Circumstances
and Consequences
Seminar 216-03
June 3-6, 2009
Seminar Topic:
The Two Witnesses – Part III
Larry Wilson
The Ten
Commandments
Hebrew
8:10 “This is the covenant I
will make with the house of Israel after that
time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in
their minds and write them on their hearts. I
will be their God, and they will be my people.
Hebrews
8:11 No longer will a man teach his
neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know
the Lord,’ because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
Hebrews
8:12 For I will forgive their
wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
When
God’s law is written in the hearts and
minds, here’s the result:
Psalms
40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my
God; yea, thy law is within my heart.
During
the Great Tribulation, God will fulfill this
covenant.
He
will take away our sinful nature and replace it
with a sinless nature – like Adam and Eve
had before the fall.”
This
process is called “The sealing.”
Here’s
the problem and the process:
1.
Every person will hear the demands of God once
the 144,000 begin their work.
2.
Every person will have to decide whom they will
obey: God or man.
3.
God will test every person to see if he is firm
in his decision.
4.
God will remove the carnal nature from those who
pass the test of faith and seal in them a sinless
nature.
Hebrews
8:10 This is the covenant I will make
with the house of Israel after that time,
declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their
minds and write them on their hearts. I will be
their God, and they will be my people.
Hebrews
8:11 No longer will a man teach his
neighbor or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know
the Lord,’ because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
Hebrews
8:12 For I will forgive their
wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
1 John
3:2 Dear friends, now we are children
of God, and what we will be has not yet made
known. But we know that when he appears, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is
[meaning He will not have to hide Himself from us
as He did with Moses].
Here’s
an interesting matter:
At the
present time, we can understand and love the law
of God, but we are cursed with a carnal nature
that fights selflessness. We have a carnal nature
that loves selfishness and self-indulgence.
Me
first.
Me
most.
Me
best.
Me is
my first love and my number one concern.
Those
who know and follow Christ hate their carnal
nature, but like it or not, it is in us and it
constantly contaminates us. It ambushes us, it
torments us, it humiliates us, and it beats us up
and mocks us.
It is
our number one enemy.
God
knows all about this.
He
alone can fix the problem.
Through
the ages, people have been led to believe they
can overcome their carnal nature.
It is
true that we can overcome certain temptations
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
But,
no one can consistently win the game of
overcoming. No one ever has but Jesus.
Jesus
lived without sinning.
We can’t
do this. No one has ever done this but Jesus.
Yes,
you might go a day or two without sinning
(commission), but watch out, the carnal nature
will ambush you before you know what hit you, you
might sin (omission).
Sin
can be:
An
action
1 John
3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law;
in fact, sin is lawlessness.
An act
of omission
James
4:17 Anyone, then, who knows the good
he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
After
being a Christian for 30 years, the apostle Paul
lamented this ongoing conflict inside his body:
Romans
7:15 I do not understand what I do.
For what I want to do I do not do, but what I
hate to do.
Romans
7:16 And if I do what I do not want
to do, I agree that the law is good.
Romans
7:17 As it is, it is no longer I
myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
Romans
7:18 I know that nothing good lives
in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For what I
desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it
out.
Romans
7:19 For what I do is not the good I
want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this
I keep on doing.
Romans
7:20 Now if I do what I do not want
to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is the
sin living in me that does it.
Romans
7:21 So I find this law at work: When
I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
Romans
7:22 For my inner being I delight in
God’s law;
Romans
7:23 but I see another law at work in
my members of my body, waging war against the law
of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of
sin at work within my members.
Romans
7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who
will rescue me from this body of death?
Yes,
we might go two days without sinning, but we will
sin. Our carnal nature will ambush us and before
we know what happened, we will sin.
1 John
1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1 John
1:9 If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John
1:10 If we claim we have not sinned,
we make him out to be a liar and his word has no
place in our lives.
1 John
2:1 My dear children, I write this to
you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does
sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our
defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
1 John
2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice for
our sins, and not only for our s but also the
sins of the whole world.
1 John
5:16 If anyone sees his brother
commit a sin that does not lead to death, he
should pray and God will give him life. I refer
to those whose sin does not lead to death. There
is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying
that he should pray about that.
1 John
5:17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there
is sin that does not lead to death.
1 John
5:18 We know that anyone born of God
does not continue to sin; the one who was born of
God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm
him.”
What
have we learned?
1.
Until the carnal nature is removed, everyone will
sin.
2.
Accidental sins do not lead to death, but they
can produce some nasty results.
3.
Because the carnal nature cannot be totally
subdued, God plans to remove it from the living
after they are judged.
God is
going to remove the law of sin and write his two
laws in our hearts and minds.
Here’s
the deal:
In
every born again heart, there is a wolf and a
lamb.
The
wolf is the carnal nature and the lamb is the
spiritual nature.
If we
feed the sinful nature, it becomes strongest. If
we feed the spiritual nature, it becomes
strongest.
Which
do we feed most?
Do you
find that you have no time to get into the Word
to study?
It is
so easy to get our hands on junk food – the
stuff that feeds the carnal nature.
It is
so easy to get busy and starve the spiritual
nature.
It is
so easy to allow the cares of this life to rob us
of getting enough spiritual food.
During
the Great Tribulation, God will test everyone of
us --- not to see if we are perfect or sinless,
but to see if we truly love Him first and our
neighbor as our self.
John
13:34 “A new command I give you:
Love one another. As I have loved you, so you
must love one another.
John
13:35 By this all men will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
During
the judgment of the living, Jesus will determine
our destiny based on our actions because our
actions will show what we love most.
Luke
12:29 And do not set your heart on
what you will eat or drink; do not worry about
it.
Luke
12:30 For the pagan world runs after
such things, and the Father knows that you need
them.
Luke
12:31 But seek his kingdom, and these
things will be given to you as well.
Luke
12:32 “Do not be afraid, little
flock, for your Father has been pleased to give
you the kingdom.
Luke
12:33 Sell your possessions and give
to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that
will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will
not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and
no month destroys.
Luke
12:34 For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
Luke
12:35 “Be dressed ready for
service and keep your lamps burning,
Luke
12:36 like men waiting for their
master to return from a wedding banquet, so that
when he comes and knocks they can immediately
open the door for him.”
At the
moment, God’s Constitution, the two eternal
laws of the universe has been written on two
tablets of stone.
These
two tablets are called the Ten Commandments.
In
other words, the Ten Commandments are the two
house rules of the universe – restated by
God for fallen man so that there can be no wiggle
room by sinners when it comes to defining love.
Love
is not lust.
Love
is not sex.
Love
is not sexual immorality.
Love
is not emotion.
Love
is not indulgence.
Love
is not tolerance.
Love
is not a lot of things that fallen man claims
love to be.
God
has defined His two laws in the form of the Ten
Commandments so fallen man can see what love is
and is not.
Love
God with all of our heart, mind and soul:
Tablet
#1 (Commandments 1-4)
Love
thy neighbor as thyself:
Tablet
#2 (Commandments 6-10)
The
Ten Commandments are prophetic.
They
reveal what informed people will do or not do
when they truly love God and those around them as
God desires.
Paul
understood this fact. He wrote, “Love does
no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the
fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:10)
Many
people assure me that the Ten Commandments were
nailed to the cross, made null and void, put in
the trashcan.
But,
look at this verse:
Revelation
11:19 Then God’s temple in
heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen
the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes
of lightening, rumblings, peals of thunder, and
earthquake and a great hailstorm.”
Why
does God show the Ark of the Covenant at the end
of the seventh trumpet?
What
is the Ark of the Covenant?
His
Covenant!
Deuteronomy
4:12 Then the Lord spoke to you out
of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw
no form; there was only a voice.
Deuteronomy
4:13 He declared to you his covenant,
the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to
follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.”
Why
are the Ten Commandments called a covenant?
There’s
a promise that goes with obeying God’s two
laws of love.
The
promise is this:
If you
will obey my Word (which will constantly push you
into the two laws of love that govern the
universe), I will be your Protection and Provider
(God).
Leviticus
26:3 “If you will follow my
decrees and are careful to obey my commands…
Leviticus
26:12 I will walk among you and be
your God, and you will be my people.
The
Ten Commandments are called a covenant because
they are based on a promise.
And,
they are kept in a box that is called, “The
Ark of the Covenant,” because this is the
covenant:
Trust
and Obey and I will be your God and you will be
my people.
God
says: Obey my Ten Commandments because they will
constantly challenge you to (1) love me first and
(2) your neighbor as your self.
At the
seventh trumpet, Jesus is going to show the Ark
of the Covenant to the world BECAUSE contrary to
what millions of Christians believe, the Ten
Commandments were not nailed to the cross.
The
Ten Commandments are just as important today as
they were on the day that Jesus spoke them from
Mt. Sinai.
The
Ten Commandments are the one Witness that can be
seen.
It is
the Witness that defines what love is and is not.
The
Ten Commandments are the two laws of the
universe, written on two stone tablets for fallen
man.
A few
words about the Ark of the Covenant that contains
the Ten Commandments…
Some
people believe the Ark of the Covenant is still
on Earth and either has been found or will be
found.
This
is not possible.
History
indicates that Jeremiah hid the Ark as
Nebuchadnezzar approached Jerusalem to do battle.
As you know, there are many claims and counter
claims on the whereabouts of the Ark today.
To
date, no one has produced the Ark or even shown
pictures or any evidence of it.
The
absence of evidence places any claim of discovery
in a category with the natural healing properties
of “snake oil.”
God
took the Ark to Heaven during the Babylonian
Captivity so that He could show it to the people
of Earth at the close of the 7th
trumpet. (Revelation 11:19)
Here
are eight reasons:
1.
During the Great Tribulation, travel and
communication for ordinary people will be
nonexistent at worst and impossible at best.
What
would be the value of finding the ark in or near
Jerusalem if only a few thousand people in the
Middle East will hear about it and only a few
thousand get to see it? Other than local
interest, what is the global impact during the
Great tribulation? Zero.
2.
If, prior to the Great tribulation, suppose the
Ark of the Covenant is found and put on display
in a museum in Jerusalem, it would be regarded as
a historical relic.
As a
relic of the past, the Ark of the Covenant would
not “prove” anything to anyone.
If the
Ark of the Covenant is merely regarded as an
ancient treasure, what is the global impact?
Zero.
3.
If the Ark of the Covenant is found prior to the
Great tribulation, the Jews would immediately lay
claim to the Ark and they would tale possession
of it and hide it in a secret place.
Well,
the net effect would be the same as right now ---
the Ark would remain hidden from view and worse,
the religious property of the Jews.
I say
“worse” because most Christians think
the Ten Commandments are Jewish laws anyway.
So
what would be the impact on the world? Zero.
4.
If the Ark of the Covenant was found prior to the
Great Tribulation and no one was killed after
touching it (as was Uzzah), this would prove that
God’s power did not rest upon the Ark.
This
would prove that indeed the Ark is a relic. This
would give many Christians the proof they need
that the Ten Commandments are null and void,
because these Jewish laws were nailed to the
cross.
Again,
what would be the global impact of this scenario?
Zero.
5.
The only people permitted to handle the Ark were
the offspring of Aaron.
Even
an ordinary Levite could not touch the Ark. So,
if the Ark were found on Earth prior to the Great
tribulation, who would move it or handle it if
God’s power still rests upon it?
If God’s
power does not rest upon the law that He wrote
with His own finger, it’s just a couple of
interesting stone tablets and we’re back to
the issue of the relic worship.
6.
If God took the Ark to Heaven because He plans to
show it to the whole world at an appointed time,
this is easily possible. If He took Enoch and
Elijah to Heaven, surely He can get a small box
to Heaven.
We
know from Revelation’s context that when the
Ark is unveiled and shown to the world FROM
HEAVEN, the Ark will not be regarded as a relic
by any scoffer.
It
will be a divine display from the Lawmaker
Himself – condemning all that refused to
submit to the terms and conditions of His
covenant of love.
A
brilliant ark with two stone tablets blazing in
the sky will be an eerie and awesome sight for
the universe and billions of people to gaze upon.
A
display of the Ark will confirm the faith of the
obedient, and it will condemn the wicked that
will shiver with guilt.
God’s
covenant with mankind it Trust and Obey for there
is no other way. Conversely, God’s covenant
also says Defy and die, for there is no other way
to live happily ever after.
Showing
the Ark to everyone on Earth will be an awesome
event. What will be the global impact? Huge!
A
museum piece hidden under a blanket thousands of
miles away from billions of people can’t do
this.
7.
Jesus delivered the Ten Commandments with such
power and majesty that the Jews were scared to
death.
A Mt.
Sinai experience is coming again. The same thing
will happen again except it will be a global
experience.
8.
By the way, the two tablets of stone placed in
the Ark of the Covenant were written by Jesus
Himself.
This
makes the Ten Commandments in the Ark originals.
Not copies.
The
Ark of the Covenant in Heaven is the original
built by Moses and it will be unveiled and shown
to the whole world at the appointed time.
God
Himself will show mankind what He thinks of His
two laws.
This
is why the Ark of the Covenant is not on Earth.
The
Importance of 1994
Even
thought the Bible does not explicitly say when
the seven angels received the seven trumpets, and
even though the Bible does not mention 1994, I
conclude that Jesus gave the seven trumpets to
the seven angels in April 1994 because God’s
patience with Earth ended with Seventy Jubilee
cycles.
According
to His great mercy, God granted Israel thirty
Jubilee cycles and the Gentiles forty Jubilee
cycles.
Arriving
at 1994 is not easy and a fair amount of
skepticism is warranted.
Nevertheless,
I believe that a synthesis of the topics just
discussed will rule out any other date. In
summary, here are five major points:
1.
Two Different Ways of Measuring Time – There
has to be a valid rule governing the
interpretation of apocalyptic time because it is
clear that some prophetic time-periods must be
translated and some are not.
Prior
to 1994, a day is translated as a year in
apocalyptic prophecy. After the expiration of the
Jubilee calendar in 1994, the translation of time
is not permitted or justified.
I
cannot accept the premise that expositors of
prophecy are free to interpret apocalyptic time
according to personal whim or opinion because
apocalyptic prophecy is based on a very
intelligent design and God’s Word speaks for
itself.
2.
The Jubilee Calendar – The Jubilee Calendar
did not end at the cross for two reasons.
First,
Jesus died in the middle of the seventieth week;
therefore, the seventieth week was unfinished at
the cross.
Second,
the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14 operate on both
sides of the cross, therefore the Jubilee
Calendar and the translation of a day for a year
operates on both sides of the cross.
In
this particular case, between 457 B.C. and 1844.
Did the Jubilee calendar end in 1844? No, the
Great Day of Sabbath does not end until 1994.
3.
The Great Week – The distance between the
Exodus in 1437 B.C. and the dedication of Solomon’s
temple was 490 years.
Then,
the seventy weeks in Daniel consists of 490
years. Since there are three units of 490 years
each, they suggest the presence of an ongoing
pattern.
Today,
we know that God gave the Jews exactly 30 Jubilee
cycles of grace - to the very year.
It
also appears that God gave to the Gentiles 40
Jubilee cycles of grace (A.D. 34-1994), seventy
Jubilee cycles in all.
Using
the weekly template and aligning each unit of 490
years as a Great Day, we find presence of a Great
Week.
The
point here is that when the Great Week ends, so
does the translation of apocalyptic time.
4.
Full Cup Principle - Evidently, God uses the
numbers seven and ten to express the limits of
divine forbearance.
When
Israel violated seventy Sabbath years, they were
exiled to Babylon for seventy years.
When
God gave Israel a second chance, He gave the
nation seventy weeks. We also see God’s use
of seven and ten used during Israel’s annual
judgment day, The Day of Atonement.
This
special day occurred on the tenth day of the
seventh month.
Furthermore,
the dragon and the leopard-like beast in
Revelation 12 and 13 have seven heads and ten
horns.
The
heads and horns represent the sum of religious
and political powers on Earth.
Finally,
the whole drama of sin fits neatly into seventy
centuries (7,000 years). In other words, when the
millennial Sabbath ends (seventh millennium), the
Earth will be made new.
5.
God’s Timing is Perfect – We find
throughout the Bible that God’s timing is
always perfect. He knows no haste or delay.
Given
this fact, two things stand out very prominently.
First,
if we translate the apocalyptic prophetic
time-periods prior to 1994 according to God’s
calendar (a day for a year) and if we treat all
apocalyptic time periods after 1994 as literal
time periods, everything said about timing in
apocalyptic prophecy harmoniously aligns with a
seven thousand year picture for the duration of
sin.
(Sin
is destroyed at the end of the 1,000 years in
Revelation 20.)
Second,
now that we understand what the seven trumpets
are, if we align Revelation 8:2 with the end of
the Jubilee cycles, it seems more appropriate
that Jesus would give the seven angels the seven
trumpets because God’s patience with mankind
ran out in 1994.
We are
living on borrowed time! In fact, giving the
seven angels the seven trumpets in 1994 is the
only way that one can explain from the Bible the
delay that is imposed on the first four angels in
Revelation 7.
When
these five items are aligned with a working
knowledge of God’s Jubilee Calendar and the
precision of God’s actions, there is only
one “biblically reasoned” date for
Revelation 8:2 and 1994 is that date.
“With
God, timing is everything.”
|
