Last Day’s Eschatology …
getting it right!
As we look to our Bible and to history, it is clear to see that the first century Believers, that were the Covenant Children of God, among the Jewish people of that time, that all of them, even the disciples of Jesus, they all had it wrong, as to how Messiah would appear, and what He would accomplish.
Could this also be happening today?
Could the popular Bible teachers of our day, also be wrong on their interpretation of these end of days prophecies? I think so.
The WND article (below) discusses this possibility.
There are also those, who are equally mistaken, among some within the church today, who believe that God has replaced Israel with the church… this is also not so!!!
God’s promises to Abraham and to his descendants are still intact, and they will ALL be fulfilled as promised.
God has no “Replacement Theology,” and He never has.
In fact, it is my belief that the errors of today’s interpretation of eschatology is not the only area where the church has been wrong..
One of the basic beliefs and tenets of the Orthodox Jewish believers, even until this day, is to search for the “Lost Tribes of Israel,” who have been separated from their sister, House of Judah, ever since around 750 BC.
Listen to this prophecy that was given by Hosea, which was directed to the House of Israel; and get a clue as to where these lost tribes have settled, and what they will look like.
You will note that each one of the children, who were named here, were named in order to give a message to the House of Israel.
Hosea 1
1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
The Family of Hosea
2 When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea:
” Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry
And children of harlotry,
For the land has committed great harlotry
By departing from the LORD.”
3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4Then the LORD said to him:
” Call his name Jezreel,
For in a little while
I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu,
And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 It shall come to pass in that day
That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him:
” Call her name Lo-Ruhamah,[a]
For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel,
But I will utterly take them away.[b]
7 Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah,
Will save them by the LORD their God,
And will not save them by bow,
Nor by sword or battle,
By horses or horsemen.”
8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then God said:
” Call his name Lo-Ammi,[c]
For you are not My people,
And I will not be your God.
The Restoration of Israel
10 ” Yet the number of the children of Israel
Shall be as the sand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured or numbered.
And it shall come to pass
In the place where it was said to them,
‘ You are not My people,’[d]
There it shall be said to them,
‘ You are sons of the living God.’
11 Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel
Shall be gathered together,
And appoint for themselves one head;
And they shall come up out of the land,
For great will be the day of Jezreel!
When you hear people today talking about how they have found one of the lost tribes, and they are on some remote island or some other remote place, running around with Jewish Yamakas on, practicing the Jewish faith, then you can know that they are not the House of Israel, because God very clearly says that they will no longer be known as “God’s people,” and the reason is because they no longer will be practicing the Jewish faith.
Not only that, but it also says that in that lost condition they will multiply as the sand of the sea, so obviously we aren’t looking for a small group in some remote part of the earth.
None of this ever happen to the House of Judah, because they have always retained their culture and their faith, all down through the centuries; but that was not to be for their barren sister, House of Israel.
Here are a few more clues:
Jeremiah 3:8
8And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
House of Judah was never divorced by God; and furthers more, we read:
Jeremiah 3:16
16 “Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days,” says the LORD, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.”
God is plainly letting us know here that wherever the Lost Tribes are to be found, they will exist as a great number of people, and they will not be practicing the Jewish faith.
Shalom,
Skip Barland
From: WorldNetDaily [mailto:alerts@alerts.worldnetdaily.com]
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2010 2:38 AM
To: Skip Barland
Subject: As all eyes on Greece, is Antichrist rising elsewhere?
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Author: European Antichrist Says atheists will have field day with popular Bible interpretation With Europe on the verge of economic collapse, what about all those popular predictions that the European Union would become the world’s political powerhouse, giving rise to the endtimes prophecies of a world dictator known to Bible students as the Antichrist? Joel Richardson, author of a bestselling book on Bible prophecy, says atheists will have a field day mocking Christians for the incorrect interpretations about the last days. “Nearly 20 years ago, I intently watched as a very popular Christian television prophecy teacher declared, ‘the present formation of the European Union is literally the fulfillment of Bible prophecy right before our eyes!'” He wrote in WND. “According to this teacher, the creation of the European Union represented a biblically prophesied revived Roman Empire. Because the last-days empire of the Antichrist as described in the Books of Daniel and Revelation is portrayed as a 10-nation alliance, this teacher confidently declared that when the number of EU member states reached 10, this would signal the imminent return of Jesus Christ. And soon, the number of EU member states reached the magic number 10 just as this teacher had predicted. Then the number reached 11, and then 12. Soon there were 20. Today there are 27 member states. The teacher’s very confident predictions failed.” Richardson said the formation of the EU in 1993 spurred even more prophecy teachers to set their sights on Europe. “But the present harsh realities in Europe may soon cause all of this Euro-centric, restored Roman Empire prognosticating to come crashing down,” writes Richardson. He also expects many Christians to become disillusioned as the EU fights for its very survival, rather than for the global dominance that was predicted. The author of “The Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth About the True Nature of the Beast” wants everyone to know that if the EU falls, it is not an indictment of the truth of the Bible. “Despite its popularity, the Euro-centric end-time perspective has never represented anything akin to Christian orthodoxy or dogma,” he writes. “Throughout the history of the church, many great Christian leaders have looked not to Europe, but to the Middle East for the emergence of an end-time empire. In fact, going back to the first few centuries of the church, the consistent testimony of the early believers is that the Antichrist, his empire and his religion would arise from out of the Middle East, and not Europe. As such, rather than tacking in the wind yet again, what many teachers and students of Bible prophecy are awakening to is the reality that the biblical prophecies about the last days are thoroughly Jerusalem, Israel and Middle-Eastern-centric. What many Westerners, and perhaps Americans most of all, often fail to recognize is the fact that the Bible is a thoroughly Eastern book. Always has been. As shocking as this may be to some, the Bible was not written primarily for Americans.” When “”The Islamic Antichrist” was released last fall, it immediately zoomed to the top of the religious charts at Amazon and the No. 1 spot among all books at Scribd – an online e-booker retailer. Yet Richardson, a student of Islam and the Middle East, found few churches in America welcoming him as a guest speaker. He was not invited to address many prophecy conferences. He found himself as a “political incorrect” outsider in most evangelical circles. His book makes the case that the biblical Antichrist is one and the same as the Quran’s Muslim Mahdi. “The Bible abounds with proofs that the Antichrist’s empire will consist only of nations that are, today, Islamic,” says Richardson. “Despite the numerous prevailing arguments for the emergence of a revived European Roman empire as the Antichrist’s power base, the specific nations the Bible identifies as comprising his empire are today all Muslim.” Richardson believes the key error of many previous prophecy scholars involves the misinterpretation of a prediction by Daniel to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel describes the rise and fall of empires of the future, leading to the end times. Western Christians have viewed one of those empires as Rome, when, claims Richardson, Rome never actually conquered Babylon and was thus disqualified as a possibility. It had to be another empire that rose and fell and rose again that would lead to rule of this “man of sin,” described in the Bible. That empire, he says, is the Islamic empire, which did conquer Babylon and, in fact, rules over it even today. Many Evangelical Christians believe the Bible predicts a charismatic ruler, the Antichrist, will arise in the last days, before the return of Jesus. The Quran also predicts that a man, called the Mahdi, will rise up to lead the nations, pledging to usher in an era of peace. Richardson makes the case these two men are, in fact, one in the same. “Today, many scholars, students and teachers alike are acknowledging the consistent testimony of the prophets as pointing us to the Middle East,” he writes today. “As any realtor will tell you, it’s all about location, location, location.
Likewise, as any astute Bible student should know, the first issue that must be established when attempting to properly interpret the Bible is context, context, context. And simply stated, the context of virtually all biblical prophecy is Israel and the Middle East. Jesus will not be returning to Paris, London or Independence, Missouri, but rather Jerusalem. Literally every last one of the final battles as depicted by all of the biblical prophets take place in Israel and the surrounding vicinity. When the prophets specify which nations surround Israel to attack her, the wording used in Hebrew is goyim caybib, which translated means ‘the surrounding nations.’ These are Israel’s neighbors; they are not references to Belgium or Luxembourg or Rome.”
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