The Last Days (02/01/23-02/02/23)
- Jn 6:39-47
- “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all
that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last
day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds
the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself
will raise him up on the last day.” They were grumbling
because He had said, “I am the bread that came
down out of heaven,” saying, “Isn’t this
Jesus, son of Joseph? We know his father. We know his mother.
How, then, can He say that he has come down out of heaven?”
Jesus gave answer. “Don’t grumble among
yourselves. No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me
draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written
in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone
who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. Not that
any man has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has
seen the Father. Truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal
life.”
- Jn 11:24-26
- Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in
the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said, “I
am the resurrection and the life; he who believes
in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and
believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe
this?”
- Jn 12:44-48
- He who believes in Me doesn’t believe in Me, but in Him who sent
Me. He who beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me. I have come as
light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain
in darkness. If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do
not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the
world. He who rejects Me and doesn’t receive My sayings has one who
judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who
sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say and what to speak. And
I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I
speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.
- Isa 2:1-4
- The word concerning Judah and Jerusalem: It will come about in the
last days, that the mountain of the house of the LORD will be
established as the chief mountain, raised above the hills, and all the
nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come seeking. “Come,
let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of
Jacob, that He may teach us concerning His ways, and that we may
walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, the
word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the
nations, and render decisions for many peoples. They will hammer
their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer lift sword against nation, nor ever again learn
war.
- Jer 23:16-32
- Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Don’t listen to
the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into
futility, speaking a vision of their own imagining, not from the
mouth of the LORD. They keep telling those who despise Me, ‘The
LORD has said, ‘you will have peace.’ They say to those who walk in
the stubbornness of their own hearts, ‘Calamity will not come upon
you.’ But who has stood in My council, that he should see and
should hear My word? Who has given heed to My word and listened?
Behold! The storm of the LORD has gone forth in wrath, a whirling
tempest. It will swirl down on the head of the wicked. The anger
of the LORD will not turn back until He has performed and carried
out the purposes of His heart. In the last days you will clearly
understand it. I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did
not speak to them, but they prophesied. If they had truly stood in
My council, they would have announced My words to My people, turning
them back from their wicked ways and evil deeds. Am I a God who is
near, and not a God far off? Can a man hide himself so that I do
not see him? Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? I have heard
what these prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name,
saying, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ How long? Is there
anything in the hearts of these false prophets who speak forth the
deception of their own heart, intent on making My people forget My
name by their dreams, just as their fathers forgot My name because
of Baal? The prophet who dreams may relate his dream, but let him
who has My word speak My word in truth. What has straw in common
with grain? Is not My word like fire, like a hammer which shatters
rock? So I am against these prophets who teal My word from each
other. I am against these prophets who insist, ‘the Lord
declares.’ I am against these prophesiers of false dreams who have
led My people astray with falsehoods and boasting. I did not send
them. I did not command them. Nor do they provide any least
benefit to My people.”
- Jer 49:39
- In the last days I shall restore the fortunes of Elam. [Elam
being a portion of ancient Persia, aka Iran, including Ur and Susa.]
- Eze 38:14-23
- A prophecy to Gog. [Exact reference unknown,
but generally taken to be a northern enemy.] Will you not
know when My people are living securely? And you will come from the
remote north, many peoples with you, mounted on horses as a great and
mighty army. You will come like a cloud to cover the land. And in
the last days I shall bring you against My land, so that the nations
may know Me when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes.
Are you the one I spoke of through My servants the prophets of
Israel? For years, they have said I would bring you against them.
And on that day when Gog comes against the land of Israel My fury will
mount up in My anger. In My zeal and My blazing wrath I say that on
that day there will be a great earthquake in Israel, and the fish, the
birds, the beasts, all that creeps on the earth, and all men on the
earth will shake at My presence. Mountains will be thrown down, and
every wall will fall to the ground. I shall call for a sword against
him on all My mountains, and every man’s sword will be against his
brother. With pestilence and blood I shall enter into judgment with
him, and I shall rain on him and his troops, those many peoples with
him; a torrential rain with hailstones, fire, and brimstone. And I
shall magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the
sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD.
- Hos 3:4-5
- The sons of Israel will be without king or prince, without sacrifice
or pillar, without ephod or idol, for many days. Afterwards the sons
of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their
king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the
last days.
- Mic 4:1-4
- It will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house
of the LORD will be established as the chief mountain, raised above
the hills. And peoples will stream to it, nations will come, saying,
“Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and
that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth
the law, even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge
between peoples, rendering decisions for mighty nations. Then they
will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks. Nation will not fight nation, nor train for war ever again.
Each will sit under his vine and his fig tree, with no one to make
them afraid, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
- Ac 2:16-21
- This is what Joel prophesied about. God says, “It
shall be in the last days that I will pour forth of My Spirit upon
all mankind. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, and your young
men shall see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Even upon
My bondslaves, male and female alike, I will pour forth of My
Spirit, and they shall prophesy. I will grant wonders in the sky,
signs on the earth: Blood, fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall
be darkened, and the moon bloodied, before the great and glorious
day of the LORD shall come. And it shall be that everyone who calls
on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
- 2Ti 3:1-9
- Realize that the last days will be difficult times. Men will be
lovers of self and of money. They will be boastful, arrogant,
reviling others, disobeying parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving.
They will be irreconcilable, malicious gossips. They will be brutal,
having no self-control, hating good. They will be treacherous,
reckless, conceited, loving their pleasures rather than God. They
will hold to a form of godliness, but such as denies its power. Avoid
their like. For among them are such as enter into households, and
captivate weak women who are weighed down with their sins and led on
by impulsiveness, always learning and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so
these men oppose the truth, being of depraved mind and rejected as
concerns faith. But they will not make further progress, for their
folly will be evident to all, as proved the case with Jannes and
Jambres.
- Heb 1:1-2
- God, after speaking long ago to the father in the prophets in many
parts and in many ways, has in these last days spoken to us in His
Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made
the world.
- Jas 5:1-8
- Come, you rich Weep and howl for the miseries coming upon you.
Your riches have rotted. Your garments have become moth-eaten. Your
gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will witness against you,
consuming your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have
stored up your treasure! Look! The pay due those who labor in your
fields, which you withheld from them, cries out against you. The
outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of the
Harvest. You lived in luxury for your time on earth, living a life of
wanton pleasure. You have but fattened your hearts in a day of
slaughter. You have condemned the righteous and put him to death. He
does not resist you. Be patient, brothers, until the coming of the
Lord. The farmer waits for the produce of the soil with patience
until it has received both early and late rains. You too be patient.
Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
- 2Pe 3:3-13
- Know this as of first importance: In the last days mockers will
mock, following their own lusts. They will ask, “Where is this
promise of His coming? Everything continues just as it has from the
dawn of creation.” But they fail to notice that by the word of God
the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water by
water. And through water that world was destroyed, being flooded.
But the present heavens and earth are, by His word, reserved for fire,
kept for the last day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Don’t let this point escape your notice, dear ones: With the Lord one
day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years but a day. The Lord
is not slow about His promise, as some suggest. He is patient toward
you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to
repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which
the heavens will pass away with a roar, the elements will be destroyed
with intense heat, and the earth and all its works will be burned up.
This being the case, surely you ought to be living in holy conduct and
godliness, looking forward to and hastening the coming of the day of
God, on account of which the heavens will burn away, and the elements
melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we look for a
new heavens, a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
The Day of the Lord (01/02/23-02/03/23)
- Isa 13:1-13
- Concerning Babylon: Lift up a standard on the bare hill. Raise
your voice to them. Wave, that they may enter the doors of the
nobles. I have commanded My consecrated ones, called My mighty
warriors, My proudly exulting ones, to execute My anger. Tumult on
the mountains! The noise of many people! An uproar of kingdoms,
nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts is mustering the army
for battle. They come from a far country, from the farthest horizons,
the LORD and His instruments of indignation, to destroy the whole
land. Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will be destruction
from the Almighty. All hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart
melt. They will be terrified. Pain and anguish take hold of them,
and they will writhe like a woman in labor, looking to one another in
astonishment, their faces aflame. Behold, the day of the LORD is
coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a
desolation, and to exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars and
constellations will not flash forth their light. The sun will be dark
when it rises. The moon will give no light. Thus I will punish the
world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will put an
end to proud arrogance, and I will abase the haughtiness of the
ruthless. I will make mortal man scarcer than gold, mankind more rare
than the gold of Ophir. I shall make the heavens tremble, and the
earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the LORD of hosts
in the day of His burning anger.
- Isa 58:13-14
- If because of the sabbath, you turn from pursuing your pleasures on
My holy day, calling the sabbath a delight, and the holy day of the
LORD honorable, honoring it, and desisting from your own ways, seeking
your own pleasures, speaking your own word, then you will take delight
in the LORD, and ride the heights of the earth. I will feed you with
the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has
spoken.
- Eze 13:2-9
- Prophesy against the prophets who prophesy from their own
inspiration, saying, “Listen to the word of the
LORD! ‘Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit,
having seen nothing. Your prophets have been like foxes in the
ruins. You have not gone up into the breaches, nor built the wall
around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the
LORD. They see falsehood and lying divination when they say, “The
LORD declares.” The LORD did not send them, yet they hope for the
fulfillment of their word. Did you not see false visions? Did you
not deliver lying divinations, saying “The LORD declares,” when it
is not I who has spoken?’ So the LORD GOD says, ‘Because you have
spoken falsely, seeing a lie, I am against you. My hand will be
against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying
divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people,
nor will their names be written in the register of the house of
Israel. They will not enter the land of Israel, that you may know
that I am the LORD GOD.’”
- Eze 30:2-6
- Thus says the LORD GOD: “Wail for the day is
near, even the day of the LORD! It will be a day of clouds, a time
of doom for the nations. A sword will come upon Egypt, anguish will
be in Ethiopia when the slain fall in Egypt. They take away her
wealth, and her foundations are torn down. Ethiopia, Put, Lud,
Arabia, Libya, all those in league with here will fall with them by
the sword. Indeed, those who support Egypt will fall, and the pride
of her power will come down. From Migdol to Syene they will fall
within her by the sword,” declares the LORD GOD.
- Joel 1:15-20
- Alas for the day! The day of the LORD is near. It will come as
destruction from the Almighty. Has not food been cut off, and gladness
and joy from the house of our God? Seeds shrivel in the dirt. The
storehouses are desolate, barns are torn down, for the grain is dried
up. The beasts groan. Cattle wander aimlessly because there is no
pasture for them. Even the sheep suffer. To Thee, O LORD, I cry.
For fire has devoured the pastures, and flame has burned up the
trees. Even the beasts of the field pant for thee, for the water
brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the
wilderness.
- Joel 2:1-27
- Blow a trumpet in Zion. Sound an alarm on My holy mountain. Let
all tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, surely it is near: A
day of darkness and gloom, of clouds and thick darkness. Comes a
great and mighty people, spreading over the land like dawn over the
mountains. Never has there been the like, nor will there be again for
many generations. Fire consumes before them, and flame burns behind
them. Before they come, the land is like Eden, but afterwards, a
desolate wilderness, and nothing at all escapes them. They run like
war horses, with a noise like chariots. They leap on the mountain
tops, like crackling flames of fire consuming the stubble, like a
mighty people arrayed for battle. Before them, the people are in
anguish, their faces turned pale. They run like mighty men, climb
walls like soldiers, each marching in line, and they do not deviate
from their course, nor do they crowd each other. They don’t even
break ranks as they burst through the defenses. They rush on the
city, run on the wall. They climb into houses, entering through
windows like a thief. Before them the earth quakes, the heavens
tremble, the sun and moon grow dark and the stars lose their
brightness. The LORD utters His voice before His army. Surely His
camp is very great, for strong is he who carries out His word. The
day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome. Who can endure it?
“Yet even now, return to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, weeping, and mourning,” says the LORD, “And
rend your heart rather than your garments.” Return to the
LORD your God now, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to
anger, abounding in lovingkindness, and relenting of evil. Who
knows? Perhaps He will turn and relent, leaving a blessing behind
Him, even a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your
God? Blow a trumpet in Zion. Consecrate a fast, a solemn assembly.
Gather the people and sanctify them. Assemble the elders, the
children, even the nursing infants. Bring the bridegroom and the
bride from their chambers. Let the LORD’s ministers weep between
porch and alter, crying out, “Spare Thy people, O
LORD, and make not Thine inheritance a reproach and a byword among
the nations. Let it not be said, ‘Where is their God?’”
Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, and pity His people, and
He will answer His people. “Behold, I am going to
send grain, new wine, and oil to satisfy you fully, and I will never
again make you a reproach among the nations. I will remove the
northern army far from you, drive it out into a parched and desolate
land, cast its vanguard into the eastern sea, and its rear guard
into the western sea. Its stench will rise for it has done great
things.” Don’t fear! Rejoice and be glad, for the LORD has
done great things. Don’t fear, beasts of the field, for the pastures
have turned green, and the trees bear their fruit. Fig tree and vine
yield in full. So rejoice, sons of Zion, and be glad in the LORD your
God. For He has given you the early rain as vindication, and poured
down both early and latter rains as before. The threshing floors will
be full of grain, and vats overflowing with new wine and oil. “Then I will make up to you for the years the locust
has eaten, My great army which I sent among you. You shall have
plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the LORD your God who
has dealt wondrously with you. Then My people will never be put to
shame. Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel. I am
the LORD your God and there is no other. And My people will never
be put to shame.”
- Joel 2:28-32
- “After this I will pour out My Spirit on all
mankind. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will
dream dreams and your young men see visions. Even on the male and
female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. I will
display wonders in the sky and on the earth: Blood, fire, columns
of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to
blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it
will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be
delivered.” For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be
those who escape, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom
the LORD calls.
- Joel 3:14-21
- Many multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the LORD
is near in that valley. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars
dim. The LORD roars from Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem,
and heavens and earth tremble. But the LORD is a refuge for His
people, a stronghold to the sons of Israel. Then you will know that I
am the LORD your God, dwelling in Zion on My holy mountain. Jerusalem
will be holy, and no longer will strangers pass through her. In that
day, the mountains will drip with sweet wine, the hills will flow with
milk, and the brooks with water. A spring will go out from the house
of the LORD to water the valley of Shittim. Egypt will be a waste,
and Edom a wilderness, because of the violence done to the sons of
Judah, in whose land they have shed innocent blood. But Judah will be
inhabited forever, and Jerusalem for all generations. And I will
avenge their blood which I have not avenged, for the LORD dwells in
Zion.
- Amos 5:18-27
- Alas, you who long for the day of the LORD! What purpose will that
day be to you? It will be darkness, not light. It will be as when a
man flees from a lion only to meet a bear, or goes home, leaning
against the wall, and a snake bites him. Will not the day of the LORD
be darkness rather than light, even gloom with no brightness in it? “I hate your festivals, and have no delight in your
assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offering and grain offering,
I will not accept them. I won’t even look at your peace offerings.
Away from Me with the noise of your songs! I won’t listen, not even
to your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and
righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Did you present Me with
sacrifices and offerings during those forty years in the wilderness,
O Israel? Yet, you also carried along your idols, gods you made for
yourselves. Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond
Damascus,” says the LORD whose name is the God of hosts.
- Obad 15-17
- The day of the LORD draws near on all nations. As you have done, so
it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your heads.
Just as you drank on My holy mountain, so the nations will drink
continually. They will drink, and they will swallow, and they will
become as though they never existed. But on Mount Zion will be those
who escape, and it will be holy. The house of Jacob will possess
their possessions.
- Zeph 1:7-18
- “Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of
the LORD is near, and HE has prepared a sacrifice, He has
consecrated His guests. It will come about on the day of the LORD’s
sacrifice that I will punish the princes, and all who clothe
themselves in foreign garments. I will punish all who leap on the
threshold in that day, filling the house of their lord with violence
and deceit. On that day there will be a cry from the Fish Gate, a
wail from the Second Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills.
Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar, for all Canaan will be silenced,
and all who weigh out silver will be cut off. In that time, I will
search Jerusalem with lamps to punish those who are stagnant in
spirit, saying, ‘The Lord will do neither good nor evil!’ Moreover,
their wealth will be plunder, and their houses desolate. They will
build houses but never inhabit them. They will plant vineyards but
never drink the wine.” The great day of the LORD is near and
coming very quickly! Listen! The day of the LORD! In it the warrior
cries out bitterly. It is a day of wrath, trouble, and distress, a
day of destruction and desolation, of darkness and gloom, of clouds
and thick darkness. It is a day of trumpet and battle cry against the
fortified cities and the high corner towers. And I will bring
distress on men, so that they will walk as though blind, for they have
sinned against the LORD. And their blood will be poured out like
dust, their flesh like dung. Silver and gold won’t deliver them on
the day of the LORD’s wrath! All the earth will be devoured in the
fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end – a terrifying
end – of all the inhabitants of the earth.
- Mal 4:5-6
- I am sending Elijah before the coming of the great and terrible day
of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their
children, and the children’s hearts to their fathers, lest I come and
smite the land with a curse.
- Ac 2:20-21
- The sun shall turn to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the
great and glorious day of the LORD shall come, and it shall be that
all who call on the name of the LORD shall be saved.
- 1Co 5:5
- I have already determined to deliver such a one as this to Satan for
the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day
of the Lord Jesus.
- 1Th 5:2-6
- You know full well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief
in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and
safety!” then destruction will come suddenly like birth pains
upon a pregnant woman. They shall not escape. But brothers, you are
not in darkness, such that the day should overtake you like a thief.
You are sons of light and of day, not of night and darkness, so don’t
be sleeping like those others, but be alert and sober.
- 2Th 2:1-10
- As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering
together to Him, don’t be shaken! Let not your composure be
disturbed, whether by a spirit or a message or a letter purporting to
come from us, suggesting that the day of the Lord has come. Don’t be
deceived! It will not come except the apostasy come first. The man
of lawlessness must be revealed, the son of destruction who opposes
and exalts himself above every so-called god and every object of
worship, taking his seat in the temple of God and claiming himself to
be God. I told you this when I was with you, don’t you remember? You
know what restrains him now, to be revealed in his time. The mystery
of lawlessness is already at work; only he who restrains does so until
he is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed,
whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an
end by the appearance of His coming. This is the one who comes in
accord with Satan’s activity, with all power and signs and false
wonders, with deceiving wickedness for those who perish because they
did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
- 2Pe 3:10-13
- The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will pass
away with a roar. The elements will be destroyed in intense heat.
And the earth and all its works will be burnt up. This being the
case, what sort of people ought you to be? Holy in conduct and
godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on
account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the
elements melted by the heat! But according to His promise we are
looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness
dwells.
The Coming of the Lord (02/05/23)
- Mal 3:2-6
- Who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He
appears? He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He
will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so
that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then
the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD, as
in the days of old and as in former years. Then I will draw near to
you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and
adulterers and those who swear falsely, against those who oppress
wages for the widow and orphan, who turn aside the alien, and do not
fear Me. For I, the LORD, do not change. Therefore you, O sons of
Jacob, are not consumed.
- Jas 5:7-8
- Be patient until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the
produce of the soil until it gets both early and late rains. You be
patient, too. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is
at hand.
- 1Co 15:23-28
- Each in order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are His at
His coming, then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to the
God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and authority and
power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His
feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He has put
all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, ‘All
things are put in subjection,’ it is evident that He Himself
is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things
are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to
the One Who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.
- 1Th 2:19
- Who is our hope, our joy, our crown of exultation? Is it not even
you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?
The End of the Age (02/05/23)
- Dan 12:1-3
- At that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the
sons of your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress
unparalleled since there was a nation. At that time, all who are
found written in the book will be rescued. Many who sleep in the dust
of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, others to
disgrace and everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine
brightly, and those who lead the many to righteousness will shine like
the stars forever and ever.
- Mt 13:37-43
- The one who sows good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the
world. The good seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are
the sons of the evil one. The enemy who sowed those tares is the
devil, and the harvest is the end of the age. The reapers are the
angels. Just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so
shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send His
angels, and they will gather all stumbling blocks out of His kingdom,
all who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of
fire. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
- Mt 13:47-50
- The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast in the sea, gathering
fish of all kinds. When it was filled, they drew it up on the beach,
sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, throwing away
the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come
forth, and take out the wicked from among the righteous, casting them
into the furnace, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- Mt 24:3-39
- They asked Him when these things would be, what signs would indicate
His coming, and indicate the end of the age. He answered. “Let
no on mislead you. Many will come, claiming to be Me and misleading
many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars, but don’t be
frightened. These things must take place, but these things are not
the end. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes, but all these things are only
the first birth pangs. They will deliver you to tribulation, kill
you. You will be hated by all nations on account of My name. At
that time many will fall away, delivering one another up and hating
one another. Many false prophets will arise, misleading many.
Because lawlessness has increased, most people’s love will grow
cold. But the one who endures to the end shall be saved. And this
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a
witness to all nations, then the end shall come. So when you see
the abomination of desolation Daniel spoke of standing in the holy
place, then let those in Judea flee to the mountains. Don’t go into
the house to get your things, don’t run back from the fields to get
your cloak. Woe to those with child or nursing in those days! Pray
that your flight may not be in the winter, nor on a Sabbath. For
then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred
since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. Unless
those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved. But
for the sake of the elect they shall be cut short. If they claim to
have seen the Christ here or there, don’t believe them. False
Christs and false prophets will arise, and they will show great
signs and wonders, misleading, if possible, even the elect. But I
have told you in advance, so if they say they have seen Me, don’t
believe them. Don’t go. For just as lightning comes from the east
and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man
be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. But
immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be
darkened, the moon will give no light, and the stars will fall from
the sky. The very powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then
the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the
tribes of the earth will mourn, seeing the Son of Man coming on the
clouds with power and great glory. He will send forth His angels
with a great trumpet to gather the elect from the four winds, from
one end of the sky to the other. Learn! The fig tree puts forth
its leaves and you know summer is near. Even so, when you see all
these things, know that He is near, even at the door. I tell you,
this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken
place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not.
But of that day and of that hour no one knows, not even the angels,
nor the Son; only the Father. It will be as in the days of Noah.
Before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage, right up until Noah entered the ark. They didn’t
understand until the flood came and washed them all away. Just so,
the coming of the Son of Man.”
- Mt 24:42
- So be alert. You don’t know which day your Lord is coming.
- Mt 24:44
- Be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you don’t
think He will.
- Mt 28:19-20
- Go, then! Make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe
all that I commanded you. And know that I am with you always, even to
the end of the age.
Other References from Commentaries (02/05/23-02/07/23)
- Jn 5:28-29
- Don’t marvel at this! An hour is coming when all in the tombs shall
hear His voice and come forth. Those who did good will be resurrected
to life, and those who did evil will be resurrected to judgment.
- 1Co 15:3-8
- I delivered to you as of fundamental importance that which I had
received: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the
Scriptures; He was buried, and raised the third day in accordance
with the Scriptures; He then appeared to Cephas, and then to the
twelve. He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time,
most of whom are still with us, though some have fallen asleep. Then
He appeared to James, and then to all the apostles. Lastly, as to one
untimely born, He appeared also to me.
- 1Co 15:12-19
- If Christ has been thus preached, that He has been raised from the
dead, how is it that some of you say there is no resurrection? If
there is no resurrection, then Christ has not been raised, and if
Christ has not been raised, then our preaching has been pointless, and
so is your faith. Worse, we are found to be false witnesses of God,
since we claim that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if in fact
the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, Christ has
not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is
worthless; you are still in your sins; those who have fallen asleep in
Christ have truly perished. If we have hoped in Christ for this life
only, then we are of all men most to be pitied.
- 1Co 15:20-22
- But Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those
who are asleep. Since death came by a man, so also the resurrection
of the dead came by a man; as in Adam all die, so in Christ all are
made alive.
- 1Co 15:35-50
- If it is asked how the dead are raised and what sort of body they
shall have, think! What you sow doesn’t come to life unless it dies.
What you sow is not sown in the body it shall have, but a bare grain.
But God gives it the body He wishes, each seed having a body of its
own. All flesh is not alike. The flesh of men is one thing, that of
animals another, and birds differ, as do fishes. Likewise, there are
heavenly and earthly bodies ,but the glory of the heavenly body is
one thing, and that of the earthly another. There is one glory of the
sun, another of the moon, another of the stars, and each star differs
in glory. Just so, the resurrection of the dead. It was sown a
perishable body, it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor,
it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in
power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If
there is a natural body, then certainly there is also a spiritual
body. Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam,
became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving
spirit. But the spiritual is not first, rather the natural and then
the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, therefore earthy.
The second man is from heaven. As the earthy, so those who are
earthy. As the heavenly, so those who are heavenly. Just as we have
borne the image of the earthy, so we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly. I tell you this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God. The perishable does not inherit the imperishable.
- 1Co 15:51-58
- I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but all shall be
changed. In a moment, in the merest twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet – for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must
put on the imperishable, this mortal must put on
immortality. And when this perishable has put on the imperishable,
this mortal, immortality, then will be fulfilled the saying, “Death
is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? Where
is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of
sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore, beloved brothers, be
steadfast! Be immovable! Be always abounding in the work of the
Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
- Mt 25:1-13
- The kingdom of heaven could be compared to ten virgins taking their
lamps and going out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish
and five were prudent. The foolish took no oil for their lamps, but
the prudent did. The bridegroom was delaying, and all grew drowsy and
began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout announcing the
bridegroom’s arrival, calling them to come out to meet him. They rose
and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish sought of the prudent some
oil, for their lamps were going out. But the prudent said no,
recognizing that their oil was insufficient for both, and sent them
to the market to get their own. And while they were away the
bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him to the wedding
feast, and the door was shut. When those others returned later, the
called for the door to be opened, but he said, “I
don’t know you.” So be alert. You do not know the day or
the hour.
- Mt 25:14-30
- It’s like a man departing on a journey who entrusts his possession
to his slaves in his absence. To one he gives five talents, to
another two, and to another, one, each according to his ability. And
then he departed. The one with five talents quickly traded with them,
gaining five more, and the one with two did similarly with his. But
the one with one talent dug a hole and hid his master’s money. Some
time later the master came to settle accounts with them. He with the
five talents showed that he had doubled what was given him and had his
master’s praise, and the promise to put him in charge of many things.
He with the two talents received a like response. Then came the one
with but one talent, who spoke thus, “Master, I
knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow, gathering
where you scattered no seed. I was afraid, so I hid your talent
away. See, you have what it yours.” His master rebuked him
for his laziness. After all, if he knew his master to be as he said,
he should have at least banked the money and gained some interest. He
commanded the talent taken from him and given to the one who now had
ten talents. The point is this: “Everyone who
has shall be given more, having an abundance. But from the one who
does not have, even what he does have shall be taken, and that
worthless one will be cast out into the darkness, where there will
be weeping, and gnashing of teeth.”
- Mt 25:31-46
- When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him,
He will sit on His glorious throne. The nations will be gathered
before Him, and He will separate them like a shepherd separates sheep
from goats. The sheep He will put on His right, and the goats on His
left. To those on the right, He will call, “Come,
you who are blessed of My Father! Inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world. I was hungry and you fed Me,
thirsty and you gave Me drink. I was a stranger and you took Me in,
naked and you clothed Me. I was sick and you visited Me, imprisoned
and you came to Me.” They will wonder at this, asking when
they had done these things, and He will answer, “To
the extent you did it to one of My brothers, you did it to Me.”
To those on the left? “Depart from Me, accursed
ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
I was hungry and you gave Me nothing, thirsty and you gave Me
nothing. I was a stranger and you would have nothing to do with Me,
naked and you left Me so. I was sick and in prison, and you did not
even visit Me.” They, too, will wonder when it was they saw
Him and failed to act. To them He says, “To the
extent that you didn’t do such things for the least of these, you
didn’t do it to Me.” These go away into eternal punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life.
- 1Th 1:9-10
- They speak of the reception they had with you; how you had turned to
God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His
Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead: Jesus, who delivers us
from the coming wrath.
- Isa 27:2-13
- In that day, A vineyard of wine! Sing of it! “I
the LORD am its keeper. I water it every moment. I guard it night
and day lest anyone damage it. I have no wrath. Were one to give
me thorns and briars in battle, I would step on them and burn them
completely. Or let him rely on My protection and make peace with
Me. Yes, let him make peace with Me.” In days to come Jacob
will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout. They will fill the
whole world with fruit. Has He struck them? Have they been slain?
You banished them, drove them away. With His fierce anger He expelled
them on the day of the east wind. Through this, Jacob’s iniquity will
be forgiven. This will be the full price of his pardoning: When he
makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk, when Asherim and
incense altars will not stand. For the fortified city is isolated,
the homestead forsaken like the desert. There the calf will graze.
There it will lie down and feed on branches. When its limbs are dry,
they are broken off. Women come and make fire with them. For they
are not a people of discernment. Therefore, their Maker will have no
compassion on them; their Creator will not be gracious to them. In
that day, the LORD will start His threshing from the flowing stream of
the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one
by one, O sons of Israel. It will come about in that day that a great
trumpet will be blown. Those perishing in Assyria, and those
scattered in Egypt will come worship the LORD in the holy mountain at
Jerusalem.
- Zech 9:1-17
- As for Damascus, the LORD is against that land, for the eyes of men,
especially the tribes of Israel, are toward the LORD. Likewise, He is
against Tyre and Sidon, and Hamath as well, though they count
themselves very wise. Tyre built a fortress and piled up treasures,
but the Lord will dispossess her and cast her wealth into the sea.
She will be consumed with fire. Ashkelon will see and be afraid,
Gaza, too, and also Ekron, for her expectation has been confounded.
The king will perish from Gaza. Ashkelon will be uninhabited, and a
mongrel race will occupy Ashdod. I will cut off the pride of the
Philistines, removing their blood from their mouth, and their
detestable things from their teeth. Then they also will be a remnant
for our God, like a clan of Judah, and Ekron will be like a Jebusite.
But I will camp around My house because of an army, because of him who
passes by and returns. No oppressor will pass over them anymore, for
now I have seen with My eyes. Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming
to you. He is just, endowed with salvation, humbly mounted on a
donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. And I will cut off the
chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem. The bow of war
will be cut off, and He will speak peace to the nations. His dominion
will be from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth. For
you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set
your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to the stronghold,
you prisoners who have this hope. This very day I am declaring that I
will restore to you double. I will bend Judah as My bow. I will fill
the bow of Ephraim. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your
sons, O Greece. And I will make you like a warrior’s sword. Then the
LORD will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like
lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and march in the storm
winds of the south. The LORD of hosts will defend them. They will
devour, trampling on the sling stones. They will drink, be boisterous
as with wine. They will be filled like a sacrificial basin, drenched
like the corners of the altar. And the LORD their God will save them
in that day as the flock of His people. For they are as the stones of
a crown, sparkling in His land. For what comeliness and beauty will
be theirs! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the
virgins.
- Rev 1:6-8
- He has made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father. To Him be
the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen! Behold, He is
coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who
pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.
Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says
the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to
come, the Almighty.”
- Dan 12:1-13
- “At that time, Michael, the great prince standing
guard over the sons of your people, will arise. There will be a
time of distress the like of which has never occurred before, and
all your people, everyone found in written in the book, will be
rescued. Many then asleep in the dust of the ground will awake:
These to everlasting life, those to everlasting disgrace and
contempt. Those with insight will shine brightly in the expanse of
heaven. Those who lead many to righteousness will be as stars,
shining forever and ever. As for you, conceal these words until the
end of time. Many will go back and forth, and knowledge will
increase.” I looked and saw two others standing on opposite
banks of the river. One asked the man in linen who was above the
waters of the river, “How long until the end of
these wonders?” And he answered, raising his hands to
heaven. He swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for time,
times, and half a time. And as soon as they finish shattering the
power of the holy people, these events will be completed. I heard,
but could not understand. “My lord, what will be
the outcome of these events?” He said, “Go
your way, Daniel. These words are concealed and sealed up until the
end of time. Many will be purged, many purified and refined. But
the wicked will act wickedly and not understand. But those with
insight will understand. From the time that the regular sacrifice
is abolished, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there
will be 1290 days Blessed is he who keeps waiting, and reaches the
1335th day. As for you, go your way to the end. Then you will
enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end
of the age.”
- 2Co 5:1-10
- Tear down this earthly tent and we know we yet have a building from
God, not made with hands, eternal in heaven. In this house we groan,
longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, since, when we
have put it on, we shall not be found naked. For indeed while in this
tent we groan, burdened because we don’t want to be unclothed, but
clothed, in order that this mortal may be swallowed up by life. He
who prepares us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit
as a pledge. So, being always of good courage, knowing that while at
home in this body we are absent from the Lord (for we walk by faith,
not sight; we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be
absent from this body and at home with the Lord. So our ambition,
whether at home or absent, is to be pleasing to Him. For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, each to be recompensed for
his deeds while in the body, whether good or bad.
- Ps 50:1-7
- The Mighty One, God the Lord, has spoken, summoning the earth from
the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of
beauty, God has shone forth. May our God come and not keep silent.
Fire devours before Him. It is very tempestuous around Him. He
summons the heavens above, and the earth below, to judge His people.
“Gather My godly ones to Me, those who have made
covenant with Me by sacrifice.” The heavens declare His
righteousness, for God Himself is judge, and He testifies against you,
“I am God, your God.”
- Ps 50:14-17
- “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and
pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon Me in the day of trouble,
and I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.” But to the
wicked, God says, “What right have you to speak of
My statutes, or to lay claim to My covenant? You hate discipline,
and cast My word behind you.”
- Ps 50:22-23
- Consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces with
none to deliver you. He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors
Me. To him who orders his way rightly, I shall show the salvation of
God.
- Rev 20:1-15
- I saw an angel come from heaven with the key of the abyss, and with
a great chain in his hand. He took that ancient serpent, the devil,
and bound him for a thousand years, threw him into the abyss, and
sealed it over him, that he should no more deceive the nations until
those thousand years were completed. After that, he must be released
briefly. I saw thrones set up, and those upon them sitting in
judgment. The souls of those beheaded for their testimony of Jesus
and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image
and had not received the mark on forehead and hand, came to life and
reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not
come to life until that thousand years was completed. This is the
first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the
first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power. They
will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a
thousand years. When that time is complete, Satan will be released
from his prison to deceive the nations, Gog and Magog, and to gather
them together for war. Their number is like the sand of the
seashore. They came up on the broad plain of the earth, surrounding
the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from
heaven and devoured them. The devil was thrown into the lake of fire
and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are. They will
be tormented day and night forever and ever. I saw a great white
throne, and Him who sat upon it. From His presence, heaven and heart
fled away, no place being found for them. I saw the dead, great and
small, standing before His throne, and books opened. Another book was
opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged from what was
written in the books, according to their deeds. The sea gave up her
dead, and death and Hades too. They were judged by their deeds. And
death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second
death, the lake of fire. If anyone’s name was not found written in
the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
- Rev 21:1-8
- And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and
earth passed away. And there is no longer any sea. I saw the holy
city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, ready as a
bride adorned for her husband. I heard a voice from the throne: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He
shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God
Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from
their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor mourning, crying, or
pain. The first things have passed away.” And He who sits
on the throne said, “Behold! I am making all
things new. Write, for these words are faithful and true. It is
done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I
will give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life
without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I
will be his God, and he will be My son. But for the cowardly, for
the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the immoral, the
sorcerers, idolaters and liars, their part will be in the lake that
burns with fire and brimstone, the second death.”
- Rev 3:7-13
- To the church of Philadelphia: He who is holy and true, who has the
key of David, who opens and none will shut and shuts and none may
open, says this: “I know your deeds. I have put
before you a door none can shut, because you had little power, yet
kept My word, not denying My name. I will cause those of the
synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are not – they lie! –
to come and bow at your feet, knowing that I have loved you. For
you have kept the word of My perseverance, so I will also keep you
from the hour of testing which is about to come upon the whole world
to test all who dwell in it. I am coming quickly! Hold fast! Let
no one take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make a pillar in
the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore. I
will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of
My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My
God, and My new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches.”
- 1Co 6:2-3
- Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the
world is judged by you, are you not competent to handle the smallest
law courts? Don’t you know that you will judge angels? How much
more, then, matters of this life?
- Heb 12:25-29
- See that you don’t refuse Him who is speaking. If they did not
escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall
we escape, should we turn from Him who warns from heaven! His voice
shook the earth then, and now He has promised, “Yet
once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.”
This, “once more,” denotes the removing of
all that can be shaken, of created things, so that what cannot be
shaken may remain. Since, then, we receive a kingdom which cannot be
shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we offer to God an acceptable
service with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire.
- 1Co 3:13-15
- Each man’s work will be evident, for the day will show it. It is to
be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test each man’s work.
If his work remains, he shall receive a reward. If it is burnt up, he
shall suffer loss. Yet he himself shall be saved, though as through
fire.
- Zech 13:8-9
- It will come about that two parts in three will be cut off and
perish, but the third will be left. And I will bring that third
through the fire, refine them as silver, test them as gold. They will
call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, “They
are My people,” and they will say, “The
LORD is my God.”
New Thoughts: (02/08/23-)
This is going to be far too large for one page, so I shall be putting
it up as a set of pages, with this serving as the index.
Persistent Images
(02/11/23-02/15/23)
On Judgment
(02/16/23-02/22/23)
Tribulation and
the Elect (02/25/23-02/26/23)
Tribulation and the
Sinner (02/27/23-02/28/23)
Who Fights the Last
Battle? (03/01/23)
Imminent,
Unannounced, and Thorough (03/02/23-03/04/23)
Sequence
(03/05/23-03/10/23)
Resurrection
and Transformation (03/11/23-03/12/23)
Assurance of Life (03/13/23-03/14/23)
The Second Death
(03/15/23)
Conclusions?
(03/16/23)
