UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES 3
Glory, honour, power and majesty be continuously ascribed to the name of the living God. In this edition, we will be concluding our meditation on "Understanding the Times. Towards the end of this meditation we shall be drawing attention to the use in the old covenant era of the blowing of trumpets in connection with times and seasons. For now, lets go to Luke 21:24-28
24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
We know from the last two editions that the persons referred to above are the Jews, the nation of Israel. We saw what the phrase the "times of the gentiles" stand for, and that Luke 21:24 is a time prophecy something that is indicative of events of the last days. The preposition "until" acts like an adverb modifying the phrase "trodden down of the Gentiles". And we said that it was in 1974 (strictly speaking) that the nation of Israel knew that Jerusalem had come under their full political reach.
The closing month of 1973 witnessed a decisive battle against Israel by the Arabs hoping in vain to break through and capture part of Jerusalem. But after that time, it was clear to the nation of Israel that Jerusalem is under their sovereign control. Six years later in 1980, Menachem Begin proclaimed the whole of Jerusalem as the eternal capital city of the nation of Israel. So, whether we take it from the 1974 or from the 1980 view point, or from the six day war in 1967 when most parts of Jerusalem came under the occupation of the nation of Israel, we know that that time period indicates to us that the times of the Gentiles has only a fleeting remains.
We have shown in previous editions that the times of the Gentiles began six hundred and eight years before the first advent of Christ and have run on up till about 1980. And our purpose is to show that we are in the time of the end. We will take the reading of Luke 21 a little bit further to find the events that the Lord said would be taking place in the earth during that time, Luke 21:25-27
25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars: and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity: the sea and the waves roaring. 26Men's hearts failing them for fears, and for looking after those things, which are coming on the earth: for the powers of the heaven shall be shaken. 27And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
The Son of man is the Lord Jesus Christ. The conjunction with which verse 27 begins shows that it is linked with the events of verses 25 and 26. This is saying that the events revealed in those two verses lead to what is shown in verse 27: "And then shall they see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory". Verse 28 is the verse of choice. It says
28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
There is an expected response from the class of people assisted to see what is transpiring in the earth today. They are called upon to "look", to "lift up the head". Now we may not know when this generation began. But we know, by the Spirit of God and the light of the prophetic scriptures, that we are in that generation that will close up the church age. It is a season of great import to the church of Jesus Christ. It is with power and great glory that the church will manifest Him in the last hour. There is a whole lot of work to be done in the church. What we see now of ourselves, and what we see in the Church World are far removed from what God desires. But God is working to beautify and fill with glory a people earnestly desiring a place with Him on the throne.
Now, some other questions come to mind in the light of what was shared in the second edition. How may we know that the last two world wars have any reference to the gradual overthrow of the kingdoms of this world? Is it sufficient to say that and Chronicles 36 describing the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel in three separate military campaigns is typical and points out how God will overthrow the kingdoms of this world? Are we to find in the scriptures some other passages that touch on the same thing?. No doubt, these several questions are warranted. We shall show that it is not only from Ezekiel 21:24-27 that we can draw this conclusion, but that it is specifically referred to in the book of Haggai.
Haggai and Zechariah were two prophets that ministered to the nation of Israel after the Babylonian captivity. Thus the message of Haggai has much relevance to the church. We shall be reading from Haggai 2. For those who are familiar with this book, a little reading will show to us that his prophetic message relate to things that will be taking place in the church at the time of the end. The passage refers to Christ activities in His Church and in the midst of the nations at the end (the closing period) of the church age. Haggai 2:4-7
4Yet now be strong, O Zerubabel, saith the LORD, and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the Land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of host: 5According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye come out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. 6For thus saith the LORD of host; yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
The phrase "yet once" means He has done it previously. But the reference here is to the final onslaught of the divine in the overthrow of the kingdoms of this world, as we shall show more clearly. He says, "yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and earth, and the sea, and the dry land. The reference is to the kingdoms of this world both ecclesiastical (religious), political, civil and economic; whatever combines to give us the present world systems. All of these will be terribly shaken in the last hour. And at the same time, the Lord will be doing a similar work in His church: first, in the visible church systems to overthrow unfaithfulness and moral decay. Secondly to lead a cleansed and worshipping church into a greater and greater communion with Him until she receives perfection of Life.
This passage (Haggai 2:6) is quoted in Hebrews 12:22-28. Paul says, the phrase "yet once more", signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things, which cannot be shaken, may remain. And he concludes, "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom, which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear".
So Haggai 2:6 says God shall shake not just the ecclesiastical heavens but political expressions of the present world system. In verse 7, He says,
7And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations
shall come.
Christ is the desire of all nations, seen from the divine standpoint. The cry of all the nations for the rule of Christ is seen in this same word "desire". Nations will cry out for Christ. Christ is the desire of all nations. When man shall be totally disenchanted with man's rule over man, they will cry out for the kingdom of Christ. Things shall be very terrible. All that we have heard and known of wars and rumours of wars up till now are like a child's play when compared with the events that shall close up this church age and introduce the kingdom age. Let us take verse 7 of Haggai 2 again. It says
7And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
The house is the church. He says He will fill it with glory. He fills that which is relatively or totally empty. But here, the reference is to the church. We have not yet seen glory as God has purposed that His church should bear. Glory will be poured upon the church. This He will do when He would have cleansed the church. There is now so much of the way of the world in the church. He would deliver the hearts of the obedient from a marriage to the world that has eaten up the visible church systems. He would turn our hearts, minds and total focus to Himself. He will fill His house with glory. Verse 8.
8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
The words silver and gold here, though can be applied to physical wealth, are used to refer to redemptive truths and the divine nature. Silver in scriptures is the metal used to typify redemption, while Gold is used to typify the divine nature. Full revelation of the redemption in Christ shall be given to the church. For God has the power to make it known. And the life that corresponds to truth revealed shall be imparted unto the overcoming church. Verse 9 is a passage that we find upon all lips, but which is little understood. It says.
9The glory of this later house shall be greater than the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place I will give peace, saith the LORD of host.
That is the context. All Bible believers know that the reference in Haggai 2:9 is to the glory that is to b witnessed by the church. The latter house refers to the church at the time of the end. The former house is the Old Testament church, or viewed from another perspective, the early church. But the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former.
All of this appears to be doctrinal. But the import is this. When we have seen by time prophecies that we are in the last hour as we have found indication in Jerusalem having being proclaimed the eternal capital city of the nation of Israel, we are to know that the Lord will be involved in quite some work in His church. And our burden is to show what He is doing in this last hour and how we can respond to Him.
We will read the closing verses of Haggai 2, which speak specifically concerning the overthrow of the kingdoms of this world. Haggai 2:20-22
20And again the world of the LORD come unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, 21Speak to Zerubabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth (remember verse 6, Here, the LORD is saying the same thing and He goes further to show us how He is going to bring it to pass. He says in the next verse): 22And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms (this He did in the first world war), and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen (this He did in the second world war); and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and the rider's shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother (this he will do in the third world war).
So, three distinct campaigns by God shall bring to finality the overthrow of the kingdoms of this world. Revelation 11:15 say the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. Notice the last phrase in verse 22. It says "everyone by the sword of his brother".
It can be shown that the Roman Empire has had two lives. But it is building up itself again. And Revelation 17 details to us the emergence of the Roman Empire, how it is going to be constituted. It shows to us that the Japhetite nations (European nations) shall be the main stay of that empire. And it goes on to show how the rebirth of the empire and its sovereign rule shall be crushed in due course. Revelation 17, 18 contains all of the details, but we are not drawn into those considerations now. The time interval between Jerusalem coming up under the occupation of nation of Israel, and when the third world war will take place, that time interval, is a season of great opportunity for the church. And that is our emphasis.
But somebody may say, "What do you mean that the Roman Empire has had two lives? If you will turn with me to Daniel 7, we shall in the twelfth verse see something that is of great importance concerning God's dealing with the kingdoms of this world. Daniel 7:12.
12As concerning the rest of the beasts.
The reference is to the first three beast or world empires that preceded the Roman Empire which is the fourth beast. These three beasts are the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian and the Grecian Empire. So, we are told in verse 12.
12As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had there dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time
What we find in history is that as one World Empire goes down, another is raised up. That is what happened to the four world gentile empires emerged. But when an empire comes down, even though it no longer has dominion over the whole earth, it remains a power, a force, and continues to stir up itself. This is what is meant by the phrase, "their lives were prolonged for a season and time". And this agrees with what we find in Daniel 2:45. When the stone cut without hands smite the great image (representing the kingdoms of this world), it breaks in pieces the iron and the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold.
So, for each of this world empire, when the dominion is taken away, the life is prolonged for a season and a time. For the Roman Empire, the most elastic of the four world empires, we find it re-emerging, each time becoming stronger than it was before. And Revelation 13:2 assures us that when it comes up in the final form, it will have all the strength of the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian and the Grecian empires. It will represent the kingdoms of this world in its full glory. That is why it is said to have the characteristic of the lion (the symbol used to represent Babylon in her royal glory), the bear (the symbol of the Medo-Persian empire) and the Leopard (the symbol of the Grecian empire).
That empire had its first life as a purely political world power. Through the Roman Emperors, Roman ruled the whole earth. But sometime in the fifth century, the kingdom was over thrown. But it re-emerged in another form, as a religious kingdom. Papal Rome took over from Imperial Rome and continued its brutal reign until when it suffered great defeats in the 17th and 18th centuries.
But we are shown that the empire shall emerge again. The Roman Empire is re-emerging. And we can authoritatively say that the European Union forms the essential base for the emergence of this world empire. That can be shown from Revelation 17, but it is not our burden for now. All we are saying is that the Roman Empire shall emerge a third time, but God shall smite it. And Revelation 17 says there will be such a loss of confidence among the constituting nations that they will begin to fight against each other (the same picture given in Haggai 2:22).
Verse 28 of Luke 21 says, "When ye see these things begin to take place, look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh". That is very important when that begins to happen. And whereas we know that there was a sign in the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948, we cannot mistake that powerful witness of Jerusalem coming under the sovereign rule of the children of Israel. We have seen it; we must begin to lift up our heads.
The reference here is not the physical head, for there is no relationship between lifting up the physical head and experiencing redemption. The head is here used to represent our minds. We must begin to occupy our minds with the issues of our perfection and full redemption, the very things the Lord brings with Him in His Second Advent. Look up from the earth realm. So many are earth bound. There are those who dwell upon the earth. But look up! Set your focus upon the Lord for our full redemption draweth nigh.
Now, we move on to something we mentioned at the beginning. That has to do with blowing the trumpet. Let us read Numbers 10:1-10
1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. 3And when they shall blow with them all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 4And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee. 5When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward. 6When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. 7But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow,but ye shall not sound an alarm. 8And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance forever throughout your generations. 9And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppreseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. 10Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt-offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace-offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.
Now, we will simply gather a few thoughts and that will be sufficient for our
Present purpose. He says, "Make thee two trumpets of silver". First of all, let us look at the symbolism of silver and the fact of the trumpet. Silver is the metal in scriptures used to symbolise redemption. The trumpet assists amplification of the voice. Thus a trumpet made of silver denote the message of redemption.
Under the Old Testament, it is the sons of Aaron, the priests that blow the trumpet. We find a direct instruction concerning this in the eight verse. We find also that, the trumpet is used to indicate that a season has set in. It says" in the days of your gladness", the reference is to festal occasions: the feast of Passover, the feast of Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles, including all the other four feasts built into those three feasts. Those are the days of their gladness
Then He says further, "and in your solemn days". That speaks of the Sabbath days. Even the Sabbath days were to be introduced by the blowing of the trumpets. And when a feast day falls into a weekday and not a Saturday, that weekday is declared as a Sabbath and the trumpet is blown to announce it. Then He says "in the beginning of your months". And he says when ye blow this trumpet; it should be over your burnt offerings, over the sacrifice of your peace offerings that they may be to you for a memorial before the Lord.
That is all we will be taking for now. In closing we return to that which we began with in this meditation. We are in the last hour and Christ has so much work to do in the church. After about two thousand years, majority of the believers are still babes. Yet, in the natural, we do not expect a forty-year-old man to get married to a two-year-old girl. In the ancient times, we see a situation where people " throw firewood down" for a baby girl just born with the intention to marry her when she comes of age. But, we are talking seriously now. The church that would be the bride of Christ must be fully grown in Christ.
And concerning this, God is opening the scriptures at this last hour. When we see these signs, the believers are to detach themselves from the earth, they should not be earth bound. They should not be part of them that dwell upon the earth, that is, them that live their lives around what to eat, what to wear etc. and do not give adequate attention to the spiritual prosperity of their souls.
The Lord says, "Look up for your redemption draweth nigh". That concerns you and me in this last hour. And all we ask for is "Lord, make yourself known to your church in this last hour, fill her with glory as you have said that the glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former". We do not see it so now, but it shall be so, for your word shall not fail".
JESUS IS LORD!
Your Brother - 'Segun Ogunfile.
The Writings of Segun Ogunfile 