Revival And The Spirit Of Antichrist

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world". (I John 4: 1-4)

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Even in the first century of the Christian faith there were people who proclaimed themselves Christians, but who had separated themselves from the Christian community. They fashioned theologies that used Jesus to represent the mystical, pagan and worldly ideas that permeated their surroundings. Their Jesus was not God who became man, dying and rising from the dead so that man could be reconciled to the Father, and who comes as a person to live in our hearts and to lead us by His Holy Spirit. Instead, their Jesus is a lifeless icon, representing religious works, denying that God who became man shed His precious blood to redeem mankind. The spirit of antichrist denies that Jesus is indeed the Christ, and that spirit has been at work in the world to prepare the world for the son of rebellion, The Antichrist.

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The Antichrist is identified in Revelation as being one of the horns that comes from a beast that comes out of the sea "having ten horns and seven heads" (Rev. 13:1), who will appear at the end of this age, not only to lead men to worship the false god of this world, but also to try and complete the process of rebellion in this world that has been going on since the evil one first sinned. The evil one has always wanted, not only dominion over this world, but also to be recognized and worshiped as the true god of this world. But the end of this age will instead see the Son of Man restoring all to the plan that the Father always had. Jesus is the Christ, and He will reign and rule on this earth, and He will give all the glory to the Father, and will restore all things to the Father.

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In one of his visions Daniel saw a series of beasts. The 4th one was "dreadful, and terrifying and extremely strong", and it had 10 horns. From among the horns rose up a little horn which would grow bigger and rip out 3 of the first 10. Daniel keeps looking at the vision until he sees that "thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His hair was like white snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, and the books were opened". (Daniel 7: 9-10)

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This is an awesome picture of a judgment that is yet to come. God is shown here as a holy and righteous judge who has waited patiently for thousands of years for rebellion to take its course, but is now ready to burn away all the accumulated rot and re-establish His dominion and kingdom. Dominion over the earth had originally been given to mankind through Adam, who surrendered it to the evil one. Jesus came thousands of years later, living a life that was obedient to the Father, showing Himself glorified at the transfiguration to Peter, James and John, so they could testify as to who Jesus really was, dying on the cross as the sacrifice that the Father required to conquer sin, rising from the dead as the first fruits of a promised eternal life with Jesus and the Father, ascending to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father and asking the Father to pour forth the Holy Spirit to change, empower and comfort all those who would confess that Jesus had come in the flesh to be their Savior and Lord. The kingdom of God could now be in the hearts of people, who in turn could minister in the power of the Spirit to change the hearts and lives of others. But there still remained a struggle over the dominion of the earth and the control of its kingdoms.

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The little horn is a picture of the coming Antichrist who will make an agreement with the many that is to last seven years (see Daniel 9:27). I believe that this agreement will allow the Jewish people to once again set up a tabernacle in or near Jerusalem. When it is set up they will anoint priests, cleanse the tabernacle, and set up daily offerings and sacrifices. Midway through the seven years the Antichrist will cause the offerings and the sacrifices to stop. An image of the Antichrist will be set up in the tabernacle, and it will be given the power to speak by the false prophet, who has received power and authority that came from the evil one, and many will begin to worship the image (see Matthew 24:15). Worship of the image in the tabernacle is the ultimate denial that Jesus is God come in the flesh, who became the sacrifice the Father required to reconcile man to Himself. The evil one, through the Antichrist (who may possibly even be the seed of the evil one), wants to inherit and rule through the Antichrist the earthly kingdom promised to Jesus, and from there to have permanent dominion over all the kingdoms of the world.

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But it is not to be. Daniel sees that the forth beast (the kingdom of the Antichrist) will be slain, its body destroyed and given to the burning fire. Then Daniel notices with the clouds of heaven "One like the Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed"

(Daniel 7: 13-14). We are told in the first chapter of John that Jesus, who is called the Word, was present with God from the beginning, and that all things were created by Him and for Him. Jesus is called the Son of Man because the Word became flesh. As both the Son of Man, having become the second Adam, and the Son of God, He will be given authority and dominion over the kingdoms of the earth, ruling from Jerusalem.

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John writes later in the Book of revelation; "And the beast (the Antichrist) was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who have received the mark of the beast, and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone" (Rev. 19:20). The evil one is bound for a thousand years, released for a short time near the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ, then is also thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone for eternity. After this there will be a new heavens and a new earth, Jesus will turn everything over to the Father, and things will be different in ways we cannot now imagine. Indeed, even now our image of who God is; His glory, His eternal nature, the vastness and complexity of a creation that He designed and implemented, and His love, we are so limited in understanding.

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The visions in Daniel would identify the ancient of Days as being the Father. But the apostle John records in the beginning of Revelation another vision in which he sees seven golden lamp stands, "and in the middle of the lamp stands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle. And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters" (Rev. 1: 13-16). Here John, who saw the transfigured Jesus, sees in a vision someone who has the same look as the person described in the visio of Daniel, who appears as both priest and judge, and who identifies himself a few verses later as God did to Moses at the burning bush; "I am the first and the last" (v17). This is repeating how Jesus identifies Himself to John earlier in the 1st chapter; "I am the Alpha and the Omega', says the Lord God, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" (Rev. 1:8).

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My daughter Becky went to a Division I University to play soccer and to get her nursing degree. Eighty per cent of the students at that college had been born and raised Catholic, maybe 40 per cent had gone to private Catholic high schools, and religion for most was part of their daily lives. So Becky, coming from a religious and conservate non-Catholic home was very surprised to find out that most of her teammates would get drunk every weekend and many were sleeping with their boyfriends on a regular basis. I don't suppose that this was any different than the average secular college, or perhaps the same thing can be said for a lot of other Christian colleges today, Catholic or non-Catholic, but it was upsetting to my daughter. She saw in so many cases religion without any relationship with Jesus, and tradition that did not lead to a healthy fear of the Lord. Becky eventually began to pray that there would be revival at that school. She prayed for revival everyday and even started a meeting that meet early in the morning at the student union, joined by students from a variety of Christian groups on campus to pray for revival. But it was easy for her to get discourged. One time Becky expressed to me on the phone her frustration that she was not seeing anything happen, and I e-mailed her some encouragement, telling her that I sensed that there would come a time when people would fall under the power of the Holy Spirit at the school, even in the classrooms.

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One evening that winter she went for a prayer walk around her downtown campus, lifting it up to the Lord for revival. As she was walking it started to snow. Becky had actually walked several blocks pass the campus, and when she turned around to go back she noticed that everything on the campus was covered by in white. Even the main city road running alongside the campus was now snow covered without any traffic having cut channels through to the pavement. At that moment God spoke to her and said something like this. "Revival will come when repentance covers the campus as the snow you see now is covering the campus. And when it does you are to lay your hands on people and say - Believe in the Lord God, the Almighty; who was, and who is, and who is to come. - And when you do, they will fall in the power of the Holy Spirit".

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John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Jesus, and he ministered with a baptism of repentance. Jesus said of John that no greater man had walked the earth. But when Jesus eventually came, John realized that the focus of what the Holy Spirit was doing through him wasn't about him at all. John's attitude was that he must decrease so that Jesus would increase. We read and hear stories about revival and we want to see the Holy Spirit move in our family, our church, our schools, our city and region. and just as Peter, when he saw the transfigured Jesus, wanted to build a little camp there, so we too are inclined to look for a place to camp that resembles what we have heard and read about. The spirit of antichrist is ultimately a spirit of pride, blocking the will of the Father and the move of the Spirit because we are slow recognize who we are in relation to who He is.

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Lord, it is my prayer that you would search my heart, and show me where pride is limiting the move of your Holy Spirit in and through my life. Show me where sin is hiding. I repent of my rebellion towards you and my lack of love toward those around me. Burn your light into every corner of my life, and let my life be pleasing to you., I reject the lies of the evil one, and I will make every effort to walk in honesty and humility before you and my fellow man, no matter what the cost. This is my prayer, not just for now, but for the rest of my days on this earth. You have been my Savior for these many years. Help me know you as Lord each day forward.

He Is Faithful

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

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Thus begins the great chapter on faith found in the Book of Hebrews. The word "now" brings us back to the theme found in the previous chapter. The people the author of Hebrews wrote to were enduring very difficult times. Jewish by birth or as converts, they had come, by faith, to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Now, instead of being led to the knowledge of the truth by Jewish customs, laws and sacrifices, they had something much better; "And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us . . . saying, 'This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days says the Lord; I will put My laws upon their hearts, and upon their mind I will write them'". (Hebrews 10: 15-16)

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The Jewish people had a temple which was patterned after the wilderness tabernacle, which itself was patterned after a tabernacle in Heaven. In the wilderness tabernacle there was a most holy place where the presence of God resided, the entrance blocked by a veil. Every year the Jewish high priest would enter through the veil into the most holy place to sprinkle the blood of a sacrifice as an offering for the sins of the nation. At the moment Jesus died on the cross the actual veil in the temple in Jerusalem, said to be two inches thick, tore from top to bottom. From then on all men, not just Jews, could come before the presence of God through the blood of Jesus; "by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh". (v.20) Jesus Christ offered His own blood in the original tabernacle in Heaven as an offering for our sins, and He becomes, for all who come to Him by faith, "a great high priest".

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This high priest does not have to continually offer His blood as a sacrifice for our sins. It was offered, once for all; "But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God". (v.12) When we come to Him by faith the Holy Spirit, because of the shed blood of Jesus, can bring the Spirit of Christ into our hearts so that we can become a new creation. The blood of Christ is not applied each time we sin. Instead, at conversion, it has changed who we are. We now have relationship with Jesus brought about through our faith in His shed blood. Out of that relationship develops fellowship with Him. Sin and rebellion affects the closeness of our fellowship. Yet the Holy Spirit is able to cleanse our body and our heart to restore any lost fellowship. The Spirit calls, revealing to us who Jesus is. We answer by faith, receiving new life by having a changed spirit. Our spirit, or heart, has now become a temple for the Holy Spirit, who will guide us and enable us to have fellowship with the Father.

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God is now truly our Father, and Jesus, the first born of creation, is not only our High Priest, our Lord and Savior, but in a real sense is also our brother. Although Jesus became man, and lived among us in this physical world, experiencing the good things that the physical world has, He also was tempted as we are, and endured suffering and sorrow. Jesus, with a resurrected physical body, resides in Heaven, and although we still have an un-resurrected physical body our true citizenship is no longer in this physical world. Jesus leads us by the gentle prodding of the Spirit to a life that can overcome the world.

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There are different kinds of faith. One leads to our eternal salvation, a salvation which we will know and experience in our lives now. It begins with faith, changes who we are, and positions us to be a holy people before the Lord for eternity. We are a holy people, not by what we do but by what He has already done. Through the blood of Jesus we have already overcome the world, but being in the world still affects both our walk with Christ and the fellowship that He greatly desires with us now.

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A second kind of faith gives us the ability to resist the compromises of this world. We are confronted by attacks that are physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, and each one is a type of persecution designed by the enemy to take something away from us, and to rob us of our fellowship with the Father. The enemy wants us to focus on the pain and struggles at hand, or on the false promises of happiness and security that the world seems to provide. But God has provided for us another Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who will help us through the struggles of today and lead us toward the direction that God has planned for us. The Hebrew Christians, being in a time of great stress, wanted the comfort of familiar customs and ritual. They were looking at their lives from the lens of where they were and not from the perspective of where God was leading.

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Thus we see the context of the faith examples in Hebrews 11. Even though these are Old Testament examples, they are testimonies that God will reward those who have to make difficult choices because they saw by faith a greater reality. Many did not see or experience the full evidence of the promises during their physical lives, but their obedience to the word that God gave them made possible the plan that God desired for them and their offspring. Many had to wait until only a miracle of God could make happen His promise, and although discouraged, they still trusted, finally seeing in a physical sense what they through faith already saw in their hearts.

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We live in a culture that does not trust that God knows what is best for us. Instead of searching the scriptures with an open and humble heart to hear the Spirit and discover the heart of God for us, instead of confessing our sins before God and man and taking steps to change as the Spirit leads, and instead of carving out of our lives the time needed to fellowship with our Father, we would rather have the comfort of religious laws and customs, with the option of disagreeing with the particular tenants that make us uncomfortable.

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By faith we come to know God. By faith we begin to understand that His promises are just and true, and that He can accomplish in and for us all that He promised.

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"Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful". (v.22-23)

The Empty House

"And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans' pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, nor will shephreds make their flocks lie down there. But desert creatures will lie down there, and their houses will be full of owls". (Isaiah 13: 19-21 - see also Jeremiah 50: 39-40)

"For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And its (Edom, now the part of Jordan south of the Dead Sea) streams shall be turned into pitch, and its loose earth into brimstone. And its land shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day. Its smoke shall go up forever, from generation to generation it shall be desolate; None shall pass through it forever and ever. But pelican and hedgehog shall posess it, and owl and raven shall dwell in it; And He shall stretch over it the line of desolation and the plumb line of emptiness". (Isaiah 34: 8-11)

This last month has seen some terrible natural disasters. Cyclone Nargis took an unusual path and hit the coast of Myanmar very hard, killing tens of thousands in the first few hours. A combination of factors may result in hundreds of thousands dying in the aftermath. The removal of large sections of forests and swamplands in the years prior allowed for more sustained wind intensity and a greater storm surge. Transportation in the coast lands of this very poor country is mainly by boat, both preventing escape before the storm and prohibiting quick assistance after. Help was offered and even sent immediately, but the proud and corrupt military leadership dragged their feet for two weeks before they let in even a modest amount of foreign aid and outside emergency specialists. And when the aid started arriving much of it ended up for sale, the leaders making a profit while little children and their parents die from exposure, hunger, cholera and diarrhea.

A week before the storm I met a woman from Myanmar. She was getting her driver's license so she could go to work without having others always dropping her off and picking her up. She was happy and full of hope, and I imagine that part of what she earned at her job ended up supporting family in Myanmar. I wonder if she has any idea if they are now even still alive? There was some video the other day from Myanmar on TV, and hearing statistics is one thing, but seeing endless devastation and hundreds of people with hopeless looks on their faces is another. TV has also shown the devastation and faces of grief in China.

An earthquake, now upgraded to a size 8.0, hit a region in China, killing at least 75,000 people, but maybe 2 times that many. Unlike Myanmar, the government responded quickly and massively, outside assistance was welcome, and billions of dollars in donations was freely given in the first few days by the newly rich and the still poor of that country. The saddest part of the situation is that school construction codes apparently were quite lax, resulting in the needless deaths of tens of thousands of children, crushed by falling roofs in the middle of the school day. The goegraphy of the country changed somewhat in that over 30 new lakes were formed by earthquake moved debris blocking rivers, and some very large towns have to be completly rebuilt. Several large aftershocks have destroyed hundreds of thousand more homes. As in Myanmar, there are millions of homeless. China has even requested over 3 million tents from foreign aid services to provide temporary shelter.

Someone pointed out that the number 8 is considered by the Chinese to be a lucky number, and so the summer Olympics being held there this August are scheduled to start at 8:08 PM, 8/8/2008. China is a growing world power and they are most anxious to show off to the rest of the world their new found prosperity and powerful athletic prowess. I love sport and will watch the games if I'm still around, but I find some things interesting. The origin of the Olympics date to ancient and pagan Greece. The revived Olympics is truly an event shared by and shown to the entire world, and they honor and promote the achievements of man, paying homage at the same time (as I'm sure we will see in China) to the traditional false gods. Is it a coincidence then, that the earthquake was a magnitude 8.0, happening 88 days before the start of the games? The Chinese would say, "bad luck", but I don't believe this was just chance. We get comfortable that everything will always be the same, but for millions of survivors in Myanmar and China, things forever changed in one day and will never be the same.

Those people, regardless if they worship a pagan god or gods, regardless if they have a false theology or ideology, regardless if they have evil or corrupt leaders, and regardless even if they sometimes are without love for God or their fellow man, are real people with families and friends. They laugh and cry, love and hope, and each has a spirit which will never cease to exist. I do not wish the judgment of God on any of them. I trust that God is merciful as well as just, and I am aware that revival is going on in China and that every year millions have become believers in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, perhaps many even live in that quake stricken region. But time will not go on as usual, with death in the course of natural history being salvation's last call. These diasters should be a sign to us that God's plan for the nations could very well be coming to an apex, and that America may not be unaffected.

A while back Hurricane Katrina hit the coastlands of Mississippi and Louisiana very hard, and the aftermath of its devastation is still evident for thousands of square miles. I live in a Northern border state, but Katrina has had a more personal impact on me than other weather related disasters because I know so many people who have given of their time to travel to places like Biloxi, Mississippi and New Orleans, to work on rebuilding homes and churches for those despeated people. Many have gone more than once, and most have found the sacrifice tremendously rewarding. I don't know if Katrina was a judgment on America or not, but it should be a sign that things, even here, can change overnight.

I believe that God knows each individual and is aware of the course of each nation, and that He puts a wall of protection around people as well as nations who honor Him and seek after His will, putting partial limits on what the evil one can accomplish. But in His loving grace and foreknowledge He still allows bad things to happen to good people, people whose hearts are right with God. Diasters can still hit nations even if they are filled with Christian churches and have built up a reserve of good works. It is natural for us to always be hopeful that the moral condition of our country will improve, that revival will change society by changing enough hearts to make a difference, and it is good and right that we pray and work toward that goal. But we must also recognize two things. Things are not getting better, they are getting worse, and world events make it clear that we are in a time period just before the return of Christ, which must and will happen.

This April a certain minister had a brief vision, and in it there was a tremendous shaking and he saw a river so wide that he could not see either shore. Then in May he had a vivid dream. He was in an empty house which was violently shaking, surrounded by terrible loud noises. An old Spanish looking map was displayed, and on it the names of two towns. He felt that the dream was a continuation of his previous vision. After he woke up he researched the locations of the towns. The name of one was in both Illinois and Mississippi, and the name of the other was at a mid-point between the two, near the New Madrid fault, along the Mississippi River, south of St. Louis.

Between December and February of 1811-1812, there were four major earthquakes centered in the New Madrid area. From records they were estimated at being an 8.1, 7.0, 7.8, and 8.0 magnitude. The Mississippi River was rerouted in places and for a time ran backwards, new lakes were formed, church bells rang as far away as Boston from the shaking, but loss of live was minimal because the territory was sparsely populated. The geology of the Mid-West will mean that a major quake there will cause much more damage over a wider area that a West Coast quake. Experts say that the potential damage and loss of life will make Katrina seem minor by comparsion. There are hundreds of minor quakes in that area each year. This Spring a quake of 5.0 was felt in my Michigan town, and geologist estimate that there is a 90% chance of a 6.0, which would cause major damage in St. Louis, in the next 30 years and a 10% chance of an 8.0 quake in the next 50 years. That is pretty scary.

Last month I read on a web site that I often check out a report by a woman who had a dream, and in it she noticed that her house was empty but that there were strangers wandering around inside of it. She believed that this was a picture of conditions after the Rapture, and the story made an impression on me. That web site is devoted to subject matter that concerns the Rapture, and many diffeent people, for many different reasons, point to this June as a strong possibility for the Rapture. Now, if you were a betting person you could have won 100% of your bets by saying, "No, it won't happen this year", even if everything looked pretty convincing, so it's hard to get real worked up about this June. But I am anxious in my spirit, so one evening last week before I went to bed I asked God for a sign if this indeed was the time. The next morning I went out the front door of my house to get the paper, and sitting on a branch about 10 feet high and only about 20 feet away was a very large, gray owl. This was very unusual because I cannot recall ever seeing an owl. I went inside, got my camera, and walked out again and snapped the photo. After it eventually flew away I thought that perhaps this was the sign that I had prayed for. Finding my concordance and checking out the references for owl in scripture, I read and reread each verse and the sections they were in.

At first, the references seemed to indicate that an owl would be a symbol of God's judgment. There were two sections concerning the judgment of Babylon, and one concerning another judgment just before the second coming of Jesus. It finally occurred to me the next day, when I remembered the account of the woman and her empty house and the vision of the minister in an empty house, that the owl I saw could very well be a sign that soon my house would be empty because of the Rapture. The signs in nature are increasing, and the redemption of Zion is near. And so, whether here, there, or in the air, we can talk about this later.

"I have become like an owl of the waste places, I lie awake. I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop. My enemies have reproached me all day long . . . But Thou, O Lord, dost abide forever; And Thy name to all generations. Thou will arise and have compassion on Zion; For it is time to be gracious to her, For the appointed time has come". (Psalm 102: 6-7 and 12-13)

The Restrainer - Part II - The Coming Deception

"Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (the Day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness (the Antichrist) is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God". (2 Thes. 2: 3-4)

The Day of the Lord is a time, I believe coming soon, when God will remove the spiritual blindness from the eyes of the Jewish nation, and they will call upon the name of the Lord. This Jesus, who lived on earth at an actual time in world history, who 40 days after He rose from the dead ascended into the clouds, will descend from the clouds at an actual time, returning to Jerusalem and defeating the armies of the world gathered against Him. At this time the unholy trinity; the evil one, the Antichrist and the False Prophet, will be bound and Jesus will rule on the earth, which will then be unaffected by the rebellious leadership of the evil one, for about a thousand years. At the end of the thousand years the evil one will be released, he will deceive once again the nations and gather them together to wage war against Jesus, the saints and the holy city of Jerusalem. This time God will bind and seal away the evil one for good, there will be a resurrection and a judgment of all mankind who did not have a reborn spirit, and then God will end the world as we know it, creating a new heavens and a new earth. Those whose names were written in the book of life will go into eternity with the Lord Jesus, and those whose names were not will suffer eternal separation from God and His people.

The Day of the Lord will be a time of great trouble in the entire earth, but expecially in Israel. There will be wars and earthquakes, giant hailstones and meteor impacts, demon armies and famine, and depending on how one calculates scripture, one quarter to three quarters of the world population will die within a seven year period. Death by martyrdom will be common for all who confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, and lawlessness will be everywhere.

The Thessalonians were going through a great period of persecution and hard economic times. They had been taught by Paul on one of his previous visits about the Day of the Lord, and evidently after Paul was gone they came under the impression from other sources that they were now in The Day of the Lord. Paul wrote to reassure them that The Day had not yet begun, and also that those in their community who had recently died had not missed out on being gathered to meet the Lord. "Now we request you brethern, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you not be so quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has begun". (2 Thes. 2: 1-2)

Paul goes on to say that the Day of the Lord will not come until "the apostasy" comes first, and the man of lawlessness, who is called elsewhere in scripture, "The Antichrist", is revealed. The word "apostasia" has been translated into English in our current bibles as "apostasy". The word has the sense of "falling away from" or "being removed from", and so the understanding we get from the word apostasy is that of a falling away from the faith. But English translations before the King James version rendered the translation as "the removal". This is interesting, because if that is the proper rendering of "apostasia" Paul is telling the Thessolianians that the Day of the Lord cannot begin until something is removed that is restraining the coming of the Antichrist, an idea consistant with verse 6; "And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed".

There are different opinions as to who or what that restrainer is. Some early church fathers believed it was human government, as represented by Rome. Roman law prevailed throughout the world known to those early theologians, and the might of Rome kept lawlessness in check. Others believve that it is the archangel Michael, who is holding back the spirit of the Antichrist until the proper time. And a third opinion is that presence of the Church, or the Body of Christ, being indwelt with the power of the Holy Spirit, is now restraining the worldwide lawlessness that will accompany the arrival of the Antichrist, a condition that must precede the return of the Lord. "And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work . . . that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish". (2 Thes. 2: 6-9)

I believe the third one was what Paul was telling the Thessalonians. The Church (which includes them) must be removed before the revealing of the Antichrist and with it the worldwide rebellion against God that he would help bring. God had been patient with rebellion and lawlessness, but He would not let it go on forever. Just as the evil one was allowed to deceive one third of the angels to follow after him, so would the evil one, with the help of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, be allowed to deceive the nations so that truth could finally conquer falsehood, and light could finally roll back the darkness. The Holy Spirit will be present in the hearts of those who become reborn after the removal, but the intercesion of believers will not hold back the culmination of rebellion that God will now allow. Because of rebellion the world and all who lived in it had been subject to fear, corruption, pain and death. But Jesus was going to return as Redeemer King, and all rebellion would be dealt with. Although the condition of the Thessalonians was harsh, the world wide condition of lawlessness, as led by the Antichrist, could not begin until they are removed. And they can know that God's promise for their removal, as well as for the resurrection of their loved ones, was still valid because the Antichrist would exalt himself above every so-called god, and place himself in the Jewish temple to be worshipped, and that obviously had not yet happened.

All the English translations prior to the King James rendered the word apostasia as "the removal". This was not done by the translators to further a "rapture" theology, since at that time the early reformers still favored Roman Catholic doctrine on the interpretation of what would happen in the last days and what was the timing of the return of Jesus. Fourth century Catholic theologians had a world view that did not include the rebirth of Israel or the regathering of the Jewish people into that land, or a physical return of Jesus as the longed after Jewish Messiah, finally accepted by them, who would rule the Gentile nations from Jerusalem for 1000 years. The book of Revelation was spiritulized, as were prophecies in Daniel, Ezekiel and elsewhere to reflect that theology. Catholics do teach that in the last days there will be an apostasy, or falling away from the Roman Catholic faith, with a coming of an Antichrist, who may even be a false pope. But God will protect the true "institutional" Church during that time, until the Antichrist is once more bound by Michael.

Caholic theology views it's institutional Church as replacing Judaism. Theirs is the new priesthood, and Jesus is already present on the earth through His presence in the sacraments, especially communion and the display of the host. Through His establishment during His time on earth of the sacraments and the apostolic based priesthood, He will not need to return until the final judgment, just prior to the new heavens and the new earth. Although most Protestants have a historical rejection of the pope, the priesthood, and the sacramental system, they have still retained a theology that transfers God's unrevokable promises for the Jewish people and nation upon the Church, although they define Church differently. The majority of Protestant denominations still spiritualize many parts of scripture, including most or all of the prophetic passages.

The Catholic Church explicitly rejects the idea that Jesus will return to earth to rule for 1000 years. Point 676 in the Catechism Of The Catholic Church states; "The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the intrinsically perverse political form of secular messianism". (It is "intrinsically perverse" because the return of Jesus to rule on the earth would upset the need for apolstolic succession, sacraments, etc.) Catholic theology accepts a tribulation period, which is defined as a period of apostasy from Catholicism, perhaps accompanied by other worldwide diaster, and led by an Antichrist. That period will end when the Antichrist is bound by the archangel Michael. This will usher in a universal Time of Peace, when the nations will flock to the presence of Christ as found in the sacraments and the priesthood of the Catholic Church. At the end of that undetermined time Michael will release the Antichrist, who will gather the nations against the Chruch, which is ruling from Jerusalem at this time, for the final war of Gog and Magog. It is at this time that the Church will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air. The Bride will then immediately return with Jesus to do away with all rebellion. There will be a final judgment, and finally "a cosmic upheaval of the passing world".

I believe that there is coming a specific point in time when everyone who has a reborn spirit will be physically removed from the earth to meet the Lord in the clouds, and thus to reside with Him in His Kingdom forever. This will be proceeded by a resurrection of the physical bodies of all those from the time of Jesus until now who had a reborn spirit at the time of their death. There will be left many people in the Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Churchs, as well as many Jews, alive at that point in time who did not have a reborn spirit, which comes about through faith and not through baptism, or obedience to the tenants of any particular faith tradition. The day after the removal all of these chruches will be filled, and there will quickly arise false teachers and prophets, some even accompanied by false signs and wonders, who will deny the truth and confuse those who honestly desire to turn to God. There will be signs in the heavens to deceive the world. I believe one will be the appearance of the Virgin Mary, appearing clothed with the sun, standing on the moon, with twelve stars around her head as a crown. This description comes from Revelation 12, a woman Joseph saw in a dream which scripture interprets as the Jewish nation, but which has been intrepretated by the Catholic Church as Mary. This apparation will say that her womb which bore Jesus is the new ark of the covenant, and that during these times they should find their safety in her. There will be many other signs as well, leading away from surrender to Jesus, and ultimately toward the worship of the evil one, who will sit in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, proclaiming himself to be god.

But scripture also shows that God will have many ways during this awful time to proclaim the eternal gospel throughout the whole world. Many who receive that good news will be killed, choosing light and truth over darkness and lies. Paul told the Thessalonians that, although they too might have to die for their faith, they could not now be in that time of lawlessness and judgment.

"But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through santification, by the Spirit and faith in the truth". (2 Thes. 2: 13)

"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word". (2 Thes. 2: 16-17)

The Restrainer Part I

"And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed . . . " (2 Thessalonians 2: 6-7)

Helen, my 88 year old mother-in-law, has been a member of St. Joe's parish her entire life. Although she still drives a car and can pretty much take care of herself in the same house she moved into when she first married, Harry has been gone for 10 years and health issues the last 2 years have made it difficult for her to drive herself to mass very often. None of her 10 children and spouses or her 95 grandkids and great grandkids attend church at St. Joe's. Jackie and I were the first to leave the Catholic faith, and most of the rest of the family followed later when the time was right for them. The family of Helen's oldest son still attend mass regularly, but they live several states away. Although that son goes to mass and receives the sacraments, he does not believe that Jesus is God.

My wife will take the hour and a half trip to Kalamazoo once a week to spend a Monday or Tuesday night, and half of the next day with Helen. They talk, play rummycube, watch TV and sit by the fire. Every third week Jackie will color Helen's hair, and each week Helen will have waiting for Jackie a list of things for her to do or fix around the house, "cause Jackie can do anything!" A couple of other daughters will also spend a night with their mom, and I'm sure they and some of the other kids each have special projects or things to go out and get for their mother.

Recently Jackie and I were at church and our pastor mentioned that Mother's Day was in a couple of weeks and that everyone should make an effort to bring their mother to that service. This planted a desire in Jackie's heart to take Helen to mass at St. Joe's on Mother's Day, accompanied by as many of Jackie's sisters and brothers that could make it, followed by a traditional pork roast dinner at the house. So this last Mother's Day Jackie and I picked up Helen and then Angie, an 89 year old friend of hers who also would normally not be able to get to mass, and met 5 of Jackie's sisters just inside the door of St. Joe's. Helen was thrilled to show off her kids to a couple of people she knew when we were coming in, and the whole day was delightful.

Mother's Day coincided with the Feast of Pentecost, which remembers the day that the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the first followers of Jesus, who were waiting as the Lord had instructed at a room in Jerusalem, partially fulfilling the prophecy in Joel that was quoted by Peter in his sermon to the large crowd that had gathered outside; "And it shall be in the last days, 'God says, that I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind . . ." Father Mike, who had come to St. Joe's as an assistant priest in 1972, the year Jackie and I were married there, centered his homily on the idea that Jesus had breathed on his disciples, telling them to "Receive the Holy Spirit". This was a good point in that the congregation could better understand that the gift of the Holy Spirit comes from Jesus, who imparts it upon the church. But it was a little misleading in that Jesus did that, not at Pentecost, but when He appeared to the disciples after the resurrection, but before His ascension. The next verse of scripture goes on the say; "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained". (John 20:22)

Let's understand what was happening here. Jesus had died and had risen from the dead, and salvation was now available to all who would call upon the name of the Lord. The disciples, by faith, believed that Jesus had died for their sins, understanding that through the Holy Spirit. That same Holy Spirit united the spirit of Christ with their spirit so that they now were reborn in Christ. Because they had a reborn spirit they were also now a temple of the Holy Spirit, who was present in their lives even before Jesus breathed on them. Jesus was now imparting a particular gift of the Holy Spirt to the first believers. He was not establishing an institutional structure, where priests would have a chrism to forgive sins, but a universal church, where all believers are impowered by the Spirit to proclaim forgiveness. We see this a little better at the end of Luke, where the resurrected Jesus insturcts the disciples; "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem". Jesus then goes on to say; "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you, but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high". The clothing with power from on high was to come at Pentecost.

I think Fr. Mike's point was intended to support the Catholic practice of receiving the Holy Spirit through the impartation of the Bishop, the thought being that Pentecost began an institution called The Church, with the bishops and priests and the sacraments they administer being the visible presence of Christ on the earth. This theology affects how the Catholic Church views scriptures that concern the last days, including who or what The Restrainer is and what The Apostasy is. I will talk more about those in my next post.

The Feast of Pentecost as celebrated by the Western Church always comes 50 days after Easter, the timing having little to do with the actual anniversary of Christ's resurrection, which I believe to be accurate should be celebrated on a Sunday nearest to the Jewish feast of First Fruits. Jesus last supper and death came during the Jewish Feast of Passover. He was in the grave during the Jewish feast of Unleavened Bread, and He rose from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits, thus fulfilling the prophetic purposes of the first 3 of the 7 major Jewish feasts.

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit came on the 4th of 7 major Jewish feasts, coming 50 days after the Feast of First Fruits, and is called Pentecost after a Greek word that means 50 days later. Scripture has instructions for determining the timing of the Jewish feasts, and real Pentecost occurs this year beginning Sunday evening on June 8. This date interestingly enough also coincides with the 41st anniversary of the Six Day War of 1967, where the Jewish nation, after thousands of years, regained complete control of Jerusalem, including the temple area, as well as the Gaza, West Bank and Golan Heights areas. Jewish soldiers had placed a Israeli flag on top of the Dome of the Rock Mosque and had army personal stationed on the Temple Mount area, but the Israeli general Moshe Dyan, rejecting the gift of God, ordered them removed. I believe this began a 40 year period of testing for the Jewish nation, which will end on the 8th or 9th of June.

The first 3 Jewish feasts come in the early Spring, with Pentecost 50 days later, and the last 3 Jewish feasts occur in the fall. Some have suggested ways in which Jesus has already fulfilled the last 3 feasts, but I believe that there are still prophetic events ahead for them, on the actual feast days. Pentecost is an interesting feast in that as the 4th feast, coming between the 1st three and the last three. it follows the 1 - 4 -7 pattern of the lampstand in the tabernacle, a pattern found throughout scripture. The design of the lampstand was given to Moses by God on MT Sinai, and the main lamp in the center, or the 4th stand, holds the oil (a symbol of the Holy Spirit) which feeds the other 6 lamps.

Students of prophecy for years have been saying that they believed that the Rapture of the Church would occur on the 5th feast, which is the Feast of Trumphets. This was because there had already been a prophetic fulfillment of Pentecost, and that scripture equates a trumpet sound with the Rapture, and the next feast in line is called Trumpets. I have always had a feeling that the types found in Pentecost, and certain things that happened in the Old Testament on the Feast of Pentecost, would indicate to me that there might be a dual prophetic purpose for that 4th, and central feast. And there are trumpet blasts connected with the other feasts. Now it seems that a lot of prophecy students are coming to the same conclusion. This doesn't make it right, but there seem to be new insights concerning prophetic patterns coming out every day. Perhaps this will finally be the year, or maybe something else major will happen soon, but the world is changing fast.

One thing that has been suggested, and which I find very interesting, is that there may be a gap of some days between "and the dead in Christ shall rise first", and "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord". (1 Thess. 4: 16-17) The thought is that just as some graves of the Old Testament saints opened up in Jerusalem after Jesus died on the cross, which was accompanied by an earthquake, with some Old Testament saints seen walking around, so will there be worldwide earthquakes, with graves opened and a resurrection of the dead in Christ, with some seen walking around. It has been suggested that this could happen 10 days before Pentecost, on the anniversary of the Ascension of Christ, or even prior to that, with the Rapture on the anniversary of the Ascension and Pentecost being the complection of the last days outpouring of the Holy Spirit as spoken of by the prophet Joel.

The coming of Jesus as a thief in the night refers to His second coming and not to the Rapture, so I have always thought that it would make sense to have some obvious sign for the Church just before the Rapture, and perphaps earthquakes with graves being opened might happen. There might also be worldwide earthquakes at the time of the Rapture, adding to the confusion and anxiety of the left behind world. The time could be soon. Pray for your family and friends that they may know The One who died for them so they can become part of His eternal family.

Dude, I Even Sing In Tongues

"Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that all of you would sing in tongues". (1 Corinthians 14:5) Revised Bob translation (RBT)

When I was a young teenager my dad put in an 8' high steel gymnastics bar behind our garage. He informed me that "When I was your age I could do one arm chin ups". After some months of working on chin ups, either with palms facing forward or with palms facing back, I was able to do some one handed if my other hand was gripping my wrist. I never was able to accomplish a complete unaided one arm chin up, but that was OK. The bar was great fun, not only for working out but also for swinging on, or hanging upside down from my knees. And all of that effort produced some large, nice looking arm muscles, which I was never shy to show off. Now, my natural tendency when alone while playing on that bar was to sing. I remember thinking one day, while hanging on that bar and singing some pleasant tune, that I loved to sing, and what would I ever do if for some reason singing was no longer possible? I would also sing while using the power mower while cutting my parent's grass, or years later on while cutting my own, not aware that anyone would be able to hear me over the engine's noise. Evidently I was mistaken at both locations, as I would find out somewhat to my embarrassment some years later.

"And do not get drunk with wine . . . but be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord". (Ephesians 5: 18-19)

When I surrendered my life to Jesus, confessing Him as my Savior and my Lord, I stepped out in faith, opening my mouth to speak in an unknown language. That was almost 36 years ago, and I think I have spoken or prayed or sung those tongues just about every day since. I make an effort to speak in tongues everyday because I believe it is spiritual exercise, building up the muscles of my spiritual man. (Not for show, but because I need the wisdom and guidance that the Holy Spirit provides). Yet without thinking and with less effort it has been a natural thing for me to sing in tongues when I am alone, especially when driving. I think some people that pass me on the road must wonder what CED I am singing along with.

"What is the outcome then? I shall pray with the spirit and I shall pray with the mind also; I shall sing with the spirit and I shall sing with the mind also". (1 Corinthians 14:15)

In my times of prayer I will usually begin in English, and when I have exhausted knowing what to pray or say and I still feel a burden, I may continue on in the language the Lord has given me until the burden lifts. I may not have an understanding as to the exact words my heart has expressed to God, but the exercise seems to unite my heart to the Lords.

"And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts kows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God". (Romans 8: 26-27)

When I am in situations where I am with someone for the purpose of praying for them, I will usually begin by praising God in English, and then softly pray in tongues until I have a clear direction as to how to intercede out loud in English. In all those instances, tongues operates in my life as a private prayer language, given to me by the Holy Spirit to build me up, and to help my spirit express to the Father much more than what I could do with just my natural mind.

Sometimes when praying for a person, or in a prayer meeting where the group is in an attitude of prayer or intercession for someone or something, and if I feel a prompting from the Holy Spirit, I may speak or sing out in tongues. In those instances the gift from the Spirit is a form of prophecy. The Father, through the Spirit, has a word of encouragement or direction for the group or for an individual. Now, when I am alone in a time of prayer and worship, I have boldly sung out to God in tongues and have then followed the unknown words with choruses in English, perhaps interpreting what was given to me in the spirit. But not being confident to do that in a group I will not speak or sing out in prophetic tongues unless there is someone there that I know has the gift to interpret.

Psalm 100: "Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyfull singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture"

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; Bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting. And His faithfulness to all generations".

In our prayer meetings with the extented family we would often spend the first hour singing our favorite religious songs that had made their way into a songbook that one of us had compiled. The last couple of songs were always good worship tunes, usually ending with the 8 fold Alleluia, and then singing in tongues to that melody, or to a melody that would develop from that. I have sung in tongues in churches where hundreds are also in worship in the spirit, the voices and various melodies combining to make a beautiful sound of worship. And I have been in Charismatic conferences where thousands of voices are singing in the spirit, the overall effect being quite amazing and uplifting. I have been made by God to love Him, and to be loved by Him. He has put a song in my heart which declares that although He is too awesome for me to comprehend, yet still I will praise Him. I cannot begin to understand His mercy. I cannot find enough words to say thanks. At times I don't know even what my needs truely are, or how best to continue on in prayer when Ive said all I could say and I still feel the burden. Yet the Spirit helps me in my weakness, and in joy I praise Him with my mouth; In word, and in song, and in the spirit.

Light Affliction

"For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison". (2 Corinthians 4:17)

It was the week before this Easter, as I was engaged in my daily reading of scripture, that I came across the above verse. Just before picking up my Bible I had read something in our local newspaper that caught my interest, and it must have still been banging around in my head enough to make it difficult to concentrate on the chapter from 2 Corinthians. When I read "light affliction" my first thoughts were - What type of difficulty does light cause someone? - When I get a faceful of sun it makes me sneeze. Is it like that? - Was there something called "light affliction" in Jesus day? - Do I need to check another translation to figure this out? I actually had to reread the paragraph a couple of times before the "light" went off in my brain. Several days later I went back and read chapters three, four and five to get the full context of Paul's argument. I also read chapters nineteen through thirty-four in Exodus to better understand the analogies that Paul was drawing from. Eventually I understood that, in both 2 Corinthians and Exodus, there is a type of "light affliction" that all mankind has in common, and that the resurrection of Christ, celebrated at Easter, provides us a promise of hope that one day we will be healed from it.

Two verses past 4:17 it says; "For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house (our body) is torn down, we have a building from God (a better body), a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. Inasmuch as we, having put it on, shall not be found naked. For indeed, while we are in this tent we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life".

Our assurance that Jesus actually rose from the dead, and that He will change our earthly tent into an eternal dwelling place with Him, is given to us by the Spirit. By faith we followed the leading of the Spirit and confessed that the death of Jesus on the cross was for us personally, both the punishment and the payment that The Father demanded because of our sins and our sinful nature. This faith allowed that same Spirit to bring Christ into our hearts, changing our spirit nature into a new creation. The Spirit can now dwell within us, and where the Spirit is there is light, a portion of the glory of God. But, although our body will one day be changed and we will be able to more fully abide in the glory of the Almighty, it is now still earthly. We struggle daily to overcome the carnal desires of both the body and the mind, and the tendency of all matter to breakdown over time. And like Paul, we may also endure trials from a fallen world that hates the light, and thus hates those in whom the light abides. It is a struggle to live a life in the light of Christ when the opposition comes from both without and within. We may often long to be released from the confines of our earthly body and soul, to be in the glorious presence of our God. But Paul tells us it is best to follow this simple advice. Our desire should be, both in this life and in the next, "to be pleasing to Him". (2 Corinthians 5:9)

The book of Exodus tells the story of the Jewish people leaving their captivity in Egypt, and the journey to the land promised to them by God. On the first day of the third month they enter into the Sinai wilderness, and camp next to MT. Sinai. The awesome presence of Almight God is made known by the dark cloud and the flashing lightening at the top of the mountain, and later when the top of the mountain looks like it is on fire. When God speaks to the people His voice sounds like thunder. And the physical sights and sounds of God frighten the people. One of the things He tells them is that they are to honor Him alone, and are not to fashion idols. Later on He tells Moses, Aaron, Aaron's two oldest sons, and seventy of the elders of the people to advance up the mountain, although only Moses is allowed to come near to God. When they went up the group "saw the God of Israel, and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself". (Exodus 24:10) The group eat and drink before God, who then calls Moses to come into His presence. At this time the others descend the mountain and wait for Moses. "Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights". (Ex. 24: 15-18)

Some amazing things happen during those 40 days. On the top of the mountain God gives instructions to Moses concerning His laws, and shows Moses the patterns for the tabernacle, including the materials, the furniture, the priestly garments, and the things that the priest were to do. And God Himself writes down His laws (my sense is that this is much more that the 10 commandments) on tablets of stone for Moses to take back with him. But on the bottom of the mountain, even though there is still an obvious visible presence of the cloud and the fire on top of the mountain, the people grow restless. They forget about the pillar of cloud that was with them every day since they left Egypt, and the pillar of fire that was with them every night. They complain to Aaron whose tribe will become the priests for the nation. They begin to doubt that Moses is going to return, and they ask Aaron to make them an idol to be a god that they can worship. Now the people already knew the will of God concerning idols. Aaron and his sons and the seventy elders had seen God and had eaten before Him. For four months the nation had seen and heard the awesome power of God, had been instructed as to His plan for them, had entered into a covenant with Him. They knew all these things with their brain, but their hearts were still in darkness. They were worried about what to eat. They were worried about being left to die in the wilderness. And they were having an awful time trusting a God whose features they could not describe and who was making them wait. (And are we really much different?) So Aaron collects gold from them, throws it into a fire, and out of the fire is fashioned a golden calf. The people imitate the religious practices of the Egyptian people they had recently been delivered from, and rise up to sing, dance and cavort before a god made in the image of corruptible flesh.

Moses brought down with him from the mountain laws that God Himself inscribed upon stone. When Moses saw what the people were doing, already at the beginning rebelling against those very words the finger of God engraved, he smashed the stones. But the words inscribed on stone were never intended to bring life to the people. It was not God's plan to make a religion where people would be justified by doing everything that was written there. Following the letter of the law instead brought death. God's intent was to drive man to the tabernacle to make sacrifice for his sins, yet even here scripture says often that God took no pleasure in the blood of the animal sacrifices. Instead of works of religion God was looking for obedience because of the desire of the heart. It is the physical part of us, our body and our mind (the soul) that tries to be justified by works. But it is in the heart, the reborn spirt where the Spirit of God resides, that surrenders to God.

Exodus tells us that Moses set up a tent outside the camp, and when he would go into the tent the cloud would descend upon it and the glory of God would reside inside. He would talk to God there, and when he left the tent Moses would put a veil over his face, because the brightness of the glory of God that came onto his face, even though it would eventually fade, was too much for the people to look at. (Maybe the brightness made them sneeze) Paul says that "if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses, because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?" (2 Cor. 3: 7-8) The veil over the face of Moses is a reminder of the hardness of the heart of the sons of Israel in that day. and there remains a veil hiding the glory of God for them today, as well as for everyone else, until it is lifted by the Spirit when a person turns to the Lord. "The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might n0t see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God". (2 Cor. 4:4)

Trials and tribulations are a part of the lives of believers while we live on this planet in our earthly bodies. And one reason is because "we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves". (2 Cor. 4:7) May we live our lives in the strength of the Spirit. And may the light of the Spirit and the truth of Christ shine into the lives of all those we know who struggle in this earthly realm.