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WARNING: THE END IS COMING, ARE YOU READY?

10-09-11

A SIGN OF THE END

(Amos 8:1-3)  Thus hath the Lord GOD showed unto me [in a vision]: and behold a basket of [“ripe and therefore soon-to-perish” Amplified Bible] summer fruit. And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them [“and spare them” Amplif.] any more [an allusion to the first Passover]. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings [“wailing” NKJV] in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence [the radiation aftermath of worldwide nuclear warfare: Zech 14:12].

1.      The Nelson Study Bible: “A basket of summer fruit” The fruits that came at the end of the harvest in late summer included grapes, pomegranates, and figs. “The end is come” Israel’s wickedness was about to result in a harvest of judgment.

2.      King James Bible Commentary: So deep will be the grief at this time words will utterly fail those whose responsibility it is to dispose of the bodies, and they will go about their work in silence.

3.      (1 Pet 4:17)  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God [getting rid of the foul dross]: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

ANOTHER SIGN OF THE END:

EAGERLY MAKING PROFIT OF THE POOR

(Amos 8:4-7)  Hear this, O ye that swallow up [Heb: to inhale eagerly: devour] the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail [“do away with the poor” NIV], Saying, When will the new moon be gone [the monthly celebration thereof which prohibits buying and selling (works)], that we may sell corn? and the sabbath [prohibiting buying and selling], that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah [the standard measure of volume] small, and the shekel [the standard measure of weight] great, and falsifying the balances [a pair of scales] by deceit? That we may buy [“into slavery” Amplif.] the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes [Heb: sandals]; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat [by mixing in the moldy and the chaff with the good grain]? The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.

DARK JUDGMENT IS COMING FOR THEM (THE EGYPTIANS WHO OPPOSE GOD).

FOR US HIS COMING SHALL BE BRIGHTNESS AND GREAT JOY.  WE SHALL HAVE “TRANSFIGURED” BODIES AND ONLY “SEE THE REWARD OF THE WICKED”

(Amos 8:8-10)  Shall not the land tremble [Heb: quiver: be afraid, quake] for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it [the land] shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt [when all those who opposed God died]. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

1.      (Psa 91:4-10)  He [Father God] shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence [Heb: plague] that walketh in darkness [i.e., is contagious]; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge [Heb: shelter], even the most High, thy habitation [Heb: an abode, of God]; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

2.      (Rev 12:5,6)  And she brought forth a man child [the composite Sons of God body: fig. the shepherds: Gideon’s 300], who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up [raptured] [the “first resurrection” Ezek 37:1-14; 1 Thes 4:13-18; Rev 20:4-6] unto God, and to his throne. And the woman [fig. the sheep: Gideon’s 9,700] fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her [the sheep] there a thousand two hundred and threescore days [3 ½ years].

a.      (1 Th 4:17)  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up [raptured] together with them [“the dead in Christ” 1 Thes 4:16] in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

b.      (Rev 12:13,14)  And when the dragon [Satan] saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman [the remaining (fig. 9,700) sheep] which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings [Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, typified respectively by Moses and Elijah: Rev 11:3] of a great eagle [God: Exo 19:4 & Isa 40:31], that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is [the sheep are] nourished for a time, and times, and half a time [3 ½ years; Dan 7:25], from the face of the serpent.

                                                              i.     (Rev 11:3,4)  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days [3 ½ years], clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

                                                            ii.     (Exo 19:4)  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians [who did that?], and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.

                                                           iii.     Commentary: the metaphor of the great eagle is aptly and beautifully comprised of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

3.      (Joel 2:1)  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain [warn the congregations previous to the advent of 1 Pet 4:17]: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh [the Second Coming of Jesus Christ], for it is nigh at hand; (Joel 2:2) A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness [for the impure (mingled) unsaved], as the morning [dawn (light)] spread[ing] upon the mountains [for the purified saved]: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

a.      Commentary: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion…” = celebrating the fifth feast, the Feast of Trumpets, commemorating the tribulation, “the fifth seal” which is the great tribulation, i.e., the great purification of the church (1 Pet 4:17 & Rev 6:9-11; 7:13-17).

b.      Commentary: “a great people and a strong… even to the years of many generations” = celebrating initially the sixth feast, the Feast of Atonement wherein we/He “shall afflict your souls” (Lev 23:26-32), and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (the Afflicter of some) which is chronologically synonymous with “the sixth seal” (Rev 6:12-17) and “the first resurrection” (Rev 20:5,6). Thereafter “even to the years of many generations” refers to the Millennium of a/the “thousand years” (Rev 20:2,3,4,5,6,7) and the wonderful harvest of billions of souls that has been foreshadowed by the seventh feast, the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, i.e., the abundant grape harvest at the end of the year (the yearly crop cycle).

4.      (Amos 9:13)  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills [contextually, a biblical symbol of pride] shall melt [Heb: 12:29].

a.      The Nelson Study Bible: Israelite farmers plowed at the beginning of the rainy season, from mid-October. They harvested the grain crop – first barley, then wheat – from late March to early June. For “the plowman shall overtake the reaper” would mean such an abundant harvest that it would last all summer and would not be gathered until the plowing had started again. Grapes were harvested from mid-summer to early fall. The grain crop was sown after the plowing in late fall. For the “treader of grapes” to overtake “him that soweth seed” would mean the grape harvest would be so abundant that it would be extended for several weeks. The harvest of grapes would be so great that it would seem as though “mountains” and “hills” themselves were flowing with “sweet wine” [a biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit].

5.      Commentary: Eschatology – not written in stone, but being slowly derived from 22 years of accumulated Bible study. “The harvest of grapes would be so great….” equals my ‘billions of souls’ (do the math). During “the sixth seal” the shepherds will receive their “transfigured” bodies (sans sexual capability: Mat 22:30). Throughout “the seventh seal” (the Millennium for us, God’s wrath for them), the sheep will be peacefully breeding, learning, being converted and being trained up to be faithful and obedient soldiers (2 Tim 2:3,4) in the Army of God, for 1,000 years, the Millennium Feast of Tabernacles. How shall we accomplish what the Lord commands? “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world [Gk: kosmos; cosmos, universe], and preach the gospel [of love] to every creature.” [Mark 16:15] [please note, not to every man, but preach the gospel “to every creature” (a much more inclusive category)]. Do you know how to preach the gospel to creatures? We do. Just ask the Lord, or us. God bless you. J