It is this Bible student/teacher’s position that those who are serious about making Heaven our eternal home, had better recognize the signs of the times ... and return to the Word of God for direction. There are so many mixed signals being sent; so many different messages from so many different religious organizations and denominations; and so many proclaiming "This is the way", it is no wonder why there is so much confusion in the religious world, today. Call me what you want, but I am convinced the battle is not really ours because God always has a plan ... and He always has a man.

Those of us who plan to make Heaven our eternal home had better realize the signs of the times are all around us. And, we had better realize it is going to take more than a casual profession of faith ... or works without faith OR faith without works ... to make it to Heaven. Also, we had better get back to the Word of God, and allow it to be the rule and guide of our faith and moral conduct ... instead of the creeds, doctrines, theories, ideas, traditions and opinions of man. The Bible is really not complicated. People are complicated ... especially if they are trying to make the Bible say what they want it to say, which it will do when not "rightly divided" or taken out of context. Last, but certainly not least, we need to remember a couple of things:

1. IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME.

2. And the story about an important job to be done:
When Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. -Author unknown

Genesis 49:1-2 ... and 8-12 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father. .... Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

Following the Exodus from Egypt, wandering in the wilderness (desert) for 40 years, and the house of the Lord being a tabernacle (tent) for about 400 years, God had the son of King David, Solomon, to build a magnificent temple in Jerusalem. However, after King Solomon’s death, the kingdom divided into two parts. The Kingdom of Israel (also known as the Northern Kingdom - 10 tribes) had their capital at Samaria. And, the Kingdom of Judah (also known as the Southern Kingdom - 2 tribes) had their capital at Jerusalem. After fighting between the two kingdoms and outside adversaries, too ... and after some very corrupt kings, Israel lasted a little over 200 years, and was destroyed by Assyria (becoming known as the 10 lost tribes). Judah lasted a little over 300 years, and was destroyed by Babylon. After 70 years of Babylonian captivity, and after Daniel read the handwriting on the wall, Babylon fell, fulfilling these prophecies ...

Jeremiah 25:11-12 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

Jeremiah 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

Daniel 5:25-31 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

200 years BEFORE the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem by Cyrus, Isaiah called him by name ...

Isaiah 44:26-28 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

Isaiah 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

Isaiah 45:13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.

The 400 years separating the Old and New Testaments has been called a period of silence. There were no great prophets in the land. Regardless of what others may believe, I still contend, God always had a plan ... and God always has a man. We may not understand, but everything is according to His timetable.

Matthew 3:1-3 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

As prophesied in Micah 5:2 and Isaiah 7:14, when the fulness of time had come (Galatians 4:4) our Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of a virgin ... and was of the lineage of Judah and King David ... to pay sin’s debt as the Lamb of God and gather all into one body (Ephesians 1:10). Joseph was a just man. He married the virgin Mary, and knew her not until after the Christ Child was born (Matthew 1:18-25). Therefore, she was a virgin when she gave birth to Messiah. At any rate, Jospeh was also of the lineage of Judah and King David.

Jerusalem, and the second Temple, was destroyed about 40 years after our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified just outside the walls of the city. However, He was born to die for the sins of the world. It was even prophesied that He would be rejected and wounded by His own people and friends (Isaiah Chapter 53 and Zechariah Chapter 13). And, it has been said that 1948, when Israel once again became a nation, is what Jesus referred to in His parable of the fig tree putting forth its leaves, and this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled ... in Matthew 24:32-34.

Although, I have covered a whole lot of territory, I want to go back to the Old Testament. God’s Word is a gold mine of wisdom and lessons for us to live by. Samuel’s mother was barren. And, on one of their annual trips to worship and sacrifice at the house of the Lord in Shiloh (tranquility .. a place of rest ... where the tabernacle had been set up in Joshua 18:1), she earnestly prayed for a man child, vowing that she would loan him back to God, all the days of his life. God honored her prayer, and granted her wish. After which, she followed through with her vow, and took her son to Eli the priest at Shiloh right after he was weaned. That sets the stage for many lessons that we need to remember today ...

1 Samuel 2:1-9 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

Psalm 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

1 Samuel 2:10-17 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD. And the priest's custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

There’s no substitute for love, and loving what God has called you to do. Nothing is hid from Him. He knows who is real and who isn’t. And, God always has a plan ... and He always has a man. God bless!

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