Signs of the Times: As in the Days of Noah

Lately I have been thinking about Matthew 24:37-42 where Jesus provides a clue as to when He will return to rapture believers:

³⁷But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  ³⁸For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,  ³⁹And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  ⁴⁰Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  ⁴¹Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  ⁴²Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 

I went to Genesis to study more about what was happening during Noah’s time.  Genesis 6:1-7 tells us much of what we need to know:

¹When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. ³ Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”  ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.  ⁵ The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. ⁶ The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. ⁷ So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” (NIV)

The Nephilim — which are also referred to as giants in other translations — are the offspring of the sons of God (fallen angels) and mortal women.  Unger writes: “This utterly unnatural union, violating God’s created order of being, as such a shocking abnormality as to necessitate the worldwide judgment of the Flood.”¹  Some argue that the Nephilim² are the result of the intermarriage between the godly line of Seth and the ungodly line of Cain.  But if mortal men mated with mortal women, how did we end up with a race of Giants?  And why single them out as Nephilim?

I agree with other writers, like Chuck Missler, who believe that Satan was attempting to alter the human gene pool to prevent the birth of a perfect Messiah.  Our Almighty God thwarted Satan’s plan by flooding the earth and killing every human and every animal, bird, and creature that moved along the ground (except for Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark).  I bring this up because this week there have been news reports in the media that British scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos.  Since Genesis 6:4 tells us that the Nephilim were still on the earth after the flood (we read about them again in Numbers 13:33) I can’t help but think…as the days of Noah were.

Satan may have been foiled temporarily, but his plan has always been same: to prevent man from ruling and reigning with Christ in His Millennial Kingdom.  When we read the kingdom parables in Matthew, Jesus says in the parable of the sower that the birds of the air represent the evil one (Matthew 13:19).  Comparing Scripture with Scripture, in the parable of the mustard tree, we learn that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches of the tree (Matthew 13:32).  Those who know Scripture have eyes to see the apostasy that is growing like a cancer in visible churches.  What better way to deceive professed believers than to stand beside them in the pew (just as Jesus prophesied in the parable of the wheat and tares) and get them to question, “Did God really say?”

I believe that the signs of our times are telling us that the Kingdom of Heaven is near, and it is definitely time to repent.

¹Unger MF.  The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary.  Harrison RK, Vos HW, Barber CJ, eds.  Chicago, IL: Mood Press; 1988.

²To learn more about Nephilim, you might want to start with  "As the Days of Noah Were" and "Mischievous Angels or Sethites?" by Chuck Missler.

What Will it Take?

What will it take for us to stop our self-seeking — and seek God's kingdom first?

What will it take for us to stop inventing culture-driven theologies and doctrines — and know that God’s Word alone is all that we need?

What will it take for us to believe that all of God’s Word is true — and be completely obedient to His Word?

What will it take for churches to stop being dens of iniquity — and start being houses of God?

What will it take to stop portraying God as “our buddy” — and fall upon our knees in fear and reverence when we worship the Lord?

What will it take to stop furthering man-driven works — and be driven to have all our works glorify God?

What will it take to end senseless violence — and start loving one another as Jesus commanded us to do?

What will it take to understand that the Lord is a God of righteousness and judgment — and not a God who will close His eyes to sin?

It will take the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Come quickly Lord Jesus, come.

The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven: The Same or Different?

I have been researching the phrases "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God," and whether there is a difference between the two.  Kingdom of Heaven is used throughout the gospel of Matthew, while the other gospels use Kingdom of God. 

Some scholars believe that both phrases mean the same thing.  In his book, New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus, David Biven states that Jesus often used euphemisms for God (including the Kingdom of Heaven).  His audiences would have been shocked if He had not because it was forbidden for the Jews to utter the name of God.

This thinking seems to fall apart, however, when you look at several other passages in the gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 6:33:

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 12:28:

But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

Matthew 19:24:

And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Matthew 21:31:

Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

Matthew 21:43:

Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

In Matthew 12:28, 21:31, and 21:43, Scripture tells us that Jesus is addressing the Pharisees (also referred to as chief priests) or the elders.  If Biven is correct, why would Jesus use the phrase Kingdom of God when addressing these Jewish leaders?  What confounds me even further is that in the other gospels, there are several passages—which are obvious references to similar passages in Matthew—where the phrase Kingdom of Heaven has been replaced with the phrase Kingdom of God.

As much as it would be very tidy to say that the two phrases mean the same thing, the fact that Jesus uses both terms in Matthew has me wondering if they must mean something different?

Clarence Larkin writes that the Kingdom of God represents the reign of God over all things in the universe and is spiritual.  He also states that the Kingdom of Heaven is of “time and sphere.”  The time is between the first and second coming of Christ, and the sphere represents all of Christendom.

Scofield (according to David Reagan) takes the view that the Kingdom of Heaven “signifies the Messianic earth rule of Jesus Christ, the Son of David.”  Reagan concludes that "the kingdom of God is the kingdom set up by God. The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom that finds its source in heaven." Others say that the Kingdom of Heaven is a political kingdom. 

There are other explanations offered by other authors, but none of them completely satisfies me.  What I do know with absolute certainly is that every jot and tittle in Scripture has been placed there for a specific reason.  I may not see it yet, but pray that one day the Lord will reveal it to me.

Quoteworthy: The Second Coming of Christ

The Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ is One Event Most Often Recorded in Holy Scripture.

IT is recorded in type, in figure, in symbol, in analogue, in parable, in hyperbole and metaphor, in exalted song, in noblest poetry and in rarest rhetoric.  It is set before us in dramatic and dynamic statement, in high prophetic forecast, in simple narrative, close linked logic, expanded doctrine, divine exhortation and farreaching appeal.

The first promise of the Second Coming was made in Eden.  It was made in the promise given to the woman that her seed should bruise the serpent's head.  On the cross the serpent bruised the heel of the woman's seed, but her seed did not bruise the serpent's head.  Never was his head more uplifted and unbruised than now.  The promise of the bruising is of God and must be fulfilled.  The record of that fulfillment is to be be found in the twentieth chapter of the book of the Revelation where our Lord descends and in the plenitude of His power by the hand of an angel binds Satan for a thousand years beneath His feet and the feet of His saints.  As the bruising of the serpent's head takes place at the Second Coming, and the promise of the bruising is made in Eden, then the first promise of the Coming is made in Eden; and as you see rising above the figure of the fallen first man the figure of the Second man, you hear for the first time the story of the Second Coming of the Second man; and thus the story and the doctrine of the Second Coming begin with the very beginning of the Book.

Isaac Massey Haldeman in Why I preach the second coming.  Published in 1919.