If everyone could turn to Amos 1:1:
The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
I will stop reading there.
As we were discussing earlier, we are running out of time. Time is becoming very precious.
When does something become precious? When does something normally become valuable in the world? What makes something, like a diamond, so valuable? Something is valuable when it is rare. When you do not have much of it, it becomes a value to people. We see this with diamonds or gold.
Have you ever noticed that people who have a lot of something, how they kind of take it for granted? For instance, a millionaire or a billionaire: a billionaire has all kinds of money, all kinds of money, and it is really nothing for him to throw a few thousand here and a few thousand there, or even a few million. (I am sorry; I am still thinking small. I am thinking of my neck of the woods.) No, a few million, just thrown around at anything, and they will still have plenty left.
This is how it is, I think, with many people concerning time, where people think that they have a lot of time, that they have a great deal of it. Not everyone thinks this because some people have heard the news that maybe they have cancer or maybe the doctor has told them that they do not have long to live. Some people are in this position.
But, really, most people, and this is especially a problem with young people, even though the same attitude, the same deceitfulness that is within man can even deceive an elderly person into thinking that they have time, yet especially with the young who are in good health. Their legs are strong; their eyes are keen; their strength is still within them. They think that, well, they have all the time in the world. This is why you will find, I think, that young people are some of the biggest culprits of wasting time.
I remember when I was a teenager. I would go outside to hang with a gang, my friends, and we would just stand around. We just stood around on the corner. When it was cold, we would kick our feet and go back and forth. That is what we did, and we would converse sometimes or play games, but too much time, too much time.
I remember in the 1980’s or late 1970’s thinking about the year 2000, which was far off, and thinking, “Wow! When I get to 2000, I will be 39. I will be old.”
We have passed that. We are in 2009, and when I look back on my life, do you know what I see for the most part? I see a big waste, huge, a big waste of time that I cannot blame anybody for. It was me. I really did not know the truth for many of those years, but still I am responsible. I wasted days without end, day after day, whether it was television or movies or hanging with the gang, or whatever, it was just wasted time, and it really adds up into a huge heap of days that were utter vanity and of no profit.
When you look at it, when you get down to it, and I think that this is one of the reasons that a young person thinks, “I have time. I have time, so I can spend it like a billionaire spends a few million.” What is that to him? It is nothing.
Yet God is coming to all of us at this time in history and He is giving us advance notice. He is giving us a warning that, no, we do not have a future that is without end; we do not possess a great deal of time. We have a very finite number of days left, which I think I mentioned earlier.
Recently, I was thinking about what I would teach on the week before or the Sunday before May 21st. What would I say that Sunday? What verse would I go to? A verse came to my mind, and I said, “Yes, that is a good verse to talk about when you have so little time.” Then I was thinking, “Well, that is not really all that far off, because it is about 107 weeks.” We have 107 Sundays and that week will be upon us.
If you think about 100 weeks, you can think of it in multiples of 10. 10 x 10, and ten weeks go by how fast? Ten weeks is 2 and ½ months. Another ten weeks will be here before you know it.
This is April. I normally do not like to date messages because people might hear this in the future, but this is the end of April. So by the middle of July, Lord willing, when we are in Brazil, ten weeks would have gone from this point. That is how fast it is. That is how quick the grains of sand can drop out of the hourglass, and that is 1/10th, maybe a little more because there is that other seven weeks, but that is pretty much 1/10th of what we have left.
We will, by God’s grace, also see the other weeks that are
left pass just as the next weeks will, and it is all bringing us very quickly
to the valley of Jehoshaphat, to the valley of decision, as the Bible calls
it. Of course, it is not a decision in the sense that we can decide, “I am
going to get myself saved,” but there is a decision involved in saying,
“Well, you know what? I am going to try my best to strive to enter into the kingdom
of God. I am going to put away these sins and I am going to begin calling on
the Lord, like the Ninevites, not because that will save me but because God is
merciful and He could save me.” This would be a good thing for anyone to do,
to go to God and to beseech Him for His mercy that He might save us.
Well, we are coming up to the two-year mark, May 21, 2009, which will be two years before the day of the rapture and the resurrection of the dead on May 21, 2011, and it is very interesting that here in Amos 1:1, God makes mention of a prophet, Amos, who was just a simple guy. He was a herdsman or a sheep master in Israel. God came to him and took him while he was with his flocks and gave him His Word where he had to declare it. God made him a prophet.
When God would come to an individual, they could not resist. Jeremiah wanted, at times, not to speak on. He had a very tough job to keep warning the people of Judah about the Babylonians, that God was giving them up. Yet he could not help it.
In Jude, that little Epistle right before the book of Revelation, it says in verse 3, Jude 1:3:
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you…
If you look at that word “needful,” it points to a necessity. He was compelled. He was driven by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit moved holy men of old to write the Bible. They could not resist. Like Elihu, as he was listening to Job and his friends, a matter swelled up within him and he could not hold it back. That was God’s Spirit moving him to speak, and what he said was recorded; it was the Word of God.
Well, Amos was a simple man. God called him and he became a prophet, and the Lord identifies his period of prophecy with two kings: Uzziah, king of Judah in the south, and Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel in the north.
We have to be careful with Jeroboam because there was another king of Israel called Jeroboam. He was the first king of the ten tribes when there was a split in the kingdom when God gave Jeroboam ten tribes and Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, remained king in Judah.
This is not that Jeroboam. This is another Jeroboam who was much later, and he began to reign in the year 792 B.C. He reigned for 41 years to 751 B.C.
Uzziah reigned even longer. He was 16 when he became king, and he reigned 52 years until he was 68. Uzziah’s reign went from 789 B.C. to 737 B.C. So these were long periods of time.
If we were trying to date the book of Amos, we would find a 55-year stretch: from Jeroboam in 792 B.C., when he began to reign, until Uzziah in 737 B.C. But we can narrow this down, because both of these kings had periods of co-regency with their fathers.
It does not mention any other kings here in Amos, so we can understand that God is talking about a period when Uzziah was sole king of Judah and Jeroboam was the sole king of Israel, which really helps us to narrow it down to about 766 B.C. to 751 B.C., a fifteen-year period where these two kings were reigning in their nations without a co-regent. 751 B.C. was when Jeroboam died, so even though Uzziah continued to reign alone, it could not have been this time period that is being mentioned here.
Now, I was just kind of playing around, going with these dates from 766 B.C. to 751 B.C., to see if any one of these years connected with 2009, because it is talking about two years before the earthquake.
The earthquake is going to happen on May 21 in 2011. This is God’s method for opening the ground when He is going to bring up people from the graves. We find this in the Gospel accounts. When Christ was on the cross and also when Jesus was resurrected, there were two references to the graves being opened and Jesus bringing up the dead and Himself, and this will be the character of May 21.
So let us go to Zechariah just to look at this to see how we can tie this to what is coming in the not-too-distant future. In Zechariah 14:5, it says:
And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and JEHOVAH my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Now, I do not think that it is too hard to see how God is linking the earthquake with fleeing before His coming, and His coming will be on May 21 in 2011 with those who have already died and have been with Him in heaven.
In other words, God is linking together the earthquake that happened two years later with the end of the world, the day of the Lord’s wrath on May 21 in 2011. This is why we can know that the reference in Amos 1:1 to “two years before the earthquake” is pointing to May 21, 2009.
I was trying to do calculations from these possible dates to 2011 and it was not working out. There was not really anything that was real interesting. But when I did it to 2009, there was a year that came into view. It was 752 B.C.
If you go from 752 B.C. until 2009, it breaks down into 2 x 5 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 23, and this relates to what it is pointing to, which is our day of great tribulation. I really cannot be sure that this is the case because we would like to have a definite link to a year, but this seems to be the only year that fits when you break it down. This also has the number 23 in it, which points to the time of great tribulation.
Anyway, it was in that span, between 766 B.C. and 751 B.C., that God came to Amos and began to move him to prophecy two years before an earthquake, which is a type and a figure of the earthquake that will come on the world, a great earthquake that the world has never known, as God opens up the graves of people all around the world.
I was trying to think of any other place in the Bible where God gives us information regarding a two-year period that could relate to our day, and there is. If we go to Acts 28, we find the Apostle Paul who has finally made it to Rome. While he is in Rome, he is witnessing to the Jews in that area about the Lord Jesus, that He was the Messiah and that the Gentiles were also to hear the Gospel, whatever information he was aware of. They came to Paul and he was able to share with them from morning till evening, reasoning out of the Bible, “And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed.”
Then Paul says, as God moved him to say, in Acts 28:26-31:
Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.
We do see a reference to two years, “two whole years,” complete years. It is not a partial period of time. The word “whole” is letting us know that it was two complete years, as we understand time based on God’s timekeepers, and it ties in to our day.
If you remember a while back, Mr. Camping was doing a study in Acts, from Acts 21 and on. Paul was in the temple and they drew him out of the temple. They were so mad at him that they wanted to kill him because they had thought that he had brought a Gentile into the temple. From that point until the end of the book, it is dealing with the great tribulation of our day.
We find that Paul is in trouble, again and again. He is in prison. Rather than go before a Jewish council, he appeals to Caesar and he is being taken to Rome in Acts 27 on a ship. That ship is a picture of the New Testament churches and congregations that become shipwrecked, as we read in 1 Timothy. Where it says that faith is made shipwreck, that is talking about the church because the Lord typifies the churches as ships that sail on the sea; as mariners, really, who go forth with the Gospel into the world.
We are not going to get into this, but there are many ways of showing this, that the ship is a picture and type of the churches and congregations. When that ship became shipwrecked as it hit the rocks and was no longer usable, all of the passengers made it safe to land. Two hundred and seventy-six souls made it to the island of Malta (Melita).
In the early verses of Acts 28, the Apostle Paul is gathering a multitude of sticks. If you remember, that study about the great multitude that is being saved is just like the great catch of fish that is laid on the fire once they are brought to land. Paul is gathering a great multitude of sticks and he lays them on the fire, which points to God saving a great multitude that no man can number from every nation, tribe, and tongue during these last few years of the great tribulation.
Well, finally after three months, they find another ship that has nothing to do with being a figure of the church. This ship’s sign was Castor and Pollux, and it just related in no way to the church. The Apostle Paul finally makes it to Rome, and then we read the verses we just read. The last thing that we ever hear in the book of Acts about Paul is that he is dwelling in his own hired house for two whole years, and then the book of Acts closes.
I do not know if it is the same in every Bible, but in my Bible, when I go to Acts 1, it has like a subheading, “The Acts of the Apostles,” and that is a good title for this book because the book of Acts begins with Jesus’ ascension into heaven in chapter one, then the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in chapter two, and then it deals with the sending of the Gospel into the world and the establishing of the churches and congregations, and then it concludes in the last several chapters, as I mentioned earlier, with the destruction of the church but not an end of the sending out the Gospel. There was still a lot going on on that island as people were being healed of diseases, and there is still Paul making it to Rome, finally, and dwelling in that house for the last two years we ever hear about him. Actually, we could say that this is the end of the Acts of the Apostles.
You know, this time that we are in right now is the latter rain and this is it. This is the last season. God is just patiently waiting to receive the rain in its completeness, and then He will gather His fruit and the end will come. And now we are coming near to the end of the great tribulation. It has been almost 21 years, and the great tribulation will be a 23-year period. We are approaching the final two years that we have left, and I think the Lord is giving us information, because this is exactly parallel to the situation with Paul in Rome. It is a picture of the time of the great tribulation.
He starts off with the church of his day, the Jews, and they do not want to hear it. They do not want to hear it, so he turns his attention to the Gentiles to whom he has an open house. This is a good passage to go to to teach us about hospitality. He says in verse 30, Acts 28:30:
And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,
This word “received” is translated in a couple of places as “gladly received.” It really is describing a joyous reception. I think that we can all learn from this, as the Spanish say, “Mi casa su casa,” my house is your house. This is a good way of going about it. Now, I am more American and I just open the door, “Come on in.” But still, this is how we should be. We should welcome people at this time with open arms if they want to hear anything about the Gospel. If they want to know any truth from the Bible, if there is any kind of opportunity to share with them, we should really receive it gladly and thank God for that opportunity in sharing His Word.
Well, before we get into verse 31 that gives us a little information and insight into the next couple of years, I would like to go over to 2 Timothy 4 where we read about the Apostle Paul who is, once again, speaking under the inspiration of God. It says in verse 3, 2 Timothy 4:3-8:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
So Paul is saying about himself, “God gave me some work to do. I have finished it. I have come to the end of the course and the time of departure is at hand.” “Departure” is the same word as in Philippians 1:23, which says:
For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
“The time of my departure” could be understood as leaving this world in death. Whenever we die, we are departing. The believer is departing for heaven, for entrance into the kingdom of God. But also, this could be a reference to the final end, that all of our times of departure is at hand. We are there. The judge is at the door and God is going to come for His people. And we know that it is right there; it is nearby. It is not that far off.
We also know that the Apostle Paul, at times in the New Testament, is a type of whom? Christ, yes, in a couple of places, but who else? I was not even going to mention this because I thought that everyone knew this. He is a picture of the believers.
In 1 Timothy 1:15-16, we read:
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
Paul is a “pattern,” which is a word that has hupo in front of it. It is only found a couple of places because of that prefix. But if you remove the prefix and you just go with the one word rather than the compound word, it is found in many places. It is the word “example” or “ensample.” It is the word “figure,” as far as what we read in Romans where it speaks of Adam as “the figure of him that was to come.” It is the word “pattern” in Hebrews where Moses was instructed to make “all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.”
This is telling us that Paul’s life, especially in Acts as we see him ministering the Gospel to the people of Rome, or out there in the world rather than in the churches, is a pattern for true believers, that he represents the children of God.
Let us go back to 2 Timothy 4 and look at verse 16, 2 Timothy 4:16:
At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
The two witnesses in Revelation 11 stood upon their feet, and that, again, is pointing to our time of the latter rain. God, once again, is bringing the Gospel to the world. It is the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Paul, himself, as he recounts the trip to Damascus, says in Acts 26, where he is describing what happened in verse 15, Acts 26:15-16:
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet…
Why? Verse 17, Acts 26:17-18:
Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins…
This is identifying with the two witnesses who stand on their feet in our day at this time, and this is pointing to God bringing the Gospel to the world.
Well, here in 2 Timothy 4:16:
…no man stood with me…
But in verse 17, it says:
Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me…
This is what God is doing today for His people. He is our strength and shield. It is through Christ whom we can do all things, through His strength, and He is that source of energy who energizes His people to obey Him and keep His commandments, one of which is to go into the world with the Gospel and to teach all nations.
So God is doing this and He strengthened Paul, and then it goes on:
…that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear…
Is this true of the Apostle Paul? When he was in the world in first century A.D. and he was going about to different cities as a missionary, did he send the Gospel into the world of that time so that it was fully known by the Gentiles? The word “Gentiles” is also translated “nations” in Revelation 7:9 where it speaks of the great multitude from every nation, the nations in the world. That is the word “Gentiles” and it is the Greek word ethnos, pointing to the various peoples of the world.
So the question is as we read this: did Paul go to the Chinese? Did Paul go to the Incas in South America or the Mayans whom we are hearing so much about? Did he go to many nations that were in the world of that day, to the Gentiles, to make the preaching fully known to them?
No. No, he did not. Did all the Gentiles hear at that point in time? No. It is not true of Paul, the individual. Nobody can argue this because we have an account of his journeys. He did a lot of travel for someone who did not have access to airplanes, like we do today. Today, we can hop on a plane and be in Brazil or we can hop on a plane and be anywhere in the world in a short time. He did a great service to the Lord in taking ship, or by whatever means, to get the Gospel to the nations of the world of his day, but there is no way that he crossed the Atlantic Ocean; there is no way that he went out into the Pacific Ocean to the inhabitants of various islands or to many, many places. He did not have the ability. Remember that America was just discovered a few centuries ago and there were Indians here.
So when we are thinking of Paul himself, it does not fit. However, Paul is a pattern and a representative of all believers. He is saying, “When I stand on my feet,” as he did in Acts 26, typifying our day, “the Lord stood with me that the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles, all the nations, might hear.”
When we are thinking that people everywhere are going to know about May 21, 2011, this verse supports that. All the nations are going to hear through God’s people, through God Himself who is moving His people to bring the Gospel.
Somebody said that Paul is a type of Christ and I said, “Yes, but also the believers.” However, they are so identified with each other that it is hard to separate them. “How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings” we read in one place, and “How beautiful are the feet of Him that bring glad tidings” we read in another place, because it is Christ who is going. Jesus went to Nineveh. The Lord God went to Nineveh in the form of His ambassador, Jonah. He is going to all the nations of the world today through His people, His representatives, His ambassadors, in order that the Gospel will be fully known and that all the world will hear what is going on.
Well, this ties in with Acts 28 because Paul had a good deal of difficulties up until this point and he is soon to depart from the world; he will die in Rome. So now, we are finding information relating to two years—and this is the last information that we find relating to Paul who is a pattern and type of all true believers, especially in this context of Acts 28 of believers sharing the Word during this time of great tribulation—in Acts 28:31:
Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.
The word “confidence” is translated as “openly” in Mark 8:32 or “boldly” in John 7:26 or “plainly” in John 11:14 or “freely” in Acts 2:29. This is how we would come to a definition if this particular word. In other words, it is wide open. “A great door and effectual has opened unto me,” we read in 1 Corinthians, “but there are many adversaries,” which goes hand-in-hand.
When God opens up a door, it does not mean that it is going to be a piece of cake and that everything will be simple and easy. No, there are many adversaries because they do not want this. Satan, of course, does not want anyone to be taken out of his kingdom; he opposes the Gospel at every place that he can.
One of the characteristics of describing these two years is that the preaching was with confidence, or that it was done openly and boldly and plainly and freely, and it goes on in Acts 28:31:
…no man forbidding him.
But we find that the Jews did forbid him. They let him talk for awhile, as he spoke to them in the Hebrew tongue, but as soon as he said something that they did not like, they threw dust in the air and proclaimed, “This man should die.”
And, you know, we are finding that this is the case today with the church and with the people within the churches. They are hearing about this and in a certain point in the discussion, there is something they hear that just throws them into a frenzy, in many cases, and they stop listening. They shut their ears and they close their eyes and they do not want to hear it anymore. This is why Paul is saying, “Okay, I will go the Gentiles; I will go to the nations and they will hear it,” which is what he said in Acts 28:28.
Let us go to one last verse, 1 Thessalonians 2:16. I am going to have to back up two verses to verse 14, 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16:
For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved…
This is what “forbidding” is, “No, you are of a sect. You are not speaking as our fathers have spoken. You are against the traditions. You are contrary to what we have known within our history.” So they would not permit this.
But God is saying that during the final two years, these two whole years that we are approaching, no man can forbid, and if no man forbids, then the Gentiles will become saved. The fullness of the Gentiles will come in and God will save His elect people.
Okay. I am going to stop here.
Questions and Answers
Chris: Before we have our lunch, if anyone has a question or a comment related to anything that was just said or anything else that you would like to discuss, you are welcome. Please come up to the mic and use the mic so that the people on Paltalk can hear. Anyone on Paltalk is also welcome by raising your hand.
1st Question: When we pass out tracts, a lot of people say, “I thought it was 2012.” You referred to the Mayans. Do you have any Scripture that we can talk about, as far as telling them this is from Satan? I sometimes hear Mr. Camping on the “Open Forum” say that it is not Biblically derived. Is it possible that this is directly from Satan, because evil spirits knew when Christ came that it was before the time?
Chris: Well, we just know that it is not based on the Bible at all. It is based on a historical understanding of a Mayan calendar that, I think, comes to a close at some point in 2012.
It is interesting. I was looking on the Internet. Sometimes I will just type in “May 21, 2011,” because I have done this. I have found several sites out there that are true, even individuals here and there. When you do this, a lot of the Mayan information comes up. They have some chat groups. I found out about this chat group because when I typed in “May 21, 2011,” it took me to a posting that someone had made in one of their chat groups who was a Family Radio listener. They were saying, “No, do not worry about that. May 21, 2011 is the time of the rapture.”
This Mayan chat group began to discuss May 21 in 2011. There was one person who wrote and said, “You know, I joined this group to kind of have a little fun with this and now that you are talking about May 21 being the rapture, it is no longer fun.”
I think that people do not take this seriously. It is a game. In their minds, it is not anything that they are really concerned about or worried about, because it does not have any kind of legitimate source. A legitimate source is what comes from God, but their source is man and men are very limited in what they can know. We cannot know about next week, let alone being a Mayan and trying to prophecy 2,000 years into the future.
No, we do not have anything to worry about concerning this. It is a distraction. This is probably why you are thinking that it is coming from Satan, because it is a distraction to start talking about this and to get interested in it. It is really a way of avoiding what we should be looking at, which is the information that comes out of the Bible.
Okay. Does anyone else have anything, here or on Paltalk?
2nd Question: From 763 B.C. to 2009 A.D. is 2772 years. This breaks down into 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 x 7 x 11. Would this make 763 a probable year for when Amos prophesied?
Chris: Well, we cannot just write it off because we do not have the exact year. So this would be a possibility, this and also 752.
3rd Question: This is not my question. My roommate asked me this. What will you say or do if May 21, 2011 comes and nothing happens? I, myself, believe May 21.
Chris: Well, this is a good one for us to look at, and then we will stop for lunch. People say this or ask this all the time, “What are you going to do on May 22nd?”
I like to think about Noah, because he is the example that God gives. How many people went up to Noah while he was building the ark and said to him, “Hey, Noah. When this date comes and goes, can I have that ship?” Or, “How about your house, Noah? Can I have your house? Can I have it? Will you sign it over to me?”
Well, this is easy to say. This is easy to say. Anyone can mock anything. If anybody ever had any reason to mock, it was the Ninevites with that crazy prophet who came out of the belly of a whale and went into their city. He prophesied one verse from God, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overturned!”
Now, come on. Put yourself there with me. We are Ninevites. Here comes this prophet walking down the street and he is saying, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overturned!” Let us use our minds, “Who are you to say this to me? Who are you? Are you God that you can say this to me? Plus, you are a stranger. You are a foreigner. We do not know you. Who amongst our religious people agree with you?”
You see, there are a thousand and one ways for somebody to dismiss something that they do not want to hear. They just do not want to hear it, so they can just write it off in many ways. People do this today all the time. However, God is in control of who hears and who does not, as it says in John 8:47:
He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
It really comes down to this. The Ninevites were of God. God saved them. He tells us this in the New Testament, “They repented at the preaching of Jonah and a greater than Jonah is here; they will rise in the judgment.” They were truly saved on flimsy evidence. It was not even written down. There was nothing that they could take home in their back pocket, like a tract or a book, and examine. A verbal statement to a whole city of strangers, and God so multiplied it that the whole city repented and sat in sackcloth and ashes.
So how much evidence do people need? “Show me more. Okay, Genesis 7:4 and the seven days along with 2 Peter 3, I understand how that could be 7,000 years. I see these other verses. Alright, they fit in, but show me more. More.” And they are never going to be convinced. They are never going to believe of their own.
God has to open the ear, and He has given us encouragement. His people will hear and they will react. Noah and his family took warning. Noah moved with fear to the preparing of the ark and the saving of his house.
So to answer that question, it is the wrong question for someone to be asking. It really is. It is the wrong question. Wasn’t it wrong if someone went up to Noah and said, “I will see you on the 18th day of the 2nd month, Noah”? Okay, you can say this, but let God be true and every man a liar. On the 17th day of the 2nd month, the world was destroyed, as God had said, and all those other “what ifs” did not mean anything.
It really did not mean a thing to get into. They should have been thinking all along, not what if it does not happen, what about when it does happen? Are you ready? Are you prepared to meet God? And that is a correct mindset for a person to have, not to throw out a quick little statement to dismiss it.
Okay, let us just close with prayer and then we will have lunch for any who are staying.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank You for Your grace. I do not know why You have been so gracious to us in warning us of what is to come. We do thank You that we see this off in the distance, as this has been like a race all of our lives. In the Christian life, we have been running our course and now we are turning and we see the finish line not far off. And, Father, we pray that we might not faint, and we pray that we might not grow tired in mind, but we ask that You would grant us Your strength and Your energy to pick up the pace and to make a final dash for the finish line. We do ask that You would permit us to do this, that we might enter into Thy Kingdom through the Lord Jesus and that this world become even less than a dream or like dream that cannot be remembered when we awake in the morning. Father, we pray for the sake of others that we would do whatever we can through Your power to share the news of what we have learned from the Bible. We pray today that You might bless each person, each individual. It is a day and a time when each one of us must have a relationship with You. We do ask that You might bless our private studies and the reading of Your Word. May You teach us much through this. Father, we thank You for the food that You have provided and we do ask for Your blessing upon it to our bodies and for the spiritual blessing through the Bible to our souls. We pray this in Christ’s Name. Amen.