Welcome to Episode #181 of the Way of the Bible podcast. This is our fifth of eight episodes in our Twenty-Third mini-series entitled The Return of Jesus Christ [2]. On today’s episode, we’re going to tie some Old Testament passages from Daniel in with the book of Revelation in regard to the Times of the Gentiles. When the fullness of the Gentiles comes into the kingdom, global events will occur, preparing the way for the return of Jesus Christ to judge the world in righteousness on the Day of the Lord [5].
A few short comments before we jump right into the topic for today. This particular topic, The Day of the Lord, now in our second mini-series episodes, is overwhelming in content as it is the focus of the entire Bible. The Bible starts with Genesis 1:1-2 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. The Bible ends with Revelation 21:1, 5a – Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. …5a He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” And finally, Revelation 22:12-13 – “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
The point being, where we find ourselves now is not the end of the story. We exist at some point between the beginning and the end of this creation of the heavens and the earth. The cosmos in which we were born into has been subjected to corruption and decay by the one who subjected it until the sons of God are revealed. Meaning disease, loss of mental acuity, injuries, etc., and finally death of the body await us all. This has been the common experience of all mankind globally since Adam and Eve were returned to the earth following Adam’s expulsion from the garden of Eden. In addition, the world is under the control of the evil one until the Day of the Lord. Meaning all mankind is enslaved to the devil to do his will because of our fear of death. Our only means of being set free from the devil’s grasp is through faith in Jesus Christ, who purchased us with his own blood.
God has already prepared and sees the end of this creation, it’s passing away, and his dwelling into eternity with humanity redeemed by the lamb of God, in a new heaven and new earth created just for that purpose. Where there will only be knowledge of good and where righteousness will dwell. The knowledge of evil will not be part of this new creation. It will be eternally bound in the mind of the Father and the consequential witnesses of evil from this first creation, kept in torment in the eternal lake of fire.
I know that’s a lot to start with. But it get’s even deeper. I want you to think for a moment of what the reality we exist in right now consists of; Space-time materialism. This is where your brain can quickly become fried and so we won’t stay here long. In space-time materialism, God has recorded through the prophets of the Old and New Testaments his relationship, interactions, and purposeful interventions in the activities of mankind. God is the one who did all the creating and maintaining of his creation. God is the one who endowed mankind with wisdom and the ability to communicate verbally and in writing. God is the one who purposed languages and even determined in advance the language letters to be used in each nation that put in writing both words and numbers to prophetically communicate to humanity what has been, what is, and what is to come.
The Bible is not merely a collection of old writings. It is the very words of God from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. These are not static flat letters on a page, but living words of power, revelation, insight, and filled with
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