So Which IS The True Church?

It has been claimed that Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon faith, had a vision in which he communicated with both our Heavenly Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Whether or not this is true I have no way of knowing, never having met Joseph Smith and thus having no opportunity to judge his character.  What I can say with some certainty though is that the answer he received to his question 'Which is the true church?' is pretty much spot on the mark.

Smith was, allegedly, told that none of the churches of the time were the true church and I would venture to say that remains true to this day.  Now, I've never had any kind of visitation from God or Jesus but I do have a close, personal relationship with Them - the kind that the Bible speaks of frequently.  As a result of that in addition to my own personal research and much study of the Bible I too believe that there is no such thing as 'the true church' in the manner that we think of it today.

God, through Jesus, did establish a church on earth.  But it wasn't a denomination or a building or anything like man's rigid structures that have been placed around the true faith.  Dogma and the rigid church rules that are so prevalent today simply have no part whatsoever in the pure and simple faith that Jesus and the Bible teaches.

Act of God or Natural Disaster?

As many of you will know parts of Australia have recently been beset by bush fires and floods.  Naturally this inevitably brings up the question of whether these events are 'acts of God' or 'natural disasters'.  My question is a little simpler though - why do the two have to be mutually exclusive?  In ancient times man always viewed natural events as signs or omens from their many gods.  In some ways we're not that different today and with good reason.

The Bible tells us clearly that God uses natural disasters as a way of imparting a lesson to His people.  As a way of reminding His people of His ultimate plan for all mankind.  So does that mean that every thunderstorm or earthquake is an act of God?  Well, this is where things get a little complicated because the answer is yes and no.

The first thing we all have to remember is that God created nature.  Nothing happens on this planet that God is not ultimately in control of completely.  However that doesn't mean that He deliberately sends a disaster just to see His people suffer without cause.  That's not the way of love so we know immediately that it is not the way of God.

So Where Is The True Church?

This is a question that probably all Christians, almost from the time of the New Testament, have asked at one time or another.  If you read the New Testament carefully you will see that there were many 'churches', which were merely congregations of people who had heard and believed the message of Jesus and His disciples.  These were in many different places, largely due to the work of Paul and other evangelical Apostles, and were often completely separated from each other.  History shows us that in the first three centuries there was, quite simply, no such thing as a universal, organized 'true church'.

The first thing you need to understand when studying this subject is that the word church doesn't mean what it has come to mean in our modern society.  It comes from a Greek word and simply means 'those called out with honour'.  The 'True Church' was and is simply those people, in many different areas, who follow The Way taught by Jesus as given to us by God the Father.  It's not a denomination or organization as we understand it today.

The modern sense of 'church' only developed with the Roman Emperor Constantine who wanted a readily recognizable body that would help him to unify the increasingly disorganized Roman Empire.  He was, in a very real sense, the true founder of what we now call the Catholic Church.  However it is vitally important to understand that Constantine's motives in this were not spiritual but political.

So... What About Armageddon?

Well, as you can see, we did not perish on the 21st of December as many said the Mayan's had predicted.  So does this mean that Armageddon is a myth?  That there will be no 'Great and Terrible Day of the Lord'?  Absolutely not.  Mark my words, the return of Christ will come, perhaps even in our lifetimes.  What it does prove though is the words of the Bible - 'no one knows the time or the day'.  Not even the Son in His earthly body knew when the Day of the Lord would come.  Of course, now that He has resumed His position at the right hand of The Father, He is, once again, fully one with God and fully privy to the plan of salvation that God has laid out for mankind.

God the Father, the Ancient of Days, has allotted a period of time to humanity for us to go our own way.  To choose for ourselves what is good and what is evil.  That time period though, will run out.  Christ, the Son, the great I Am, will return to earth with His heavenly host to end Satan's rule over mankind and to bring judgement to the world.  The Bible promises us that this will occur. What we are not told is when.

Any one who preaches that they know exactly when the Day of the Lord will come is a liar.  They may be simply deluded and misguided or they may have a more malicious agenda but either way they are wrong.  The Bible gives us clues, warning signs to watch for but it also states clearly that the Lord's return will come 'like a thief in the night'.  We may be able to make fairly educated guesses based on the events going on in the world but that is all they will ever be... guesses.

While on earth Christ told His disciples the end was coming 'soon', and as we know, that was two thousand years ago.  This means we must also have an understanding of what 'soon' means to God.  The Bible tells us that 'a thousand years is like unto a day to God' - therefore, very little time, as God measures it, has passed since Jesus walked the earth as a man.

By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

There have been many, many scandals throughout the centuries involving men and women of God who have fallen far short of their claimed characters.  Does this automatically mean they were NOT true followers of God?  Not necessarily, as the Apostle Paul said we are still human, we will fall short of our own expectations, let alone those of the Lord.  We will sin, we will stumble.  Yet the Bible also teaches us that 'by their fruits you shall know them' - which very clearly shows us that we should be able to judge a person's Godliness by their behaviours.  And this is where the very fine line between judgement and discernment comes into play.

God has told us through the inspired words of the Bible that we are not to judge one another.  This means that we cannot condemn someone as being anything less than a child of God.  We are all His children, made in His image.  None of us has God's ability to look into another person's heart and see their true self.  Thus we cannot judge someone's relationship or lack of relationship with God simply by looking at them from the outside.  It's impossible for any human being to be able to make that kind of judgement.

So what about discernment?  Firstly discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit - it is a part of the power of God that He bestows upon us in order to look at our fellow humans through the filter of our Lord Jesus.  We've all heard horror stories about cults and other similar groups and they are examples of the very people we should be asking for God's discernment to determine whether they are truly from God or whether they are motivated by some human sin.  In many cases they are not remotely Godly and you should move away from them immediately and find another earthly instructor in the ways of God.

Charisma - God's Gift or Satan's Curse?

Charisma - you don't always know exactly how to define it but you definitely know it when you see it.  It's a rare gift, despite many people being labelled as 'charismatic', in fact there are usually only a few who truly deserve the label in each generation.  Unfortunately it seems that many people who do have the gift seem to use it for ill rather than good.

Hitler, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Napoleon, Julius Caesar - to name but a few.  They were all highly charismatic people with that incredible gift of being able to draw people to them, to have people follow them - almost slavishly at times.  I'll never forget my exposure to 'real' charisma when I was a teenager studying history in High School.  To demonstrate how Hitler had managed to gather such an enormously devoted following our teacher played the class a video of Hitler delivering a speech, from beginning to the end.

Unlike most of the speeches we see in news clips, which are only brief excerpts and usually taken from the latter part of his speech, when you actually see his entire speech from beginning to end it is breathtaking.  He would begin very slowly, very quietly, forcing the audience to be still and really pay attention and then gradually dragged you into the full force of his personality.  Even though I didn't speak a word of German and the video had no sub-titles, I honestly felt so caught up in the moment that I would have followed him anywhere.  It was a devastating thought to have once the magic had been broken and I could think clearly again.  It also frightened me - it still does.

We know that in the last days there will come an Antichrist.  God's last human opponent, controlled by and devoted to Satan.  We know, because the Bible tells us, that this man will be so charismatic and have such a powerful personality that 'unless the days were cut short even the very elect would be deceived'.  Almost the whole world will fall under the sway of this soon to come world leader.  Like the people of Germany in World War II the world will follow this Antichrist's lead - right to the gates of hell on earth.

So where is the True Church?

This is a question that probably all Christians, almost from the time of the New Testament, have asked at one time or another.  If you read the New Testament carefully you will see that there were many 'churches', which were merely congregations of people who had heard and believed the message of Jesus and His disciples.  These were in many different places, largely due to the work of Paul and other evangelical Apostles, and were often completely separated from each other.  History shows us that in the first three centuries there was, quite simply, no such thing as a universal, organized 'true church'.  Rather there were followers of The Way who were in doctrinal harmony with each other.

The first thing you need to understand when studying this subject is that the word church doesn't mean what it has come to mean in our modern society.  It comes from a Greek word and simply means 'those called out with honor'.  The 'True Church' was and is simply those people, in many different areas, who follow The Way taught by Jesus as given to us by God the Father.  It's not a denomination or organization as we understand it today.

The modern sense of 'church' only developed with the Roman Emperor Constantine who wanted a readily recognizable body that would help him to unify the increasingly disorganized Roman Empire.  He was, in a very real sense, the true founder of what we now call the Catholic Church.  However it is vitally important to understand that Constantine's motives in this were not spiritual but political.

Think You're In Danger Of Being Left Behind?

The "Left Behind" series of books was tremendously popular and started a lot of people talking about the end times, the Rapture and being 'left behind'.  There's good news and bad news on this subject that I'd like to share with you. 

First the bad news - if you read your Bible carefully, particularly the prophets and the writings of Paul and Peter, you will quickly realize that at no point does the Bible actually talk about a Rapture in the way it's currently thought and preached about.  It does say that those followers of The Way who are alive will rise to meet Christ in the clouds.  However that event occurs when He returns.  Not before the coming Tribulation or during it but at the moment when Christ leaves Heaven to plant His feet on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and reclaim His crown as King of the world.  This means, obviously that people will not be 'left behind' to endure the Tribulation - all those living will, to one degree or another have to endure the coming Tribulation.

To many people this may come as devastating news or even a completely new teaching yet read your Bible's carefully and you will see that it is the truth.  It is Biblical fact that there will be no Rapture as depicted in the "Left Behind" series of books.  The world will not be thrown into chaos and confusion by the sudden disappearance of hundreds of millions of true believers.  Nor will the world be filled with those who have perhaps been doubtful or not yet accepted Jesus into their hearts being 'left behind' to suffer the trials of the Tribulation on their own.

Ever Feel Like Job?

Everyone, at one time or another, will experience hard times.  They may be health issues, financial issues, emotional issues or even a combination of many.  Still, I don't think anyone has ever suffered quite like Job in the Bible.  As a result, we can learn some very valuable lessons from this beautifully written poem.

Firstly it's important to remember that Job was a good man.  Bad things happen to good people; in fact they're often more likely to happen to good people because Satan either instigates it or uses bad times to try and pull us away from God.  This was the case with Job.  Satan believed that Job was only obedient to God because he had been given so many blessings from God and that if those blessings were taken away Job would 'curse God and die'.

The second thing it's important to remember as you read this poem is that God was completely in charge.  He gave Satan boundaries that our arch enemy could not cross.  This is still the case in our lives today, Satan can only tempt or torment us as far as God allows.  Furthermore we know that God will only ever let us be tempted or tormented to the degree that we each, as individuals, can handle.  Satan will never be allowed to burden you with a trial you cannot handle, with God's help.

Are You Looking For God Or The Devil?

I have a beautiful statue of Buddha in my house and a friend recently questioned me, asking me if I wasn't worshipping a false idol.  In answer I pointed out my collection of abstract African art, all of which depicts human beings in some form or other, my statue of a Japanese Samurai warrior and my vast collection of Egyptian artworks.  I went on to explain that I have these things not because I'm worshipping them but because I find them beautiful.  To me they are nothing more that simple decorations.  

It reminded me though of the sad truth that if you look for the devil you will definitely find him.  Whether it's in art, in statues, in songs or movies.  He is everywhere.  In fact, the Bible tells us he is the Prince of this world.  That doesn't mean though that we have to look for him or fear him in human made things.  God tells us that if we follow The Way and are disciples of Christ then the devil cannot hurt us.  That in fact he will flee from us because we have Christ living within us.

The Bible teaches us to love our 'enemies', to do good to them that hurt you, to turn the other cheek.  That is not so different from the Buddhist concept of Karma.  Buddhism also teaches followers to 'do no harm'.  Sounds a lot like the teachings of God to me.  Why should I focus on the differences between myself and my Buddhist brother when I could instead focus on the common ground that we have and perhaps make a friend.  This doesn't mean that I intend or advocate practising their faith, far from it.  All God asks of us is that we respect people's right to think differently than we do.  It is not our place to call people to God by trying to impose our will upon them.  Simply speaking the Truth and living The Way is more than enough evangelizing. 

How Do I Read The Bible?

If you're reading the Bible, as I hope you are, then it is highly likely you may be finding it difficult to understand.  Particularly if you come from a religious background and have believed all that was taught by those well-meaning but nonetheless 'false prophets'. Whether you're looking for hope, inspiration, guidance on how to live your life or you're looking to better understand the prophecies of the Bible you have to first understand how to read it.  The Bible is a book like no other primarily because it is not a single book by one author but a compilation of books, letters, sermons, poetry and prophecy written by many authors.

The Bible is the best place to look for explanations of difficult or hard to understand passages as the Bible always explains itself.  For example we know when we're reading prophetic passages that if a woman is referenced it refers to a Church - how do we know this with such certainty?  Because the Bible has already told us that.  Christ described His Church as a pure, spotless Bride, or, a woman.  Therefore if we read about a woman in the Bible, such as the women referenced in the Book of Revelation we know immediately that God is talking about a Church, either a corrupt Church or the True and Original Church founded by Christ.

Much of the Bible is straight forward history, the written history of a group of people who would come to be known as the Israelites.  Books such as Kings 1 and 2, Chronicles 1 and 2 are meant be taken literally as the actual events that occurred to a specific group of people.  Unlike much of history, which is written by the victors and therefore must always be viewed with an eye for bias, the Bible tells the simple, sometimes ugly, truth.  If it is discussing actual events we may be certain that the Bible tells us exactly how it happened.  Even if it may seem unbelievable, such as the fall of the walls of Jericho, you may be sure that the walls fell exactly as God describes for God performs miracles.    

Are We In The Last Days?

It is tempting these days when watching the news and current events to become convinced that we are living in the very last of the last days.  There is an abundance of wars and natural disasters, most particularly the earthquakes that Jesus spoke of so specifically.  Yet we cannot forget that when He spoke with His disciples in Matthew 24 He was telling them of the lead up to the last of the last days - He called it the beginning of sorrows and likened it to a woman in labor. 

Before we can truly claim to be living through the Tribulation spoken of in the Bible we must first experience the prophecy that is known as 'the time of Jacob's trouble', which we discussed in the previous post.  We also know, again from previous posts, that the modern state of Israel represents only a two of the twelve tribes of Israel, specifically Judah and Benjamin, and part of a third tribe, the Levites.  The tribe of Jacob was expanded by God to include Jacob's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, replacing the tribe of Dan as seen in the book of Revelation when we are told about the 144 thousand.

  

Therefore we must see great catastrophe befall the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh before we see the beginning of the Great Tribulation. So let's examine in more depth what exactly is the Time of Jacob's Trouble?  Firstly those nations will be conquered, financially ruined and taken into captivity.  They will experience a kind of poverty, starvation and deprivation more severe even than that experienced by our current third world countries.  In fact God says their punishment will be greater and more horrible than anything the world has ever seen.  In the light of historical events such as the Holocaust this is a truly terrifying thought.  Yet God has said it will be so and we must believe these things will happen.

Prophecy and the Ten Lost Tribes

As we discussed earlier there are many people who say that Biblical prophecy is over and done with long ago because there's no mention of today's modern civilizations.  Yet if you really examine the prophecies you will soon see that the majority of them are in fact still to come.  They may have already been played out once but with the Bible's penchant for duality we still have another round, if you will, to go with most of the Bible's prophecies.

We will see the destruction of the Temple, the fall of Israel and the punishment of Israel's enemies afterwards.  All of these things are still sadly, and frighteningly, still to come.  One of our great difficulties in deciphering Biblical prophecy is that it so often speaks simply of the people of Israel.  Yet 10 of Israel's tribes are lost and scattered throughout the world.  The state of Israel that exists today does NOT include all of Israel.  God promised Abraham that his descendants would be like the stars of the heavens or grains of sand on the beach.  Even during Israel's mightiest time as a Kingdom, under King's David and Solomon that prophecy had not yet been fulfilled.... but has it now?

Many people will tell you they know exactly who the lost tribes are in today's modern world and many of them will be wrong.  It is really impossible to be 100% certain of their modern identities but there are clues that can lead us to identify some if not all of the tribes.  For example the Danish people seem, from the prophecies that God gave to Jacob concerning his children, to be the modern version of the tribe of Dan.  Likewise, again using the prophecies in Genesis, it seems fairly certain that the French, or the Normans at least, likely descend from Reuben.  However to say that you know exactly who is who in the 21st century is being a little presumptuous at the very least.  After all God said they would be 'lost and would forget their own true identity'.

Does Numerology Exist in the Bible?

A lot of people have asked the question as to whether or not numbers play a part in the Bible and most specifically, Biblical prophecy.  The short, easy answer to that question is yes but it is far more complex than it might seem and bears no resemblance at all to modern ‘numerology’.  There are certain numbers that are repeated frequently throughout the Bible and they all actually have a deeper meaning than at first appears.

Take for example our last post where we discussed the principal of duality in prophecy.  Contrary to what the greater Christian world will tell you it is the number two that is a reflection of God and not the number three.  There is no such thing as a ‘trilogy’ of God; God did not express Himself in three different ways.  Rather he represented Himself as two.  This is one of the reasons that the Bible is filled with dual related prophecy – because there are two Gods, God the Father, known as The Ancient of Days, and the Creator God who became Jesus Christ, God among us.  It is vitally important that we understand this principle because without it there is much in the Bible that is impossible to understand.

The very nature of the duality of prophecy shows us how important this dual nature of God truly is; just as a prophecy came true to the word in the past so too will it come true to a word in the future.  Another way that God uses as an example of Their dual natures is that of marriage.  God says clearly in the Bible that ‘a man shall leave his family and cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.’  In God’s eyes that married couple is a reflection of the relationship that the two Gods share – they are distinct and separate individuals, just like the members of a marriage, yet they are a united front, designed to be in perfect agreement on all things.  However, this analogy, like so many in the Bible, millions of people have failed to understand.

The Principal of Duality in Prophecy

Before we go any further into examinations of specific prophecies and how they relate to us today it is worthwhile to look at God's principal of duality in prophecy.  Many scholars and theologians argue that the Bible is no longer current or of value because so many of the prophecies contained therein have already been fulfilled.  Even the Book of Revelation is claimed by some to be well and truly over and done with; that it was written to the churches of the day regarding the ruling Roman empire.  So it is worth asking the question - is this true?

In the Old Testament, for example, there are hundreds of prophecies relating directly to the Israelite people.  God's prophets spoke of Israel's imminent destruction from nations such as Babylon and Assyria.  All of those things did, in fact, come to pass during Biblical times.  So does this mean that they have no further meaning and can therefore be ignored?  The short answer to that is no and one of the principal examples of why that is not true lies in the Book of Ezekiel.

  

While there are many other clues and examples that God's prophecies follow a principal of duality Ezekiel is probably the most obvious one for us to follow.  Ezekiel called himself a 'watchman' for all of Israel, yet historically, at the time of his writing Israel was a lost and scattered nation.  We know that the people of Israel are the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel.  Jacob was the son of Isaac, who was the promised son of Abraham whom God said would be 'the father of many nations'.

The Beginning of Sorrows

It would be impossible for anyone to have not noticed the devastating amount of tragedy that the world at large is currently experiencing.  There is huge amounts of unrest in the Middle East, there have been shattering earthquakes, landslides, flooding, tsunami's, and cyclones in many various parts of the world.  Some people are claiming this to be the result of the Greenhouse effect, others are claiming cyclical weather patterns but true Christians should know better.  I had not intended to begin discussing the various prophecies so early in this blog, however, current world events have forced me to advance my time-table slightly and I feel it would be foolish not to address our current situation.

In Matthew 24 Jesus' disciples asked Him privately when would be the coming of the end of the age and He gave them the signs to look out for, the clues pointing to His ultimate return as King of this world once and for all.  Most of you will no doubt be intimately familiar with the passage, particularly where Christ says "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places"  Matt 24:7.  It is hard not to see the fulfilment of that prophecy in our nightly news broadcasts.  Yet we must not forget that Jesus also said "All these things are the beginnings of birth pains." Matt 24:8

Like a woman giving birth there will be a period of time between the beginning of the end and the ultimate end itself.  God, in His infinite and incredible mercy allows these disasters, which will continue to build in strength, severity and frequency, to give mankind time to turn to Him.  Time to recognize the sinfulness of our lives and ask for His forgiveness and intervention.  Yet, as He is all knowing and all seeing, He already knows that the majority of the world will not do so; these events will be played out until their final end.  The Bible also tells us that 'the generation that sees the beginning shall also see the end'.  A sobering thought for those of us who can recognize the 'signs of the times'.   

So What About The New Covenant?

In the past few posts we've covered the ‘Law’ fairly thoroughly in that we've discussed the Ten Commandments.  Any student of the Bible, however, will know that there are many, many ‘laws’ mentioned in the Bible apart from the Ten Commandments.  While that is completely true if you examine any ‘law’ in the Bible you will find, ultimately, its roots will lie in the Ten Commandments.  They are the foundation of all of God’s laws and they are, at the heart, laws of love. 

When you see a law in, for example, the Old Testament that speaks of not marking your body with tattoos for the dead this seems an odd and arbitrary law.  Yet when examined in the light of the Ten Commandments it becomes much clearer.  What is God trying to say with this kind of law?  That we are not to follow the false and pagan practices of other nations and that we should not worship any god but the true Creator God of the universe.  Does that mean that in this modern world no one should ever get a tattoo?  I don’t believe so because when you are tattooed today you are not doing it as a form of pagan worship, today it is simply a fad, or done for artistic reasons, in fact a myriad of non-spiritual reasons – if, however, you are getting tattooed as a religious practice, then yes, you are worshipping a false god.

Likewise, in the Old Testament, there were many ‘laws’ which were pertinent to the people of that time and place but not necessarily relevant to our modern world.  For example, the Bible tells men not to cut the hair at the side of their faces – why?  Because as a desert dwelling people God wanted them to be healthy and not expose themselves unnecessarily to bacteria and other specifically desert problems like tiny biting insects.  By not cutting the hair at the side of their faces men avoided a multitude of ear infections.  Is that still necessary?  Only if you live in the desert without access to modern antibiotics.

Love In Action

In the past few posts we discussed the first four of the Ten Commandments and how they demonstrate for us the way in which God expects us to love and worship Him.  We've seen that the Commandments are not just about love but love in action.  It is not enough to say ‘I love you;’ you must demonstrate that love in your behaviour, in the way you live out your daily lives.  God expects us to demonstrate our love for Him in our behaviour towards Him and in the final six of the Ten Commandments He shows us how we are to demonstrate love in action towards each other.

It is perhaps not surprising that there are four Commandments showing us how to love God and six that show us how to love each other.  You only have to look at the multitudes of self-help guru’s, our Oprah’s and Dr. Phil’s, the many, many  books written on how to get, have and keep a good relationship.  Go into any bookstore and you will find shelves filled with books that try to tell you how to love each other.  Yet in spite of all this, in spite of all the marriage counsellors and therapists we still, and I'm speaking generally here, can’t get it right.

There are families so broken and damaged that certain members haven’t spoken to each other in years. Divorce rates continue to rise, friendships form and dissolve and there are millions of people out there who have, literally, no one in their lives they can truly count on to be there for them.  Every single day you are likely to see the homeless, the marginalized, the drug addicts who at heart are only trying to medicate their pain, the lost, the damaged, and the broken.  I'm not suggesting you take these people physically into your lives and your homes; unfortunately our society is too dangerous to be able to do that, but we can take them into our hearts.  We can love them inside and pray for God’s intervention in their lives even though you will likely never know the outcome of your prayers.

Remember The Sabbath Day

Of all of the Ten Commandments it is the fourth Commandment that is, without doubt the most controversial, the most argued over and the most often broken.  There are many people who will tell you that the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross with Jesus.  That those laws no longer apply because we are now under a New Covenant, living under Grace and not the Law.  In one sense they’re completely correct but in another they could not be more wrong.

The laws of the Old Covenant were not ‘done away with’ at the cross – that is not what was nailed to the cross with Jesus.  The penalty for breaking the Old Covenant was certainly nailed to the cross because God in His infinite mercy knew that human beings living in a fallen world under the sway of Satan were simply incapable of keeping God’s everlasting laws.  That every single person, man, woman and child, everywhere broke the laws and ordinances of the Old Covenant.  Under the Old Covenant this effectively meant that not one single human being who ever lived would qualify to become an adopted child of God.

God had not created mankind so that we would fail – He created us so that we would become His true children and live with Him forever.  Therefore, after the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, there had to be a New Covenant created.  You might ask the question that if God knew mankind would never be able to fulfil the Old Covenant then why not simply start at the beginning with the New Covenant?  The answer is simple – God knew that human beings, once given the ability to choose for themselves good from evil or right from wrong would need to live under the Old Covenant, at least for a time, in order to understand God’s message and His ultimate plan.  Simply put we had to walk before we could run.

Thou Shalt Not Take The Lord’s Name In Vain

The third of the Ten Commandments seems fairly simple on the surface, like many of the other Commandments, but there is a deeper level to God’s injunction against misusing His name.  Most people assume, quite correctly, that using the name of God or Jesus as a swear-word is taking Their names in vain.  What many people don’t know or understand, is that in the context of the divine and the spiritual, names have power.  It’s not like our mortal world where your name is a mere identifier.  In the realm of the divine names are much more than simply identifying one being from another.

In God’s world names have meanings.  When God told Moses for example to tell the Israelites ‘I am who I am’ it was a statement of His everlasting, self-sustaining nature.  It was more than a mere identification it was a statement of the nature of God.  Therefore to use those names as expletives is a very grave sin – one which probably every single soul is guilty of doing at one time or another.  However our previous guilt should not stop us from trying to turn away from that particular sin.  We all slip sometimes.  God knows this and thankfully His mercy often prevents us from feeling the full impact of the sin we commit when we use His name in vain.

There is, however, much more to the Commandment of misusing God’s name than simply swearing.  Jesus told His disciples that whatever they asked for in His name would be granted to them.  That’s the reason why when we pray we usually end it ‘in Jesus name, amen.’  We are asking our prayers to be granted by the power of Jesus.  But do we really understand what powers we are invoking when we use His name in prayer?  I don’t believe that many of us truly understand that we are actually invoking and asking for the Holy Spirit to perform whatever task or blessing or curse we have prayed for – literally asking for the power of God.

Why Cover Old Ground We Already Know?

Many readers may be wondering why I'm putting such emphasis on examining the Ten Commandments, why I went point by point through each of the Four Horsemen and when are we going to start getting to the meaty stuff of prophecy?  In part, we already are discussing the meat of prophecy but I am primarily laying the groundwork, the foundations so that when we do begin to discuss specific prophecies in detail you’ll have the understanding that God would expect you to have and we will all be, so to speak, on the same page.

Some of God’s prophecies were fairly plainly stated but the vast majority were given in a kind of code.  In order to fully understand the code and be able to analyse the meanings of the very common usage of prophetic symbols and analogies you must first have a solid understanding of God’s nature, God’s character and the way that God operates within the Laws He Himself has set out.

For example in the second of the Ten Commandments God was speaking to much, much more than just idols, statues, paintings and amulets – all of which He is firmly against.  He was also speaking of the great, grand and opulent buildings man creates, like the Gothic cathedrals to use an example.  Many people, in all innocence and coming from a place of deep faith, built those grand edifices to worship and honour Him.  Yet when you fully understand the nature of God and what He really expects from us it becomes obvious that He would definitely agree that money could have been much better spent on the poor and the needy.

An Injunction Against Idolatry

To return to our examination of the Ten Commandments we look next at the second of those Commandments.  God’s injunction against idolatry.  For many people this can be a rather tricky Commandment on the surface and some faiths take it to extremes.  God’s actual words were “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments”. 

At first glance the words seem simple and the Commandment clear but there are some who will claim that God is being unfair when He says He will punish the children for the sins of their fathers.  So let’s break this Commandment down into, firstly its context and then, an examination of what it actually means.  We must remember that God was speaking to a group of people for whom idol worship had become as commonplace and as acceptable as breathing.  In the land of Egypt every deity was represented by an idol, there were idols used in annual rituals that were paraded through the streets for the people to worship and there were personal idols and amulets that people had in their homes or on their person.

The Hebrews God was speaking to could not conceive of a world without an idol to represent their god, had no way of grasping the concept of a God that was greater than an image of wood or stone.  God needed the people of Israel to understand that their focus should and must, be on Him and Him alone and furthermore that He could not be confined to an image or an idol.  By creating an idol what we are actually doing is creating a god that we can use, control or even dominate to our own will.  God is not something you can put into a box, He lies far beyond our attempts at containing Him.

Sin and Suffering

Before we go further into the Ten Commandments as given to man by God personally it would be worth taking the time to understand the roles played by God and Jesus in our suffering and trials.  There are many preachers and faiths who portray God as a vengeful, wrathful God exacting revenge and imposing grave punishments on a sinful humanity.  Yet this is not at all the God portrayed in the Bible.  God Himself and through His prophets speaks very clearly of the consequences of our sinful ways and, particularly in the Old Testament, there are many examples of the people of God being punished for their wrongdoing, for breaking the Covenant.  The Bible tells us that God will send allow us to suffer trials and tribulations but these are not the actions of a cruel and vindictive God, rather they are the corrective actions one would expect to see from any loving parent.

God refers to Himself as the Father in a very deliberate way to help humanity understand His actions.  Those of you who are parents will completely appreciate the analogy.  As a responsible parent there are many occasions when you have to say ‘no’ to your children’s requests and many occasions where your children must be punished for their wrongdoing and poor behaviour.  This is not done vindictively and I doubt there’s a decent parent alive who takes pleasure in having to discipline their child.  

There are also many times when the child perceives themselves to be being punished when in fact the parent is simply trying to help; if you've ever tried to medicate a sick toddler you understand exactly what I'm talking about.  From the child's point of view, the administration of medications or vaccinating injections feels as though they are being punished, yet the parent is simply showing love and care to their offspring.

The Law and The Commandments

Many religious scholars have lamented that Jesus left behind no text, nothing in His own words to guide us and be certain of His intention.  Yet if we accept and understand that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament then we do, in fact, have a document written in the very hand of God.  The Ten Commandments.  While there are many other laws, ordinances and principals listed within both the Old Testament and the New Testament only the Ten Commandments were written directly on tablets of stone in God or Jesus’ own hand.

And there is a difference between the Ten Commandments and the many other laws that are written in the Scriptures.  This doesn't mean that one must be obeyed while the others can be ignored – nothing written inspired by God can be ignored – but there are differences.  In the book of Leviticus, for example, God explains the many different forms of sacrifice, the differing times such sacrifices should be offered and what specific animals, incense or other tools or materials would be required.  The ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, God incarnate come to live as a human man, made those Old Testament sacrifices redundant.  This doesn't mean that God’s word is redundant – sacrifice is necessary for the cleansing of sin in order to draw closer to God – but the manner in which sacrifice takes place has changed dramatically.  Since Jesus’ death and resurrection, the sacrifice that God asks of us daily is that we live our lives in accordance and relationship with Him.

The book of Leviticus also recites many laws pertaining to being ritually or literally ‘unclean’.  For example in Leviticus chapter 13 God speaks of the way the community should deal with someone who has an infectious skin disease.  They should be cleansed by the priest and put outside the camp.  These laws are not fundamental today as we have antibiotics, skin lotions and other medications which can treat an infection and prevent it spreading to other people.  Yet the principal behind the law remains the same – basically if you’re sick and contagious you should stay away from other people rather than risk giving them the same sickness.  So while the ‘letter’ of the law may have changed according to our changing world the ‘spirit’ of the law remains the same.

So Who Is Jesus Anyway?

In my last post I mentioned that the greatest differences between the three monotheistic religions lies in the nature and person of Jesus of Nazareth.  If we intend to find the true church of Jesus then we need to know a little more about the truth of Jesus.  Virtually all Christians will tell you He is the Son of God, our Saviour who died for our sins that we might be accepted to live forever in God’s Kingdom.  Muslims will say that He was a great prophet in a similar fashion to Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad.  Most traditional Jews, not all but most, will tell you He was a fake, a liar and not the promised Messiah.  So who is right and how can we be sure?

It would surprise most people, from any faith, to be told that if we believe in what the Bible tells us then they are all wrong.  Yes, Jesus was a great prophet and yes He was and is our Saviour but Jesus was not just a man nor was He a part of a Trinity of a Godhood expressed in three ways.  If we actually examine the sacred texts – again I'm referring here to what we would term the Old Testament – you will see clearly that God refers to Himself as two distinct personages, not one.  From the very earliest passages of Genesis God refers to Himself in the plural.  ‘Let us make man in our image’ – God was certainly not speaking to the angels when He uttered that phrase as later descriptions of angelic beings prove we are nothing like their image.

The Hebrew word that is translated into English as God is in fact ‘elohim’, a plural word clearly depicting more than one being.  Translators, at other times, will use the exact same word when speaking of ‘false gods’.  Furthermore one of the most quoted passages used to prove a single God comes from Deuteronomy – “I am the Lord thy God and thou shall have no other gods before me.”  Yet if you read that passage in Hebrew, translated into English as it should have been it actually reads “We are the Lord thy Gods and thou shall have no false gods before us.”  It is clearly a completely different connotation to the one that has been accepted for centuries.

The Bible - Fact or Fiction?

Before we proceed any further in examining the differences between Satan’s counterfeit religion and the true faith of God it is worthwhile to examine the source of truth.  In other words – is the Bible fact or fiction?  The Bible is by no means the only text that is considered sacred in today’s world, nor was it the only text considered sacred in ancient times.  Therefore how does a rational, thinking person decide which sacred text really is sacred and which is a counterfeit?  I will point out at this time also that I am dealing only with the three monotheistic religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.  All three faiths have their own texts and all three faiths appear, on the surface, to be completely divergent from one another.

It is firstly important to look at what the Bible is and what it is not.  The Bible is not a book in the sense that you or I may understand it; rather it is a collection of books compiled to form what Christians call the Holy Bible.  These are writings from many different authors relating to many different aspects of life and our relationship with God.  Parts of the Bible are history books, for example Genesis, Exodus, 1 and 2 Kings etc.  These books relate the history of a group of people the Bible calls the Hebrews or later the Israelites.  These history books are not devoid of God’s teaching or instruction but they are primarily a written account of the history of a group of people.  There are also books of laws, for example much of Leviticus that explain God’s way of life and the principals involved and the many and varied ways those laws and principals should be applied to our daily lives.

Other parts of the Bible are often referred to as the Wisdom Literature.  These are books like Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, and the Song of Solomon etc.  These books are accounts of the way the God wants humans to interact with Him and with each other.  It is true that some of those instructions can seem extremely contradictory with much of Christian teaching.  The Song of Solomon for example is one of the most erotic pieces of poetry ever written.  In fact it is such a potently and highly sexual text that many wonder what it’s even doing in the Bible.  The answer is simple – God invented sex, God wants human beings to enjoy sex as part of a loving, monogamous relationship.  Many of you will no doubt have been taught that The Song of Solomon is a metaphor.  That is an absolute falsehood, Solomon's poem is the Godly inspired words to instruct human beings to thoroughly enjoy their sexual lives within the confines of a Godly centred marriage.

Then there are the books of prophecy such as Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah and many more.  These books were written both for the immediate times of the prophets involved but also as a long-range forecast for the whole of humanity.  When reading these works it is easy to say that the prophecies foretold have largely already come true – that’s an historical fact.  Yet the Bible speaks in a manner of duality, meaning that certain events will happen immediately or very soon and others will not come to pass till the very end.  Thus those prophecies are every bit as important today as they were then and we can be certain that they will come to pass again in a future time.  For now the most important aspect of the prophets is that they reinforce the fact that God’s word is sure and certain.  If He says that something will come to pass it does come to pass.

The Father of Lies an Angel of Light

Before further examining the evidence for the White Horse as a counterfeit to God’s true religion it is worthwhile to spend some time examining the nature of Satan and the role played by him and his demons in the ride of all the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  First and foremost we must remember that Satan is an angel and not just any angel but originally he was created as one of the highest order of angels, the archangel Lucifer.  As the highest of God’s heavenly host Lucifer held a privileged position and actually stood at the throne of God.  The Bible tells us that Lucifer fell because of his pride, he felt that he was equal to, if not greater than, God.

There also exists a large body of circumstantial evidence to suggest that Lucifer’s fall was triggered by God’s creation of man.  Man was ultimately created to be far greater than all the angels, Lucifer included, and would become actual adopted children of God.  Mankind would be true members of God’s family while the angels would remain created servants of the Most High.  Jewish literature, along with other sources, have proposed that Lucifer refused to accept the role that man would eventually play and refused to accept that man could become higher than he was as he had been created prior to man.  This theory, and bear in mind that it is only an unproven theory, may go a long way to explaining the unusual nature and the complexity of the relationship between Satan and humanity.  As our sole source of absolute truth the Bible tells us only that Lucifer fell, due to pride, and that he took with him one third of all the heavenly angels.  After the fall he became Satan and his fallen angels were demons.

Irrespective of the exact reasons for the fall, once Lucifer had become Satan he still retained all the knowledge, understanding and powers he had possessed as the highest of all of God’s angels.  Therefore we must remember that Satan has an understanding of the manner in which God chooses to work , he knows the Scripture, he knows God’s laws and he has an understanding of the overall plan of God.  Furthermore Satan’s rebellion did not immediately preclude his presence at the very throne of God, as we see clearly in the opening chapter of the Old Testament book of Job.  Satan is powerful, intelligent, knowledgeable, and like the serpent he is sometimes portrayed as, he is also wise and crafty.  Satan fully understands the inbuilt punishing nature of breaking the laws of God.

Behold A White Horse

The reason I have left the first horse, the White Horse, until last is because it is the most complex, the most easily and commonly misunderstood and by far the most dangerous of all the Horsemen.  The text is simple but the meaning behind the imagery used for the White Horse is far from simple.  “I looked, and there before me was a white horse!  Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.” Rev. 6:2 

Most people, scholars and laymen alike, mistakenly believe the White Horse must have something to do with warfare.  The rider is given a bow and a crown, which would seem to indicate not only warfare but the gaining of secular, temporal power through warfare.

Although the White Horse does refer to war of a kind it is not the physical type of warfare that we might assume.  Rather it refers to a spiritual warfare between the truth and the lie.  In the Bible Satan is called ‘the father of lies’, John 8:44.  In the Garden of Eden Satan told the first lie – ‘You will not surely die... for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God’ Gen 3:4.  From this first lie came every other lie ever told, hence giving Satan the title of ‘father of lies’.  Satan deceived Eve by bending the truth, telling a little truth with a lot of lie in order to accomplish his goal, the fall of man.  For Satan knew, as did all of God’s heavenly creation, that God did not mean that Adam or Eve would drop dead the instant they consumed the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil but that on the day they ate of the tree death would enter the world in the form of the Pale Horse.

War, Famine and Inflation

Interpreting the symbolism behind the 2nd and 3rd horsemen of the Book of Revelation is comparatively easy.  Their meanings are given clearly in the text.  The Red Horse was ‘given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other,’ Rev. 6:4.  It is obvious that the fiery Red Horse stands for war.  However that is not all that is depicted by the Red Horse; while it takes ‘peace from the earth’ or warfare it also has the power to ‘make men slay each other’, in other words the introduction of murder.  As we saw in the previous post the first murder occurred when Adam and Eve’s eldest son Abel was slain by his younger brother Cain, Genesis 4.

Likewise the meaning of the Black Horse is also relatively self-explanatory.  The Bible shows us clearly that it depicts not only famine but also inflation, consumerism and greed.  “I looked, and there before me was a black horse!  Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.  Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying ‘A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine.” Rev. 6:5-6. 

Although it is impossible to be absolutely certain of the values depicted in the text it remains obvious from the symbolism that food, and by implication other necessary items of living, is scarce and wages are low.  Furthermore the injunction not to damage the oil and the wine, luxury goods, indicates that there is a disparity of wealth with the poor becoming increasingly poorer while the wealthy remain untouched.

Both the Red Horse of war and murder and the Black Horse of famine and greed would seem to represent harsh, unjust conditions.  Having determined that these riders are symbols for supernatural or angelic beings, the question arises as to whether God is being fair in sending these judgements amongst mankind.  However, as we saw with the Pale Horse, once death had entered the world because of sin, so too the Horsemen began their ride. 

The Pale Horse

“I looked, and there before me was a pale horse!  It's rider was named Death and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”  Revelation 6:8

The Four Horsemen of the book of Revelation is a very well-known, if occasionally misunderstood piece of imagery.  Yet before examining the symbolism and imagery of the Book of Revelation to determine their meanings it is worthwhile to spend some time looking at the context and meaning of the Book itself.  Written on the island of Patmos by a prophet named John it is often referred to as the Revelation of St. John or the Apocalypse but is most accurately named the 'Revelation of Jesus Christ'.  The writer makes clear that he is recording exactly what he sees and hears, with no addition or subtraction and no editing of the text.  Word for word the Book of Revelation is Jesus' final written message to mankind and the only book in the entire Bible that carries a blessing for those who study its words.

Whether the book was written by John the Apostle or another prophet named John is unclear and unimportant.  The dating of the book is also unclear, with some religious scholars believing it to have been written between 68 and 69 A.D. and others believing it to have been written later, approximately 95 A.D.  Contrary to popular opinion the exact dating of the Book of Revelation is also equally unimportant.  While many scholars claim the dating is vital to understanding the imagery used as relating to political events occurring during the life of the writer, Jesus makes it clear it is a message for Christians about the events leading up to His return.  As we know that Jesus has not yet returned we can safely assume that the messages in the Book of Revelation still have meaning for Christ's followers today and into the future.  In fact, as we shall see, there are passages that clearly indicate that the heart of the message was for a time far into the writer’s future.  Possibly our time.

Armageddon 2012?

According to popular culture December 21st, 2012 is the date predicted by the ancient Mayan people for the end of the world.  In actual fact, rather than December 21st heralding the end of the world, to the Mayan people that date simply reflected the end of one cycle, called a 'baktun', of the Mayan 'Long Count' calendar and the beginning of another.  The idea that the Mayans predicted the world's end on the 21st of December is based on a misconception of the Mayan calendar and their understanding and method of recording time.  The Mayans viewed time very differently to the way we do.  Instead of the progressive linear system we are used to the Mayans actually used multiple calendars to mark the progress of time.  Furthermore the concept of an approaching final end to the world or Armageddon was not a part of the Mayan religion, coming instead from the three great  monotheistic religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

The ancient Mayans had an extremely sophisticated degree of skill in marking the movements of the stars and planets.  Each baktun of their 'Long Count' calendar corresponded to different specific conjugations of the stars.  This method of time-keeping by the stars not only allowed the Mayan calendars to be extremely accurate but also laid the framework for their prophetic aspect.  The Mayans believed that each cycle, or baktun, would be marked by certain distinct characteristics and it is these characteristics that form the basis of what has become known as Mayan prophecy.  The characteristics of the coming baktun, beginning the 22nd of December, 2012, are an era of hope, peace and prosperity.  Thus rather than December 21st signalling the end of the world to the Mayans it simply marks the beginning of a new period or era, which will be far better than our current situation.

Yet the question remains as to why so many people are willing to believe in a coming Armageddon.  The current 2012 phenomena is, in reality, little different from the fear and, in some cases, hysteria, surrounding the advent of the new millennium and Y2K.  Nor was the year 2000 the first recorded date that people believed would herald the end of the world.  In fact the concept of a cataclysmic Armageddon is an extremely old belief.  Although firmly founded in the traditions of the three great monotheistic religions the Armageddon scenario has nevertheless taken a powerful hold on the wider public consciousness.  There are countless numbers of books, television shows, as well as blockbuster Hollywood movies that all have a basis in the Armageddon belief.  It is tempting to dismiss this growing phenomenon as an unfounded coincidence, but it would also be wrong.