THE DARK SIDE OF TRADITION

THE DARK SIDE OF TRADITION

                Tradition can be a good thing. If your tradition, for instance, involves basing everything on the Word of God, then that is a good tradition. But if on the other hand you live by traditions that have been handed down and you embrace those traditions as being the truth, an amazing thing happens. You can become absolutely blind to anything in the Bible that speaks that is contrary to what you believe.

                Paul explained it like this:

                “But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. “2 Cor. 3:14-16

                When it says that their minds were hardened, think of clay. When it is soft and pliable it can be shaped by the potter’s hand, but once it has been baked in the oven, no further changes can be made.

                Jesus addressed this same issue saying: “…thus you invalidate the Word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.” Mark 7:13

                And again Jesus said: “But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.” Mt. 15:9

                This last week I happened upon a preacher on You Tube. He had his doctorate of divinity and seemed reasonably well informed, but when it came to one of his sermons on bible prophecy, he emphatically declared that neither Matthew 24, nor the book of Revelation have anything whatsoever to do with our time.

                I thought to myself, “This ought to be good. In the face of all that is going on in the world today in direct fulfillment of Bible prophecy, how is he going to convince me that Bible prophecy has no relevance to us today?”

                Well he went on to describe in great detail how all of Jesus’ prophecies in Mt. 24 were fulfilled in A.D. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem and that the book of Revelation also spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem and the persecution of the early church… that it all took place back then and so these charlatans that are preaching Bible prophecy today and holding prophecy seminars and raking in the big bucks are all wrong. Hmmm.

                I, of course recognized this doctrine as Preterism and I don’t have a doctorate in theology, but it seemed like a hundred bible texts came to mind that unimpeachably refuted everything this man was saying.

1.       If we take even a rudimentary look at Mt. 24 for instance we firstly recognize that Jesus was answering two questions and not just one. He had just announced to His disciples that the temple would be destroyed, saying: “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another which will not be torn down.” Mt 24:2

                So when they arrived at the Mt. of Olives the disciples had two questions burning in their hearts. They wanted to know when this magnificent temple would be torn down and secondly, based upon knowledge that Jesus had previously given them (that He was going away to prepare a place for them but that He would come again and receive them unto Himself John 3:16 and elsewhere) they also wanted to know when He would come again and what signs to watch for.

                The disciples asked Jesus in private saying: “Tell us, when will these things be and what will be he sign of Your coming and the end of the age? (Or as the KJV says," The end of the world.")

                So Jesus was answering two questions that day and not just one and of course Matthew 24 ends with the return of Christ as does the book of Revelation and even Daniel for that matter.

                What a hopeless and empty doctrine Preterism is, leaving us with no clue as to when Jesus will return as well as totally ignoring all signs as having any significance in our day. For one thing, this ties in very strongly with replacement theology (Totally ignoring Romans 11) as well as to assign no prophetic significance to Israel’s return to their land, which is prophesied dozens if not hundreds of times in the Old Testament.

                There is another prophetic view called “The Historicist view of eschatology” which sees a progression of fulfilled prophecy over the past 2000 years and culminating in our day. This view is much better than a Preterist view, but is still somewhat lacking because it ignores a very important principle of prophecy. PROPHECY IS PATTERN. In other words; once something happens in history it becomes a pattern that will repeat over and over again with growing intensity, like birth pangs until it all culminates in the final, global coming together of all of these patterns. But historicists will look at some event in history and declare that that event was the fulfillment of that prophecy, for instance the white horse of the apocalypse rode across the stage way back with the introduction of a certain pope, who changed times and laws and so that prophecy is a done deal right?. No, it is a pattern of things to come. Let me explain:

               

                Babylon of old becomes a pattern of a nation that falls under its own corruption and so and serves other gods. So as we see this rapidly rising global kingdom of the antichrist the bible calls it Babylon.  The final end of time will reflect the patterns of Babylon complete with its false religions and its moral and spiritual decay and so on.

                The days of Noah form another pattern that Jesus tells us will be repeated in the end times. The days of Lot and of Sodom form a pattern that will be repeated in the last days as well. Prophecy is nothing more than repeating patterns, so that once these patterns begin to repeat themselves with ever growing intensity, we can learn from history important information concerning our day. What cause Babylon to fall? What caused the other nations to fall? What caused Rome to fall... or the British Empire?  Is America following those patterns today?

                There is yet a third prophetic view known as “Futurism.” Futurism is very popular today because it sees the things that are happening in our world and it matches these events up with bible prophecy and while we may at times misread an event, we are nevertheless told to watch and pray and let’s face it. God gave us Bible Prophecy so that we would understand the conditions that would prevail at the time of His coming and we would be foolish to even pretend that end time events are not happening all around us right now. The final kingdom of the antichrist is rising as a global government in defiance of God rising right before our eyes… like an elephant in the living room.

                So I am a futurist/historicist because I believe that end time events are happening today, but I also believe that these prophecies have repeated over and over again throughout history in ever increasing patterns called in the Bible” Birth pangs.” And right now I believe that the water is about to break as we enter into a series of events that can no longer be stopped or reversed.

                As for Israel, we know according to scripture that they come back in unbelief. We know that Satan is setting up his kingdom in Jerusalem in order to preempt the millennial reign of Christ. We know that there is much evil in Israel, because Revelation 11:8 calls Jerusalem “Sodom and Egypt” where also our Lord was crucified. The Two Witnesses will be killed there and will lie in the streets for 3 days.

                We also know that the entire government and economy of Israel has been high jacked by the Talmudic/Cabbalist workers of the black arts… but none of this should take us by surprise and in fact we should understand it because one of the great delusions that will deceive if possible even the very elect in the end will, in my opinion, come as a result of not properly discerning true Israel from False Israel.

                And so, as it says in Revelation, ”The whole world will wonder after the beast” Rev. 13:8 and this is why it is so disconcerting to watch, dozens of Protestant denominations returning to Rome and the same dozens of denominations embracing the Cabbalistic side of Israel along with true Torah believing Israel. They are not discerning the difference between true Israel and false Israel. They are embracing a Cabbalist view of the coming antichrist kingdom. They are building a temple, not for Jesus, the true Messiah, but for the antichrist. And yet much of Protestant Christianity is falling for this.

                Do they not understand that many factions including the Papacy, and the Cabbalist regime, the Free Masons, the military/industrial complex, the world bankers and the leaders of nations are now forming into the global kingdom of the antichrist? Can they not see that the tiny state of Israel is at the center of all of this and that behind the scenes this is a battle between Christ and Satan over the hearts and the governments of men? This is all described in the books of Daniel and Revelation and in the teachings of Jesus.

                Take for instance the temple that is now in the planning stages and ready to be rebuilt in Jerusalem: Jesus told us about this saying: “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which is spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand) then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains…” Mt. 24:15

                So why did Jesus insert the warning (Let the reader understand?) What are we to understand? Just 14 verses earlier Jesus told His disciples that the temple would be torn down with not one stone upon another and now He is telling them that an Abomination of Desolation will yet take place and someone will stand in the Holy Place. This “someone” we know from other scriptures to be the antichrist who will demand the worship of the world and he will say that he is the true God of this world and this is the very definition of the Abomination of Desolation. He will demand the worship of the entire human race and this, of course, ties in with the Mark of the Beast and our inability to buy and sell if we are forced out of the system by believing in Jesus Christ.

                So what are we to understand from Jesus’ prophetic statement? He was saying that there would be another temple and another ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION and when that occurs there will be a time of trouble such as the world has never seen since the beginning of the world nor ever shall. Mt. 24:21.

                People make void the clear words of prophecy in saying that this has already occurred in the past and will not happen again in our day. And those who are bound in traditions will also apply the flight from Jerusalem to themselves in whatever country they live in, when in fact the bible clearly states that it is the people in Judea that will have to flee. This is going to take place in Israel as true Torah based Jews and Messianic Jews will be forced to flee the city.

                Did this event happen in the past? Absolutely it happened in A.D. 70, but that event didn’t end with the return of Christ. They did not see the sign of the Son of Man appearing in the sky coming in the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.  They didn’t see the sun darkened and the moon turn to blood, or the stars falling from the sky. They did not see the powers of the heavens being shaken as they are getting ready to shake today. (Mt. 24:29-30)

                It is exceedingly important to understand how Bible prophecy works. It is also important to understand in context where the events will take place. Zechariah tells us that in the last days Jerusalem will be a cup of trembling to all of the surrounding nations. Can you not see them boiling in the Middle East? The entire world is boiling as a result of what is going on in Israel. And in this same chapter it talks about the Jews looking on Him whom they have pierced and mourning for Him. And Zechariah 14 shows Jesus Christ fighting for Israel at the battle of Armageddon and then returning with His saints and stepping foot on the Mt. of Olives. And it says of that day:

                “And it will come about in that day that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea… and the Lord will be king over all the earth in that day the Lord will be the only one and His name the only one… and the rest of the chapter goes on to describe the millennial reign of Christ when the families of the earth will go up to Jerusalem to worship the King. What are we to do with these things?

                But in many cases our traditions blind us so completely that we can’t read the scriptures as pliable clay vessels. We have been hardened in our way like baked clay so that even when we read the Word a veil remains over our faces.

                The truth is, that no matter how evil things may appear in Jerusalem and around the world; Jesus Christ is going to bring it all to an end and destroy Satan and his false global kingdom with the brightness of His coming and in that day the meek shall inherit the earth and His kingdom will come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

                We don’t fully understand the exact timing of these events. I don’t fully understand where to place everything, but we do know that Jesus Christ wins in the end and all of this sorrow and suffering and grief and injustice will be destroyed and Jesus will reign forever. In the meantime, let us be about our Father’s business. And don’t become like hardened clay so that you are unable to see and understand new things as Bible Prophecy unfolds before our eyes.

                Am I trying to impose my views on people? No. What I am saying is that we need to diligently study these things, so that we will not be caught up in the deceptions that are sweeping the world. Most of all we must learn how to abide in the secret place of the Most High and to abide under the shadow of the Almighty.