The Sign of Jonah

 

Sign of Jonah, The only Sign given

                          The Sign of Jonah 

    If you have read the story of Jonah you know he was running from God for part of his life.  Mainly because he did not want to do what God told him to.  He was supposed to lead the city of Nineveh to repentance.  He did not think they were worth saving.  During my life I went through a similar situation.  The only difference between me and Jonah is that I realized I was not worth saving either. Eventually Nineveh did fall and cease to be a city.  Judgment did come, but it comes on God’s schedule not ours.

      The point I am trying to make is made pretty clear in the book of Amos.  It says God gave all the nations four chances.  I have found three mentioned in the old testament that refer to Israel.  So where is Israel’s fourth time?  Personally I think we are living in it. Biblical history can be divided in to three basic parts.  What I am about to say is based on the verse that says, “A day with the Lord is as a thousand years.” Based on that accounting, the period before the great flood which was almost two thousand years long would be the equivalent of two days.

     Then there were about two days(or 2000 years) after the flood until the coming of Jesus.  That would be a period of two days from the flood to the fall of Israel and the rise of the Gentiles using God’s timetable.  So basically we have accounted for a four day period.

     Jesus said nothing would happen until “the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled.” Well it has been almost two days or two thousand years since Jesus. So if he gave the Gentiles the same time line as he did the pre-flood time and the time of the Jewish nation, our time is up.  Now we have used up six days and anybody who reads the Bible can understand that the seventh day is the Day of the Lord.

       I have heard many people argue Christ was not in the earth three days.  They can do so, but it will be as God proclaimed it. It will be on his time table not mans.  If that is the case, the time should be at hand. Jesus said we would not know the day nor the hour, but he did say we would be able to discern the time.  

      It has been two thousand years since Christ came or the equivalence of two days based on God’s time table.  We are entering the start of the seventh day, which is the Day of the Lord or the third day since Christ was crucified.  Jesus said the sign of Jonah would be the only sign given to an evil and adulterous generation.  That is in Matthew 12. 

      Jesus did spend his whole last night on earth describing what was to come.  It does not take a vivid imagination to know we are living in a time just like he described.  Simply reading the sixth chapter of Genesis lays it out pretty clear.

       In the course of many years of studying the Bible I discovered there are three periods of five hundred years in the Old Testament which deal with Israel.  Each period of time begins with a four hundred thirty year period and is followed by a period of seventy years.  As I said earlier, God made clear in Amos that he gave all the nations a fourth chance.  Therefore it seems pretty logical he would give Israel a fourth period of time also.

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       I could not find a fourth period in the Old Testament,  but when I was helping my daughter do a paper on Martin Luther it became clear to me that there was a fourth period.  It is just not Old Testament.  Martin Luther nailed his treatise to the door of the church in 1517.  Israel became a nation again in 1948, or so I thought. When I looked it up in the World Book Encyclopedia it said the matter was bought before the United Nations and voted on in November 1947.  That is a period of four hundred and thirty years just like in the Old Testament. 

     In Acts 1: 8-11, it makes clear that Jesus will come back in like manner as he ascended into heaven.  This is my interpretation of that statement, but I am comfortable with it.  Just as Jesus journey up began by his being nailed to the cross (wood), his return spiritually would begin the same way.  When His Word, Christ was the Word incarnate, was nailed to door he returned.  It was stressed in Acts that His Word would be shared with the whole world.  That is something that was enabled by all the events of the time shortly before Martin Luther, The printing press in the 1450’s and Columbus’ voyages opened the door to the fulfilling of prophecy.  Especially the words of Daniel

                                                  Chapter 12

1And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.  4But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

5Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.   6And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?  7And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.  8And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? 9And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. 11And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.   12Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. 13But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. 

    Use your own judgment, but mine says we are standing at the time of the end.  Based on the Old Testament and the seventy year periods we are standing at the door and should be looking up.  If you are curious about the four hundred and thirty year period or the seventy year period just type, either one in the search bar on my blog and you will find several articles dealing with the issue.

A Meal with the Least of These

 

A Meal with the Least of These.

                                        Casa Blanca

      Back in the late nineties my wife and I went to the National Church of Christ Convention.  It was sort of a strange time for us as my wife and I attended the Instrumental Church of Christ.  My daughter and her husband attended the Non-Instrumental Church of Christ. We had the opportunity and time to attend the National Convention with them in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

   Over the years I have had many people ask me what the difference is.  The only answer I could come up with was that when the first Church of Christ split, the ones who got the piano became the instrumental church and the ones who did not have a piano became the non-instrumental.  Being truthful I do not have an answer. I do love to hear really good acappella music though.  There is nothing prettier than perfectly harmonized voices.  Supposedly instruments are not mentioned in the New Testament, which is supposedly the basis for the non-instrumentalist churches decision.  In Psalm 98 it says. 

   
        4Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. 5Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. 6With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King. 7Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.  8Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together 9Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

     So to me it is a matter of the whole Word, or picking and choosing. Both churches tend to not have women in positions of authority or preaching, which they will tell you is totally Biblical. The non-instrumental tend to be a New Testament based churches and kind of discount the fact that the 98^th Psalm is in the Old Testament.  In verse 3 & 4 it says make a joyful noise unto, all the ends of the earth and to all the earth, which were not even discovered until long after all the Words of the Bible were written. They argue we are not under the law, but they believe in the story of creation and it is old testament. So it is a matter of what one chooses to believe. To me it is, "The Whole Word and Nothing but the Word."

    The keynote speaker told a joke the first night that set the tone for the whole convention, It was very controversial, but he wanted to make a point. The joke went something like this.  A man died and went to heaven. When he got to the Pearly Gates he was given a guided tour.  The guide took him down a long hall with doors on both sides.  He started explaining who was in each room. This room is the Methodist, this one is Baptist and this one is the Episcopalians.  Then he told the man when we pass this next room we have to be real, real quiet.  The man asked why.  The guide explained to him that the next room was the Church of Christ and they think they are the only ones here.

     There was a deafening silence for a minute or so.  Then a quiet applause started to build.  It never did get very loud but it did go on for a while. It was a point of discussion for the rest of the convention.  The point was that no one was better than the other person. We will all get to heaven strictly by the Grace extended to us by God through Jesus Christ.

     It was my first ever convention and I was really amazed by it all.  They had a large hall where you could by T-shirts, CD’s and all kinds of things from bumper stickers to scheduling a group to attend your church and sing.  One of the neat features was the spontaneous singing that would spring up all over the hall.  It really touched me.

    The day we were getting ready to leave my daughter asked me what I liked best about the Convention and I said lunch.  She was shocked and I had to explain to her that it was not the meal  but the experience.

    Just down the street from the fairgrounds was a place called the Casa Blanca, which was a Mexican restaurant, it was laid out with a cave motif.  You had to go down two long halls before you got served.  Many of the tables were in areas that resembled small caves. Even being four and five abreast the line moved fairly smoothly, though slowly.  Some of the people started singing gospel songs at barely a whisper.  It was a moving experience. Suddenly I had an Epiphany and started crying and I could not stop.  My wife said what is wrong. I could barely speak I was so moved.  Like I said it was like we were going down this long cave into a dungeon.  I could suddenly see the early Christians going down the same path to be martyred. Finally I got it together enough to speak. I said, “We are here in line going to lunch, I just realized the difference between us and the early Christians.  We are going to eat lunch, but they were going to be lunch.” Suddenly I had a whole company of blubbering people around me.

      My daughter was moved to tears when she saw I was not making fun of her but had, had a really moving experience.  It has touched me over the years and sort of gave me a ministry during my truck driving years.  When I would see a person sitting

 on their bags outside the truck stop I would invite them to have lunch with me. It would give me the opportunity to see if I could help them in some way. Sometimes I could and sometimes I did.  Other times I just got to share that God was still looking to help those that had needs.

    So the next time you see the guy with the sign, “Will work for food.” Offer to take him to lunch and find out what his needs really are.  Just handing someone cash is not biblical. Read II Thessalonians 3:10. If you consider holding a sign work, go ahead. The Lord corrected me for doing that, but that is another story. 

     Sometimes they just need a short ride up the road.  Sometimes a shower and a place to rest for a bit.  Sometimes just giving them some money, usually by letting them pay for the meal, with my money.  I would let them keep the change if it would help get them through the day.  After eating a meal with a person you will know if you feel comfortable going a step farther in helping them.  Sometimes just giving away a free shower at a truck stop or letting them sleep in my truck while I ate would help as much or more than a meal.  Nothing tests your faith like leaving a running truck and quarter million dollars worth of equipment and cargo in the hands of a complete stranger.  The point is if you feel you are truly being moved by God to help someone, test the spirits first and do it.

Further Down the Path

      This probably should have been my blog post title to start with. Rambling is what I do.  I travel where my nose leads me and share what I feel moved to share.