BEWARE OF BIBLIOMANCY!

Bibliomancy. n. Divination by interpretation of a passage chosen at random from a book, especially the Bible. (American Heritage Dictionary)

About thirty years ago, I sat on an examining council for a missionary candidate applying for service in Japan. The candidate had grown up in Japan as the daughter of very successful church planters in that country, yet she said she had felt a burden for the newly opened field of Russia. Knowing she would have to learn a new language and culture if she went to Russia, she struggled over whether to go to that field or return to Japan. Which one was God’s will? To which field was she called?

Her struggle ended when she received what she believed was guidance from God in her devotions. She read Jeremiah 49:31 – “Arise , get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.” The candidate explained her reasoning to the council along these lines: The Lord was calling her to a “wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care” and whose homes have no “gates or bars.” Russian people, she reasoned, did not dwell securely, their homes have walls and gates for security, and they are certainly not a “wealthy nation.” Japan, on the other hand, is a wealthy nation whose people dwell securely without walls or gates. On this basis, she was certain that God was calling her to return to Japan as a missionary. I saw that the regular council members were delighted with her answer, so a bit my tongue. What was more disturbing than the fact that this recent Bible college graduate and young missionary candidate misused the Bible in this way was the fact that the council members, all long-time pastors, approved of that use!

The missionary candidate egregiously took Jeremiah 49:31 out of context, but she was also mislead by the wording of the King James translation she was using. (The college she attended held to a KJV-Only position.) Better translations like the New American Standard Bible or the English Standard Version clearly show that the LORD’s command was not a missionary commission but a call to war! It was a prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of the Ishmaelite tribes of the Arabian peninsula:

"Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease, which lives securely," declares the LORD. "It has no gates or bars; they dwell alone.”  (Jeremiah 49:31 NASB, emphasis added)

The context of Jeremiah 49:28-33 is the pronouncement of God’s judgment on “Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor” (v. 28), the nomadic tribes of Arabia-Petraea.

Wrenching verses out of context to make them say something that was never intended is nothing new. Every pseudo-Christian cult does it. But it is paganism, seeking signs instead of truth and wisdom from the Scriptures. Many best-selling so-called Christian authors make millions off the gullibility of the Christian public by writing books claiming to have found  “hidden” messages in the Bible. The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin started an avalanche of books on the subject, pro and con, in the late 1990’s. Jonathan Cahn, who is sometimes called “pastor” and sometimes “rabbi,” is a Messianic Jew who has also capitalized on “hidden messages” in the Old Testament. His books The Harbinger and  The Mystery of the Shemitah both claim to unravel the “mystery” of America’s future. Cahn also says the Old Testament – in hidden messages – predicted the major economic crises and 9/11. The Harbinger sees the “mystery” of America’s future in Isaiah 9:10. But since the context surrounding that verse names “Jacob” and “Israel” and “Ephraim” and “Samaria,” who would imagine, just reading the text for what it says, that it contains a “hidden message” about America?!

This misuse of the Bible is bibliomancy! And it has a long history in Judaism. The Kabbalah -- which seems to be Cahn's inspiration -- is a Jewish mystical movement which began in the 6^th century A.D. The Kabbalist commentary on the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), called the Zohar, serves as a guide to Kabbalists in their quest for a deeper knowledge of God through mystical experience and understanding the hidden messages in the numerology and individual words of Scripture.  According to Elliot Miller, writing for the Christian Research Institute: “The overwhelming philosophical influence in areas where Kabbalah began was Greek; Neo-Platonism and its ‘Christian’ offshoot, Gnosticism.”[i] Early gnostic influences were among the false doctrines Paul and John were combating in the early church. (See Colossians, John, First John, especially.)

This may come as a surprise to many, but the purpose of the Bible – even the Book of Revelation – is NOT to reveal specific details of the future. The Apostle Paul wrote to his young colleague Timothy about the power and purpose of Holy Scripture:

“. . . from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:15-17 NASB, emphasis added)

But how about the Book of Revelation? The stated purpose of Revelation was to edify and encourage God’s people in the face of a hostile world. It is applicable to Christians in every epoch:

“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3 NASB, emphasis added)

Prognostication is always popular. That’s why the daily newspapers have astrology columns. But that’s not the purpose of the Bible. The Bible is God’s unfolding plan of redemption through Jesus Christ and instruction in godly wisdom to conform His people to the image of Christ. That message is clear and plain throughout Scripture.

Looking for hidden messages in the Bible is bibliomancy, and that is paganism.

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[i] http://www.equip.org/article/what-is-kabbalah/

The Americans Liberated Us: The Story of Alfredo Gallina

Alfredo Gallina is one of a diminishing number of Italians who experienced the liberation of Italy from fascist and Nazi tyranny. But more importantly, Alfredo also experienced spiritual liberation that gave him victory over the tyranny of despair.

In 1938, at the age of 17, Alfredo joined the Italian army to fight for Mussolini’s fascist state. Alfredo tells his story:


I call myself Alfredo. I live with my wife, Annamaria, in the central Italian city of Terni. Terni is a steel manufactur¬ing city, and is predominently communist. During World War II, it was destroyed by Allied bombing.


I grew up under fascism. I knew nothing else. At school, once a week, we boys were made to dress in black shirts and to perform military drills all day with wooden rifles. To be a good Italian was to be a good fascist and Roman Catholic. In 1929, Mussolini signed a pact with the Church which made "The Holy Roman Apostolic Church...the only Church of the State of Italy." Thus, both our political and our religious beliefs were decided for us.


During the war, I served in the Italian army. I felt it was the right thing to do. After basic training, I spent time in Rome, where I met my wife. My unit was eventually sent to Albania. We saw no action against the Allied forces, but we met with some stiff resistance from the local partisans. The spirit of these partisans forced me to think. Why were we fighting this war? Why were we here, upsetting the lives of these people? Later, I would see the same sacrificial resistance by Italian partisans.


I was in Bari on the Adriatic coast when Italy signed the armistice with the Allies. When Italy declared war on Germany, I made my way back to Rome, where I joined the Allied troops under General Mark Clark. I drove a supply truck during the long, bloody battle at Montecasino. I saw many men die. One was a close friend.


It was with the Americans that a spiritual change began in me. The American troops had chaplains of all denominations. One could choose what worship he preferred. And I noticed that all these different chaplains got along well—there was a certain respect. This was totally new to me. I had known nothing but Roman Catholicism. But among these Americans, there was a choice.


Through the Americans I fell in love with America, even though I had never been there. The American soldiers taught me the dignity of the individual. In the Italian army, even on the battle field, the officers ate good meat and vegetables, while the enlisted men drank a weak soup. The enlisted men were literally the slaves of the officers.


In the American army it was so different. Not only did the officers and enlisted men eat at the same mess, but it was first come, first serve! Officers, even high ranking ones, waited in line behind privates and corporals! And I thought I had seen it all when I saw a colonel washing his own car!


So the Americans liberated us not only from the German occupation, but also from our own religious narrow-mindedness and our social caste system. The liberation from the Germans was quick and complete; the other liberation has taken much longer and is still incomplete.


After the war, I studied the history of the United States, particularly the War of Independence. I thought of emigrating to America, but with a wife and two children, financial concerns held us back. I started a business and pursued riches and la dolce vita.


But spiritually there was a void in my life. I was thinking only of pleasure, comfort and security. I had turned my back on the Church—and with it, God—when I was 14. But God had not turned His back on me!


God in His grace began to work in my heart. Suddenly, all the material things I had seemed nothing. Even the earthly relationships so dear to me seemed vain and transitory. It was then that I began to seek a spiritual answer to life. I read the writings of all the major world religions. I found some truth in all of them, but not The Truth. I did not find the peace I sought.


With much reluctance I returned to the study of Christianity. My wife had remained a faithful Roman Catholic, but if Christianity were ever to mean anything to me, I would have to find it for myself.


I considered it logical to begin my study of Christianity with a study of Christ. I bought many books on the life of Christ, but they were by secular authors who treated Jesus as merely a great man, a historical figure, not as God incarnate. Years passed and my spiritual confusion grew worse. At times I thought I would go insane.


Then one day I saw on television a man who talked from the Bible in a way I had never heard before. He explained what the text meant without any appeal to ecclesiastical authority. His message spoke to a profound need in my heart. At the end of the program, he offered a free Bible to everyone who wrote in. Suddenly it hit me that I had been studying the life of Christ from many writers, but I had never read the Bible, the primary source! I sent for the Bible and began reading it. My desire to know Christ grew strong. In my heart, I felt that I did accept Him, but in my mind I had doubts. How could Jesus be both God and man? And how could God be sovereign and man responsible? I was reading the Bible, but I could not understand much of it.


Then, one day, two young men came to my door who said they were from The Bible Today. My wife and I were delighted to see them. They were generous with their time, and they helped me resolve my spiritual problem. They showed me verses of Scripture that presented all aspects of the questions which troubled me, and then they showed me a principle I have found most valuable. The Bible says, "The just shall live by faith." It is by faith that we accept what God says even when we do not understand how it all fits together.


The missionaries gave me another verse which eased my mind—Deuteronomy 29:29: "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."


I saw that my responsibility was simply to accept what God had revealed and apply it to my life, and then rest in the Lord regarding those things which are not revealed.


We prayed together with the missionaries, and as we concluded, I sensed a great joy and peace in my heart that has been there ever since. It was settled. I was free at last in Christ. The world around me had not changed, but I had, and so had my dear wife. We rested in the fact that Jesus had died for all our sins and was now living to give us peace and victory. My mind and heart were at last united...by faith.


God has brought Americans into my life in times of great crisis, and each time they have brought liberation. But the liberation I treasure most is my liberation in Jesus Christ!

End

A MAN NAMED CHRISTMAS

On December 25^th, 1766, a son was born to shoemaker Samuel Evans and his wife, Joanna, in Llandysul, Ceredigion. The couple named the child Christmas. That boy would grow to be a tall, husky, bushy-haired preacher who would lead the spiritual revivals in late 18^th- and early 19^th-century Wales. But he had a hard road to the ministry he would pursue from Anglesey to Cardiff for over half a century.

            Evans’ father died when the boy was only eight or nine years old, leaving the family in poverty. Living with a drunken uncle, Evans received no schooling and by age fifteen, he still could not read or write. His illiteracy grieved him, and with dogged determination he set out to teach himself, plodding through Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress with the help of friends. They also studied the Welsh Bible together: “We bought Bibles and candles, and were accustomed to meet together in the evening in the barn of Penyrallt, and thus in about one month I was able to read the Bible in my mother tongue.”

            At 18 he was converted under the influence of Presbyterian pastor David Davies, and soon began preaching in cottage meetings, having memorized published sermons. Without financial means to further his education, Christmas Evans went to England to earn money in the harvest fields. But in England he began to despair of his prospects in the ministry and nearly lost interest in spiritual matters altogether. The turning point in his life came when he was attacked by a mob, apparently provoked by Evans’ objection to their ungodly activities, and was beaten unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he found that he was blind in his right eye. This crisis awakened his faith and his determination to serve God. At age 20 he was baptized in Aberdare by Baptist pastor Timothy Thomas and joined that congregation.

            At the Baptist Association meeting in 1790, Evans accepted a call to minister in Caernarvonshire. He was ordained at Lleyn to serve five small Baptist chapels in that area. It was there that he met and married Catherine Jones, a member of one of the chapels. Though his preaching was well received, the ministry there took a toll on his health. So after some months in Caernarvonshire, Evans took a vacation to Pembrokeshire. Since he could not afford a horse, he traveled on foot, preaching in every town along the way. Crowds followed him from town to town, spreading revival throughout western Wales.

            Refreshed by his coastal tour, Evans threw himself back into the ministry in Lleyn, walking twenty miles every Sabbath to preach in various chapels and open-air meetings. Yet in spite of the many converts from his ministry, Evans was not pleased with the level of spirituality on the peninsula, and in 1792 he accepted a call to the island of Anglesey, where, for a salary of 17 pounds a year, he was to be responsible for ten chapels. On Christmas Day – his 26^th birthday – he and Catherine crossed the Menai Strait to take up residence in a dilapidated cottage with a ceiling so low the six-foot-tall preacher could not stand up in it! His ministry there prospered, however, and within two years he saw 600 converts, and the ten chapels had doubled to twenty.

            In 1823, Evans’ beloved spiritual companion Catherine died, and the same year he developed an eye problem which necessitated treatment in Aberystwyth. By 1826, the number of chapels in Anglesey had increased exponentially and Baptist preachers numbered twenty-eight. Evans then moved to Caerphilly where 140 more converts were added to the Baptist congregations. From there he ministered in Cardiff, then back to Caernarvon, “where he contended with great difficulties from church debts and dissension.” (Armitage, The History of the Baptists, 612)  On a trip to Swansea to raise funds for the Caernarvon chapels, he suddenly fell ill and died on July 19, 1838. His last message was, “I am leaving you. I have labored in the sanctuary fifty-three years, and this is my comfort, that I have never labored without blood in the basin,” a reference to Exodus 12:22. In his last breath he voiced the words to an old Welsh hymn and passed into eternity.

            Christmas Evans is reputed by some to be the most dynamic preacher of “the golden age of itinerant preachers” in Wales. Historian John Davies takes note of Evans, along with Calvinistic Methodist John Elias and Independent William Williams (William o’r Wern) as the prominent preachers in the revivals that swept Wales in the early 1800s. (The History of Wales, 359) It is estimated that between 1801 and 1851, a new chapel was built on average every eight days. Many of those chapels were the result of the tireless ministry of Christmas Evans.

        First published in Ninnau: The North American Newspaper, November-December 2015

WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

(Isaiah 53:1 NKJV)

This time of the year there is a lot of talk about the birth of Jesus (though not nearly as much as in past decades!). The Baby Jesus, the helpless infant lying in a manger is a heart-warming image. The Babe in the manger is also less threatening, disturbing, than the adult Jesus of Nazareth who claimed to be the Son of God and Savior of mankind!

Isaiah prophesied not only of the coming of the Messiah, but also of the attitude of skepticism and outright disbelief of those to whom He came. “Who as believed our report?” Isaiah asks. The Apostle John witnessed the rejection of Jesus Christ by the Jewish nation under the instigation of their religious leaders, as well as the ignorant indifference of the world in general:

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. (John 1:10-11)

The following illustration comes from Matthias Ruether, principal of Brake Bible and Missions School in Lemgo, Germany.

Imagine being not prepared when the king arrives. That's rather tragic. But this is just what happened in a small restaurant in Ladenburg near Heidelberg, Germany, on August 22, 2011. Around noon, a friendly-looking married couple in their mid-sixties was seen standing in front of the "Gueldener Stern" ("Golden Star"), the oldest inn in town, studying the menu. The proprietress walked up to them and told them, somewhat gruffly, that they were at capacity. She went on to explain that a wedding reception was taking place that day, and not one table was to be had. Maybe they'd have better luck in the pizza restaurant next door. So the famished couple walked over to the Italian restaurant, much to the joy of the pizza baker, who realized at once who stood in front of him - namely, the Swedish royal couple, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Sylvia! ….

When the proprietress (of the inn) was asked about her faux pas, she was more than just a little uncomfortable about it. "I just don't have time to read magazines all day," she offered in explanation as to why she did not recognize the royal visitors. . .

Christmas reminds us that the King of the world came. Unrecognized by most, he became man in a small town in Israel. "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him" (John 1:11). Had the proprietress but recognized the Swedish royal couple, she would have been saved from major embarrassment. But there is a lot more at stake at Christmas. He who recognizes the Son of God will have eternal life. "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God," (John 1:12).  (Translated from German by Ilka Jones)

"I just don't have time to read magazines all day," said the proprietress.  But do folks today have even a few minutes of the day to read the Bible? Even those who profess to be Christians are too busy to read and study God’s Word. Surveys have indicated that only 10% of those who say they are evangelical Christians have read the Bible in its entirety. In Jesus’ day, even those who did read the Scriptures failed to recognize the Messiah when He was in their midst:  “You search the Scriptures,” Jesus challenged the religious leaders, “for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” (John 5:39)

Who has believed our report? asks Isaiah. Indeed. I challenge every reader today to read all of Isaiah 53, and ask yourself honestly: “Who does this chapter describe?” And pray that God’s Holy Spirit would reveal Christ to you. For Isaiah goes on to ask: And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?”

Unless and until God opens a person’s heart and mind to the truth, that person will remain in darkness and ignorance. The problem is not intellectual – it is spiritual. Pride keeps people from yielding to Christ. Jesus prayed,

 "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. (Matthew 11:25-26)

Have you believed the report, the message of Christ prophesied centuries before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem? Have you embraced Him as your Lord and Savior?

REVELATION: GETTING THE MESSAGE

No book of the Bible has attracted more unfruitful speculation than the Book of Revelation. Yet God promised a blessing for the reading, hearing, and heeding of that book:

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.  (Revelation 1:3 NASB)

In order to gain that blessing and avoid the rabbit trails of speculation, we need to understand the main message God wants us to get, which is the contrast and conflict between the fallen world system and the kingdom of God.  Note how this theme is developed in the following points:

1                

1.   The present world system is hostile to God and His people. Its values and practices are contrary to all God’s commandments.

2.     The world system gets its directions from Satan (the serpent, the dragon).

3.   The world system has its own form of religion that mimics God’s revealed faith and practice. An antichrist (the beast), a false prophet (an unholy spirit), and a false “father” (Satan).  Note: the second beast superficially looks like a male lamb, but speaks like a dragon (Satan) (13:11)

4.    This system is supported by deceptive “great signs” (13:13; 16:14; 19:20) Those who are seeking “signs and wonders” to support their faith will be especially susceptible to this deception.

5.     This false religion persecutes true believers.

6.  The evil world system is called "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." (17:5)

7.   The evil world system uses religion to control the people, but once that control is accomplished, it rejects and destroys all religion but its own. (17:16-18)

8.     God’s people are commanded to “come out” of this evil system. (18:4)

9.     God’s people will be persecuted, even to the point of physical death, but they are assured of eternal life and a reign with Christ. (5:10; 20:6; 22:5)

10.  A new heaven and a new earth in which there will be no sin, no tears, and no death await the faithful in Christ. (21-22)

The real danger in reading and studying the Book of Revelation is that we can get so caught up in trying to fit every detail into our preconceived prophetic scheme and world events that we miss the real message!  God promises a blessing to those who get that message and live by it!

Have you bowed in simple trust to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? The time is short. God’s final message – the Apocalypse, The Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ – holds great hope for those who belong to Him.  But it proclaims eternal judgment to those who reject God’s Son.

EARTH-DWELLERS VS. CITIZENS OF HEAVEN

For all its mysteries, the Book of Revelation makes one thing very clear: those who have claimed this fallen, sin-cursed world as their permanent home are the enemies of God and His people. Revelation calls them “those who dwell upon the earth,” or “earth-dwellers.” The word used in the original Greek text is the participle form of katoikeo, which means to settle down, to live permanently in. 

It’s not hard to see this philosophy in everything from beer commercials to the latest alleged medical breakthrough that holds out the hope that people will one day live forever – on this same earth, with its wars, crime, hatred, greed, and lust! This world is all the earth-dwellers have and they hold on to it will all their strength and determination. They also resent any disruption of their enjoyment of this world, things like disease, accidents, and natural disasters.  When homes are destroyed by hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes, we hear people say, “It’s just not right!”  They want to blame someone.  Ultimately, the one they blame is God.  “How could a good God allow such terrible things to happen?” The Bible’s explanation that the sin of mankind brought all this misery, that Paradise was lost when man rebelled against God, is dismissed without a thought.

The Book of Revelation strips away the mask of self-righteousness from the earth-dwellers and shows them for the enemies of God they are.  Let’s look at some passages.

The first mention of the earth-dwellers is in Jesus’ message to the small but faithful church of Philadelphia in Asia Minor, what is today Turkey.

Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. (Rev. 3:10 NASB, phrase highlighted in bold throughout.)

Jesus assures His faithful followers that they will be protected from the wrath that will be poured out on the earth-dwellers.  In Revelation 6:10, the martyrs in heaven appeal to the Lord for judgment of those who slew them for their faith.

“and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"  (Rev. 6:10)

The attitude of the earth-dwellers toward God’s people is vividly portrayed in their hatred and persecution of God’s two witnesses (possibly representative of the Church in the last days)[i].

“And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. (Revelation 11:3-10)

It’s Christmastime for the ungodly earth-dwellers when they believe they have silenced God’s witnesses forever! But that’s not the end of the story!

Judgment of the Earth-Dwellers

The judgment for which the martyrs prayed is announced in Revelation 8:13 --

Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"

Those trumpet blasts announced the judgments of God recorded in chapters 9-11, which include the release of demonic hordes and painful torments on those very earth-dwellers who reject God. That judgment is further depicted in Chapter 11, after the rapture of God’s witnesses:

But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." Then they went up into heaven in the cloud,[ii] and their enemies watched them.[iii] And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly. Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever." And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. "And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth." (Revelation 11:11-18)

Rather than worshiping God, the earth-dwellers worship the Beast, Satan incarnate (Rev. 13:1-9), whom Paul calls “the man of sin” (or “lawlessness,’ 2 Thessalonians 2:3). The earth-dwellers are already being prepared for such a “leader,” as we see the rule of law being flouted shamelessly by national and world leaders. The arbitrary rule of a world dictator who will offer peace and prosperity to all who will give him absolute allegiance (e.g. “worship”) is more feasible than ever.

A Challenge to Citizenship

Everyone is a citizen of either this present world or the world to come. Paul contrasts the two when he encourages the Philippians to persevere in faith and holiness:

For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. (Philippians 3:18-21, bold print added.)

Sadly, some who once declared their allegiance to Christ and even ministered in his name eventually show that their true citizenship is in this present world. Such was Paul’s former co-worker Demas:

for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica . . .

 (2 Timothy 4:10)[iv]

Where is your citizenship today? If you have lived for “this present world” up to this point, your future is not bright. But it doesn’t have to stay that way! The invitation of God’s Spirit is still extended:

The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. (Revelation 22:17)

The New Heaven and New Earth

In one of the most blessed passages of Scripture, the Apostle John describes his vision of what awaits those who have trusted Christ and are citizens of Heaven:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. (Revelation 21:1-7)

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:1-5)

Where is your citizenship? This old cursed world is coming to an end, and a glorious new Earth is coming soon.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:10-13)

And Jesus said:

"And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book." (Revelation 22:7)

  

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[i] See Beale, G. K., The Book of Revelation, for a thorough and compelling presentation of this view.

[ii] Compare 1 Thesssalonians 4:16-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52.

[iii] As William Hendriksen pointed out in More Than Conquerors, this is “hardly a secret rapture!”

[iv] Contrast Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 1:24.

ARTIFACT OF OLD WELSH CHURCH

 Years ago, among the old dilapidated volumes in the “Foreign Language Books” section on the fourth floor of John K. King Used and Rare Books in Detroit, I found a large, leather-bound family Bible in Welsh. I carefully opened to the flyleaf (which was loose) and looked at the penciled price: $12.50. That’s all I needed to know; I would have paid much more for it.

            At home I carefully leafed through the old Bible, which was written in an older Welsh than is currently used, and I discovered a clipping from what appeared to be The Saturday Evening Post. It was a portrait of a pleasant-looking, gray-haired gentleman with a whisk-broom mustache on a very Welsh-looking face. He looked familiar, but I could not identify him, nor was there a caption to help me. Years later, a documentary on Great Britain in World War I revealed that the photo was that of Great Britain’s prime minister from 1916 to 1922, David Lloyd-George. I wondered who the Welsh family was who had owned the Bible and had placed the clipping inside. The Bible also contained a homemade bookmark with the lyrics to “God Bless the Prince of Wales.” Since the title page was missing, the date of publication was lost. If the owner of this Bible was living in Detroit when Lloyd-George was prime minister of England, he or she would likely have been a member of the Welsh Baptist Church on Detroit’s richly ethnic East Side, which today is the city of Eastpoint. At the turn of the 19^th century there were Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Hungarians, Eastern European Jews, and Germans, in addition to the Welsh and Irish in Detroit, all with their own places of worship in their own languages.

            I learned about the Welsh church in Detroit many years ago from an elderly Russian woman, Stella Karenko, who had grown up on the East Side. “On my way to my church,” Stella told me back about 1990, “I passed by the Welsh church, and I remember hearing their wonderful singing! I wonder what happened to all those Welsh hymn books?”

            By the mid-twentieth century, nearly all the foreign-language churches in the Detroit area had become English-speaking, and they gradually lost their distinctive ethnic character, or simply ceased to exist. Immigration from Great Britain declined throughout the early 1900’s, and the Welsh population assimilated into American culture.

            Who knows how long that big old Welsh Bible had rested on the shelf of John K. King Books before I came along? It will remain a treasure on my bookshelf as a reminder of the Welsh Baptist Church in old ethnic Detroit.

Copyright Thomas L. Jones. First published by the Welsh-American Genealogical Society newsletter, Fall, 2015.