THE AWESOME TRUTH

THE AWESOME TRUTH ( In answer to some issues that were brought up.)

                The book of Joel is a book about the last days. Peter quoted it on the day of Pentecost, but Pentecost was only a partial fulfillment of those prophecies simply because many things that Joel says there did not occur at the time of Acts 2.

                We know this prophecy stretches on to the end of time because it goes on to say: “The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered; for on Mt Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.” Joel 2:31-32.

                Questions we must ask:

1.       What is Israel doing back in its land and in Jerusalem?

2.       How did they get there?

3.       What is the time frame?

4.       Well, to get those answers we have to move on into chapter 3.

                “For in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel WHOM THEY HAVE SCATTERED AMONG THE NATIONS; and they have divided up My land. (Two State Solution)

                Questions we must ask:

1.       What is the time frame here? Answer:  Armageddon

2.       Who scattered His people?  Answer: They have been driven from every land      and slaughtered in the pogroms and the holocaust. They were driven out of Russia, Poland, Germany, France and Spain and scattered over the face of the earth by the Catholic Church, by Protestants and by anti-Semitists everywhere.

3.       Who then restored the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem? Answer: God, by His miraculous providence and according to His promises.

                The land of Israel was a wasteland for 1800+ years as verified by Samuel Clemens when He visited the area in the 1800s. There was nothing there but rocks and goats and scrub. Yet when Israel came back into its land, it went from being useless scrub land to becoming the bread, fruit and vegetable basket of Europe just as God had promised. The desert bloomed like a rose.

                So, let’s move on to Romans 11:

1.       Vs 11: By Israel’s transgression (crucifying Christ) salvation has come to the Gentiles.

2.       Vs 12: If their transgression brought riches to the Gentiles how much more will their fulfillment be?

3.       Vs 17: some of the Jewish branches were broken off so that wild Gentile branches could be grafted in.

4.       Vs 18: God warns the gentiles not to become arrogant because it is not the Gentiles that support the root, but the Jewish root supports the Gentiles.

5.       Vs.22: we must continue to live in God’s kindness (Covenant) or HE will cut us off as well.

6.       Vs 23: God is able to graft the Jews back in again.

7.       Vs. 25: this hardening of the Jew’s hearts will only last until the fullness of the gentiles has come in.

8.       Vs. 26: And thus all of Israel will be saved; just as it is written.

9.       Vs. 27: This is My covenant with them when I take their sins away.

10.   Vs. 29: God’s gifts and His calling are irrevocable.

11.   Vs. 32: For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all.

                Questions we must ask:

1.       What is the time frame here? Answer: The Jews will be grafted back in when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Adventists would probably call this the close of probation, or it could be likened to that of Noah’s day when the door of the ark was shut and people’s fates were sealed. It could also correspond to Revelation 22:11 where it says that he who is wicked would remain wicked and he who was righteous would remain righteous. It is the cutoff point of some kind

2.       Did the Gentiles replace the Jews or were they grafted into the Jewish Tree? Answer: “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise.” In other words we are grafted into the Jewish tree through the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, Jesus Christ.

3.       Did Israel’s sin nullify God’s promises to Israel? Answer: No, His promises, His gifts and calling are irrevocable. Rom. 11:29

So how does this affect last day events?

1.       Israel is back in their land in the last days.

2.       They will rebuild their temple in the last days. Mt. 24:15b

3.       The antichrist will commit the abomination of desolation in that temple. Mt. 24:15

4.       When that happens Israel will have to flee to the mountains.

5.       Israel’s Fall Feasts will be fulfilled in the last days just as the Spring Feasts were fulfilled exactly at Christ’s first coming.  For instance:

1.       Jesus died on the cross on Passover

2.       Jesus lay in the tomb on the feast of unleavened bread

3.       Jesus rose from the dead and presented Himself to the Father on First Fruits

4.       Jesus sent  down His Holy Spirit on the Feast of Pentecost

5.       LIKEWISE: Jesus may return on the Feast of Trumpets and the saints caught up to meet Him in the air. Yom Teruah

6.       Judgment will occur on the  Day of Atonement  Yom Kippur

6.       Jesus will take up His earthly millennial reign on the Feast of Tabernacles. Feast of Sukkot

We cannot rightly understand the book of Revelation or Daniel, or the Minor Prophets unless Israel is back in their own land in the last days. Many events that have previously been written off as allegories will become literal events once the pieces are in place.

                Ellen White as a victim of replacement theology had no clue that God would finish His promises to Israel or that they would come back into their own land as promised. But to her credit, she pointed forward to a future time of discovery as men of God would study Daniel and Revelation and the Minor Prophets and make breakthroughs in understanding. So, in spite of the Great Controversy and all that is good in it, she knew that she still didn’t have the full picture.

                Given the magnitude of Israel’s coming back into their own land we must admit that this event is a monumental game changer that can’t be ignored. It has to be one of the missing pieces of the puzzle. It is the key reason why many Bible scholars went back to the Bible to find out what they had missed. So when people criticize some doctrines saying that they are recent fabrications, we need to remember that God’ opens our eyes and that prophecy is ever unfolding to our view. It was in the Bible all along, but doctrines and traditions can blind us to truth until we are forced to face it.

                The other alternative for Adventists right now is that many are embracing Liberation Theology and that is definitely not the way to go. Wouldn’t it be better to make a few needed course corrections rather than to throw the baby out with the bathwater as some are doing? Do we really want to join the ecumenical movement and side with the Pope in these last days? I think not.

                To their credit, some are seeking a deeper relationship with the Lord through His Holy Spirit and that is good, but I know many that are abandoning ship altogether.

                We need to know that Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. But He has to be more to us than a bumper sticker. Paul said it best in Galatians 2:20, 21:

                “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered Himself up for me.”

                If we can live there then nothing else will be able to separate us from the love of Christ. All that we do in terms of love and obedience must derive from that relationship with Jesus as He dwells in us by His Holy Spirit and instructs us by His Word.

                Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that is the AWESOME TRUTH!