Bible Study Seattle

“Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Luke 17:20-21

Much like first century Jews, twenty first century Christians want a strongman to come and remove the bad guys. But Jesus will come as quietly the second time as he did the first. The fireworks most people think of as the second coming will come later. The Jews will finally get their Messiah ben David, but it will be at a horrible time.

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house.  Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.  How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!  Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.  For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.  At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.  For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you ahead of time.

“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.  For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

“Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.  Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Matthew 24:15-35

“For the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23

“for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23

All have sinned so all will die, but what about Jesus? If he had not died by crucifixion, would he have lived forever? Jesus was the unique admixture of perfect seed and imperfect egg.

Although Jesus did not sin, his body was a blend of the perfect and imperfect. He ate corrupted food from a corrupted world. He did not have access to the Trees of Life. Of course, God could have worked a miracle to sustain him. It was necessary for Jesus to experience our fallen world (and body) so that he could relate to us.

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,” Revelation 12:7

How can there be war in heaven? Isn’t heaven a perfect place?

“Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple.” Revelation 11:19

“who serve that which is a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses is warned of God when he is about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern that was showed thee in the mount.” Hebrews 8:5-6

There is a Temple in heaven? And the earthly Temple was a copy of the heavenly one? Does that mean that there were sacrifices at the heavenly Temple? Does that mean that there was/is death in heaven? Will the second death be a possibility in heaven?

When God finishes resting on his Seventh Day of creation will it be an ordinary first day of the week or a Jubilee? If God’s days of creation are 7,000 years apiece then we will have another, Eighth, Day or creation of 7,000 years. But what if it is a Jubilee? Will the New Creation have to wait another 7,000 years? 49 years of 7,000 years is 343,000 years. If it is a 7,000 year Jubilee it will still be a 1,000 year Jubilee based on the 1,000 year-long ‘days’. Will the regeneration of all things take longer than we think? There’s no sure way to know.

“and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times.  Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your countrymen; to Him you shall listen regarding everything He says to you.” Acts 3:20-22

This scripture suggests that God’s end of rest will not be a Jubilee.

“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:6

Is this verse saying the church will be immortal upon entrance to heaven?

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” Hebrews 9:27

“My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” James 3:1

“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God;” 1 Peter 4:17

We will all be judged, especially believers. How then, if we are immortal, can we be judged? Some might say we are judged in this life, but what about matters that aren’t resolved? Paul assented to the stoning of Stephen. He was deeply mortified by his sin, yet there was no resolution during his life: Stephen was already dead. Since both of these men are part of the true church of saints, how can there be resolution if they are both now immortal? Paul must repent and Stephen must forgive. Or another way of looking at it: how can there be any disharmony in the Risen Bride of Christ? There must be another step. That’s why there may be some doubt about instant immortality of the church. Another consideration is the judgment in heaven:

“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?  Do you not know that we shall judge angels?” 1 Corinthians 6:2-3

How can we judge that which we do not know? Don’t we first need experience in that realm (heaven)? Mustn’t the saints spend considerable time in heaven before they become qualified to judge angels? Is there a possibility of failure? Is second death only in operation on earth and not in heaven?

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

An outsider would hear this and say, “This doesn’t make sense. Everyone dies.” We understand that everlasting life is from the second life. ‘Jesus conquered death’ doesn’t mean we won’t die. Everlasting life is only possible after we are brought back from the grave. All of us will pay the penalty of sin – death. Notice how Jesus’ sacrifice did not eliminate the penalty. His sacrifice gives us a new start after we’ve paid the penalty – the penalty is not the last word. John 3:16 is saying that whoever believes in Him will not perish in the second death.

“By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:2-3

“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4

The Messiah will have a Sabbath of a thousand years. His week is 7,000 years long. God’s Sabbath evidently is 7,000 years long. His week of creation is 49,000 years long. God’s normal work is creating, therefore he ceased creating for 7,000 years. Messiah is the bridge between God and man. His Sabbath is rest from sin. The rest from sin will not be step-wise, but gradual.

“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.” Deuteronomy 19:15

“Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.  You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.  And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.  It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.  I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” John 8:14-18

Jesus established his authority to the Pharisees by two witnesses – himself and God. Why didn’t Jesus cite the Holy Spirit as a third witness? Did Jesus consider the Holy Spirit a person? Or is the Holy Spirit merely the spirit of God? We are all made of flesh and spirit.

“ ‘He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days.  He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.  Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him; his uncleanness is still on him.” Numbers 19:11-13

The third and seventh days are equated here. They are the same prophetically. The seventh 1,000 years from Adam’s fall is the same time as the third 1,000 years from Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. This passage is telling us not to hold on to those who chose second death during the Millennial Reign of Christ. All die in Adam but only the willfully obstinate will die the second death. First death is inevitable but not second. We are not to mourn the wicked that chose this.

John 1-2 recounts a series of events starting with the Pharisees questioning John the Baptist. The next day John baptizes Jesus. The day after that John tells his disciples that Jesus is the Messiah. The next day Jesus desires to go to Galilee. Then,

“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.” John 2:1-2

It’s not an accident that the wedding happened on the third day. If you look at all scripture references to ‘third day’ you see a pattern. There are dozens of scriptures.

On the third day – within 3,000 years from Jesus’ baptism the church will be complete and the marriage will have happened, the wicked will be destroyed in the second death, Jesus will come down in the sight of all the people, etc.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.  And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.  You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.” Exodus 19:10-12