#50 THE RETURN OF CHRIST: THE THEMES, PART 2

     Have you ever wondered why Revelation starts out with Christ talking to seven churches? (If you have time, you might want to read Revelation 1-3 to get an overview what Christ said.) While all of the churches had strengths and/or weaknesses that Christ pointed out, there was one common thread throughout his discourse–”He who overcomes…” Sometimes, I think we take those words too lightly when they could be some of the most important words for us to hear in regards to the return of Christ. You see, along with the reality of God’s absolute love prevailing over the kingdom of evil, another major theme during the saga of Christ’s second coming is the ability of the human race to overcome that same kingdom of evil.

     Let’s take another look at Revelation 15:2, “And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.” Now, I know some people think these words visualize a scene in heaven, but let’s reason this verse out and see if we come up with a different understanding. These people standing on the “sea of glass mixed with fire” won the victory against the beast, his image, and his number. Or, in other words, these people won the victory against Satan and the kingdom of evil. What is Satan’s express purpose towards the human race?  To steal, to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10). Everything he has planned against the human race is designed to completely wipe out God’s creation. So, in order to win the victory over the kingdom of evil, the people in Revelation 15:2 had to overcome the loss, death, and destruction that Satan brought against them. 

     Earlier in Revelation, John had already discussed how these people overcame the kingdom of evil, so let’s backtrack to that description in Revelation 12:11 (NKJV), “And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Let’s start with the last statement first because, on the surface, those words sound like the people who overcame ended up dead which is exactly what Satan wanted them to be. What a contradiction–let’s see if we can clarify what John’s words mean. Let’s start with Hebrews 9:27, “And insamuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment…” and with Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” I propose that the death that John talks about is the same death that Galatians 2:20 talks about. This is the beauty of God’s plan; when people accept Christ, the sin (unbelief) that ruled their lives from the inside of them dies. Sin is dead, period! Because their sin is dead and because they have been made the righteousness of God (II Corinthians 5:21), believers can come to God and go through judgment to get rid of every iota of the effects of sin in their lives (aka the baptism of fire). So, not loving their lives to the death may simply mean they did not hold onto unbelief. (Remember the first words of Revelation 21:8, “But for the cowardly and unbelieving…”) And, because these believers defeat the kingdom of evil through faith, they are able to put on immortality the instant Christ returns.

     Now, let’s go back to the first two statements that John made in Revelation 12:11–believers overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. I think many times when we think about Christ’s death on the cross, we focus on the forgiveness of our sins. Again, Christ’s death on the cross accomplished so much more than just the forgiveness of sins (remember, under the Mosaic law, the offerings that were set up also provided for the forgiveness of sins). I believe the blood of the Lamb covers everything that Christ accomplished on the cross. He obliterated the dividing wall between God and us, and then made the way for us to become full sons of God through the new birth, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire. Those believers who are victorious over the kingdom of evil have taken full advantage of what Christ has accomplished through his cross. And, the word of their testimony–the words they speak–reflects their position as sons of God. These words are particularly important in their prayer closets as they seek knowledge, understanding, and wisdom from God and use what He gives them to bind the kingdom of evil and loose the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:18). Of course, these believers also live in love through their deeds and through finding truth in their own lives (I John 3:18), thus their testimony among their fellow human beings is one of being faithful.

     Before we end this week’s post, I want to broach the topic of the unforgiveable sin, the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit. In Mark 3:28-29, Jesus spoke these words, “Truly, I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” Mark added a comment in verse 30 that the reason Christ spoke these words was because people were saying Christ had a unclean spirit, but I propose that the meaning of Christ’s words goes much deeper than just the words people speak. Let’s begin with Hebrew 6:4-6:

   For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

Again, on the surface, these verses seem to imply that it is fairly easy to blaspheme the Holy Spirit–the words “tasted” and “have been made partakers” seem to infer actions that have little depth to them. However, due to the power of God’s absolute love,  I propose that it is almost impossible for any of us to have already blasphemed the Holy Spirit. In order to understand this, let’s go back to when Satan was Lucifer. This angel was created in truth, good, life, light, and spirit; Lucifer was completely free from the Wrath of God. Now, because he created sin by looking at his own beauty, he let go of God and of truth–in a sense, he blasphemed God because it was impossible for him to repent. Now, in John 14-16, Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit being the spirit of truth. I propose that the only people who can blaspheme the Holy Spirit are those people who have been totally set free from all deception and who have overcome the kingdom of evil. In a sense, these people would be in the same position as Lucifer before he fell. If, at that point, any believer willingly chooses to let go of God like Lucifer did, then there is no second chance.

     Do I think any one will blaspheme the Holy Spirit–absolutely not because unlike Lucifer, we do not start out in truth, good, life, light, and spirit. We are physically born as captives of the kingdom of evil and only become free of that captivity as God ministers to us through the Holy Spirit. I do not believe that anyone who has fully experienced the absolute love of God will choose to let go of Him. However, because God is love, He will never remove our freedom of choice, so the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit will remain possible until the White Throne Judgment is complete. 

     All scriptures are taken from the NASB unless otherwise noted.

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, July 11th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE RETURN OF CHRIST

#48 THE RETURN OF CHRIST: THE PLOT, PART 3

***Note: due to a mistake I made last week, post #49 follows this post. Oh, well, I am definitely not a tech person.

     In this post, we’re going to wrap up the sequence of events that might occur throughout the process of Christ’s return. We left off with the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19) which we found represents the celebration of our victory over Satan and his cohorts. Now, Revelation 20:1-10 tells something else takes place at the return of Christ–Satan is bound and sealed in a deep, deep pit for a thousand years. The purpose of this “prison sentence” is that Satan would not be able deceive the human race during that time. This passage also says that those who were resurrected and those who were changed as Christ returned would take their places on thrones to rule with him. The question is, who are they reigning over? Since in every war there are both casualties and prisoners of war, I’m thinking that the forces of evil that were taken as prisoners of war leading up to the return of Christ might be the ones who are ruled over with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15). Then, when Satan is released at the end of the thousand years, he gathers those forces and goes out to deceive the human race again. However, before he even reaches them, he is captured and thrown into the lake of fire.

     By the way, speaking of the thousand year reign, I’m sure some of us have wondered what its significance is. I wouldn’t be surprised, if it is a literal thousand years, that it is a part of the revenge of God on the kingdom of evil for the devastation Satan and his cohorts have brought upon the human race. What would be more fitting a punishment for Satan than to have to watch the human race be one with God without being able to do anything about it?

     Next, let’s go on to the White Throne Judgment described in Revelation 19:11-15. Here is where we are going to tackle the concept of God’s absolute love. Many traditional teachings have told us that, at this point, all who never accepted Christ are going to be cast into eternal hell. Indeed, there are some scriptures that seem to point in that direction. For example, Matthew 25:31-46 talks about Christ separating the sheep from the goats when he returns, and the goats will go into eternal punishment. The most important aspect of this passage is found in the identity of the sheep and goats. Christ said nothing about accepting him or even about loving God, but he said that what separated the sheep from the goats was how they treated other people. Remember, Christ was talking to the Hebrews whose tradition revolved around the Mosaic law rather than around their interactions with other people. I think Christ was making a strategic point to his listeners (and to us) about what is important to him and his Father: their adherence to the law wouldn’t save them, but being kind would.  Furthermore, Christ made another statement in John 5:28-29 which might add some clarity to what he said in Matthew, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

     Remember when we talked about the baptism of fire as part of the process of becoming a son of God (post #31)? The fire represents the power of the cleansing that God sends us through. As the time of Christ’s approaches, vast multitudes people will go through that fire and get rid of all evil in their lives because Satan looses the power of deception (Revelation 7:14). Now, let me ask a question, why do people die without Christ? Try listing as many reasons as you can and think about them. Don’t all of the reasons come down to the same point of people not understanding the absolute love of God? Whose fault is that? Satan’s, because he is the father of lies. I propose that the White Throne Judgment is where God takes care of the results of Satan’s deceptions. 

     Not too far back, God painted a picture in my mind. I saw a man bent over under a huge load of evil deeds–his forehead was touching his knees. He was before God and God lifted an evil deed from his back. I saw God bend over to look straight into the man’s eyes and to say these words, “This is the deception you believed, and here is the truth, I love you. Now do you want Me to give it back to you or should I throw it into the fire?” The man answered, “Into the fire,” and so the process went on until every evil deed had been tossed into the fire. The man ended up standing straight and looking God in the eye. Then, God asked him the final question, “What do you choose–life or death, blessing or cursing?” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). In a loud, clear voice, the man replied, “I choose life and blessings.”

     I Corinthians 3:11-15 back this mental image up. Listen to Paul’s words:

   For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each  man’s work. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

What is the foundation that is Christ? I John 2:1-2 says it well, “…And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” This foundation–this outworking of God’s absolute love–is that everyone’s sin was forgiven through Christ’s death on the cross. Just because Satan has kept some people from understanding truth doesn’t mean God’s love was stymied. God is greater than Satan and His love is absolute–perfect, complete, and real.

     In my next post, we will be talking about the end result of God’s absolute love. But, before we pause in our discussion, I want to point out a significant misunderstanding some of us have. I’ve heard people speak of eternal hell–in fact, some use the threat of eternal hell to try to get people saved. Guess what–Revelation 20:13-14 overrules that doctrine. Listen to the wording, “And the sea gave up the death which were in it, and death and [hell, KJV] gave up the dead which were in them…Then death and [hell] were thrown into the lake of fire…” Neither death nor hell are eternal because they end up in the lake of fire and they will never harass the human race again.

     Now, let’s consider just what hell is. In Matthew 10:28, Christ said this, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Tradition has told us that the one who is able to destroy us in hell is God, but let’s think  this through. The next three verses in Matthew 10 talk about the care our Father has for us. In our tradition, there’s a huge contradiction–on one hand, we’re to fear God because He can send us to hell while at the same time, He cares for us and has counted the hairs of our head!! What??

     I think John 10:10 has our answer, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it [more, KJV] abundantly.” Satan is the one who destroys, not God! I believe hell is a work of Satan in his depraved effort to completely destroy the human race. Before God takes care of all the evil deeds people have done, He is going to eradicate death and hell forever. Then, when people stand in front of Him at the White Throne Judgment, they will no longer have to fear the one who destroyed their souls and bodies in death and hell. They will be set free!

     All scripture passages are taken from the NASB unless otherwise noted. Please feel free to comment–just be respectful!

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, June 27th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in THE RETURN OF CHRIST

#49 THE RETURN OF CHRIST: THE THEMES, PART 1

     Looking at what we’ve been discussing about the biblical prophecies of the return of Christ, I’d like us to think about any main messages that are intertwined with the events taking place. I’m thinking there are two themes, in particular, that provide a perspective and a context that will strengthen us as we face unprecedented trouble and turmoil in our world. To set the stage for these themes, let’s start by looking at a passage that we’ve talked about before–listen to what Isaiah 25:6-9 says:

   The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all people on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

For some reason, many of us believe the salvation of the Lord consists of us going to heaven when we die. However, this passage puts this concept in much different terms–God’s salvation is when He prepares a lavish banquet for everyone, when He swallows up death forever, and when He wipes the tears away from all faces. Now, think about these verses and keep the wording of what Isaiah wrote in mind as we go back to Revelation.

     Amid all of the frightening details of his vision of the time surrounding the return of Christ, John did describe some wonderful moments. For example, when he wrote of  the vast multitudes of people who came out of the great tribulation and washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, he went on to tell what happened next in their lives (Revelation 7:15-17):

   For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to the springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Here are those words again–God will wipe every tear from their eyes. The same words that Isaiah used.

     Now, in my last post, we talked about the White Throne Judgment. Immediately after describing that process, John began to discuss the next occurrence, the new heaven and the new earth. Before we read his description, let’s take a quick look at something Peter wrote in his second letter, “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (II Peter 3:13). The force of the new heavens and the new earth will be righteousness. Because evil has been dealt with and cast into the lake of fire, the new heavens and the new earth will be free from sin and guilt. With this verse in mind, let’s read John’s description of this new world (Revelation 21:1-4):

   Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.

Now, here’s a question: In Revelation 7, God wipes away the tears of everyone who came out of great tribulation before the return of Christ. If those are the people who put on immortality at the return of Christ, then whose tears is God wiping away as the new heaven and the new earth manifest? As far as I can see, this second group of people are those who have stood before the White Throne Judgment. They are the ones who carried a load of deception and evil deeds to their physical deaths and who faced God before His throne to learn truth and to go through the fire. I propose that every human being has to go through the baptism of fire–not because God is mad at us, but because the deception and evil deeds cause death, loss, and destruction. God wants us to have life, the life more abundant than the workings of evil, so He pulls all evil from our lives and casts it into His consuming fire.

     With this context, let’s look at the words that God spoke to John in Revelation 21:5-8,

   And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Here is what we should understand about these words. All of us have deceptions and evil deeds in our lives (anyone who has never lied raise your hand). The question is when do we deal with that evil? If we thirst for God  and if we are willing to go through the baptism of fire while we are alive, then we will be transformed into sons of God, we will put on immortality at the point of Christ’s return, and the second death will not touch us (Revelation 2:11). However, if we do die without going through the fire, we will face God in the final judgment and go through the fire then. No matter when we face God and find truth, He will be there to wipe our tears away because He loves us! God knows the battle that is raging against the human race and He does not condemn us. He sent His only begotten Son to destroy Satan’s ability to keep us separated from Him. In the end, every human being will have the opportunity to look God straight in the eye and to find the love that makes us His sons.

     So, here is one of the two major themes intertwined with the return of Christ: God’s absolute love will prevail, thus Satan’s plan to destroy God’s creation will completely fail. To put in other terms, God’s absolute love is greater than the kingdom of evil. To repeat part of Isaiah 25:6-8, “And the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain…He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces…” This, my friends, is the good news of the gospel!

     All scripture passages are taken from the NASB. Please feel free to comment, just keep it respectful.

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, June 27th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE RETURN OF CHRIST

#47 THE RETURN OF CHRIST: THE PLOT, PART 2

   I first heard of the Rapture way back in the early 1970’s when I was in college. At that time, a great controversy kept us all talking–Was the Rapture pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib? Some of us were sure that God was going to zap Christians out of the world and into heaven before the Great Tribulation when the Anti-Christ would take over the world. Others weren’t so sure about that as they said the Rapture wouldn’t come until the middle of that time period or even at the end of it. Throughout all of these discussions, we were making an assumption that really has no biblical basis. Furthermore, as we have been talking about here, if we are an integral part of the spiritual warfare leading up to the return of Christ, why would God take us off the battlefield?

     Do you know that the word “Rapture” isn’t even in the Bible? However, there are several verses in the Bible which seem to indicate a catching up of believers connected with the coming of Christ. First, as we discussed in my last post, the two dead witnesses were revived with the breath of life from God and were caught up into heaven (Revelation 11:11-12. There’s also a similar narrative in the next chapter where a woman gives birth to a manchild who is immediately caught up  to God and His throne (Revelation 12:1-3, 5). We’ve already discussed the two witnesses as representing the two covenants and the catching up of them as being the re-establishment of the power and authority they had. I propose that the catching up of the manchild represents a similar happening. Let’s infer that the woman who gives birth to the manchild is the Church who is clothed in light (the sun representing Christ) with the false light under her feet (the moon representing Satan) and who has a crown of twelve stars on her head (representing the second covenant). Might the manchild be the 144,000 believers who are the first to find their places seated on the right hand of God as they learn to fight the kingdom of evil in their prayer closets? Like the catching up of the two witnesses, this catching up of the manchild may also represent the authority of Christ being activated here on earth. Thus, the catching up into heaven may not be a literal happening, per se, but rather a figurative image–once the covenants and the manchild were caught up, Satan couldn’t touch their authority.

      Now, in I Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul talks about what would happen when Christ returned to the earth. Listen to what verses 16 and 17 say:

   For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

I want to add a second passage for us to think about as we work through the meaning of the catching up mentioned here. Let’s look at I Corinthians 15:51-55:

   Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immorality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on  immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”

If we put these two passages together, I think we can infer that us meeting the Lord in the air represents the change that takes in our bodies. Our mortal bodies will put on immortality as we shake off death and as our victory over the kingdom of evil is fully manifested. If Christ is returning and we are putting on immortality, what would be the point of us being “raptured” to heaven? With this in mind, I propose that this catching up and meeting Christ in the air is the outward manifestation of our freedom from death which will be under our feet at that point. 

   Let’s summarize what we have discussed so far in this series of posts: Satan sets out to kill the power of the two covenants of God with the human race and to push the world into deception and competitiveness strong enough to destroy the human race. As the world edges closer to that destruction, God releases the power of righteousness (freedom from sin and guilt) and the power of the resurgence of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. A small group of believers from throughout the Church are called to their prayer closets and are the first to discover the ability to bind the forces of evil and loosen the forces of good. As they take their places as sons of God, Michael and his angelic forces are released to wage war against the kingdom of evil and the resulting battle of Armageddon (spiritual warfare) brings massive trouble to the human race as Satan tries to hold onto his power of deception. During this trouble, massive multitudes of people realize that God’s absolute love was and is manifested through Christ to provide the human race with power to overcome the kingdom of evil. These multitudes flee to the throne of God for His help in this time of horrendous trouble. The battle rages until there is only one enemy left–death.  At this point, Michael the archangel (Jude 9) shouts in victory, the last trumpet sounds, the dead in Christ arise, we who are alive on earth put on immortality, and Christ descends to take his place as King of kings and Lord of lords! Amen and amen!

     Then, as Revelation 19:7-19 talks about, the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place. John’s description of this feast portrays some pretty gory details such birds eating the flesh of kings, commanders, mighty men, horses, their riders and of all men both free men and slaves. If we put these verses together with Matthew 24:28 (KJV) which says, “For wherever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together,” the marriage supper sounds like a bloody carnage. Again, looking at this event from the figurative language aspect, I’m thinking that this marriage supper is part of God’s revenge on the kingdom of evil. Satan and his cohorts are going to lose everything they have–their very “life” is going to be destroyed and all the destruction, loss, and death that they have caused is going to fall. In the place of destruction, loss, and death, the human race is going to be given back everything that has been taken from them. We are going to feast upon the destruction of the kingdom of evil and Satan and his cohorts will be helpless to stop us. If this is the case, then Isaiah 40:31 is a verse for us to hold onto as we work our way towards the marriage supper of the Lamb, “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”

     Except where noted, all scripture verses are taken from the NASB. As always, please feel free to comment–just keep it respectful.

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, June 20th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE RETURN OF CHRIST

#46 THE RETURN OF CHRIST: THE PLOT, PART 1

     If we listen to what modern day “prophets,” movies, and books have told us, the return of Christ will bring a violent end to the world as God pours out His wrath on all the wicked people who have rejected Christ. No, a thousand times, no! To the contrary, Christ’s return signifies the end of the kingdom of evil. Let me repeat this–Christ’s return signifies the end of the kingdom of evil! The return of Christ is the beginning of God’s vengeance against Satan and his cohorts for every bit of death, destruction, and loss that they have hammered the human race with. In this post, I’m going to share my thinking on how this whole scenario will take place. We’ll be looking at the sequence of events (aka, the plot) by connecting what is written in the Bible, by thinking through the meanings of figurative language, by looking at the circumstances in our world, and by making some inferences.

     I want to start with the two witnesses that stand before the Lord (Revelation 11:1-14). Read through the narrative with the context that the story told here represents a “spiritual” saga that has happened over an extended time. I propose that the two witnesses represent the two covenants that God has made with the human race. The first covenant came through Moses when God laid out His commandments while the second came through Christ when God made the way for the human race to keep His commandments (by loving Him with everything they have and by loving their neighbors as themselves). Satan has hated those two covenants because, when fully understood, they would work together to enable the human race to defeat his kingdom. So, Satan and his cohorts have made war with the covenants and have destroyed their power in the earth. He has stirred up the forces of deception and competition to keep humans looking at each other rather than looking to God. As a result, Satan has made real progress in his plan to obliterate God’s creation. During this time that the covenants were “dead,” Satan pushed the human race into war after war–wars are the ultimate manifestations of competition–and pushed humans into developing weapons that could destroy every living thing on the earth. However, to Satan’s amazement, the time comes when the breath of life from God enters those two covenants, and they are taken up to heaven as a sign of the authority they have. At that point, the human race again has the ability to look upward at God rather than at each other.

     Because the covenants are revived and taken to heaven, the power of righteousness that had been sent forth in Revelation 6:1-2 finds a foothold in the earth as humans begin to look upward. This righteousness–this freedom from sin and guilt–causes believers to cleave to God. Daniel 7 gives us a clearer picture of the result of the Ancient of Days (God) coming on the scene through the faith of believers. In verses 21-22, we read these powerful words:

   I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.

Now, let’s look at a statement Christ made in John 16:8-11 as he was talking about the Holy Spirit:

   And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

I propose that the essence of righteousness is found in the resurgence (the “latter rain” talked about in Joel 2:23) of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When we step back and look at how the two covenants came into being, we can see that the Holy Spirit facilitated the establishment of the Mosaic covenant (Exodus 13:21, 40:34-38), that He was the force behind the fulfillment of that covenant through Christ as He overshadowed Mary (Matthew 5:17, Luke 1:35), and that He was the force behind the birth of the New Covenant (Acts 2).  Doesn’t it make sense that He would be the force behind the fulfillment of that New Covenant as the human race takes back all that has been stolen and destroyed by the kingdom of evil?

     Okay, here’s where we’re at–Satan and his cohorts have ensnared the world into a complex web of competition and deception in order to destroy God’s creation, but, as the world edges closer to total destruction, God looses the power of righteousness through a resurgence of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now, I’m thinking that with this “latter rain” comes the full understanding of the concept of binding and loosing that Christ talked in Matthew 18:18. In other words, believers start to understand how they can defeat Satan in their prayer closets by binding his cohorts and “taking” them as prisoners of war and by loosing the power of the Holy Spirit and the angels of the Lord. Since both Daniel 12:1-2 and Revelation 12:7-8 tell us that Michael and his angels stand up against Satan and his forces and throw them out of heaven, I think we can infer that this angelic action is the result of the prayers of believers.

     Now, to go a step farther, Revelation 16:13-16 talks about the forces of evil gathering the kings of the whole world together for the war of the great day of God in a place called Armageddon. I know some people believe that there will be an actual world war at that place, but I would like to bring Ephesians 6:12 into the picture: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Again, I’m thinking that Armageddon is the battle going on between the angelic forces and the kingdom of evil–I don’t think we’ll see a physical world war, but that we will face a time of trouble such as never has been (Daniel 12:1, Matthew 24:21-22).

     The most important concept for us to understand about the Battle of Armageddon is the part that believers play in winning the war. Without their prayers, the kingdom of evil would not be defeated. Let’s read Matthew 18:18 again, “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  Remember that Daniel 7:22 says the saints took possession of the kingdom? Doesn’t it make sense that these believers (who I think are us) possess the kingdom through binding the forces of evil and loosing the forces of good in their prayer closets?

     In my next post, we will continue to look at the sequence of events that lead us to immortality, a new heaven, and a new earth. I’d like to leave you with something to think about–what commander-in-chief would remove his army before the war is won (think Rapture)?

     All scripture passages are taken from the NASB. As always, feel free to comment–just be respectful.

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, June 13th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE RETURN OF CHRIST
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