Gold Bought in Fire Cities of Refuge Part 3: A REAL Solution to a REAL Problem
Jesus has some concrete plans. They really aren't up for negotiation. Though many argue about how to interpret them, they are actually very simple and clear.
Let me be as plain as possible: Jesus plans to destroy the quality of life for all those dwelling on the earth outside of pure and spotless loyalty to His leadership, in order to allow those in rebellion to His leadership to repent.
This is actually really simple, but intense. Hundreds of chapters in the Bible are devoted to developing this end time truth...literally...hundreds. Here is one clip from Isaiah:
Isaiah 24:1-6 Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface And scatters abroad its inhabitants. And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; As with the servant, so with his master; As with the maid, so with her mistress; As with the buyer, so with the seller; As with the lender, so with the borrower; As with the creditor, so with the debtor. The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, For the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men are left.
Here is another from Ezekiel, who says that whatever you have saved will actually become worthless to you...cash won't help with what is coming (because the mark of the beast will make money worthless to those unwilling to agree with the antichrist):
Ezekiel 7:19 ‘They will throw their silver into the streets, And their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them In the day of the wrath of the Lord ; They will not satisfy their souls, Nor fill their stomachs, Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.
God is going to do this intentionally...for LOVE:
Isaiah 13:11-13 “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.
Many people that teach the Bible now days honestly don't understand God's love or His justice. God's love requires His justice...His complete judgment of evil...His justice is an expression of His love. God doesn't suspend His justice for love, or vice versa. They are the same reality.
Many of God's representatives, from lots of backgrounds, spend a lot of time explaining away something God has spent a lot of time making clear!
Listen, God is a REALLY good writer. He is the best communicator earth has EVER encountered. You don't need a team of people to decipher what He is saying. A really bad writer might need people to help him make his message clear, but not God. His words are timeless, straight forward, and clear. Mankind makes God's simple instructions complex because they don't like what the main and plain says...but God doesn't really need help telling you what He is thinking.
Jesus' plans are very straightforward. Because they are unwilling to humbly and simply believe and love who God simply and plainly says He is, some who claim to speak for God don't know THE Word...the living Word who's name is Jesus. They believe men more than God!
John 5:39-47 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. “I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
And what did Moses write about? The execution of the written judgments.
That is what Leviticus 26 is all about...the end time judgment...the VERY DESOLATION of every part of the earth that will not come under the leadership of Jesus. Moses described, in detail, the very real seals, trumpets, and bowls of Revelation 6 through 16.
Birth Pangs:
Leviticus 26:14-17 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.
Seven Seals:
Leviticus 26:18-22 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate.
Seven Trumpets:
Leviticus 26:23-26 ‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.
Seven Bowls:
Leviticus 26:27-39 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall rest— for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it. ‘And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee; they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues. They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.
These are all expressions of Jesus LOVE. They are all designed to accomplish ONE thing: to bring people in to life!
Leviticus 26:40-42 ‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt— then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.
This is the "test that shall come upon the whole earth." It must come. It is the ONLY way the Bible promises sin will be eradicated!
The one way to avoid the test is to pass the pre-test!
Revelation 3:10-11 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
The pre-test requires building an "ark" for safety before the need for that ark is obvious. Many people who claim to know God don't like this simple reality. It is very unpopular with comfortable people who see no need to fix something that ain't broke. But listen, if your life isn't being "poured out like a drink offering" to see Jesus come home, you are broken. You don't get the reality of the generation you live in. This takes time to grow into. Many do not like this truth. They say it is "too intense for a loving God." This is because they don't understand the true nature of love.
The judgments of God are intense, because the stain of sin is so deep.
The reason people argue about the reality and severity of the plans Jesus has clearly stated, and make them more complex and symbolic than they are, is because they don't like the judgment that is driving them. It is completely severe, because the cost of not separating from the leadership of the world is complete death.
Many are ashamed of the judgments of Jesus, so they make them symbolic to make them less intense. That is a VERY bad idea, because the judgments are designed to bring agreement with Jesus, WHO IS love. Explaining away His judgments, and the real plans they will birth, is to put yourself UNDER those very judgments themselves. You don't get Jesus without the practical reality of His leadership. That is "being saved" 101. You must see this.
Jesus is not ashamed of His judgments. He loves them and advises you to not be offended by them. Offense is literally what will divide the sheep from the goats in the end time church:
Matthew 25:31-34 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
His plans will divide the people in advance of this moment. When Jesus described His plans to Isaiah, He described a "great shaking"...that is the harvest action of "sifting"
Isaiah 13:12-13 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.
This final sifting of the last generation is mentioned tens of times in the old and new testament. This is also the same meaning of "threshing", which means separating wheat from chaff. The threshing requires a "barn" to store the good grain in. Those barns are the end time cities of refuge. They will be built by using the "key of David" which is the end time night and day worship movement...the rebuilding of the tabernacle of David. Again, this clearly and plainly stated in the Bible in tens of places. Here is one:
Amos 9:9-11 “For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’ “On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old;
The simple plan of Jesus is for anyone who wants to avoid the destruction to respond IN ADVANCE with "praying always" or night and day prayer with the specific intention of making a safe place for the end time judgment:
Luke 21:34-36 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
I could pull out tons more passages that all say the same thing, but you get my point.
Many, in error, say "just focus on His love. Don't be so negative". BUT, this is directly contrary to what Jesus taught. If you aren't going to follow Jesus, what is the point? Honestly, if you aren't going to follow Jesus, you really aren't saved:
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
This takes time to grow into. It doesn't require perfect execution. But it does actually require agreeing about submitting to Jesus' leadership being the goal. You can't step into the kingdom with one foot and be safe from what is promised to touch the world. You need both feet walking deeper into the kingdom. That is where it is safe.
Listen friends: many have enough Jesus to mark themselves for end time persecution, but not nearly enough Jesus to endure it. If you want to endure it, agree with Him all the way. Get about His business of establishing safe places by praying night and day...building His tabernacles.
This plan will be resisted by those who agree with the antichrist. One of the main things the antichrist is going to do is blaspheme night and day prayer:
Revelation 13:5-7 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
(that is a LOT of detail for something that is all symbolic)
The end time judgment starts in the Church. This will create great division...actually, it already is. Jesus' plans are clear but very intense. Everyone needs to decide what they personally believe. But, to those who are offended by Jesus' intense plans, they will betray those building the cities of refuge. They will actually eventually kill them, according to the Bible:
Matthew 24:9-13 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
To pretend Jesus' end time plan is symbolic is to ignore hundreds of chapters in the Bible that warn about very specific and offensive consequences. The reason people make the intense plans of Jesus symbolic is because of offense...it is actually one of the first expressions of offense. It is VERY common...we all have to face it. Many invent theology to escape it, but the news is making wise the simple. Do you see it?
If Revelation is symbolic, or for "someone else", then you don't have to actually deal with it. It is NOT symbolic, though, and it is first and foremost for the Church, not a bunch of unsuspecting unbelievers! The Church getting ready for judgment is what will gather in the harvest of unbelievers!
I Peter 4:16-17 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
For those who resist seeing this simple truth and responding with the simple and glorious solution, what will eventually happen is panic, when the complex "symbols" become more and more simple and real.
To be offended by Jesus plan is actually one of the most common responses. John the Baptist lived in agreement with Jesus' plans and got thrown in jail, and eventually beheaded. John was not offended, but his followers were. They went to see John about it..."could he really be the Messiah if he can't even protect his best spokesman?!" I imagine John said "go ask Him yourself." This is how Jesus responded:
Matthew 11:4-6 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
If you want to obey Jesus, then you need to learn to LOVE his judgments. Loving His judgments makes WISE the simple and intense plans:
Psalms 19:7-11 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.
The simple plan is to resist offense and pray continually that Jesus would manifest in YOUR city. Just like Jesus told John's offended disciples: wherever Jesus is manifesting, this will surely happen:
"The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them"
This is a big part of what cities of refuge in the end time are all about!
Let me be as plain as possible: Jesus plans to destroy the quality of life for all those dwelling on the earth outside of pure and spotless loyalty to His leadership, in order to allow those in rebellion to His leadership to repent.
This is actually really simple, but intense. Hundreds of chapters in the Bible are devoted to developing this end time truth...literally...hundreds. Here is one clip from Isaiah:
Isaiah 24:1-6 Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface And scatters abroad its inhabitants. And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; As with the servant, so with his master; As with the maid, so with her mistress; As with the buyer, so with the seller; As with the lender, so with the borrower; As with the creditor, so with the debtor. The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, For the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men are left.
Here is another from Ezekiel, who says that whatever you have saved will actually become worthless to you...cash won't help with what is coming (because the mark of the beast will make money worthless to those unwilling to agree with the antichrist):
Ezekiel 7:19 ‘They will throw their silver into the streets, And their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them In the day of the wrath of the Lord ; They will not satisfy their souls, Nor fill their stomachs, Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.
God is going to do this intentionally...for LOVE:
Isaiah 13:11-13 “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.
Many people that teach the Bible now days honestly don't understand God's love or His justice. God's love requires His justice...His complete judgment of evil...His justice is an expression of His love. God doesn't suspend His justice for love, or vice versa. They are the same reality.
Many of God's representatives, from lots of backgrounds, spend a lot of time explaining away something God has spent a lot of time making clear!
Listen, God is a REALLY good writer. He is the best communicator earth has EVER encountered. You don't need a team of people to decipher what He is saying. A really bad writer might need people to help him make his message clear, but not God. His words are timeless, straight forward, and clear. Mankind makes God's simple instructions complex because they don't like what the main and plain says...but God doesn't really need help telling you what He is thinking.
Jesus' plans are very straightforward. Because they are unwilling to humbly and simply believe and love who God simply and plainly says He is, some who claim to speak for God don't know THE Word...the living Word who's name is Jesus. They believe men more than God!
John 5:39-47 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. “I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
And what did Moses write about? The execution of the written judgments.
That is what Leviticus 26 is all about...the end time judgment...the VERY DESOLATION of every part of the earth that will not come under the leadership of Jesus. Moses described, in detail, the very real seals, trumpets, and bowls of Revelation 6 through 16.
Birth Pangs:
Leviticus 26:14-17 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.
Seven Seals:
Leviticus 26:18-22 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate.
Seven Trumpets:
Leviticus 26:23-26 ‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.
Seven Bowls:
Leviticus 26:27-39 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall rest— for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it. ‘And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee; they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues. They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.
These are all expressions of Jesus LOVE. They are all designed to accomplish ONE thing: to bring people in to life!
Leviticus 26:40-42 ‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt— then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.
This is the "test that shall come upon the whole earth." It must come. It is the ONLY way the Bible promises sin will be eradicated!
The one way to avoid the test is to pass the pre-test!
Revelation 3:10-11 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
The pre-test requires building an "ark" for safety before the need for that ark is obvious. Many people who claim to know God don't like this simple reality. It is very unpopular with comfortable people who see no need to fix something that ain't broke. But listen, if your life isn't being "poured out like a drink offering" to see Jesus come home, you are broken. You don't get the reality of the generation you live in. This takes time to grow into. Many do not like this truth. They say it is "too intense for a loving God." This is because they don't understand the true nature of love.
The judgments of God are intense, because the stain of sin is so deep.
The reason people argue about the reality and severity of the plans Jesus has clearly stated, and make them more complex and symbolic than they are, is because they don't like the judgment that is driving them. It is completely severe, because the cost of not separating from the leadership of the world is complete death.
Many are ashamed of the judgments of Jesus, so they make them symbolic to make them less intense. That is a VERY bad idea, because the judgments are designed to bring agreement with Jesus, WHO IS love. Explaining away His judgments, and the real plans they will birth, is to put yourself UNDER those very judgments themselves. You don't get Jesus without the practical reality of His leadership. That is "being saved" 101. You must see this.
Jesus is not ashamed of His judgments. He loves them and advises you to not be offended by them. Offense is literally what will divide the sheep from the goats in the end time church:
Matthew 25:31-34 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
His plans will divide the people in advance of this moment. When Jesus described His plans to Isaiah, He described a "great shaking"...that is the harvest action of "sifting"
Isaiah 13:12-13 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.
This final sifting of the last generation is mentioned tens of times in the old and new testament. This is also the same meaning of "threshing", which means separating wheat from chaff. The threshing requires a "barn" to store the good grain in. Those barns are the end time cities of refuge. They will be built by using the "key of David" which is the end time night and day worship movement...the rebuilding of the tabernacle of David. Again, this clearly and plainly stated in the Bible in tens of places. Here is one:
Amos 9:9-11 “For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’ “On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old;
The simple plan of Jesus is for anyone who wants to avoid the destruction to respond IN ADVANCE with "praying always" or night and day prayer with the specific intention of making a safe place for the end time judgment:
Luke 21:34-36 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
I could pull out tons more passages that all say the same thing, but you get my point.
Many, in error, say "just focus on His love. Don't be so negative". BUT, this is directly contrary to what Jesus taught. If you aren't going to follow Jesus, what is the point? Honestly, if you aren't going to follow Jesus, you really aren't saved:
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
This takes time to grow into. It doesn't require perfect execution. But it does actually require agreeing about submitting to Jesus' leadership being the goal. You can't step into the kingdom with one foot and be safe from what is promised to touch the world. You need both feet walking deeper into the kingdom. That is where it is safe.
Listen friends: many have enough Jesus to mark themselves for end time persecution, but not nearly enough Jesus to endure it. If you want to endure it, agree with Him all the way. Get about His business of establishing safe places by praying night and day...building His tabernacles.
This plan will be resisted by those who agree with the antichrist. One of the main things the antichrist is going to do is blaspheme night and day prayer:
Revelation 13:5-7 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
(that is a LOT of detail for something that is all symbolic)
The end time judgment starts in the Church. This will create great division...actually, it already is. Jesus' plans are clear but very intense. Everyone needs to decide what they personally believe. But, to those who are offended by Jesus' intense plans, they will betray those building the cities of refuge. They will actually eventually kill them, according to the Bible:
Matthew 24:9-13 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
To pretend Jesus' end time plan is symbolic is to ignore hundreds of chapters in the Bible that warn about very specific and offensive consequences. The reason people make the intense plans of Jesus symbolic is because of offense...it is actually one of the first expressions of offense. It is VERY common...we all have to face it. Many invent theology to escape it, but the news is making wise the simple. Do you see it?
If Revelation is symbolic, or for "someone else", then you don't have to actually deal with it. It is NOT symbolic, though, and it is first and foremost for the Church, not a bunch of unsuspecting unbelievers! The Church getting ready for judgment is what will gather in the harvest of unbelievers!
I Peter 4:16-17 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
For those who resist seeing this simple truth and responding with the simple and glorious solution, what will eventually happen is panic, when the complex "symbols" become more and more simple and real.
To be offended by Jesus plan is actually one of the most common responses. John the Baptist lived in agreement with Jesus' plans and got thrown in jail, and eventually beheaded. John was not offended, but his followers were. They went to see John about it..."could he really be the Messiah if he can't even protect his best spokesman?!" I imagine John said "go ask Him yourself." This is how Jesus responded:
Matthew 11:4-6 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
If you want to obey Jesus, then you need to learn to LOVE his judgments. Loving His judgments makes WISE the simple and intense plans:
Psalms 19:7-11 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.
The simple plan is to resist offense and pray continually that Jesus would manifest in YOUR city. Just like Jesus told John's offended disciples: wherever Jesus is manifesting, this will surely happen:
"The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them"
This is a big part of what cities of refuge in the end time are all about!
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