Love Biblical Style

I'm old enough to remember the TV comedy show called "Love American Style" that ran from 1969 to 1974. And during the years 1971 & 1972 (when I was 10 & 11 yrs old) it was part of the prime time Friday night line up that my parents let us stay up late for.

Between all those Fri. night shows (that included The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family and The Odd Couple) my parents had no clue what we ended up "learning" about relationships and love during those formative years!
But in hindsight they were quaint, I can only imagine what kids are picking up from the TV these days!

Love, when presented in a comedy situation, will focus on the pit falls and errors and difficult situations while providing a contemporary solution at the end of the show. Often the characters were confronted with moral limitations, heartbreak or anger, and struggled with them.
Regardless the problems, at the end of the 30 minute show everyone had big smiles as the credits rolled.

Never was Jesus mentioned though.

With all the trash in our media today, and the vitriolic anger displayed on our streets, I thought a review of how The Bible defines Love was in order.
So what follows is a study of "Love Biblical Style"!

The questions I hope to answer are:

• What is love?
• How can we see God's love in the life of Jesus?
• How can we love?

Revelation Ch. 12 Prophecy Fulfilled!

September 23, 2017 will be one of the most amazing days ever!
It's the ONLY time EVER in history that a particular celestial event will take place! A "great sign" in heaven!

The only day rivaling it was when the star of Bethlehem appeared to the 3 Magi indicating the birth of the King of Judah on September 11, 3BC!

If that wasn't enough, what makes this even more remarkable is this celestial event appears on the last day of the two-day Jewish Feast of Yom Teruah (Day of Shouting), otherwise known as Rosh Hashana (Head of the Year - New Years Day).
And my what a day it will be, full of noise and a great celestial wonder!

This day will also be the start of the fulfillment of all the events mentioned in Revelation chapter 12. Yes, you read that right - Biblical prophecy is going to be fulfilled right in front of our eyes starting this year!

For eons nobody understood what any of the language meant in Rev. ch 12: wonders in heaven, great wonder, a woman, a dragon etc etc... they all seemed so science fiction and defied logical explanations. But now we know they are referring to astronomical events among the constellations as well as events on Earth.

The whole chapter of Revelation 12 contains many prophecies that I cannot cover completely in one post, so today we are only dealing with verses 1-5 and the woman giving birth.

(Revelation 12:1-5)
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Notice I highlighted "great wonder" and underlined "wonder". First of all, while the word translated as "wonder" in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is appropriate, it misses what the wonder is.

The word in the original Greek is "sēmeion" (Strong's #G4592)as is defined as meaning: an indication, especially ceremonial or supernatural, miracle, sign, token, wonder.

And secondly, this wonderful sign is "great". It is the only sign noted as such in The Bible so we should all take notice of it and proclaim it to the world!

God told us back in Genesis, at the time of creation, about the heavenly bodies in the sky and about their purposes:

(Genesis 1:14)
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years

So we can see that God told us ahead of time to look for these things as signs. Just as the star over Bethlehem told the 3 Magi of the birth of the King of Juday, the sign on September 23, 2017 tells us of another birth!

The question before us at this time is: What exactly is this sign and what is God trying to tell us?

The "World" in Prophecy

In Biblical prophecy, one of the first things you are confronted with is that some really bad things are going to happen that affect the people in the world prior to the return of Christ. Whether it's the mark of the beast, or the plagues or war.

Obviously, if you are in the world, then you would be impacted by these terrible things. And that makes doctrines such as the Rapture so attractive, because it gives us a reason to hope that we wont be in the world when these things take place.

But what does the Bible mean when it mentions the word "world"?

The answer all depends on where in the Bible you read it. We who speak English, only have the one word, but it can mean several different things to us. World can mean the Earth, a domain or a personal sphere of influence. Very much like the word universe.

For example, in Acts 15:18, the word world means the Earth.

(Acts 15:17-18)
Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

It's clear in the context of the verse that it means the Earth. Also, the actual Greek word used in the original manuscript for that phrase is aiōn which means: since the eternal past, the beginning of the age, by implication the Earth. (Strong's ref #G165)

And nobody doubts that interpretation since it fits so well in the context of the verse. But if we look at a couple other verses that use the word world, we'll see something completely different.

In Acts 17:6, 19:27 & 24:5 all use a completely different Greek word that we have translated as the world in our English Bibles.

(Acts 17:6)
And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also

(Acts 19:27)
So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

(Acts 24:5)
For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:

The Greek word used in the original manuscript, in ALL 3 of those verses, is oikoumenē, which means: land, ie terrene part of the globe where people dwell, region, by implication the Roman empire. (Strong's ref #G3625)

The interpretation of the Roman empire being the "world" in this case makes sense in the context of each one of those verses. So we can see that, sometimes in the Bible,the world has a much more limited meaning than that of the whole planet.

But what does that have to do with Biblical prophecies, specifically the bad things mentioned in the book of Revelation?

Well, I'm glad you asked!

Back in the saddle again

Well...After a couple year hiatus I do believe it's time for me to saddle up and start blogging again. With all that is happening in the world right now, you can say without a doubt that the Bible is more up to date and relevant than your daily newspaper!

We see geopolitical events, astronomical events and social events all taking place RIGHT NOW that were predicted in the Bible thousands of years ago. These events were once upon a time thought of only in academic discussions of Biblical prophecy and only considered to be real for some future time far beyond our own lifetimes. But now we see undeniably that they are happening now!

I have been praying for God to lead me and direct me if I happened to be alive during this time. I ask for those things anyways as normal way of life, but I made a special point to ask for guidance if I saw Bible prophecy being fulfilled in front of my very eyes. I believe that writing about it is part of what I'm to do now.

So this blog will go through it's own rebirth of sorts and focus on world events from a prophetic point of view while always knowing that when the storm is past - there will be an unclouded day waiting for all of us who have faith in Jesus Christ.

I will be referencing and linking to writers who have done more research than I can do. But I will be putting selecting stories and events that highlight what I see as proof of Biblical prophecy being fulfilled, or that create an environment where it would be possible for it to be fulfilled.

I am no prophet. I am no expert. I am but a man of faith, an adopted child of God, who has been anxiously waiting for the return of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I hope that the things you find here increase your faith, excite you, and give you hope that his return is near!

(Matthew 24:32-34 KJV)
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.