"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet". (Matthew 24:6)
It seems somewhat redundant that Jesus would speak of war and rumors of wars as a sign of the end of time. Wars and rumors of wars were common occurrences since the beginning of time. The Old Testament presents a bloody picture of nations in conflict. In the modern age, World War 1 and World War 2 were the wars to end all wars, yet the drums of war continue to sound.
The New Testament speaks of wars and rumors of wars before the end of days. When I attempted to use this as a forum during a Bible study, a student challenged me by informed me that this is nothing new. When reading the New Testament prophecies concerning the wars and rumors of wars many can find a type of faith numbing contentment in stating the above fact. To reconcile what seems to be a redundant statement it is easy to proclaim that every since Adam sinned we have been living in the end of time. But leaving such important statement or verse hanging in such a precarious manner has caused the faith of many to grow cold.
When God created man, he gave him a battlefield commission to subdue the earth. "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28). Subdue is the military command to engage the enemy and win the battle. What was the nature of the battle set before man before nations were born?
Imagine you being in the middle of a horrific battle and not aware of what is going on around you? While we are singing and dancing the enemy is creeping upon us. This might seem like an unrealistic scenario but it has been known to happen to even battle harden worriers. Reflecting upon and studying the scripture requires that we maintain the proper perspective and context. Failure to do so will result in a distorted and perplexing view of God plan. This can lead to self-doubt, an attribute that is essential to losing the battle.
In the Old Testament, God worked in the natural through those he called to his service. Often God led his follower into battle and spilled the blood of his adversaries upon the ground. Many of the battles fought in the Old Testament were for advancing God plan. The Old Testament depicts a war between good and evil. Wars consist of many fronts and many battles, there are the "boots on the ground" type of war and there is the "propaganda war". One is natural and the other deals with the spirit.
When the call to battle sounded, the men did not hesitate to leave their mother and fathers, their wives and kin to fight for their God and country. Judges 7:2-8 tells the story of too many people showing up to fight. God gave Gideon a plan to reduce his force down to a lean fighting machine before going into battle. In the early years of a nation, the people rallied around their country's flag. The flag was the representative of an idea, a concept or culture. When that nation, that concept, that culture through a type of propaganda is divided, according to Jesus destruction is at the door.
Often I have attempted to quote scriptures and before I finished I was forced to rethink the meaning of the scripture. As a religious society, we have become comfortable in misquoting the scripture. Too often, we take what God said to one group of people and apply it to another group because it sounds good. There are three groups of people addressed within the scripture and a message to the Jews is not a message to the church. "Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:" (1st Corinthians 10:32) We need to stop quoting 2nd Chronicle 7:14 as if it is a verse on political intercession. To the Jews it was a natural entitlement; to the church, it is spiritual. As I have said before many of our quotes have made the God of our salvation seems as if he is impotent.
As I prepared for a surgical procedure, my mentor a messenger of God insisted on me saying "Amen" to the question of whether I believe God can part the Red Sea. For me it is not a question of what God can or cannot do, it is how God works. Today I can get in my car and drive to Texas, but will I do it? No. If I did it once, will I do it again? Not necessarily so. Clichés and hyperbole do not prepare us for the battle ahead.
The church was to serve as the command center for those who were engaged in warfare. Paul's admonition to the team was, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:10-12) After the death of Christ, and the institution of a new dispensation, God began to works through his spirit, and the battle became a spiritual entity. Paul defined the conflict that is raging around us as spiritual.
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased". (Daniel 12:4)
In Daniel's, end time prophecies he alluded to a time when knowledge would increase and many would run back and forth. During early 1800, the knowledge of man increased as many nations were caught up in the industrial and mechanical revolution. The greatest achievement during that era was the invention of the steam engine. Through more than one hundred and sixty years in the development stage, the steam engine would bring about a revolution in the way humanity travel. For nearly 6000 years, the use of animals and walking was the primary form of transportation. During the next 200 years, humanity would travel into outer space and explore the planets. In the process, we challenged the existence of God.
I became aware of the war to challenge God in the early 60's and since that date, the battles have intensified. Many others had existed before that time but for me, Madalyn Mays also known, as Madalyn Murray O'Hair was one of the earlier Generals in the war against God. O'Hair known for the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit, which led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling ending official Bible-reading in American public schools in 1963. This came just one year after the Supreme Court prohibited officially sponsored prayer in schools in Engel v. Vitale. Afterward, she founded the American Atheists and won Murray v. Curlett, she achieved attention to the extent that in 1964 Life magazine referred to her as "the most hated woman in America". That was then; today she is referenced as a great thinker. These acts set the stage for the government knowingly and unknowingly to enjoin the battle to declare God as an irrelevant entity.
The events that I have referenced in this article took place within a nation that once declared it a God-fearing nation. Its founding fathers had the audacity to proclaim that God had shed his grace on it. This nation supported Israel because it was the biblical thing to do. The increase in knowledge that Daniel prophesied has perverted this nation core values. (Daniel 12:4) It has turned its back on Israel and now proclaim itself a nation of many gods while it engages in debates on what bathrooms we should use. According to Paul, there is the spiritual weakness in high places.(Ephesians 6:10-18)
Now let us revisit the question, when Jesus spoke of wars and rumors of wars, was he speaking of the conflicts between nations and peoples. Maybe we should discard our cavalier approach to understanding the word of God and search the scripture for the answer. Often when we search the scripture, we are seeking to prove a preexisting idea or concept. Thus to prove our point the shaping of the scripture becomes a necessity. Is it possible that Jesus was speaking of the intensification of spiritual warfare, a flagrant attack on God?
To be continued
"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet". (Matthew 24:6)
It seems somewhat redundant that Jesus would speak of war and rumors of wars as a sign of the end of time. Wars and rumors of wars were common occurrences since the beginning of time. The Old Testament presents a bloody picture of nations in conflict. In the modern age, World War 1 and World War 2 were the wars to end all wars, yet the drums of war continue to sound.
The New Testament speaks of wars and rumors of wars before the end of days. When I attempted to use this as a forum during a Bible study, a student challenged me by informed me that this is nothing new. When reading the New Testament prophecies concerning the wars and rumors of wars many can find a type of faith numbing contentment in stating the above fact. To reconcile what seems to be a redundant statement it is easy to proclaim that every since Adam sinned we have been living in the end of time. But leaving such important statement or verse hanging in such a precarious manner has caused the faith of many to grow cold.
When God created man, he gave him a battlefield commission to subdue the earth. "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28). Subdue is the military command to engage the enemy and win the battle. What was the nature of the battle set before man before nations were born?
Imagine you being in the middle of a horrific battle and not aware of what is going on around you? While we are singing and dancing the enemy is creeping upon us. This might seem like an unrealistic scenario but it has been known to happen to even battle harden worriers. Reflecting upon and studying the scripture requires that we maintain the proper perspective and context. Failure to do so will result in a distorted and perplexing view of God plan. This can lead to self-doubt, an attribute that is essential to losing the battle.
In the Old Testament, God worked in the natural through those he called to his service. Often God led his follower into battle and spilled the blood of his adversaries upon the ground. Many of the battles fought in the Old Testament were for advancing God plan. The Old Testament depicts a war between good and evil. Wars consist of many fronts and many battles, there are the "boots on the ground" type of war and there is the "propaganda war". One is natural and the other deals with the spirit.
When the call to battle sounded, the men did not hesitate to leave their mother and fathers, their wives and kin to fight for their God and country. Judges 7:2-8 tells the story of too many people showing up to fight. God gave Gideon a plan to reduce his force down to a lean fighting machine before going into battle. In the early years of a nation, the people rallied around their country's flag. The flag was the representative of an idea, a concept or culture. When that nation, that concept, that culture through a type of propaganda is divided, according to Jesus destruction is at the door.
Often I have attempted to quote scriptures and before I finished I was forced to rethink the meaning of the scripture. As a religious society, we have become comfortable in misquoting the scripture. Too often, we take what God said to one group of people and apply it to another group because it sounds good. There are three groups of people addressed within the scripture and a message to the Jews is not a message to the church. "Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:" (1st Corinthians 10:32) We need to stop quoting 2nd Chronicle 7:14 as if it is a verse on political intercession. To the Jews it was a natural entitlement; to the church, it is spiritual. As I have said before many of our quotes have made the God of our salvation seems as if he is impotent.
As I prepared for a surgical procedure, my mentor a messenger of God insisted on me saying "Amen" to the question of whether I believe God can part the Red Sea. For me it is not a question of what God can or cannot do, it is how God works. Today I can get in my car and drive to Texas, but will I do it? No. If I did it once, will I do it again? Not necessarily so. Clichés and hyperbole do not prepare us for the battle ahead.
The church was to serve as the command center for those who were engaged in warfare. Paul's admonition to the team was, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:10-12) After the death of Christ, and the institution of a new dispensation, God began to works through his spirit, and the battle became a spiritual entity. Paul defined the conflict that is raging around us as spiritual.
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased". (Daniel 12:4)
In Daniel's, end time prophecies he alluded to a time when knowledge would increase and many would run back and forth. During early 1800, the knowledge of man increased as many nations were caught up in the industrial and mechanical revolution. The greatest achievement during that era was the invention of the steam engine. Through more than one hundred and sixty years in the development stage, the steam engine would bring about a revolution in the way humanity travel. For nearly 6000 years, the use of animals and walking was the primary form of transportation. During the next 200 years, humanity would travel into outer space and explore the planets. In the process, we challenged the existence of God.
I became aware of the war to challenge God in the early 60's and since that date, the battles have intensified. Many others had existed before that time but for me, Madalyn Mays also known, as Madalyn Murray O'Hair was one of the earlier Generals in the war against God. O'Hair known for the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit, which led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling ending official Bible-reading in American public schools in 1963. This came just one year after the Supreme Court prohibited officially sponsored prayer in schools in Engel v. Vitale. Afterward, she founded the American Atheists and won Murray v. Curlett, she achieved attention to the extent that in 1964 Life magazine referred to her as "the most hated woman in America". That was then; today she is referenced as a great thinker. These acts set the stage for the government knowingly and unknowingly to enjoin the battle to declare God as an irrelevant entity.
The events that I have referenced in this article took place within a nation that once declared it a God-fearing nation. Its founding fathers had the audacity to proclaim that God had shed his grace on it. This nation supported Israel because it was the biblical thing to do. The increase in knowledge that Daniel prophesied has perverted this nation core values. (Daniel 12:4) It has turned its back on Israel and now proclaim itself a nation of many gods while it engages in debates on what bathrooms we should use. According to Paul, there is the spiritual weakness in high places.(Ephesians 6:10-18)
Now let us revisit the question, when Jesus spoke of wars and rumors of wars, was he speaking of the conflicts between nations and peoples. Maybe we should discard our cavalier approach to understanding the word of God and search the scripture for the answer. Often when we search the scripture, we are seeking to prove a preexisting idea or concept. Thus to prove our point the shaping of the scripture becomes a necessity. Is it possible that Jesus was speaking of the intensification of spiritual warfare, a flagrant attack on God?
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