My Life and Books (4) Times and Seasons

Reviewing numbers was a key role during my secular employment. I discovered that I have ability to spot patterns in numbers that other people often miss. Sometimes it would be a discrepancy. Other times, it would be a common pattern in data that seemed to be disconnected. This ability more than anything made me good at my work.

This ability translated over to my study of the scriptures. For the first twenty years after I chose to follow Jesus, I read the Old Testament through every year (two chapters and a Psalm a day gets it done). My mother had read from Egermeier's Bible Story Book when we were children, so I began with a good understanding of Biblical history. I read the New Testament as well.

During my reading, I discovered patterns that other people did not see. I saw important connections between the Old and the New Testaments. I began to understand that God was not working by trial and error, but had a plan to restore the world and his people, right from the moment when Adam and Eve messed things up by rejecting his wisdom. He is still working on that strategy.

Soon after I chose to follow Jesus, I read a book called The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsay. Everybody was into this book at that time. It explained that we were in the end-times and that world is stuffed. Jesus would return soon to rescue his people. This escape message was popular at that time (more time has proved it wrong).

I initially accepted the message of the book, but wanted to check it out against the scriptures. I was stunned when I did this, because when I examined them carefully, his teaching was just not there. He had wrenched a few verses out of their context, and turned them into a gloomy prophecy for the future, whereas the scriptures are full of hope.

I wanted an understanding of history and God’s plan for the future that was consistent with the broad and deep hope of the scriptures. So I studied the book of Revelation in detail and began looking for patterns. I searched out all the images in Revelation that described the same event and put them together to see how the account of God’s plan unfolded.

I also looked for patterns across the Old and New Testaments, and began to see how they all fitted together. I discovered that God has a plan and purpose for the earth that is far more wonderful than the doom and gloom of Hal Lindsay’s book.

I discovered that the next big event is not a secret rapture in which God takes all the believers out of the world, along with his Holy Spirit. (Why would he do that if he cared about his creation.)

I discovered that God plans to establish the fullness of his Kingdom here on earth as the Holy Spirit works through his people.

I discovered that the next big events in human history are the Jewish people coming to faith in Jesus and the collapse of big government. These events will come during a time of distress. These events are pivotal, because they will remove the last obstacles to the Kingdom of God coming in fullness.

I preached a series of sermons that outlined what I had learned to the church at Waikaka Valley. Again, one of the elders suggested that I put it together in a book, so more people could learn what I had discovered. After a couple of false starts, I put this material together in a book called Times and Seasons. It explains God’s plans for history and how they will climax in the fullness of his Kingdom.

Times and Seasons describes how human governments seize more and more power to deal with the economic and social crises that their mistakes have created. They will collapse under the weight of their pride and hubris, which will provide an opportunity for God’s people who are prepared. During a season of distress, they will work with the Holy Spirit to proclaim the gospel and bring in the Kingdom of God.

2020

Many people, secular and Christian, are making their predictions for 2020.

Maybe it is my age, but I don’t expect 2020 to be much different from 2019. For some people, depending on their circumstances, life will be better. For others, struck by tragedy, life will be much worse. For most people, life will carry on the same, unless they making radical changes.

Things usually don’t change that much from year to year. A blanket prediction that 2020 will be better than 2019 is unfair, because for some, life will be worse.

God does not change. The Holy Spirit is attempting to do the stuff that he has always has done. God does not wake up on the morning of 2020 and say, “I will do something different to surprise people”. What changes is how people respond to his activity and allow him to do more on earth.

If things on earth change, it is because people have changed, by moving towards God and his plan, or moving away. God is always omnipotent, but he has given authority on earth to the people that he created. So, if things have changed, his people must have changed by removing blockages and following him more intently.

Rather than trying to work out what the new decade will bring, I take a much longer-term perspective. I am interested in how the times and seasons, and epochal events that mark of God’s plan for history on earth.

The seasons change when God’s purpose for a season is complete. The Exodus occurred when the sins of the Amorites (Gen 15:16) were filled up (they had had sufficient time and mercy to confirm their path) and the Israelites in their Egyptian captivity (Exodus 2:24-25) cried out to God for help (they had changed) and Moses was ready (the right person was in place). The exile in Babylon ended when the 70 years that Jeremiah (Jer 29:10) had warned that they deserved were finished (the consequence of their actions were complete).

The season that we are currently living through is the Times of the Gentiles, because during this season the church is incomplete, as most of the Jews have not come to faith in him. The epochal events that mark the end of this season are a time of distress and the calling of the Jews (what Paul called the fulness of the Jews).

I believe that the world is moving toward a transition to the next seasons now. People who are alert should be looking for the signs that I am right (or wrong). The first signs occurred in about 1978.

Understanding the transition to the next season in God’s plan is much more important than thinking about the significance of the next decade. If I am correct, this is not a time for gloom and doom, but a time for excitement and preparedness, because the next season in God plan is the time of the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

When I ask God of a word for the season, I get the same word that I have been getting for 30 years. God’s people should be getting ready, so they can stand firm together and not be swept away, during a time when everything else is being shaken. They should be prepared for distress but equipped for victory.

Times and Seasons - Beautiful Kingdom

The Holy Spirit will bring in a beautiful Kingdom. He will work in the hearts of all people to convict them of sin and to testify to Jesus. He will draw all people to Jesus, causing them to be born again. The Holy Spirit will guide them into all truth and teach them how to live. As he produces the fruits of love, peace, patience, kindness and joy, people will begin to care for each other and provide everyone with what they need. Peace on earth will come and our groaning creation will be restored.

The Kingdom created by the Holy Spirit will be a voluntary kingdom. There is no need for force and coercion when the Holy Spirit is free to work (Zech 4:6).

Times and Seasons, p.97.

Times and Seasons - Truncated Church

John saw two witnesses, two olive trees and two lampstands (Rev 11:3-4). The lampstands and the witnesses represent the church. It is Jesus witness in the world. The olive trees represent the Holy Spirit. The odd thing in this vision is that there are only two lampstands. Earlier John had seen seven lamp-stands Rev 1:20). Seven represents perfection or completion. The perfected, completed church is represented by seven lampstands. A church with only two lampstands is a truncated church that cannot provide a complete witness to Jesus.

The church is truncated because the Jewish people are missing. A church without the chosen people is incomplete. With part of the team missing, the church is ineffective. This truncated church is active for 1260 day, which is the Times of the Gentiles. John is explaining that the church will not reach its full potential during the first half of its history, because the Jews are missing. That has been the story for the last two thousand years.

The two olive trees represent a constrained Holy Spirit. A perfectly free Holy Spirit would be represented by seven olive trees. During the season represented by the 1260 days, the Holy Spirit will be constrained by lack of faith in the church, and be unable to operate to his full potential. When this season ends, the Holy Spirit will be able to speak and act effectively on earth.

Times and Seasons, p.38.

Times and Seasons - Not What They Seem

John explained that things are not what they seem from the human perspective. The church of Sardis appeared to be strong, but in the spiritual realms, it is very weak (Rev 3:1).

Military empires may appear invincible to human eyes, but they have already been defeated in the spiritual realms.

A church that is being severely persecuted and is being decimated by political powers looks very different in the spiritual dimensions. To Christians involved in the struggle, the suffering feels intolerable and the gospel seems to be going backwards. In the spiritual realms, these Christians are a mighty army following Jesus to build his Kingdom.

The persecuted church may appear to be weak and helpless, but in the spiritual world, it is preparing to receive the Kingdom (Rev 2:26). When the church is struggling under persecution and the suffering seems intolerable, those who see into the spiritual dimensions will realise that they are close to victory over the forces of the world (Rev 19:14). John’s vision of the spiritual realms casts events on earth in a fresh light that gives Christians new hope.

Times and Seasons, p.18.

Times and Seasons

When I became a Christian, back in 1973, I studied the book of Acts and discovered the importance of the work of the Holy Spirit. I was baptised in the spirit and experience the working of his power. I also studied all the scriptures and discovered the greatness of God.

Later I read Hal Lindsay’s book The Late Great Planet Earth and other end-time teachers. Hal Lindsay had a big influence at the time. When I became a minister, I taught the same teaching, but after a while I became uneasy, because it seemed so negative. This did not fit with what I had learned earlier about the power of the Holy Spirit and the greatness of God. So I started studying the scriptures, to see if the Hal Lindsay’s teaching was correct.

I discovered that the end-time teachers play a clever trick. They take all the negative scriptures and apply them to the current age. They take all the positive scriptures and push them out to the millennium. This explains why their teaching for the current period is so negative. Then they line it up with the newspapers, and it seems plausible.

However, I could find no justification in the scriptures for splitting the scriptures in the way that they do. There is no reason why all the negative stuff goes into the current age. So I began to study the scriptures for a paradigm that made more sense. I discovered the rock and the mountain in Daniel, which suggested that there are two stages in the development of the Kingdom.

A turning point was reading a book called The Puritan Hope by Ian Murray. This was a history of a revival that took place in England and Scotland in the 17th century. It came out of Cambridge University and a group of Bible Teachers who were really skilled at the preaching the scriptures. So many people would turn up to hear them preach, that they would not fit in the buildings. They would preach for several days in a row. It was an inspiring story, but the interesting thing was that they believed that they should pray for the conversion of the Jews. From studying the scriptures, they believed that the promises of the gospel would not be completely fulfilled until the Jews were converted.

The importance of the calling of the Jews was a new insight for me. It led me to studying Romans 9-11. This opened up a new way of understanding the scriptures, because I realised that the key to the next stage of the Kingdom coming is not the Jesus returning, but the fullness of Jews. I then went to Revelation and I found that this approach made sense of that book too. It changed my perspective on Jesus Big Prophecy too.

I then spent about ten years studying all the scripture and building up an understanding of how they all fit together. My book Times and Seasons is the result of that work.

Things to Let Go

To understand God’s plans for history, three passages of scripture that Christians cling to must be taken of the mix, because they have already been fulfilled. Applying them to the future causes confusion.

1. Jesus Big Prophecy (Matt 24:3-35, Mark 13:3-31; Luke 21:5-33)
   This prophecy was fulfilled within the lifetime of those who heard Jesus speak.
   

   Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened (Matt 24:34).

   Jesus statement is very clear. This passage was fulfilled in AD 70, so it should not be used to explain the future (see Jesus Big Prophecy for more).

2. The Seventy Weeks of Daniel (Dan 9:20-27)
   Daniel’s was praying for the end of the exile in Babylon. The angel told him what would happen in the next 490 years.
   

   Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people (Dan 9:24).

   These 490 years ended at the time of Jesus, so Daniel’s prophecy has been fulfilled. Some Christians insert a gap before the last week, but there is no biblical justification for this practice. Assuming that part of this vision still has to be fulfilled will produce confusion (see Seventy Sevens for more).

3. The Woman and the Dragon (Revelation 12)
   The book of Revelation covers all of New Testament. The birth and resurrection of Jesus are described in the vision of the Woman and the Dragon.
   

   And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne (Rev 12:5).

   The vision ends with Israel being scattered among the nations by the Roman Empire. Christians have confused themselves by applying this passage to the future (see Woman and the Dragon).

These passages are favourites of Christians who want to understand the future. They have been fulfilled, so it is time to let them go. We will not lose anything by doing this, as there are plenty of other passages that have not been fulfilled. Those who want to understand God’s plan for history should focus on these.

As long as Christians keep trying to push these three scriptures that have been fulfilled into the future, but ignore other like Daniel 11 that are for more relevant, confusion is bound to continue.

I explain this issue more in Times and Seasons.

The Mystery

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul often speaks about the “mystery” that has been kept hidden in past ages.

Paul explains the mystery in Ephesians 3:6. Jews and the Gentiles will be heirs together and members of one body to share the promises of Jesus. Paul had already explained that the Gentiles had been aliens, shut out of God’s people and God’s household (Eph 2:19), but Jesus broke down the barrier and the dividing wall (Eph 2:14,16). His purpose was to create peace and make one new man of the two (Eph 2:15). The two are being built together to become a building in which God can live by the Spirit (Eph 2:22).

This is the mystery. God’s plan for the future is to join Jews and Gentiles into one body in which all the fullness of the Spirit can dwell. It has two important implications.

1. Christian infatuation with the state of Israel is misguided. The mystery is not Israel living in a separate nation ruled by a secular government (or and ultra-orthodox government) shut off from the church and the gospel.

2. The body of Christ cannot be complete until the children of Israel are fully part of it. A Gentile church is a truncated church that cannot be a dwelling place for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The next big even in human history is the fullness of Israel, when huge numbers of Jews come to faith in Jesus and are grafted into his body. That is the mystery of God that got Paul excited. It is what Christians should be praying and working for. My book called Times and Seasons explains how this will happen.

Not by Might

Christians love to sing the following chorus, because it is based on the scripture (Zech 4:6)

Not by might,
Not by power,
but by my Spirit says the Lord.

Strangely enough, many who sing this song believe that Jesus will establish the Kingdom by might and power.

Jesus refused to use force, even though he could have called on his Father to send a whole host of angels to his aid (Matt 26:52,53). His Kingdom is not to be established by the sword. Jesus knew that true converts cannot be won by force. God’s better way is to win the hearts of men through the inner work of the Holy Spirit, as the church proclaims the gospel.

The Kingdom of God will be established by the Spirit, not by might and not by force. In Times and Seasons, I explain how this will happen.

Singing what you do not believe is a dangerous game.

Free Review Copy

I have a free review copy of my book Times and Seasons to give a way to someone willing to write a review.

If you are interested in writing a review, add a comment to this post with your email address and an indication of where you will publish the review. I will intervene in the moderation process to ensure your details do not go public.

If you do not get a reply do not feel bad, as you have been squeezed out by the reviewer at the New York Times or the London Review of Books. :-)

Pre and Post are Toast

People ask if my approach in Times and Seasons is pre-millenial, amillenial, or post-millenial. My answer is that none of these labels describe my teaching, because each of these approaches is wrong.

The problem is that most millennial teaching is a false doctrine with no basis in the scriptures. The single reference to “one thousand years” in Revelation 20:4 is symbolic and not literal. It describes the outcome of the cross, not a future event. The millennium that many Christians believe in is a cut-down distorted version of the kingdom of God.

Creating categories of eschatology by putting a prefix on a false doctrine leads to nonsense. I refuse to buy in to these ridiculous concepts.

The same applies to pre-trib, mid-trib and post-trib. The seven-year tribulation taught in many churches is a distortion of the scriptures. Tribulation is a normal experience for Christians at all times, not a season in God’s plan. Categories that put a prefix on a false doctrines lead to nonsense.

Not Preterist

Interpretations of the apocalyptic books of the Bible have been divided into two approaches.

1. The preterist approach says that all the prophetic passages were fulfilled in the first century through the rise of the church and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

2. The futurist approach suggests that all the prophetic scriptures will be fulfilled in the future.

All labels are destructive, but these two are particularly stupid, because they whack the scriptures up with an axe to get them into a single box.

My analysis of the Last Days in my book Times and Seasons is neither preterist nor futurist.

The Destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 was a spiritually significant event, so it had to be prophesied. However, it was not the last significant spiritual event in history, so it is logical that many subsequent events would also be prophesied. Pushing all the prophetic scriptures back to the first century is foolish.

On the other hand, pushing them all into the future is equally unwise. If Peter described an event as happening before his eyes (Acts 2:16-17) it would be unwise claim it will happen in the future. If Jesus says an event will be experienced by the generation listening to him (Matt 24:34) we should be careful about twisting his words to shift them into the future.

A common sense approach allows the scriptures to speak as they were written. Some will be fulfilled already and others await fulfilment in the future. Context and comparison will explain when they apply.

The Kingdom of God

Christians all over the world are developing a new interest in the Kingdom of God. For many it is just and adjective that is tacked onto the front of what they are already doing, in much the same way that the words ”prophetic” and “apostolic” were used in the past. The church has gone from “prophetic leadership”, to “apostolic leadership”, to “kingdom leadership” in less than twenty years. However, turning the kingdom into an adjective trivialises the kingdom. We must really let the concept shape our thinking.

I maintain this truth: If Christians get really serious about pursing the Kingdom of God, they will eventually have to amend their eschatology (teaching about the end of history). Most just try to make the Kingdom of God fit with the conventional end-times teaching. This just will not work.

I gave up in it twenty years ago, when I realest that Jesus teaching about the Kingdom of God was clear, whereas most end-time teaching is based on snippets of scripture from here and there. I decided that if I put the Kingdom of God first, everything else would be given to me, including my understanding of God’s purpose for history. Looking at the New Testament, using the Kingdom of God as the interpretive principles gave me a complete different understanding of God’s plan for human history. This is outlined in my new book called Times and Seasons. It is very different from the standing teaching, but it does do justice to the Kingdom of God.

New Book Available

My latest book is now available.

Many Christians believe that we are getting close to the second coming of Jesus and that that the end of the world is near. They are right to think that we are getting close to a change of season, but because they do not understand the times and seasons, they are looking for the wrong events. The problem is that popular teaching about the last days, a seven-year tribulation, a rapture and millennium has led to confusion about times and season. The timetables produced by the end-time teachers have been wrong again and again.

This new book takes a different approach. It begins with the ministry of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit and ends with the glory of the Kingdom of God. The key seasons and the epochal events that mark the change from each season to the next are clearly described. The key themes covered in the book are:

• God is not in a hurry, but will take as long as he needs to establish the glory of his Kingdom.

• We are not as close to the end of the world as many Christians believe

• Jesus death, resurrection and ascension completed his work on earth. He has accomplished everything necessary for the establishment of his kingdom.

• Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to establish his Kingdom. The Holy Spirit is the Kingdom Builder.

• During the Times of the Gentiles, the Holy Spirit has been constrained.

• The Times of the Gentiles are coming to an end and a new season is close.

• The transition to the next season will be a Time of Distress as human political power rises to a crescendo.

• The next big event is the Fullness of Israel.

• The Jewish people will come to salvation during a time of trouble when the Holy Spirit opens their eyes to understand that Jesus is their messiah.

• The Fullness of Israel brings great blessing to the world.

• The gospel will advance with great freedom and power

• The Holy Spirit will be freed to bring in the Kingdom of God

• Human governments and empires will collapse and fade away.

• The Kingdom of God is established through the suffering and service of the church.

• God may enjoy the fullness of his kingdom for a very long season. Billions of people will come to faith in Jesus.

• Jesus appears when God’s purposes on earth are complete and the full number has come in to the Kingdom.

• The people who have learned to serve Jesus will work with God as he pushes out to fill the entire universe with his wonderful worlds and kingdoms.

To purchase a copy from Amazon click on one of the buttons on the side bar. The righthand button is the Kindle Version.

People who live in New Zealand can purchase directly from Kingwatch Books using C20 to get quicker delivery.

Nearly Here

Last Tuesday, they were in North Charleston, SC. Wednesday they were at Franlin Park, IL. On Thursday they were at Cincinnati, OH. The left Los Angelos, CA on Saturday. The skipped Sunday by crossing the International dateline to avoid having to rest and arrived in Auckland, NZ on Monday. Hopefully, they will arrive in Christchurch tomorrow.

No. Not migratory birds, but due to the wonders of modern logistics, the first copies of my new book called Times and Seasons. Not quite on Time, but ripe for the next Season.

Times and Seasons

The proof copy of my latest book arrived this morning. Very exciting to see it taking shape.

The rest of the week involve serious checking. I hate checking, but it is a task that has to be done.

The finished book should be available on Amazon by the end of the month. A Kindle version will be available at the same time.