Family Strife – The World in Turmoil – Part Three

 

Family Strife – The World in Turmoil – Part Three

In Part One of this discussion I wanted to describe some of the factors that Christians and other Bible students might consider when they look at the current state of “strife” / violence / warfare affecting world affairs.  My perspective was to view these events in the context of the “family of mankind”, dating back to the first family of Adam and Eve, through the family of Noah following the Great Flood.

In Part Two…I noted the events that resulted in the dis-unity / breakup of Noah’s family after the LORD had scattered them and confounded their language at the Tower of Babel.   Remember, the family / descendants of Shem had been put at odds against the family / descendants of Ham / Canaan by the curse of their father Noah.  I then jumped ahead in history to show how the “new family” of the Nation of Israel is playing a role interacting with both these families under the influence of a descendant of the family of Noah’s third and elder son Japheth.  My intent was to focus on the current strife / warfare that has affected the entire world, primarily in a negative way.   At the close of that post I noted that , I hope that every Christian and other Bible students will read the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 24.  It is the lens through which we need to keep these current events into focus.

Further, I noted that in this Part Three, I would highlight some of the intervening history that I skipped over, that had  brought the initial strife / war  between the descendants of Shem and Ham / Canaan, and the “new family” of Israel to the world’s attention.

It is most difficult trying to generate a timeframe related to these various events.  An Internet search leads to a variety of estimates. You might consider the following sources among others:

https://www.gotquestions.org/when-was-Noah-flood.html  (Circa 2400 B.C.)

https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/antiquities-of-jews/the-tower-of-babel.html  (Circa 2200 B.C. );  and  https://www.lesfeldick.org/lestimel.html

After an additional estimated 200 years of observing man’s violent behavior both within and outside their respective genealogic families, and their refusing to acknowledge Him as their Creator and only true God, the LORD moved to provide His guidance. (Circa 2000 B.C.)   Remember His ultimate objective was to fulfill the commitment He made in the Garden of Eden, to restore man to Himself after Adam’s fall to the Enemy. (Genesis 3: 15).  Now the LORD would  take steps to teach man His standards for “righteousness”.  That included giving Him the honor and recognition due to Him as the Supreme God over all, and their Creator. It also included instructions to guide man’s living in harmony with his fellow beings.

That next step was taken when the LORD chose one of the descendants of Noah’s second son Shem to become the head / patriarch of a new family among mankind. That descendant was Abram, the son of Terah.  They were a small family who worshipped “other gods” and lived in Ur of the Chaldees, a part of what is now Syria, (Genesis 11: 10-32; Joshua 24: 2) As you recall from Bible study, that “new family” became the Nation of Israel, and came from the descendants of Abram (later renamed “Abraham”), and his son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob (later renamed “Israel”).  

Very importantly, the mechanism for God’s having mankind restored to Himself would be through the Covenant that the LORD made with Abram (now called the “Abrahamic Covenant”) while he was still in Terah’s household.  The Scripture said:  “ Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

² And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

³ And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.  (Genesis 12: 1-3)

 In the context of our title subject, I’d like to limit this post to the first part of the Covenant with the focus on the “Land of Promise”. 

There are some clues in this Covenant suggesting what might result in “strife” between this new “great nation” (the Nation of Israel born out of the family of Shem), and the descendants of Ham / Canaan (the Amorites, Hittites, Jebusites, Canaanites, et al) .  Remember from your study and Part One of this discussion, their father Noah had cursed Canaan that he should be a “servant” to both his brothers Shem and Japheth. (Genesis 9: 26, 27)  That curse would carry over to their descendants.

On another point, throughout man’s history there has been strife within and outside of families related to the “ownership of land” and other resources. But this time it was “personal”…a deep-seated family issue. The “land” to which the LORD would lead Abram would already be inhabited by people who had claimed the land for themselves.  In this important instance,  the land was inhabited by the descendants of  the family of Canaan,  [But as man has been prone to forget, the “ownership” of the entire Earth belongs to the Creator LORD, and He maintains Supreme Authority.]

Although as God He needed no justification for taking  a portion of His land from the Canaanites, the Scripture relates that the LORD gave “Deed” to this “Promised Land” to Abram (Genesis Chapter 15) .  Later, the LORD extended the gift of that same land to Abraham’s son Isaac (Genesis 26: 1-5) , and his grandson Jacob / Israel , and their future generations. (Genesis 35: 9-12).

Then the LORD told Abram that his descendants would have to wait 400 years “for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”  (Genesis 15: 26)  That “iniquity”  (Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary # 5771) among the Amorite people spoke to their evil, sinful lives; and perversion of God’s laws.   (See also  https://www.gotquestions.org/sin-of-the-Amorites.html )   [As an aside, have you wondered why the LORD noted only the “Amorites” whose “iniquity was not yet full”? I believe that by implication the other descendants of Canaan had already “filled their iniquity” in the eyes of God because their lands were also given to Abraham. (Genesis 15: 18-21).]  The collective sins, evil, idolatry, violence, etc. of the Canaanites undoubtedly contributed to the LORD”s decision to take the land from all of them.

Up to this point I’ve tried to outline a couple of the issues related to the mindset of the family / descendants of Ham / Canaan…cursed by their father Noah to be servant to their older brothers Japheth and Shem;  and fated to be removed from their land as it will be given by God into the hands of the families of their brother Shem, specifically the Nation of Israel.  The “strife” between the early generations of Noah’s family / descendants degenerated into the outright hatred and warfare that has continued for centuries after Bible records were complete.

Now before blaming the LORD for causing this family warfare, remember what the Bible has shown us.  It was through the Enemy that sin and death entered the world. (Genesis Chapter Three).  The sin-nature that resulted in violence, even homicide / murder followed soon afterwards in that first family of Adam and Eve when the first-born son Cain slew his younger brother Abel. (Genesis Chapter Four). Also remember that sin / evil, violence and murder were reasons God brought about the Great Flood to destroy the ensuing generations, except for Noah and his family. But most of all remember that from the beginning, God has given man the right and option to choose between good and evil; right and wrong. Man knows the difference.

Through His love for mankind, the LORD would not force man to live according to His standards of morality and righteousness. He sought to educate us through the Nation of Israel. Some would ask, why then would God allow the warfare and violence in the disputes between Israel and the Canaanites over the “Promised Land” to continue? Because it was man’s choice on both sides.

As noted above, the Canaanites had continued in the ways of the sin and violence in mankind that existed before the Great Flood.  To a great degree that same mindset existed in the Nation of Israel, but they hadn’t had centuries of such “experience” as a Nation, nor weapons. But they didn’t need those because the LORD would “fight” for them.  By using the stinging insects hornets He would drive the Canaanites from the Promised Land, and Israel wouldn’t need “traditional weapons”., nor would they sustain any casualties!  But Israel wouldn’t believe the LORD!!!  (Exodus 23: 20-33; Numbers Chapters 13 and 14; and Deuteronomy Chapter Nine)

That classic display of unbelief, and rejection of His instructions to enter the “Promised Land” peacefully has delayed that event for thousands of years, even into the future after the Lord’s Second Coming. God gave the people of Israel free choice.  They chose most poorly.

In the interim period from then until now, Israel has been embroiled in warfare with the neighboring countries to obtain, and lose, and then regain, and now retain at least part of the Land that the LORD had promised and deeded to Abraham. (Genesis Chapter 15)

Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson

https://christianityandbiblestudy.blogspot.com

Family Strife – The World in Turmoil – Part Two

 

Family Strife – The World in Turmoil – Part Two

 

At the close of Part One of this discussion on “Family Strife – The World in Turmoil”, I had cited excerpts from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Genesis Chapter 11.  For context, note that following the world-wide flood, the LORD had sent forth Noah and his family out of the Ark. Then the Scripture added: “ And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. (Genesis 9: 1) (Emphasis added)  If those words sound familiar, they were also spoken by God after He created the first man Adam and gave him dominion over the Earth. (Genesis 1: 26-28)  As Matthew Henry pointed out, in spite of man’s evil, wickedness and the violence that led the LORD to destroy all mankind except for this one family, His love for His favored creation man remained.

Now in Chapter 11, the collective families / descendants of the sons of Noah (Japheth, Shem and Ham) had gathered in Babel. This was  in direct defiance of the LORD’s instructions that they spread throughout the Earth. The Scripture recorded this: “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech….And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11: 1 and 4)  Note the pronouns “us” and “we”, as men’s focus was solely on themselves, notwithstanding the Mercy and Grace shown by the LORD who had saved their families.  Unfortunately, not much has changed in the thousands of years since then.

 Even after God intervened to confound their speech and scatter them, the families refused to acknowledge Him. At that point, the unity of the “family of mankind” had been broken.  Following Babel, the “three families” of Noah and their descendants separated  and chose their own paths of migration… and worship…and their separate “gods” through various idols.         (See: https://share.google/J1NANWJh80TwjWrvO .

Each segment of the divided family then resumed the behavior that had led to man’s earlier downfall. The door had been opened for the Enemy to take advantage of the curses that Noah had placed on his grandson Canaan. (Genesis 9: 25-27)  In looking ahead, the Bible placed a greater focus on the two families / descendants of Shem and Ham / Canaan.  Later the family / descendants of Japheth would play a more prominent role. 

That brings me to the timeliness of the title of this post, with a focus on the “World” being in “Turmoil”.  Over the past many years since Israel was recognized as an independent Nation State in 1948, people worldwide have watched the hostility / warfare between Israel and its Arab neighbors. (https://www.gov.il/en/pages/declaration-of-establishment-state-of-israel )

Primarily the combatants have been the descendants of the families of Shem and Ham / Canaan.  Most knowledgeable people understand that the strife / hatred between them began in Biblical times. (More on that will be discussed below.)  Remember that because of Israel’s rejection of our Lord Jesus as their Messiah, in 70 A.D. God allowed the Romans to destroy their Temple in Jerusalem… and the people were either killed or dispersed throughout the known world.

But as prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 37, Israel would return to their homeland. However their return was met by the same hostility from its Arab neighbors as previously encountered some two thousand years earlier.  From our earlier study we know that the primary source of their intra-family strife was which side would “own” contested land.

But now today, we have seen the impact of the introduction into the hostility by the descendants of the “third part of Noah’s family”…that of the elder son Japheth.  (As an aside, you might consider what the Scripture has said about some of the “first-born”, such as Ishmael and Esau.)

Of great importance is that their interests seem to lie in the natural resources found the land…especially oil and other petroleum products, and access to them.  Further, that motivation by a descendant of Japheth has been sufficient to join the “new family” of Israel in attacking Iran, another member of the family / descendants of Shem (Elam). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Iran )

The result of that attack by the United States and Israel has been the disruption of oil / petroleum supplies, and economic stabilty throughout the world.  (The True Enemy is ecstatic!!!)

Now to this point I have jumped / “leap-frogged” from the Bible’s discussion of some of man’s history following the Great Flood of Noah’s time;…over the critical intervening history of these families;…to discuss the current world situation.  In Part Three of this discussion I will highlight some of that intervening history that brought the earlier strife / war  between the descendants of Shem and Ham / Canaan, and the “new family” of Israel to the world’s attention.

In the meantime, I hope that every Christian and other Bible students will read the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 24.  It is the lens through which we need to keep these current events into focus.

Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson

https://christianityandbiblestudy.blogspot.com

Family Strife – The World in Turmoil – Part One

 

Family Strife – The World in Turmoil – Part One

 

Over the past months and weeks, and especially over the past days, the world has watched and been in turmoil because of the warfare being waged in various geographic areas.  Russia against Ukraine. India against Pakistan.  United States against Venezuela.  And many others.  Now most recently, the United States and Israel have waged war against Iran in a battle that has affected the entire Middle East Region and beyond.  However, these types of events should not come as a surprise to many Christians and others who have studied the Bible.

The major differences between now and in the past of man’s history can generally be viewed in the degree and “sophistication” / technology of the weapons used to kill other men. The combatants in war are generally not only neighbors but also often related through family ties.

We have learned from the Bible Scripture itself and our understanding of human behavior that we should expect that these acts of violence between nations and peoples would occur..  Our Lord Jesus Himself has advised us of these times as He spoke with His Disciples near the end of His Earthly Ministry. (Matthew Chapter 24)

In retrospect, virtually all Bible students will agree that by longest extension we are all related as the “family of mankind” through the first man Adam.  His sin against God, instigated by the Enemy, opened the door for death and violence to enter the world. (Genesis Chapter Three)  That violence quickly appeared as Cain, the elder son of Adam and Eve killed his brother Abel. (Genesis Chapter Four) 

Note that the Enemy had only begun to incite such evil behavior and set man against man. Remember the temptations that led to Adam’s fall through Eve…”lust of the flesh, lost of the eyes and the pride of life” (Genesis Chapter Three; 1 John 2:16)  The sin-nature of mankind inherited from Adam has made us even today susceptible to failing to overcome these temptations.

Note also that God had already given man the ability to “choose between good and evil / right and wrong.” That one option / choice existed when the LORD God gave everything in the Garden of Eden to Adam, with one exception. As we know, Adam chose to disobey and follow that one exception that was promoted by the Enemy.   So that sole explanation of “having the option to choose’ does not explain subsequent family violence.  It is too simplistic. 

As more background for this discussion, consider what happened a thousand years later in man’s history when the LORD flooded the Earth to destroy all mankind except for one family,.  He could no longer tolerate mankind’s insatiable appetite for evil and violence. (Genesis 6: 1-7)   That one family saved was led by Noah, who had found grace in the eyes of God, and his three sons. (Genesis 6: 8)  Noah and those sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their descendants are the second family that laid the groundwork for the resumption of the evil behavior that the LORD abhorred, and that we have seen manifest throughout history even until today.

Let’s look at an excerpt from Genesis 9: 18-29 , showing how the Scripture recorded the events that took place prior to Noah’s death, noting especially the individual roles of the three sons:

“¹⁸ And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.  ¹⁹ These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.  (Emphasis added)

²⁰ And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:²¹ And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.  ²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.  ²³ And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

²⁴ And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.  ²⁵ And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. (Emphasis added)   [It is important to note that Noah did not place his curse on his “younger son Ham”, the offender.  That is noteworthy because the first verse in the chapter recorded that “God blessed Noah and his sons…”    Noah could not “curse” what God had blessed, so he placed the curse on Ham’s son Canaan.  As a result, this verse and the next verses of Scripture become critical to our discussion related to family dynamics.  Canaan and his descendants were cursed to be servants to the descendants of Shem and Japheth.  That point is emphasized in the next verses:]

²⁶ And he (Noah) said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.  ²⁷ God  shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. (Emphasis added)   [Note the blessings / advantages given to both Japheth and Shem and  their descendants. As the elder / first-born son, Japheth was by custom to inherit a double portion  (disproportionate share) of the family wealth.  That in itself could lead to family jealousy / resentment through the three temptations noted above. But there is more to consider.

As noted in earlier posts, in Bible history first comes the ”natural”, then comes the “spiritual”.(1 Corinthians 15: 45-48)  The  first-born “natural” are more prone to follow “fleshly” desires than the “spiritual”.  Consider the  examples of Cain and Abel; Ishmael and Isaac; and Esau and Jacob.  [(As an aside, in a figurative sense, Jacob was born “natural”, but the LORD changed his name to “Israel” as he became “spiritual”. (Genesis 32: 24-32)  Similarly, we  Christians were all born “”natural”, but the Holy Spirit has changed our names to “sons of God” when we spiritually came to believe the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4; Romans 10: 9-13); Galatians 3: 22-26)]  

Returning to our Scripture, it would be through Noah’s second son Shem and his descendants in the “spiritual” line of genealogy that the “Seed of the woman” / Redeemer of Mankind would come. (Genesis 3: 15); Luke Chapter Three]    ²⁸ And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.  ²⁹ And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

With that background, it is important to note what the Bible says, and does not say in the next few chapters of the Book of Genesis about “family strife / violence”, and the spiritual development of mankind through Noah’s sons and their families / descendants.

In Genesis Chapter Ten, the first and last verses (Verse One and Verse 32) provide “bookends” for the listing of the “generations” of the descendants of the three sons. They read:  “Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood; and “These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood”.  The intervening verses contain some clues to what will be highlighted in Chapter 11. Also, you might find the following reference helpful for your study:   

https://bible-history.com/old-testament/table-of-nations-genesis-10#google_vignette

To put Chapter 11 into perspective, remember the what the LORD had told Noah and his sons as He sent them out from the Ark. (Genesis 8: 15-19).  The Scripture then said:  “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” (Genesis 9: 1) (Emphasis added).

As you likely have already read the Scripture in Chapter 11 about this family’s venture at the Tower of Babel, I will not repeat it. However, I encourage you to review it as I cite the words of “Commentary” from the noted Bible Scholar Matthew Henry (https://www.gotquestions.org/Matthew-Henry.html , :

Verse 1-4 - How soon men forget the most tremendous judgments, and go back to their former crimes! Though the desolations of the deluge were before their eyes, though they sprang from the stock of righteous Noah, yet even during his life-time, wickedness increases exceedingly. …

God's purpose was, that mankind should form many nations, and people all lands. In contempt of the Divine will, and against the counsel of Noah, the bulk of mankind united to build a city and a tower to prevent their separating. Idolatry was begun, and Babel became one of its chief seats. They made one another more daring and resolute. (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Genesis Chapter 11: 1-4)

Verse 5-9

God has wise and holy ends, in allowing the enemies of his glory to carry on their wicked projects a great way, and to prosper long. Observe the wisdom and mercy of God, in the methods taken for defeating this undertaking. And the mercy of God in not making the penalty equal to the offence; for he deals not with us according to our sins. The wisdom of God, in fixing upon a sure way to stop these proceedings. If they could not understand one another, they could not help one another; this would take them off from their building. God has various means, and effectual ones, to baffle and defeat the projects of proud men that set themselves against him, and particularly he divides them among themselves. Notwithstanding their union and obstinacy God was above them; for who ever hardened his heart against him, and prospered? Their language was confounded. We all suffer by it to this day: in all the pains and trouble used to learn the languages we have occasion for, we suffer for the rebellion of our ancestors at Babel. Nay, and those unhappy disputes, which are strifes of words, and arise from misunderstanding one another's words, for aught we know, are owing to this confusion of tongues. They left off to build the city. The confusion of their tongues not only unfitted them for helping one another, but they saw the hand of the Lord gone out against them.  (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Genesis Chapter 11: 5-9)

I’ll continue this discussion on Family Strife in Part Two.

Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson

https://christianityandbiblestudy.blogspot.com

Lord Jesus’ Resurrection Was the First of Many – Part 2

 

Lord Jesus’ Resurrection Was the First of Many – Part 2

 

Remember from the earlier discussion, here the term “resurrection” refers to the process by which those who have experienced death [the separation of their “essence’ (their soul and spirit) from their physical bodies] and are receiving their “new” incorruptible bodies fit for eternity. Our Lord Jesus was the first to be so “resurrected”, and therefore the “First” of the “firstfruits” in our analogy of the agrarian grain harvest.   

As you might recall from that  discussion, next in order will be the resurrection of those who  comprise / make up the “main harvest”.  Now, returning to the Scripture of 1 Corinthians Chapter 15, …

²¹ For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  ²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

²³ But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.  (Emphasis added)  ²⁴ Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15: 21-24)    (Bold and Underline added for Emphasis)

There are several important points that should be addressed in those verses, but for the sake of brevity I will note only a couple.  First, Verse 23  tells us that the resurrection of the dead will take place in phases or stages, not involving all the dead at once.  Secondly, following the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and the “firstfruits”, sometime “afterwards”, those who belong to the Lord will be resurrected. Thirdly, those resurrections will mark the end of this World Age, as the Lord will then establish His Kingdom on the Earth.

On close review, I noticed that the Scripture did not follow the details of the agrarian analogy that I had been following.  Although it did note that all the dead would not be resurrected at the same time, there were insufficient details to group the others beyond the firstfruits into the categories of “main harvest”, “corners”, and “gleaners”.  I then looked for another example that would improve understanding of what will take place.  Then the Spirit led me to words given by the Lord Himself.  I encourage you to read the passage in Matthew 13: 34-44, but for the sake of brevity I’ll only highlight the following verses:        

^“36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.   ³⁷ He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;   ³⁸ The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

³⁹ The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.  ⁴⁰ As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.   ⁴³ Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.  ⁴⁴ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. “ (Matthew 13: 36-40, 43-44)

I further recommend your review of the Scripture in Book of Ruth. Note her position as a Gentile (Moabitess) being a “stranger”, “poor” and a “gleaner”, intimately involved in the harvest. She would have been among the last groups to be resurrected behind the firstfruits and the main harvest.  But her marriage to  Boaz, the rich owner of the field (a ”type” of the Lord Jesus) in which she gleaned, blessed her future.  She ultimately became part of the genealogy leading to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (Matthew 1: 5)

I think our Lord Jesus is explaining that in the final analysis, He does not see the significance of my differentiating  between the sub-categories of the “field / world” being resurrected / harvested  that I had addressed by distinguishing between the “main harvest”, the “corners”, “gleanings”, etc.  On further review, the Scripture reinforces the concept that the final distinction in the significance of man’s resurrection will be made between two groups, that is: “good seed” vs. tares”; good vs. evil; “sheep vs. goats; etc. (Revelation 20: 11-15; Daniel 12: 1-3; Matthew 25: 31-46; John 5: 21-29)

In retrospect, as we review the Scripture noted above in 1 Corinthians 5: 23, seems clearer in the reference to what happens after the resurrection of the firstfruits. The word “afterwards” does not distinguish between the subgroups of the harvest because in the eyes of God we are all members of the “Body of Christ”, whether we are Jew or Gentile. (1 Corinthians 12: 27-31; Romans 12: 4-5; Colossians 1: 18)  We all belong to Him and He will determine our future at the time He desires.

What we are to understand is a key lesson from the Bible, especially as stated in the following verse as shared by the Apostle Peter, when he wrote:

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”. (2 Peter 3: 9)  (Bold and Underline Emphasis added)

For us today, that ‘repentance” (Strong’s Greek Dictionary # 3341) is manifest when we believe the Gospel of God’s Grace as stated by the Apostle Paul, when he wrote:

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;   ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;   ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4)

In another passage Paul re-stated that same concept, as the Holy Spirit led him for emphasis.  Further, he added the significance of Christians being willing to verbally speak their belief in their faith when he said:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

¹⁰ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  ¹¹ For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

¹² For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.  ¹³ For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10: 9-13)  (Bold and Underline added for emphasis)

As I close this Part 2 segment,  I’d like to emphasize an important general point related to Bible study.  When we see the unfolding of the “Bible Timeline of events” over the course of man’s history, we note there are many instances of God’s having given specific dates and times for certain events to happen. (For example, see: https://www.lesfeldick.org/lestimel.html ) However, that practice was limited to God’s dealings with the Nation of Israel, and did not apply to this “Age of Grace”.  Although we can identify the date and time when the “harvest of the firstfruits” took place, we cannot determine the specific timing when the key word “afterward” will take place.  As our Lord Jesus told His Disciples just before His Ascension, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. (Acts 1: 7)  Only He will determine the timing of our resurrection.

Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson

https://christianityandbiblestudy.blogspot.com