Tag: Apocalypse

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Soon and very soon.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.” James‬ ‭5:7-8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We’re going to see the King. Andraé Crouch wrote the soul inspiring song in 1976. And by 1978, churches like ours were singing it often. Andraé and the Church never thought we’d see the 80’s.

In 1967 the “Summer of Love,” wherein 100,000 hippies gathered in the San Francisco district of Haight-Ashbury. They had a hippie-style revival and were found openly worshiping God, carrying and reading the Bible. Time Magazine headline in June, 1971 “The New Rebel Cry: Jesus Is Coming!” By the end of the 70’s, it was the end of the Jesus Movement and thousands of young people had come to Christ, supernaturally. I came to Christ in 1977 and knew nothing of the movement, I only knew my life and family was a mess and I desperately needed God.

Back to James in the first century church. James believed Christ would return in his lifetime. He encourages the Church to be patient. He uses the agricultural illustration often used by Jesus, “consider the farmers who patiently wait.” I don’t think James or any of our spiritual leaders over the centuries thought the Church would be looking at well over 2000 years of patience! And with each swell of unbelievable, undeniable rise of wars, wickedness and societal stupidity, the Church rallies – this has got to the sign of the coming of the Lord!

Two points to remember: One, Christ is absolutely returning. Two, just not yet. Many a believer and doomsday prep-per alike has sold everything or bought up every roll of toilet paper thinking that end is NOW. Our eagerness, as believers, has been – let’s get out of here! Yet, quite contrarianistically, God’s eagerness is “none should perish.” Look at the historically heightened seasons of complete chaos and global distress. Whether that is super hurricanes, earthquake fueled tidal waves, volcanic eruptions or melting ice caps – they all signal that even the planet itself is done! Add to that the unstable, verge of war, countries threatening nuclear domination and a good old fashioned 100 year pandemic and you’ve got yourself another opportunity for folks to look around, take stock of their lives and realize something.

The world, the culture and even my life is a complete mess! The crazy part, the super powers of media and entertainment keep playing and pushing the same, tired solution. Lose yourself in pleasure, music, sex, drugs, alcohol, or causes and campaigns – do whatever you desire, whenever you desire it and don’t let anyone tell you different! At some point, and I believe soon, folks start figuring out they’ve been lied to? Then the smart ones start looking up, not in, not around and certainly not into their own screens.

Prayer

Dad,
Oh how I look forward to Jesus’ return, it’s just for the same reason as James wrote about. I am, most of my friends aren’t suffering the way the early Church did. I am not suffering the way much of the world, led by maniacs, suffer. My suffering is waiting for finality of never ending injustice and cycles of hubris talk and incessant dribble of searching for meaning through selfishness and denial of You as creator and God. And who suffers, it’s the children, the youth. They have to live in this world of falsities and fallacies about the one thing, the one person that would bring true freedom… Jesus. I appreciate the delay of Jesus’ return simply to have more time to tell them, to show them.

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Journal entry from Ezekiel in 593 bc

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. (The Lord gave this message to Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him.)” Ezekiel‬ ‭1:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​On a nice, warm, summer day back in 593 bc Ezekiel is out by a river in Babylon. He tells us that they had been in captivity or exile for five years at this point. We are reading a journal entry of a man that lived over 2600 years ago! He writes about this extraordinary vision as he looks over the river and up into the sky. And, he knows it’s a message and feels the hand of God on him. Chilling right? Then, for the next several verses, Ezekiel describes what he sees.

I’ve got to tell you, I read this as a new believer and could not make any sense of it AT ALL. And, I remember thinking, “who CAN make sense out of this?” It kind of blew my mind when a special speaker came through our church and asked us, “as an ancient observer, how would you have described something “futuristic,” maybe something that would not exist for thousands of years ahead.” Like a vision from someone who travels through time? Whoa. I would never have imagined something so syfi, so cool.

I mean 593 bc could not have had, would not have had any modern day equipment, especially something that could fly! This was a theory I had never thought about – and I liked it! Is it true? I have no idea. Could Ezekiel have been describing a modern Black Hawk helicopter? The guest speaker seemed to think it could have been. Ezekiel could only use words of things that existed in his time to describe what he saw – most of which are animals with a mixture of human faces or features that only the great beasts of his day had. Rotor blades back then could only be described as wings – like a giant dragonfly!

It turns out the modern helicopter may have been designed by studying the dragonfly (The world’s leading helicopter manufacturer, Sikorsky, finished the design of one of their helicopters by taking the dragonfly as a model, IBM, which assisted Sikorsky in this project, started by putting a model of a dragonfly in a computer (IBM 3081)).

Yeah, Ezekiel could have been seeing a futuristic scene of a war and God was telling him to write it down and even share it with the leaders of Israel. This was not just a fanciful dream and Ezekiel wasn’t trippin on some wild mushrooms. There was a reason for it. Many of Ezekiel’s visions were straight out of scenes from the apocalypse, the end times, the final days of the earth and its struggle against evil.

There have been so many possible interpretations and theories of these stunning visions and when they come true in real life, folks will be able to say, “oh, that’s what Ezekiel saw!” So, if you just recently turned thirty, just know this is the kind visionary of stuff you can look forward to! j/k.

Unless I’m joining God as a warrior in his army, I’m not sure I want to be there when this future scene takes place, especially if it’s some kind of global world war. Either way, I know God has got this, He’s in control.

PRAYER:

Dad,
Wow! These Ezekiel (and others) visions are so amazing. We can only wait and watch as you bring about the finality of your grand story, the epic war and peace, the ultimate love and justice of all things! It’s all there – all written out beforehand for everyone, anyone to read and see for themselves. Either folks have heard or have seen your truth and make a decision. All of us have been given ample time and opportunity to do so. I am so very grateful for your Word and the plans you have for me and the entire world.