There are signs of the end referenced in the Scripture. The disciples asked Jesus, “what are the signs.” All the signs of the end, earthquakes, disease, war, etc., have been occurring since the beginning. ELB has been part of earth life since the creation because so has the enemy. And it has always been stronger than our Abba Father’s commands inside most of us. Our Postmodern society has even re-defined life itself, gender, and marriage in ELB over the last few decades, and believers have not even made a dent. That needs to change.
Our job is to get the enemy out of our life today. Revelation talks about the sign of the beast in the end, but just like all the other signs in our present life, there are marks of the beast all around us. Just because Jesus is not here physically, he is in us, and we need to reject today’s marks in our life. If we accept today’s marks, why would our Abba Father ever believe we would reject them in the end time? Remember, it is too late when Jesus arrives.
That means when I see trends in life that resemble the mark of the beast, I do not take the marks of my time. I move closer to our Abba Father because he is my adopted Father and will give me the strength I need and protect me. I do not do it because the trends are a sin, and he will punish me. That difference is the point of this book because that is the difference Jesus made in our Abba Father’s plan.
Our Abba Father revealed what is to come in Revelation to help us put this life in perspective, not just show us the future. Lifting this life into his divine spirit world is our new perspective for living this season of life, and Revelation explains how we should live it. And we need a few clues to crack the code.
The persecution of believers was at its peak when Jesus gave Revelation and the book of John to the Apostle. Revelation 1:3, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
Simply reading the prophecy of the new earth in paradise is a blessing. But like all of our Abba Father’s blessings, it comes in a covenant, “and keep those things which are written in it . . “One of the great failings of ELB preaching is ignoring the covenant, our role, in the blessing. It also says, “the time is near.” Regardless of Jesus’ timetable for his return, our times are near now. Please pray on that. And please get this life in perspective.
The first perspective is Revelation 3:10, “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.” Again, I highlight the covenant, “Because you have kept My command.” You are not the first believer to miss Revelation 3:10; ELB preaching does not want it known. Revelation 3:10 talks about the great tribulation, but up to that point, we are still the enemy’s piñata.
The harder we resist living up to our end of his covenant, the more our Abba Father will let the enemy push us toward our redemption. Just because we do not experience the end times does not mean we are exempt from being similarly tested in our time. Please pray on that. Remember, the two constants from Genesis to Revelation are that our Abba Father never changes, and non-believers never change either (unless they change to believers). Hence, the world looks like the end times every day.
We still need to live into our real home in heaven. But saying these words is easy. If we truly believe, why do believers fear so much the move into our eternal mansion in heaven, our real home? Why do we try so hard in healing prayer to keep our loved ones from going to heaven? I leave that a question for the reader with the Holy Spirit. The relationship I see in the Scripture is personal in our Abba Father’s plan.
Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones.” His plan is for us to live with our Abba Father and his divine spirit family in paradise for eternity, and we, as believers, are a part of making that happen. And it starts right now! No believer should ever fear physical death when we embrace our spirit Family.
Jesus Throws Down
I am going to close this chapter with one last teaser. Matthew 16 places Jesus at Caesarea-Philippi, at the foot of Mt. Hermon near Capernaum in the north. Matthew 16:3, “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Matthew 16:16 is even more famous, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church (community), and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
History tells us King Og, the last giant, once ruled Mt. Hermon, called the “Mountain of Rebellious gods” because that is where the sons of God came down to mate with the earth women in Genesis 4:1-6. There is a huge rock face at the foot of Mt. Hermon with a cave entrance. The pagan god worshippers believed that the cave was literally the gates of the underworld, the gates of hell. To entice their god’s return each year, Caesarea Philippi’s people engaged in horrible deeds, including prostitution and sexual interaction between humans and animals.
Now look at “on this rock, I will build my church (community), and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Jesus is standing on the “gates of hell” rock face and throwing down right in the face of the evil in the world, and soon he will be on his journey to the cross in Jerusalem.
