volume 13, number 3 - pdf.cgg.org rizal 1860 philippines 3 personal from john w. ritenbaugh the...

Forerunner · March-April 20042

Forerunner Forerunner Forerunner Forerunner Forerunner MagazineMagazineMagazineMagazineMagazineEditor-in-ChiefJOHN W. RITENBAUGH

Managing EditorRICHARD T. RITENBAUGH

Associate EditorMARTIN G. COLLINS

News EditorDAVID C. GRABBE

Graphics and Layout EditorKRISTEN M. COLLINS

MarMarMarMarMarch-April 2004 ch-April 2004 ch-April 2004 ch-April 2004 ch-April 2004 ContentsContentsContentsContentsContentsVolume 13, Number 3Volume 13, Number 3Volume 13, Number 3Volume 13, Number 3Volume 13, Number 3

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About About About About About Our CoverOur CoverOur CoverOur CoverOur Cover

God promises Abraham inGenesis 22:17, “I willmultiply your descendentsas the stars of the heavenand as the sand which ison the seashore. . . .”This promise was certainlynot fulfilled to any greatextent in ancient Israel.So where are the multitudesof Israel today?CorbisCorbisCorbisCorbisCorbis

No. 13 Mt. DahoAmityville

Rodriquez, Rizal 1860PHILIPPINES

3 PERSONAL FROM JOHN W. RITENBAUGHThe Beast and Babylon (Part One)The Beast and Babylon (Part One)The Beast and Babylon (Part One)The Beast and Babylon (Part One)The Beast and Babylon (Part One)

8 Jesus’ FJesus’ FJesus’ FJesus’ FJesus’ Final Human Thoughts (Part Tinal Human Thoughts (Part Tinal Human Thoughts (Part Tinal Human Thoughts (Part Tinal Human Thoughts (Part Twwwwwo)o)o)o)o)—John Plunkett

11 A READY ANSWER:ArArArArAre We We We We We Opening the Door?e Opening the Door?e Opening the Door?e Opening the Door?e Opening the Door?

—Pat Higgins

12 PROPHECY WATCH:The Four Horsemen (Part One):The Four Horsemen (Part One):The Four Horsemen (Part One):The Four Horsemen (Part One):The Four Horsemen (Part One):In the Saddle?In the Saddle?In the Saddle?In the Saddle?In the Saddle?

—Richard T. Ritenbaugh

16 Searching for Israel (Part One):Searching for Israel (Part One):Searching for Israel (Part One):Searching for Israel (Part One):Searching for Israel (Part One):The Promises to the FaithfulThe Promises to the FaithfulThe Promises to the FaithfulThe Promises to the FaithfulThe Promises to the Faithful

—Charles Whitaker

23 WORLD WATCH—David C. Grabbe

24 BIBLE STUDYThe Parables of Luke 15 (Part One)The Parables of Luke 15 (Part One)The Parables of Luke 15 (Part One)The Parables of Luke 15 (Part One)The Parables of Luke 15 (Part One)

—Martin G. Collins

3Forerunner · March-April 2004

MMMMM

P E R S O N A LP E R S O N A LP E R S O N A LP E R S O N A LP E R S O N A L ➤ from John W. Ritenbaugh

Matthew 24:32-44 contains a number of importantinstructions every disciple of Jesus Christ needs toconsider deeply because his salvation may begreatly enhanced by doggedly following it. First,His instruction is not given to the general public butdirectly to His disciples, so He intends it specificallyfor us. Second, He specifically says we should knowfrom signs He gave that His return is near, thus theresponsibility is directly on us. Third, He emphasizesthe element of terrifying surprise: The world willbe taken completely by surprise, but we should not.Fourth, His overall instruction is that by being alertto the signs and taking advantage of them, weshould be ready.

Are we getting anxious about Christ’s return? Weshould not be anxious in terms of being fearful buthopefully and expectantly anticipating it occurring.News reports are getting so alarming that one won-ders whether things can get much worse, and the dailypressures of enduring life’s sin-sick, wearying cultureare mounting. There may also be a measure of

concern because it seems to be taking so long to cometo pass. We are certainly in the “time of the end,” yetpersonally, I have been waiting for this to occur since1959.

Part of our anticipation exists because we have hadit drilled into our minds “to watch” for certain eventsto happen. Sometimes it looks as though prophesiedevents indeed are being fulfilled. Currently, though,some of the more important events we have beentrained to watch for are just not happening. If they are,they are being worked out in a way we are unpreparedfor and thus do not see. Jesus meant His admonitionto “watch” in the sense of a soldier on guard dutybeing alert to what is occurring around him, and so wewatch. But what if our point of view, the perspectivefrom which we watch, is incorrect?

We might be alertly, diligently, and sincerely watch-ing but at best getting only a part of the picture. It islike a soldier on guard duty, alert but looking in thewrong direction, and the enemy sneaks up from a blindspot and surprises him.

This series will suggest the possibility of a differentpoint of view on Revelation 17 and 18, especially thewoman riding the Beast. First, though, what about theBeast itself? Over my entire 44 years in the church, Ihave been taught repeatedly that we should look for

the Beast to rise in Europe, but where is it? Perhaps mostdeceiving of all is that Europe is not acting much likethe Beast of Revelation 13. Does not verse 4 say, “Whois able to make war with [the Beast]?” This exclamationpaints a picture of an awesome, war-making power.

Europe Is Not Coming Together

Part One


P E R S O N A L P E R S O N A L P E R S O N A L P E R S O N A L P E R S O N A L ➤

Europe is not coming together in the way we antici-pated; it is not becoming the colossus we expected tosee arise. In reality, Europe is disunited and at timesseems flat on its back politically, economically, andmilitarily. News articles from recent months clearly andspecifically illustrate Europe’s present condition, andthese will help lay a foundation for understandingwhat professional journalists observe is happening—ornot happening—in Europe.

An article by Washington Post columnist AnneApplebaum appeared on February 2, 2003:

If [Defense Secretary] Donald Rumsfeld hadbeen deliberately searching for a way to simul-taneously irritate the leadership of Europe’stwo largest countries, expose their deepest na-tional insecurities and undermine the entire Eu-ropean Union political project, which has longrevolved around a “Franco-German axis,” he couldn’thave found a better wayto put it [than to call Ger-many and France “Old Eu-rope”]. He was also, as ithappens, correct, possiblymore correct than heknows. Although all con-cerned vociferously denyit, Europe is indeed begin-ning to divide—slowly, un-evenly but perceptibly—into two very distinct camps.

Even though Europe plans to unite well beyond theprophesied ten nations (to twenty-five nations by 2004),the attempt to unify and the laws being enacted to makestandards uniform are producing the opposite effect.Europe is in fact declining in many areas important tobecoming a superpower, which is what the Bible showsthe world-dominating Beast to be.

Here is another series of comments taken fromPrudentBear.com. They appeared in an article byMarshall Auerback titled International Perspective,on January 28, 2003. Mr. Auerback is British.

Disagreements over farm policy, Zimbabwe and,now Iraq: the aspiration for a common Europeandefense and foreign policy today looks as futileas Don Quixote charging at windmills. Does this

division have implications for a common Europeaneconomic policy as well, notably in regard toBritain’s future membership in Europe’s eco-nomic and monetary union (EMU)? . . .

Aside from the obvious question of what thisgrowing divide means in regard to future policyin Iraq, this split between the UK on the onehand, and France and Germany on the other,reflect broader political, economic and philosophicdivergences between the two blocs—betweenAnglo-American neo-liberalism and continentalEurope’s “social market model. . . .

Donald Rumsfeld’s comments about Germanyand France representing “Old Europe” mighthave struck a nerve in Berlin and Paris, but hisobservation that Europe’s political (and, indeed,

economic) center of gravityhas moved eastward is un-assailable. Even France’sLe Monde conceded asmuch: “It is perhaps un-pleasant to hear it, but forthe moment it is unavoid-able; the countries of EastEurope are massively in-clined to follow automati-cally American leadershipin defense and foreignpolicy.” The violent reac-

tion of the French political class in particular mightsay more about that nation’s delicate nationalpsyche than anything else. But whether by ac-cident or design both France and Germany havenow been put on notice that their opinions mat-ter less and less in the real world, and that theirability to control the leadership of Europe is alsoin decline.

Things pertaining to prophecy are happening in Eu-rope, but they are not going in the direction or atanywhere near the speed we expected because of whatwe were taught. Yet, what if portions of the Beast thatwill affect its end-time configuration are arising else-where? What if nations important to the fulfilling ofcertain prophecies connected to the Beast have alreadyrisen and are exercising their power—and we are notlooking in the right direction?

European WeaknessAnother article, much longer and far more detailedthan the usual newspaper or news magazine column,

deals with areas that any nation deemed to be aninfluential world power would consider vital. It reveals

“It is perhaps unpleasant to hear it,but for the moment it is unavoidable;

the countries of East Europeare massively inclined to follow

automatically American leadershipin defense and foreign policy.”

—Le Monde


The Beast and BabylonThe Beast and BabylonThe Beast and BabylonThe Beast and BabylonThe Beast and Babylon

major weaknesses in Europe’s economic, military,and demographic makeup as compared to the UnitedStates, leading the reader to understand that, at thistime, Europe is not an entity nations need to fearoffending, as they might fear the Beast pictured inRevelation 13.

The following excerpts come from an article, “Oldand In the Way,” by Karl Zinsmeister, which waspublished in the December 2002 issue of The AmericanEnterprise. The title is interesting because the articlewas written long before Donald Rumsfeld made hisnow-famous “Old Europe” statement. Zinsmeister,editor-in-chief of The American Enterprise, wasasked by the State Department to present an overviewof American culture at a conference in Warsaw, Poland,in April 2002. Once there, he found he was the loneAmerican representative.

His report is a summary and a response to thecontinuous and vile America-bashing that occurredthroughout the meeting, which reflected what is goingon frequently—and intensifying—among the Europeanpublic. The word “growing”is important to the thrust ofhis article, in which he con-tends that, while the U.S. isstill growing in areas impor-tant to national greatness,Europe is declining and di-vided despite what it may looklike on a map:

This simple reality needsto be faced squarely byAmericans: In a great va-riety of areas—foreign policy, demography, re-ligion, economics—Americans and Europeansare growing apart. While the September 11attacks deepened American sobriety, patrioticfeeling, and national resolution, in Europe theymerely created one more flashpoint for division.European elites, already worried they won’t beable to keep up with America over the nextgeneration, are now approaching panic as theU.S. coalesces, during its September 11 recov-ery, into an even steelier and more determinedcolossus. . . .

Some Europeans complain that the U.S. is more andmore heading off on its own without them. They areright. America’s psychic link with Europe, I suggest,is fading extremely rapidly. . . .

Since the end of the Cold War Americans have feltmuch less intertwined with Europeans, and at leastas interested in China, Mexico, India, and the

Middle East as we are in Europe. . . .

If enough of these divergences accumulate, how-ever, America may eventually be forced to con-clude that, as economist Irwin Stelzer has put it,many European nations “are ceasing, or may havealready ceased, to be our friends.”

The U.S. will never be hostile to Europe; there aretoo many links of kinship and shared purpose forthat. But neither do I expect the U.S. will haveespecially warm relations with the E.U. 15 or 20years hence. . . .

It isn’t just differing policies that are splitting theE.U. from the U.S. It is also sheer competition.The very idea of forming a united states [sic] ofEurope comes in large measure from a desire tokeep up with America. Today, “much of the psy-chological drive for Euro-nationalism is providedby anti-Americanism,” notes John O’Sullivan. . . .

During his term as presi-dent of the EuropeanUnion, the prime ministerof Sweden Goran Perssoninsisted that functioning“as a balance to U.S. domi-nation” was Europe’s mostimportant role. The viewof many European leadersis that “whatever dimin-ishes the stature of theUnited States is of benefitto Europe,” states Jeffrey

Gedmin. . . . Many of the economic choices,cultural initiative, and foreign policy decisions be-ing [made] in Europe today are animated by simplecompetitive envy. . . .

“It would be a misreading of Europe’s politicalelites to see anti-American complaints as isolatedgripes which can be overcome, one by one, throughpatient dialogue,” warned Michael Gove, a percep-tive editorialist for London’s Times, when I visitedhis office. “Europe,” he said, “is not begging todiffer in particulars, but beginning to diverge infundamentals.”

The philosophical differences between Europe andthe U.S. are reflected and magnified in threecritical structural breaks: 1) Europe has surren-dered much of its economic dynamism. 2) Europehas lost its stomach for military action, substitutingan exaggerated confidence in diplomacy. And, 3)Europe is on a path to population collapse.

“The U.S. will never be hostile to Europe;there are too many links of kinship

and shared purpose for that.But neither do I expect the U.S. will have

especially warm relation with the E.U.15 or 20 years hence.”

—Karl Zinsmeister



Economic ComparisonsIt may help to compare the following from Zinsmeisterwith Revelation 18.

We have conventionally thought of Europe ashaving about the same standard of living as Ameri-cans. This is less and less true. For the EuropeanUnion as a whole, GDP per capita is presentlyless than two-thirds of U.S. levels. America’spoorest sub-groups, like African-Americans, nowhave higher average income levels than the typicalEuropean.

What’s behind this? For one thing, Americanswork harder: 72 percent of the U.S. population is atwork, compared to only 58percent in the E.U. Ameri-can workers also put in morehours. And U.S. workersare more productive—anE.U. worker currently pro-duces 73 cents’ worth ofoutput in the same period oftime a U.S. worker createsa dollar’s worth.

Strongly reinforcing this isa February 16, 2003, Atlantic Monthly article by TedHalstead. He writes, “American parents have the leastamount of free time to spend with their children; indeed,the average American works nine weeks more eachyear than the average European.”

Zinsmeister continues:

The locomotive of Europe is the German economy,which has been in a serious mess for more than adecade. Germany’s annual growth rate over thepast ten years has been a limp 1.4 percent. Amongthe major industrial nations, only Japan (a truebasket case) has done worse. The German labormarket has become one of the most inflexibleand uncompetitive in the world, which is whyunemployment has been stuck at 9-10 percent[now 11 percent] for years, even amid a globaleconomic boom.

A February 10, 2003, USA Today article titled

“German Coziness Puts Nation at Risk” by StevenKomarow confirms those statistics, giving the follow-ing figures on 2002 GDP growth for the severalcountries:

Ireland, +3.9%; Greece, +3.2%; U.S.A, +2.4%;Spain, +1.9%; Sweden, +1.6%; U.K. +1.6%; Aus-tria, +.9%; France, +.9%; Belgium, +.7%; Ger-many, +.3%; Italy, +.3%; Portugal, +.3%;Netherlands, +.2%; Japan, -.3%;

As bad as one might think it to be in the U.S., theAmerican percentage of increase of GDP in 2002 waseight times greater than Germany’s and Italy’s andalmost three times greater than France’s.

Resuming from Zinsmeister’s article:

Over the long haul, thesesorts of disparities add upto crunching economic di-vergences. Since 1970,America has produced 57million new jobs. TheE.U., with an even biggerpopulation, has produced5 million (most of themwith the government). Astartling 40 percent of the

unemployed in Europe have been out of work formore than a year, compared to only 6 percent inthe U.S. . . .

If no visible alternative loomed, citizens mightnot realize that better ways of achieving pros-perity exist. But any European with eyes canobserve that the United States makes very dif-ferent economic choices, with very differentresults. Here is one root of the resentment feltby European elites, who would otherwise have afree hand to mold their societies according totheir own visions. “The anti-American alliance,”noted Michael Gove in the London Times earlierthis year, “resents American economic successbecause it reminds them that their preferredcocktails of protectionism, state regulation, sub-s idy, and intervent ion constr ic t growth.America’s practical success is a standing re-buke to their abstract beliefs.”

“American parents have the least amountof time to spend with their children;indeed, the average American works

nine weeks more eachyear than the average European.”

—Ted Halstead

Defense StrategyA second divergence splitting Europe from Americais defense strategy. When it comes to guarding thepeace, current European leaders put all their faith

in endless talk, commissioneering, and resolution-writing of collective diplomacy—what they call“multilateralism” (a term nearly as feeble as the



concept). Given Europe’s history with the Treatyof Versailles, Neville Chamberlain’s MunichAgreement, a biological weapons “ban” secretlyviolated with impunity by the Soviets and scads ofother signatories, plus many more recent failuresof “let’s pretend” diplomacy in places ranging fromIraq to Rwanda to Bosnia, it’s inexplicable thatEuropeans would bet all future peace on the secu-rity of parchment walls. But that’s exactly whatthey are doing.

Charles Krauthammer diagnoses the problem thisway: “After half a centuryunder the American um-brella, West Europeans havecome to believe that theirfreedom is self-generated.It is by now, they feel, asimple birthright, as natu-ral as the air they breathe.When they see the U.S.slaying dragons abroad—yesterday Afghanistan, to-day Iraq, tomorrow whoknows who—they see acowboy whose enthusiasms threaten to disturb theperfect order of things, best symbolized by thehushed paper-shuffling at the International Crimi-nal Court.”

At the same time they’ve bet the farm on swiss-cheese [sic] treaties, the Europeans have paredtheir military spending to the point where the entire

continent now has approximately the same force-projecting power as the Swiss navy. . . .

Without admitting it, the Europeans have essen-tially decided to rely on the U.S. to keep themsafe. . . .

Until Europe demonstrates an equivalent willing-ness to commit its sons and its treasure to nationaldefense, all talk of building a formidable indepen-dent military force in Europe is merely hot air.Wishful thinking will not man and equip a carrier

battle group, build a mis-sile shield, or otherwise in-still the necessary awe inthe world’s tyrants.

Of course, most Europeanelites deny such measuresare necessary. To quotemy British friend Mr. Goveagain: “Europe’s leadersseek to manage conflictthrough the internationaltherapy of peace pro-

cesses, the buying off of aggression with thedanegeld of aid or the erection of a paper palisadeof global law, which the unscrupulous always punchthrough. Europeans may convince themselves thatthese developments are the innovations of a conti-nent in the van of progress, but they are really thewithered autumn fruits of a civilization in decline.”

“Until Europe demonstrates an equivalentwillingness to commit its sons

and its treasure to national defense,all talk of building a formidable

independent military force in Europeis merely hot air.”—Karl Zinsmeister

total population will shrink from 82 million to 67million over the next 50 years. Italy will tumblefrom 58 to 39 million people. Over that very sameperiod, the population of the U.S. (where the birthrate is more than half-again as high) will go from283 million to 410 million.

And it isn’t only the raw numbers that will change;the composition of the population will also shiftdramatically. As birth rates remain below the re-placement level year after year, and old people livelonger and longer, a geometric spiral forms, and asociety becomes elderly. By the end of my ex-pected lifetime in the 2030s, fully half of all Ger-mans will be over 50. Italians will be evenolder—half over 54. (The U.S., by comparison, willhave a median age in the upper 30s.) The European

Demographic DeclineA final, crushing, structural divergence separatingAmerica and Europe is demography. Birth rates inEurope have been catastrophically low for two decades.Europe is thus getting old and starting to shrink. The U.S.remains a youthful and fast-growing nation. Mr.Zinsmeister’s assessment of this critical area follows:

It takes 2.1 lifetime births per woman just to keepa population stable over the long run. Today, Ger-man women are having less than 1.4 childreneach—only two thirds the level needed to maintainzero population growth. Italians and Spaniards areat a shockingly low rate of 1.2 lifetime births perwoman. The E.U. as a whole is far below the levelneeded simply to replace its current population.

The social, economic, and geopolitical ramifica-tions are stark. At current fertility rates, Germany’s (continued on page 14)


Part Two

Jesus’Final

HumanThoughts

What was Jesus thinking about during His lasthours as a human? While

He was suffering under the pains oftorture and cruel death, did He dwellon the horrible sins for which He wasdying? It seems highly unlikely thatour pure and sinless Savior spentmuch time thinking about our sinsand the sins of every person who hasever lived. In fact, from what weknow of Him, He gave them as littleheed as He could!

Yet, if Jesus was not thinking abouthumanity’s sins during that last dayof human life, of what was He think-ing? Scripture gives us some cluesabout His state of mind. The cluesderive from what we are told Jesusknew during the time from His prayerwith the disciples in Gethsemane toHis death on the stake late on thatPassover day.

For instance, did Jesus know whyHis Father had to turn away fromHim on His last day of human life?Of course He did! Jesus knew betterthan any other how limitless is therepulsion between God and sin. Wemight compare this repulsion to thatof the like poles of two colossalelectromagnets (though this falls farshort of describing the antipathy be-tween God and sin).

Try to imagine the mental andemotional torture of our Savior, towhom sin had been a totally unap-proachable thing for all eternity, hav-ing every sin ever committed forcedonto His perfectly pure head! Try toimagine His desolation as His Fa-ther, by necessity, had now to turnaway and leave His Son to finish thejob on His own!

Yet, every detail of it had beenplanned, agreed to, and prearrangedby Them both. Jesus quoted Hisown words, which He had inspiredHis servant David to put into writ-ing a thousand years before thisday, when He cried, “My God, MyGod, why have You forsaken Me?”(Psalm 22:1). By repeating it as He

hung on the stake, He declared thisprophecy to be fulfilled at that verymoment; the absolute peak of theagony that He and His Father hadplanned and foreknew had arrived.Even in His delirium, the utterancesof the Logos were solidly based uponHis own Word!

In another of his psalms, Davidhad been inspired to prophesy ofmore details of Jesus’ agony at thisseparation from His Father:

Save me, O God! For the wa-ters have come up to my neck.I sink in deep mire, where thereis no standing; I have come intodeep waters, where the floodsoverflow me. I am weary with

my crying; my throat is dry; myeyes fail while I wait for myGod. (Psalm 69:1-3)

Note the words, “while I wait formy God.” Even though their separa-tion was only to last for a little morethan three days (the actual perioddepending on the instant that theFather found it necessary to turnaway from His beloved Son), andeven though Jesus was only aliveand conscious for less than a dayof this time, any separation at allwas almost unbearable for themboth. This was certainly the primecase when, with the Lord, one day—His last human day—felt like athousand years (II Peter 3:8), and to


His Father, the three and a half daysof separation felt like three and ahalf thousand years. It is likelythat Jesus’ human patience wasnever tried more than during thesehours when He had to wait for Hisreunification with His Father. Howwonderful it would be if we—Jesus’ brothers and sisters—wouldhave even a fraction of His desire tobe with the Father constantly and tohave the Father constantly with us!How profitable it would be if wewould cease shutting Him out ofmost of our thoughts, our words, ourdeeds . . . our lives!

David’s prophetic verses picturethe human Jesus as losing His foot-ing and sinking in the filthy, putridmud of the world’s sins. We do notlike to think of our perfect Lord inthis low condition: weary with cry-ing, throat dried out, eyesight failingHim. It must have taken every ounceof Jesus’ strength to continue Hishuman sojourn through to the veryend. But He bore this agony knowingthat He must wait for the final actsof His human saga to play out be-fore He could be reunited with Hisloving Father.

The Cup

N otice Jesus’ prayer inGethsemane:

He went a little farther andfell on His face, and prayed,saying, “O My Father, if it ispossible, let this cup pass fromMe; nevertheless, not as I will,but as You will.” . . . He wentaway a second t ime andprayed, saying, “O my Fa-ther, if this cup cannot passaway from Me unless I drinkit, Your will be done.” . . . SoHe left them, went awayagain, and prayed the thirdtime, saying the same words.(Matthew 26:39, 42, 44)

What was this “cup” that Jesusasked might pass from Him if it wereHis Father’s will? Was He, in amoment of weakness, asking His

Father to prevent Him from goingthrough the coming hours of physicaltorture? This is doubtful consideringthat Jesus, with the fullest knowl-edge and foresight of all the horribledetails, had spent His entire humanlifetime, and millennia prior to it, inpreparation for this day.

A brief word study on these versesmay prove helpful here. The word“cup” is translated from the Greeknoun poterion, which can mean thevessel’s liquid contents as well asthe vessel itself. It is obvious, ofcourse, that Jesus drank the con-tents, not the vessel. Poterion de-rives from pino, “to drink.”

The word “pass” is translated fromthe Greek verb parerchomai, whichcan refer to the passage of time.From this, we can deduce that Jesusmay have been asking His Father tomake the time it would take to com-plete this awful “drink” pass asquickly as possible, but even then,only if it fit in with His Father’sperfect will.

Most of us have at some time hadto drink some horrible-tasting medi-cine, and although we knew that itwas beneficial for us to drink it, theprocedure still seemed to take aneternity! By prior agreement withHis Father, Jesus was at this timevoluntarily draining an enormous cupof spiritual “drink,” which was ulti-mately a healing medicine for man-kind but at the same time was to Hima deadly poison.

This spiritual drink was a mixtureof two ingredients that could nothave been more repulsive to Themboth. The first ingredient was thesin of the whole world. The secondwas Their separation from eachother. Jesus’ spiritual poison didnot just taste horrible. It racked Hisbody and His mind with stingingagony (I Corinthians 15:56; Luke22:44). Perhaps, in agreeing todrink of this cup, He even accepteda taste of the fiery fate of thosewho would never repent, as fore-told through the prophet Jeremiahthat the poison was like fire thathad been injected into His bones(Lamentations 1:13).

Poured Out

Despite His foreknowledge ofthe effect, Jesus knew that it

was necessary for this spiritual poi-son to enter Him so that it could bepoured out along with His life-blood:

• Therefore I will divide Hima portion with the great,and He shall divide the spoilwith the strong, becauseHe poured out His soul untodeath, and He was num-bered with the transgres-sors, and He bore the sin ofmany, and made interces-sion for the transgressors.(Isaiah 53:12)

• For this is My blood of thenew covenant, which is shedfor many for the remissionof sins. (Matthew 26:28)

• But one of the soldiers piercedHis side with a spear, andimmediately blood and wa-ter came out. (John 19:34)

The English word “remission” inMatthew 26:28 indicates that thesins flowed out with Jesus’ blood.This word is translated from theGreek word aphesis, which can alsomean “release” or “liberty,” as inthe release of blood previously con-tained by the body’s arteries andveins. This word aphesis stemsfrom the word aphiemi, whichmeans “yield up” or “expire.” Theword aphiemi, in turn, stems fromthe words apo and hiemi, whichtogether mean “let go” or “sentforth by separation,” as in a violentseparation of the blood from thebody’s pressurized circulatory sys-tem (which, in Jesus’ case, resultedin His complete separation fromHis Father in death). When Godthe Father laid the sins of the worldupon the head of His beloved Son,they passed into and contaminatedHim. They remained in Him untilthey were poured out with His shedblood.


So again, it is doubtful that Jesuswas having second thoughts aboutaccepting the terrible events of thehours that were ahead. Before HisGethsemane prayer, during, and af-ter it, Jesus knew—He was firmlyconvinced—that He must imbibe,retain, and endure every drop of thepoison that had been prepared forHim by His Father. A week beforethat Passover night, Jesus said toJames and John, “You do not knowwhat you ask. Are you able to drinkthe cup that I am about to drink, andbe baptized with the baptism that Iam baptized with?” (Matthew 20:22).And just minutes after He had con-cluded His Gethsemane prayer,“Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your swordinto the sheath. Shall I not drink thecup which My Father has givenMe?’” (John 18:11).

Throughout His great trials, Jesusknew that if the agony would havebecome too much for Him, He justhad to say the word, and He wouldhave been instantly rescued fromHis enemies. He tells the disciples,“Or do you think that I cannot nowpray to My Father, and He will pro-vide Me with more than twelve le-gions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53).

Jesus forced this knowledge tothe deep recesses of His mind be-cause He knew that, if He chose thisalternative of physical deliverance,it would be “game over” for everyone of His human brothers and sis-ters. If He had chosen this option,His Father would have removed oursins from Him—meaning our guiltwould remain on our own heads—and our future would be a hopelessone of eternal death. Yet, Jesusknew that He had planned all thiswith His Father since the world’sfoundation, had revealed Their planto His prophets and disciples, andhad come into the world for the verypurpose of suffering to pay the deathpenalty for humanity’s sins. Jesusimmediately tells His disciples, “Howthen could the Scriptures be fulfilled,that it must happen thus? . . . But allthis was done that the Scriptures ofthe prophets might be fulfilled”(verses 54, 56).

Quiet Resignation

The gospel accounts indicatethat, after His agony at Gethse-

mane, Jesus seemed more resignedto the barbarous events of His lasthours. Referring back to this article’soriginal question, it is doubtful thatHe spent much time thinking of indi-vidual acts of sin during this time.After all, why should He think aboutsin numbers 343 and 5,276, but notabout numbers 12,345,678 and876,543? Before coming to earth asa man, had He not been able toactually witness four thousand yearsof human sin? Had He not the abilityto foresee the balance for the re-maining three thousand years ofman’s time on earth?

Rather than thinking on individualacts of sin in His valuable, final hu-man hours, the Scriptures reveal that,with a level of empathy impossiblefor any but the Son of God, Hesuffered the results of those sevenmillennia of sin. He strove to over-come the physical torture and thepain of the spiritual poison whichHe now carried in Him, withthoughts of His soon-coming re-unification with His Father and withthe knowledge that, one day, Hisenemies—hopefully repentant bythat time—would see Him seated atthe right hand of His Father: “Jesussaid, . . . ‘I say to you, hereafteryou will see the Son of Man sittingat the right hand of the Power, andcoming on the clouds of heaven”(Matthew 26:64).

There is no mention of any furthercomplaint from Jesus’ lips—just aquiet resignation throughout the un-just and illegal trials and the inhumantorture and execution.

• He was oppressed and Hewas afflicted, yet He openednot His mouth; He was ledas a lamb to the slaughter,and as a sheep before itsshearers is silent, so Heopened not His mouth.(Isaiah 53:7)

• And while He was being

accused by the chief priestsand elders, He answerednothing. Then Pilate said toHim, “Do You not hear howmany things they testifyagainst You?” But He an-swered him not one word, sothat the governor marveledgreatly. (Matthew 27:12-14)

No complaint until, in the very lastminutes of His human sojourn, Hecried out twice in extreme agony atthe pain of separation from His lov-ing Father:

And about the ninth hour Jesuscried out with a loud voice,saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabacht-hani?” that is, “My God, MyGod, why have You forsakenMe?”. . . Jesus, when He hadcried out again with a loudvoice, yielded up His spirit.(Matthew 27:46, 50)

And so the human thoughts of ourwonderful Lord came to an end.Although God the Father would suf-fer from the separation for anotherseventy-two hours, Jesus’ wait wasover. His tortured body and Hismarvelous mind lay stone dead andinactive for three days and threenights. On the Night to be MuchObserved this year, as we rejoicewith our physical and spiritual fami-lies, we should take a moment tothink on the almost unbelievablefact that on this very night in AD 31,our Savior—the very Creator of thisuniverse—was dead!

But Jesus’ and our Father didnot leave Him in the grave (Psalms16:10; Acts 2:27). He raised upHis beloved Son and restored toHim the incomparable mind—thevast knowledge, understanding,wisdom, and holy character—thatThey had shared for eternity beforeJesus’ human sojourn. One day verysoon, astounding as it may seem,Their thoughts will become ourthoughts as They willingly sharethat same perfect mind with youand me.

—John Plunkett


R E A DR E A DR E A DR E A DR E A D Y A N S W E RY A N S W E RY A N S W E RY A N S W E RY A N S W E R“Be Ready A lway s To G i ve An Answe r ” – I Pe t e r 3 : 1 5 (K JV )


“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,

I will come in to him and dine with him,

and he with Me.”

Revelation 3:20

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Are We Opening the Door?God’s ChildrenBefore answering those questions, we need to

be aware of the relationship between God andourselves. We often talk about God’s purpose andGod’s will. Unfortunately, sometimes it is as if weare here, and God’s purpose and will are wayover there—somehow separate from us.

The truth is we are God’s purpose; we are God’swill. Is there any greater purpose that God can beworking out than reproducing Himself? Of course,the answer is no! We are going to be His greatestcreative achievement.

It is God’s will that each of us be one of Hischildren (John 1:12), however improbable that mightsound to the human mind. The depth of His lovefor us, His children, is beyond our comprehen-sion. As Jesus testified in John 17:23, God lovesus every bit as much as He loves Jesus Christ—no more, no less.

God has probably spent billions of years planningfor us—His children. All that time, He has beenwaiting for our birth. Even if Christ should not comefor another hundred years (and it seems seriouslydoubtful that it could be that far away!), comparedto billions of years, for God, our birth is now. Thewater has broken!

Consider the anticipation that builds when a motherhas to wait nine months for a baby to be born. Whatmust the anticipation be for God? He has been waitingbillions of years for the birth of His children!

Most of us have concluded that we are nowin the midst of the Laodicean era of God’schurch. This requires each of us to be alert,watchful, and on guard against the attitudesthat permeate this era. We must protect our-selves from this deadly, Babylonish systemand not allow its influences to put us to sleepspiritually.

How can we detect those traces ofLaodiceanism that exist in our lives? What canwe look for? What are the signposts?

Notice one of the descriptions the Bible givesof a Laodicean: “Behold, I stand at the door andknock. If anyone hears My voice and opens thedoor, I will come in to him and dine with him, andhe with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

Here, Christ is reporting that—in His ownchurch—some know that He is at the door, butthey will not rouse themselves from their spirituallethargy to open it. By implication, they will notinvite Him into their lives. As unbelievable as itsounds, there are those in His church who willkeep Him on the outside looking in (see Song ofSongs 5:2-3)!

But there is hope. In Revelation 3:20, that word“if” holds out hope—hope that a Laodicean canrepent, can change, can choose to open the doorto Christ rather than ignore Him. Are we openingthe door? Are we opening ourselves up to Christto build the kind of relationship that will lead toeternal life (John 17:3)?

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he book of Revelation contains many strangeand fantastic images that inspire the imagina-tion and motivate Bible students to chase out

their veiled meanings. Who has not wondered aboutthe identity of the Beast or considered the implica-tions of Satan the Devil as a dragon? Throughout thebook’s pages, a parade of scrolls, trumpets, vials,books, stars, swords, creatures, battles, angels anddemons, and even fallen women passes by.

Like any good book, Revelation includes goodguys and bad guys involved in a titanic conflict todetermine the fate of the world. As the book opens,the Hero arrives on the scene, confident that all willturn out well, but the situation seems hopeless—thegood guys are weak, disunited, and lethargic, andconflicts and disasters erupt and intensify every-where. The forces of evil, led by a sinister andpowerful ruler, appear invincible and on the brink ofvictory. Yet the Hero is more than worthy of Histask, and undaunted, He leads His army throughstorm and fire and waste to triumph and immortality.The book ends in paradise, where the victors livehappily ever after.

What makes Revelation so intriguing is that it isnot a novel but true prophecy guaranteed by theWord of God to be true and soon to come to pass!The book opens with the words, “The Revelation ofJesus Christ, which God gave Him to show Hisservants—things which must shortly take place”(Revelation 1:1). In the final chapter, this assuranceof authenticity is repeated:

Then he said to me, “These words are faithfuland true.” And the Lord God of the holyprophets sent His angel to show His servantsthe things which must shortly take place. “Be-hold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he whokeeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”(Revelation 22:6-7)

This is reminiscent of Isaiah 55:11: “So shall Myword be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall notreturn to Me void [margin: empty, without fruit], but

it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosperin the thing for which I sent it.” When God speaks aprophecy, it will be fulfilled because He will bring itto pass!

This certainty causes curious Christians to try toidentify and interpret every symbol in the Apoca-lypse. Some of them are easily determined becauseat times the text itself defines them. For instance,Revelation 5:8 defines incense as “the prayers ofthe saints,” and Revelation 19:8 identifies fine linenas “the righteous acts of the saints” (for more ofthese, see Revelation 1:20; 5:6; 7:14; 11:4; 12:9; 14:4;17:15; 19:10; 20:14).

Perhaps the most intriguing image in the NewTestament’s only book of prophecy is that of the fourhorsemen—white, red, black, and pale—that exem-plify the first four seals of Revelation 6. Fertile mindshave used this fantastic imagery in literature and artdown through the centuries as harbingers of doom orembodiments of destruction and death. Few thingsare more frightening than mysterious, dangerousfigures riding on strange, thundering warhorses!

And with good reason.

The Seven-Sealed ScrollThe Seven-Sealed ScrollThe Seven-Sealed ScrollThe Seven-Sealed ScrollThe Seven-Sealed ScrollThe setting for the release of the four horsemenbegins in Revelation 4, which describes God’s throneroom in heaven with all its splendor and attendantbeings. As chapter 5 opens, a scroll with writing onboth front and back and sealed with seven seals isintroduced, shown in the right hand of the Father.This last detail highlights His sovereignty and thedivine origin of the scroll. That He holds it in His righthand suggests might or authority (Exodus 15:6; Psalm20:6; 44:3; 110:1; Lamentations 2:3-4; etc.), and thatHe is sitting on the throne alludes to coming judgment(see Proverbs 20:8; Matthew 27:19; Acts 25:6).

The scroll itself includes a few peculiar details notfound in ordinary scrolls. First, John uses the wordbiblion for it, a diminutive of the normal biblos,implying that this particular scroll was not lengthy—a booklet as compared to a book. Biblion is often

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used of letters, contracts, and other documentswhose contents would not fill more than one sheet ofparchment or vellum.

However, this scroll is “written inside and on theback,” or as it is literally in the Greek, “written withinand behind.” The Greeks had a specific term forsuch a relatively rare document: opisthografon,literally “behind writing.” Since writing covered theentire surface, nothing could be added to it. Thus,the image symbolizes a complete and finished work.

Finally, this scroll bears seven seals, a detail thathas provoked various interpretations down throughthe centuries. The best, most logical solution isthat the scroll is successively sealed along oneedge so that, as a seal is broken, the parchment canbe opened only so far as the next seal. Thus, ascroll like this was sealed as it was rolled closed,and the seals must be broken in reverse order. Thisalso means that, as the seals are broken, the previ-ous ones remain open until all seven parts of thedocument lay revealed.

In the scene in Revelation 5, though, “no one inheaven or on the earth or under the earth was ableto open the scroll, or to look at it” (verse 3). Theapostle John weeps because no one worthy comesforward. He is soon comforted: “Do not weep.Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root ofDavid, has prevailed to open the scroll and to looseits seven seals” (verse 5).

This figure, called “a Lamb as though it had beenslain” (verse 6) is obviously Jesus Christ our Savior(see John 1:29), and He proved worthy by prevailing,enikeesen, a word that can also be translated as“overcome,” “triumphed,” or “conquered,” all ofwhich imply victory through conflict or struggle. AsHebrews 2:10 puts it, “For it was fitting for Him, forwhom are all things and by whom are all things, inbringing many sons to glory, to make the author oftheir salvation perfect through sufferings.” He provedHimself worthy to be our Redeemer, High Priest,and soon-coming King by living sinlessly against thepulls of human nature and by dying as a perfectsacrifice in our stead (see Revelation 5:9, 12).

In so doing, He also qualified to be Judge of all(John 5:22; II Timothy 4:1, 8; Jude 14-15). Takingon this last role, “He came and took the scroll outof the right hand of Him who sat on the throne”(Revelation 5:7).

Self-InterpretedSelf-InterpretedSelf-InterpretedSelf-InterpretedSelf-InterpretedA tour through several commentaries on Revelation6:1-8 reveals widespread agreement on the interpre-tation of the last three horsemen, but on the firstone the interpretations vary. Certainly, none ofthem agrees entirely with the modern church ofGod understanding, specifically of the white horseand its rider. Most expositors suppose the firsthorseman represents Christ Himself conquering theworld through the spread of the gospel. In PartTwo, we will see in full how this interpretationcannot be correct.

Christians who believe in the divine authorshipand authority of the Bible are careful to allow it tointerpret its own symbols. Some of the above-men-tioned commentaries pay lip service to this founda-tional principle of Bible study, yet they seem to applyit infrequently, perhaps because they really do notbelieve the Bible’s sixty-six books are a coherentwhole—though written by more than two dozen menover fifteen hundred years—and inspired by Onewho is profoundly intelligent and organized. For us,who believe the Bible is God’s Word in print and notthe product of mere men, there is no need to cull thewritings of the ancients for clues to the Bible’smysteries. All the answers we need can be foundwithin its own pages.

Only a few of the commentaries consulted forthis article series even mention Jesus’ prophecyin Matthew 24 (also Mark 13; Luke 21) as a key tointerpreting the Four Horsemen. One of them seemsalmost surprised that Jesus foretold the exactsame series of signs sixty years before to Hisdisciples! Why should they be any different when thesame Revelator communicated both prophecies?They are parallel.

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H o r s e m e nn t h e S a d d l e ?



Beastly ParallelsWith that foundation, I want to emphasize that this seriesof articles should not be considered as church doctrine.I am thinking “out of the box,” speculating on what ishappening in the world right now. Please feel free tooffer your ideas, criticisms, and suggestions.

Events may happen that will change my point of viewin the future. At this time, though, it looks as if either 1)a major portion of the Beast may be arising in the nationsof Israel led by the United States and United Kingdom,or 2) the woman riding the Beast in Revelation 17consists of the nations of Israel led by the United Statesand the United Kingdom. This second possibility is themost likely at this point. However, this is a large subject,and we can only cover a small number of scriptures thatpertain to it.

Much will go unanswered in this article. But becauseof current happenings in the world, if neither of these twopossibilities is correct, then we either 1) have a greatdeal more time before Christ’s return for things to form

as we were taught, or 2) dramatic and miraculous eventswill have to occur both in the U.S. and Europe for theBeast to arise solely in Europe in the near future andto exercise the powers the Bible shows it to have. Ifthose dramatic and miraculous events do not occursoon, and if world events continue at the pace theynormally move, we will have a very long time beforeChrist’s return. I—and many of you—will be long deadbefore that occurs.

Before we close, it will be helpful to see the propheticparallels between Daniel 2 and 7 and Revelation 13 and17. These parallels indicate Europe will be a majorplayer in the Beast unless our current interpretations areincorrect. If they are wrong, then the possibility arisesthat the Beast need not be confined to Europe.

Jesus says in Luke 12:49, 56, “I came to send fire onthe earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! . . .Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and ofthe earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?”

Union will be a very gray place, and within itsboundaries every single employed individual willhave its own elderly person 65 or older to providefor through the public pension system. This is not arecipe for an energetic society.

Europe’s disinterest in childbearing is a crisis ofconfidence and optimism. It is a spiritual indicator,reflecting millions of individual decisions to pursueself-interest and material well-being instead ofparticipating in the human future. These individualdecisions will have profoundcollective effects. . . .

Among other effects, “aweakened Europe is likelyto grow more resentful to-ward America,” warnedBritish journalist CharlesMoore in a lecture to theNew Atlantic Initiative last year, “rather thanblaming themselves.”

Though a nasty flame-out is conceivable, I willclose with a less alarmist yet blunt prediction aboutEurope’s likely future. Fifty years hence, when myoldest children approach retirement, I expect thattoday’s European dream of achieving economicand military superpower status will be a dim memory,and that some more realistic alternative will havereplaced it.

At that point, under current trends, the largestWestern European country—Germany—will rankabout 23rd on the list of the world’s biggest nations.Europe as a whole will contain in the neighborhoodof 360 million people and falling. Americans will beat 550 million and rising. The U.S. economy willhave grown to more than twice the size of Europe’s.

I expect that Americans and Europeans will bereasonably amiable. . . . But it will be China, India,Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam, the Arabworld, and Turkey that the U.S. will have to huddle

with most earnestly at im-portant international con-claves—not Europe.

That is, frankly, not thecircumstance most Ameri-cans would prefer. Byrights, Europe andAmerica ought to remain

close cousins. But Europe’s current choices inpolitics, economics, social and family life, andmoral reasoning unmistakably suggest that a lessfamilial relationship is emerging.

It is easy to see that things are not going well inEurope, and they have not been going well for at leastthe last ten to twelve years. Even though they aregradually uniting, they are in reality declining in powerand influence. That is not what the visionaries antici-pated for a united Europe.

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“A weakened Europe is likely to growmore resentful toward America

rather than blaming themselves.”—Charles Moore



“Fire” indicates judgment, and Jesus clearly wanted toget on with seeing His work concluded. However, as Heshows, things have to be done in their proper order. Inthis case, He is referring to His death.

Clearly, in calling these carnal people “hypocrites,”He expected them to understand who He was and whatHis mission was. If He expected them to grasp what wasgoing on during His day, how much more does He expectof us? Greater depth and clarity and therefore under-standing are always to be found because God is faithfulto reveal more as we grow and come closer to itsfulfillment. Yet, it is evident from the church’s historythat we do not always hit the correct understanding ofprophecy right off.

Ezekiel 6:14 adds to this fact that most prophecy ismisunderstood: “So I will stretch out My hand againstthem and make the land desolate, yes, more desolatethan the wilderness toward Diblah, in all their habita-tions. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” Thisfinal sentence occurs frequently in Ezekiel. In eachcase, it means that people will not understand thefullness of something until either it is actually beingfulfilled or it is completely over. This means, as mattersprogress, we have to do some updating—including somespeculating—from time to time to adjust our understand-ing to fit reality.

Daniel 2:32-35 describes the image inNebuchadnezzar’s dream, and the prophet interprets itin verses 38-40, 44:

. . . and wherever the children of men dwell, or thebeasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, Hehas given them into your hand, and has made youruler over them all—you are this head of gold. Butafter you shall arise another kingdom inferior toyours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze,which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourthkingdom shall be as strong as iron. . . . And in thedays of these kings the God of heaven will set upa kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and thekingdom shall not be left to other people; it shallbreak in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,and it shall stand forever.

Verse 38 shows us that in this imagery the kingrepresents the entirety of the kingdom’s existence as aworld-ruling empire. The term “after you,” in verse 39introduces three separate, successive kingdoms follow-ing Nebuchadnezzar’s Chaldean Empire. Then verse 44shows that the image’s timeline exists until our day andthe return of Jesus Christ for the establishment of theKingdom of God.

This prophecy, then, brings us right into our presenttime. We can look for the last empire, represented by thefeet and toes, to exist today. History has shown thosefour empires to be the Chaldean, Medo-Persian, Greco-

Macedonian, and Roman empires. The last existed from31 BC to AD 476, when secular history shows that theVandals defeated Rome. However, Emperor Justinianrevived and reestablished Rome as the “Holy RomanEmpire” in AD 554.

All of Daniel 7 is helpful at this point. The importantelement to note is that this illustration from Daniel’sdream parallels Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2,but it uses different imagery. This confirms that thelegs of iron in Daniel 2 and the fourth beast in Daniel7, which are parallel images, exist at Christ’s return,fight against Him, and suffer defeat, and then the saintsreceive the Kingdom.

Revelation 12:3-4, 9 records:

And another sign appeared in heaven; behold, agreat, fiery red dragon having seven heads andten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. Histail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threwthem to the earth. And the dragon stood before thewoman who was ready to give birth, to devour herChild as soon as it was born. . . . So the greatdragon was cast out, that serpent of old, calledthe Devil and Satan, who deceives the wholeworld; he was cast to the earth, and his angels werecast out with him.

The Dragon is identified as Satan (verse 9), providing thelead-in to the introduction of the Beast in Revelation13:1-8. The similarities between this and Revelation12:3, 9 show a direct relationship between the Dragonviewed in heaven and the Beast rising on earth.

This relationship is further confirmed in Revelation13:4, which shows the Beast on earth receiving its powerfrom the Dragon. Another commonality is that both theDragon seen in heaven and the Beast on earth haveseven heads and ten horns, yet there are two differ-ences: The first is in the number of crowns (seven on theDragon, ten on the Beast), and a second is in the locationof the crowns (the Dragon’s are on the heads, while theBeast’s are on the horns. At this point, what thatdifference means is unknown.

The Beast in Revelation 13 is a further illustration ofthe fourth beast of Daniel 7 with its ten horns. The tenhorns represent ten kings who will be part of the Beastand present at Christ’s return. There is no doubt thatthe legs of iron of Daniel 2, the fourth beast of Daniel7, and the Beast of Revelation 13 and 17 all reveal theRoman Empire, its revivals, and some of its end-timeconfiguration.

This awesome combination of powers is forming forthat great day of Christ’s return.

In Christian love,


S E A R C H I N G

NNNNNowadays, everyone from grammar school pupilsto graduate students use “search criteria” to locate

information quickly on the Internet. Search criteria arethose “signposts” a search engine uses to locate websites.For example, if I wanted a good recipe for my favoritepie, my “search criteria” would be the words recipe,rhubarb; and pie. I input those words, and Googleresponded with 22,200 sites—and more recipes than athousand pastry chefs could easily whip up (as well asa whole lot of other stuff I could not or would noteat!). Unless one is well-experienced in the use ofsearch criteria, his “net” can garner far more fish thanhe can fry.

That is not at all how it is with the “search criteria”God provides students of His Word seeking to learnthe identity of modern-day Israel. For those “who haveeyes to see,” the search criteria He provides will notyield junk results. Rather, they will pinpoint only onegroup of people—the real people of Israel.

Here are the search criteria. Modern-day Israeliteswill be

1. Multitudes of peoples, living in

2. a nation and a company of nations—mul-titudes of nations, whose

3. geographic focus lies to the north and westof Jerusalem, but whose

4. lands spread to all compass points. Israel’speople own

5. possessions over rivers, across seas, in theislands and coastlands. At least some tribesof Israel will enjoy wide-spread

6. wealth and prosperity and will possess

7. gates, that is, strategic commercial and mili-tary positions, in the midst of their enemies.They are a people who have been

8 . ruled without interruption by a monarchywhose roots lie in the tribe of Judah. Thatmonarchy will be

9. currently centered in Britain. Finally, theyare a people whose

10. dominance, politically, militarily, and eco-nomically, did not begin until about AD 1802.

Ten in all. Ten specific, easy-to-grasp identifiers—ormarkers, if you will—of the whereabouts of modern-dayIsrael. True, we are dealing with over three thousandyears from the time of Abraham until today. So, it makessense that not every criterion will be applicable to everyperiod of history. Some criteria will have more applica-tion to Israel of yesterday; some will relate to Israel oftoday; some to Israel in the Millennium or beyond.Many will have application to more than one period.Nevertheless, all will point straight to Israel!

In this series of twelve articles, we search God’sWord and His history for the whereabouts of Israeltoday. We begin by locating these ten identifiers inGod’s Word, showing how each one points to Israel.Putting them together, we encounter overwhelmingevidence of the whereabouts of God’s people Israel—and of God’s forethought, care, and purpose for thosepeoples.

We will find more than that. We will find that God’splan, His purpose, is so tightly linked with Israel, somuch part-and-parcel with Israel’s history, that whenwe find Israel, we will also find God. In essence, tosearch for Israel is to search for God; to find Israel inhistory is to find God there too.


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The Call of AbrahamThe Call of AbrahamThe Call of AbrahamThe Call of AbrahamThe Call of AbrahamListen to Me, you who follow after righteous-ness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rockfrom which you were hewn, and to the hole ofthe pit from which you were dug. Look toAbraham your father, and to Sarah who boreyou; for I called him alone, and blessed him andincreased him. (Isaiah 51:1-2)

The book of Genesis records a number of promises Godmade to the patriarch Abraham. These promises pointdirectly to modern-day Israel. They become, therefore,“search criteria” which will help us identify Israel today.Here are the principal promises God issued to Abraham:

Genesis 12:1-3: God appears to Abraham while heis in Haran, calling him to Canaan:

Get out of your country, from your kindred andfrom your father’s house, to a land that I will showyou. I will make you a great nation; I will bless youand make your name great; and you shall be ablessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I willcurse him who curses you; and in you all thefamilies of the earth shall be blessed.

Abram, as his name was at that time, was 75, and he“departed as the LORD had spoken to him” (verse 4), notknowing to what land he was going. The promise at hiscalling is very general. God particularizes it in a numberof iterations. In these further rehearsals, God embel-lishes this first promise.

Genesis 12:7 records the first of these embellish-ments: “To your descendants I will give this land.”Abraham is in Shechem at this time. The land is thefocus of this and other restatements of the promise.Because God promises to give it to Abraham and hisdescendants, the land becomes an inheritance. In

Romans 4:13, the apostle Paul interprets the giving ofland to be a reference to the entire world. Propheti-cally, Israel’s domain is the whole world.

Genesis 13:14-15 contains another important em-bellishment: “Lift your eyes now and look from the placewhere you are—northward, southward, eastward, andwestward; for all the land which you see I give to you andyour descendents forever.” God commits Himself togiving Abraham this land forever. The concept ofeternity enters the picture early in God’s relationshipwith Abraham.

Genesis 13:16 emphasizes the concept of fecundity.“I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth;so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, thenyour descendants also could be numbered.” God prom-ises to multiply Abraham greatly.

Genesis 15:18-21 provides a detailed delineation ofthe land God gave to Abraham. The territory extendsfrom the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River inMesopotamia.

Genesis 17:6: God here repeats His promise offruitfulness: “I will make you exceedingly fruitful;and I will make nations of you, and kings shall comefrom you.” Note the plural forms of the words nationand king.

Genesis 17:7 is an important iteration of God’spromise in Genesis 12:2-3 that Abraham “shall be ablessing”: “I will establish My covenant between Me andyou and your descendants after you in their generations,for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and yourdescendants after you.”

God promises to establish an eternal covenant notonly with Abraham but also with his descendants. Thosedescendents are going to be very precious to God. Infact, so close to God are those descendents that theprophet Zechariah refers to them as the apple of God’seye (Zechariah 2:8). Historically, God and Israel arenever very far apart.


i s e s t o t h e Fa i t h f u l


Therefore may God give youTherefore may God give youTherefore may God give youTherefore may God give youTherefore may God give youOf the dew of heaven,Of the dew of heaven,Of the dew of heaven,Of the dew of heaven,Of the dew of heaven,

Of the fatness of the earth,Of the fatness of the earth,Of the fatness of the earth,Of the fatness of the earth,Of the fatness of the earth,And plenty of grain and wine.And plenty of grain and wine.And plenty of grain and wine.And plenty of grain and wine.And plenty of grain and wine.

—Genesis 27:28—Genesis 27:28—Genesis 27:28—Genesis 27:28—Genesis 27:28

In Genesis 17:8, God reiterates His promise to giveland to Abraham’s descendants as an everlasting pos-session: “I give to you and your descendants after youthe land in which you are a stranger, all the land ofCanaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will betheir God.”

There is an important addition here. The possessionof the land is connected with the covenant mentionedin verse 7, where God promises to be the God ofAbraham’s descendents. Ultimately, those descendentswill possess the land as a people worshipping the trueGod.

Genesis 22:16-18 records God’s embellishment ofthe promise on the occasion of Abraham’s “sacrifice” ofhis son Isaac:

By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, becauseyou have done this thing, and have not withheldyour son, your only son, in blessing I will bless you,and in multiplying I will multiply your descendantsas the stars of the heaven and as the sand which ison the seashore; and your descendants shall pos-sess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all thenations of the earth shall be blessed, because youhave obeyed My voice.

God promises to multiply Abraham and to give himcontrol of strategic military and commercial positions,“gates,” in his enemies’ territories. As we will see,this promise speaks of the geopolitical advantageGod later gave Abraham’s descendents. God basesthis promise on Abraham’s obedience of the commandto sacrifice his son, Isaac, a sacrifice God of coursestopped just before the knife fell. Note, too, that thispromise has the effect of an oath, in that God swearsby Himself.

Since this is the last recorded promise to Abraham, itis fitting that God should refer to His first promise,recorded in Genesis 12:1-3. God reminds Abraham ofHis promise that his seed would be a blessing to allnations. In Galatians 3:16, Paul makes it plain that this“Seed” is Christ. Christ, who is in the lineage ofAbraham, blazed a trail by which all peoples couldultimately develop a relationship with the Father.Christ’s work makes it possible for God to be our God,according to the promise of Genesis 17:7-8. Christ isindeed a blessing to all nations.

The Other PThe Other PThe Other PThe Other PThe Other PatriarchsatriarchsatriarchsatriarchsatriarchsGod restates a number of these promises to Abraham’sson, Isaac, as well as to his grandson, Jacob. Forexample, in Genesis 26:3-5, God harkens back to Abrahamwhen He tells Isaac:

Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and blessyou; for to you and your descendants I give all

these lands, and I will perform the oath which Iswore to Abraham your father. And I will makeyour descendants multiply as the stars of heaven;I will give to your descendants all these lands; andin your seed all the nations of the earth shall beblessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice andkept My charge, My commandments, My statutes,and My laws.

Notice that God refers to “the oath” (see Genesis 22:16-18) He swore to Isaac’s father.

Genesis 28:13-14 records yet another restatement ofthe promises. These are part of God’s comments toJacob at the occasion of his dream of a ladder reachingto heaven. Jacob is in Bethel at this time.

I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and theGod of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will giveto you and your descendants. Also your descen-dants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shallspread abroad to the west and the east, to the northand the south; and in you and in your seed all thefamilies of the earth shall be blessed.



Notice that these promises are the same ones Godearlier made to Abraham: land; a multitude of descen-dants spreading east, west, north, and south; and the“Seed,” Jesus Christ, who would bless all nations. Itis also extremely important to note that all the earth’sfamilies would be blessed “in you and in your seed”(emphasis added). Those blessings were to come notonly as a result of Jacob’s posterity, or even as a resultof Christ’s work, but of something Jacob himself wasto do.

Finally, Genesis 35:11-12 restates certain promisesGod had earlier made to Abraham:

I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; anation and a company of nations shall proceedfrom you, and kings shall come from your body.The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I giveto you; and to your descendants after you I givethis land.

God here reiterates His promise to Abraham, asrecorded in Genesis 17:5-6, that he would be a fatherof kings. God also tells Jacob that from him would


descend not only a nation, but also a whole companyof nations.

Hebrews 11:9 reports that it was “by faith [Abraham]sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country,dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with himof the same promise.” These patriarchs of the futurepeople of Israel received the same promises from Godand lived in the same faith. Of them, and others afterthem as well, Hebrews 11:39 speaks eloquently: “And allthese, having obtained a good testimony through faith,did not receive the promise.”

In God’s promises to the patriarchs are a number of“search criteria” describing Israel. Israelites will beeventually organized in one great

• nation as well as in a

• multitude of other nations. The vast

• masses of Israelites in these nations will enjoyplenty of

• land and

• prosperity. They will also come to occupy the

• gates of their enemies.

• Kings will descend from the patriarchs. Thesepeoples will become a

• blessing to all the nations of the planet.

Helpful as these search criteria are, questions stillremain:

• Do these factors describe Israel past, present, orfuture?

• Has God already fulfilled His promises in thecontext of ancient Israel?

• Is He fulfilling them today?

• Is their fulfillment yet future?

As the comedian said, “Timing is everything!” Tolocate Israel today, we need more detailed searchcriteria, criteria that have a time-element. As we willsee, God has provided time-specific search criteria.

Next month, we continue our quest for search criteriapinpointing the whereabouts of modern-day Israel. Wewill look at the blessings the patriarchs conferred ontheir progeny. These blessings, bestowed in faith, havethe force of prophecy, and therefore become identifiersof Israel.

—Charles Whitaker

“I will mak“I will mak“I will mak“I will mak“I will make you ee you ee you ee you ee you exxxxxceedinglyceedinglyceedinglyceedinglyceedinglyfruitful; and I will makfruitful; and I will makfruitful; and I will makfruitful; and I will makfruitful; and I will make nationse nationse nationse nationse nations

of you, and kings shallof you, and kings shallof you, and kings shallof you, and kings shallof you, and kings shallcome from you.”come from you.”come from you.”come from you.”come from you.”

—Genesis 17:6—Genesis 17:6—Genesis 17:6—Genesis 17:6—Genesis 17:6


R E V E L AR E V E L AR E V E L AR E V E L AR E V E L A T I O N 3 : 2 0T I O N 3 : 2 0T I O N 3 : 2 0T I O N 3 : 2 0T I O N 3 : 2 0“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

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Another tool God provides is theweekly Sabbath service. However, ifwe do not open the doors of our mindsand hearts as we attend them, wehave closed the door to God’s inspi-ration and communication with us.

Before the scattering of thechurch, consider how many tens ofthousands of people sat in Sabbathservices for ten, twenty, thirty, forty,and more years. How many of theseSabbath-keepers are still around? Thetools can be there, right at our door-step, yet we still have to open the door.

Luke 10:16 shows that one way toslam the door shut on Christ is to lookat the men giving the messages ratherthan the God who is behind them:“My followers, whoever listens toyou is listening to me. Anyone whosays ‘No’ to you is saying ‘No’ tome. And anyone who says ‘No’ tome is really saying ‘No’ to the onewho sent me” [Contemporary En-glish Version (CEV)].

If we believe in how minutely Godis involved in our lives, then it followsthat what is preached in Sabbathservices has a purpose and is al-lowed by the Sovereign God. There-fore, a complaint that we have abouta speaker or the message is a com-plaint against God. Despising thespiritual food God has prepared isdangerous ground to tread.

This does not mean the speakeris infallible, by any means, but thewrong attitude effectively dimin-ishes what we can glean from hismessage. A safer approach wouldbe to offer a prayer for help tounderstand and see how the foodis for our good (Psalm 84:11) ratherthan to slam the door on the mes-sage or the messenger. Either wetrust and have faith in God’s sover-eignty and His love for us, or we donot. There is no safe middle ground(Deuteronomy 30:19).

Another tool God gives us isForerunner. It shows up on ourdoorstep, so to speak. If we believehow minutely God is involved inour lives, then again it follows thatthe information in this magazine is

not accidental.Notice Forerunner’s subtitle,

Preparing Christians for the King-dom of God. Are those just somewords on a page, or do they meansomething? If we believe that Godis thoroughly involved in the livesof His children and providing forthem, then they mean exactly whatthey say.

Matthew 25 begins with the par-able of the Ten Virgins. Five werewise, and five were foolish. Whatseparated the wise from the foolish?Was it not preparation and readi-ness? The wise were ready and thefoolish were not. The wise wereChristians who used the tools avail-able to prepare themselves for theKingdom of God.

How do we treat Forerunner?Do we take lightly what this maga-zine is all about? When Forerunnercomes in the mail, have we finishedthe last one? Or worse, have we notyet even started the last one?

What would be the most commonexcuse for this failure? I have nothad the time! Not having the time toseek first the Kingdom of God? Whatis wrong with that picture?

I have found myself uttering thatexcuse about time. Please realizethat, when I have used that excuse,it was not because I was so busypraying, studying, fasting, and medi-tating that I just could not squeezein anything else! No, the reason Ido not have time is that I am toobusy with my priorities and my pur-suits rather than God’s. That is adeadly and stupid attitude—it isLaodiceanism.

If I believe I am in desperate need,I will do everything I can to seekfirst the Kingdom of God—I willmake the time, no matter what. Butif I believe I have need of nothing(Revelation 3:17), then I will belackadaisical about my relationship-building responsibilities with Christ.I will be a foolish virgin that iscareless about fulfilling the respon-sibilities required to prepare for theKingdom of God.

There is nothing He is more in-tensely focused on than us—Hischildren. In fact, His focus is sointense that Jesus says that God evenknows the number of hairs on ourheads (Luke 12:7)! That is minuteand detailed focus and attention.

When it comes to His children—you and me—absolutely NOTHING es-capes His attention. To see the truthof this, notice Job 7:17-18: “What isman, that You should magnify him,that You should set Your heart onhim, that You should visit him everymorning, and test him every moment?”

God tests us every moment—notsome moments, not most moments,but EVERY moment. Test can mean“examine.” God is scrutinizing everymoment of our lives because He is ourFather and takes His responsibility tolove and care for us very seriously.

Therefore, with that intensity offocus, love, and care, it should comeas no surprise that God has promisedto supply all our needs (Philippians4:19). That includes everything wewill need to make it into His King-dom—to be His children. He hassupplied us with the tools we need toopen the door to build a relationshipwith Himself and Christ that willlead to sonship and eternal life.

Relationship-BuildingTools

The first set of relationship-buildingtools He has supplied is prayer, study,meditation, and fasting. However,none of these will do us any gooduntil we make the right kind of effortin those areas. These tools are there,just lying at our doorstep, but we arerequired to make the effort, to openthe door up to these activities.

When we open our Bibles andstudy, we are opening the door to theWord of God—we are opening thedoor to Jesus Christ Himself. By theright amount and kind of prayer,meditation, and fasting, we are open-ing the door to knowing the True Godand His Son Jesus Christ.

(continued from page 11)


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R E A DR E A DR E A DR E A DR E A D Y A N S W E RY A N S W E RY A N S W E RY A N S W E RY A N S W E R“Be Ready A lway s To G i ve An Answe r ” – I Pe t e r 3 : 1 5 (K JV )

Jesus compares the Kingdom ofGod to a treasure hidden in a field(Matthew 13:44). One has to workhard to find a hidden treasure, and inthe same way, we have to work hardto find and understand God’s truths.God wants to know whether we re-ally hunger and thirst for Him. Willwe work at it as if our lives dependedupon it? In reality, it does!

When it comes to Forerunner, Ido not know which month will con-tain the nugget of truth that will makea difference in my life. I do not knowwhich article will contain that nug-get. I do not know which paragraph—perhaps even which word!—willmake a difference.

Gambling With EternalLife

This means I have to read everyword of it, every month, to be sureI do not miss any nugget God hashidden for me to search out andfind. If I am not diligent, I amplaying Russian roulette with myeternal life. Russian roulette is thegame where a player loads a bulletinto an empty revolver, spins thecylinder, puts the gun to his head, andpulls the trigger. The first man toblow his brains out loses.

Does a game get any more stupid

than leaving one’s life to chance?Yet, those who play Russian roulettelose only their physical lives. Howmuch more incredibly stupid is it torisk one’s spiritual—eternal—life?

Proverbs 30:2 gives a perspectivethat applies here: “I am far toostupid to be considered human”(CEV). A saying from half a centuryago mirrors this verse: “He does nothave the brains God gave little greenapples.” “He is dumber than dirt”is similar.

To play Russian roulette with eter-nal life is “dumber than dirt.” It justdoes not get any lower and moreidiotic than that. How mentallyfogged up and sleepy would a personhave to be to take that kind of risk?

Our calling is irrevocable (Ro-mans 11:29), and it is God’s will thatwe succeed (John 6:39-40). Andwhen a thing is God’s will, Isaiah14:24 says, “Surely, as I have thought,so it shall come to pass, and as I havepurposed, so it shall stand.” God hasgiven us everything we need to suc-ceed; we just have to open the door.

Are we opening the door? Thereare some easy tests:

• Are we diligently praying,studying, meditating, fasting,and not allowing our deceit-ful and sleepy natures to ac-

cept excuses for failure?

• Are we opening our mindsand hearts during servicesby being alert and eager?

• When Forerunner comes inthe mail, have we completelyread the last one?

• Are we wise or foolish vir-gins? Have we been lulled tosleep and see no need forurgency (II Peter 3:4)?

God knows the true answers toeach one of these questions. Do we?

These relationship-building toolsare our Christian responsibilities.They are the daily, little things givento us that, in a large measure, tellGod the real intentions of our hearts.Failure to handle these “trifles”proves us as unfaithful servants(Luke 16:10-13).

One who gives careless attentionto his responsibilities is a Laodicean.We need to open our doors to Christas never before because, as Romans13:11 says, “And do this, knowingthe time, that now it is high time toawake out of sleep, for now oursalvation is nearer than when wefirst believed.”

—Pat Higgins


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(continued from page 13)Notice the questions Jesus’ disciples ask to solicit

from Him what has come to be known as the OlivetProphecy: “Tell us, when will these things be? Andwhat will be the sign of Your coming, and of the endof the age?” (Matthew 24:3). In Jesus’ response, Heconcentrates almost entirely on the second ques-tion—the signs of His coming and of the end—andthe question of when is answered mostly in theiraggregate. The closest He comes to answeringwhen appears in verse 14: The end will come whenthe gospel has been preached in all the world as awitness to all the nations. Only He knows when thisgoal will be reached.

Nevertheless, the Olivet Prophecy consists of aseries of signs of the end. As we read earlier, the

book of Revelation identifies itself as a disclosurefrom Jesus Christ of “things which must shortly takeplace.” It is plain that Revelation is a book con-cerned with the events of the end time that cre-scendo at Christ’s return and culminate in the newheavens and new earth, and Jesus’ prophecy inMatthew 24 covers the same ground, concludingwith the second coming. We would be derelict not tocompare the two.

Before leaving Matthew 24 for the time being, weshould note verse 8 as vital to understanding thetiming and duration of the Four Horsemen: “Allthese are the beginning of sorrows.” This shortsentence separates Jesus’ commentary on the FourHorsemen, which are the first four seals of Revela-

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tion 6, and His comments on the fifth seal, thetribulation and martyrdom of the saints (Matthew24:9-10). The implication is that the Four Horsemenwill ride roughshod on the earth to commence thetime of “sorrows,” and it may also indicate a lengthof time between the fulfillment of the fourth seal andthe opening of the fifth. The first four seals, then,might be broken in quick succession and allowed toinflict mayhem for a long period before the fifth sealis opened.

And Jesus’ choice of words in verses 4-7 sug-gests that the Horsemen were let loose long ago!

Horses in ScriptureHorses in ScriptureHorses in ScriptureHorses in ScriptureHorses in ScriptureThe Four Horsemen possess one obvious commonfactor: Each one rides a horse. Horses appearfrequently in Scripture, more than 150 times acrossboth Testaments. Most often, they appear in thecontext of battle, although a small number of pas-sages emphasize their aggressiveness (Jeremiah5:8; 8:6; Ezekiel 23:20) or stubbornness (see Psalm32:9; Proverbs 26:3). However, the imagery ofhorses is overwhelmingly inclined to represent mar-tial strength (Deuteronomy 17:16; II Chronicles9:25; Psalm 20:7; Proverbs 21:31; Isaiah 30:16).

Probably the most complete biblical exposition onhorses appears in Job 39:19-25. God says to Job:

Have you given the horse strength? Have youclothed his neck with thunder [or, a mane]?Can you frighten him [or, make him spring]like a locust? His majestic snorting strikesterror. He paws in the valley, and rejoices in hisstrength; he gallops into the clash of arms. Hemocks at fear, and is not frightened; nordoes he turn back from the sword. Thequiver rattles against him, the glittering spearand javelin. He devours the distance withfierceness and rage; nor does he stand firmbecause the trumpet has sounded. At the blastof the trumpet he says, “Aha!” He smells thebattle from afar, the thunder of captains andshouting.

The picture is of an animal eager and well-suitedfor war and carnage. Elsewhere, the Bible showshorses to be speedy (Jeremiah 12:5; Joel 2:4) andfierce when they charge in battle (Habakkuk 1:8),causing panic and fright (Jeremiah 8:16). They arealso strong (Psalm 147:10), many times the strengthof a man, and formidable, especially in the gear ofwar.

This is the exact impression the image of the FourHorsemen is designed to elicit. They represent anoncoming, relentless, unstoppable, and terrifyingenemy bent on destruction and death. They areembodiments of some of humanity’s greatest fears.

And, as Jesus says, they are just the beginning ofwoeful onslaught mankind must endure before theend of the age!

Symbols of JudgmentSymbols of JudgmentSymbols of JudgmentSymbols of JudgmentSymbols of JudgmentTaken as a whole, the Four Horsemen are dreadfuljudgments upon mankind for sin. As we will see, theydescend upon humanity at the direct command ofChrist the Judge, and He gives them free rein to dotheir worst upon the earth’s inhabitants—to kill up toa quarter of the planet’s population (Revelation 6:8).In today’s terms, that comes to about a billion-and-a-half people!

Since Romans 6:23 clearly declares that “thewages of sin is death,” the incessant commission ofsins upon the earth makes its inhabitants ripe forjudgment (for more examples of this metaphor, seeJeremiah 6:9; Amos 8:1-3; Joel 3:12-13; Revelation14:17-20). Because “all have sinned and fall short ofthe glory of God,” (Romans 3:23), God is certainlyjustified in sending His judgments at anytime, againstanyone, and to any degree of severity. Paul writes inthe previous chapter:

But in accordance with your hardness and yourimpenitent heart you are treasuring up for your-self wrath in the day of wrath and revelation ofthe righteous judgment of God, who “will ren-der to each one according to his deeds”; . . . tothose who are self-seeking and do not obey thetruth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation andwrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul ofman who does evil. . . . (Romans 2:5-6, 8-9)

The apostle asks, “Is God unjust who inflictswrath? (I speak as a man.) Certainly not! For thenhow will God judge the world? . . . Their condemnationis just” (Romans 3:5-6, 8). As Psalm 96:13 prophesies,“For He is coming, for He is coming to judge theearth. He shall judge the world with righteousness,and the peoples with His truth” (see Psalm 9:8; 98:9;Acts 17:31). Though the Four Horsemen cause ter-rible devastation and loss of life, their deeds are, ineffect, humanity’s just desserts (Revelation 16:5-7).Had men not cut themselves off from God throughsin, these measures would not have been necessary.

Yet, underlying God’s severe and just punish-ments are His goodness and mercy. Those hewndown by the Four Horsemen will have an opportunityfor salvation in the resurrection from the dead(Revelation 20:12-13; see Isaiah 65:20-25), a timefar more congenial to accepting and embracingGod’s way of life than is available in this world.Perhaps the lessons learned in this life of sorrowswill prove beneficial to them in the world to come.

[TO BE CONTINUED]—Richard T. Ritenbaugh

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http://www.worldwatchdaily.org

by David C. Grabbe and Charles Whitaker

T h e V a t i c a n ’ s I s l a m D i l e m m aThe Catholic Church can no longer

ignore the growing influence andcultural disturbance of Islam, thefastest growing religion in theworld, particularly in areas whereCatholicism has traditionally beenthe dominant religious factor—such as Europe and the UnitedStates. In Britain, for example,930,000 Muslims attend a placeof worship at least weekly. Whilethis does not yet compare with the1.5 million Catholic churchgoers,it has already outstripped Angli-can attendance of 916,000. In tradi-tionally Catholic France, currentbirthrates indicate that in 25 yearsFrance may have a Muslim major-ity. Even now, many demogra-phers estimate that as much as20-30% of the population under25 is Muslim. As Muslim culturebegins to push more forcefully intomany historically Catholic cul-tures, the Vatican feels constrainedto respond.

The Vatican is not in a positionto take this entity head-on, nordoes it seem likely to try. Rather,the Roman Catholic Church hashistorically utilized syncretistic as-similation of potential threats in-stead of b latant annih i la t ion.Though Islam and Roman Ca-tholicism are not going to meldinto one religion anytime soon,quite a few highly visible over-tures by the Catholic Church indi-cate an increasingly aggressive“ecumenism”:

• In late December 2003, CardinalJean-Louis Tauran, the recentlyretired Vatican foreign minister,criticized Muslim countries fortreating Christians as “second-class citizens.” He told the FrenchCatholic daily La Croix that Chris-tianity and Islam faced “an enor-mous task” of learning to livetogether in mutual tolerance.

• According to the ZENIT NewsAgency, the rector of the shrine ofFatima in Portugal, MonsignorLuciano Gomes Paulo Guerra,contends that the Fatima appari-tions were exhortations to ecu-menical dialogue. He claims thatthe apparition of Mary knew thather choice of the site in Portugalwould one day be understoodas a deliberate association withthe daughter of the Islamicprophet Mohammed—whosename was Fatima.

• John J. Schmitt, associate pro-fessor of theology at MarquetteUniversity, writes in the NationalCatholic Reporter that reconcili-at ion between the Cathol icChurch and Jews began withthe Second Vatican Council, butup to this point, “there is nomajor text that asserts the es-sential ties among Judaism,Christ iani ty and Is lam.” Hehighlights the fact that even thecurrent Catechism of the Catho-lic Church seems to rank Islam

lower than Judaism as an“Abrahamic faith.” Currently,Catholic-Jewish relations arehandled by the Council for Pro-moting Christian Unity, whileCatholic-Muslim relations aredealt with through the Council forInterreligious Dialogue.

• In mid-January, the Vaticanhosted an interfaith “Concert ofReconciliation” to “promote thecommitment for a peaceful coex-istence among all the children ofAbraham.” The presentation wascentered on composer JohnHarbison’s choral Abraham, andwas attended by about 7,000people, including Israel’s twochief rabbis, Rome’s Imam, andthe secretary general of the WorldIslamic Call Society.

• John Paul II has been the firstPope to visit a synagogue and tostep into a mosque. He is astaunch defender of the notionthat the three “Abrahamic faiths”worship the same God, albeitthrough different “revelations.”

These recent events highlight thecurious dance in which Islam andCatholicism are involved. It is toosoon to tell where this will end, butit is noteworthy that the RomanCatholic Church has survived fornearly two millennia by changing itsshape while still holding to the creedof being the universal church.

Uwe Siemon-Netto, religiouseditor for United Press Interna-

tional, believes that “the Old Worldmay be slowly shifting away from itsdoctrinaire secularism.” Writing inThe National Interest, Siemon-Netto sees a number of “signs—faint and uncertain though they maynow be—of a revival” of Christianityin Europe, most of which has longbeen thought of as “the great plainof irreligion.” He points to the “aston-ishingly lively debate” over the issueof including the words “God” and“Christianity” in the European Union’sconstitution—a debate which ulti-mately failed to achieve its goal, but

E U R O P E A N R E L I G I O U S R E V I V A L ?which nevertheless demonstratedthat there is yet a religious zeal. OnNovember 13, 2003, an “impressivegroup of 22 European leaders,” pastand present, criticized the “narrowly‘secularist’ vision of European so-cieties” as “a danger both for thecountry’s democratic life and cohe-sion, and for the full development ofthe European project.”

However, this frontal—and, itturned out, potent—assault onFrench and German secularism isnot the only evidence of revivalism.Siemon-Netto also cites the “hugeinterest in new Bible translations”;the popularity of “adult catechism

classes in France”; the growth ofevangelicalism in France, where“every ninth day a new evangelicalcongregation is born”; the “mas-sive” number of lay people takingcourses in the prestigious InstitutCatholique seminary in Paris; theshift of many Protestant seminar-ians from “political causes back toorthodox theology”; and the increas-ing large number of lay people “tak-ing over pastoral functions in theabsence of a sufficient number ofpriests.” Very slowly, an environ-ment conducive to the appearanceof the False Prophet may be form-ing in Europe.

BIBLE STUDY:THE PARABLES OF LUKE 15

(PART ONE)

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Jesus’ discourse in Luke 15 breaks down into threedistinct illustrations: The Lost Sheep (verses 4-7), TheLost Coin (verses 8-10), and The Lost Son (verses 11-32). The whole chapter is essentially one distinct parablewith three illustrations. One illustration flows withoutinterruption into the next; one thought transitions intoanother to make one parable. We know this because Lukeuses the singular “this parable” when he introduces thethree illustrations in verse 3.

Jesus’ intention is to reveal that, as the Son of Man, He

came into the world to seek and save the lost. The threeillustrations, when combined, present us with a far morecomplete picture of the redemptive work of Jesus Christthan would only one. Concern over a thing lost and thejoy at recovering it is the fundamental issue of eachillustration. The sheep, the money, and the son—all lost—were all worth saving. It was a serious matter to lose asheep, worse to lose money, and worst of all to lose a son.Part One of this three-part study will analyze what iscommonly known as the Parable of the Lost Sheep.

1. What is the reason Jesus spoke this parable of the lostpossessions? Psalm 119:176; Ezekiel 34:11, 16.COMMENT: This parable results from a statement made bythe scribes and Pharisees, “This man receives sinners andeats with them” (Luke 15:2). As the end of Jesus’ publicministry neared, the downtrodden, the despised, the lowly,and the sinful were drawn to Him. They were sincere intheir desire to be raised out of their poor condition andgenuine in their desire to follow Him, and He publiclyidentified Himself with them. Unlike the Pharisees, thesesinners knew they were sinners and needed to be saved.

By this parable, the Pharisees stood condemned, and sothey found fault with the godly work Jesus Christ wasdoing. Their criticism implied that Christ allowed thesesinners in His presence because He was like them incharacter. They never understood that He allowed them inHis presence to save them from their sins, as Ezekiel hadprophesied.2. How does the illustration of the lost sheep in Luke 15:1-7 differ from a similar one in Matthew 18:12-14?COMMENT: In Matthew, Jesus describes God’s care overthe least and little ones. In Luke, He magnifies divine graceto the lost, showing that God desires their recovery andsalvation. The Bible contains many prophetic referencesto the One who would be the Ideal Shepherd (Psalm 23:1),the Perfect Shepherd (Ezekiel 34:11-16), and a Saviorwho would see the multitudes as sheep having no shep-herd or, even worse, a worthless shepherd (Zechariah11:16-17). Christ claims for Himself the title of the GoodShepherd (John 10:11, 14). In Luke’s illustration, Jesusseeks the lost sheep, sinners who desire to change be-cause the Good Shepherd gives His life for those whorepent. He desires to save them, give them His Holy Spirit,and help them through a life of overcoming that ends ineternal life.3. Who does the one lost sheep represent? Luke 15:1, 4;Ezekiel 14:11.COMMENT: The lost sheep knew that, without the instruc-tion and the care of the shepherd, it was lost. Neverthe-

less, because of curiosity, it strayed, wandering awayfrom the shepherd (James 1:14). The lost sheep repre-sents the foolish and thoughtless wanderer from God towhom He says, “Do not listen to anything that will lead youaway from Me and My truth.” The caution in Proverbs19:27—“Cease listening to instruction, my son, and youwill stray from the words of knowledge”—is not just forchildren but for the well-educated adult who insteadlistens to the ungodly teachings of those who feignknowledge (II Timothy 4:3-4). How often have Christiansallowed themselves to be enticed away by their ownintellectual vanity? God corrects this type of person’sstraying by allowing the curse of his sins to fall upon him.4. Why is there more joy over the repenting sinner than theloyal and faithful righteous? Luke 15:5-7.COMMENT: Just people need no repentance because theyneed no change of mind and purpose. Some people werereared in a godly and righteous family environment. Theirparents obeyed and worshipped according to God’s laws,statutes, and ordinances, and taught their children to dolikewise. The Gentile Cornelius was one such man (Acts10:1-2). Of course, no human being is completely just(Ecclesiastes 7:20), but he may be righteous in compari-son to those who flagrantly sin, such as those succinctlydescribed in Luke 15:1. A just person cannot repent of theidolatries of a pagan, which he has not practiced, nor ofthe larcenies of a tax collector, of which he has never beenguilty. When comparing just people to flagrant sinners, weimmediately see what Jesus means: These needed norepentance in comparison to the others, not being guilty ofsuch gross sins.

There is more immediate joy over a sinner who repentsand follows Christ than over those who are alreadyrepentant and safely within God’s flock. The latter alreadyhave greater and more intimate happiness—eternal joy!—within the Family of God. Faithful members should beelated by the fact that their Shepherd loves and cares forthem so intimately. And for the one who strayed, upongenuine repentance, there is hope of salvation.

volume 13, number 3 - pdf.cgg.org rizal 1860 philippines 3 personal from john w. ritenbaugh the...

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