Category Archives: Bible Study

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Amir Tsarfati Speaking in the US on Sunday

Ok Bible students, you have another opportunity to hear good, solid Bible teaching from Amir Tsarfati.  He will teach his new lesson on 70 Weeks of Daniel, helping us understand the crucial prophecy regarding Jesus’ first coming and His Second Coming, and the timing of those events.  God laid it out for the prophet Daniel who recorded it for us!

If you are in the Euless TX area (just southwest of DFW airport), consider going to hear Amir’s teaching live.  He will be at First Euless Church at 11:00am (Central).  (For more information click here.)  There is a “Watch Live” button on FEC’s website, so I suspect it will be live streamed.  If not, there are plans to record it, so look for it on that website, or on Amir Tsarfati’s YouTube channel.

Plug in, my friends!  It is important to know and understand the times in which we live, in light of Scripture.  You will get that in Amir’s teaching.  Enjoy!

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Longing for Zion

Image result for psalm 84:1

Oh, the Lord’s timing is incredible!  I want to extend our brief study on the City of David one more day because, literally, just yesterday I received an email from ICEJ containing a recent article regarding the longing for Zion.

If you have followed the past two days, you know that Zion is another name for the City of David.  You also know that ancient Jerusalem was not within today’s Old City, but was actually down the hill to the south.  Ancient Jerusalem was the City of David and the people longed to be in the courts of the Lord!

That feeds right into the article I want to share today!  Take two minutes to discover the Jubilee Years God has used to cause Jerusalem to rise, and why Jewish people throughout history have longed for Jerusalem!

Longing for Zion

One final note:  “Jerusalem” in English is “Yerushalayim” in Hebrew.  When you see a Hebrew word ending in “-im,” you know it is plural.  So, what can we draw from that?  Are there two Jerusalems…one in the City of David and one in the current Old City?  Yes…and no!  Indeed, there are two Jerusalems, but I don’t believe the plurality refers to ancient Jerusalem and modern-day Jerusalem.

I believe it refers to the earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly Jerusalem!  Revelation 21:1-2 describes a new heaven and a new earth, and the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  That city is being prepared for those of us who will spend eternity with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

A new Jerusalem…a new Zion!  I long for Zion, too.  Don’t you?

Have a blessed Lord’s Day!

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Where is Jerusalem?

Awake, awake,
    put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
    O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for there shall no more come into you
    the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
    be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
    O captive daughter of Zion.
~Isaiah 52:1-2

Welcome back friends!  I am really excited today as I’ve spent the past few days studying about the City of David, and what Scripture tells us about that city in the last days.  (I’ve also found some cool resources!)  Isaiah 52:1-2 (above) serves as a foundation today, and will come alive tomorrow in part 2 of this mini-series!

Ok Bible students, are you ready for some action?  Pull out your Bibles (or just use the links I provide).  Be sure to look up the verses or you won’t be able to follow along well!

According to 2 Samuel 5:7 or 1 Chronicles 11:5, what is another name for Zion?

You remember David, right?  The Psalmist, the man after God’s own heart, Israel’s most beloved king.  Where did he rule from? (Hint: read Psalm 132.  David ruled from the place the Lord chose to dwell.)

Now it gets interesting!  Look up 2 Samuel 20:3.  Where did David live?  But wait…I thought he lived and ruled from the City of David.  What’s going on here?  (We will get there.  Stick with me!)

Scripture teaches us that David wanted to build the Lord a Temple, but he was not allowed.  Find out why, and who ultimately did build the Temple, in 1 Chronicles 22:7-8.

After completion of the Temple, what happened, according to 1 Kings 8:1 and 2 Chronicles 5:2?  Now, notice two key words in both of those verses:  “bring up.”

You see, the Israelites brought the ark of the covenant UP from Zion (City of David) to the Temple!  We know that the Temple is in what is known today as the Old City of Jerusalem.  In fact, here is a model city of Jerusalem during Jesus’ time (well after David’s time):

Model City, looking north

Keep your focus within the fenced in part of the picture above.  (This model city is at the Israel Museum, so the actual building you see in the background is the entrance to this exhibit.)  Temple Mount is the large structure to the right side of the picture.

Temple Mount, and the Temple Solomon built, were on a hill, and the ark of the covenant was indeed moved UP from the City of David (Zion).  Remember, this model city is from Jesus’ day, so back in David’s day, it did not extend very far to the west (left, in this picture).  So, can you guess where the City of David was?  If you said in the lower right-hand quadrant of the picture, you are correct!

But here is where we solve the mystery.  Today’s walls of the Old City are up the hill.  In fact, this picture is looking north toward Temple Mount and the southern wall of Temple Mount today is the southern wall of the Old City, and it extends to the west (left).  But in David’s day, the lower City of David WAS Jerusalem!  No city existed on the hill when Solomon built the Temple.  Jerusalem (also known as Zion and the City of David) were all the same place, yet today we think of Jerusalem as the Old City, up the hill, within the current walls.

What’s the point of today’s study?  Ahhhh….so glad you asked!  I am setting you up for tomorrow!  You see, there is tremendous significance to the discovery of the City of David in 1867…but you’ll have to come back tomorrow for that!

Meanwhile, consider Isaiah 52:1-2 (above).  When it speaks of Jerusalem, now you know to where the prophet Isaiah is referring!  Tomorrow you will understand the significance!

See you then!

 

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Foreshadowing of the Antichrist

Current events through the lens of Scripture…that has been our objective over the past couple days.  Today, I want to fling the curtain back and ask a striking question:

Are we seeing the groundwork being laid for the appearing of the antichrist?

Now, don’t read more into that question than what it says.  I am not implying that I know (or think I know) who the antichrist is.  Could the antichrist be alive today,?  Possibly, but not necessarily.  If you are a Christian, don’t waste time looking for the antichrist!  Why?  Because we won’t be here when he is revealed!

The first 10 verses of 2 Thessalonians 2 describe the man of lawlessness who will come to do Satan’s bidding.  That is the antichrist.  But that passage talks about “he who now restrains” the man of lawlessness (verse 7), who is none other than the Holy Spirit who lives within us (Christians) (Romans 8:9-16, 1 Corinthians 3:16).  At the rapture, when we are taken up into heaven to be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18), the Holy Spirit…the restrainer…will be gone from this earth, and the man of lawlessness will be free to move at Satan’s command!

The Bible also teaches us that the spirit of the antichrist is already at work in our world (1 John 4:2-3), and has been since the Garden of Eden.  So, the spirit of the antichrist is alive and active, and moving in our world today.  No question.  But is the stage being set for THE antichrist?

We’ve laid Biblical foundation, now let’s go to the news!

Following visits to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican, President Trump headed to NATO and G7 summits, where he most certainly did not win any popularity contests!  In fact, most European leaders have a strong dislike for President Trump.  Why?  Many reasons, but the one we’ll focus on today is the fact that Donald Trump is anything but a globalist!  While Europe is fighting for open borders, a European Union and One World Order, President Trump campaigned (and seems to be living up to) “America First!”

Now, let’s be careful, lest we get “too big for our britches!”  The point is not that America is the end all and should isolate itself from all other nations.  Rather, America needs to be America.  We need to put the best interests of the country ahead of personal or political gain, and we need to be strong and united.  (That seems to be Trump’s message.)  Most importantly, just as Scripture teaches us to be independent when it comes to taking responsibility for ourselves, interdependent when it comes to caring for one another, and dependent upon our Creator God alone, so our nation (and the world) would do well to cling to those Biblical principles.

But we see the opposite happening in Europe.  Elite businessmen and bankers put leaders such as new French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in power.  These two, and others like them, are pushing a One World Order, a system that will make the powerful even more powerful, and will pave the path for the antichrist.  Even the Pope is a player in this game, trying to ignite One World Religion.  (“We all worship the same God, so let’s all just be tolerant and get along!”)

And where is this leading?  Despite outlandish terror pouring through every opening, Europe continues to clamor for open borders.  “Tolerance” has allowed Islam to splash jihadist belief across all of Europe.  And believe it or not, at the G7 summit, the key issue was not terrorism or how to deal with worldwide nuclear escalation.  The key issue was climate change!  (BTW, climate change is the calling card of One World Order, as it sets the stage for “global cooperation.”  Mark my words…this whole agenda will grow bigger and bigger, and the US will become more and more isolated as European leaders and One World Order proponents bypass President Trump and go straight to large American corporations and liberal state and local leaders.)

Around the time President Trump was addressing the nonsense at the G7 summit, becoming more shunned by the Europeans (at times, because of his own rudeness), and being hammered by the American press, former President Obama made a speech in Germany (at the side of Angela Merkel) in which he said:

“If there’s conflict, if there’s bad governance, if there’s war, if there’s poverty, in this new world that we live in we can’t isolate ourselves. We can’t hide behind a wall.”

The statement was a slightly veiled stab at Trump’s policy to build a wall at America’s southern border.  However, building that wall would not be a wall to “hide behind,” but would be intended as a wall of protection against terror capable of entering our country with ease right now.  We don’t need “open borders” in America that invite terrorists to come in and set up shop.  We need a way to properly vet who comes and who goes, without the opportunity to pour across without that vetting.

Furthermore, when Obama refers to the “new world that we live in,” it has the marks of One World Order.  “Let’s not build walls anywhere, let’s just be one big happy family.  Everyone is welcome…. ” Like they are in Europe, Mr President?

Here is my point: the spirit of the antichrist is alive.  (No, I am NOT saying Obama is the antichrist.)  Europe is becoming very fertile soil for the antichrist, and Bible prophecy indicates that the antichrist will arise from a revived Roman empire.  If Europe is “one big happy family” with no borders (as the European Union is attempting to be), then Europe as a whole is certainly positioned to become that revived Roman empire.

There are lots of tentacles in this post.  Lots of theology to examine, and I encourage you to do so.  I’ve only scratched the surface, but have given you links to teachings that will help solidify what the Bible has to say about the antichrist, One World Order, One World Religion and, in general, the days in which we live.  Please make use of them!  Don’t be fooled…the Bible has much to say about end times, and we are watching end time prophecies come to pass right before our very eyes!

The Bible tells us to be prepared.  One way in which we prepare is to study to know and understand the season in which we live.  I pray you will take some time this weekend to do just that!  I plan to do likewise!

Blessings my friends…and keep looking for the Blessed Hope (the return of our Lord Jesus!)