Here is a mystery: Jesus could not have been crucified on Friday. There is no “Good Friday” but is a tradition of man that does not look closely enough at the word of God.
We can prove that it was Thursday on calendar we use today by several things but I’ll use one way to prove it. Jesus told us that one sign would be given to the wicked generation that He is the Messiah. He said here it is: Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, so must the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
Had He been crucified on what we would call Friday that week, Jesus would not have been in the earth three days and three nights. It has to be the day we call Thursday.
Keep in mind two things as we go forward: 1-God’s days begin with evening, then morning. This actually falls on two separate days on our calendar but on one day on God’s calendar.
2- God never names the days of the week, nor does He name the months. Rather, He numbers them. For example, the month Jesus was crucified was the first month of the new year on God’s calendar. He was crucified on the fourteenth day of the first month. They aren’t named.
We know Jesus was raised on the morning after the Sabaath, or the first day of the week. On our calendar that is what we call Sunday. God just calls it the 7th day.
We know that many times it is repeated in the gospels that Jesus was raised on the third day. That is intentional. God is showing us something if we look hard.
We also know that the men on the road to Emmaus who met Jesus unknowingly, after He was raised early that morning, Mark says, they said today is the third day since He was crucified.
But remember, the third night comes first. So the third day is after the third night. That is backwards to us but we are going by God’s order. Genesis tells us that it is evening then morning, the first day. And so it is here with the crucifixion.
So this means that He was raised early on the third day, Sunday. Let’s count backwards from there and we land on Thursday. Sunday is day three, so the night before was night three and so on. Just count and we can see He was crucified three full days and nights before Sunday morning.
Sunday was day three, the night before that was night three. Saturday was day two and the night before that was night two. Friday morning was day one and the night before that was night one, Thursday.
Now He was crucified beginning at the sixth hour which was noon, then died at the ninth hour, at 3 o clock. But that was still Thursday because remember God’s days are evening and morning, one day.
The amazing thing is that the sky went dark for three hours while He was on the cross and that was to fulfill the law. The lamb had to be crucified at sundown. Not evening but sundown. This is how He could share the Passover meal with the disciples on the 14th day at evening and still be the Passover Lamb on the same 14th day but in the daytime, and it was sundown. God is amazing.
Anytime you see something in the word that makes you pause please investigate it. God is always accurate and right. Wonderful mysteries are there to be discovered if you’ll search. He reveals secrets to His beloved.
Bless His name!
Revelation begins with 7 letters to 7 churches. These letters are meant to be seen on a few levels. One is that it is spoken to the individual believer. I’ll examine that level here in this post.
In essence, Jesus tells the believers in the church at Ephesus, that He is very pleased that they stand strong in Jesus, and do not tolerate false doctrine. This is necessary and highly needed and commendable.
The one thing He says they have done is that they have forgotten their first love. He then says repent from that and return to your first love. That’s the only instruction they get.
So what does He mean. I believe He showed me today and shed some new light on this and Id love to share it.
I started thinking of my first love. Then immediately I knew what He meant. My first love was when Jesus saved me. He pulled me from the pit. He pulled me out of darkness and into His marvelous light. I was lost.
My heart then, has to be that fresh and that eager towards the lost sheep. Some lost sheep are easy to be pitiful towards. Some are not. It’s the are nots He is referencing.
I think it is very easy to get in a place where we have walked so long with Him and have enjoyed the fellowship of walking with a clean heart and in pure fellowship, that we can lose a tenderness for the ones who are now just where we once were…lost. No matter how different the state of being lost can look in people, one thing is sure…lost is lost.
God has said that I have nothing wasn’t given to me by Him. He didn’t save me because I was good or better or best. He saved me because He delighted in me. I was in a pit. I was just as lost and in some cases just as contemptible as the worst of the lost sheep. Yet, He saved me. I remember that love.
Jesus said you love Me because I loved you first. I love Jesus because He loves me. His love made me love Him.
To forget our first love then , I believe, is referring to an attitude of dismissal, impatience, anger and frustration towards those who have not seen what I’ve seen…yet.
So what are we to do to repent and do the first things, remembering our first love? I know! Have mercy on the lost. Turn dismissal and frustration into prayer for those lost who could be lost sheep.
Whether they are lost or lost but soon to be found sheep, we don’t know and it is not our business to know. But our business is to remember the pit, from which we were dragged, and maintain that new, humble, eager heart to go out then and seek the lost! Tell them Who you know! Have mercy and pray and hope against all things. Why?
It’s because Jesus saves. Yes He does. Jesus saves and makes all things new.
Let’s repent then of the tendencies to think we are better in any way than the least of these. Then, return to and stay in, the lowly and humble heart when you were freshly saved and pulled from darkness into His marvelous light.
He does all things well.
can be seen as a pattern for the believer’s walk, and for those believers who assume that the goodness of God erases transgressions not repented of.
This was Joab’s mistake. We know Joab was one of David’s mighty men. We know he was his nephew as a matter of fact. We know he was a fierce general and loved God. We know that Joab was elected of God and used by God to accomplish big amazing things for God’s people, Israel, and for God’s purposes.
But in the end we see some curious things. He did not finish well. In spite of all the glorious good and masterful courage and godly deeds and heart, he did not finish well.
Joab loved David and served him selflessly. He was enraged at David’s adultery and murder… ashamed of David’s conniving. This endears us to Joab because this was also God’s heart concerning these things.
But Joab had killed unnecessarily 3 people. We never see repentance for those murders. We do see extreme repentance for David’s adultery and murder. And while David did reap exactly what he sowed times 1000, he finished well and very, very well.
So we have to say that the dividing factor here is repentance. This stays in line with all God has shown us about His justice. He forgives where there is repentance.
Now keep in mind that there are two forms of repentance. 1-Repentance unto salvation and 2- Repentance after salvation of individual sins committed. We are discussing the latter. Both men were saved so the repentance that saves isn’t in question here. This is a different repentance that happens every time we decide to trespass even though we know better.
Now we also have to consider that both David and Joab suffer greatly for their sins. Joab paid with his life. Solomon was instructed by David to kill Joab for his crimes. David’s entire life and household were plagued with the very sins he committed, poured back onto his own head. This is very serious.
Each one knew better and this is the difference. Had each one committed these sins before they had knowledge of God, and before they had a relationship with God, things very well could have been different. Why? It has to be so. God is just and His law demands it. The difference is that grace is applied to them even though they did reap what they sowed. Grace is applied by giving eternal life to them, in spite of their sins while in the body of believers.
This is a good picture and a stern warning for believers today. Once you have the knowledge of God, be very careful not to indulge in sins that would’ve been done while in unbelief. They are treated differently. Never can a saved life be at stake or eternal salvation lost but rewards can be lost and even life.
Believer, if you know Jesus as your Savior….walk in Him. Turn not to the right nor to the left but follow Him very closely. God is holy. Don’t let your heart forget that God is holy and so must you be!
The mercies of God cover us and spare us from many toils and snares, but watch your life and let Him keep it now if you are in Christ. Don’t take Him for granted. This is a stern warning to us today.
Jesus said and Peter reminds us, as God is holy, so you be holy. Amen Lord.
Seems to be a picture of the lukewarm believer who still loves the world and the flesh.
She is in the group called to be removed from the wrath that is coming to Sodom and Gomorrah, but she doesn’t go. She is killed instead. We don’t know how far this type goes and we don’t know what happened to her spirit. God doesn’t tell us so we must not guess.
However, it is entirely possible that she really is a picture of the lukewarm believer who won’t be raptured when the bride is and who will stay behind and be beheaded to enter Heaven.
For sure, we can’t rule this out so we can entertain it to see if it jibes with the rest of the Bible and with the doctrine of salvation and sanctification and end day events.
Interesting thing is that it fits perfectly.
This verse is terribly misunderstood. The common interpretation of it puts a check in the spirit of those called to present the body of Christ to Jesus as perfect. Why…? It’s because the common interpretation is that we should always see all things as pure, or to only concern ourselves with what is pure in others and the world ignoring the evil…and if we don’t, it’s because we are impure. This is dangerously wrong and here is why:
The clear meaning can be understood by context. Read what Paul is saying to Titus, who was probably an apostle. He was one of the believers gifted with the 5 five gifts, which if possessed, deems the possessor of the gifts, responsible for the perfecting of the saints, by using those gifts. Exhorting to righteousness is the role.
”Unto the pure all things are pure: but to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure. But even their mind and conscience is defiled.”
Paul is simply saying that a pure person loves purity and everything they do and are drawn to is pure. A defiled and unbelieving person loves nothing pure. They love evil. They are drawn to evil and all defiled things, etc.
The last part of the verse explains it. Paul says concerning the ones who love evil, that their minds and conscience are defiled. This is why they love nothing pure and why they love evil. Their mind and heart are debased.
This is very important because Satan wants to make the prophets ( a subset of an apostle), preachers, teachers, pastors and exhorters, stay silent when they see evil that needs rebuke or addressing.
Isaiah calls the ones with these gifts who are silent, dumb dogs who won’t bark. They want to be liked. Isaiah warns that in the last day prophets will err in judgment. To allow impurity to go on and to ignore it in the church and world is erring in judgment.
This is the right understanding of Titus 1:15.
Thank You Lord.
The short answer is no. A believer is not under the law. We are under grace.
If you ask most believers today if they keep the Sabbath they might say they do, but they really don’t because Sunday is not the Sabbath. Saturday is the 7th day. It is the Sabbath day of rest. But this is for the one who does not understand or has not entered into THE rest, Jesus Christ.
The law is for the law breaker. Those who keep the law in Christ, are free from it. Why? Because if they rest in Christ they keep all the law and the prophets. If they are believers yet do not walk in the Spirit, obeying the Spirit, then they place themselves back under the law and are obligated to labor to keep the law.
How does a lukewarm believer labor to keep the law? They make sure they keep their sabbath day by going to church or setting it aside and doing no labor.
When God said to Israel that they must keep the Sabbath holy, it was because Jesus had not come in the flesh yet to redeem mankind. Once He did, the law is made to be of no effect. What does that mean? We can break the law? Certainly not! It means that if we have discovered that my new birth in Christ and then my consecrated effort to walk in the Spirit, have caused me to enter into His rest…the Sabbath…then I keep the Sabbath holy all day every day.
If I have not seen that the Sabbath is not a day at all but is a Person, Jesus, then I will be compelled to keep a day as my Sabbath.
Paul tells us in Hebrews 4 that the Sabbath is not a day at all, and if it is to us, then there remains a rest that we have no idea about, namely, Jesus Christ and walking in the Spirit, who saved me…the Holy Spirit.
Paul said to the Galatians that someone had bewitched them into falling back into the keeping of the law. He goes on to tell the church that we should let no one tell us what day is holy or anything about new moons or seasons or Sabbaths!!!
The Lord rose again on the 3rd day and at that time in history His resurrection which was on the day of Firstfruits, was on Sunday. This is the 1st day of the week and not the 7th.
So many in the church labor to keep a day they think is the Sabbaths of the law, the 7th day, but they keep it on the wrong day, the 1st day!!!
Can we see that confusion of faces as the Bible says, belongs to the disobedient? Paul goes on to say that one man keeps one day holy, another keeps another day holy, and then yet another man keeps every day holy. Friends, the last one is the correct one.
If you are a believer and walk in the Spirit, then you have entered into His rest, Jesus Himself, and every day is holy to you. Every day is your Sabbath. You are free from the law and from keeping days, weeks, seasons etc.
The law breaker is always the legalist. Why is a believer pressed to lock onto a day and in his flesh restrain himself on that day? It is because he will not keep the spiritual law of walking in Christ. In the legalist’s mind, he can break God’s law and God will overlook it as long as he labors to keep a Sabbath or whatever. They say, God doesn’t mind my bad thoughts. I am clean because I went to church Sunday and did my part in my legalistic rituals and habits.
This poor person is bound by the law for this reason: It is because they refuse to obey God and circumcise the flesh of their hearts and just WALK IN THE SPIRIT.
If we will walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. This is my Sabbath. It should be every believer’s Sabaath. Hide in Christ and you will see. Enter into His rest. This is the Sabbath to keep holy.
Article 2
Ezekiel then hears that these nations and all their bands will invade Israel. It will be in the latter years. We are in the latter years.
As I write, 30 minutes ago, Israel has just invaded Gaza on the ground. Up to this point, all we’ve seen after the invasion of terrorists murdering innocent civilians in Israel on the Gaza border, by Hamas, which I believe are Nephilim potentially, at least some of them, according to what we know of them from Joshua, is rocket fire from Gaza and the northern border with Lebanon and Syria.
It isn’t even on national news yet. AllIsrael news on the ground there just reported it. So if we are where I think we could be, then we can soon expect a ground invasion from the mountainous north of Israel.
Then Ezekiel tells us Gog’s thoughts. He decides to invade the nation of unwalled (means still not saved) villages to take great plunder. Gog, the demon spirit says to take spoil and PREY. He mentions that Israel will be dwelling is peace and safety and never know what hit them, so to speak. This began on Oct. 7. It was because they were in peace and safety with no dangers that they were caught unaware. Those who say Israel wasn’t in peace and safety are missing this. Yes, they are. They were and are as much as any nation in this fallen world can be.
Now beginning in verse 13 of 38 we see that Sheba and Dedan (Saudi Arabia) along with Tarshish and her young lions (England and all her offspring which includes the USA primarily), all say “what do you think you’re doing?”
This implies that these nations come to Israel’s defense to some degree. This can be true and not prevent Zechariah 12 from being in play here. The inhabitants in all these nations who hate God are spewing hateful, murderous rants at Israel as we speak. It is happening all over the USA right this minute. It is demonic. Mobs in Russia are storming an airport to kill Jews who are getting off a plane from Israel. It is unbelievable what we are seeing. These are clean-cut, normal, every day people and they are so demon possessed that they want to kill these people. It’s going on all over the world.
Ezekiel speaks of the hordes of invaders that come like a cloud to cover the land. We don’t see that at this moment but easily could in soon coming days. Also, these are clearly demonic beings. Will we see them inhabiting the bodies of men? Maybe some of them. Maybe most won’t be seen with the eye but they are there nevertheless. Are these hordes of demons persuading the crazy behavior of these mobs for example, and the students at colleges in the USA and all over the world? Absolutely!
The end of chapter 38 tends to begin referring to second coming events. We know that by certain language markers. Zechariah 12 can be referring to parts of Magog at the beginning but also morphs into second coming prophecy.
Now Ezekiel 39 goes back to Magog. God says I’ll turn you back. I’ll leave 1/6 part of you to go down. You’ll die on the mountains in the North. Birds will eat your flesh.
God then sends a fire on Magog and on those who dwell carelessly in the isles. Is that the USA? Could be. I think the USA is mystery Babylon and this fits in with the timing of her destruction.
Then Israel will know the name of the Lord and won’t pollute His name anymore. This is during the wrath, even at the beginning of wrath, which begins 3.5 years into the last 7 years.
God says it is done. This is the day of which I have spoken ( the last day, the wrath).
God says people in the cities will go and set on fire and burn the weapons. They will burn for 7 years. Now this is the sticking point. We hear 7 years and assume it is referring to Jacob’s trouble, but it isn’t, we can see. However, if we can reasonably apply a possibility then the theory remains viable. So let’s say God is speaking of the time after Armageddon here and it sounds very much like that to me. This means that these weapons burn for 7 years into the millennium. This is entirely possible and nothing precludes it from being so. Let’s look to Bible prophecy and markers in scripture that tell us this might be the case. Verses 11 on seem to prove it. God says Gog will be buried. Israel will begin cleanup of the land and it will be cleansed. This has to be right after Armageddon. Gog comes on the scene at the 3.5 year mark and is killed at the end in Armageddon. It mentions all the people who remain on earth. This can only be after the second coming and Armageddon. We know that, because prophecy tells us that no one will be left on earth at this point, but believing Israel, who came through the wrath.
Ezekiel 39:22 says that Israel will know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. Well this happens at the 3.5 year mark when antichrist reveals his true identity. This locks in the timing of the Magog War.
39:26 also says a great deal. It says that according to Israel’s uncleanness, God has dealt with her. He says she was unclean when she dwelt in safety. This is now. They are in uncleanness because they have not been washed by the blood of the Lamb. They are in safety God says as they dwell in their uncleanness.
It sounds like Armageddon, and perhaps even Magog, involve some nuclear weapons. We can’t rule it out, so the possibility is viable.
Article 1
It could very well be…maybe it could be the beginnings. We need to look at so many markers that show us where we could be on God’s calendar.
Isaiah 60:18-19 tells us that after Israel is brought back as a nation, which was done in 1948, then Jerusalem in 1967, they will never again suffer like they have in the diaspora…the last being the Holocaust. The Magog War, and then the wrath of the Lamb, which is Jacob’s trouble, is the next time and final when Israel will suffer in a major way.
On October 7, 2023 Israel was invaded and every player of Ezekiel 38 seems to be doing exactly what God says they will do. Let’s look:
Ezekiel says this battle will come to a nation of unwalled villages. But then he tells us what he means by unwalled villages. Ezekiel is not referring to a city or village without an actual wall. He is referring to a nation still blinded to Jesus and unsaved…nationally speaking. Unwalled = unsaved. Israel is still in the partially blinded state Jesus said they would be in as a nation until they are unblinded and see Him at last. Ezekiel says “and your walls will be salvation”. This refers to Israel once they receive Jesus. Isaiah, referring to this same time period, also says, then your walls will be salvation.
Look at what he means: He is saying that the walls they will have is salvation. Salvation will be the only wall they need. All their trouble comes as judgment, using wicked nations to press them to see their God once and for all. If they will open their eyes then they will have walls of salvation…not needing any actual wall. Jesus will be their wall.
So Ezekiel is setting the timing for this battle. He says it comes to Israel in the last day when Israel is still yet unsaved. They as a nation still do not recognize Jesus as their Messiah so they are still blind…unsaved, therefore unwalled.
Here is another marker for the timing of the Magog War: Ezekiel says it comes, and as a result of this war, Israel’s eyes will be opened and they will declare God to be their God at last and forever. So this is a final opening of Israel’s eyes and it is forever. Once Israel as a nation recognizes Jesus as their Messiah then they are unblinded forever. This is a reversal of the blindness He proclaimed over them when they rejected Him as their Messiah, when He came to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world. There is no hint of duration concerning this war. It could be days. But Israel’s unblinding happens when antichrist is revealed at the 3.5 year mark. So Magog, along with antichrist setting up the abomination in the holy place, and also the rapture, all are used to open Israel’s eyes. This locks in our timing for the Magog War. It’s abundantly clear.
What else happens, and when is the timing on the prophetic calendar at this point? Let’s look:
Antichrist or the beast of the sea sets himself up as God and declaring to himself that he is God, in the temple of God.
Here is a possibility that this could happen any minute: We see the word temple used even before one existed. We also see it used where we know there isn’t one. New Jerusalem has no temple. Jesus said His body was the temple. We are told that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah speaks of the tabernacle. Jerusalem is called the tabernacle of God in Isaiah 33. Does he just set himself up in Jerusalem?
We have to be very alert here and examine what the use of the word temple could possibly mean in certain verses.
Look to the original Hebrew words. Then look at the Greek of the New testament. At least two different words in Greek are used in the New Testament and each refers to an innermost room of a sacred place. There is no reference to the coming place that antichrist defiles as being the rebuilt stone temple that the Romans tore down. In fact, I would say that there might not be one. The reason the last one was torn down is because a believer’s heart, their body, is now the temple of the Holy Spirit. I see that this could be just a sacred inner place in the nation Israel’s mind…one they consider to be holy perhaps? So is there a tabernacle in existence? I’ve seen pictures of what looks just like one underground. It certainly fits the description in every way of what the Word of God tells us is coming. Is the tabernacle going to be on the Temple Mount? Tremendous evidence says that is what was a Roman Garrison and not the temple location. Also, a tabernacle could be set up in hours. We have to look at these things and discern if these can be fulfilled already. Are we looking for something that the Bible never says is coming but that many have assumed would be coming?
This war happens mid part of the last 7 years, not at the beginning. But we could easily be almost there. A peace covenant was set up in August of 2020. The Abraham Accords. Two witnesses appeared on the scene in Washington DC September 20, 2020. These two witnesses were not in actual Jerusalem but could easily be spiritual Jerusalem in the same Way the Holy Spirit calls defiled Jerusalem, spiritual Sodom and Gomorrah. The event was called “The Return”.
The rapture happens right at this same time. All prophecy overwhelmingly shows us this is the correct timing and not at the beginning of the last 7 years.
Ezekiel 37 tells us about dry bones that come together. This is Israel gathered back into their land as they were in 1948.
The bones come together but have no breath. This means they are gathered in the land but in unbelief still. They have no breath, these dry bones, which means they have not the Spirit of God…yet.
So God says He will put His breath into them, this is His Spirit.
Now Ezekiel 38 fills in details of the overview of Ezekiel 37. Most, if not all prophecy is given this way. Genesis 2 isn’t what happens after Genesis 1, it rather fills in details of chapter 1. This is how God speaks and how the prophets write.
God mentions a war that is coming, and with scrutiny we can see that this war is used to accomplish what we see will happen in chapter 37. Even great teachers are missing the fact that chapter 38 isn’t just an event after 37. It begins with filling in details of 37. Many say that no no, Magog can’t begin until the Spirit of God comes to Israel. No. In fact all prophecy shows us that the Magog war is what brings about the Spirit coming to Israel…because the war is what unblinds them, along with corresponding events, including the great earthquake of Revelation that kills 7 thousand people in Israel.
The truly amazing thing at the end of 37 is that Jesus is talking and saying, once they receive Him as their God, then He will establish a covenant of peace with them (37:26). Forever! But does this sound familiar? It does! Antichrist does this. He is masquerading as Jesus remember. He is the “instead of” Christ. So he mimics Jesus and tries doing what Jesus said He is coming to do so he can get Israel to follow him and not Jesus.
The second thing Jesus says in 37:26 is that He will set up His tabernacle (dwelling, in whatever form that might take) among them. Again, He mentions FOREVER. Remember that God knows everything. He knows antichrist will mimic Him so He is giving a clue. In both cases He closes it with FOREVER.
Now we know for certain that the beast of the sea signs a peace covenant with Israel at the beginning of the 7 years. Daniel is told this. In the middle of that 7 years, he breaks it. Ah! It’s NOT forever. Therefore it is not their true Messiah who is promising peace. Then he sets himself up as God in the temple, some translations say sanctuary which is correct, of God and says to himself (to himself) that he is God. Daniel tells us this and Paul also reminds us in 2 Thessalonians 2.
Daniel and Paul also show us that this beast of the sea will be received by a world asking for peace at all costs. He will destroy by peace Daniel tells us and Paul tells us in 2 Thess. that the people who want this peace at all costs rather than the truth, will be sent a lie and will believe the lie.
So Jesus shows us what He declares. Then He tells us antichrist will do the same things only not forever. Satan copies to deceive. And he will destroy by peace remember.
Now Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 reveal this. It is Lucifer, Satan, who will set himself up and says that he is God. So this beast of the sea is so much empowered by Satan that he does what Satan says he, himself will do…these are the devil’s “ I will” statements the prophet Isaiah reveals to us.
This also opens the door for us to consider the first beast… the beast that comes up out of the sea…and who or what he will actually be or look like. Remember that Bible prophecy is always veiled to a degree and always fulfilled with not many at all even seeing it. I would say that too many in the “church” have never recognized the gathering in 1948, 1967, as having been fulfilled, but it was!!!
After Jesus tells Israel what happens at the end of this battle, He then has Ezekiel begin to give the details of what must happen before that.
So we see the encouragement before the raging storm that has to come before He can do what He promises.
The storm begins.
Ezekiel sets his face against Gog, leader of Magog. Gog must be the name or title of a demonic entity. Magog has to refer to Russia. So the demonic entity who inhabits the ruler of Russia is spoken to. God brings Magog (Russia) down to Israel’s mountains in the north for an invasion. Gog is called a chief prince. This is a demonic entity. He shows up more than a thousand years later and does a similar thing. Also, Missler discovered that in the Septuagint, Amos mentions Gog as being the leader of the demonic locust like creatures.
Gog comes with all his army. Persia (Iran) Ethiopia and Lybia are with them; in league with them. Gomer (Turkey) and all his bands with Togarmah (Includes Syria) of the North quarters and all his bands.
Continued in next post…
God tells us the exact time. Scholars have debated and surmised but we know. It is right at the 3.5 year mark of the last 7 years.
How do we know? Ezekiel 39:22 tells us. Here, the Magog war is described in detail in chapter 38. Then God says as a result of this war, Israel will know who God is and will forever, from that point. Read it.
Now how do we know this is in the middle of the last 7 years? God says so. Israel is unblinded as a nation when the first Beast reveals who he really is. This is what unblinds them and they see Jesus and follow Him.
Well, he reveals who he is midway into the last 7 years…at the 3.5 year mark.
The rapture also happens when Israel is unblinded. Paul tells us in Romans 11. When the fullness of the gentiles has come in (the church is gathered) Israel is unblinded.
So these 3 major events happen at the same time…the rapture, the unblinding of nation Israel and the Magog war. All of this is right at the 3.5 year mark. Glory to God!
John 17 is so powerful, and is such holy ground that we dare not enter here lightly…oh what we miss if we do.
But just as Moses stopped and pondered the burning bush that was not consumed as it burned, so we need to slow down and taste and see that the Lord is good as we read Jesus’ conversation with the Father of Glory in John 17.
There is a special message here. I’ll skim over it and if you see that it is a worthy thought, go examine it more yourself.
Jesus is praying for those who would believe. He isn’t praying now for the world but for those who heard the call and accepted the invitation to become a child of God. He doesn’t address those who rejected the invitation because it is impossible to include them here. This request is only possible for those who heard God’s call because they had a heart to love God. Those who never did or would love God have excluded themselves and there is nothing God can do now for them. This prayer is for believers only. Jesus would have loved to include the ones who rejected Him but He cannot.
This is a request to sanctify now those who do believe. It is a request to make them one as Jesus and the Father are one. That isn’t possible for a non believer. They are not in the thought of Jesus here. They were once, but no longer. That door is closed forever for them.
If you are one of those who He is not praying for in John 17, there is still time for you. You must choose Him now. It might be too late even the next minute. But God knows all things. He knows the ones who will believe already because He knows all things. If you are a sheep, you will receive Him.
Jesus is saying, Father, these have believed, now perfect them. It is step two. Moving on to perfection as read in Hebrews 6 refers to sanctification where the believer’s will is no longer his old nature will, but 100 percent the new nature will…Gods will. The sanctified believer has lost the will of the sin nature and now only has God’s will. He only desires what God desires because Christ is fully formed in him now. He has yielded body soul and spirit to God completely, holding nothing back.
In Ephesians 3-4 we read of specific spiritual gifts which are given to certain believers who are called to present the saints as perfect to the Father. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, preachers and teachers are given the stewardship of this mystery (as T. Austin Sparks would call it), which is Christ in you. There is a five-fold ministry false doctrine pretending to know this. Stay far from it.
But those given these 5 gifts are tasked with the perfecting of the saints. Paul elaborates and explains John 17 in Ephesians 3-4 specifically.
Jesus’ words in John 17 are strictly in reference to Him and His work. We will look at a few of them in a bit. But first let me say that there is a secret here, or a hidden treasure, if you are a believer charged with this task. I believe that if Christ is fully formed in you, perfected, then this message here Jesus speaks of Himself, He is also speaking to the Person of Jesus in you now, fully formed in you…your perfected new nature that is 100 percent yielded to Him.
Listen: In a parallel sense these statements are true of us…but lacking the Godhood here, because redeemed man is a creation of God and not God, even though we become one with God.
1-“I have sanctified myself that they may be sanctified through the truth. Your word is truth.”
2-“I have glorified You on earth, I have finished the work which You gave me.”
3-“I have manifested Your name to those You gave me. They were Yours and You gave them to me and they have kept your word.”
4- “I gave them the words which You have given to me and they have received them and know I came from You. They believe You sent me.”
5- “Keep them in Your own name.”
6-“I don’t pray that You take them out of the world but that You would keep them while they are in the world. Keep them from evil.”
7-“That they would be made perfect in one, even as we are one.”
Just know that if you have followed Him with your whole heart then you are likely gifted in this area. Remember that the world hates Him and will hate you too, but persevere for the hour is coming. Who will you present to the Father as perfect in Christ Jesus, because You have declared His word and sanctified yourself by the keeping of His word so that the flock He has given to you in this life will be one with Him even as you are one with Him…hidden with Christ in God?