Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision” which is performed in the flesh by human hands – remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, excluded from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in His flash the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross by it having put to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; four through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain [a]in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of [b]their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the [c]seashore. 9 And they came up on the [d]broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the [e]saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and [f]brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose [g]presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and [h]books were opened; and another [i]book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the [j]books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if [k]anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
In its first and original context the Shemitah is connected to Israel. It is the only nation commanded to observe it. And, as we have seen, it is still kept, in varying degrees, by the observance of that nation. But we are not dealing here with the Shemitah as an observance but as a prophetic sign – particularly as a warning or manifestation of national judgment.
Such a prophetic sign could be given to any nation as long as that nation in some way matched the description or shared the attributes of ancient Israel in 586 BC. In other words, it would have to be:
A nation warranting a prophetic warning or manifestation of judgment, a nation in defiance of God’s ways.
This description could, to varying degrees, fit much of the world’s nations – whether religious or secular, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, or communist. Let’s narrow it down further with this more specific description:
A nation that had once known God, but had now turned away from Him and rejected His ways.
This description could match several of the worlds Western nations, formerly seen as “Christian” but now largely post-Christian. Let’s narrow it down still further:
A civilization established on the Word of God, dedicated to His purposes, and consecrated to His glory from its very inception.
Now the field of candidates is severely reduced. It can be argued that only two civilizations in human history were established, dedicated, and consecrated to the will, the word, the purposes, and the glory of God from the moment of their conceptions. The first was Israel; the second was America.
American civilization was established and dedicated at Cape Henry, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay to the purposes of God.
I talked with a terribly confused man recently who spends most of his nights in a bar. I asked him if he knew Jesus Christ. He laughed and said “Yeah, I mention Him often. He’s one of my favorite swearwords.”
The man went on to tell me that he didn’t need to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior because he didn’t want to go to Heaven. He said he wanted to go to hell so he could be with all his drinking buddies there. His picture of hell was an eternal party with booze and one night stands with “hot” women. I asked him where he got that idea. He said he grew up believing it and all his drinking buddies believed it too. None of them wanted to die, but in their extremely human imagination they did want to go to their own conjured up pipedream of hell.
When I told him that the Bible describes a very different kind of hell, he said “I don’t believe the Bible. Man wrote it.” I asked him if he’d look up Josh McDowell or Ravi Zacharias on the Internet and just listen to them for awhile. He said he couldn’t be bothered with that. The conversation went a little longer, but I knew that at best I had planted a seed that could still bloom later in his life. What I was doing is called “witnessing for Christ.” Reliable statistics show that it generally takes seven times for various Christians to witness to someone before they wake up and realize they sincerely need to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Join me now on Take Time For God and let’s share a great time together. –Ray
After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God;
BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.”
And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.”
And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”
And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.”
Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb."” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”
Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God,
so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.”
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.
And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
