End Times – Page 5 – Light from the Word

Chosen For Times As These

The life of Joseph is market by salvation of his brothers. When yet young he had dreams that spoke of God’s future calling to be his brothers and the nation of Egypt’s savior in the seven years of famine that was to come. He was mocked and ridiculed by his brothers and rebuked by his father when he revealed his dreams to them, not realizing the tremendous prophecy of their own salvation behind his dreams when his family was going to depend on him for their future survival. Next to the youngest of twelve brothers, Joseph was the favorite of his father, whose mother was Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife. For her he worked fourteen years, when her sister was given him as a wife, instead. Out of hatred for him, his brothers sold him for twenty pieces of silver to Ishmaelite merchants who were passing by. They took him captive to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Though a slave in the eyes of the Egyptians, Joseph was favored of the Lord; He blessed him in all he did, for the master plan God had for him was to be fulfilled many years later. Joseph had to go through hard experiences to reach the plateau of success God had planned for him to be a savior for his brothers.

Joseph however, had several years to be prepared for the task the Lord had for him. When the maturity of time came for God’s plan to be fulfilled in his life, he was trusted with a very responsible position. He became second to Pharaoh, as the governor of Egypt. God gave him thirteen years of hard lessons preparing him to be his brother’s savior. He was only seventeen years old when he was taken to Egypt. Although young and handsome and at the prime of his life, Joseph did not fall into temptation to disobey the Lord. A thing worthy of our consideration in view of the today’s young generation. During his trials no vision was given him to confirm his dreams to be of prophetic meaning. He had those dreams when he was young and lacking understanding of their meanings. But he went through it all without running away; his spiritual strength kept him close to the commandments of the Lord. When Potiphar’s wife enticed him to sin against his moral integrity he answered her saying, “How can I do this great evil and sin against God?” Although innocent, he was put in jail. However, the Lord was with him and showed him mercy and loving-kindness and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison (Gen. 39). God’s timing to raise Joseph from the ashes had finally come. He was then thirty years old when he took the position of governor of Egypt. These are the words Pharaoh told him when promoting him to governor: You shall have charge over my house, and all my people shall be governed according to your word. Only in matters of the throne will I be greater than you are. I have set you over all the land of Egypt… he said to him, I am Pharaoh and without you shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt (Gen. 1: 38-46).

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Israelites Left in the Desert

After the number of days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for each day a year shall you bear and suffer for your iniquities, even for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure (Numbers 14:34).

When God called Israel out of the Egypt, He gave them instructions and guidance on how to ordain their lives in order to enter the Promised Land successfully. But Israel’s sin of unbelief and idolatry followed by the hardening of their hearts became a stumbling block on their way there. In their stubbornness, Israel closed the eyes of their hearts to the miraculous deeds performed on their behalf, as in the opening of the Red Sea to save them from the Egyptian’s army; how God had satisfied their hunger with heavenly manna; the visible presence of God in their midst in a pillar of fire by night to give them light on their journey and a cloud by day to protect them from the heat of the day. Nothing seemed to matter to them.

After having wandered for three days, they went through the wilderness of Shur, where there was no water. In panic, they murmured, complained and doubted and undermined the faithfulness of God. Yet, lovingly, God blessed them with twelve springs of water, one for each tribe, and seventy palm trees. God used the number seventy to form the nation of Israel; Jacob’s family consisted of seventy people when they left for Egypt. The number seventy is also connected with God’s punishment of Israel; so those seventy palm trees were speaking to them of future seventy years of captivity in Babylon. It is prophesized in the book of Daniel that seventy weeks of years (70×7) have been given to them to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most Holy (Daniel 9:24). That was the frame of time that God gave Israel for forgiveness in the number 70×7= 490 years. There is one more week of years left for the completion of God’s plan in the life of Israel.

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A Thousand May Fall at Your Side

(Psalm 91)

The storm is rising higher and higher. People are unsettled and confused at the noise of the daily news. What to buy more of, what to believe and what not to believe. Some of us have experienced the corona virus at the end of last year as well as at the beginning of this year. But because a red flag was not raised concerning its danger, some of us came out of it okay. Life, in its routine, remained normal for us at that time, without the worries which are plaguing the world today. Time and time again, the world experiences the flu season, contagious as it can be, without fear and anxiety. It comes, it leaves the territory, which is our body in a matter of days. It is just routine of the season in some countries. However, there is today a storm of great proportion plaguing the world, causing many to die or be enslaved to fear. This a reality one would not like to face, when the governments are taking over the freedoms of people and demanding obedience by order of martial law. Something strange is going on some say, without realizing the signs of the time. That’s what it is, my friends, signs of the time. It never stands still; rather it keeps going on and on at the tick of the clock, taking us to its end. Yes, even time will have to come to its end when eternity will rule.

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As Were The Days of Noah, The Days of Lot…

(Matt. 24:37-46; Luke 17: 26-30)

And [just] as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the time of the Son of Man; people ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, right up to the day when Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. So also as it was in the days of Lot. [People] ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heave and destroyed [them] all. That is the way it will be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17: 26-30).

What does the days of Noah and the days of Lot exactly mean? Those days were defined by their increasing wickedness and God’s judgment that came upon them. The accounts of Noah’s days are described in Genesis chapter six. It reads, When men began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives of all they desired and chose. Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not forever dwell and strive with man for he also is flesh; but his days shall yet be 120 years. There were giants on the earth in those days – and also afterward- when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually, and the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart. So the Lord said I will destroy, blot out, and wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the face of the ground- not only man, [But] the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air- for it grieves Me and makes Me regretful that I have made them (vs. 1-7).

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Daniel Prayed

(Daniel 6: 1-22)

The story of Daniel in the lion’s den is much more than just a children’s story. In fact, this thought obscures the meaning of the events God allowed to happen to show what will be in the future for the nation of Israel. Many events in the Old Testament have happened with a purpose to point out to the near or far future. The Word of God is unsearchable; only those who desire to have the understanding of it, to them will be given revelation of its prophetic meanings. Much is missed because of that. The book of Daniel is clearly an example of it. When we read this book is like opening the future right before our eyes. From the four Jewish youths the Bible mentions in this book, Daniel stands out, because God chose him to be his end time messenger. Daniel’s experience in the lion’s den, like that of his friends in the furnace, has a prophetic meaning directed to his nation. Daniel and his friends well represent the faithful ones in the time of the tribulation and their deliverance.

When King Darius of Persia, who was the successor of Belshazzar, took over the kingdom of Babylon he set over the kingdom 120 governors in charge of all the kingdom. He also chose three presidents over them. Daniel was chosen to be one of them. The Bible tells us that he was distinguished above all the presidents and the satraps because an excellent spirit was in him. The king then set him over the whole realm (Dan. 6:2-3). Daniel, like Joseph, was favored and placed in the right position to fulfill God’s plan. But like Joseph, Daniel had to suffer in the hands of the Gentiles for the truth to be sufficed. Jealousy abounded in the hearts of all those who worked closely to him. They desire was to find something to accuse Daniel in order to disgrace him. But Daniel was faithful to the only true God. They had to create a situation where Daniel would not bend to it. So they came up with an idea that seemed good in the eyes of the king: the establishment of a royal statute to whom all people must pray and make their request to. Upon the signing of this decree Daniel went into his house, with its windows opened toward Jerusalem, there he knelt as usual three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God (vs.5-10).

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When They Got Into the Boat

(Matthew 14)

The death of John the Baptist, lead YAHSHUA to withdraw to a solitary place by Himself. It was a time of reflection; a time alone with the Father, not because He did not know John’s future, but to consider His position in the world without his forerunner, who openly declared that him to be the Messiah. The timing for all to happen was perfect, as His ministry reached out with healings to all who needed them; not only physical healing, but also spiritual. It was a busy time for YAHSHUA and His disciples. The news about Him had reached far into Israel, as well into other countries at the time of John’s death. It was a solemn hour for Him, nevertheless, enough to want to spend a time alone. YAHSHUA must have spent the entire night praying, as it was His custom to do. The crowds came in the morning and stayed with Him all day until the day was over. He satisfied them all with healings and with food in a miraculous way. They counted about 5,000 men without the women and children. That was the perfect timing, indeed for Him to manifest Himself as the Messiah through the supernatural happenings that only He as the Son of God could do. When the crowds heard where He had gone, they followed Him on foot. That in itself confirmed the importance of His ministry. He looked at the crowds with His heart and He was full of compassion. He saw the matter of the hearts of those who were there anxiously waiting for their healing.

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Signs of the Times

Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away; for, behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land; the fig tree puts forth and ripens her green figs and the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance; The time of the singing has come! (Song of Solomon 2:10-13)

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Behold, the Lord Will Make the Land and the Earth Empty

(Isaiah 24)

The land and the earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly pillaged; for the Lord has said this (Vs.3). This chapter of Isaiah is a mini book of Revelation. Throughout the Old Testament God’s future judgements are predicted ultimately to destroy the earth and its wicked people with it. It is His final measure to deal with the stubborn, rebellious people. When this period of grace is past, His wrath will dominate the world and none who have rejected Him will escape. It will be merciless, with vengeance and no turning back. We see in this chapter, the character of His judgements, and the extent of it in verses 1-3: The scope of His judgements will include all peoples and all class of people. It shall be with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with this master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. No class of people will escape with the exception of those who have accepted Him. YAHSHUA said, For it will come upon all who live upon the face of the entire earth. But for those who have accepted Him He gave a word of warning: Keep awake then and watch at all times, praying that you may have the full strength and ability to escape all these things, that will take place, and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man (Luke 21:35-36).

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The Hill Called Olivet Past, Present and Future

(Acts 1: 6-12)

The Mount of Olives is a very significant place in the prophetic pages of the Bible. Its past in the time of Solomon was used by him for idol worship. I Kings 11:7-8: Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abominable idol of Moab, on the hill opposite Jerusalem, and for Moloch the abominable idol of the Ammonites, and He did so for all of his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. From the distance we only see white sepulchers; nothing that shows life. Death is written all over it. We cannot understand why that mount was used for such a purpose, since it is located in a desirable area for all to see. In spite of this, Mount Olivet is also a place that speaks of the future pointing to the time of the end.

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Let’s Hold Fast Our Confession of Faith

(Hebrews 4:14)

Faith is a beautiful endowment to men. It is a spiritual gift enabling actions pleasing to our Lord YAHSHUA. In fact, the Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11: 6a). This gift is given to those who believe that YAHSHUA is the Son of God. It takes us places where we experience God and His presence in the midst of tribulation and hardship. There is nothing impossible to achieve when our faith is focused on the promises of God. “Though the earth should change and though the mountains be shaken into the midst of the seas, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling and tumult” (Psalm. 46:2-3), faith sustains and uplifts above all circumstances. However, the human tendency is to be fearful in hard times. YAHSHUA often dealt with the disciples for their lack of faith, for even when He was physically with them, they would fear the unknown. We are no different than they were. When the test of our faith arrives, we often fail, and like them, we become overwhelmed even when the Word of God says, Let be and be still and know that I am God (Psa. 46:10a).

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