IF OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE, SO THEN ARE HIS CHILDREN

09-11-22 This message may be viewed live streaming video at youtube.com and tabernacleofmoses.org today Sunday at 11:00 am, and repeated 24/7 thereafter. The video, audio, and study notes are archived.

 

(2 Tim 2:1-4) Thou therefore, my son, be strong [Gk: empowered] in the grace [1] that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness [Gk: undergo hardships], as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth [Gk: serves in a military campaign] entangleth himself [Gk: entwines, fig. involves himself] with the affairs of this [secular] life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier [i.e., to be an angelic warrior]

1.    grace = Gk: the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude.

 

AS A CALLED SOLDIER, PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST

(Joel 2:1,2) Blow ye the [warning] trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm [Heb: shout for joy] in my holy mountain  [in my saved people]: let all the inhabitants of the land [all the unsaved people who are still here after the rapture] tremble [Heb: with anger or fear: be afaid, stand in awe, shake, (be) troubled]: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand(Joel 2:2) [FOR THE UNSAVED IT IS] A day of darkness [1] and of gloominess [2], a day of clouds [3] and of thick darkness [4], [AND FOR THE SAVED IT IS] as [in contrast] the morning [Heb: dawn] [brightness, enlightenment, overwhelming glory] [i.e., the dawn of our eternal awakening] spread upon [covering] the mountains [of pride]: a great people and a strong [converted, fully empowered believers, warriors (soldiers, angels)]; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be [(a prophecy)] any more after it [after the rapture], even to the years of many generations [even to the conclusion of the 1,000 year Millennium which shall be commenced by the rapture][5]

1.    darkness = Heb: the dark; fig. misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness /// to be dark (as withholding light), hidden.

2.    gloominess = Heb: duskiness, fig. misfortune; concealment /// thick.

3.    clouds = Heb: clouds (as covering the sky), the nimbus or thunder clouds.

4.    thick darkness = Heb: gloom (as of a lowering sky): (gross, thick) /// drop down.

5.    Commentary: You are a child of the living God, and “our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb: 12:29). Your former holiness (a consuming fire) is being restored and greatly enhanced through our education, that is, through our lifetime of experiencing sin and learning how to overcome sin we each shall become an empowered angel,a good soldier” in the army of Jesus Christ, and then…

 

(Joel 2:3-6) A fire devoureth [Heb: consumes] before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them [before us, the redeemed angels], and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses [large powerful creatures]; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the [remaining] stubble [Heb: straw (as dry) /// sapless], as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people shall be much pained [in much pain] [“in anguish” Amplif. Bible]: all [unsaved] faces [still remaining on earth] shall gather blackness [“all faces become pale” Amplif.]

 

(Joel 2:7-9) They [we] shall run like mighty men; they [we] shall climb the wall [Heb: a wall of protection] like men of war; and they [we] shall march every one [“straight ahead” Amplif.] on his ways [obedient to orders], and they [we] shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they [we] shall walk every one in his [appointed, ordained] path: and when they [we] fall upon the sword, they [we] shall not be wounded. They [we] shall run to and fro in the city; they [we] shall run upon the wall, they [we] shall climb up upon the houses; they [we] shall enter in at the windows like a thief

 

(Joel 2:10,11) The earth shall quake [Heb: quiver (with any violent emotion, especially anger or fear] before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars [angels] shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD [for the saved people] is great and [for the unsaved people] very terrible; and who can abide [live within] it

 

WORTHY TO ESCAPE

THE HATE OF THIS WORLD FOR THE LOVE OF HEAVEN

(Luke 21:34-36) And take heed [Gk: pay attention: beware, have regard] to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts [Gk: minds] be overcharged [Gk: burdened: grievous, heavy] with surfeiting [Gk: a glut] [excess, “riotous living” Luke 15:13], and drunkenness [Gk: intoxication] [alcohol and other drugs], and cares [Gk: distractions] of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares [Gk: unexpected, suddenly]. For as a snare [Gk: a trap; fig. a trick or stratagem] shall it come on all them that [still] dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand [in love, righteousness, and honor] before the Son of man. [1]

1.    (Prov 21:21) He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life [eternal love], righteousness, and honour

 

 

 

 

Amen