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Q: I have a question, who are the four living creatures at the Throne of God and what is up with the eyes all over and the faces? What is that?” – Debra Villarreal

A: In the book of Revelation there are four strange creatures surrounding the throne of God. The sudden appearance of these creatures is actually not so sudden. As we study the Bible it is important that we be more familiar with the Old Testament than the New Testament. I say that because it is in through the OT that we understand the NT. Let’s start by looking at the description of these creatures in Revelation.

• “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” – Revelation 4:6-8

Strangely enough these creatures actually appear all over the OT and they are always associated with the throne of God. Both Ezekiel and Isaiah ran into these creatures in their lifetime.

• “As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.” – Ezekiel 1:10-11
• “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” – Isaiah 6:1-3

Between Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John we get a pretty good description of these creatures. Isaiah refers to them as the Seraphim, Ezekiel refers to them as the living creatures and the Cherubim, and John refers to them as beasts. Some scholars believe that Cherubim and Seraphim are used interchangeably to refer to the same beings. When we understand what these creatures are, several major parts of scripture seem to fall into place. These four Cherubim are always see surrounding the throne of God.

• “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” – Genesis 3:24

Why would God send His “special forces” team to guard the “way of the tree of life” from Adam and Eve? These cherubim seem to be some special rank of angel that is constantly in the presence of God. Regular angels could have kept Adam and Eve away from the tree of life. We often forget that there was something else in that garden that held the rank of cherub. Ezekiel 28:14 tells us that Lucifer is also a cherub, which makes things a little more interesting. It’s just my opinion, but the cherubim in the garden are protecting the tree from Lucifer. Not only that, it’s the first look we get at God’s throne setup. We get life through Jesus Christ who is the “way, the truth, and the life”. This isn’t a completely solid example so let’s look at something else.

• “And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.” – Exodus 25:20

Again we see in the instruction of the Ark of The Covenant that the cherubim are surrounding the mercy seat. The mercy seat is where God would come down in the Tabernacle and meet with the High Priest. Before we wrap this up, let’s look at one more very obscure example.

• “And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah.” – Numbers 2:3
• “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.” – Numbers 2:10
• “Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards.” – Numbers 2:17
• “On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud.” – Numbers 2:18
• “The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies: and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.” – Numbers 2:25

The above verses are the camping instructions for the children of Israel. On the surface it’s a very boring read, but when we take a closer look, we see that it is actually a picture and a prophecy all in one. The tribes were split up and put under the leadership of one tribe on each side of the Tabernacle. The head tribe on each side were to fly their standards (flags) that represented their tribe. This is the layout simplified:

• Judah – East
• Reuben – South
• Tabernacle – Center
• Ephraim – West
• Dan – North

These tribe could camp as far as the Tabernacle was wide, but no farther. After they reached maximum width, they could spread out length wise. What exactly does this have to do with the cherubim? The picture to the left is an example of what the camp would have looked like. Notice that the animals that represent each of the tribes are the same four faces that we see associated with the cherubim. Also notice that these cherubim surround the Tabernacle. Inside the Tabernacle is the Ark of The Covenant that contains the mercy seat.  The mercy seat is where God dwelled. One final thing to notice is that the camp forms the shape of a cross with God right in the center of it.  I actually go deeper into this set up in my new book As The Days of Noah Were: The Sons of God and The Coming Apocalypse.

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Q: “What exactly is going on in Judges 11? My main concern is at the the end with Jephthah and his vow and what is the fate of his daughter? The way I read it, it looks like he ended up sacrificing his daughter, but that can’t be right because G-d says in Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah that he detests human sacrifice. Some commentaries say that Jephthath did not sacrifice her, but where I and some may disagree is that it says he fulfilled his vow. Please enlighten me. I have emailed my local pastor, but am looking for multiple viewpoints.” – Frank

A:Thanks for sending the question. Before I answer this question, let’s look at the verses in question.

• “Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.” – Judges 11:29-32

This is a very interesting story because there are several things to make note of when we read these verse.

• Jephthah did not vow to make a human sacrifice.
• God is completely silent on the issue of Jephthah’s promise.

As we get to the end of the chapter we find the following scenario when Jephthah returns home from war victorious.

• “And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.” – Judges 11:34-35

We see from the text that Jephthah fully intends to uphold the promise he made to God, but why?

• “If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.” – Numbers 30:2

Jephthah probably assumed that he would be greeted by an animal, but when his daughter came out first, he realized what he had done. The Hebrews took the Law seriously, and because he was also a Judge, he was bound to uphold his vow, but did he go through with it?

• “And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel, That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.” – Judges 11:36-40

As we read the text it seems as though Jephthah may have been having second thoughts on going through with the sacrifice of his daughter. She actually encourages him to go through with his promise to sacrifice her. After two months of bewailing her virginity, Jephthah’s daughter returns home and he does indeed sacrifice her. During this entire scenario God does not encourage or discourage Jephthah from doing this. There is also no record of God accepting the sacrifice. This story raises quite a few questions:

• Why didn’t God stop Jephthah from making the promise in the first place?
• Why didn’t God stop Jephthah from killing his daughter?
• Would Jephthah have won the battle if he hadn’t made the promise?

There seems to be several lessons that come out of this event. I’m sure we have all made the promise to God that if “You do (fill in the blank), I’ll do (fill in the blank)”. I believe that God would have delivered the Ammonites into Jephthah’s hand whether he made that promise or not. For some reason we believe that there is something we can do for God that will sway God’s favor in our direction. There are several verses that come to mind when we develop this mind frame:

• “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” – Isaiah 66:1-2
• “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.” – Psalm 50:12

There is nothing that we can do to improve God’s situation. Another lesson we should take from this is to watch what we say. Jephthah was hasty in his promise making and because of that he had to uphold his promise even though he definitely did not want to.

• “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” – Matthew 12:36

This goes back to the lesson of watching what we say. How many times have we made a promise to God and not delivered on it? Jephthah kept his promise to God even though it would have been much easier not to. If Jephthah could keep a promise that big, we should be able to keep the smaller promises we make. He was held accountable to his promise by the Law. As we live our lives day to day, we should be mindful of keeping our promises to God and watching what we say to others. We will be held accountable for those words eventually.

Minister Dante Fortson, Nephilim, Fallen Angels, Demons, Demonic Possession, Spiritual Perspective, God, Jesus, Bible, Genesis 6, Giants, Days of Noah, The Omega Hour, Bro. BJ, L.A. Marzulli, Guy Malone, Chuck Missler, Alien Abduction, UFO, Flying Saucer, hybrid, Joe Jordan, Van Smith, Russ Dizdar, Chris White, YHWH, YHVH

For someone that claims to study the Bible “chapter by chapter and verse by verse” he seems to skip a lot of verses during his studies. One of the most interesting, yet most ridiculous theories is that Cain was the seed of the serpent. He explains that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was actually symbolic of God commanding Adam and Eve not to have sex with Satan. Can someone point me to the Hebrew text that validates any of his claims?

If TTKGE represented sex with Satan, did the Tree of Life represent sex with God or Christ? I’m sure he would say no to this question. If the answer is no, what did the Tree of Life represent? Why does Arnold Murray take liberty with the text as he pleases? It’s simple, he doesn’t actually teach “chapter by chapter and verse by verse” when it comes to every scripture. He actually skips quite a few major parts of the Bible. I’ve never heard him teach an in depth study on Genesis 4:1.

The Gospel According To Arnold Murray makes the following three claims:

• Eve had sex with Satan inside of the Garden.
• Cain was conceived after Eve had sex with Satan inside of the Garden.
• Cain was the son of Satan.

God’s Word (Genesis 4:1) makes the following three claims:

• Eve had sex with Adam outside of the Garden.
• Cain was conceived after Eve had sex with Adam outside of the Garden.
• Eve said Cain was a gift from God.

It seems that God beat Arnold Murray and those that hold his view to the punch. The Bible goes out of its way to get us to understand that Cain was not the son of Satan. Notice that the details of Abel’s birth are not stressed as much as Cain’s. Either Eve was confused as to who the father of her child was or Arnold Murray is confused. I’d venture to say that Eve isn’t the one we should doubt.

Cain tends to get a bad rap, but Cain was no different than many of us. Its true that the majority of people don’t murder their brother, but Cain becomes the very first example of God’s forgiveness. After God announces Cain’s punishment, Cain makes a plea and God places His protection over him. The mark that was placed on Cain in Genesis 4:15 was not part of a curse, but part of a blessing. Whatever this mark was, it was meant as a warning that God would take vengeance on Cain’s killer SEVENFOLD.

If God saw fit to divinely protect Cain, why do people like Arnold Murray try to demonize him? There is no mention anywhere in the Bible of God placing his protection over the Nephilim, which is what Cain would be if he was the son of Satan. In fact, God orders the destruction of the Nephilim consistently. I encourage everyone that listens to Arnold Murray to read Acts 17:11 and read the scriptures for yourself to see if he is telling the truth.

For more information read my post, Cain: Was He The Son of The Devil

Minister Dante Fortson, Nephilim, Fallen Angels, Demons, Demonic Possession, Spiritual Perspective, God, Jesus, Bible, Genesis 6, Giants, Days of Noah, The Omega Hour, Bro. BJ, L.A. Marzulli, Guy Malone, Chuck Missler, Alien Abduction, UFO, Flying Saucer, hybrid, Joe Jordan, Van Smith, Russ Dizdar, Chris White, YHWH, YHVH

An interesting subject that seems to come up a lot lately in cyberspace is the possibility that Cain was the son of Lucifer. There are so many things wrong with this scenario that I almost don’t know where to begin. The problem with theories like this is that is requires us to take the Bible completely out of context. The summary of the theory is based on turning the eating from Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil into a metaphor for sex with Lucifer. If we do that, we have to ask:

• Who does the Tree of Life represent having sex with?
• Who do all the other trees represent having sex with?

God told Adam and Eve that they could eat from every tree except one. So if the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represents sex with Lucifer, all of the other trees have to represent sex also.  According to the Bible, only Adam, Eve, God, Lucifer, and the animals are in the garden. There could have possibly been other angels, but you probably get where I’m going with this. If we accept this belief, you have to assume that God was telling them it was OK to have sex with everything except Lucifer. That wasn’t the case at all.

• “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.” – Genesis 4:1

One of the most fascinating things about the Bible is that God has prepared all of His arguments far in advance of the ridiculous arguments mankind comes up with. The first problem we run into is that the eating of the tree takes place in the garden. Cain isn’t conceived until Adam and Eve have left the garden. Again, we have to take scripture out of context to support that Cain is the son of Lucifer.

The next and possibly the most interesting argument against this belief is that the Bible doesn’t say much about the birth of Abel and strangely enough, his parentage isn’t under debate. The Bible I read says “Adam knew his wife”, which means he had sex with her. “Eve conceived” only after the Bible goes out of its way to mention that she “knew” Adam first. Then it says she “bare Cain”, only after having sex with Adam. Then strangely Eve goes out of her way to say “ I have gotten a man from the LORD”. Why would she say that if there was a possibility that Lucifer was his father? Its interesting how far off base people get when they try to work their weird theories into the Bible. The Bible has plenty of other strange things that it talks about without adding nonsense like this.

• “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” – 1 John 3:12

Some try to use this verse to support their view that Cain was the son of Lucifer, but they are clearly taking this verse out of context. Notice that John specifically mentions that Cain’s works were evil and Abel’s works were righteous. Cain clearly killed Abel out of Jealousy, but what about the phrase “was of that wicked one”? There’s a verse for that. Just a few verses before the above, John puts everything in context, but those that hold this false view seem to ignore it.

• “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” – 1 John 3:8

Why would John go out of his way to point out that “he that committeth sin is of the devil” just before making a reference to Cain being of the devil? He was clarifying that he was not talking about Cain as a literal offspring, but as part of that group that commits sin. The Bible warns us about doctrine like this on several occasions

• “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” – 2 Timothy 2:15
• “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive…” – Ephesians 4:14

In conclusion, Cain was not the son of Lucifer, according to the Bible. The Bible goes out of its way in Genesis 4:1 and 1 John 3 to make sure we understand that this was not the case. You have to decide if you hold the word of man above the Word of God. I’ll leave you with Acts 17:11 to think about as you try to discern Biblical truth from the lies of men.

• These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” – Acts 17:1

Don’t believe anything that comes out of every pastor’s mouth until you have confirmed it with scripture.

Minister Dante Fortson, Nephilim, Fallen Angels, Demons, Demonic Possession, Spiritual Perspective, God, Jesus, Bible, Genesis 6, Giants, Days of Noah, The Omega Hour, Bro. BJ, L.A. Marzulli, Guy Malone, Chuck Missler, Alien Abduction, UFO, Flying Saucer, hybrid, Joe Jordan, Van Smith, Russ Dizdar, Chris White, YHWH, YHVH

Q: “I am satisfied with the “Visitors” question being solved, but I am still troubled by the evidence science has dug up to convince us of a world once ruled by dinosaurs. The Bible appears to address this question, but I am not convinced that the mentions in passing about beasts of the land or even Leviathan and Behemoth are adequate enough to cover such a huge, life changing event of our past dinosaurs changed how we view our past and God!

Is it possible that perhaps the very evidence (bones), science has dug up are actually the remains of the Nephilim? The Bible tells us about such monstrosities once walking the earth alongside humans and how He brought the Flood to destroy this blasphemous abomination, so doesn’t it stand to reason that those bones belong to them?

I’m just asking.

Thank you.

Abe Delgado

A: Abe,

Thank you for your question. There are many people that would love to reconcile dinosaurs with the Bible, but don’t know how. What we know about dinosaurs is that they seem to be a hybrid cross between bird and reptile. There are some that believe the dinosaurs were some kind of genetic experiment and as such, they were wiped out in the flood. For years we have been told that species must be similar in order to produce a hybrid and officially, that has been the case up until the last 20 or so years.

You may want to look into well known hybrids such as Ligers, Tigons, and Grolar Bears (Oh my!). Other hybrids include Wholphins, Leopolds, and Beefalos. The names are strange, but the creatures are real. Also, do not forget Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:37 that the days before His coming would be like the days of Noah. One thing that is pointed out in the days of Noah is that all flesh had become corrupted (Genesis 6:12).

Also, as Christians we have a tendency to dismiss the mythologies from around the world. The verse in Genesis may imply something else that was going on genetically. The Greeks had the story of a Minotaur, which was part man and part bull. Most people immediately write off the story as impossible, but God was completely serious about not mixing humans with animals to create hybrids.

1. “Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death”. – Exodus 22:19
2. “And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” – Leviticus 20:15-16

Those laws seem very strange to have on the books, but consider the following facts about human/animal hybrids today. In 2008 the Human Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act was introduced and in 2009 Louisiana made it law. Arizona is now looking to pass the law, which would make it a Class 6 Felony to knowingly create a human/animal hybrid. For this law to even be considered, it must be possible to make one, even though science claims its not possible. It is very interesting that the Bible has it as a law and the U.S. is just now getting to that point.

If you’d like more information on the Human Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act, the following sites should get you started:

• Sam Brownback (R-Kansas)
• Library of Congress
• Wired Science
• Examiner
• AZ Central

If our time is any indication of what Noah’s time was like, things are about to get very weird and not just because of angel/human hybrids. We may start to see all kinds of things. There are even stories about attempts to recreate dinosaurs through crocodiles, lizards, and birds, but nothing concrete yet. To answer your question, if dinosaurs were indeed hybrids they were wiped out and it may explain why they suddenly went extinct and none of them made it on the ark. Hope that helps answer your question.

In Part 1 we learned about what the rapture really is, so lets tackle the Second Coming. Those that don’t believe God’s word try to make the Second Coming of Christ into figurative language, but the Bible doesn’t support that view. So just what is this Second Coming Christians have been preaching for the last two thousand years and should we take it literally?

What Is The Second Coming?

The Second Coming is when Christ will descend from heaven and establish His kingdom here on earth. The Bible is clear on quite a few occasions that the Second Coming of Christ will be a literal event. Those who lack faith in the God of the Bible do not believe that Christ will come reign on earth, but that He will reign in our hearts for 1,000 years.

The Bible actually says more about the Second Coming of Christ than it does the first coming, which means it is very important in the grand scheme of things. If you are one of those people that don’t think studying prophecy is important, you’re probably wrong, but I encourage you to rethink what you believe. Prophecy is God’s fingerprint.

Is It Literal or Figurative?

The Bible is quite clear that the Second Coming will be a literal, historical, event that everyone will experience.  If you are busy trying to allegorize God’s Word so it fits what you believe, instead of fitting your beliefs to it, then you are doing yourself a great disservice. How exactly do we know the Second Coming is literal? We simply look at how the Bible describes the event.

• “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” – Revelation 1:7

The first two things you notice is that “He comes with the clouds” and “every eye shall see Him”. Those are two literal things. It doesn’t say people will feel Him  in their hearts. It goes on to say “all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him”. This isn’t a good event for those that don’t believe, that is why they are wailing. Lets see if we can support and build upon this first example.

• “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” – Zechariah 12:10

This is another prophecy concerning the Second Coming. Notice again that it states “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced” and people are again mourning because of His Second Coming.

• “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” – Acts 1:11

This is another important prophecy because it destroys the false belief that Christ will be born again on earth as a baby or conceal His return to all but a chosen few. It says He will come back in the same way He left, and if you read Acts 1, you will see that He left in the clouds.

• “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” – Matthew 24:30

Again, all the tribes of the earth mourn and they see Him come in the clouds. This event does not seem to be figurative at all. There are also other scriptures that point to it being a literal event.

• “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” – Zechariah 14:4

Notice that “His feet will stand upon the mount of Olives” which is a literal place. The verse then goes on to give the literal location of the place to show that it is not figurative. The mountain also splits in two when He touches down. The Bible is stressing the point that we are to believe what it says and not try to make it fit what we want to believe.

The Second Coming will indeed be a literal event according to the Bible. I didn’t present every single verse dealing with the Second Coming because there are a few hundred. I encourage you to research this subject thoroughly and let the Word of God be your guiding light and not the word of man.

In Part 3 I’ll break down the difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming.

This is quite possibly one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Bible. People that misunderstand what the Rapture actually is, commonly confuse it with the Second Coming of Christ. Some people feel that the Rapture isn’t actually important to the Christian faith, but that’s quite the opposite of what the Bible says. While I agree that when the  Rapture takes place is not of vast importance, that fact that it is supposed to take place is what needs to be in the forefront of our minds. If you are one of those people that falsely believe that the Rapture doesn’t appear in the Bible, please read the following post: Is The Rapture In The Bible?

The Rapture Concept

The concept of the Rapture is all throughout the Bible, that’s why it amazes me that some Christians don’t believe in it. Lets look at God’s pattern:

• Noah’s Flood (Genesis 5-7): First God sends Enoch as a preacher. Then Enoch is taken from the earth (Genesis 5:24). Seven days before the flood, God shuts Noah and his family in the ark (Genesis 7:1-10).

Here in the first example, we have Enoch taken away before the flood. In the second example God hides Noah a week before the flood begins. Also take not that Noah was commanded to build the ark with “rooms” in it. The story is also foreshadowing of what God does all through scripture. Before moving on to the next example, there are at least two more verses that expound on Noah’s situation:

• “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” – Psalm 27:5

This is one of the two verses that I wanted to point out. The next verse will lead us into a statement that Christ made, which also associates with Noah’s situation.

• “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” – Isaiah 26:20-21

This prophecy in Isaiah concerns that end of the age, or as some of us call it, the 70th week of Daniel. This is the last 7 year period on earth, known broadly as the Tribulation. I don’t believe its a coincidence that Noah was commanded to enter the ark a week before the rain started. If that week is symbolic or a foreshadowing, then Isaiah is shedding light on why Noah entered the ark. Before we get too deep into Isaiah, let me give you one more verse.

• “Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.” – Zephaniah 2:3

Here is another reference to the Day of The Lord. It also speaks of us being hid during the times of God’s wrath and judgment on the world. I could take you in and out of the Old Testament and show you a few more examples, but I’ll just give you a short summary, then I’ll move on to what Jesus has to say about it.

1. Sodom and Gomorrah: The angels tell lot that they can’t destroy the city until he is gone (Genesis 19:22).
2. Fiery Furnace: Daniel is missing from Babylon when the king demands idol worship (Daniel 3).
3. The Lion’s Den: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are missing when Daniel is thrown in the lion’s den (Daniel 6).

What Does Jesus Have To Say?

Jesus actually makes quite a few references about the end times. Lets look at one of them and see if we can find a pattern that fits with the Old Testament examples above.

• “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” – Matthew 24:37

We know that Enoch was taken shortly before the days of Noah begin. We also know that Noah was hidden away a week before the flood came. I may not have been completely clear earlier, but Daniel’s 70th Week is a period of seven years. That’s why I alluded to Noah’s hiding in the ark a week ahead of time as symbolic. If we are to compare the coming Tribulation to how the days of Noah were, we should have some place of refuge like Noah did.

• “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” – John 14:2-3

The word “mansions” actually confuses a lot of people. It is the Greek word meno, which can be translated as “rooms” or “dwelling places”. Think back to Noah and you’ll recall that God told him to build the ark with rooms. However, some people think that Jesus is preparing the New Jerusalem to bring down to us. Lets see if we can shed even more light on the situation.

• In the Rapture, Christ gathers us to Himself
• The New Jerusalem comes to earth with Christ and His followers (Revelation 21).

When the New Jerusalem descends from heaven to earth, we are already with Christ, which means we must have been someplace other than the earth in order to come back with Him. Christ also says something else that should catch your attention. During His Olivet Discourse, He talks about everything we should be on the look out for leading up to the Tribulation, then He says the following:

• “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” – Luke 21:36

For those that don’t believe we will escape, they are calling Jesus a liar. It doesn’t say that we will be preserved through the Tribulation, it says that we should pray to be counted worthy to ESCAPE those things and stand before Him. Jesus also makes another statement in the book of Revelation. To the church of Thyatira He said:

• “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.” – Revelation 2:22

We refer to the last 3.5 years of the seven year Tribulation, as the Great Tribulation. This is the time when the Antichrist breaks the treaty and starts to viciously persecute Jews and new Christians that convert as a result of the Rapture. Jesus tells Thyatira that if they don’t repent, He will cast them into Great Tribulation. On the other hand, if they do repent, He will not throw them into Great Tribulation. I’m not quite done yet. When speaking to the church of Philadelphia, Christ says:

• “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” – Revelation 3:10

He says He will keep them from the hour of temptation what will come upon ALL THE WORLD. The only world wide massive event discussed in the Bible concerning the end of the age is the Tribulation. As we can see in the Old Testament, people are constantly missing during periods of judgment and persecution. In the New Testament, Christ promises over and over again that we have a chance to escape the things that are going to happen.

In Part 2 we’ll learn what the Second Coming really is and we’ll close out the series in Part 3 by comparing the two events.

This is probably the most commonly misunderstood event in the Bible. I recently went to see 2012 and they stated that Christians refer to those events as the “Rapture” which is completely wrong. I’ve run into people and even pastors that claim the word “Rapture” is not in the Bible, but that is also completely wrong. Before we begin, lets make a list of words that we commonly use in the church that don’t appear in the Bible:

• Advent, Dispensation, Eschatology, Ecclesiology, Angelology, Demonology, Tetragramaton, and Antedeluvian

I could keep going, but that’s enough. We use those words to identify the subjects we are talking about. Unlike most of those words, a simple study in Latin (Vulgate) and Greek (Septuagint) will reveal that the word “Rapture” does indeed appear in the Bible. Lets start by defining the word “rapture”:

• Rapture – “the carrying of a person to another place or sphere of existence.”

There are several Latin words which we translate into the English word “Rapture” which simply means “caught up”:

• rapturo, rapio, raptus, rapiemur

In the Greek Septuagint the word is “arpagēsometha” also called the “harpazo” which means “to be forcefully snatched away” or “caught up”.

In the King James Version of the Bible, the word is simply translated as “caught up” in several place. The most famous occurrence of this word appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Here are the English, Greek, and Latin translations:

• “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
• “deinde nos qui vivimus qui relinquimur simul rapiemur cum illis in nubibus obviam Domino in aera et sic semper cum Domino erimus”
• “ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι ἅμα σὺν αὐτοῖς ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα· καὶ οὕτως πάντοτε σὺν κυρίῷ ἐσόμεθα.”

The word origin would actually look like this: harpazo –> rapiemur –> caught up  (rapture)

The translation is also made in two other places in the NT. Both of which refer to the person involved being caught up to heaven:

• “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.” – 2 Corinthians 12:2
• “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” – Revelation 12:5

Those that say the word “Rapture” does not appear in the Bible have one of two problems:

1. They have never actually studied the Bible in Latin or Greek
2. They are simply repeating what they have heard from someone else.

In both cases, they are 100% wrong about the word. For those people hung up on the exact word appearing in the Bible, the word Rapture should be the least of their problems, because the word “Bible” does not appear in the Bible. We use the word Bible to define the collection of religious writings we use to educate ourselves about God. It is the exact same thing with the word Rapture. We use it to define the event we refer to as the “catching up” of Christians to be with the Lord.

There is also a certain pastor in Arizona, that I won’t name, that loves to quote Ezekiel 13:18-20 as referring to God being against those that teach the rapture belief. His exact words for these verse are “I am against those that teach my people to fly to safety.” However, this is very far from the truth. If you want to chase down the research yourself, here is a site that will allow you to read several versions of the same scripture and not one of them says what he claims it does:

• Biblos – This site will let you read many version of the scripture at once so you can get a better idea of what it is talking about.

If you are confused about the Rapture and the Second Coming, which are two completely different events, I will be writing a post soon to explain the two. If this post has been up for a while, you may want to do a search for the Rapture or Second Coming, here on the site to find the new post.

Recently I received a question from a reader asking, “How do we know what is truly messages from God & what is just our minds playing tricks on us?”

This is a great question because I’ve asked the question myself many times. Sometimes it seems like your mind may be playing tricks on you or that you want to hear from God so bad that you make it up. So, how can we really tell we are hearing from God?

• “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” – 1 Kings 19:11-12

Elijah was waiting to hear from God, but His voice wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake or the fire. God didn’t come booming out of the sky, but spoke in a still small voice. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own perceptions of how God will speak to us, that we forget that God does things in His own way. The Bible also speaks about our problem with hearing God.

• “For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.” – Job 33:14-17

As Job points out, we don’t perceive God’s voice because we are too caught up in our own lives. He goes on to say that God speaks to us when we are in a deep sleep because we are no longer concerned with the things of this world or being prideful about our preconceived and usually wrong ideas about how God should operate. Now that we know how God speaks to us, we still need to answer the question, how do we know when it is God speaking?

• “And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.” – Numbers 16:28-30

The Israelites were thinking the same thing about Moses. They thought he might just be some crazy old man talking to himself in his head. So Moses told them that the test would be if God would actually do what He was telling Moses. Likewise, we should expect things that we are being told to truly come to pass if God is actually talking to us. If those things do not come to pass, they are not from God. It is also important to make sure it lines up with scripture to determine whether or not it is truly from God or if it is demonic influence.

• The Answer: If it lines up with scripture and comes to pass, it is from God.
• The Answer: If it doesn’t line up with scripture and comes to pass it is not from God.
• The Answer: If it lines up with scripture and doesn’t come to pass it is not from God.
• The Answer: If it doesn’t line up with scripture and doesn’t come to pass it is not from God.

Have a blessed day and keep sending the questions.

I am constantly amazed by so called Bible believing Christians. Another recent discussion I had online was about the temptation of Christ. I’m not sure what denomination this person claims to be but his position was the Jesus wasn’t tempted because He didn’t give in, so lets find out if he was or not. I’ll start by defining temptation.

Temptation – something that tempts, entices, or allures.

In The Beginning…

When the serpent tempted Eve in the garden, he tempted her with something that was alluring or enticing. It wasn’t the fruit itself, but the prospect of knowing good and evil and becoming like the gods, as the serpent put it (Genesis 3). One does not have to give into temptation in order for it to be temptation. Being tempted comes before being obedient or disobedient.

The serpent had to find a convincing reason for Eve to eat the fruit because it obviously hadn’t been an issue before then. Up until the point that the serpent told Eve of the tree’s potential, it wasn’t tempting. Eve wasn’t tempted by the thought of dying. She was tempted at the thought of becoming like God.

In The Wilderness

Those that say Jesus wasn’t tempted are calling God’s Word a lie. The Bible specifically says He was tempted:

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” – Matthew 4:1

Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted, not to be talked to. That was the point of the passage. He was God but He was also flesh and human desires. Jesus successfully resisted temptation which means He did not sin. Some people believe that being tempted is a sin, but its not. When you are faced with a choice then you the ability to  choose to do right or wrong.

• “Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.” – Romans 4:15
• “(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.” – Romans 5:13

Jesus knew what God wanted, but the devil wanted Him to go about it a different way. Just look at the offers the devil made:

• Turn rocks into bread
• All the kingdoms of earth
• Jump off a mountain so angels could save Him

If the devil approached me in person and asked me to turn rocks into bread I’d laugh at him. Its not something that would be a temptation to me because I don’t have the power to turn rocks into bread. On the other hand, Jesus did, and he was hungry after His 40 day fast. This temptation had to do with His human desire for nourishment.

The next claim that the devil could give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world wasn’t disputed by Christ. As the supreme Ruler of the universe, Christ was use to being worshiped. This may tempt regular people as well, but when you go from being worshiped to hated, the temptation to return is much higher. The Bible even testifies that the devil was the god of this world:

• “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” – 2 Corinthians 4:4

The final temptation was for Jesus to show His power and prove who He was. I personally wouldn’t be tempted to jump off of a mountain in hopes of angels catching me. Again, Jesus knew God’s promises were 100% but maybe the fleshy side of Him wondered what would happen?

Lets assume this is something the writer put in from his perspective of the events. For the sake of argument lets throw it all out and tackle the subject strictly from Jesus’ words alone.

What Does Jesus Have To Say About It?

• “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” – Matthew 6:13

When Jesus was teaching the disciples how to pray, He closed by asking God to deliver them from evil. Why would He pray to resist temptation if its not possible for Him to be tempted? Why would he teach the disciples to pray to resist temptation if Christians can’t be tempted with sin after they are saved?

• “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – Matthew 26:41

Again, He reminds them to pray for resistance to temptation. If they weren’t going to be tempted, why would they need to pray? Jesus wasn’t only tempted by the devil, He was also tempted by the Pharisees on several occassions:

• Matthew 16:1
• Matthew 19:3
• Matthew 22:18
• Matthew 22:35
• Mark 1:13
• Mark 8:11
• Mark 10:2
• Mark 12:15
• Luke 11:16
• Luke 20:23
• John 8:6

We have at least three different testimonies that Jesus Himself asked why they were tempting Him. To hold the position that He wasn’t tempted means throwing out quite a few verses. He did not give into those temptation which means He didn’t sin, but was obedient to God.

The Whole Armor Of God

A little more proof that Jesus was in a spiritual battle come from Ephesians. When the devil tempted Christ, He resisted with God’s Word, which just so happens to be one of the two weapons we have. The other weapon is prayer.

• “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” – Ephesians 6:17
• “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12
• “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” – James 4:7
• “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.” – Luke 4:13

When you study God’s Word you will begin to see that everything is connected. Each of those verses are taken from different scriptures but they were all truths that were present at the temptation of Christ. He used the word of God to resist that devil and the devil did flee from Him.

Conclusion

To drive home my point I’ll close with the words of Paul:

• “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.   Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” – Romans 4:14-16