|
HAGGAI
(520 B.C.)
16
Haggai 1:9 You (returned exiles)
have been expecting much and getting little;
and when you brought it home I (the
Lord) would blow on it!
Because of what says the Lord of
Hosts. Because of My House
(Temple) which lies in ruins, while
you all hurry to your own houses.
Directly after the Babylonian 70
year exile, the Lord speaks through Haggai to the returned
people regarding their tardiness on rebuilding the Temple
which was destroyed before the exile. The link between doing
what they (Judah) should do (rebuilding the Temple) and
their own prosperity is here again made clear. The people
expect much, but they don't fulfill their end of the
obligation. When prosperity doesn't come they are
bewildered. Zerubbabel and Joshua take heed and lead the
people in the Temple’s eventual rebuilding. However, the
resultant Second Temple and the marginal success of the
people in general are great disappointments to many because
of their higher expectations based on Isaiah’s prophecies
regarding a restored and glorified Israel. The age of these
prophecies of Isaiah was misconstrued to be their own
present time (around 500 B.C.), but theirs was not to be the
messianic age described. This error of timing occurs again
and again with regard to the difficult problem of placing a
given prophecy within the proper age of its fulfillment. The
prophets are many times given accurate information about the
future but are not told specifically the time of its
fulfillment. Every student of prophecy must humble himself
before this question which so many have fallen victim to in
the past. Let’s then take a moment to examine some events
that portend the near future ending of this age, the
messianic age in my opinion.
Some Signs of the End of Our Age
Deut 28:58 If you will not be
watchful to do all the words of this law (covenant
that are written in this
book… (Amplified Bible)
Deut 28:63 You shall be plucked
from the land into which you go to possess
(Canaan).
Deut 28:64 And the Lord shall
scatter you among all the peoples from one end
of the earth to the
other… (Amplified Bible)
Deut 28:65 You shall find no ease
and there shall be no rest. (Amplified Bible)
Deut 28:37 And you shall become an
amazement, a proverb, and a byword among
all the peoples.
(Amplified Bible)
The writing of these words is
dated by the reference to Canaan as "the land you go to
possess." The land (Canaan) has no formal name yet, not
having yet been entered and settled. This entrance to the
Promised Land and the writing of this warning/prophecy
probably occurred between 1400 – 1500 B.C.; and yet it
describes precisely the Diaspora (dispersion), and
persecution of the Jews that we now know took place over a
thousand years later. The return of the Jewish peoples to
their land is also prophesied far in advance.
Ezek 36:24 For I (Lord) will take
you from among the nations and gather you
out of all the countries and bring
you into your own land…
This single verse is probably the
most important portent that our age is ending, the
re-gathering of Jews into Canaan from all the countries of
the world, the establishment of modern Israel in 1948. This
sets the stage for all other subsequent events. Israel and
the Middle East problem is a prophecy clock for the timing
of subsequent prophesied events.
Ezek 37:33 In that day (when I
gather you) I shall cleanse you of all your iniquities…
They will say
this land has become like a Garden of Eden.
These lines definitely relate to
the Messianic, End of The Age, and not the return from
Babylonian captivity because; the people are brought from
plural countries and nations and not just Babylon.
References to the Messianic "cleansing of all iniquities"
through forgiveness, and reference to the restoration of the
Garden of Eden – which ends The Adamic Age, just as it had
begun so many years before, places the re-gathering and the
messianic cleansing in the same timeframe. This re-gathering
of Judah from "all the countries" into the land of Canaan
officially began in 1948, when the international community
recognized Israel as a nation. Today these re-gathered Jews
are from more than 115 nations; speak 80 languages, and
number over 3.5 million people. Recently, this process has
greatly accelerated due to growing political and ethnic
tensions in Russia and elsewhere in the world. After the
re-gathering, they will undergo ‘cleansing’ during the
upcoming trial period.
Hos 3:4 For the Israelites
will go a long time without king and without
officials, without sacrifice and
without cult pillars, and without
ephod and teraphim.
Over 2500 years from the time the
Northern Tribes depart until they return as Christians is
indeed a "long time."
Is 27:6 Israel shall
sprout and blossom,
And the Face of the whole world,
Shall be covered with fruit.
This blossoming of the people
Israel as well as the land Israel will take place as a
result of the purifying process of the trial period to come,
at which time –
Zech 12:9 And it shall come to
pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy
all the nations that come against
Jerusalem.
Zech 12:2 Behold, I will make
Jerusalem a bowl of reeling for the peoples
all around. Judah shall be caught up
in the siege upon Jerusalem,
when all the nations of the earth
gather against her.
Israel and Arab Nations are on a
collision course of war: Arab states are uniting and
strengthening their ties to Russia and China. The UN is
unanimously sympathetic to the Arab Nations, and last but
not least, the United States and Britain have for the first
time withheld their historic position of support for Israel.
And so the biblical scorecard of Israel vs. the World is
coming into view just as prophesied. And yet, people say
that Barak will bring peace but the prophets say "peace,
peace there shall be no peace." (Jer 8:11) Who should we bet
on? Barak or the prophets? Both Israel and the Arab states
have proclaimed their absolute rights to Jerusalem and its
Temple Mount. The Arab nations openly proclaim that Israel
ultimately has no right to exist. Since, we have learned
that "the Lord" is preparing to restore to Judah and Israel
to what is rightfully theirs, through a covenant with God
and Melchizedek 4000 years ago, we can well surmise who the
winner of this battle for the land of Canaan shall be. For
more evidence that the age is ending now, we turn to Daniel:
Dan 12:4 And thou, Daniel,
close the words, and seal the book for the time
of the end; until many are taught,
and knowledge is increased.
Dan 12:7 Daniel asks: when will
the end be of the wonders which thou hast
mentioned? And I (Daniel) heard the
man clothed in linen,…who
swear by Him that lives forever,
that it should be for a time, times
and a half of time; when the
dispersion (of Israel) is ended They shall
know all these things. (My
parenthesis)
We are certainly in the midst of a
knowledge explosion as implied in Dan 12:4, and I take
"time, times, and a half of time" to be 2500 years. (One
time equals 1000, two times equal 2000, and a half of time
equal 500.) Some scholars date Daniel to about 500 BC and it
is now, approximately 2500 hundred years since then, the
date of the original prophecy. Please note that others have
interpreted this differently. Also note that Daniel is told
that the messianic events will occur "when the dispersion
(of Israel) is ended." The dispersion ended when the nation
of Israel was re-established in 1948. According to prophecy
we are living in the messianic period. Referring to the End
of the Age, Enoch says –
Enoch 55:1 I beheld another army
of chariots, with men riding in them.
And they came upon the wind from the
east,
From the west, and from the south.
The sound of the noise of their
chariots was heard.
What else could chariots, riding
upon the wind, with men and audible noise be, other than
airplanes? These planes are probably coming to the Holy land
for purposes of war, the messianic war where "all the
nations" come against Israel. Notice that the planes come
from every direction except the north, perhaps because Gog
and the army from the north has that direction covered.
Directly north of Israel, lies Moscow the capital of Russia
and scriptural evidence can be marshaled in support of this
Gog/Russia thesis. The presence of airplanes dates the time
of Enoch’s prophecy to our present modern age.
Also drought, thirst, and
failure of things to grow and yield are frequently referred
to in the Messianic period. The drought developing in
the Middle East and other parts of the world should get
progressively worse if we are truly living in the Messianic
time period. I would also expect unraveling in our
political, financial and other institutions to greatly
accelerate soon.
The Urantia Book, as do the
prophets, places the heaviest burden of blame on the
lawlessness, corruption, and deceit of the ruling class, who
lead the masses astray.
UB 1074 The real undoing of
Judah was effected by a corrupt and rich ring
of politicians operating under the
rule of a boy-king, Manasseh…the fall
of Assyria, and the ascending of
Egypt, brought deliverance to Judah
for a time, and the country folk
took over.
UB 1074 The attempt to
suppress freedom of speech (by the power elite) led
Elijah, Amos, and Hosea to begin
their secret writing, and this was
the real beginning of the Jewish and
Christian Bibles. (My parenthesis)
Ezek 7:10 Here is the day! See,
the cycle has come round; it has appeared.
The rod has blossomed; arrogance
has budded, lawlessness has
grown into a rod of wickedness.
Our country began in Godliness,
but an evil crop has been sown and the harvest has blossomed
into deceit and arrogance. Keep watch while this
increasingly goes to seed. Our leaders are trampling our
Constitution and the rights of our once proud citizens.
There are many strange things going on in Washington that
are completely unreported by the media establishment. We
need to ask questions and dig under the surface a little to
find the dark side of current national and world events.
Political, economic, financial, social and environmental
current events also betoken the ending of the age. Natural
disasters, wars, famine, droughts, military events, and
overpopulation are all becoming progressively worse. Will
all of these mounting problems be solved by human beings
before they reach a crisis? There really are no solid
arguments or facts that support such an optimistic thesis?
Are world leaders committed to creating a peaceful, free,
and healthy world?
The Dead Sea Scrolls in speaking
about the "last days" of the messianic period identify a
figure they call "the Liar" who comes to power from among
the gentiles of Ephraim, whom we have previously identified,
generally as Christians and specifically as Americans:
DSC 4Q171 (I)…Be silent before the
Lord and long for him, and be not heated
against the successful, the man who
achieves his plans (Ps 37:7a)
Its interpretation concerns the Liar
who has led astray many by his
lying words so that they chose
frivolous things and heeded not the
interpreter of knowledge in order
to…(II) they shall perish by the
sword and famine and plague.
(Teacher of Righteousness)
The interpreter of knowledge here
is the messianic prophet who is also referred to as the
interpreter of the law. The people seem to heed "the Liar"
and not the interpreter of knowledge. This is a repeat of
all the prophets’ experiences who have gone before – nothing
changes. Ends of ages have a leader, character type that
personifies deceit, here referred to as "the Liar." Are
there any such character-types in view? If so this would be
another indicator of an ending age.
DSC 4Q171 The wicked draw the sword
and bend their bow to bring down the
poor and needy and to slay the
upright of way. Their sword shall
enter their own heart and their bows
shall be broken (Ps 37:14-15).
Interpreted,
this concerns the wicked of Ephraim and Manasseh,
(the deceitful leaders) who shall
seek to lay their hands on the Priest
and the men of
his Council at the time of trial which shall come
upon them. But God will redeem them
from out of their hands.
(Teacher of Righteousness)
The Priest is another designation
for the interpreter of the law, the messianic final prophet.
The men of his council are the congregation of the elect.
Here we establish that Ephraim and Manasseh, the nations of
the Lost Ten Tribes, i.e. primarily America and Britain, are
the likely nations of residence of the Liar, the Priest, and
the men of his (the priest’s) counsel (the elect). Further:
DSC 4Q169 Woe to the city of blood;
it is full of lies and rapine (Ps3: 1)
Interpreted, this is the city of
Ephraim, those who seek smooth
things in the last days, who walk in
lies and falsehood.
(Teacher of Righteousness)
Could this city of Ephraim in the
last days be Washington D.C.? It certainly seems to fit. Who
does this next line make you think of? Those who seek
smooth things are those who try to cover up the differences
between right and wrong though the clever use of words or
imges. Some attorneys, politicians, and other ‘smooth
talkers’ may come to mind.
Sirach 19:26 There is a wicked man
that hangeth down his head sadly; but
inwardly he is full of deceit.
The following is a definition of a
psychopath from a medical journal:
Unable to
experience empathy, sympathy.
Associated with pathologic lying,
grandiosity, superficial charm,
manipulative, lack of guilt,
proneness to boredom, lack of remorse.
Isn’t our contemporary scene today
the real indicator that these are the "last days" of an age?
Now lets turn briefly to the New Testament for some more
evidence:
II Tim 3:1 But understand this,
that in the last days will come perilous
Amplified times of great stress and trouble. For
people will be lovers
Bible of self and utterly self-centered,
lovers of money, and aroused
by an inordinate desire for wealth,
proud and arrogant and
contemptuous boasters. They will be
abusive, disobedient to
parents, ungrateful, unholy and
profane.
Watch some of the daytime
television shows of troubled parents and teens. One can
hardly believe what transpires, in the real world and now!
Is this paragraph above a good description of what many of
us have become? Here is some more:
II Tim 3:3 They will be without
natural human affection, relentless
Amplified (admitting of no truce or appeasement);
they will be slanderers,
Bible (false accusers), intemperate and loose
in morals and conduct,
uncontrolled and fierce, haters of
good…
They will be lovers of sensual
pleasures and vain amusements…
II Tim 3:5 For (although) they
hold a form of piety, they are strangers
to the power of it (their conduct
belies the genuineness of
their profession)… (Parentheses are
part of text)
II Tim 3:9 But they will not get
very far, for their rash folly will become
obvious to everybody…
These descriptions would have
sounded completely foreign just five to ten years ago. Now,
they send a chill of recognition down our spine. The only
line I would disagree with is the last; "the rash folly" of
our leaders is unfortunately not obvious to a majority of
people. The blind lead the blind, in lock step, over the
cliff. Now lets turn to the Urantia Book for more evidence
that our age is ending:
UB 1490 Another world war will
teach the so-called sovereign nations to
form some sort of federation, thus
creating the machinery for preventing
small wars, wars between the lesser
nations…but global wars will go
on until the government of mankind
is created.
This statement was probably made
in or shortly before 1934, the year that the Urantia Book
was completed but not yet published. "Another world war"
would logically seem to be WWII and the League of Nations
and the United Nations is the "some sort of federation" that
has evolved and will prevent small wars. Since we have no
world government, further world wars will occur until a
world government is established. Stated otherwise, there
will be more global wars after WWII until the government of
mankind is created. Nothing short of a global disaster could
cause such a government to form at the present time, and the
one that would form would be a global disaster itself.
UB 2082 The inherent weakness
of secularism is that it discards ethics and
religion for politics and power.
Has this happened? If it is still
true, then it follows that we are still in big trouble.
UB 2082 Secular social and
political optimism is an illusion. Without God,
neither freedom and liberty, nor
property and wealth will lead to
peace. You simply cannot establish
the brotherhood of men without
the Fatherhood of God. A lasting
social system without a morality
predicated on spiritual realities
can no more be maintained than
could a solar system without
gravity.
No matter how hard we hope that
our secular systems will "evolve smoothly" into spiritual
based systems, it doesn’t change the evidence arrayed
against that possibility. Smooth gradual physical evolution
is punctuated by rapid, dramatic and unpredictable changes.
Social, political, and spiritual evolution follows the same
pattern of punctuated equilibrium. "When physical conditions
are ripe, sudden mental evolutions may occur, when mind
status is propitious, sudden spiritual transformations may
occur…" (UB 740).
Are the present wielders of
political, financial and military power really going to
accept and understand anything except complete defeat on
their own terms? Continuing:
UB 2082 Urantia is now
quivering on the brink of one of its most
amazing and enthralling epochs of
social re-adjustment, moral
quickening and spiritual
enlightenment.
The previous dispensation and age
is ending and a new one is beginning now. The Urantia Book
itself is a harbinger of the new dispensation, which will
shortly follow the ending of the present age. The present
age is ending now and its messianic ending is just before
us. What holds up this messianic ending prophesied in
scripture?
UB 2082- The spiritual
renaissance must await the coming of these new
2083 teachers of Jesus’ religion who will be
exclusively devoted to the
spiritual regeneration of men.
The diagnosis of the problem is
spiritual degeneracy and moral corruption. The treatment is
spiritual regeneration. Therefore,
UB 2086 The great hope of
Urantia lies in the possibility of a new
revelation of Jesus with a new and
enlarged presentation of
his saving message which would
spiritually unite…his present
day professed followers.
Therefore, we need teachers and
leaders who have an enlarged revelation of his (Jesus)
saving message.
UB 1866 There must come a
revival of the actual teachings of Jesus,
such a restatement that will undo
the work of his early followers
who went about to create…a system of
belief regarding the fact
of Michael’s (Christ) Sojourn on
earth.
The "actual" teachings and "saving
message" of Jesus is the gospel of the kingdom of heaven,
which has never yet been preached or taught to the whole
world, only tiny sections of it. This gospel is still yet to
be taught and preached before the "fullness of the age is
come to pass." God's servant and others will come forth 'to
teach the true way.' (Isaiah 42:1)
UB 1915 However, you should
understand that when this gospel of the
Kingdom shall have been proclaimed
to the whole world for the
salvation of all peoples, and when
the fullness of the age has come
to pass, the Father will send you
another dispensational bestowal,
or else the Son of Man will return
to adjudge the age.
The Urantia Book is this
"restatement of the message of Jesus." The students and
practitioners of the Urantia Book are the ones who are most
able to understand, teach, and most importantly exhibit and
live the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Urantia Book
is an Epochal Revelation given early to teach and prepare a
generation of believers who will be able to demonstrate,
live, and teach this Kingdom of Heaven at the end of the
age, when great trials come and people will become receptive
to new and expanded truth. The Urantia Book itself is an
indicator of the passing of one dispensational age and the
beginning of another. Our generation is the generation that
will elect and do the "whole law" i.e. the whole Will of
God. In fact, the meaning, value and purpose of this ending
age is the glorification of God through the lives of these
individuals who elect His Will and the glorification of
these same individuals by God who is their Father.
Also note that there is another
"dispensational bestowal" at the end of this age. This
bestowal is none other than Melchizedek himself who will
once again "dwell among us" according to scripture.
1Enoch tells us further about
Age’s End:
1Enoch 1:2 From them I (Enoch)
heard all things, and understand what I saw
(in a vision), that which will not
take place in this generation, but in a
generation which is to succeed a
distant period, on account of the
elect (those who elect God’s Will)
1Enoch 104:10 Another mystery I
(Enoch) will point out. To the righteous and the
wise shall be given books of joy,
of integrity, and of great wisdom.
To them shall books be given, in
which they shall believe; and in
which they shall rejoice…in those
days, saith the Lord, they shall
call to
the children of the earth, and make them listen to their
wisdom. Show them that you are
their leaders…
And so, God is preparing those who
elect His Will to enter upon the stage of this Ending Age.
Once again, as in Jesus’ time, He chooses to contrast His
good against a background of evil. He prepares us with
books, with life experiences, and with His love to stand the
test of time.
We close this chapter with a
series of poems. First, we have a vision of a person who is
transformed by a special book.
Emily Dickinson He ate and drank the
precious Words –
Poem #1587 His spirit grew robust –
He knew no more that he was
poor,
Nor that his frame was dust
He danced along the dingy
Days
And this Bequest of Wings
Was but a Book – What Liberty
A loosened spirit brings –
What book could Emily be referring
to? She referred to the Bible as "an old fashioned Book" and
this is not her meaning here. Emily sometimes knows things
that should have been impossible for her to know. For
instance:
Emily Dickinson Speech is one
symptom of Affection
Poem # 1681 And Silence one –
The
perfectest communication
Is heard of none –
Exists and its indorsement
Is had within –
Behold, said the Apostle,
Yet had not seen.
The "perfectest communication"
heard in silence is the spirit within, the location of its "indorsement"
or realization. The Apostle says "Behold" the kingdom of
heaven is at hand, yet he who cries "behold" has not beheld
or "seen" because he has not grasped the meaning or reality
of "the kingdom of heaven within."
How could it be possible that
Emily in 1860 knows about "the Apostle’s error" before it
was first presented as a concept in the Urantia Book in
1955?
Ultimately, it is not a concept
that the world awaits, but rather salvation. Who we are is
far more important than what we know.
Emily Dickinson The Province of the
Saved
Poem #539 Should be the Art – To save –
Through skill obtained in
Themselves –
The Science of the Grave
No man can understand
But He that hath endured
The Dissolution – in Himself
–
That Man – be qualified
To qualify Despair
To those who failing new –
Mistake defeat for death –
each time –
Till acclimated – to –
The "Science of the Grave" refers
to the inner dying of oneself that gives birth to a new
life. What saves man is God’s goodness and love, not His
knowledge and power. Those who have had failure, despair,
and then His salvation are most qualified:
Emily Dickinson To offer brave
assistance
Poem # 767 To lives that stand alone –
When One has Failed to stop
Them –
Is Human – but Divine
To lend an Ample Sinew
Unto a Nameless Man –
Whose Homely Benediction
No other
– stopped to earn. |
◄
