Interviewing God V

Members of the Christian community often have questions about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  Most of us have either said or heard someone say “When I get to heaven, the first thing I want to ask God is ….”  In aggregate, the pool of questions becomes quite large.  The drama, INTERVIEWING GOD, depicts a female news correspondent in an informal setting asking God a number of questions.  The answers she receives are from His Word, which the Lord inspired the prophets and apostles to write.  Scripture references are given throughout along with the author’s personal notes.  The interview was lengthy as one might imagine, so here it is broken into parts.  In the initial posting, God used a stage play analogy to answer the ultimate controversy of the universe question – “Who’s in charge?”  He upheld the inerrancy of the Bible, or as He terms it, “the introductory remarks.”  In the second posting, God revealed both the origin and the purpose of suffering.  In the third, God explained key elements within the creation of man plus the devastating fall of man.  He disclosed the choice to continue, nonetheless, making covenant with certain individuals and unveiled a restorative seed principle.  In Part IV, more truths were mined concerning the use of parables, the essence of true learning, plus the principle of authority was revisited.  That part ended with the interviewer “tipping her hand” a bit, asking ever so shyly about the second coming.  Here in Part V, God plunges headlong into the study of the time of the end – or eschatology – debunking the most common views of our time.

 

                                                      INTERVIEWING GOD

                                                         (Serialized Version)

                                                                      by

                                                         Michael A. Lawrence

                                                                          

                                                       Part V

                                                “The Return”

            SO YOU’LL TELL ME ABOUT THE RETURN OF YOUR SON?

            Yes, but brace yourself.  The truth is, he returned already.  He didn’t come sauntering in on some donkey colt, though.  No, he was atop a mighty stallion, or I should say many mighty steeds which were outfitted for war.  He came just how he had predicted he would, did just what he said he would do.[1]  Those of his own generation, who had studied what there was of the introductory remarks at the time and had not only seen my works but had learned my ways – they knew what a return in judgment was supposed to look like.  I had documented many examples for them in the rough drafts.[2]

            WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?  WHEN DID HE RETURN?

    

            About forty years after he ascended back to us.  It was what secular historians would call “The Fall of Jerusalem.”  We manifested our judgment in the Roman army, not at all unlike we had done so often in the past.  We “rode in” on those magnificent war horses and laid waste to an already debauched city.  We flattened a corrupted temple and rendered inoperable a whole way of life.[3]  We made way for a better way.[4]

            BUT WHAT ABOUT THE GREAT TRIBULATION?  WHO WAS THE BEAST?  WHAT ABOUT THE ANTI-CHRIST?

            Don’t go bailing out on me now.  It takes courage to believe the truth – especially when you have a lot invested in something else.  Great tribulation?  You want to know about great tribulation?[5]

            About four years before Jerusalem fell, what historians would tag “The Siege of Jerusalem” would begin.  Conditions became so bad that I don’t even want to discuss it here.  You’ll have to read it for yourself, but let me warn you – it isn’t pretty, and they didn’t tell the half of it.  The beast and the anti-Christ?  Both the same fellow.  Came on the scene and left the stage just prior to the siege – just as my son’s close friend had seen in a vision.  It’s all in the introductory remarks, submersed in a lot of symbolism.[6]  We had to do that to protect the innocent, a remnant we would use to carry on the production from there.  My spirit guided them past the murkiness and into the truth as need be.[7]

            WHOA!  YOU’RE LOSING ME.  THE BEAST AND THE ANTI-CHRIST THE SAME GUY?  AND JUST WHOM ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

            He’s a well-known and rather infamous historical figure, as one might imagine.  I’m sure you’ve heard the expression:  “He fiddled while Rome burned.”  That was the guy – as nasty a critter as ever came down the pike.  He wasn’t nicknamed “The Beast” for nothing.

            SO YOU’RE SAYING THAT EMPEROR NERO WAS THE BEAST AND THE ANTI-CHRIST ALL ROLLED INTO ONE?

            Yes.

            THAT'S INCREDIBLE.

            Not to the folks who had to put up with him.

            BUT WHAT ABOUT THE END OF THE WORLD?  YOUR SON WAS RATHER EXPLICIT ABOUT THAT.  WHEN WILL THAT HAPPEN?

            What a question – two questions actually.  Let me put it this way.  The end that you’re talking about?  Never.  I have seen to that.  My play runs forever – keeps reinventing itself in perpetuity.[8]  The end that my son talked about?  That happened back in Act II, Scene 5 – the very juncture we have been discussing.  With the fall of Jerusalem, we put and end to that world, allowing the new one that we had created to fully kick-in.  That covenant with Abraham and his progeny that I mentioned earlier?  We replaced it – I should say, absorbed it into the one that I made with my son and his future siblings.[9]  That was the plan all along.  Just a tad difficult to explain, but when I made that earlier agreement, I had the future one in mind.  They were one in the same, actually – sort of like the beast and the anti-Christ.

            HAVEN’T SCIENTISTS DISCOVERED THAT THE EARTH IS SLOWING DOWN?  DOESN’T THAT MEAN THE END IS INEVITABLE?

            Be careful not to forget who controls it all, who invented science for his own purposes.  That’s me.  Earth winding down – just one result of the usurper’s rebellion and the judgment which followed.  Tilting the Earth is another.[10]  No need to fret about those things.  We can fix it all when the time is right.  The best is yet to come.

            It is helpful to be actively engaged in possibility thinking.[11]  You recall that I mentioned audience participation.  We called our servant Gabriel from the audience to inform the mother we had picked for my son of her impending miracle.  Do not forget he conveyed to her that with me nothing will be impossible.[12]

            BUT WHAT ABOUT ISRAEL?  IT’S NOT JUST A COINCIDENCE THAT THE NATION WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1948, IS IT?

            There are no coincidences.  We allowed that.  Even so, it became a “straw dog” and now serves to separate those who use their intellect, at times, to interpret the introductory remarks from those who rely on my spirit to discern each facet of truth from those remarks.[13]  It has worked remarkably well in that regard.  The same holds true for a remnant of the old temple wall which we allow to remain standing to this day – the “wailing wall.”  Just another dog with the same spots.  Not a problem for the discerning but a definite stumbling stone to the intellectual elite.

            WAIT A MINUTE – I JUST REMEMBERED SOMETHING.  MY COUSIN’S A MINISTER, AND HE SAYS MOST SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT JOHN’S VISION, THE BOOK OF REVELATION, WAS WRITTEN ABOUT A.D. 95.  HOW COULD JOHN BE WARNING THE REMNANT ABOUT A FALL OF JERUSALEM WHICH HAPPENED 25 YEARS BEFORE?

            A late date for the last book from the introductory remarks – how can I put it?  No disrespect to your relative, a fine man, but the scholars are grasping at straws.  No, late-dating those closing remarks – another pup from the same litter, like national Israel and the wailing wall.  Any formula for understanding our introductory remarks which relegates my spirit to the orchestra pit is flawed.  It’s their own creation – Exegesis 101 straw-grasping, yet they’re quite proud of it.  Apart from allowing it to develop, we had no part in it.  When compared to spirit-taught truth, all natural learning or systematic theology, if you will, shrinks to insignificance.

            SO, YOU’RE SAYING THEIRS IS A POOR ARGUMENT?

            In the first place, their case rests primarily upon a small bit of evidence outside of the inspired remarks – shaky evidence at best.  Even on an intellectual level, it will not stand the test of merely being placed alongside all the contradictory historical external testimony.  The evidence within those inspired writings blows their argument out of the water altogether.  Although they are sincere in what they believe, what they have is a house of cards, built on sand.

            YOU’RE SAYING THAT THERE IS BIBLICAL EVIDENCE FOR AN EARLY DATE?

            Yes.  It’s everywhere you look.  For example, certain folks within our troupe were concerned that they had overslept and missed my son’s return in judgment.[14]  Think about that.  How could they have believed such if the return was to involve the visible destruction of the planet?

            OKAY.  SO WHAT HAPPENED?

            We had a certain delegated authority of theirs, whom they highly respected, send them a letter to remind them of a few things and ease their fears.  We included it in the introductory remarks.

            REMIND THEM OF WHAT?

            The chain of events we had set in motion.  It involved a politically compromised priesthood which served to keep in check an evil individual – unknown to our charges at the time.  The dastardly fellow was a fallen-away leader who was soon to arise from within a splinter group which was violently revolting against the ruling government.  The third link in our chain would be that very government’s armies.  Our emissary reminded those folks in his letter that first the vicious leader must violate the temple, just as Daniel and my son had both predicted.  The evildoer would eliminate those restraining and tilt the political scales, thus, becoming our catalyst for the destruction of the temple at the fall of Jerusalem.  Our charges were reminded that they already knew what was holding back the mystery man.  That evil man, his restrainers, our fearful charges – all served the same generation.[15]

            WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THE DATING OF THE FINAL BOOK OF THE BIBLE?

            Both our man’s letter to his fearful charges as well as the recorded vision that you are referring to attest to the very same temple which was yet to be destroyed.[16]        

                                                            End of  Part V

             

           

Coming soon: Part VI, “God’s Israel”           

           

              

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Unless otherwise noted, the scriptural references are from the New King James Version.  All parenthetical items contained within scriptural references are my emphasis.

[1]“. . . His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, ‘. . . Assuredly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down . . . . Immediately after the tribulation of those days . . . the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven . . . and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. . . . Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place’” (Matthew 24:1b, 2b, 29a, 30, 34).

[2]“The (prophecy) against Egypt:  ‘Behold, the Lord rides on a swift cloud, and will come into Egypt . . . ‘  Then the Lord said, ‘. . . the king of Assyria (will) lead away the Egyptians as prisoners . . . to the shame of Egypt’” (Isaiah 19:1a, 20:3a, 4).  “. . . the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.  And a sword will come upon Egypt . . . (when) her foundations are torn down. . . . when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt . . . a cloud will cover her . . . thus I will execute judgments on Egypt’”

(Ezekiel 30:3-4, 18-19a, New American Standard).  “For the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand . . . like the morning clouds spread over the mountains, a people come great and strong . . . surely nothing shall escape them . . . “ (Joel 2:1b, 2, 3b). 

It’s the author’s belief that most modern-day theologians try to explain away the time statements which Jesus made to His contemporaries about His return, because they have not yet grasped the true nature of His promised return in power and judgment.  They have confused a cataclysmic end to our world with the fall of Jerusalem/destruction of the temple/end of sacrificial Judaism historical phenomenon. 

The author believes that Jesus returned when He said He would to accomplish what He had prophesied in just the way that those who had heard and understood expected Him to.  New Testament authors were not mistaken when they declared:  “For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay” (Hebrews 10:37, New American Standard); or “. . . the end of all things is at hand” (1 Peter 4:7); or “. . . the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:8).  They knew that when Jesus said, “This generation will by no means pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34), He meant their generation – not some future generation or age to come.

The apostles knew that Christ’s “coming on the clouds” metaphor (Matthew 24:30, 26:64) was analogous to all Old testament language depicting God’s calamitous actions to bring judgments to nations.  Throughout their history, God had acted invisibly through the armies of man or via natural phenomenon to achieve His will rather dramatically.

Like Father, like Son – an unseen Jesus employed Roman armies and came “on the clouds” to effect a “great tribulation” final siege, the fall of Jerusalem, and the subsequent destruction of the temple as promised.  Paul had predicted that “the form of this world is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31).  The only “world” that most first-century disciples had known was gone.  The “new creation” world that they had only begun to experience had fully come.      

[3]“A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. . . . Therefore say I to you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matthew 7:18, 21:43, King James Version).

[4]“In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete.  Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13).  “. . . the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining . . .” (1 John 2:8b).  “For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious” (2 Corinthians 3:11).

[5]“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22).

[6]“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. . . . I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day (when) . . . I turned to see the voice that spoke to me.  And having turned I saw . . . out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword . . .”

(Revelation 1:3, 10a, 12a, 16a).

[7]“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (John 6:13).

[8]“Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen” (Ephesians 3:21, King James Version).  “One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever” (Ecclesiastes 1:4).  “And He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which He has established forever” (Psalm 78:69).

[9]“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us”

(2 Corinthians 1:20).

[10]“He shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars (axis) tremble” (Job 9:6).

[11]“Now faith is the substance (seed) of things hoped for, the evidence (seed) of things not seen. . . . by faith the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:1, 3).

[12]“. . . the angel Gabriel was sent by God to . . . a virgin . . . (whose) name was Mary.  And . . . the angel said to her, ‘. . . with God nothing will be impossible’” (Luke 1:26-28a, 37).  “But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’” (Matthew 19:26).  “Ah, Lord God!  Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and the outstretched arm.  There is nothing too hard for You” (Jeremiah 32:6).

[13]“Be diligent to present yourself approved of God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).  “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”  (Romans 8:16).  “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but . . . the same anointing teaches you concerning all things”

(1 John 2:27a).  

[14]“Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together with Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from one of us, as though the day of  Christ had come” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2).

[15]“Paul (and company), to the church of the Thessalonians:  Grace to you and peace . . . (for) it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels . . . when He comes that Day. . . . (But) let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God . . . Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?  And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 1:1a, 2a, 6-7, 10a; 2:3-8).

                “Therefore, when you see the ‘abolition of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place [whoever reads, let him understand], then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:15-16).

                “And the forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation” (Daniel 11:31).

                It’s the author’s belief that the “man of sin” is identified in Jewish historian Josephus’ account of the horrible destruction of the temple as one John, the son of Levi, from the provincial area of Gischala.  This man meets all the criteria.  He led a Zealot faction’s revolt (“the falling away”) against Rome, persuading the people of Jerusalem to make war with the Romans.  He usurped all that represented God in the temple.  He ordered the removal of the priesthood (“what is restraining”) and the death of the high priest, (“he who now restrains”), Ananus (“until he is taken out of the way”).  A treacherous man – he had the throats slit of anyone he surmised might be in allegiance with the Romans.  He denigrated the temple, melting down many of the sacred utensils.  Daily sacrifices were ended.  Josephus wrote that “the death of Ananus (who “preferred peace” with Rome “above all things”) was the beginning of the destruction of the city” (Josephus:  Wars VI, p313).  The entire siege took three and one-half years. 

[16]“Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod.  And the angel stood, saying, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.  But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles.  And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months’” (Revelation 11:1-2).