From the Old to the New

 

Matthew 11:11

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

John the Baptist had impressive credentials for his work here on earth: he was born of the line of Aaron the High Priest, his father was an active priest ministering in the Temple, and he was the only priest ever whose birth was announced by an angel in the Temple itself. Many years in the desert equipped him for his important task. His ministry included leading the people to be cleansed of their sins by having them repent and then baptised in the Jordan – this is the most important function of a High Priest. We can then say that John was a better and purer representation of the Levitical priesthood than the High Priest Caiaphas and his priests were at the time – they were totally corrupt and even plotting the murder of their Messiah.

Jesus brought us into a new covenant relationship with God through His death and resurrection. We know that it is a better covenant than the old one - Heb 8:6 Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises.

But when a covenant changes, there must also be a change in priesthoods. The new covenant therefore means a new priesthood, replacing the old Levitical one.

It is highly significant then that Jesus urged John the Baptist to baptise Him in the Jordan. Jesus, as our High Priest (Heb 4:14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, ...), facing John the Baptist in his High Priestly function, representing the two priesthoods of the two covenants. As John baptised Jesus, he was in reality ending the functionality and right of existence of the old covenant priesthood and handing the reigns over to Jesus, and the new priesthood of the new covenant begins. Two significant happenings pointed to the transition from the old to the new: Caiaphas tore his clothes, thereby stripping himself of his authority and funtion as High Priest, and the veil in the Temple tore in half, opening the sanctuary of God to all who believe.

 The new priesthood started operating at His resurrection. Jesus now makes us, (believers in Him from all nations and tribes), the priests of this priesthood, as we read in 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of the One having called you out of darkness into His marvelous light  We now function as kings and priests (royal priesthood) in His Kingdom. As kings, we have the authority to act in His name, as priests, we have the duty to reconcile people to God and minister to their spiritual and physical needs. We as believers in Jesus have even greater credentials for this role than John the Baptist had for his priestly role – we are children of God, born in His image, completely equipped for the task by Holy Spirit! And this is what Jesus meant when He said that even the least in the Kingdom will be greater and better equipped than John the Baptist.

Points to ponder:

How do we ‘proclaim the excellencies’ of Jesus as His kings and priests? By our decrees. If we make a proclamation according to the Word, the following happens: the Holy Spirit moves; angels are summoned; spiritual opposition is destroyed; the promises of the Word are made manifest. His prophecies come about, His kingdom expands, miracles happen, and darkness flees! Take your place today – the world needs the continuation of the ministry of Jesus!

The song of the Redeemed

Take up your cross

 

Mark 8:34

Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.

To ‘take up your cross’ is widely interpreted as meaning that we all have a special burden to bear when we follow Jesus. That we have to embrace the will of God, however painful, even if it means to bear the same burdens that Jesus did up unto His death on the cross. Pulpit Commentary explains that this cross assumes various forms such as persecution and martyrdom, affliction and sorrow of whatever kind appointed by God, and temptations of Satan - permitted by God for our trial, to increase our humility and virtue.

All of which certainly is true, but is this what Jesus was saying to the crowd on that occasion? If we dig deeper into the meaning of the Greek words translated here, we see that the words ‘take up’ comes from a verb that means ‘to lift up’ but also ‘to remove’.  The word ‘cross’ means a stake or post, like those used to hold up a tent. It does not refer to the crossbar of a cross, but the stake on which the crossbar is hung. This is shown by the translations in Acts 5:30  The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree and in Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

What Jesus’ listeners heard that day, was “If anyone wants to show up after Me, he must reject himself and lift up that stake of his, and follow Me.” They would have understood perfectly, for they would mostly have been traveling people who knew that you pull up the central stake of a tent to use it as a walking stick on your journey to your next destination.

This is still the words of Jesus to us who wish to follow Him today: “Pull up that which is keeping you captive in your present circumstances, fold up your tent and come travel with Me to new horizons!”

Points to ponder:

In Jesus’ day, following Him meant going against everything your culture and religion had taught you to be true. You would be ostracized from your family and from your community, probably with a command never to contact them again. This is still the case in many countries today. Sadly, even in communities that are mostly Christian, religious legalism would have the same effect – your family and friends simply do not understand your new or even renewed passion for Jesus. He is asking you to work out the cost of following Him (Luke 14:28-29), and then decide whether you are willing to pay that price. For there is no cost you can pay in following Jesus that will not be made up a thousandfold in the resurrection! Carefully consider your present circumstances – are you willing to pull up your stake?

Have you counted the cost

Evil has a beautiful side

 

Rev 20:2

He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Mentioned here are a few of the names used to identify Lucifer – dragon, serpent, devil, Satan. (Dragon in Hebrew most often refers to a great sea serpent). By association, these names therefore refer to something extremely evil. And with each of these names there is a strategy to lessen the impact of them on our children.

If we focus on dragons, we know that descriptions of them often have an uncanny resemblance to the dinosaur skeleton remains that have been unearthed so far. In fact, the word ‘dinosaur’ was not coined until the mid-1800’s – up until then these types of creatures were called dragons. Although they were dangerous animals (as are crocodiles, lions, etc.), there is nothing inherent evil in them. But the dragon referred to here in Revelation is far removed from any earthly animal created by God – it describes the evil entity called Satan in his end-time form.

It is no coincidence that there has been a surge of books and films about dragons and taming your dragon lately. In the film version, the lead character discovers that dragons, who were always considered our enemies, are actually our friends. Children are conditioned to see dragons in a good light - they are portrayed as cool and fun, and no mention is made of the evil it represents in the time we are living in. As it currently is also the Chinese Year of the Dragon, followed next year by the Year of the Snake, expect quite a bit more of the same. Many dragon art drawings are found on the internet, also colour-in pictures for children, colour-in books, and video games - collectively influencing young impressionable minds to embrace the word dragon as representing something non-threatening and acceptable. Certainly not evil.

Then there is the American custom of Halloween, which regrettably has blown over to South Africa in recent years. Children are dressed up as the devil, complete with horns and a three-pronged fork, for the occasion. Who on earth needs to be on their guard or careful around a little devil running around on the night of 31^st October, asking for trick or treat? Certainly not the dressed-up child or his friends who trust their parents to guide them into embracing truth – if my parents think it is the right thing to do, then it is, isn’t it?

Cartoons with the devil as main character have been around for some time, depicting a small devil kid still in diapers. Too cute to be evil, right? These have since morphed into cartoons for adults, with really dark themes.

Evil has to present itself as beautiful and enticing, or innocent people would not be lured into participating in it. And children are easy targets, because they rely on the perception of the adults in their lives concerning what is evil or not. Once they are hooked into the occult, even innocently, they can be desensitised step by step into going deeper into the darker side of things.

It is time for Christian parents and teachers to awaken to the fact that there is an evil agenda out there against our children, an all-out war for their souls. Search out the source of all widely accepted children’s entertainment, the time has come to be extremely vigilant!

Points to ponder:

Nothing which depicts demons, devils, monsters, ancient serpents, dragons, and the like should be allowed into our homes, onto our children’s clothes, as stickers on their possessions, as toys, as video games – nothing. Heed Ps 97:10 “O you who love the Lord, hate evil…” - hate means not entertaining and inviting it into your life, on any level. Ever!

Hate evil

Prophecy revisited

 

Isaiah 10:33-34

But look! The Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will chop down the mighty tree of Assyria with great power! And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

Some very interesting modern-day facts are tied up in these words. This prophecy given through Isaiah did indeed come to pass, as we read in 2 Kings 19:35. God sent the angel of the Lord and killed 185 000 Assyrians in one night. Even the proud and lofty king of the Assyrians was murdered by his own sons as he worshiped in the temple of his god after attacking Judah. And Lebanon (under Assyrian rule) was destroyed, as prophesied.

The very next verse after this prophecy is Isaiah 11:1-2, which speaks about the coming Messiah, described as the Branch out of the roots of Jesse (David’s father). Remember that the dividing of Scripture into chapters and verses came later, the original text would have been read as one continuous scroll. This implies that the reader would see these two prophecies as somehow connected to each other, and indeed many rabbis consider it that way – they see the fall of Lebanon connected to the coming of Messiah.

Gematria (where words are assigned number values by adding up the numeric value of their individual letters) is used to back up their claim – the number value of the words Lebanon and of Branch both come to 138 and are therefore considered to be linked to each other. Ben Elohim (Son of God) also adds up to 138.

This is where Rabbi Jason Sobel points out some very interesting facts about the current conflict between Israel and Lebanon. The above verse says that Lebanon will fall by the “Mighty One” and be cut down by iron. The Hebrew word for mighty one is Adir. It so happens that the Israeli Defence Force gave the F35, its main fighter jet, the name Adir. Also, this ongoing conflict, which started as a response to the surprise attack by Hamas on 7^th October 2023, is called The Swords of Iron War. A remarkable coincidence, as names of battles in Israel are computer-generated, not chosen by the army generals themselves!

Can we revisit a prophecy, which has already been fulfilled, and predict it into the future? We surely can. Jesus said that the signs pointing to the end times would be like giving birth - the same pain is felt, but it will repeat and intensify. Can we then say that the possible fall of Lebanon in the current war will signal the return of Jesus, our Messiah? We can at best consider it to be a sneak preview of all that has been prophesied, one of those events in a chain of birth pangs that will happen before He returns. Certain prophecies are like key dominoes, their toppling over leads to others falling in very rapid succession. Could this be such a one?

Points to ponder: We are not walking head-on into eternity, i.e. purposefully walking to the front end of a cliff top and falling off at a certain appointed time known to us. Rather, we are walking along that cliff top, parallel to its steep sides, and our falling off can happen at any time! The question is not so much whether we know the exact time of Christ’s return, but whether we are ready to meet Him at any time?

He's coming soon

Heaven on earth

 Revelation 20:4

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

There is going to be a glorious time on earth in the future, called the Millennium - a word which is a combination of the words mille, meaning a thousand, and annus, meaning year. The above verse is taken from Revelation 20, where the words “a thousand years” appear no less than six times – strong affirmation of the fact that such a time actually will exist!

It is not only here in the book Revelation that the Millennium is spoken about. Altogether there are more than 400 verses in more than 20 different passages in the Old Testament alone that deal with this time when Jesus will personally rule and reign over planet earth. We read about it in numerous places in the New Testament also.

The controversies surrounding the Millennium are easily silenced if we just decide to read and accept the revelation as given to John by God. For instance, the timing of the Millennium is clearly given in our quoted verse – John saw the Tribulation martyrs, who were beheaded because they had not received the mark of the Antichrist or its image and had not worshiped him. They were resurrected and then reigned with Christ a thousand years - the Millennium therefore begins after the Tribulation.

The belief that there is no literal Millennium, but that God’s Kingdom already started at the cross and we are therefore now living in the Millennium, cannot hold water as we clearly read in Revelation that Jesus will first physically reign here on earth for a thousand years before the rest of eternity unfolds. The fact that it has now already been more than two thousand years after the cross adds to the impossibility that this belief is true, it also is plain to see that Satan is not bound at the moment! And if you believe that the Millennium will only start after the church has prepared the earth for His coming, working diligently until peace, righteousness and prosperity is to be found all over the globe – then I am afraid that the utter chaos and destitution and wars that will be a sign of the end times will make this an impossible goal to accomplish.

What is the reason for the Millennium? It is so that God’s promises to Israel and also His promises to the church can be fulfilled. Among others, God promised that Israel will be the Head Nation on earth, occupying the whole territory given to Abraham and his offspring in Gen 15 and not just the sliver of land that currently comprises Israel. He promised that living water will flow from Jerusalem into the Dead Sea, redeeming it so that fish will be found there. He promised that old men and women and young children will be relaxing in the streets of Jerusalem. For the church, He promised that we would rule and reign with Him here on earth. All these will happen in the Millennium, where we will really experience heaven on earth!

Points to ponder:  Paul exhorts us to encourage one another with all the wonderful blessings that God has promised us if we only keep our faith to the end (1 Thess 4:18). The Millennium is one of those blessings – imagine a world where animals do not kill each other anymore; where a child can play with a cobra; where the earth will bring forth what is sown into it in abundance and where nobody will have to work extremely hard to let that happen.  A time when Satan is locked up! Let us look forward to it with eagerness and joy!

Victor's Crown

Legalism

 

John 5:8-10

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

There are many stories in the Gospels where Jesus healed people on the Sabbath, clearly disagreeing with the learned men of the day about whether or not this constituted work, which was forbidden according to Sabbath law.

Jesus was born a Jew here on earth, and therefore kept all the commandments and statutes as given to them by God through Moses (Gal 4:4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law). In this situation the Jewish leaders did not primarily object to the healing as such but were very upset that the man was breaking the law by carrying his sleeping mat. Christians easily dismiss this carrying law as being only a rabbinic add-on to (or interpretation of) the laws of Moses, but it is actually based on a biblical verse - this prohibition is found in Jeremiah 17:22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. It is not recorded anywhere that Jesus ever carried something on the Sabbath, nor did His followers. He never spoke about this law publically; He did not attempt to correct the leaders on their interpretation of it; He did not stay behind to argue the point with them. He therefore did not deny the validity of it. Why then would Jesus specifically order the man to violate the law?

He never intentionally overturned Jewish tradition unless He had a sound reason to do so, and in this case He justifies his action based on the fact that He puts compassion for human beings way above ceremonial concerns (Matthew 23:23 But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’). Think about it: this man had been lying there for 38 years. His only worldly possessions were the clothes on his body and his bed! If he had to get up and not take his bed with him, because of the carrying law, he would have had nothing. Jesus instructed him to ignore the law so that he was not left destitute – compassion from the Law giver indeed!

Points to ponder:  Are you perhaps caught up in a legalistic type of religion? Where rules and regulations define your worship, often to the detriment of people around you? Is it more important, for instance, to control the way people partake of communion, than to encourage them to engage with their God in this intimate way? Is a code of dress enforced to be able to come to church, often putting poor people at a disadvantage? Do restrictive clothing regulations only have bearing on some followers and not on others? Remember that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, not oppression!

There is freedom

Choose how to meet your God

 

Amos 4:12

“…… prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

On the surface, things were going well in the northern kingdom of Israel – the people were enjoying unprecedented economic and political prosperity, not experienced since the days of Solomon. The enemies on her borders were subdued for the moment, peace reigned.

When Amos stood up to bring the word of the Lord, I am sure he was applauded all the way, because he brought news of the Lord’s impending punishment for the age-old enemies of Israel – destruction was decreed over Damascus (capital city of Syria); Gaza (city in Philistia); Tyre; Edom; Ammon and Moab. I can just see those heads nodding in agreement and faces lighting up with glee as the places and nations of their adversaries were mentioned!

But then the atmosphere changed. Because Amos, the uneducated shepherd with no social standing whatsoever, announced the severe judgement that the Lord was bringing against Judah (southern kingdom) and Israel (northern kingdom).

As Amos started listing the reasons for the dire condemnation of the Lord, it transpired that, underneath the surface, things were not at all going well in the prosperous kingdoms of Israel. The most extreme social injustice was prevalent throughout society; self-indulgence and pleasure-seeking was the motivating force for all economic activity; financial gains were brought about through oppressing the poor and outright robbery and even selling people as slaves for trivial things like a pair of sandals. Gross idolatry took place, the practice of which included making use of temple prostitutes.

Against this backdrop, Amos calls out the words of the Lord to Israel quoted above, namely …prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” And in the next verse, God reminds them of Who their God is: Amos 4:13 For the LORD is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth. The LORD God of Heaven’s Armies is his name! The supreme Ruler over everything, the Creator of heavens and earth.

Israel had chosen, through her rejection of the God Who has always loved and protected her, to become His enemy, His adversary. And in this role Amos called on her to prepare to meet her God – and face the terrible judgement that she so righteously deserved.

Points to ponder: Jesus, through His death on the cross, bought for us (at a great price) the privilege of being called sons and daughters of the Most High God. If we choose Jesus as our Lord and Master, we can now confidently enter the Holy of Holies and meet with our Heavenly Father to experience His loving-kindness and mercy. We can, however, choose to reject and ignore Him and stay in wilful sin, and then meet God - only to experience His wrath and judgement. Which do you choose? To face God as His adversary, or as His child?

Abba

Healer, heal Yourself

 

Luke 4:23

Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’

Jesus had not been back to Nazareth since His baptism six months earlier. The people from the village had heard rumours that the village carpenter had left to become a rabbi; that He had a following of disciples; and that He had performed miracles in amongst other places, Capernaum.

On this particular Sabbath morning in the synagogue, He was called up to read a portion from the Torah and the Prophets because He was a regular attendant there, and well-known to the synagogue leaders. They no doubt offered Him the opportunity to give a teaching as they wanted all these rumours explained! They had no idea that the living Torah, the Word made flesh, was standing before them reading the words of God. The passage that He read from the Prophets was Isaiah 61:1-2, where a prophecy about the Messiah is given.

He then made a startling statement: “Today this passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”  And in doing so, declared Himself to be the Anointed One, the Messiah. There definitely were mixed reactions from the people in the synagogue – some were amazed by His teachings, sensing that His eloquence and learning was supernatural (Luke 4:22). Their surprise over this indicates that He had never spoken as skilfully in Nazareth before. Others wondered greatly at the source of His wisdom and miracles that they had only heard of so far. This means that they had never seen Him do a miracle in their midst. Then there were others who took offense because they had known Him and His family all these years and regarded Him as just one of their own - the local carpenter whose siblings had probably married people in the community and maybe even started families.

The words “Physician, physician, heal your own limp!” means “Prove your claims”, and Jesus knew that this indeed was what his local townsmen required of Him before they were prepared to believe that there was anything special about Him. Little did they know that their unbelief would block the very thing they asked for: Jesus did not do many miracles there! Instead, He took His ministry elsewhere at that time.

But there was grace for Nazareth - some people from there faced their unbelief and turned around. Jesus’ family and other people of Nazareth later became believers. His brothers and cousins rose up as leaders in Christian assemblies. In fact, followers of Jesus came to be known as the Nazarenes.

Points to ponder:   Let us think about the people, places, and situations that we had no right to judge, question, or label but we did, and sometimes still do. What about the ways we belittled, demeaned, and rejected the messengers sent by God into our lives, just like the people from Nazareth did with Jesus. Sometimes truth hits so close to home and asks so much of us that we refuse to see it. We close our eyes and turn away. Start trusting Jesus and believe like a child - without asking for proof of clearly revealed truths from the Bible!

I believe

Is my lifestyle a clear sign

 Numbers 21:9

So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived

Hebrew words can mostly be traced back to a parent word, from which several ‘children’ are derived. This root word is usually a verb depicting everyday actions in the Hebrew culture. The Hebrew word for pole is nes which comes from the verb nasas, meaning ‘to gleam from afar, to see a sign from far off.’ The snake elevated on the pole in the wilderness could easily be seen by everybody who wanted to look up and search for it.

We can then understand that the word nissi, meaning banner is also derived from nasas - in ancient Israel, every tribe of Israel identified with their own unique banner which would hang at the entrance of their cities, seen from far off as people travelled through the land.

The event described in Ex 17:15 - Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner happened just after Joshua defeated Amalek, with the help of Moses standing on top of a hill holding up the rod of God. When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and when he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. Once again, as Moses was uplifted on a hill, he was a sign easily seen from far off.

We read in John 3:14-15 that Jesus too became an elevated sign to be seen from afar:  Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up [on the cross], so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

 Because the three words pole, banner and cross all originate from nasas, they are connected! They all depict a sign being lifted up, so that life and salvation can be given to the dying.

Leaders in ancient Israel would erect a nes (pole with a flag) high on a hilltop, visible to all who were living in the surrounding areas, whenever they needed their troops to rally together. This knowledge explains the meaning of the words of Isaiah 11:10,12 In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to him, and the land where he lives will be a glorious place. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. Isaiah sees the Messiah Jesus as the standard-bearer of the Lord, Who summons the exiles of Israel and musters the nations. This gives special meaning to the words of Jesus in John 12:32-33 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

Points to ponder: Is my life, my way of going about my everyday business, a sign that can be seen from afar? A sign that shows the way to life and salvation to the spiritually dying people around me. Or do I live a life of compromise with the worldly ways of the culture I live in? Can people easily see that I follow Jesus - because my life displays His purity and truth - even if it goes against what my culture regards as acceptable behaviour?

Purify my heart

Fulfilled prophecy

 Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

It might upset some readers to realize that this well-known prophecy originally referred to a child born to King Ahaz of Judah, and not primarily to the birth of Jesus some 700 years later. The child was to be a sign to Ahaz pointing to the fact that, before the child reached adulthood, the Assyrians would invade the north of Israel. The mother of this child could have been one of Ahaz’s wives, taken into his harem while still a virgin, and then becoming pregnant in the normal manner. This sign of Isaiah came true, as history proves.

Some believers find it difficult to accept that Biblical prophecies that have already been fulfilled somewhere in the past, could have any bearing on events that might still happen in the future.

But the apostles themselves believed that the words of the prophets did not only apply to historical events, but specifically also to their own time as well, as we read in Acts 3:24 “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days.” This is because the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets to write about the messianic future, even if they themselves did not understand the full application of their own words.

We see this clearly in Isaiah 7:14, because although Ahaz’s child fulfilled this prophecy in history, it is also true that:

This prophecy refers to Jesus because the Holy Spirit says so through Matthew in Matthew 1:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

This prophecy refers to Jesus because it is addressed not only to Ahaz, but to the entire house of David.

This prophecy refers to Jesus because the words “the virgin will conceive” was literally fulfilled when He was born.

This prophecy refers to Jesus because the designation “Immanuel” was fundamentally true of Jesus in His lifetime, and not only used as a title. God with us shows His deity (GOD with us) and His nearness to us (God WITH US).

In the same way, we can know that many other biblical prophecies give us a template of things still to come, even though they might have been fulfilled in history already.

Points to ponder: Am I open to see Bible prophecy as markers for the future, waiting for another fulfilment? Do I then see end-time prophecies becoming real-time events all around me as time goes on? Ask Holy Spirit to convince you of the godly interpretation of the times we are living in and ask Him to show you how to truly discern and understand those prophecies in the light of His Word. Do not merely rely on the teachings of man.

Days of Elijah