Bible Study Seattle

What does 2024 have in store? How is God moving? 

It seems the exposure of corruption is still increasing. ”So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.” Matthew 10:26

People often assume no one sees, but they forget that God sees everything and that he is in fact real.

In the 21st century four or five kids is considered a large family in the west. But during the zenith of the reign of Christ people will have many more. 

“Sing, barren woman,
    you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
    you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
    than of her who has a husband,”
says the Lord.’ Isaiah 54;1

At current a women can only have 20 kids or so. How could she have many more?

“let their flesh be renewed like a child’s;
    let them be restored as in the days of their youth.” Job 33;25

If people reverse age so that they remain like a healthy 25 year old for centuries, then they can have many many children. And the pregnancies will likely be much easier than at current due to the curse being lifted.

Jesus came to the Jews first. After many Jews rejected him, the call was expanded to the Gentiles with the call of Cornelius. This was a few years after Jesus rose from the dead. When Jesus comes again he will also go to the Jews first. “Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoils taken from you will be divided among you.  For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be taken, the houses plundered, the women raped, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be eliminated from the city.  Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.” Zechariah 14:1-3

Jesus will fight for the Jews when he descends on the Mount of Olives. King David will also be fighting. “The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be greater than Judah.  On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them on that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them.  And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” Zechariah 12:7-9

How do we understand evil? Cui bono – who benefits? Sometimes there seems to be a beneficiary but sometimes not. How do we understand those who would randomly kill people? Those who push abortion or transgenderism? Is there something bigger going on? What’s one of the first things Jesus will do when he returns? Raise the faithful? Is that happening right now in heaven (unseen to us on earth)? Would this concern Satan? Might he reason that this faithful army will have something to do with his demise? Has Satan seen a rise in the faithful commensurate with the rising world population? Would shrinking the population slow the production of saints? Why do so many of the powers-that-be want to reduce world population? It’s all tied together. They are doing what their master wants. “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:6-7

Speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus says, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.   Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.   You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.   Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!   Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?   Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” John 8:42-47

Several different versions of Mark 2:19:

“And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” RSV

“And Jesus said to them, “While the groom is with them, the attendants of the groom cannot fast, can they?” NASB

“Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?” NIV

“Jesus said to them, “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them?” WEB

“And Jesus said to them, `Are the sons of the bride-chamber able, while the bridegroom is with them, to fast?” YLT

Jesus refers to the disciples not as the bride of Christ but as groomsmen. If the disciples are groomsmen, who is the bride?

It is amazing to think that after 3.5 amazing years of Jesus’ public ministry:

“the company of persons was in all about a hundred and twenty” Acts 1:15

120 believers after 3.5 years of raising the dead, stumping the Pharisees, and committing no sin. Earlier on, “… those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” Matthew 14:21 And, “… they all ate and were satisfied; and they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.  Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.” Matthew 15:37-38

About 1,650 years before this Moses had this many followers: “These are the people of Israel as numbered by their fathers’ houses; all in the camps who were numbered by their companies were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.” Numbers 2:32

Jesus had 120 and Moses had more than 603,550?? Yes. Jesus’ followers were meant to grow over time. 2,000 years after he died his followers number in the billions. Jesus shows how difficult it is to have a large following. Moses’ giant crowd was only possible with immense supernatural help from God. It also shows us how hard it is to have many true friends.