THE BIBLICAL TIMELINE

UNSAVED PRIESTS, PASTORS AND DEACONS

In Luke 5:4-11 we have an historic parable of the churches catching men. In a boat just off shore, Christ ³…taught the people out of the ship. As we saw on June 30, ships represent the churches. Luke 5 continues:

⁴Now when he had left speaking, he (Christ) said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. ⁵And Simon answer- ing said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. ⁶And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. ⁷And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. ⁸When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. ⁹For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: ¹⁰And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. ¹¹And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

In Luke 5:5 Peter tells Christ, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing. John 15 tells us that without Christ we catch nothing: ⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

That the disciples have toiled all the night has significance. Before re- storing the sight of a man born blind, Christ tells his disciples in John 9, ⁴I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

As the light of the world, Christ proceeds to give the blind man his sight as a picture of salvation. The night cometh, when no man can work at the end of the church age. God no longer resides within the congregations, thus no one within the churches becomes saved; outside of the churches no one becomes saved for the following 2300 days (see February 2).

In Luke 5:4 Christ instructs Peter to let down your nets for a draught. Peter tells him that they have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing. But Peter illustrates a saved man. A saved individual confesses his sins to God—for I am a sinful man, O Lord—and follows God's (the Bible's) instructions. He says, at thy word I will let down the net. Thus they in- closed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

That the net brake implies that some fish escaped. That some fish get a- way through a broken net suggests God does not save everyone taken up by the churches. On June 30 we saw that in 2 Chronicles 9:21 the ships of Tarshish (the churches) brought back apes, and peacocks, the unsaved, as well as gold, and silver, ivory, the saved. 1 Corinthians 3:12 defined the apes, and peacocks as the unsaved. ¹²Now if any man build upon this foundation (i.e., Christ) gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. 2 Corinthians 11:13 warns of active, unsaved members in the congrega- tions: ¹³For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming them- selves into the apostles of Christ.

The false apostles and deceitful workers refer to unsaved elders, pastors and deacons. Revelation 13:17 predicts that after the church age only false apostles and deceitful workers will administer in the congregations. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

The beast is the dragon of Revelation 13:4 and the dragon is Satan of Revelation 20:2; so the beast is Satan. To have the mark…of the beast means to belong to Satan and be unsaved. To buy or sell refers to pub- lishing the Gospel (Isaiah 55:1). So after the church age only the unsaved proclaim the gospel within the congregations. But False apostles and de- ceitful workers publish false gospels. That explains why every church has a different doctrine. But the Bible is only one book, therefore one canon. Therefore all the churches can't be right. In fact, according to Scripture, none of them are.

In Luke 5:7 the men …filled both…ships, so that they began to sink. To- day's churches sink under God's wrath that the sea represents. That so many fish filled the ships, causing them to sink, makes one think of to- day's mega churches. Isaiah 9:3 supports this conclusion: ³Thou hast mul- tiplied the nation (with an ever increasing membership as churches went into the whole world), and not increased the joy: they joy before thee ac- cording to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

That the ships began to sink supports the notion that eventually the church age ends. In fact the historical parable in Acts 27 concerns a shipwreck that signifies the end of the churches. ⁴¹And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.

An historical parable in John 21 parallels the one in Luke 5. In both cases the disciples go fishing: but in the former allegory the net does not break, fish do not escape, they do not bring the fish into any ship, and the ships do not begin to skink. But John 21 refers to the great tribulation after the church age.

Some readers might think I'm reading stuff into verses, thus treating Scrip- ture like a poem or Rorschach test. But according to our first premise, God wrote the Bible. Without that basis all interpretation goes up for grabs; and such free-for-all leaves us unable to prove anything. God wouldn't care to tell us about fishing or the one that got away. Such stories come only from man. But we know God would have us know that: (1) not very many became saved in the congregations; (2) there comes a time when the church age ends and we must leave. But His news comes in parabolic language.

On July 5 we gather more evidence predicting the churches' limited success and God's eventual abandonment of them.

VICTOR STENGER: FAILED HYPOTHESIS VS. FAILED CONGREGATIONS

In Acts 2:41 God emphasizes the beginning of the church age by saving three thousand souls on the first day. So the churches began with a bang. But as we saw in the parable of the vineyard (see June 25), Christ looked that it (the congregations) should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. So in Isaiah 5:4 Christ bewails the condition of the churches: ⁴What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? (a stench).

We find more evidence of such a stink in Revelation 1-3. God has John write: ¹And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write…I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest, and art dead (Revelation 3).

Exiled to the island of Patmos, John wrote Revelation around A.D. 90-95, about sixty years after the first Pentecost. A few people had been saved in Sardis (Revelation 3:4), but God would soon abandon that church, just as He'd leave all of them for dead in 1988 (February 2).

In Revelation 2 John writes to the church in Smyrna: ⁹…I know the blas- phemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the syna- gogue of Satan. The context defines the word, Jews, as those whom God has saved, according to Romans 2:29 (But he is a Jew, which is one in- wardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.) Anyone whom God has not saved belongs to the synagogue of Satan. So we have unsaved priests and pastors that do the work of Satan and corrupt the church.

Years earlier than the Book of Revelation, Paul wrote in Galatians 1 to the church of Galatia: ⁶I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel (Galatians 1). So the congregations had become filled with the ...false apostles, deceit- ful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ that we read about in 2 Corinthians 11:13. They …say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan (Revelation 2:9).

In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul finds church members at Corinth worse than those who never attend them (i.e., the Gentiles). ¹It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.

Would we expect to find more sin in the congregations than outside of them? By the same token would we expect to find more church-going people in jail than non church goers? According to Victor Stenger in his book, God/The Failed Hypothesis, we would expect to see more Chris- tians in prison. Although he comes to the wrong conclusion about God, he at least got the following right:

I have seen no evidence that nonbelievers commit crimes or other antisocial acts in greater proportion than believers. Indeed, some studies indicate the opposite. According to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Christians make up almost 80 percent of the prison population. Atheists make up about .2 percent.¹

True enough. We find more "Christians" going to jail than atheists. Per- haps people who do bad things want to feel good about themselves by going to church, whereas those who have no reason to feel bad about themselves have no need to go. While the ambiguity of the word "belief" and "Christians" brings up this apparent conundrum of more "Christians" than atheists in prison, Scripture's principle of election by grace alone resolves it. The belief of anyone whom God has truly saved doesn't stem from religious addiction, the need to cope with sin or any other circum- stance. One does nothing that adds in any way towards his or anyone else's salvation. For His own reasons, God simply thrusts it upon him whether he wants it or not.

On the other hand Harry, who desires an early release from jail, wants to appear as a good guy to prison authorities. So he doesn't tell them he be- lieves in atheism and he certainly doesn't go in for Islam. That leaves Ju- daism and Christianity, with the latter obviously the favorite. If Harry has enough time before his next parole hearing, he may start out as an agnos- tic and invite the preacher to witness his trek down the born-again route. Other than pumping iron, he hasn't anything better to do. Thus we have 80 per cent of the prison population opting for Christianity.

If God never saves him Harry may still "believe" in his religion, or at least say he does. But he neither believes in a way acceptable to God nor as someone truly saved. If in the congregation Harry desires his father's wife, he may find religion an addiction—but not because he wants God or vice versa. Rather he thinks religion or church will at least ameliorate or hide his sin. But his belief will never reduce his lusting after anyone or thing.

Only God's salvation plan can stop Harry from wanting his father's wife (or any other sin). If God never intends to save him, Harry will continue to desire her or someone else; and neither religion nor jail will change anything. If he leaves home and never returns, Scripture still finds him guilty (Matthew 5:28) because he wants her. Like the condemned mur- derer or politician caught at the cookie jar, he may give us the born-again testimony and appear more "saved" than the truly redeemed; but that's only because the latter has no need to testify to anyone. With Harry it's all show, nothing more, even if he believes his own testimony.

I don't think anyone whom God has truly saved feels a need to indoctri- nate anyone or testify to anything. Consider Jonah and Jeremiah who at first balked at the task God gave them (Jonah 1:1-3; Jeremiah 1:6). A saved individual believes in and publishes the Gospel because God com- mands him to in Ezekiel 33:6-7 and elsewhere, and because he has a God-given desire for the spiritual well-being of his neighbor. While wanting to keep God's commandments (1 John 5:2-3), he has no need to proclaim any doctrine not supported by Scripture.

But unsaved members of the church, once in a position of authority, con- struct their own religion for the purpose of controlling others. They can't accept God's election plan because that would mean relinquishing their influence and power; not to mention losing church membership. They can't proclaim the whole Bible as God's Word because certain verses would conflict with their doctrine. So they pick and choose what sup- posedly defends their belief and explains how they, rather than God, can "save" anyone. That's why we read in Isaiah 4: ¹And in that day (of the church age) seven women (the seven churches of Revelation 2-3 that represent all the congregations) shall take hold of one man (Christ), saying, We will eat our own bread (go by our own gospel), and wear our own apparel (create our own covering for sin and reject Christ's salvation plan): only let us be called by thy name (Christ), to take away our re- proach (guilt for sin).

God prophesizes about these people throughout the Book of Jeremiah: ¹⁰Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my por- tion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilder- ness (Jeremiah 12). ²¹For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered (Jeremiah 10). ²…thus saith the LORD…against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings (Jeremiah 23). That from the same Bible we get countless different churches, each with its own belief system, supports these prophesies.

The tower of Babel in Genesis 11 serves as a metaphor for the corruption of the churches. Church leaders decide how to become right with God via the construction of their own doctrines. ⁴And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven…⁹Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

So with the tower of Babel we wound up scattered with different lan- guages. Similarly with the churches we wound up scattered with different doctrines, each congregation believing it had the "true religion," and the right way to God. Consequently some of us no longer knew what to think and rejected Scripture altogether.

As a result of this failure, God declares in Isaiah 5, ⁵…I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: ⁶And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. The term no rain means no more Gospel and no more opportunity for salvation.

On July 7 we look at why the churches didn't do so well.

¹Victor J. Stenger, "How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist," God\the failed hypothesis, (New York, N.Y: Prometheus Books, 2007) p. 194.

A PROPHECY OF SATAN AND CHURCHES

So far we've seen that the churches didn't do very well. Some of today's pastors may disagree and point to how their mega churches burst at the seams with worshippers. But only the Biblical version concerns us. The parable of Matthew 13:24-43 gives a cause for this ecclesiastical failure.

²⁴…The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: ²⁵But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. ²⁶But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. ²⁷So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? ²⁸He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? ²⁹But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Matthew 13:37-43 defines the terms in Matthew 13:24-30. ³⁷…He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; ³⁸The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; ³⁹The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. ⁴⁰As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. ⁴¹The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; ⁴²And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

But we can't hear unless God gives us the ears to hear with, as James 1 points out. ¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights… Also John 3: ²⁷A man can re- ceive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.

Matthew 13:37-43 defines everything except the term, while men slept, and the word, angles (angelos): ⁴¹The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 

The KJV translates the word angelos as angel 179 times and as messen- ger 7 times. Michael as the archangel in Jude 1:9 is Christ. The word angelos can refer to God or Christ (Acts 7:30, 35, 38), or an actual angel, i.e., an administering spirit (Hebrews 2:7, 9, 16 1 Peter 3:22; 2 Peter 2:4). The word angelos can also refer to man as a messenger (Hebrews 13:2; James 2:25; Revelation 2:1, 8, 12, 18, 3:1, 7, 14).

So we have to determine what Matthew 13:39, 41 means by the word angelos: ³⁹The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. ⁴⁰As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. ⁴¹The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

John 4 helps us pin it down: ³⁵Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold…Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.³⁶And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. ³⁷And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.³⁸I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

John 4:35-38 refers to those who become saved and act as messengers with the word of God. They reapeth after God applies the word (Romans 10:17) to the hearts of His elect (for the harvest of the wheat in Matthew 13:24-43). And the word rejoice always refers to men, not ministering spirits. So the saved gather the fruit in Matthew 13:26 and are the angels (messengers) of Matthew 13:39, 41.

The churches cover the world, therefore they cover the field (= world in Matthew 13:38). So the field represents the churches; and they contain both wheat and tares (Matthew 13:26).

The tares are the unsaved within the churches. The enemy is Satan. Though Christ had bound Satan at the cross, the devil can still bring tares into the congregations. 2 Corinthians 11:13 concerns these active, un- saved members: ¹³For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, trans- forming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 2 Corinthians 11 goes on to refer to them as ministers of righteousness: ¹⁴And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. ¹⁵Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Matthew 13:30 concerns the timing of events at the end of the world: ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

After the church age God allows Satan to rule in the congregations. So those remaining in them bow to Satan. God then uses the churches to gather…together first the tares (the children of the wicked one (Matthew 13:38)). At the harvest (the end of the world (Matthew 13:39)) God rap- tures the elect. For those left in the congregations, God has bound them in bundles to burn them. This burning occurs at the end of the five month period of Revelation 9:5 (see February 7). So it's no wonder that in Reve- lation 18 God commands us to ⁴…Come out of her (the churches = Bab- ylon), my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye re- ceive not of her plagues.

We need to deal with the phrase while men slept in Matthew 13:25: ²⁴…The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: ²⁵But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

In Isaiah 29: ¹⁰For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. ¹¹And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

We read of a sealed book, the Bible, in Daniel 12: ⁸…then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? ⁹ And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

We find another example in Daniel 8, where Daniel in a deep sleep a- woke to come to know what shall be: ¹⁸Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright. ¹⁹And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be (Daniel 8:18-19).

Also in Matthew 25 we have the parable of the ten virgins that made up the churches. And ⁵While the bridegroom (Christ) tarried, they all slum- bered and slept. The ten virgins in the churches slept in that they couldn't know that five of them were tares.

The phase while men slept in Matthew 13:25 means God had closed their eyes to the fact that Satan brought tares into the congregations. Recall that as Mark 4 describes a ship (the churches) harassed by Satan (the great storm of wind: see June 30), Christ slept in the hinder part of the ship. His sleeping represents everyone's ignorance of Satan seeding the churches with tares during the church age.

While men slept anybody within the congregation would have assumed God had saved everybody, including himself, and had no reason to think otherwise. Even if one suspected unsaved members in the churches, ac- cording to Matthew 13:29, he wouldn't have been able to distinguish be- tween the wheat and tares. Recall that The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? ²⁹But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

Even though Christ had bound Satan at the cross, the devil could still seed the churches with unsaved elders, deacons and pastors (Matthew 13:28, 39) without anyone knowing about it. Recall that 2 Corinthians 11:13 de- fines these tares as false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming them- selves into the apostles of Christ and ministers of righteousness. John 15 assures us that whatever these tares do, they can't do God's will, no mat- ter how much they may want to: ⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Consequently these tares corrupt the con- gregation and the Bible.

With no one aware of these infiltrations the churches slowly became apostate without anyone realizing it—except the wheat, who either left the churches or got kicked out. God would not allow His elect to remain there after abandoning the congregations to Satan. So we need only know when this event occurred. By February 2, 4 of 2009, we have enough da- ta to show how we come to 1988.

On July 9 we see that Scripture predicts unsaved church leaders.

A PROPHECY OF UNSAVED CHURCH LEADERS

We've seen how Matthew 13:24-43 tells of Satan seeding the congrega- tions with tares, false apostles, deceitful workers and ministers of right- eousness (see July 7).

With everyone unaware of the tares in the congregations, we now can make sense of the mystery spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2: ⁷For the mys- tery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth (katecho: from (kata) and  (echo), to hold down (fast); i.e., restrains Satan) will let (restrain), until he be taken out of the way. So Satan's occupation re- mained a mystery because …men slept, (as) his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat (Matthew 13:25). 

During the church age they might as well not have known how Satan op- erated. No one would've been able to distinguish the wheat from the tares anyway: …The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? ²⁹But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them (Matthew 13:28b, 29).

The wise at the Salem witch trials would've ignored the accused and kept a wary eye on the accusers. Imagine our behavior if we, unsaved in the churches, had known of Satan's mischief. The old adage, an accusation a day keeps suspicions away, would've kept our fingers forever pointing at others. Bring up Matthew 13:28b-29, and we would've tap-danced around it—and corrupted Scripture in the process. Though this hypothetical blame-game never happened, truth can still exist in fiction: as we'll show, the latent intent still exists, and God examines intentions, even if, through ignorance, we have no opportunity to commit the sin.

To show that we would've ordained ourselves as judge between wheat and tares, we can use a nonfictional parallel: church leaders proclaimed, contrary to Scripture, that they could save people from eternal damna- tion. One only had to acquiesce to their rituals—water baptism, confes- sions of faith, the "sinner's prayer" and above all, church attendance—and presto, one became right with Christ. Since only God can save any- one, pastors and priests without realizing it usurped His authority. They unknowingly denied the terrible price Christ had to pay to redeem any- one.

From what I've heard, when the wheat questioned such unbiblical prac- tices, church authorities would corrupt Scripture all the more. They would finally ask a persistent "troublemaker" to leave the church.

Church leaders defend their power to save the way we would've upheld our judgment of wheat and tares. We'd all have the same ulterior motive: to appear not only innocent, but important and necessary. As unsaved, we want power and glory for ourselves, not Christ. So God examines the in- tent, not just overt action: ¹²For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asun- der of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4). It remains irrelevant whether or not the opportunity exists for self-glorification. We still have the intent.

All the above leads up to an understanding of Matthew 7:21-23: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The word many in verse 22 excludes those without ecclesiastical or Bib- lical interests. The secularly minded would never have prophesied in thy name or cast out devils or made claims to having done many wonderful works.

So Matthew 7:22 must refer to church members who think incorrectly that they doeth the will of…(the) Father and depend on impotent rituals for salvation. They would declare, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? But nothing we do can determine our eternal destiny; only whether or not God chose to save us: ⁴According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love  (Ephesians 1).

True, we as unsaved can obey God to some extent, showing ourselves as "moral," "obedient" and "God fearing." For example in John 8:7 Christ told the scribes and Pharisees, ⁷ He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her (the woman taken for adultery). ⁹And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last…But with the exception of Nicodemus (John 19:38-39) God had never saved them.

We can now understand Revelation 13:17 as to what happens after the church age: ¹⁷And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. The beast is Satan. When God abandons the churches, declaring the church age as over, Satan begins to rule. Isaiah 55:1 defines the terms, to buy or sell: i.e., to publish the Gospel. ¹Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

The terms—waters, wine, and milk—refer to Scripture. While Isaiah 55:1 sustains salvation by grace alone, it also clarifies Revelation 13:17: that after God abandons the church, only Satan's ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15) can buy or sell in them. Nobody in the congregations pays any attention to the true believers—except to kick them out. On the last day, May 21, 2011 (see February 4), those still in the churches ask, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? But they violated the Gospel they published by remaining in the congregations.

On July 12 we compare several verses that predict the ending of the church age.

THE PRICE FOR SALVATION

As we all know, priests and pastors have always believed they could get members saved through church attendance and rituals like confessions of faith and water baptism. On June 9 we stated that because Christ saved only a selected remnant these ecclesiastical beliefs deny the price He paid to redeem anyone. The statement begs the question: if saving anyone in- volved a price then what did Christ have to pay and when did He pay it? (As to the how He paid it remains unknown, since the Bible doesn't tell us and none of us were there.) 1 Peter 1:19-21 answers both questions as to what and when.

¹⁹But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: ²⁰Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times (i.e. on April 1, 33 A.D.) for you, ²¹Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God (1 Peter 1).

Christ paid for the sins of the elect before the foundation of the world by his execution, after which God raised him up from the dead. As we read in Romans 6: ²³…the wages of sin is death. Therefore in Colossians 1: ¹⁸ ...he (Christ) is…the firstborn from the dead... That Christ could die before the foundation of the world and come to life again remains a mys- tery. We with finite minds cannot understand an infinite God.

The world hell (sheۥ ôl) in the Bible refers to the grave and in Psalms 16: ¹⁰…thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption (see also Acts 2:27). The first part of Psalms 16:10 refers to Christ's death before the foundation of the world, after which thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. The corruption in the second part of Psalms 16:10 refers to Christ's body in the tomb after the cross. The body did not corrupt because Christ had already completed payment for sin before the foundation of the world.

Other verses corroborate that for His own sake Christ died before the foundation of the world. ³For we which have believed do enter into rest…although the works were finished from the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4). ³⁴Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come…inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25). As we show below with Hebrews 1:2, the term from the foundation of the world means before the foundation of the world.

That God raised him up from the dead explains why God can refer to Christ as His only begotten son (in John 1:18, 3:16, 3:18, and 1 John 4:9). Though Christ/God is eternal, Christ had a beginning before the founda- tion of the world; i.e. when God raised him up from the dead. Again we with finite minds cannot understand the apparent contradiction.

In Hebrews 1 we read, ²Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. If God could not refer to Christ as his Son before Christ's resurrection and his Son… made the worlds (in Hebrews 1:2) then the resurrection had to occur before God made the worlds. So the phrase from the foundation of the world in Hebrews 4:3 and Matthew 25:34 would mean before the foundation of the world.

Again looking at 1 Peter 1: ¹⁹But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: ²⁰Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times (i.e. on April 1, 33 A.D.) for you, ²¹Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God (1 Peter 1).

These verses, particularly 1 Peter 1:20, answer a third question: if Christ paid for the sins before the foundation of the world then why did He have to go to the cross more than 11 thousand years later (i.e., on April 1, 33 A.D; see January 10, 12)?

God experienced physical death in 33 A.D. in order to manifest (i.e., re- veal or demonstrate) his prior death in these last times (i.e., on April 1, 33 A.D.) so that ⁶…all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Luke 3). His death created an historic parable demonstrating the penalty Christ paid for the sins of the elect: i.e., the agony of a slow death—the nails driven through His hands and feet etc—and the shame of being executed and hanging naked on public display as those below mocked Him. Though they put Christ's body in the tomb, His soul resided in heaven, since in Luke 23:43 He told the thief on the cross, ⁴³...To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

The cross testified to the world and the principalities and powers in heavenly places (of Ephesians 3:10) God's mercy, justice, long suffering etc. That explains why God created the world in the first place: to reveal His glory (as discussed on June 19). Also 1 Peter 1:21 explains that through the cross the elect's faith (Christ) and hope might be in God.

REVELATION'S TIMELINE AND ITS ENDING CHURCH

By comparing Revelation 20:1-3, Revelation 7:1-3, Revelation 20:7-8, Revelation 13:7-8 and Matthew 24:21, we can see how these verses harmonize in describing the church age and its ending.

In Revelation 20:1-3 Christ binds Satan during the church age and pre- vents him from frustrating God's salvation plan for His elect within the congregations: ¹And I saw an angel (angelos; i.e., messenger: Christ) come down from  heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. ²And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, ³And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Only Christ could have the key of the bottomless pit. (= hell = death) ¹⁷…I am the first and the last: ¹⁸ and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death (Revelation 1).

The thousand years refers to the church age, which lasted from A.D. 33 until 1988. God didn't give the literal number 1955. He didn't want them knowing when the church age would end until afterwards (see supple- ment: March 5).

Numbers in the Bible have parabolic meaning: the 10 as a factor in 1000 = 10³ signifies completeness; the 3 in 1000 = 10³ signifies God's purpose. So to signify His complete purpose for the church age, God uses the fig- urative thousand years for the period Satan remains bound in the bottom- less pit.

Despite Revelation 20:1-3, Satan can still bring tares (see July 7) into the churches. But Revelation 7:1-3 assures us that he cannot stop God from saving His elect: ¹…I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. ²And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, ³Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads; i.e., until the end of the church age. ⁴And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. They become saved within the congregations during the church age.

The factors in 144, 000 = 12² x 10³ signify the full (12) and complete (10) purpose of God (3) for those He saves (2) in the churches.

The four winds of the earth refer to the whole world. We find the same term, four winds, in Matthew 24:31 that can only mean all the earth: ³¹And he shall send his angels…and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds (i.e., from the uttermost parts of the earth), from one end of heaven to the other.

To these four angles …it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, (Reve- lation 7:2) after …we have sealed the servants of our God in their fore- heads (i.e., after we have saved all of the elect during the church age: Revelation 7:3). So it was given to hurt the earth and the sea after the church age.

In Revelation 20:1-3 Christ had bound Satan for a thousand years so he couldn't take over the congregations. But after Christ casts Satan ³…into the bottomless pit, and shut(s) him up…after that he (Satan) must be loosed a little season—so that he can enter into the congregations and rule over them. (Revelation 20:3).

The little season of Revelation 20:3 begins on May 21, 1988 and ends on May 21, 2011, a period of 23 years or 8400 days. The rapture of the elect then occurs. The number 23 always has to do with God's judgment.

Revelation 20:7-8 tells what happens after the church age (the thousand years of Revelation 20:2) and God releases Satan: ⁷…when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, ⁸And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog  (the churches in the whole world), to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

We can't count the number of those remaining in the congregations after the church age; so they are as the sand of the sea.

The release of Satan at the end of the church age to reign in the congre- gations parallels Revelation 13: ⁷And it was given unto him (Satan) to make war with the saints, and to overcome them (i.e., silence them in the congregations): and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. ⁸And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:7-8 parallels the release of Satan in Revelation 20:7-8 at the end of the church age on May 21, 1988. And Revelation 13:8 de- scribes the great tribulation of Matthew 24: ²¹ For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. There exists great tribulation when those in the churches worship him; i. e., Satan (as prophesied in Revelation 13:8).

In conclusion in Revelation 20:1-3 God binds Satan in the bottomless pit for a thousand years, i.e., for the duration of the church age. In Revela- tion 7:1-3 the four angels hold back the four winds of the earth during the church age so that the four winds cannot hurt the earth. So Revelation 20:1-3 parallels Revelation 7:1-3. Revelation 20:7-8 concerns the release of Satan from the bottomless pit to enter the churches as described in Revelation 13:7-8; i.e., for the great tribulation of Matthew 24:21. With- out understanding that at some point the church age must end, none of these verses would harmonize or make any sense.

On July 14 we learn that the Babylon of Revelation refers to the congre- gations.

REVELATION'S PROPHECY: THE FALL OF BABYLON

Revelation 18 prophesizes the fall of Babylon: ²…he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. ³For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. ⁴And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues…

Given such description of Babylon, it sounds like a good idea to come out of her. But we can't very well come out of a city that no longer exists. John wrote the book of Revelation in 90-95 A.D. Besides, that region in ancient Mesopotamia merited no more acclaim for wickedness than any other.

Nowhere does the Bible make such an issue over the fall of any city—not Jericho, Sodom or Gomorrah—as it does over the Babylon of Revelation 18: ²¹And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all…

The sea represents God's wrath. The future tense in shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more doesn't make sense unless we understand that the term, Babylon, doesn't refer to that long-gone city by the Persian Gulf. Babylon of Revelation 18 has to refer to something that took place after 90-95 A.D.

Revelation 18 goes on, ²³And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee…

In Revelation 3:1-7 God tells the church at Ephesus: ⁵…repent…or…I will come…and…remove thy candlestick… To remove the candlestick means for God to absent Himself from that church so that that it becomes just another building and a dead church. Revelation 3:1 proclaims the church in Sardis already dead: ¹I know thy works…and art dead. The candle represents light, and Christ is the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:12). Therefore the light of a candle shall shine no more means God abandons what Revelation 18 refers to as Babylon. So God must abandon what He once resided in; i.e., where the light of a candle…did shine after A.D. 95. Christ resided in the churches; so this Babylon of Revelation 18 must represent congregations.

Revelation 18:23 goes on: …and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride (the true believes) shall be heard no more at all in thee:

Revelation 21:2 defines those he saves as the bride of Christ: ²And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. So the bridegroom is Christ and the bride represents the elect. But the voice of Christ and of the saved shall be heard no more at all in thee. So at one time the voice of Christ (the Bible) and the saved were heard in thee. So again Revelation 18:23 must refer to the churches; i.e., in what Revelation 18 refers to as Babylon.

Revelation 18:23 goes on: …for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

These merchants refer to unsaved church leaders (see July 7 concerning the wheat and tares). In Revelation 13: ¹⁶…he (Satan) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: ¹⁷And that no man (in the churches) might buy or sell (as merchants: see July 9: Isaiah 55:1), save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Revelation 13:16-17 explains how all nations in Revelation 18:23 could be deceived. The purpose of the churches was to publish the Gospel. In Mark 16 Christ drafted His apostles to set up the local congregations and told them to ¹⁵…Go…into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. To preach is to publish. But there comes a time in the churches when no man (in the churches) might buy or sell (as merchants), save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Only the unsaved in the churches publish the Gospel. But all nations in Revelation 18:23 could be deceived only through the publication of false gospels. Revelation 18:23 refers to these false gospels as Sorceries: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Thus Revelation 18:2 makes a big deal out of the fall of the churches and refers to its leaders as devils, foul spirits and hateful birds: ²Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. That Babylon is fallen and is become the habitation of…defines the word, fallen: not as having been abandoned by everybody—just the true believ- ers. Only the unsaved remain in the churches. 

The churches deceived people with false gospels, such as do-it-yourself salvation plans. Throughout the last two thousand years congregants have thought themselves and their children safe and secure through some church—with only God knowing the sad truth.

Babylon's destruction of Jerusalem in B.C. 587 serves as a portrait of Satan's devastation of the churches. Scripture uses the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, to represent Satan.

Revelation 17:5 refers to Babylon as a harlot: ⁵…upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The word MYSTERY (BABYLON) applies because no one realized that Satan had been seeding the congregations with tares (the unsaved; see July 7) that would eventually take over the churches. But we still have to search Scripture to find out why God refers to the churches as a harlot.

The unsaved are married to the law of God, i.e., the whole Bible. So long as one remains unsaved, that law condemns one to death for the trans- gression of any part of that law: ²³For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6) and ¹⁰…whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2). So any sin of someone unsaved is spiritual adultery that condemns one to death.

However one whom God has saved has died to the law through Christ as his substitute; therefore no longer has to answer for his transgressions. Romans 7:4 explains that God's salvation plan terminates one's marriage to the law through death (of Christ): ⁴Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him (Christ) who is raised from the dead…

1 Corinthians 7:39 corroborates that one can't become the bride of Christ unless one becomes dead to the law through the death of Christ. ³⁹The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

Romans 7:3, sustains this relationship: ³So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

In Colossians 3 we read of the saved, that they ³…are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. After the rapture on May 21, 2011, the unsaved left behind seek this death in Christ that brings salvation—except by then it's too late: ⁶And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them (Revelation 9:6).

A harlot gives herself to anybody for a price. The HARLOTS of Revela- tion 17:5, while unsaved and married to God's law, preached false gos- pels, therefore committed spiritual adultery by forsaking Scripture.

Nahum 3 concerns these HARLOTS: ⁴Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witch- crafts. ⁵Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy naked-ness, and the kingdoms thy shame. ⁶And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile…

God does shew the nations thy nakedness: For the last few decades Bible students have become aware of the ecclesiastical corruption of Scripture.

Revelation 17:1 defines the churches as sitting upon many waters: ¹…I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore (the churches) that sitteth (rules) upon many waters: Revelation 17:15 defines the many wa- ters ¹⁵…The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. To sit means to rule. So the whore is the churches that rule over people throughout the world.

In Revelation 17: ³…a woman (representing the churches) sit(s) upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. In Revelation 20 Christ ³…cast him (Satan) into the bot- tomless pit (see July 12). Through Revelation 20:3, Revelation 17:8 de- fines the scarlet coloured beast in Revelation 17:3 as Satan: ⁸The beast that…shall ascend out of the bottomless pit. So the churches sit upon a scarlet coloured beast in that Satan deludes them into thinking they rule over him. Actually Revelation 17:3 has Satan taking the churches for a ride into false gospels (i.e., names of blasphemy). To claim power to save someone, something only God can do, is to commit blasphemy.

Revelation 17:16 assures us that Satan will destroy the relationship be- tween God and the churches: ¹⁶And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

That all the churches became dead shouldn't surprise us. Eventually all seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 in Asia Minor (Turkey) became dead. History repeats itself: these seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 represent all of them throughout time. So after 1988 God commands His elect in Revelation 18 to ⁴Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues… According to Scripture, those who don't follow instructions face death and the loss of eternal life.

On July 16 we see how Scripture's parabolic language predicts that at the end of the church age the elect will abandon the congregations.

AS THE CONGREGATIONS SINK, THE ELECT SWIM AWAY

We saw in Revelation 20:1-3 that Christ had bound Satan (see June 28) to keep him from frustrating God's salvation program within the congrega- tions. Genesis 3:15 predicts his defeat: ¹⁵And I will put enmity between thee (Satan) and the woman (the elect), and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. In Revelation 13 Satan's head wound becomes healed for the final great tribulation: ³And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

In the language of Daniel 8 the ⁸...great horn (the strength of Satan) was broken (for the duration of the church age); and for it came up four nota- ble ones toward the four winds of heaven.

The four winds of heaven directed us to Revelation 7:1-3 (see June 28), where four angles are ¹…holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

Revelation 20:3 gave a figurative number of a thousand years as the duration of the church age (see July 12). Afterwards Revelation 20:3 proclaims that Satan must be loosed a little season. That loosening parallels 2 Thessalonians 2: ⁷ ...he (God) who now letteth (katechō: restrains Satan) will be taken out of the way (i.e., out of the midst, at the end of the church age; (see June 30). Satan then enters the congregations (see July 7).

With God no longer in the congregations 2 Thessalonians 2 warns of Satan's entrance to fill the power vacuum: ³Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴Who op- poseth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is wor- shipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. To sitteth in the temple of God means to rule in the con- gregations. When Satan rules in the churches Christ and all the elect no longer reside there: ²³And the light of a candle (Christ) shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom (Christ) and of the bride (the elect) shall be heard no more at all in thee: (Revelation 18).

We have similar language in Daniel 8:9. As we show later on, the little horn of Daniel 8 is Satan. ⁹And out of one of them came forth a little horn (little means inconspicuous. Those in the congregations remain unaware of Satan's presence; or of the tares; see July 7) which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land (i.e., in the churches). ²³And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance (Satan), and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. ²⁴And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power (Satan is loosed only because God allows it for the little season of Revelation 20:3) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people (remaining in the churches). 

Ancient Israel would sacrifice a lamb or goat to point to Christ as the sac- rificial lamb on the cross. Daniel 8:1-8 uses a he goat to represent Satan (see June 16), who comes as a counterfeit sacrifice. Because Christ is the sacrifice for sin and the light of the world, 2 Corinthians 11 calls Satan an angle of light. ¹⁴And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. ¹⁵Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers (in the con- gregations) also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; Mat- thew 24 also warns of these ministers of righteousness: ¹¹…many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

We've shown that ships in the Bible represent churches (see June 30). Since the great tribulation leaves the sinking congregations in its wake, Acts 27:14-41 should grab our attention because Paul (a.k.a. Saul) writes about the destruction of a ship. ¹⁴…there arose against it (the ship) a tempestuous wind… Despite all attempts to save their vessel ⁴¹ …they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast…but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.

No matter how hard congregants may have tried to keep their church afloat, they had no chance—not with Christ and all the elect having jumped ship.

Before running aground, Acts 27:35, they take bread (Christ) to eat. That they had eaten portrays them as having been saved: ³⁵And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: (John 6) Then ³⁸…when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea. The wheat refers to those whom God saves (see July 7, concerning the wheat and tares), with the bread of life. Those whom God saves obey His com- mandments (1 John 5:1-3). God commands His elect to come out of the churches for the great tribulation period (Revelation 18:4; see July 14). That those on the ship cast the wheat into the sea portrays those whom God saved; they either abandon the churches or get themselves kicked out.

In Acts 27: ⁴³ …the centurion… commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: ⁴⁴And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.

That they escaped all safe to land shouldn't surprise us. We've already determined that they represent saved individuals. The boards that men used to get to shore in Acts 27:44 remind us of the cross where the elect escape spiritual death through Christ and His crucifixion.

In order to survive they had to abandon ship. As we read in Jeremiah 21, God commands Jeremiah to declare to the Israelites, ⁸…Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. ⁹He that abideth in this city (Jerusalem: the churches) shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans (in Babylon: the world) that besiege you, he shall live… This commandment applies to the churches.

God gives the same command in Matthew 24, but not to those in Jeru- salem 2574 years ago. The book of Matthew was written some 650 years later. This command in Matthew refers to us in the congregations that Jerusalem represents: ¹⁵When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation (Satan), spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) ¹⁶Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains (Christ).

On July 19 and 21 we show that back in A.D. 33 Christ in Matthew 24 prophesized the fall of the churches to his apostles: ²…Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things (the buildings of the temple)? ...There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 1 Corinthians 3:12 defines the stone as the elect (see June 30). ¹²Now if any man build upon this foundation (i.e., Christ) gold, silver, precious stones (the elect), wood, hay, stubble (the non elect). Some people think Matthew 24:2 refers to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. On July 19 we disprove the notion.

BIBLICAL TIMELINE FOR CHURCHES VS JERUSALEM IN 70 A.D.

In this post we look at the following three verses:
  ¹…Jesus went out…from the temple: and his disciples came…to shew him the buildings of the temple. ²And Jesus said…See ye not all these things? …There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Matthew 24).
¹ …as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith…Master, see what manner of stones and …buildings are here! ²…Jesus answering said…Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Mark 13).
⁵And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, ⁶As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Luke 21).

Some people think these verses predict what happened in A.D. 70: the Roman destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. But Presupposition 5 and its corollary discourage that reasoning: The Bible is written in parables—a conclusion we set down as a principle of interpretation. Corollary 5a: We must look for the spiritual meaning (Corollary 4a) within the parabolic language (see June 14).

On June 25 we looked at the parable of the vineyard. We then deter- mined that at the cross …the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom (Matthew 27:51). That event signified that Christ no longer used the nation of Israel as the external representation of His eter- nal kingdom. That's why we read in Matthew 21 that God ⁴¹…will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, (church leaders) which shall render him the fruits (those saved) in their seasons (i.e., during the church age).

Matthew 21:41 means that in God's sight the churches represented God's kingdom and the Jewish temple became just another building. So we wouldn't expect Christ to consider the temple's destruction in A.D. 70 as significant, especially not enough to prophesy the event three times. Where's the spiritual meaning in that? Lots of buildings were destroyed after 33 A.D. So Presupposition 5 and its corollary discourages any inter- pretation of Matthew 24:1-2, Mark 13:1-2 and Luke 21:5-6 as the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Matthew 24:2 and Mark 13:2 refer to the plural: these things and great buildings respectively. We can show in Galatians 3 that God uses care regarding the singular and plural: ¹⁶Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

The physical buildings and things in Matthew 24:2 and Mark 13:2 would have to include its foundations and the Western Wall. And anyone can see that it still stands in Jerusalem by going to such sites as this one.¹ In fact they renew the picture every 20 minutes. We read on this website that,

The Western Wall is a surviving remnant of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which was destroyed by Titus in 68 C.E.
During the almost 2,000 years of the Jewish exile and dispersion from Israel, many wars have been fought over Jerusalem. All told, the city has been destroyed and rebuilt no less than 9 times - with each conqueror further attempting to obscure the glorious Jewish past.
But through the centuries, one symbol has miraculously remained intact: the Western Wall. It represents the indestructibility of the Jewish People.

That wall hardly confirms the prophesy of Matthew 24:1-2, Mark 13:1-2 and Luke 21:5-6, that there shall not be left…one stone…that shall not be thrown down.

When anyone thinks Mark 13:1-2 refers to the Roman destruction of the temple, they veer off tangentially ever farther from the circle of Biblical truth. For example they project that same timeframe onto Mark 13:9, thinking it refers to persecution by the Jews prior to A.D. 70: (…take heed…they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them).

The faulty assumption that synagogues refers to Jewish temples reinforces the idea that Mark 13:9 could occur only before 70 A.D. After all, they couldn't very well beat anyone there after it no longer existed. However the transliteration for synagogue is sunagogee. In the secular sense the word means, assembly. The transliteration for the physical temple spe-cifically is not sunagogee but hieron or naos. The Jews used the word sunagogee to mean their temple and congregations in the same way we use the word "house" to mean either body of the U.S. legislature. In Mark 13:9 Christ uses the word in the secular sense to include not only the physical temple but the congregations during the church age and eccle- siastical assemblies during the great tribulation that follows.

We show that Mark 13:9 (…take heed…they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them) does not include what happened only between 33 and 70 A.D. Therefore Mark 13:9 does not imply Mark 13:1-2 refers to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

Of course Mark 13:9 doesn't exclude the persecution going on in A.D. 33-70. First and foremost we have Christ, then Peter (John 21:18, 19), James (Acts 12:1), Paul (2 Corinthians 11:24, 25), Stephen (Acts 7:59, 60) and those Paul persecuted prior to his conversion (Acts 22:19, 20). We have Acts 11:19 and Acts 8:1 telling of a great persecution against the church. But after A.D. 70 we have more people, therefore more persecution; e.g., the Reformation when they burnt thousands at the stake. And during the O.T. we read ⁵⁰That the blood of all the prophets…shed from the foundation of the world… ⁵¹From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias (Luke 11).

Mark 13:9 also includes those during the third great tribulation after the church age. Revelation 11:7 concerns that period: ⁷…when they (those whom God has saved) shall have finished their testimony (in the congre- gations), the beast (Satan) shall make war against them (the saints)… overcome them, and kill them… (i.e., they will silence them by putting them out of the churches as prophesized in John 16: ²They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh (after the church age), that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

 In Matthew 10 Christ told His apostles: ¹⁶ …I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves… ¹⁷ …beware of men: …they will deliver you…to the councils…and…will scourge you…¹⁸…ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them…¹⁹… ²⁰ For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. ²¹…the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise…against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.²²…ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake… ²³But when they persecute you in this city, flee... Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel (i.e., the world)…till the Son of man be come.

 Matthew 10:23 confirms that they will not have finished publishing Scripture and suffering persecution when Christ returns. Mark 13:9 has the same language as Matthew 10: ¹⁷…they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. Matthew 10:17 is the same language as, ⁹…they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten (in Mark 13:9). In Matthew 10: ¹⁸ …ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles, is the same language as, ⁹…ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them (in Mark 13:9).

Therefore we have the same language in Matthew 10:16-22 as in Mark 13:9. Since Matthew 10:23 confirms that they will not have finished publishing Scripture and suffering persecution when Christ returns, Mark 13:9 most likely also includes everything up to the last day, not just prior to A.D. 70.

We conclude that Mark 13:9 (…take heed…they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them) includes everything after the cross. So we have no reason to think Mark 13:2 (…there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down,) refers only to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. To determine what Mark 13:2 actually means, we have to do a thematic analysis of the whole chapter. We've already done some of the work by looking at Mark 13:9. We complete the rest on Monday, July 21.

^1. http://www.aish.com/wallcam/Window_on_the_Wall.asp

THE ELECT OUTSIDE CHURCHES; INSIDE CHRIST

In this post we show how Mark 13:1-2 sustains what we've been develop- ing since July 12: that at some point the church age comes to an end.

¹ …as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith…Master, see what manner of stones and…buildings are here! ²…Jesus answering said…Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Mark 13:1-2).

The Bible is a spiritual book in parabolic language; so we must look for the spiritual meaning of not one stone…that shall not be thrown down. First we consider the chapter's theme and show how it concerns our day. That would imply Mark 13:1-2 could refer to the end of the church age. We then show that the stone and great buildings in Mark 13:2 represent God's elect. But the stones and buildings of Mark 13:1 refer to today's churches. With no stone upon another in Mark 13:2, none of the elect would remain within today's congregations (of Mark 13:1). Such absence would imply an end to the church age, which is what we want to show.

Mark 13:3-4 suggests the chapter's beginning as prophetic: ³…Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him (Christ) privately, ⁴Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

Christ predicts that ⁶…many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. But when do many come to impersonate Christ and deceive many?

Church leaders go through the charade of saving people, either through water baptism or some other ritual. But if only God can save anybody, then these priests and pastors come in my (Christ's) name, saying, at least indirectly, I am Christ. If these church leaders send congregants back home thinking they've been saved, then these churchmen shall (have) deceive(d) many. So Mark 13:6 would relate to the church age and afterwards. Therefore Mark 13:6 would concern our day.

Mark 13:7-8 speaks of ⁷…wars and rumours of wars, and that ⁸…nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles… Mark 13:7-8 relates either to all of history and/or the controversy over the ending of the church age, therefore could pertain to our day.

We've already looked at Mark 13:9 (see July 19) and shown that the verse includes A.D. 33 to 2011. ⁹But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testi- mony against them. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

While Mark 13:9 prophesizes much controversy over Scripture, Mark 13:10 predicts that just about everybody will hear about it. Thanks to the church, printing press, radio, and internet, the prophecies of Mark 13:9-10 have been fulfilled. No book except the Bible has remained so contro- versial for so long. Mark 13:9-10 certainly relates to our day.

If we can show that the rest of Mark 13 concerns today, then we'd expect our two verses in question, Mark 13:1-2, to also relate to the present, and therefore the end of the church age itself.

¹⁴But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation (Satan)…standing where it ought not (in the churches)…then let them that be in Judaea (the churches) flee to the mountains (Christ, outside of the churches). ^15…19…in those days (after the church age) shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of…creation… ²⁰… ²¹…if any man…say…Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: ²² For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect (within the churches—except such seduc- tion of the elect isn't possible if God drives them out of the congrega- tions). ²³… ²⁴But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun (Christ) shall be darkened (i.e., there exists no more possibility of salvation), and the moon shall not give her light (i.e., no more Gospel), ²⁵… ²⁶And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷… ²⁸Now learn a parable of the fig tree (national Israel); When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves (in 1948), ye know that summer (the final great tribulation and end) is near: ^29…35Watch ye…for ye know not when the master…cometh…³⁶… ³⁷And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch (the Bible, particularly its timeline near the end).

Mark 13:28 speaks of Israel (the fig tree; see February 11) becoming a nation again in 1948; Israel is at least one sign that the apostles asked for in Mark 13:4: ⁴Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? The year 1948 clues us in to the end times, leaving only forty years left for the churches (see February 2). Mark 13:14-23 concerns the great tribulation, beginning on May 21, 1988. Mark 13:24-27 concerns judgment day, beginning May 21, 2011 (see February 4). We conclude that the theme of Mark 13 concerns end times in our day.

So we expect Mark 13:2 to relate to the present: ¹ …as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith…Master, see what manner of stones and …buildings are here!… ²…Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

While we find no spiritual meaning in Jerusalem's destruction in A.D. 70, Biblical consequences do exist for the end of the church age. After all, for 1955 years God utilized the congregations to save His elect. His aban- donment of that institution in 1988 certainly defines a spiritually signifi- cant event. If Mark 13:1-2 concerns our day like all the other verses, it most likely refers to the fall of the churches. Of course the church buildings of Mark 13:1 still remain, but not the stones of Mark 13:2. 

The disciples in Mark 13:1 spoke of the temple (in Jerusalem) that represents today's churches. But Christ in John 2: ²¹…spake of the temple of his body, which represents the great buildings of Mark 13:2. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul asks, ¹⁶ Know ye not that ye are the temple of God… By comparing John 2:21 and 1 Corinthians 3:16, we can define those whom God has saved as the body or temple of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:27 sustains our conclusion: ²⁷Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular; also Ephesians 4: ¹²For the perfecting of the saints…for the edifying of the body of Christ. And in 1 Corinthians 3: ⁹For we are labourers together with God…ye are God's building.

Ephesians 2 refers to this building: ²⁰And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; ²¹ In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: ²²In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

1 Peter 2:5 defines the stone in Mark 13:2: ⁵Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house… Also 1 Corinthians 3:12 defines the elect as the stone of Mark 13:2: ¹²Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; The gold, silver, pre- cious stones are those whom God has saved. The wood, hay, stubble are those not saved. We conclude that the stone in Mark 13:2 represents those whom God has saved; they become—not the buildings of Mark 13:1; i.e., part of any local church—but God's eternal church, the build- ings of Mark 13:2 and the holy temple of Ephesians 2:21.

If the stones are the elect and if ²…there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down, then there can't exist any saved individuals in the buildings of Mark 13:1.

The buildings of Mark 13:1 can't be those of Mark 13:2 or the holy temple of Ephesians 2:21; i.e., the body of Christ (in 1 Corinthians 12:27) or the temple of His body (in John 2:21). Romans 8 assures us of that: ³⁸…neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ³⁹Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us (the elect) from the love of God… So while the buildings of Mark 13:2 remain intact forever, those of Mark 13:1 have no stone that shall not be thrown down.

The physical buildings in Mark 13:1 that have …not…one stone…that shall not be thrown down must contain, if anything, something other than the elect. We have only the saved, the unsaved, and nothing in between. So these buildings, whatever they are, include—if anything—only un-saved people; moreover God doesn't save anyone in there, wherever "there" is. We know these buildings can't represent the whole world be- cause God will continue to save people until May 21, 2011, the day of the rapture. So by elimination only the church buildings remain. That not one saved individual remains within the churches (of Mark 13:1) defines the phrase, not…one stone…that shall not be thrown down (in Mark 13:2). So Mark 13:1-2, as well as Matthew 24:1-2 and Luke 21:5-6, predict the time when all the elect must abandon the congregations. These verses sustain an end of the church age, which is what we want to show.

On July 23 we look at Satan's role in the congregations.

GOD’S ROLE FOR SATAN IN THE CHURCHES

To understand Satan's role in the churches we can begin in Genesis 3: ¹⁵ …I will put enmity between thee (Satan) and the woman (the elect), and between thy seed (the non elect) and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his (Christ's) heel. However this head wound is not permanent; in Revelation 13: ³…I saw one of his (Satan's) heads…wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed

Genesis 3:15 predicts that after eleven thousand years Satan couldn't frustrate God's salvation plan for the congregations—at least not for the next figurative thousand years of Revelation 20:3. As proof of Satan's temporary defeat, God saves three thousand souls on the first Pentecostal Sunday of the church age in 33 A.D. (Acts 2:41). Before then very few became saved, even after listening to Christ Himself and witnessing His miracles in Judah and around the Sea of Galilee.

We get more information about this wounding and healing of Satan in Revelation 20, when Christ ³…cast him (Satan) into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the na- tions no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

That Satan is loosed a little season (after the thousand years of the church age) accounts for how …his deadly wound was healed…(in Revelation 13:3). But 2 Thessalonians 2:7 predicts that during the church age, Christ would prohibit Satan from frustrating God's salvation plan for the elect—but only for a limited time: ⁷For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he (God) who now letteth (kat-ekh'-o, meaning hold fast or, better yet, restrain; i.e., restrain Satan) will let (will continue to restrain Satan), until he (God) be taken out of the way (mes'-os; midst; i.e., out of the congregations). So during the church age, God remains in the churches to restrain Satan and save His elect.

The churches succeeded in getting the Bible out into the world—even when they burnt people at the stake for owning one. In that sense they were successful. After the church age (the thousand years of Revelation 20:3) God departs out of the congregations for the period of great tribula- tion. That's when Satan's …deadly wound was healed (Revelation 13:3) and he was loosed a little season (Revelation 20:3). Satan doesn't escape from the bottomless pit of Revelation 20:3 by his own power and for no reason. Christ releases him for a purpose. So we need to know what God has Satan do during that little season after the church age.

With God no longer in the congregations 2 Thessalonians 2 warns us that Satan can now enter them to fill this power vacuum: ³Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a fal- ling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. To sitteth in the temple of God means to rule in the churches.

We have similar language in Daniel 8:9. As we show later on, the little horn of Daniel 8 is Satan. ⁹And out of one of them came forth a little horn (little, miṣṣe îrâ, means inconspicuous; no one becomes aware of Satan's presence) which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east (The east points to the sun that represents God), and toward the pleasant land (i.e., the churches). ^10…23And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full (during the great tribulation), a king of fierce countenance (Satan), and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up (to rule in the churches). ²⁴And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power (Satan is loosed for the little season of Revelation 20:3 only by God's permission.) and he shall destroy won- derfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people (in the churches).

Daniel 8:24 in part answers our question as to God's intentions for Satan: to enter the churches and …destroy the mighty and the holy people. Sa- tan destroys them with false gospels. Matthew 24 predicts that ¹¹…many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

Ancient Israel would sacrifice a lamb or goat to point to Christ as the sacrificial lamb on the cross. In Daniel 8:9-13 Satan enters the churches as a goat (see June 16), i.e., as a counterfeit sacrifice (Christ). Christ is the light of the world (John 8:12). Because Satan comes as a goat, 2 Cor- inthians 11 calls Satan an angle of light ¹⁴And no marvel; for Satan him-self is transformed into an angel of light. ¹⁵Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers (in the churches) also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness.

We now need to know what God does about Satan during the great tribu- lation. Remember that Christ had released Satan to enter the churches and destroy the congregants. ⁹ Even him , whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, ¹⁰And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: ¹²That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

So those remaining in the churches don't get rescued from Satan. Instead God helps Satan destroy them: God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: What lie? The lie compared with lying wonders (in 2 Thessalonians 2:9). We find the word for wonder(s) (teras) in Mat- thew 24:24, which concerns those in the churches after the church age: ²⁴For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall de- ceive the very elect. We find the same warning in Mark 13: ²² For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

The lying wonders in the congregations include rituals—water baptism, confessions, and whatever else that leads people to think they've become saved. Also signs and wonders include such inanities as "miraculous healings," speaking in tongues, and falling over backwards.

Thessalonians 2:10 insists that those who have …received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, have no hope whatsoever. God not only leaves them to suffer damnation, but shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie (i.e., whatever charismatic doctrine of that particular church).

Now we look at what happens to the elect after Satan enters the congre-gations. In Revelation 13: ⁷…it was given unto him (Satan) to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds… tongues, and nations.

Revelation 11:7 predicts that Satan will kill the elect by silencing them in the congregations and helping God drive them out: ⁷… when they (those God had saved) shall have finished their testimony (i.e., at the end of the church age), the beast (Satan) that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit (of Revelation 20:1-3) shall make war against them and shall overcome them, and kill them (i.e., put them out of the churches, as prophesized in John 16: ²They shall put you out of the synagogues …the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think…he doeth God service). In the language of Daniel 8: ¹⁰...it (Satan) waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

We conclude that God's role for Satan is to drive the elect out of the churches and destroy those remaining. On July 26 we look at Scripture's prophecy of Satan in the churches.

EGYPTIAN AND CONGREGATIONAL BONDAGE

On July 7 we saw that Matthew 13:24-43 predicts Satan will seed the congregations with tares, false apostles , deceitful workers, and ministers of righteousness. Also on July 2 we looked at 2 Corinthians 11:13, which warns of active, unsaved pastors in the congregations: ¹³For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apos- tles of Christ. These false apostles and deceitful workers refer to unsaved elders, pastors and deacons that have infiltrated the churches since 33 A.D.

On June 30, July 7, 16, and 23 we saw that 2 Corinthians 11 warns that Satan will rule in the congregations: ¹⁴ And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. ¹⁵ Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers (church authorities) also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Revelation 13:17 predicts that after the church age only false apostles and deceitful workers alone will preach in the congregations. ¹⁷And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. To buy or sell means to publish the Gospel within the congregations (Isaiah 55:1; see July 2, 9). The true be- lievers no longer reside there.

On July 12, 14 and February 2 we learned that in 1988 we should've left the churches so as not to worship Satan. Hebrews 10:26 warns against remaining: ²⁶For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowl- edge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.

Ezekiel 34 also predicts that the shepherds (false apostles and deceitful workers) will rule in Israel, (the churches): ¹And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ²Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? ³Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. ⁴The diseased (the unsaved) have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick (the unsaved), neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty (perek) have ye ruled them. To kill them (verse 3) refers to spiri- tual death via false gospels. During the great tribulation they kill them by keeping them in the congregations.

In Ezekiel 34:4 the shepherds ruled over the congregants with force and …cruelty. The word for cruelty is perek. Exodus 2:13-14 translates the word perek as rigour: ¹³And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour (perek): ¹⁴And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour (perek).

While the church authorities used force and…cruelty (perek) in Ezekiel 34:4, the Egyptians made the Israelites serve with rigour (perek) in Exo- dus 2:13-14.

Exodus 2:13-14 refers to the 400 years Egypt enslaved the Israelites just prior to 1447 B.C. God rescued the Jews from this bondage as a tableau of Christ saving his elect from the captivity of Satan (see June 21, 23). ¹⁵And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand… (Daniel 9). Egypt enslaved the Isra- elites as a true allegory of Satan enslaving the unsaved in the churches during the great tribulation.

The question now begs itself: How do church authorities rule over the congregants with the force and…cruelty (perek) of Ezekiel 34:4? How do congregants serve pastors with the rigour (perek) of Exodus 2:13-14? With useless do-it-yourself salvation plans: church authorities insist we get saved through water baptism, confessions of faith, penance, the sin- ner's prayer, church attendance etc.

But all those activities are works and no work gets anyone saved (see August 7). ⁴Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. ⁵But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness (Romans 4). ¹¹(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) (Romans 9). Thus through useless works congregants serve their priests and pastors with the rigour (perek) of Exo- dus 2:13-14 and under the force and…cruelty (perek) of Ezekiel 34:4.

There's more than one way to enslave a people with force and…cruelty. Israelites suffered under forced labor: they either worked their butts off or got whipped. The Puritans made church compulsory and until 1647 one couldn't vote without a membership. But today priests and pastors don't have that power and have to exercise greater subtly. With as much force and…cruelty as the Egyptians and Puritans, contemporary religion can manipulate people into thinking they must do something contrary to Scripture—such as remaining in the churches after 1988.

We have the stick—eternal suffering in a place called hell—and the car- rot—eternal bliss in a place called heaven. Consequently some people feel that leaving their congregation will disqualify them in the afterlife; or at least God will give them a lower grade on their report card. Others may feel good by going to church, thinking their attendance scores points with God and makes them better people. In that case they've been manipulated with more finesse than those who only go through the motions. While the former thrive in church, the latter conform so as to keep God from frown- ing down on them. In any case whether they feel good about attending services or not, they've been enslaved as effectively as the Israelites and Puritans. Of course church authorities remain as victimized, maybe even more so, as the lowly members in the pews.

The tragic irony lies in the fact that as of 1988 God has told us to aban- don the congregations (see July 12, 14 and February 2). And to think these priests and pastors have congregants chasing their tails on the pre- text of attaining salvation. In that sense, like the Jews in Egypt, congre- gants remain enslaved under the rigour of Exodus 2:13-14. Only God could drive the Hebrews out of Goshen; similarly only God can drive His elect out of the churches.

THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION

On July 21 we looked at the theme of Mark 13. The whole chapter dealt with end times, including the end of the church age: when ²…there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. We also looked at the prophecy in Mark 13:10: that the Bible would first go into the whole world: ¹⁰And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

The book of Matthew 24 parallels Mark 13; i.e., Matthew 24 concerns the same end time events. Matthew 24:4-14 repeats that of Mark 13:5-9 and covers the events up to the end of everything. Matthew 24:14 adds to Mark 13:10 with the assurance that the Gospel will go into the whole world until the very end: ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Matthew 24:15 now backtracks to the end of the church age. ¹⁵When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand:) ¹⁶Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains.

We find the same verse in Mark 13: ¹⁴But when ye shall see the abom- ination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Ju- daea flee to the mountains:

Comparing Matthew 24:15-16 with Mark 13:14 implies the abomination of desolation…stand(ing) in the holy place = the abomination of desola- tion…standing where it ought not.

Though at some point God's elect would expect to see the abomination of desolation…in the holy place, they don't actually see anything with their physical eyes. God gives them the "eyes" at the appropriate time to un- derstand they must flee to the mountains—not literal mountains but to Christ. In Scripture mountains represent a kingdom—in this case the kingdom of God.

On July 23 we saw that at some point Satan in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 entered the churches to rule within them: ³Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴Who op- poseth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is wor- shipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Therefore we suspect that the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15 is Satan in the churches. On August 4 we show with complete certainty that the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15-16 and Mark 13:14 indeed is Satan; that the holy place and Judaea are the churches and that the mountains represent Christ.

Using the abomination of desolation = Satan as a working assumption, Matthew 24:15-16 and Mark 13:14 command those in the church to leave (i.e., flee into the mountains) once they see Satan ruling there: ¹⁶Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: ¹⁷Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: ¹⁸let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

To stand on the housetop is to proclaim the Gospel. So during this period Scripture instructs anyone proclaiming the Gospel to continue on. Anyone outside the churches, in the field (= the world; see Matthew 13:38), should return back (to Christ, but only outside the churches) to take his clothes i.e., Christ's covering for sin.

Matthew 24:19-20 express woe for those who do not flee the churches: ¹⁹And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days (and remain in the churches with their children)! Matthew 24:21 gives an apparent reason for this woe: ²¹For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

So at the end of the church age we have the abomination of desolation…in the holy place (of Matthew 24:15) and we have great tribulation (of Matthew 24:21).

Matthew 24:20 gives us a little more information on the period of great tribulation: ²⁰But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day.

In winter God no longer saves anyone. Summer, as opposed to winter, is the time of salvation and harvest of the elect, as we saw in the parable of the wheat and tares (see July 7). In Matthew 13: ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. Winter follows summer, when God saves no one. In Jeremiah 8: ²⁰The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

Leviticus 26:34 explains how to interpret the phrase, neither on the sab- bath day in Matthew 24: ²⁰But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day. In Leviticus 26: ³⁴Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her Sabbaths.

Leviticus 26:34 refers to the second great tribulation in B.C. 587 and to the third great tribulation of our day. (Leviticus 26:34 actually refers to all three great tribulations.) From B.C. 587 to 539 Judah lieth desolate because God had ordered the Jews to emigrate to Babylon and no longer dwelt with those in Jerusalem. After the church age the congregations lieth desolate because Christ, the true believers, and the true Word of God have left. The Sabbath has to do with resting from any work. The congregations enjoy her sabbaths because God no longer does any work there to save anyone.

To find out more about the abomination of desolation Matthew 24:15 directs us to the book of Daniel: ¹⁵When ye…see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet…So on July 28 we go to Daniel.

THE TRANSGRESSION OF DESOLATION IN DANIEL 8

Matthew 24 concerns the end times, as does Mark 13 (see July 21 and July 26). In Matthew 24:1 the disciples dwell on the mundane: they …came to…shew him (Christ) the buildings of the temple. But Jesus cares only for the spiritual welfare of His elect, not the preservation of any building. He predicts in Matthew 24:2 that the institution authenti- cated on Pentecost will eventually crumple under apostasy. ²…There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. The verse pertains to us today rather than those living two thou- sand years ago. Back then they didn't need to worry about the end of the church age.

The apostles understood that Christ spoke in parables and in Matthew 24:3 they ask Him three questions: ³…when shall these things be? …what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Matthew 24:4-14 responds to the disciples' third question regarding the end of the world. In Matthew 24: ⁶…all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. In Matthew 24: ¹³…he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (i.e., receive his spiritual body at the Rap- ture; see 1 Corinthians 15:44, 52). Matthew 24:14 also relates to the end of everything: ¹⁴…this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

The second question in Matthew 24:3 is …what shall be the sign of thy coming. Matthew 24:15-31 covers the question and answers it partly in verse 30: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn…

Matthew 24:15 concerns the end of the church age and predicts the abomination of desolation, which might be another sign: ¹⁵When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) ¹⁶Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

The holy place, therefore Judaea, must mean the churches. So Matthew 24:15 reveals the abomination of desolation in the churches as another sign the disciples asked for in Matthew 24:3. (…what shall be the sign of thy coming.) Satan is the abomination of desolation, not Christ (see July 26); but after abandoning the congregations as the savior, Christ comes on the churches as the judge, i.e., the executioner. See July 23 and 2 Thessalonians 2, where God executes the congregants: ¹¹…God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie ¹²That they all might be damned…

For more information on the term, the abomination of desolation, Mat- thew 24:15 instructs us to go to the book of Daniel in the O.T.

The Hebrew words for desolation(s) (shāmēm) occur 3 times in Daniel: Daniel 8:13, 9:18, 26. But only Daniel 8:13 has the phrase transgression of desolation that refers to the abomination of desolation in Mark 13:14 and Matthew 24:15. So we want to go to Daniel 8:13. To pick up the con- tent we begin with Daniel 8:9. (For an analysis of Daniel 8:1-8, see June 16.) 

⁹And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land…¹¹Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. ¹²And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered. ¹³Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vi- sion concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

The south and east and pleasant land in Daniel 8:9 point to God. The prince of the host in Daniel 8:11 is Christ.

In Daniel 8:11: …by him the daily sacrifice was taken away… We find the same language in Daniel 11: ³¹…and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And we find similar language in Daniel 12: ¹¹And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days (Daniel 12:11).

The word sacrifice in Daniel 8:11-13, 11:31, and 12:11 is italicized. That means it isn't in the original Hebrew. The translators stuck it in for their own reasons; but we can't assume it belongs there (Corollary 3b: We can trust no one regarding interpretation—only Scripture itself; see June 11). Therefore before we can figure out what the daily refers to, we have to check out this word sacrifice.

We find the term daily sacrifice only five times in the O.T., as listed above. For the latest news on sacrifices, we go to the N.T. A glance in the Young's Analytical Concordance shows that Hebrews 10 uses the word, sacrifice(s) most frequently (6 times), so we look there first. In Hebrews 10:5-10:

⁵Wherefore when he (Christ) cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: ⁶In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure… ⁸Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; ⁹… He taketh away the first, (sacrifice) that he may establish the second.¹⁰By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Ancient Israel's sacrifice of animals turned the tabernacle and temple into a slaughterhouse. These sacrifices pointed to Christ, the lamb of God (John 1:29, 36) as the ultimate payment for sin. The cross nullified animal sacrifices; what they as signs pointed to had been completed through Christ. Colossians 2 confirms the fact: ¹⁶ Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: ¹⁷ Which are a shadow (or sign) of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Therefore in Hebrews 10: ⁹… He (Christ) taketh away the first (sacrifice). We find confirmation in Daniel 9:27 that Christ ends any further need for animal sacrifices: Christ ²⁷…shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease…

Now going back to Daniel 8: ¹¹…by him (i.e., the little horn of Daniel 8:9-13) the daily sacrifice was taken away. Therefore Daniel 8:11 has the little horn taking away the sacrifice. Since we have both Christ and the little horn taking away the sacrifice, we might define the little horn as Christ. But as the book of Psalms testify, no matter how much we stretch and twist the meaning of the word, we'll never find anything little (miṣṣe îrâ: used only once) about infinite God. Furthermore the little horn (of Daniel 8:9-13) as Christ won't square with the notion that Christ would ¹²…cast down the truth to the ground… such that ¹³ …the sanctuary and the host...be trodden under foot.

So the little horn can't be Christ. We now have two different entities ending the need for sacrifices: one at the cross, another at the end of the church age. But only Christ could make the necessary sacrifice for sin; moreover He did it once and for all with no further need for anyone doing it again (Hebrews 10:9-10; Daniel 9:27). So we have a contradiction that violates Presupposition 1—unless we reject the word, sacrifice, in Daniel 8:11-13, 11:31, 12:11. The translators goofed up; it doesn't belong there. So the word, daily (in Daniel 8:9-13), now a noun rather than an adjec- tive, refers to something else. On July 30 we determine how Scripture defines it.

THE LITTLE HORN AND DAILY OF DANIEL 8

On July 28 we looked at Daniel 8:9-13 and determined that the word sac- rifice, as in daily sacrifice, doesn't belong there. That insight allows us to consider the daily as a noun in our search for its definition.

⁹And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land…¹¹Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. ¹²And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered. ¹³Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vi- sion concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

From the Young's Analytical Concordance we find the Hebrew word for daily, tāmîd, translated as daily 7 times—Numbers 4:16, 29:6; Daniel 8:11, 12, 13, 11:31, 12:11. But Numbers 4:16 and 29:6 offer no help in figuring out its meaning in Daniel.

We find tāmîd translated as continually 53 times and as continual 26 times. Maybe the daily of Daniel 8:9-13 refers to something going on continually that the little horn takes away.

A glance at the Concordance suggests lots of things going on continually, especially in Psalms—continual praise, prayer, hope, law, and other unre- lated things. But according to Romans 8:38, 39, nothing—including the little horn, whatever that is—can take away these things from someone whom God saves: ³⁸For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ³⁹Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We find the word continual (tāmîd) used nine times in Numbers, seven in Isaiah and five in 1 Chronicles, but all pertain to unrelated things, includ- ing sacrifices, which we've ruled out (see July 28).

In Leviticus 24:2-4 we find tamid translated as continually 4 times; God tells Mosses to: ²Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn contin- ually. ³Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congre- gation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the LORD continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations. ⁴He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the LORD contin- ually…⁸Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continu- ally.

So God commands Aaron to keep the lamps (nēr) lit continually…with- out (outside) the vail (paroketh) of the testimony (the Ark of the Cov- enant). God uses tāmîd four times plus the word for ever to emphasize that the lamps (nēr) will burn continually as a statute for ever in your generations

If the daily of Daniel 8 were the lamps (nēr) of Leviticus 24:2-4, then the little horn in Daniel 8 takes them away. While sacking Jerusalem in B.C. 587, Nebuchadnezzar would've taken away the lamps for the gold. There- fore he could represent the little horn.

Nebuchadnezzar also would have stopped the lamps from burning contin- ually. In fact 2 Peter 3:10 assures us that nothing on this earth could con- tinue for ever: ¹⁰…the day of the Lord…come…in…which the heavens shall pass away…and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. So it appears that the prophecy of Leviticus 24:2-4 could never fulfill itself—unless the lamps represented what would remain for ever: Presupposition 5 allows us that interpretation: The Bible is written in parables…and We must look for the spiritual meaning within the parabolic language.

We now look for something, x (≈ daily ≈ lamps going on continually), that the little horn (≈ Nebuchadnezzar) of Daniel 8:11 takes away.

We find the word, nēr, in the Young's Analytical Concordance translated as lamp in 2 Samuel 22:29 (as in Leviticus 24:2-4): ²⁹For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness: Psalm 119 de- fines the word, lamp: ¹⁰⁵Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The feet refer to the will of man; so God's word, the Bible, directs the will of a saved man. We also get the definition of lamp in Proverbs 6: ²³ For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruc- tion are the way of life: The lamp gives light and in John 8, Christ de- clares, ¹² …I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Going back to Leviticus 24:3: ³Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the LORD continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations. The testimony (ēdût) and statute refer to God's Word.

In Exodus 25 God says, ²²...there I will meet with thee, and I will com- mune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cher- ubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

So Without the vail of the testimony (Leviticus 24:3)… the ark of the testimony is what God …will give…in commandment unto…Israel (Ex- odus 25:22).

The lamps (burning continually in Leviticus 24:2-4) represent the daily in Daniel 8:11 and both refer to the testimony (of Leviticus 24: 2-4) of God's Word, i.e., the ark of the testimony (of Exodus 25:22). The actual lamps went out in 587 BC, also during the time of Eli, the priest (1 Sam- uel 3:3), and again before the reign of King Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:7). But God's Word, the light of the world (John 8:12), shall not pass away (Luke 21:33) and shall continue as a statute for ever (Leviticus 24:3).

Exodus 26:33 shows that God's word resided in the holy place of the tabernacle and temple: ³³… that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.

The tabernacle that housed the holy place sat within a rectangular courtyard. Between the tent's entrance and the courtyard gate, a priest would put a sacrificial lamb on a brazen altar and sprinkle blood on the altar's four horns. At the rear of the tent God's pillar of fire roared up- ward. On entering the tabernacle the priest stepped into the sanctuary called the holy place. There he kept a golden lamp stand of seven can- dles, representing the Holy Spirit and Christ, the light of the world. On the Sabbath and within this holy place the priests offered up showbread ("shewbread"), 12 loaves of unleavened bread, on a showbread table. The showbread represented Christ as the bread of life. At an altar of incense a priest sprinkled blood on the horns and nearby veil. The veil, about fifty feet high, sectioned off the most holy place, or holy of holies, that housed the Ark. A priest entered only once a year, the 10th of Tishri and Day of Atonement. In a cloud of smoking incense he'd sprinkle blood on the east side of the mercy seat over the Ark of the Covenant. (See Supplement July 31 for more on the Day of Atonement and the most Holy Place.) The important point is that the holy place contained God's Word.

On July 26 we also read of the holy place in Matthew 24:¹⁵When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) We assumed that the holy place of Matthew 24:15 refers to the churches, which also contained God's Word. For more information about the abom- ination of desolation, we went to the little horn of Daniel 8:9-13. So we have reason to suspect the abomination of desolation = the little horn of Daniel 8:9-13. That the holy place of Exodus 26:33 and the little horn of Daniel 8 relate to the end of the church age in Matthew 24:15 shows how Scripture can transcend time and earn the appellation, the "living word."

Nebuchadnezzar took the lamps (≈ God's Word) out of Jerusalem and the holy place. Similarly the little horn (= the abomination of desolation) takes out of the churches something, x (≈ daily ≈ lamps going on contin- ually), that we now know is the Bible. Thus today's ecclesiastical doc- trines run contrary to Scripture. However outside the churches God's Word, the Bible,goes on continually (tāmîd) as a statute for ever (Levi- ticus 24:3) and shall not pass away (Luke 21:33).

Both the little horn of Daniel 8 and the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15 turn up as bad guys. So who are they? On August 2 we bring in the usual suspects.

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT AND THE MOST HOLY PLACE

On July 30 we described the make-up of the tabernacle that housed the most holy place. On the Day of Atonement the high priest, arrayed in linen garments, went beyond the veil and into this holy of holies that contained the Ark of the Covenant. This day falls on the 10^th of Tishri (Leviticus 25:9). Only during this time could he enter into this most Holy Place to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. By so doing he represented Christ making atonement for the sins of the elect. During the Crucifixion the veil that separated the outer room from the most Holy Place was rent in twain from top to bottom (Mark 15:38). This tearing of the veil showed that God no longer used Israel as the external representation of His kingdom. That honor fell on the churches.

James Strong, author of the Strong's Concordance, writes regarding this Day of Atonement:

Withdrawing now to the inmost chamber, the Most Holy Place, which was the immediate abode of Jeho- vah, and excluded to all but the incumbent of the high priesthood, we find nothing therein save the Ark and its Mercy Seat, to symbolize the invisible deity: the one by the writings deposited therein…Since the one great Day of Atonement has passed, in which Jesus as the Chris- tian's sole High Priest has entered into the actual and immediate presence of the celestial Glory, there is no need or room for any other mediator between the soul and God (Heb. 9:11, 12, 24). The Veil is a type of His flesh (Heb. 10:20), rent at the crucifixion (Matt. 27:51), so that all saints may now enter the Holiest boldly (Heb. 10:19), clad in the regalia of Christ's own righteousness (Rev. 19:8).¹

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¹James Strong, The Tabernacle of Israel, "It's Structure and Symbolism" (Database © 2007 WORDsearch Corp . See "Relative Sanctity of Various Parts."