17).

Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost (Shavuot; 5th day of the third month: Lv 23:15-22)

Pentecost was held 50 days after the Feast of First Fruits (Lv 23:16). During the Exodus, this timeframe put them at the foot of Mt. Sinai (Ex 19:1-2). Although not celebrated until they reached the Promised Land, it is likely that the time of this feast marked the ratification of the Mosaic Covenant by the Israelites.  Once the Israelites entered Canaan, this feast marked the beginning of the wheat harvest, 50 days after the barley harvest. A first-fruit of the wheat harvest was also to be offered to the Lord (Lv 23:16-18). There is a major difference between the two offerings of these two harvests. When presenting the first-fruit of the barley harvest, one unleavened loaf was presented (Ex 12:15; Lv 23:10-11). This offering had to be unleavened because the Feast of First Fruit was held during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lv 23:4-14). However, during the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), two leavened loaves were offered (Lv 23:17). Also, during both harvests, grain was left at the edges of the fields for the poor and for non-Jews (Lv 23:22). This is further demonstrated when Ruth, a Moabitess (a Gentile), was allowed to glean during the barley and wheat harvests from the field of Boaz (a Jew) without reprimand (Ru 1:22, 2:21-23).

Luke refers to the prophetic significance of this feast when he stated in Acts 2:1, “and when the day of Pentecost was fully come,” indicating that a future fulfillment of the feast was about to occur. What occurred at this time was the giving of the Holy Spirit (Ac 2). This was a paradigm shift of how God related to man. After Acts 2, with the nation of Israel temporarily set aside (Ro 11:25), along with the Temple, God began to work with individuals rather than with a nation with each person’s body becoming the Temple for the Holy Spirit (1Co 3:16). Therefore, since the giving of the Law and the establishment of the nation of Israel as the medium through whom God would reveal Himself to man occurred at, or near, the first Pentecost, and was also a significant paradigm shift in God’s relation to man, it would seem logical that this second paradigm shift would also have occurred at Pentecost.

Therefore, the two loaves made of finely ground wheat flour and leaven (yeast) were doubly symbolic of both Jews and Gentiles together to which Jesus alluded to in his teaching the disciples that he had food to which they know not of (Jn 4:32) with his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar (Jn 4), which began with the giving of the Holy Spirit (Ac 2), which God taught to Peter in a vision (Ac 10:15) right before the first Gentile received the Holy Spirit (Ac 10:24-48), and by which God made Paul, a Jew, an apostle to Gentiles (Ac 9:15). This is also to what Paul spoke when he stated that the partition (the Balustrade: the partition in the Temple beyond which a Gentile could no longer go) had been removed by Christ and His death for mankind’s sin (Ep 2:12-16). The apostles also recognized this as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Ac 15:15-18; Am 9:11-2; Ob 17, 19-21).

As we have seen, these four feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost) had national, practical, memorial, and prophetic significance. They are grouped in the first three months of the Jewish calendar and for the most part have been fulfilled in our current past. The next feasts did not occur until the seventh month with the next three also occurring in close proximity to each other. These three are still in our present future.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: © 500 BC (Ezekiel 26)

Year of Fulfillment: 356 BC

Time until fulfillment: ~144 years

The prophecy against Tyre is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the ninth of ten.

When Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land, not all the Canaanites were destroyed (Jd 1:27-36), and although the city of Tyre was part of Asher’s inheritance (Js 19:24-31), it remained a fortified city (Js 19:29). By the time of King David, there was peace between Tyre and Israel (1Ki 5:1), and the king of Tyre helped Solomon build the Temple in Jerusalem by supplying materials and workers (1Ki 5:2-12). This peace ended during the reign of Ahab, king of Israel. Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of Sidon (and Tyre), who brought the worship of Baal to Israel (1Ki 16:31) which included the sacrifice of living children.  Later, the Phoenicians started to sell Jewish captives as slaves to the Greeks to which the prophet Joel prophesied against (Jl 3:4-6).

After Nebuchadnezzar took Zedekiah, king of Judah, and Jerusalem, captive, Nebuchadnezzar also took Palestine, Syria and cities on the coast, including Tyre (after a 13-year siege in 573 BC), captive. The inhabitants fled to an island part of the city about one-half mile offshore. The channel between them and the shore was about 20 miles deep; the walls facing the shore were 150 feet high, and the walls on the other sides stood sheer against the sea; shore-based artillery were useless at such a range. The citizens of Tyre now considered their city impregnable. It stood until the time of Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC). When Alexander defeated Sidon, Tyre sent him their good wishes and support. However, when Alexander asked to be allowed to sacrifice to the shrine of Heracles inside their city (a god whom Alexander claimed to be of descent), Tyre refused. Wishing to come to amicable terms, Alexander sent envoys to Tyre, but they were killed and thrown over the city walls into the sea. Becoming very angry, Alexander determined to build a causeway into the sea to be able to fight against the city. He used every stone and timber left of the original city and threw them into the sea to build this connection to the new city - 60 feet wide all the way to the island.  Although the citizens of Tyre tried to stop Alexander and his troops, Alexander was much too determined. When the causeway was within artillery range, Alexander used stone throwers and light catapults reinforcing them with archers and slingers for a saturation barrage. During the time it took to build the causeway, Alexander built a fleet from the conquered nations to attack Tyre as well. Alexander succeeded in taking the city after a seven-month siege in 332 BC.

Tyre never recovered to its former glory. Yet, it did manage to recover. Antigonius, a successor of Alexander the Great, later besieged the city. Also, during the Crusades, the Muslims further destroyed the inhabitants and the city. All that remains today is a local fishing village, named Sứr, where fishermen spread their nets to dry and to repair.

Every event which Ezekiel prophesied came true. In Ezekiel 26, God made the following proclamations concerning Tyre:

• Many nations would come against Tyre (Ek 26:3)

• The walls of Tyre would be broken down (Ek 26:4)

• Dust would be scraped from her, and she would be left like a bare rock (Ek 26:4)

• Tyre would be a place for the spreading of nets (Ek 26:5)

• Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, would build a siege wall around Tyre (Ek 26:8)

• Nebuchadnezzar would plunder the city (Ek 26:9-12)

• The stones, timber and soil of Tyre would be cast into the sea (Ek 26:12)

• The city would never be rebuilt (Ek 26:14).

Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the original city and Alexander used everything left to build the causeway across the channel to the island city. The city on the mainland was never rebuilt. Again, we can trust what God tells us.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: © 650 BC  (Nahum)

Year of Fulfillment: 612 BC 

Time until fulfillment: ~38 years

The prophecy against Nineveh is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the eighth of ten.

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. It had a very long history. It was originally built by Nimrod (Gen 10:8-12) around 6000 BC. It was a beautiful city of wide boulevards, large squares, parks and gardens. The city was 700 hectares large with 15 gates—each named after an Assyrian god. The walls were 12 km in circumference. Aqueducts and canals lead water from sources in the hills 50 km away. The surrounding area was an agrarian society which used intricate irrigation systems which fed the agriculture.  Most housing was of mud bricks with only one story and flat roofs. Most people of that time had modest housing, but palaces and temples could cover large areas inside the city. These would be quite ornate due to highly skilled craftsmen with expertise in sculpture.

The Assyrians were noted for their vast knowledge in warfare and organization. Their literature covered legal issues, medicine, and history. Large libraries were built. Because of the Assyrian obsession with war and invasion, knowledge in many areas increased due to assimilation of all these diverse people. In science and mathematics, they were the first to divide the circle into 360 degrees and the first to invent longitude and latitude in geographic navigation.  For their time, they had sophisticated medical sciences. They obtained all this at a great price. Their actions to other peoples were ruthless. The following has been noted: they flung away the bodies of soldiers like so much clay; they made pyramids of human heads; they burned cities; they filled populous lands with death and devastation; they reddened broad deserts with carnage of warriors; they scattered whole countries with the corpses of their defenders as with chaff; they impaled 'heaps of men' on stakes, and strewed the mountains and choked rivers with dead bones; they cut off the hands of kings and nailed them on the walls leaving their bodies to rot with bears and dogs on the entrance gates of cities; they employed nations of captives in making brick in fetters; they cut down warriors like weeds, or smote them like wild beasts in the forests, and covered pillars with the flayed skins of rival monarchs.

About 150 years prior to Nahum’s prophecy, the prophet Jonah had prophesied against the city as well, but both the people and their king repented (Jh 3:3-10). This time, the judgment was assured and final (Na 3:19). The fulfillment came in 612 BC when Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon, took his army, attacking from the south, and united with the Medes and Scythians, attacking from the north, to lay siege against Nineveh. The walls were too thick to penetrate, so the decision was made to starve them out. This took over 3 years and several massive attacks which were unsuccessful.  During this time, the Assyrians became so confident in the failure of their attackers that they began to hold parties becoming drunk in their revelry. An oracle had told the king he would be safe until the river became his enemy.  During the siege, the Tigris River became so swelled due to heavy rains that it caused one part of the wall to collapse. Seeing this as a sign of doom, the king of Nineveh took his household and possessions and committed mass suicide so as not to fall into the hands of the Babylonians. The people opened the gates of the city to Nabopolassar; however, no mercy was bestowed onto the city. It was completely destroyed. When Alexander the Great came through this area during his conquests, he could not even tell that a city had ever been there. All the greatness that Nineveh and the whole known world knew of Nineveh had all been forgotten. All of this had been prophesied by the prophet Nahum: an "overflowing flood" would "make an utter end of its place" (Na 1:8); Nineveh would be destroyed while her inhabitants were "drunken like drunkards" (Na 1:10); Nineveh would be unprotected because "fire shall devour the bars of your gates" (Na 3:13); Nineveh would never recover, for their "injury has no healing" (Na 3:19); the downfall of Nineveh would come with remarkable ease, like figs falling when the tree is shaken (Na 3:12).

Nineveh’s destruction was swift and complete (Na 2:6-11; Is 10:5-19). Nineveh and her people had once repented from their actions (Jh 3:6-9), but now are destroyed because of their pride (Is 5:12).  Nineveh was lost to history until 1845 AD. Great palaces and temples have been excavated and the evidence indicates that the destruction of the city was due not only to invasion but by flood and fire, just as was prophesied. This should serve as solemn council to all nations who hold that the greatness of their past ensures its continued future and greatness.

Again, we can trust in what God tells us. This should be both comforting as well as a warning. There are many things in scripture which are promised to us which we can claim. Yet, there is also coming destruction and judgment predicted. Are you ready for those as well? You can be. It’s just a simple conversation with the God of all promises.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: ©689 BC (Isaiah 45:1)

Year of Fulfillment: 539 BC (2 Chronicles 36:20-23; Daniel 5:30-31)

Time until fulfillment: ~150 years

The prophecy that Cyrus would defeat Babylon is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the seventh of ten.

Cyrus II (also known as Cyrus the Great) was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire that continued for two centuries until the time of Alexander the Great. He inherited the throne at his father’s death, Cambyses I, in 559 BC and soon managed to unify the Median and Persian kingdoms into a single nation. Then, in 539 BC, he went after the kingdom of Babylon. Over the previous 14 years, Babylon had not had strong leadership, for its king Nabonidus had not been in the city during this time and he had left his son, Belshazzar, in charge of affairs in Babylon (Dn 5). Nabonidus had also fallen into disfavor with the Babylonian priesthood. Cyrus attacked Opis on the Tigris River defeating the Babylonians and causing Nabonidus to flee and later return to Babylon.  This gave Cyrus control of Babylon’s vast canal system. According to Herodotus, Cyrus had the Euphrates River, upriver from Babylon, diverted enough to cause the water level flowing through Babylon to drop to the height of one’s thigh and enabled the Persian army to march through the riverbed into Babylon during the night and capture the city. Cyrus himself entered Babylon shortly thereafter and proclaimed himself “king of Babylon.”

The prophet Isaiah predicted this long before it ever occurred. Isaiah was a prophet during the reigns of the Judean kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (Is 1:1). He began his ministry around 740 BC and may have lived into the first part of the reign of Manasseh.  Isaiah prophesied to both Israel and Judah. The main world influence during the time of Isaiah was the Assyrian Empire. The main subject of the first 12 chapters of the book of Isaiah is the prophecy of the demise of Israel by Assyria in three stages.  Although Isaiah warned, Israel did not heed. Then, starting in chapter 13, Isaiah turns to Judah and predicts the punishment of Judah for the same reasons God allowed the destruction of Israel by Assyria. The interesting thing about the prophecy against Judah is that Isaiah prophesied the overtaking of Judah by Babylon and the demise of Babylon long before Babylon was anything to write home about. It was another century before Babylon came onto the world scene as a nation with which to be reckoned. Not only did Isaiah predict the invasion of Judah by Babylon almost a century before it occurred, but he then predicted that Judah would return to their homeland and by whom it would occur. This definitely shows that God is in control of all situations. The prophet Jeremiah would later prophesy that Babylon would take Israel captive for 70 years under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar (Jr 25). However, Jeremiah was not very specific in what would happen to Israel at the end of this 70-year period. He states that Babylon will be punished and enslaved by other nations, but not specifically about Israel’s return. By Isaiah giving specific prophesy about Israel’s return and under whose reign it would happen, it gave the people hope and assured them that it would occur—especially to those who were keeping track of the years of captivity. This must have been very exciting to Daniel when he realized that he was living during the time of fulfillment of these prophesies by Jeremiah and Isaiah (Dn 9:1-2).

This should be exciting to us as well. Why? It means whatever God has recorded in His Scripture will come to pass and we can be sure of it. Do you know what promises you can claim? Maybe it’s time to read and find out.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: 606 BC (Jeremiah 29:10)

Year of Fulfillment: 536 BC (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4)

Time until fulfillment: 70 years

The prophecy that Babylonian captivity would last 70 years is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the sixth of ten.

This prophecy of Jeremiah was actually made by him in 597 BC when he wrote a letter to the 10,000 captives that had been taken captive with Jehoiachin (2Ki 24:14) to tell them to plant gardens because they would be in Babylon a long time—70 years to be exact (Jr 29:10). However, 8 years earlier (605 BC), Nebuchadnezzar had fought with Necho, king of Egypt at the battle of Carchemish, and defeated him making Judah a Babylonian vassal state (2Ki 24:1) and took captives to Babylon (Dan 1:1-5). This was the beginning of captivity that Jeremiah used for his timetable. In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, Cyrus decreed that the Jews could return and build their temple in Jerusalem (2Ch 36:22-23; Er 1:1-4). This occurred in 537 BC. This difference in years from the battle of Carchemish to Cyrus’ decree is 68 years by simple subtraction. However, one must take into account the Jewish way of counting years. After leaving Egypt, Israel began having their year start in the spring (Ex 12:2; 13:3-4) but the practice of sabbatical years started in the fall (Lv 25:1-4) with the count starting from the Day of Atonement in the seventh month of the year (Lv 25:8-9). Most nations had their king’s years start in the spring and is how Jeremiah states that the battle of Carchemish occurred in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jr 46:2); however, Daniel states he was taken captive in the third year of Jehoiakim (Dn 1:1). Since both events occurred within the same year, this seems a discrepancy. Both would be correct if Jeremiah was counting the king’s year starting in the spring and Daniel from the Jewish perspective of the fall. It is highly likely that Daniel was counting the years according to the sabbatical year system since God had stated that Israel would be in Babylonian captivity a year for each sabbatical year not observed (2Ch 36:20). Therefore, the beginning of the year Daniel was taken captive would be in the fall of 606 BC. The Israelites settled back into Jerusalem after Cyrus’ decree in the seventh month (Er 3:1) and the official end seems to be the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles (Er 3:1-4). Since this feast is after the Day of Atonement, it would put them into the following year according to the sabbatical year counting system. Therefore, from the Israelite captivity by Nebuchadnezzar during the reign of Jehoiakim until the official consecration of being back into their homeland after Cyrus’ decree was indeed 70 years.

I think this helps us with two things. First, God is sure to keep his promises even when they seem impossible, or people forget about them. Second, “discrepancies” that are claimed to be in the Bible are actually not discrepancies at all when one understands all the details. We can rely upon God because he is indeed faithful (1Co 1:9).

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Year of Prophecy: © 765 BC ,  (Book of Amos)

Year of Fulfillment: ©722 BC  (2 Kings 17:3-6)

Time until fulfillment: ~43 years

The prophecy of the captivity of Israel by Assyria is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the fourth of ten.

Although Amos was the first prophet to prophecy of the capture of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, he was not the last. The prophet Hosea picked up where Amos left off. Other prophets like Isaiah and Micah also prophesied against Israel. The fall of Israel to Assyria occurred during the lifetime of these later three prophets.

Also, approximately 70 years before Amos, the prophet Joel prophesied against the Southern Kingdom of Judah similarly and compared the Assyrians to locusts. Joel first reminded Judah of the invasion of locusts they had encountered and how it occurred in four phases with each more destructive than the previous (Jl 1:4). Joel then calls the people to repentance (1:13-20) where he is probably thinking back to Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 11 where Moses stated that this type of punishment would come because of sins of disobedience. Joel then informed Judah that an army was coming “such as never was of old nor ever will be” (2:2). Joel contrasted this army with the locusts that had devastated the land earlier. The locusts left nothing; neither would this army (2:3). The number of the army would be just as vast as the locusts; one would be able to hear them coming from a far distance (2:5). As they came, all obstacles would seem futile to them: they would appear to leap over mountains (2:5), scale walls, and enter houses without resistance (2:9). The invasion would be relentless; it would keep coming, not swerving from their course (2:7). As the locusts blotted out the sun by their numbers, so would this army (2:10). Joel then again asked Judah to repent (2:12-17) so that the Lord would have pity on them and reclaim His land (2:18). Then the Lord would make food plentiful (2:19), drive away enemies (2:20), send the needed rain showers (2:23), and they would have plenty (2:24). But first, they must repent. This description that Joel gave shows just how relentless and cruel the Assyrians could be to those deemed enemies.

From the time of Jonah’s ministry (785-772 BC) when the king of Nineveh repented (Jh 3:6-9) until approximately 40 years later, Israel received no confrontation with Assyria. However, in 745 BC, when Tiglath-pileser III came to the throne, all that changed. King Menahem of Israel was able to buy off Tiglath-pileser with 50 shekels of silver for each man: 60,000 men for a total of 37 tons of silver! (2Ki 15:19-20). Less than a decade later, Pekah, a later king of Israel, tried to force Ahaz, the king of Judah, into an alliance against Assyria (2Ki 16). Tiglath-pileser then took more of Israel’s cities and people captive and set Hoshea up as a puppet king over Israel (2Ki 15:29-30). Five years later, Shalmaneser V, the king of Assyria after Tiglath-pileser, besieged the capital city of Samaria because Hoshea had failed to pay the customary tribute to Assyria and had tried to gain the help of Egypt (2Ki 17:3-6). The siege lasted for 3 years (2Ki 17:5) during which time Shalmaneser V died and Sargon II completed the conquest in 722 BC. Sargon then intermixed the remaining people of Israel with the people of several conquered countries (2Ki 17:24) thereby destroying national resistance and the people’s national identity. This resulted in the people of Samaria losing their Jewish identity and forever being classified as Gentiles by the people of Judah (Ne 2:20, Jn 4).

Although the Kingdom of Israel had time to heed prophetic warning, they did not. They were considered troublemakers and asked to leave the country (Am 7:12-13). However, just because the people did not want to hear the message or the prophets were considered unpatriotic did not change the truth of the matter. It occurred as prophesied and probably occurred more harshly than anyone would have predicted. Scripture is clear in that Israel fell because “they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated His covenant” (2Ki 18:12).

This fulfillment should be a sober reminder to us that we also need to heed what scripture tells us is part of our future. Our God has made a way of escape from impending apocalypse. The solution is simple, but requires a leap of faith. The Israelites here, did not do that. Don’t follow their example. Heed the words of the prophets and obey the Lord your God.

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It is not just the topic of time of which we are concerned, but the Bible’s perspective of time that is of consequence. In order to understand the topic of which someone is writing, it many times helps to understand something about the author as well.

All of the writers of both the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible were Jewish, with very few exceptions. It is believed that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon during the time of Daniel the prophet, wrote the fourth chapter of Daniel. While tradition has claimed that Luke, the physician who was a companion of the apostle Paul and who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, was a Gentile, there is probably more evidence which supports he was more likely a Jew. Therefore, most of the ideas and teachings would be from a Jewish perspective. The idea of time would be no exception.

A day is defined in the Bible, and by Jewish teaching, as “an evening and a morning” (Gn 1). Of course, this then begs the question of whether the days mentioned in the first chapter of Genesis are literal days. There are four main reasons to believe that they are literal days:

i) There is nothing to suggest that it was not a literal day. If we use Occam’s razor principle, i.e., the simplest solution tends to be the right one, then it is less complicated to see it as a literal day.

ii) This is how Moses, the believed author of Genesis, and other Jews throughout history defined “a day.”

iii) In Exodus 20:11 and 31:17, where the importance of the Sabbath is described, each passage states that the earth and heavens were created in six days and that God rested on the seventh. Since the emphasis in these two verses was on the seventh day of each of our weeks, if God rested on the seventh day and it was a literal day as implied here, then the other six days should be literal days.

iv) Since Moses was the author of both Genesis and Exodus, then if he taught in Exodus that these were literal days, then he probably meant them to be literal days in Genesis as well.

Why is it important to understand this? Paul stated that the Jews were entrusted with the words of God (Ro 3:2); therefore, it is important to understand the Jewish perspective of life and time. It is unclear why God chose the Jews, but scripture is clear that God chose Abraham and made an everlasting covenant with him (Gn 15:17-21). Somehow, God made an impression on Abraham. It is possible that Noah was still alive in Abraham’s early years [then known as Abram (Gn 11:27)] and had an influence on him.  God’s covenant to Abraham was not only for Abraham but for his descendants through the line of Isaac (Gn 17:19) and Jacob (Gn 28:13-15; 35:9-13). This covenant included promises of blessings, having a great name, becoming a great nation, and being a blessing to others and the whole world (Gn 12:1-4). Abraham believed in the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gn 15:6). Because the covenant was everlasting and unconditional (Gn 15:17), its fulfillment was entirely in God’s hands and not in the hands of Abraham, or his descendants, the Israelites. Although they would reap consequences of their actions (Lv 26; Dt 28), God has promised to keep his part of the covenant regardless of their actions (Jr 31:36) because He is faithful (Dt 7:9). All through history, even through judgments of captivity and sword, God has, and will, ensure that a remnant remains (Is 10:22, Jr 23:3).

Because of this relationship with the Jewish people which God initiated, it is important to understand the hows and whys of His interactions with them. It was God who initiated the Jewish calendar (Ex 12:2), often referred to as the Mosaic calendar, and the festivals to which the Israelites were to follow (Lv 23). The calendar we have today, known as the Gregorian calendar, was devised by an Italian doctor named Aloysius Lilius and adopted by Pope Gregory in 1582. Prior to this was the Julian calendar, issued by Julius Caesar in 45 AD, which had a year as 365 days and added an additional day every 4 years making a year being 365.25 days. The true value is 365.242 days for the length of the earth’s orbit around the sun. This little error of 0.008 days per year had added up to almost 10 full days by 1582 and was making the first day of spring very close to the beginning of summer. The Gregorian calendar skips the leap years in 3 out of every 4 century years which makes each year 365.2425 days and keeps the spring equinox on either March 20 or 21 of each year. These calendars are based upon the sun as its reference point whereas the calendar instituted by God in the Bible is a lunisolar calendar which uses the moon as its reference for seasons (Ps 104:19). A lunisolar calendar is probably more apt for an agrarian society which is highly dependent upon knowing the stars and ends of seasons (and the reason it was used up to the Roman era), but as we have evolved to more of a financially-dependent society, the Gregorian calendar has become more useful. Although God referred to the months of the calendar as numerals, over time and due to influence of surrounding nations (Dt 16:1, 1Ki 6:1, 37; 8:2) and Babylonian captivity (Er 6:15; Ne 2:1, 6:15; Es 2:16, 3:7, 8:9; Zc 1:7, 7:1), names used by other nations were sometimes used. Often, they would cross-reference them to the Mosaic calendar (e.g., Es 8:9).

The timeline in the Bible is always related to the Jews. Although Gentile nations are described, events are always presented from the Jewish perspective. A few examples are the timeline for the Egyptian bondage (Gn 15:13), the Babylonian captivity (Jr 25:11), and the death of Messiah (Dn 9:26). These types of timelines are not provided for Gentile events. Prior to the Church Age (Ac 2), Gentiles were the minor component of God’s salvation plan, whereas during the Church Age (modern times), Gentiles are the major component of God’s salvation plan. Therefore, the time of the rapture is not provided. Yet, as we have stated in other posts, even the Rapture is from a Jewish wedding perspective. After the rapture of the Church, God’s timeline for the Jews will again be started (Dn 9:27).

Time and prophecy are interrelated, but are they intricately connected? A prophet’s message was considered from God if the prophet’s words came true (Dt 18:21-22). However, no timeframe is specified. How do we know all the prophecies in the Bible are literal and true? One is the belief that the Bible is God’s word (2Tm 3:16). Another is to see what has already come true and see if that gives enough credence to the validity of other prophecies. Future posts will give some examples to consider.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

The Bible clearly teaches that time, at least as humans know it, began (Gen 1:1) and has an end (Rev 21:5-6). Did God create time? Is He part of time? Stephen Hawking, probably one of the most noted physicists of our time with a large interest in cosmology, has stated that there was no set moment when the universe began because there was no precise moment when time began – the universe did not begin “in” time but came into being with the universe.  While Hawking used his theory to demonstrate, at least in his own thinking, that there is no need to believe in God, this type of model actually supports early views about God and time. Theologians like Augustine and Aquinas believed and taught that God created time and existed outside of time which made God timeless and atemporal.  Other theologians like Boethius, Stump, and Kretzmann agree to God’s timelessness but that He is temporal in that He experiences events in succession but has done so for all moments in the past and will continue to do so for all moments in the future. Therefore, both camps agree to His eternality but not how He is timeless. Then there are those even more recently, like Padgett and DeWeese, who claim God is in time but a different type of time than humans experience, and Craig who argues that God was timeless prior to creation but entered time when he created the universe. These ideas seem to create two main views of time: the A-theorists who hold the idea that time passes and is a succession of events; and the B-theorists who hold the idea that space-time is viewed as a static 4-dimensional reality, i.e., that the past, present, and future all co-exist simultaneously.  Even science does not seem to be unanimous in its view of time: Quantum Theory supports the A-theorists’ view of time while Einstein’s Theory of Relativity supports the B-theorists’ view of time.

It is possible that both groups are correct. Ever since Einstein’s revolutionary theory in 1905 that light does not always travel as a wave as part of the electromagnetic spectrum but also as tiny particles called photons, the field of physics today has accepted these two aspects of light. Previously, scientists built camps on one side or the other. Einstein proved what previous scientists had not: light exists as waves and particles simultaneously. Therefore, since time and light are intricately associated, as Einstein also showed in his theory of relativity, then it would not be inconceivable that time could also behave in two differently perceived aspects.

I feel that all three camps (A-theory, B-theory and some combination of the two), by being so dogmatic in their views, have limited some of the characteristics of God that the Bible attributes to Him. We must be careful in how we reason. We cannot always reason how God works with human understanding (Is 55:8-9). Our basis should be what the Bible states, not if and how we can reason what the Bible states. If God was timeless and then created time for mankind, it is conceivable that He can still remain outside of the time He created. Why would the Bible’s claim to God’s omnipresence (Ps 139:7-10) be limited to physical places? Why can it not also apply to time? If God is God, can He not exist in time and outside of time simultaneously? God’s “interaction” with mankind would then be perceived as a “before” and “after” event for us (A-theorists time) but not outside of our time where the past, present, and future time coexist (B-theorists time). The Bible states that God does not change (Hb 13:8). This is implying that His character never changes; however, the way in which He interacts with mankind has changed several times over the centuries.

I do not feel it is not the act of creation that should begin the debate of whether God is or is not in time as we know it, but the act of his human birth. Creation created a cause and effect that impacted mankind, but not necessarily God. However, Christ coming to the earth in human form created a cause and effect, a before and after experience, for both humanity and the Godhead. Before Christ came to earth He was also Spirit since he was one with the Father (Jn 4:24; 8:58). Being born, He became the God-Man that was required to meet the demands of a redeemer. However, since his death and resurrection, He has remained the God-Man (1Tm 2:5). Since Christ as the God-Man is currently with the Father (Hb 1:3), there would seem to be a “before” and “after” that was created even outside our realm of time, regardless which type of time one subscribes to believing. Therefore, it seems fairly easy to rationalize that God is outside of our time (i.e., a creator can be outside the elements of which he creates: in this case, time itself), but the question remains: is He in a different type of time, and if so, is it linear or simultaneous for Him?

Whether God is or not inside of time, it seems evident that God exists differently than mankind (2Pt 3:8). Is this type of debate even worth pursuing? More than just a mental exercise, if taken seriously, it should broaden both our understanding and awe of who God is. What is the application? Paul told the Ephesians to “redeem the time” (Ep 5:16). To what was Paul referring and what understanding about time helps us to do this?

One of the definitions of the word redeem is “to convert into something of value.” This is likely the meaning Paul was considering in Ephesians 5:16 when he talked of redeeming the time. We all have the same amount of time; it is how we use it that counts. Into what are we converting our time? Before we can do that effectively, we need to have a good understanding of what time has been created for and what it has revealed to date in order to know how to maximally utilize it for our future.

Let’s delve into that next time.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

In the last few posts, we have been discussing God’s fingerprint and how to identify it. We showed that the gluons which hold quarks together seem to be his fingerprint since the characteristics of these subatomic particles display some of the same characteristics as does the triune Godhead itself. Also, this would seem to support what Paul stated: “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Cl 1:16-17).”

So, we see how he has showed us through the very essence of nature itself that he was there. And, because all things still hold together, he is showing us that he is still there. We, as humans, need evidence, and he has supplied it. Are you willing to accept it? You accept the “weirdness” of quantum physics, right? If the concept of God is similar, doesn’t that actually prove something rather than make it more difficult to understand? Let’s not let our bias prevent us from seeing the evidence.

We saw that gluons hold not only the quarks together within a neutron or proton, but between them as well. This leads to the creation of the strong nuclear force. It allows protons which should naturally repel each other to actually be held together in a stable environment. But what would happen if the gluons were to fail?

Believe it or not, there is Biblical evidence to support just that! “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them” (Rv 20:11). When our pastor read this verse to us, I thought it quite apropos as I had just talked about God’s fingerprint. What we read here is God removing his fingerprint. And if we take this verse and combine it with what Peter stated: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2Pt 3:10), we get a pretty clear picture of what would happen when gluons fail.

God put his fingerprint into the very essence of matter itself and that is what is holding everything together is a very stable manner. At some point in the future, he is going to say, “it is enough” and remove his fingerprint. The gluons are going to fail, and all matter will fall apart. Everything will fall apart (“will flee”) in a big “whoosh” (more likely a “roar”) and the end will be a chaotic inferno.

Doesn’t this help you to visualize the Bible as being real? See how scientific it can be if we take it at face value? But it goes deeper. God has always brought order out of chaos. Without God there is no order. There is only chaos. Isn’t that true in our own lives as well. When we try things on our own, everything just winds up a mess – very chaotic. Yet, when we allow God to be in control of our lives, the chaos turns back into order. His fingerprint is back in control. Accept him. Accept his fingerprint. He’s at the essence of everything. Let him be at the essence of you as well. It’s a simple conversation. He will put his fingerprint on your life and bring the calm to your chaos.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Last post, we found out that God’s fingerprint is found is the very essence of matter itself. All of matter is composed of atoms. So, let’s go deep and look at the essence of atoms like we did the essence of God.

An atom is further divided into its nucleus, composed of protons and neutrons, and electrons. If we go even deeper, we find that protons and neutrons are composed of even smaller particles called quarks. Now for all you science fiction fans out there, I am not talking about Quark the Ferengi on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I am talking about, as far as we know, the most basic building blocks of all matter.

There are six types of quarks, yet only two are the building blocks of protons and neutrons. Now you would think that if these were the most basic building blocks of atoms, they would have a profound name. I don’t know what was in the scientist’s brain at the time. Can you imagine going up to him and saying, “I hear you found the most basic building block of all matter, what did name did you give it?” And he simply replies, “Up” and “Down.” Sort of anticlimactic. That’s like going to Baskin Robins which has, or used to have 31 flavors, and asking for vanilla. Anyway, that’s what they named them.

What prevents the nucleus of an atom from exploding apart? After all, if protons are positively charged, wouldn’t they repel each other? Well, a proton is made up of two Up quarks and one Down quark, and a neutron is made up of two Down quarks and one Up quark. There is something else to ponder here. There are gluons which hold the quarks together. Let’s look more at these.

So, the gluons not only hold quarks together within a proton or neutron, but between them as well. This is what keeps the protons from flying apart. This effect of the gluons is called the Strong Force because it keeps the protons and neutrons within the nucleus and makes the nucleus stable. This Strong Force overcomes the repulsion force between the protons.

Now, here is where God’s fingerprint comes into play. These quarks are individual units, but you can never observe them as separate units even though they are. Doesn’t that remind you of the 1st and 2nd Persons of the Godhead? They are individual, but you cannot separate them. Christ stated, “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10:30), and “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). The effect of the gluons, I think, is a corollary to the Holy Spirit. He is the Strong Force which allows the Justice and Love of God to co-exist without repelling each other. We, too, are like protons. We naturally repel God. Paul tells us in Romans 8:7 -8 that we are naturally hostile toward God and cannot please him. Yet, once we are drawn to God, the Holy Spirit is the force which binds us to him and never lets us go. Christ stated. “…no one will snatch them out of my hand” (Jn 10:29). We are held by the Strong Force.

So, there you have it. This is a picture of God’s fingerprint. It is in the very essence of all matter. If God created all matter, isn’t this where you would expect it to be?

Yet, there is another building block of an atom that reveals more about the Trinity of God. That is the electron. They are typically depicted as travelling around the nucleus as discrete particles. Yet, that is not a true representation of electrons. Science teaches us that electrons are not discrete particles and are not in any one place. One must use a probability function in order to describe an electron, even if an atom has only one electron. It can be anywhere and everywhere, yet the most likely place is a certain distance from the nucleus. You can detect it in any moment in time, but never predict where it will be. Doesn’t this also remind you of the omnipresence of God? He can be anywhere and everywhere yet be right beside you when you call on Him.

Okay, let’s summarize.

• God left his fingerprint upon creation.

• Science points to him – no matter how we try to explain it away.

• We believe in quantum physics and it’s “weird science” as fact, but can’t believe in a holy, unique God?

• God’s justice is revealed from God the Father; God’s love is revealed from God the Son; yet they cannot be viewed separately – just as quarks cannot be viewed separately from each other.

• The Holy Spirit binds the attributes of God the Father and God the Son together to be shared with us.

• Just as gluons create the strong force, the Holy Spirit creates a strong force between the members of the Trinity so they can never be separated.

• Once we are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ep 1:13), this strong force binds us to God so we also cannot be separated from Him.

• If we can believe in how an atom is composed and operates, then we can believe in a Triune God and what He tells us of Himself.

We had stated that science points to the truth (it cannot be equivalent to truth) and that God is truth. God’s word [2nd person of Trinity] became flesh [Jesus Christ] (Jn 1:1). Jesus Christ stated, “I [2nd person of Trinity] and the Father [1st person of Trinity] are one” (Jn 10:30) and “Whoever has seen me [2nd person of Trinity] has seen the Father [1st person of Trinity]” (Jn 14:9).

We can change around the first sentence of the previous paragraph. God is equivalent to Truth and Truth is equivalent to Science. Although Science cannot be equivalent to Truth unless the Truth is known. Since God is Truth, then what ever God reveals will be true Science.

When science reveals truth, it reveals God just as God’s word reveals God. Therefore, true Science will always jive with God’s word. Because, as we have seen Science reveals the fingerprint of God.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens