SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/28/2023 9:46 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The
Response”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matt. 24:16-20
Message of the verses: “16 then those who
are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 “Whoever is on the housetop must
not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 “Whoever is in the
field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 “But woe to those who are
pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 "But pray
that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.”
I promised to look at some things from Zechariah’s
prophecy to begin today’s SD. From his
book we learn that not every Jew will be successful in their attempt to escape
as seen in (13:8-9a) “And it will come about in all the land, declares the
Lord, ‘that two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be
left in it. And I will bring the third
part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold
is tested.’” This shows us that when
Antichrist begins to show his true color that he will begin to slaughter many
Jews of Judea and also other parts of Palestine, as millions of them will be
killed just because they are Jews. I
want to say at this time that killing a Jew just because he is a Jew comes from
Satan. When God began the nation of
Israel by giving a baby from a 100 year old man who impregnated his 90 year old
wife, that was a miracle for sure, and that is how the people of Israel
began. Before that when Abraham was
called by God, a man who was an idol worshiper God told him the following “And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you
I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed"
(Gen. 12:3). Here is how we have to look
at the children of Israel as seen in this verse; you bless them you will be
blessed, you curse them you will be cursed.
Don’t try and do harm to a Jew just because he is a Jew or cursing from God
will come upon you as He promised.
Now
we talked about how many Jews will be killed at the mid-point of the
Tribulation period as Zechariah prophesied, and MacArthur writes “That
slaughter will also be a divine purging of the rebel Jews and the third that
are left are the saved, of whom the Lord says, ‘They will call on My name, and
I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The
Lord is my God’” (v. 9b). The holocaust
of that day will surpass every other catastrophe that has ‘occurred since the
beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall’ (Matt. 24:21). As noted in the previous chapter, the massacres
of Jews by the Romans in A.D. 70 and by the Nazis during the World War II will
pale by comparison. Two out of every
three Jews in the Holy Land will die under the fury of Satan as he enacts the
judgment of God on the rebels of the Jewish nation.”
They
are not the only ones who will die as many Christians will also die for the
cause of Christ, Christians who will come into the Tribulation period as
unbelievers but will be converted, perhaps by the 144,000 Jewish evangelists or
even by the two witnesses. Let us look
at what the Apostle John saw in the fifth seal judgment from Revelation chapter
six. “9 When the Lamb broke the fifth
seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because
of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10
and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and
true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" These verses show me something about what
will go on in heaven during this time as many thousands of believers will die
for the cause of the cross and immediately end up in heaven. The Lord tells these martyrs to be patient
until the rest of those who will be killed for the cause of Christ to join
them, and then the Lord will bring vengeance on those who are behind this. “11 And
there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were
told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of
their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had
been, would be completed also.” It is through the Antichrist and his other
agents, both human and demon, Satan will make all-out war on the saints,
butchering all he can find: “It was also given to him to make war with the
saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and
tongue and nation was given to him” (Rev. 13:7). Now let us look at the outcome of this as his
evil hosts are “drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses
of Jesus (17:6).
Spiritual meaning for my life today: When I was beginning to look at Matthew
chapter 24 I was struck with somewhat of a guilty conscience and the reason was
because ever since I became a believer almost 50 years ago I have studied the
end times, and for the most part had never studied in-depth what the Lord Jesus
Christ had to say about it. Our Lord is
talking about what will go on in the Tribulation Period from his own lips, and
this is exactly what will go on during that very, very difficult time period of
seven years. What can a person do during
this time period, the church age to miss what will happen during the
Tribulation period? That person can
realize that they were born a sinner, then realize that that is the reason that
they sin, and confess their sin to the Lord asking for His forgiveness, and
invite the Lord to come into their life to save them, and then if the Lord
comes before that person dies they will be raptured right up into heaven and be
with the Lord forever missing the Tribulation period. If they die they will go to be with the Lord
immediately.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that the Lord will continue to use
these Spiritual Diaries to go around the world so that the gospel will go
around the world in order for the Holy Spirit to give effectual calls to those
that the Father has chosen before the world was formed.
12/28/2023 10:28 AM
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