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Are we in the Tribulation? 2 of 4

6/25/2022

Hi all,
Last week I shared about Daniel's 70 weeks. The angel Gabriel told Daniel that from the decree to rebuild the city until Messiah comes would be 69 out of 70 prophetic weeks, or 483 years. Daniel was told that Messiah would be killed, 'but not for Himself." That leaves 1 week or 7 years left. Gabriel told Daniel in 9:26-27 that 70th week will be marked by this event:

"The people of the prince (the man of sin) who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary...in this way...he will confirm a covenant (treaty) that is for 7 years. But in the midst of that treaty (3 1/2 years) he will cause the sacrifices to stop and the abominations will happen until the fulfillment of everything."

So there remains the 70th week, marked by a 7 year peace treaty made with Israel.

This understanding was confirmed by Jesus in Matthew 24:15-16 when He said:
"When you see the abomination spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place - whoever reads this let him therefore understand - then let them in Judea run to the mountains..."

About that 70th week and why we aren't in the Tribulation yet
The apostle John is caught up to heaven in Revelation 4:2 and brought before the Father's throne, which is described in chapter 4. It is the Father on the throne, that is clear. There is a rainbow around the throne before which is a clear flooring. There are cherubs around the throne, and as we see in chapter 5:1, the Father is holding a scroll in His right hand.

Chapter 5 opens with the apostle crying because there was no one the Father considered worthy to open the book and loose the seals. Then he saw a Lamb as if it had been killed, the lion of the tribe of Judah, who is now alive. Verse 7 tells us He is worthy and He comes forward and "took the book out of the right hand of Him who sits on the throne..." So we have the Father in chapter 4 giving the book to Jesus in chapter 5.

Fun Fact: Daniel was shown the same scene. In Daniel 7:9-14 he sees the 'Ancient of Days' (the Father) sitting on His throne, to whom the Son of Man comes in the clouds of heaven to receive a kingdom without end.

The 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls
The most common email about this subject I receive have to do with the seals, usually saying something like; 'We are in the time of the 3rd seal'. Having already answered the core question that we are not yet in that 7 year time of the end, marked by leader(s) in Europe (and perhaps other nations in the Mediterranean region) making a 7 year peace treaty with Israel, lets look at the seals.

The Revelation is an interesting book compiled in a way to give us 3 viewpoints: What is happening on earth, what is happening in heaven, and informational. The 7 seals, trumpets, and bowls are related in numerical order to the other - Seal 1, trumpet 1, and bowl 1 are related. Seal 2, trumpet 2, and bowl 2 are all related, and so on.

The 6th of each is the return of Jesus, the 7th of each is the end of the age/setting up of His kingdom
The 6th seal is opened in 6:12-17 and is the return of Jesus, known as 'the wrath of the lamb', or 'the day of wrath', also 'the day of the Lord' in Jewish understanding (OT). Notice it says the sun is darkened and the moon too, and the stars fall from heaven at His return. In Judaism (OT) the most common term is 'the day of the Lord'.

This is exactly what Jesus said of His return in Matthew 24:29-31: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon won't shine, and the stars will fall from heaven..."

How Jesus described His return here in Matthew 24 is the benchmark by which we measure other references to the sun and moon being darkened. For instance, in Acts 2:17-21 Peter quotes Joel who saw the same thing, explaining that God's Spirit would be poured out on men and women, boys and girls, until the sun was darkened and the moon darkened red at the 'great and terrible day of the Lord'. (Tongues has therefore not ceased and won't until His return, who is the fullness of all things)

So the 6th seal depicts the 'day of the Lord' as it states.
When the 6th trumpet is blown in 9:14-21 and the 6th bowl is poured out in 16:12, the apostle sees a 200,000,000 man army from the 'kings of the east' crossing over a dried up Euphrates river on their way to invading Israel.

Putting this with the war of Ezekiel 38-39 in our day, it means when that war happens and Russia, Iran, Turkey and allies are defeated, the only threat to Israel will be China and 'the kings of the east'. That is why some 7 years after the Ezekiel war - the kings of the east travel without risk across the southern part of Russia on their way into northern Israel.

The 7th of each is after Jesus returns as seen in the 7th seal of 8:1, which says there was silence in heaven for about 30 minutes. The 7th trumpet of 10:7 says 'the mystery of God is finished', and in 11:15 also, "Many voices in heaven proclaimed, 'the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God, and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.'" When the 7th bowl is poured out in 16:7 the Father God cries out: "It is done!"

So now that we have settled the 6th of each is His return, and the 7th of each is the end, let us look closer at seals, trumpets, and bowls 1-5.

And this we will do next week...until then, blessings!
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com or john@cwowi.org

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Are we in the Tribulation? 1 of 4

6/18/2022

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Hi all,
I get asked this question quite a bit, or I get told by someone by email that we are in the 3rd seal time...wrong.

To the Jewish faith...
The 7 year time Christians call 'the tribulation' is known as 'the time of Jacob's trouble' and many other names in Judaism. When Jesus spoke of it in Matthew 24 the concept of a 7 year time of difficulty in the earth had been well established since Daniel 9:24-27, when he spoke of 70 weeks of years (490 years) determined for Israel. There are about 300 mostly Old Testament references to this 7 year time.

Daniel had been taken captive to Babylon and Jerusalem was destroyed. Jeremiah had prophesied Israel would be in Babylon for 70 years, and Daniel read that (Daniel 9:2) and was praying and repenting for his people. The angel Gabriel came to Daniel (9:21) and told him 490 years in 70 sets of 7 years had been determined for Israel. Gabriel said the countdown of those 490 years would start when the command went out to rebuild Jerusalem, a process that would take 49 years, or 7 prophetic years, to complete.

That is in fact what happened, the decree went out in 457BC and rebuilding took until 408BC. These things are covered in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in particular. 7 of the 70 years were therefore taken in the rebuilding, and Gabriel told him after that there would be 62 more weeks, or 434 years until Messiah came, but He would be killed, 'but not for Himself' (9:26).

Allowing for differences between our calendar and the Jewish calendar, that takes us to about the year 28AD, when Jesus began His ministry. That used up 69 of the 70 weeks.

This is why everyone was asking if John the Baptist or Jesus was the Messiah - they knew they were in the time frame when Messiah would appear. They were expecting Messiah.

Here was their problem
When Gabriel told Daniel at the end of 70 weeks or 490 years from the time the decree went out to rebuild Jerusalem, he said at the end of that 70th week Messiah would usher in everlasting righteousness. It would be the end of sins and iniquity, and prophecy would be sealed up at that time - the 'complete' had come.

So the people in Jesus' day were expecting a Messiah who would defeat the Romans using supernatural power. That was likely what Judas was thinking when he betrayed Jesus, trying to force Him to use His power to defeat the Romans.

Even before He ascended, in Acts 1:6-7 they asked Jesus: "Now are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" - (Now are you going to kick the Romans out? Now since you are resurrected, are you going to take control of the earth?) Jesus told them it wasn't for them to know the things the Father keeps within Himself.

The mystery kept secret from mankind for ages and generations
That leaves Israel with 69 of the 70 weeks fulfilled, and confusion; What happened? Where is that 70th week? Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:1-10, in part:

"How by revelation He made to me the mystery which was kept secret from the sons of man but is now revealed by His apostles and prophets, that the Gentiles would be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, partakers of Messiah..."

That was the mystery the Father kept secret - He was going to give not just Israel, but the whole world, all Gentile people, the opportunity to experience His salvation through Jesus Christ. Paul said it was not revealed to mankind until Pentecost - it was a secret until then.

Colossians 1:26-27: "Even the mystery which has been hidden from ages and generations, but is now revealed to the saints. That God would make the riches of His glory known to the Gentiles, which is Christ in you (Gentiles), the hope of glory."

Romans 16:25-26: "...the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which had been kept secret since the world began...but now is revealed and made known to ALL nations..."

For example...
This is why Daniel was told there would be 70 weeks and then Messiah would set up His kingdom - but couldn't be told there was a roughly 2,000 year period of time (2 prophetic days) so that Gentiles could receive salvation. They expected Jesus to kick the Romans out, not realizing their rejection of Messiah afforded the Father the opportunity to open His salvation to the rest of the nations.

In Luke 4:18-20 Jesus is in Nazareth and given Isaiah 61, and reads v1 and part of 2: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach good news to the meek (teachable). He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to open the prison to those who are bound, (2) to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" ...and Jesus closed it right there and sat down.

Jesus stopped mid-sentence. The full reading of v2 says this: "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God." Jesus stopped after 'the acceptable year of the Lord'. Why?

Because He could not tell anyone there was a 2,000 year gap between the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God (His 2nd coming). When He sat down having read only part of the passage, He said that part had been fulfilled at that time.

This is why when reading Old Testament prophecy the reader must be careful to understand they only knew in part, and knew little of the coming time of the Gentiles. There are only the most vague references to it, like Hosea 6:2: "After 2 days (2,000 years) He will revive us, and the 3rd day (1,000 years) we will live in His sight."

So are we in the Tribulation right now? In other words, are we in that 70th week? No. And next week I'll start explaining why...thanks for reading through this longer than usual first in the series....blessings,
John Fenn
email me at cwowi@aol.com or john@cwowi.org

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Deconstructing one's faith; How to pray, 3 of 3

6/11/2022

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Hi all,
Last week we looked at the Rich Young Ruler and his internal wrestling with the faith of his parents, culture, and personal values. Today the Prodigal Son who also 'deconstructed his faith', and how to pray for those doing the same.

In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus includes the story of the Prodigal Son as part of a larger teaching found in the first 10 verses in this chapter, about 100 sheep and one gets lost and separated from the flock, and about a woman who has 10 coins and loses 1 and searches her whole house to find the 1. So that sets the context - the prodigal son is the lost coin, the lost sheep.

The unhappy son
We find a man with two sons, and the younger man asks for his inheritance so he may go out and start his own life. In ancient Israel the eldest son received a double portion of inheritance. (Dt 21:15-17)

The fact the younger brother wants his money now so he can go out and start his own life, tells us he does not want to have his older brother as his boss. He had grown up with his older brother being groomed to take over the family business and property knowing he would receive half whatever his brother got upon the death of their father. He wanted out. Now. And the father gave it to him, perhaps understanding his need to prove himself, but certainly sad at his son leaving the business.

How many young people (the older I get the more I define young people as those under the age of 40, lol) are today re-thinking their upbringing and making the decision that they cannot go on like they were raised. They want out, and that's what this young man did. How many young people have found organized religion stifling, restrictive, and out of touch? How many like this young man say 'I can't do this anymore', and leave?

The results reveal he needed that family structure
In Luke 15:13-16 we are told he went to another land, and there wasted his money on 'riotous living'. This is where he gets the name 'prodigal son'. The word 'prodigal' is Latin for 'wasteful', but more than that, meaning to move one's life in a way which wastes. It refers to a lifestyle of extravagance beyond one's means.

In verses 14-16 we are told there was a famine in the land and he had to find a job. He got the lowest job available, feeding pigs, which were unclean to a proper Jewish lad such as himself. He was the lowest of the low. We are told in v17 in the King James Version, at his lowest point of hunger and need, 'He came to himself'.

The Greek reads like this: "However, to himself having come, he was saying..." He was finally having an honest conversation with himself about his situation. Verse 17 says in that inner struggle talking to himself, he remembers the lowest servants in his father's house had plenty of food whereas he had none. He was starving. The pigs were eating, but not him. No provision, no true friends. All alone. He had to reach that low point that he might 'come to himself'. That he might have that honest assessment of his life, faith, and family relationships.

He needed that
He was finally having the conversation with himself that he should have had before he ever thought of leaving his home. If he would have had faith in the Lord within the confines of his older brother being his boss and 2x as rich in his inheritance than he, the Lord would have developed character within him and blessed him in future plans. But he didn't consider what he had and the value of the stability of his life. He didn't value his family, his faith, nor the values of his upbringing. All that was coming back to him now as he saw that even the pigs had something to eat where he had nothing.

Still thinking within himself he develops a plan. This is important. He determined he would return to his father, humble himself, and just ask for a job somewhere on the estate. Those deconstructing their faith will at some point begin to reconstruct their faith, just like this young man. They will think through a plan to return.

That which was a point of anger and injustice before - that the faith of his family meant his brother got 2x as much as him and that he would be his boss, was processed within his heart. He had to go through great difficulty and hardship before he was at peace with the situation, but he did process it. He had to do it by himself, away from his faith, his father, his brother, and how he saw his future with them in his life.

We know how it ended
He returned, his father saw him in the distance as he was approaching and ran to him, had a great party, and the elder son was offended. But our point is that the young man returned.

We must allow those we love who are currently deconstructing their faith to continue their processing. They are not alone. The Seed they have in them is incorruptible. God is a Spirit and it is in the unseen realm of their spirit that He wrestles with them. This can take years.

Galatians 4:19 says that Paul was ‘travailing in birth again until Christ is formed in you’. Paul is in intercession for them like being in childbirth, but the issue is ‘Christ being formed in (them)’.

Paul’s prayers for the Ephesians in 3:15-20 and 1:17-20 were for their inner being, where no one but the Father see. That the Father would by His Spirit, make them strong and give them revelation of the unfathomable love of Christ, and that He would give them the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in Him so they may know the depth of His invitation to them in Christ. That’s powerful. That’s how we need to pray for the ‘de-constructors’.

Right now they may be demolishing their faith, their upbringing, and even lashing out at the injustices of their early life. But the Father is still there, dealing with them by grace and mercy, showing them things, helping them get rid of the error and hurt they experienced, and rebuilding their faith one plank at a time towards a future return and reconciliation. And in that day as in our example above, there will be great rejoicing.

He is faithful. Pray according to the prayers above and as prompted for your loved one, and watch the Father work….

New subject next week, blessings,
John Fenn
Email me at cwowi@aol.com or john@cwowi.org

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Deconstructing one's faith; 2 of 3: Prodigals, rich rulers

6/4/2022

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Hi all,
I've been sharing about a process commonly called (in the US) 'deconstructing one's faith', used to describe adults in their 20's-early 40's who were raised in church, and now reject church and for many, the Lord.

The Rich Young Ruler
The Rich Young Ruler is found in Matthew 19:16-22 examining his faith and his relationship with his parents.

He came to Jesus asking: "Good master, what thing must I do to have eternal life?" And Jesus responded: "Why are you calling me good? There is no one good but God." Right at the start Jesus seeks to settle the issue. Who do you think I am? Am I Lord, liar, or lunatic? By calling me good, since there is none good but God, are you calling me God? The young man was silent. So Jesus approached the question from another angle.

In this one exchange we find the dilemma of those deconstructing their faith: Those who reject what they grew up with, but don't yet know what to do. In their heart of hearts they only know they still want eternal life, even if they won't admit it openly, down in their heart they are afraid of dying and want their destination secure.

In anger and hurt they may lash out at their parents, their church, or openly state they reject their 'religion', but in their hearts there is fear, confusion, and again, knowing more what they don't want than what they do want.

Having tried the constraints of 'religion', they enter a world of dysfunction. Sometimes that dysfunction is evident by the broken relationships and instability in life. Sometimes dysfunction is hidden behind pursuing all the gold and glitter the world offers, leaving them empty inside - they know this, but aren't at peace, and they aren't at a place yet where they can humble themselves and return to their childhood faith.

Consider the young man
This young man was rich and we are told later in the conversation, had many possessions. Not just money, but possessions too. Yet for all he had, he knew he did not have eternal life. He told Jesus he did all that was required of him in his religion, and his parent's religion no doubt - yet he knew he didn't have eternal life.

He was searching for something to do. "What must I do?", he asked. He had kept all the commandments since he was a child, but was empty. He knew that religion did not hold eternal life, did not fill his heart with purpose.

The adult who has left his faith is wrestling with the claims of Jesus. Many times they don't reject Him, but rather the church package through which Jesus was presented. If they could only know the Lord without the packaged show of the auditorium church and its culture. This young man had a form of religion, but he was smart. He knew it was appearance oriented, performance based, and it left him empty though he kept all the commands since he was a child. He was deconstructing his faith. He was trying to figure it out. What must I do?

That is what they are wrestling with; the claims of Jesus
The role of parents in the lives of their children include the fact that every 'first' their child experiences in life (to a certain age) will come through their parents. The stove is hot - that first time learning that fact came through their parents. Eat your vegetables they are good for you - that 'first' came through their parents. Brush your teeth to keep them healthy - that 'first' came through the parents.

As I child ages a parent wants their child (or should want their child) to learn of the topic of sex from them, not their school, and not their friends, and not from a porn site. A parent wants their child to learn about money and budgeting and working hard and saving from them, not leaving that education to be taught by the world's advertisers and friends. Parents want their children to understand the proper context of the issues of life - from eating properly to sex and money and relationships. Parents put everything into proper context and understanding. Including God.

A parent presents their child with 'this is God' and 'I want to teach you about Jesus, who loves us and died for us' - and that is fine until that child becomes an age where other people have other ideas about God. Even if that child had genuine experiences with the Lord, making Him 'their own' doesn't automatically happen.

Many of us know friends or relatives who perhaps as a child or teen experienced the Lord
But they aren't walking with Him now. Sometimes we wonder how we were so changed by the same experience and they weren't? It's because one can have an experience with God, but they let it be just that - a moment in time. Just having an experience with the Holy Spirit doesn't mean that person gives their heart and life to God.

And that's the plight of the rich young ruler. He had kept all the commandments. He was a 'good boy' by all measurements of what a good Jewish boy was in the first century. He was probably a teen here, late teens perhaps, yet still searching. Here he comes face to face with God in the flesh and then walks away.

God or the world?
"Sell your possessions and follow Me" to him, meant putting all his wealth and the pride that goes with it, on the sacrificial altar of his heart, and walk away. Many men grow up thinking becoming a Christian will make them weak. They think faith is for women because they've never reconciled being a man of faith with being able to work hard and get ahead in life for themselves and their family. To many men, their faith is expressed by working hard and providing for their family which is well and good, but doesn't contradict being a man of faith.

This rich young ruler was confused as well. Was Jesus God? He hadn't answered His question. He is good, but would the young man go so far as to say Jesus is God? And if He is God, I want God, but not to the point He will change my life. He would weaken me as a man, as a person wanting to be successful in life. I like the world. How can I be a person of faith and still be successful? The young man couldn't reconcile those questions.

Verse 22 says the young man "went away sad, for he had many possessions."
The word 'sad' does not properly convey this man's emotions. It is from the root Greek word 'lupe' which means 'to be in deep emotional pain, distress, and grieving'. It is used to describe the pain in childbirth.

It is used again in II Corinthians 7:9 to describe someone who is repentant to the degree they are in agony over their sin. It is used in Ephesians 4:30 when Paul tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit - don't cause Him deep emotional distress by our actions. It is used in John 17:30 of Peter who was grieved, deeply emotionally hurt that the Lord had asked him 3x if he loved Him.

The rich young ruler was devastated over the question of Jesus and what he would have to do to have eternal life - he loved the world and his status and his possessions. The thought of returning to the core of his faith, of leaving the show and appearance of religious acceptance for the genuine, caused him deep emotional pain - like childbirth in his soul.

This pain describes what many are going through who were raised in faith, have experienced the world, and know down in their hearts 'mom and dad are right', but are too proud and too much in love with the world to humble themselves and return to their faith. They are not happy people. They mask their pain, they mask the wrestling going on in their hearts. They may be angry and need to be left alone to wrestle within themselves - they need the time to process and will at some point future, return to ask questions or reconcile.

But there is hope...
While today, the Lord may not require everyone with possessions to sell them all, He does require us to 'sell out' to Him in our hearts. The question becomes; "Do we add Jesus to our busy life, or do we give our busy life to Jesus?" Sometimes it starts as adding Him to one's life, and over time becomes giving that life to Him.

Church tradition says this Rich Young Ruler was the man we know as Barnabas, ministry companion of Paul. In Acts 4:34-37 it says Joseph, who was such a good man and 'bridge builder' in relationships, the apostles instead called him 'Barnabas'. Barnabas means 'one who calls people together to closer intimacy and comfort'. We see in Acts he sold all his possessions and gave the money for distribution by the apostles so that the needs of others were meant. In Aramaic his name means 'son of a prophet'.

He was the first one to approach the former Saul of Tarsus to discover if his new faith was genuine in Acts 9, and then introduced (Paul) to the apostles. They sent him to Antioch in Acts 11 as their representative to check on new Greek believers there.

We cannot prove Barnabas was the young man of Matthew 19 by chapter and verse, but still, we see young men like him 'selling out' for the Lord. Men like Matthew himself who was a teen or pre-teen when he met Jesus. The apostle John is estimated to have been about 17 when he became one of Jesus' disciples.

The Lord works over time, deep in the hearts of people...and next week we'll look at another who wrestled with the faith of his family, and had that moment when scripture says he 'came to himself'. May it be so with all our wayward children! Until next week, blessings,

John Fenn
email me at cwowi@aol.com or John@cwowi.org

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