IT WAS TIME
They came to get Jesus. It was not Jesus that they were
after, but the people. Does that sound familiar? Trump wrote a meme that, “In
reality, they are not after me; they are after you.” “They” are adversaries in
both cases. “They” were the mob out to get Jesus, they were the mob that were
out to get Trump, and they are the mob that are out to get you. What happened
to Jesus will happen to Christians. The adversaries did not want Jesus, but his
disciples. They wanted the respect and authority that they feared Jesus had.
Satan wants the people, and Jesus stood in the way. He had to be done away
with. First, they impeached His character, and finally they demanded His life!
The “King of the Jews” would not abdicate so they ended His reign, at least for
a while.
Some believe that Christians will be raptured before the
Great Tribulation. “Rapture” means “snatched up” and is a theological term for joining
Jesus in heaven. In the doctrine the rapture will occur before the Great
Tribulation and is called “pre-tribulation,” but others believe that Christians
will not be raptured until after the first 3-1/2 years of the Great Tribulation
(Mid-tribulation). The first period will be one of content with a socialist-type
of government. That will be explained later. However, the Church will be
persecuted, as it has been since apostolic times. In all that time, it has been
the “Church Age” and the tribulation of the Church is a foretaste to the Great
Tribulation.
The autocracy of the Antichrist will not occur in an
instant, but like a wave, it will become more intense until it reaches a
crescendo until it is too late for a defense. At this moment, the wave is
engulfed with hatred. “Judgmental” (sic) Christianity is waning. One New Age disciple
said that Christianity must die because it is so intolerant. Intolerant of whom
or what? Intolerant of Lucifer’s false religions and rebellious people. Intolerance
is the most used weapon in the arsenal of the New Age. George Soros uses Popper’s
Paradox of Tolerance as a weapon against Christians; to wit: “"In order to
maintain a tolerant society, the society must be intolerant of
intolerance."
Is it not obvious at the present that the religion of love
is called “haters” by the world. It is okay, in their eyes, to hate Christians
because Christians are intolerant of sin. Since the world consists of sinners,
then they perceive that Christians hate them. They do not understand
that as God so loved the world that none should perish (John 3:16), true
Christians love those in the world that much. Love is hard work. That is the
reason that God commanded it, as is written, “This commandment we have from Him:
that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:21). “Brother,” of
course, refers to other people. Oftentimes, people hate those who love them the
most intensely. Love induces conviction, and those who dislike guilt respond
with animosity. Jesus knew that He would not come to bring peace to the world,
but animosity (Mat 10:34).
In Jesus’s day, “they” were the mob of adversaries against
Jesus. They were represented by factions that misunderstood God. They were the “church”
(Pharisees and Sadducees), the government (the Sanhedrin) and the gullible
commoners. The three “estates” — church, nobility, and commoners were
represented and were all guilty of crucifying Jesus. They represent everyone,
and in the last days, the Antichrist will be a “god,” an autocrat, and the
people will take his mark. They will be persuaded by the false narrative that
he brought peace and prosperity, but to have peace and nourishment with the
freedom to buy and sell, the gullible people must give their soul to Beast.
That is exactly the way that socialism operates. Its motto could as well have
been, “From those who exalt God; to those who exalt Big Brother.”
In the present age, “they” are those who reject God and His
institutions. Remembering that Jesus gave to Caesar what belonged to him, it is
obvious that Jesus did not come to establish an earthly kingdom. Neither should
Christians attempt to overthrow kingdoms in God’s Name. The socialist French
Revolution killed wantonly for their aims; there change was a revolution as the
republic replaced the autocracy. Soon after, as Russia did much later, the
insidious socialists had another revolution, and they murdered their own
revolutionaries. They replaced a weak republic with an intolerant and cruel communistic
oligarchy with Maximilien Robespierre as the autocrat.
What did Robespierre do? He beheaded his opponents. That is
what socialism will do to gain power. The Bolshevik brand of socialism used
guns, but the Antichrist will return to beheading because it is more intimidating.
When will all these things happen? No one knows when. “But
of the day and the hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the
Son, but only the Father (Mark 13:32). The reason that the time cannot be perceived
is perhaps because it is so gradual. Before an inauguration, the stage is set
and arranged. Perhaps the Church age is preparation for the inauguration of the
Antichrist. No one knows the exact time, but there are numerous signs.
Christians must not depend on signs to direct their lives. Trusting
God’s Plan is all that is required, but Jews require a sign (1 Cor 1:22). Sometimes
the “sign” is so obvious that they miss it. Astrology is directing people’s
lives to adjust to astronomical signs. Astronomically speaking, God provided a
sign in the heavens (Mat 2:9). In the Greek, the word “aster” is used
both literally and figuratively in the Bible. Theologians have always taken it
to mean a “star” but perhaps it was another astrological phenomenon. Astrophysicist
Grant Matthews says there was, “a planetary alignment (of) the sun, Jupiter,
the moon and Saturn where all in the part of the sky known as Aries” (Sloat 2016) . Aries is the time
interval between March 20 and April 21. Many believe that Jesus was born at the
equinox (March 21) in 6 B.C. which aligns quite well with history.
6 B.C. coincides with the estimated beginning of the age of
Pisces. That is one reason Christianity is identified with a fish. The Church Age
then coincides with the Age of Pisces, and it began with the astral sign of the
alignment of the Sun, Jupiter, the Moon, and Saturn. That alignment was perhaps
the “star” that the Zoroastrians saw from the East. With that said, astrological
ages cycle every 25,860 years. Given twelve ages, that is 2155 years for each
sign, but due to apparent widths, each age may differ from that. Hence “ages”
are not discreet nor exact.
No one knows the number of years but can only approximate
it. However, using the average, the year 2149 would begin the Age of Aquarius. New
Agers believe that is the age of their sage. Christians should recognize the
Age of Aquarius as the Antichurch Age ruled by the Antichrist. “Utopia” for the
world will finally arrive. The ideals of the socialist state will be achieved,
but at the expense of the Church and at the diminishing of Jesus. The entire
globe will be a kind of Paradise until the deception is discovered. After
3-1/2 years, chaos will ensue, and the Utopian world will be revealed as a
wicked Satanic autocracy.
Some believe the Age of Aquarius commenced as early as 1994.
Perhaps this is the Age of the Antichrist already; not that the Antichrist yet
rules, but the stage is being set for his introduction. The Beast will come
from the Euphrates. Look toward the Middle East for a leader of the New World
Order.
Christians must watch. Scripture is being fulfilled each
day. The persecution of Christians has commenced, not with outright acts of
cruelty, but intimidation and hatred. It will increase each year until the time
is ripe for the Adversary to surprise the world. Jesus warned that Christians
must be vigilant:
34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36)
(picture credit - The Doomsday Clock from Shutterbug by Athenon)
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