The Miracle and the Mystery2
The Miracle and the Mystery # 2
(The Mystery)
February 7th, 2004 and February 8th, 2004
-One of the most controversial subjects is the end times. There are so many strong opinions that it pays to stick to what the Bible clearly says and then sometimes to say, this is my opinion and interpretation of that. Then most of all, love those who see it differently.
Illustration
There is a cartoon of a man phoning his pastor during a crisis. With a fraught look he says; “My wife has left me, my kids are on drugs, and my life is falling apart. Can you explain the difference between amillenialism, postmillennialism, and premillenialism?”
-It is very important in the study of last things or end times that we don’t let it keep us from present things. A proper understanding of what is to come should make us live better now.
Review Last Week
In part one of the Miracle and the Mystery we talked about the miracle of the nation of Israel complete with clips from their founding in May, 1948. We talked about the fact that sin brought an individual problem for which an individual was needed-Jesus. It also produced an international problem for which a nation was needed. Israel had and still has a role to play in being a light to the nations. The Bible talks about a future restoration of Israel to her land and then like Joseph, He will reveal Himself to His brothers. It says they will look on Him who they pierced. We looked at the three categories of people according to God, the Jews, the Gentiles (nations), and the Church of God. The key is for everyone both Jew and Gentile to be a part of the Church of God. All men should be born again and receive Jesus as Messiah, whether they are Jew or Gentile.
In Genesis 13 it says Abraham’s seed will be like the dust of the earth-that is the nation of Israel-they will have a witness to the nations.
In Genesis 15 it says Abraham’s seed will be like the stars in the sky-that is the followers of Jesus-they have a witness to the universe for eternity of the goodness of God.
-It is very important in the study of last things or end times that we don’t let it keep us from present things. A proper understanding of what is to come should make us live better now.
Solving The Mystery
(Sherlock Holmes or Columbo)
Daniel 9
In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes a (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian b kingdom— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:
This is followed by a great prayer where Daniel identifies with Israel in its sin and appeals to God for deliverance for Israel.
20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill— 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision:
24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ a are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish b transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. c
/25 “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree d to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, e the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. f The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ g In the middle of the ‘seven’ h he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. i” j [1]/
-In approximately 538 B.C., Daniel received a visit from the angel Gabriel. He laid out the future events for Israel which even included when the Anointed One or Messiah would first appear.
-Remember the temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar. 70 years of captivity had been decreed for Judah.
-The angel says 70 sevens or 490 years are decreed for “your people” and “your holy city”. The word for week means a period of seven and the context determines whether it means a days, weeks, or years.
7620 שָׁבוּעַ, שְׁבוּעָה/ [shabuwa`, shabua`, shâbu`ah /shaw·boo·ah/] n m. Properly, pass part of 7650 as a denom. of 7651; TWOT 2318d; GK 8651 and 8652; 20 occurrences; AV translates as “week” 19 times, and “seven” once. 1 seven, period of seven (days or years), heptad, week. 1a period of seven days, a week. 1a1 Feast of Weeks. 1b heptad, seven (of years).[2] /
7620. שָׁבוּעַ shabua/ (988d); from 7651; a period of seven (days, years), heptad, week:— seven(1), week(4), Weeks(5), weeks(14).[3] /
-Artaxerxes issued that decree in 444B.C.
-From the issuing of this decree would be 69 weeks (62 plus 7 weeks) for a total of 483 years until Messiah would be cut off.
-That would be 33 A.D. using the formula of 360 days per year given by Gabriel (476 solar years).
-That happened.
-He said that the temple would be destroyed again, it happened.
-Before the final seven year period there is a hole or a gap.
-We are living in that gap.
-God was doing something even more significant and eternal at the same time He was dealing with Israel.
2 Corinthians 2
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
/“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.”[4]/
-Before the serpent saw the trap, his head was in the noose!
-There is something we know know by the Spirit of God through the Bible that satan didn’t have access to.
-If he had known he would have done things differently.
-The best way to look at the mystery is to look at it from the point of view of satan.
Revelation 13
8 /All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. a [5] /
Ephesians 1
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
1 Peter 1
20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. [6]
Ephesians 3
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
/[7]/
-From the vantage point of satan he knew that a man-the seed of a woman-would be sent to crush his head.
-Cain kills Abel.
-More and more clues are given through history as to who this seed will be.
-He is the seed of Abraham.
-He is from the tribe of Judah.
-He will be born in Bethlehem according to Micah.
-I think the devil was trying to kill him when the Hebrew boys were killed in Moses’ time.
-We see that again at the time of Jesus. The little boys are killed to get the one that had been born King of the Jews according to the wise men.
-That wasn’t just Herod’s insecurity but satan’s.
1 Peter 1
10 /Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. [8] /
-The prophets didn’t know. Angels didn’t know. Of course satan didn’t know.
-Abraham knew a little.
Galatians 3
7 /Know then that it is ithose of faith who are jthe sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that kGod would justify1 the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, l “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.[9] /
-The cat was out of the bag at the baptism of Jesus. The Father said, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”
-Jesus lived His life in complete victory over satan.
-He died and that was it. He rose from the dead and defeated death’s power over everyone who would believe in Him and follow Him.
John 12
24 /Truly, truly, I say to you, kunless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.[10] /
-Even the disciples didn’t understand the full impact of what Jesus was doing.
-In Acts 1 they ask Jesus if this is the time that He is going to restore the kingdom to Israel. That to them is the consummation of the end being Jewish boys.
-They didn’t know where we fit as gentiles.
-Paul becomes the apostle to the gentiles and with his revelation and subsequent writings we get a glimpse into what God was doing.
Ephesians 3
4 vWhen you read this, you can perceive my insight into wthe mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is5 that the Gentiles are xfellow heirs, ymembers of the same body, and zpartakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
8 /To me, ethough I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, fto preach to the Gentiles the gunsearchable hriches of Christ, 9 and ito bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery jhidden for ages in1 God kwho created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold lwisdom of God mmight now be made known to nthe rulers and authorities oin the heavenly places. 11 This was paccording to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, [11] /
Ephesians 2
6 /And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.[12] /
-The mystery is that now both Jew and Gentile can come to God through faith.
-The mystery is that mercy triumphs over judgment.
-The mystery is that our job now and in the ages to come is to be a model of His riches of grace and kindness.
Romans 9
22 /What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? [13] /
-The church is unique in that we are to shine like stars in the heavens and reveal to angels and inhabitants of future generations and ages the goodness of God.
-In order to get the story of what the heart of God is really like He needed an object lesson.
-We just happened to be who He chose to be recipients of His grace and objects of His mercy.
1 Corinthians 15
51 /Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. [14] /
-The church was born as a mystery and surprise.
-The church ends in a mystery.
1 Thessalonians 4
15 For this we say to you aby the word of the Lord, that bwe who are alive 1and remain until cthe coming of the Lord, will not precede dthose who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord aHimself bwill descend from heaven with a 1cshout, with the voice of dthe archangel and with the etrumpet of God, and fthe dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then awe who are alive 1and remain will be bcaught up together with them cin the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always dbe with the Lord.
/ 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.[15] /
Acts 8
39 When they came up out of the water, athe Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, 1but went on his way rejoicing.
40 But Philip 1found himself at 2aAzotus, and as he passed through he bkept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to cCaesarea.
/[16]/
-That is the same word in the original. It means to be taken by force.
-If you die before Jesus comes you will rise first.
-If you are alive you will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air.
· LIVE HOLY
· REACH THE LOST
· LONG FOR HIS RETURN
K
----
a Hebrew Ahasuerus
b Or Chaldean
a Or `weeks’; also in verses 25 and 26
b Or restrain
c Or Most Holy Place; or most holy One
d Or word
e Or an anointed one; also in verse 26
f Or off and will have no one; or off, but not for himself
g Or `week’
h Or `week’
i Or it
j Or And one who causes desolation will come upon the pinnacle of the abominable temple, until the end that is decreed is poured out on the desolated city
[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Da 9:20). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
n n: noun
m m: masculine
TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version
[2]Strong, J. (1996). The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the test of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) (H7620). Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.
[3]Thomas, R. L. (1998, 1981). New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : Updated edition (H7620). Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc.
a Isaiah 64:4
[4]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (1 Co 2:6). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a Or written from the creation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain
[5]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Re 13:8). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[6]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (1 Pe 1:19). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[7]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Eph 3:2). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[8]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (1 Pe 1:10). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
i ver. 9
j See Luke 19:9
k See Rom. 3:30
1 Or count righteous; also verses 11, 24
l Cited from Gen. 12:3
[9]The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.) (Ga 3:7-9). Wheaton: Good News Publishers.
k 1 Cor. 15:36
[10]The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.) (Jn 12:24). Wheaton: Good News Publishers.
v [2 Cor. 11:6]
w Col. 4:3
5 The words This mystery is are inferred from verse 4
x See Gal. 3:29
y ch. 2:16
z ch. 5:7
e See 1 Cor. 15:9
f See Acts 9:15
g [Job 5:9; Rom. 11:33]
h See ch. 1:18; Rom. 2:4
i See ver. 2, 3
j Col. 1:26
1 Or by
k Rev. 4:11; [ch. 2:10]
l Rom. 11:33
m [1 Pet. 1:12]
n ch. 1:21; [ch. 6:12]
o See ch. 1:3
p See ch. 1:11
[11]The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.) (Eph 3:1-11). Wheaton: Good News Publishers.
[12]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Eph 2:6). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[13]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ro 9:22). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[14]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (1 Co 15:51). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a 1 Kin 13:17f; 20:35; 2 Cor 12:1; Gal 1:12
b 1 Cor 15:52; 1 Thess 5:10
1 Lit who
c 1 Thess 2:19
d 1 Cor 15:18; 1 Thess 4:13
a 1 Thess 3:11
b 1 Thess 1:10; 2 Thess 1:7
1 Or cry of command
c Joel 2:11
d Jude 9
e Matt 24:31
f 1 Cor 15:23; 2 Thess 2:1; Rev 14:13
a 1 Cor 15:52; 1 Thess 5:10
1 Lit who
b 2 Cor 12:2
c Dan 7:13; Acts 1:9; Rev 11:12
d John 12:26
[15]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (1 Th 4:15). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
a 1 Kin 18:12; 2 Kin 2:16; Ezek 3:12, 14; 8:3; 11:1, 24; 43:5; 2 Cor 12:2
1 Lit for he was going
1 Or was found
2 OT: Ashdod
a Josh 11:22; 1 Sam 5:1
b Acts 8:25
c Acts 9:30; 10:1, 24; 11:11; 12:19; 18:22; 21:8, 16; 23:23, 33; 25:1, 4, 6, 13
[16]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Ac 8:39). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.