Before I can start on a number of things I want to write about – an endless number of things probably – I think I should set the scene. Before the building, the foundation.
But before I start on that, a disclaimer. This essay is not directly concerned with the current pandemic, nor specific events of ‘end times’ prophecy. Though I believe a general understanding of the world – an informed world view – gives perspective which is needed to understand current and future events. And on that note…
What are we doing here? More to the point, what is God doing?
Jesus said, ‘The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth:’ John 5:19-20. And, ‘Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.’ John 15:15.
This particular essay is about the big picture of what God is doing in the earth.
Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.’ Matthew 13:33.
If you have made bread you will know it takes time, in particular, leavened dough takes time to rise. How much time, is governed by the process. Not the other way around. It is ready when it is ready – when it is fully risen. With more time, it will not rise further, or better. It is done.
Despite the above, it is sometimes done to ‘punch down’ the dough once it is risen – to expel the air from the dough and restart the rising process with a better starting population of yeast, because in punching down the dough, the living population of yeast will remain. The starting condition of the dough will also be different. The process of rising will happen again, from start to finish, but better. Also, in a ‘sour dough’ process, once the dough is risen a part of it may be kept back from baking and used to start a new batch. And it seems that in the ‘earth process’, God has done these types of things. Jesus gave two examples from history, and used these to foretell a third example still to come.
‘As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.’ Luke 17:26-30.
So on both these historical occasions, God demolished the whole society, one global, one local, but kept a remnant which then re-began the process of multiplication – both of population, and of faith, because the remnant saved by God were those who believed. But the point at which God intervened to ‘punch down the dough’, or bake it, saving the remnant, is instructive. In both cases it was the point at which there were no more believers at all except the few saved. I believe this is telling us that God wishes the process to reach its complete end, for the word and the knowledge of God to have yielded absolutely the entire possible yield before ‘time is called’, when a new process, a new work begins.
Consider also how, at the miraculous feeding of ‘a great multitude’ with five barley loaves and two fish described in the gospel of John, Jesus said, ‘Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.’ (John 6:12)
Even the crumbs which are the work of God should be gathered, so precious are they.
The Bible teaches that the work of God on Earth is not indefinite. It has an end. But the process to that end is lengthy, at least from our perspective. And it appears, as described above, that God has intervened in the past to re-initiate, to prolong the work overall, because a greater yield was purposed. The appointed potential of Earth had not been realised. Looking now at the billions of the earth, it is evident that a far greater harvest is possible today than would have been in the days of Noah, if that had been the final end. And the harvest is not measured only in numbers. But I believe that when the end comes, it will be final. The Kingdom of God will increase for ever and ever, but this work, the current work on Earth will be finished. This is the one and only run of Earth history, in which the fruit of the earth – faith in God, and love for God expressed by, and embodied in his children – is produced and gathered.
‘For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.’ Romans 8:19. ‘For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.’ Romans 8:22.
‘Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain.’ James 5:7.
We should remember too, that so great is the work of God in the earth, and so precious its fruit, that Jesus himself left his home, his divine estate in glory, at one with the Father, the most grevious separation, and suffered more greviously in his earthly life and death, more than can be imagined, that this work might be possible, and might be completed. In Revelation 13:8, Jesus is called ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’.
So, the work of God is unspeakably precious, and so is its fruit.
‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.’ Matthew 13:44.
The above parable has been interpreted as speaking of the decision that a person makes in choosing to follow Jesus. In so doing we lay before him all that we have, our whole lives we surrender to him and place in his hands. It cannot be denied that this is a reasonable interpretation, and may be a right interpretation of the above scripture. But to me it speaks of the price that Jesus paid, surrendering his place in heaven to come to earth, to pay the terrible price of his suffering and death for the field, the world. (In another parable in Matthew 13:38, Jesus said, ‘The field is the world’. This does not prove that such an interpretation is the only, or correct one for Matthew 13:44, but it is consistent with other words Jesus spoke.)
The reason I am referring to this parable of the treasure in the field is that it gives a perspective on the fruit of the earth, the prize for which, according to this interpretation, Jesus gave all – the treasure.
The treasure is a very small part of the field. But it is beyond price. As with the fragments gathered from the feeding of the great multitude, it is the work of a miracle made possible by the complete and ultimate sacrifice of God, and it can be produced no other way than through the world and its history, our lives and our part in it, and the work of God in our lives lived out. And this treasure, this fruit of the earth, our faith in God, our love for God, is everlasting. ‘And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.’ 1 John 2:17.
‘That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.’ 1 Peter 1:7. In this scripture we sense that trial by fire is a necessary step in the production of faith. Not in spite of the trial, but by the trial faith is made pure. Faith is not lost, nor is it diminished by the trial any more than gold is lost in refinement. What is lost, is not faith.
So in summary, our faith, embodied in ourselves, is most precious to God, and can only be produced through the current process of Earth history – a lengthy and in large measure excruciating process for God and for all creatures, but one that has an end, and which will never be repeated. Whereas our love for God, and faith in God, and relationship with God, is eternal, and cannot be established by any other means. At least, this is the means God has appointed, and as such, if not the only means, it is undeniably the best. It certainly could not have come at greater cost to Himself, and God is not wanton about any cost to Himself or others.
The exact number of days and hours of Earth history, the extent and final completion of the process, are therefore matters of the greatest solemnity, sacred to God, and known only to Him. Christians can be fond of the idea of ‘hastening his appearing’, that is, the return of Jesus Christ, signifying the end of the age. But in taking this view, do we hold in mind the sanctity of the current work, do we hold in awe the unthinkable price paid for its completion? Do we long after the last fragments of the treasure for which that price was not considered too great? And as He that paid that price waits with the patience of God, seeing every tear, hearing every groan and feeling every agony for his own, do we strive to know the smallest part of that patience – or only that patience might no longer be needed?
Here is one scripture where the ‘hastening’ thing may come from:
‘Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.’ 2 Peter 3:11-13.
Aha! My good old King James Bible says ‘hasting unto’, not ‘hastening the coming’ (NASB, NKJV), nor ‘speed its coming’ (NIV), nor the similar indications of so many other translations. ‘Hastening’, or ‘hasting unto’ – quite different ideas.
I’m not a scholar of Bible translation and I know no Hebrew or Greek (I look up a word in my old Strong’s concordance occasionally), I just know this is not the first time KJV simply makes more sense. No point arguing it – if you know the version, I will not be surprised if you hold a similar view. (There are also strange cults, apparently, who favour the King James version to a cultish extent and in so doing do nothing for its good reputation.)
In this instance it was my lack of diligence, taking on information second hand that led me to somehow imbibe another ‘version’ of the truth. Anyhow, good to put out there my primitive attitude and lack of qualifications because that could relieve many people of the inclination to read my blog, or this essay, if indeed there are any such people.
Anyhow, there is not a lot of scripture about ‘hastening the coming of the day of God’, perhaps not any if you read the King James version of the Bible. And it may well be that our gathering by the Lord to be with him comes first, perhaps much before his general appearing to the world (another thing I may write about). But here is one scripture, a saying of Jesus himself:
‘And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.’ Matthew 24:14.
How wonderful to hear Jesus himself, a Galilean prophet who claimed to be sent only to the nation of Israel, reveal his global vision for ages then to come! So, according to the ‘hastening the coming’ idea, once we get the job done (preaching the gospel throughout the whole world), Jesus will come again. Which, understandably, we may long for (and should long for, except some of us, looking at our preparedness, may do so with trepidation).
Of all the signs mentioned in the Bible in relation to the return of Jesus Christ, the completion of the preaching of the gospel throughout the world is one most closely linked with the actual time of Jesus’ return, because, ‘then the end shall come’. Whereas many signs are said to happen before Jesus returns, but how long before, we do not know. And it may be questioned exactly when the gospel might be considered preached throughout the world, seeing that hundreds of thousands who have not heard are born every day. But there does also seem to be a suggestion in the Bible that the preaching of the gospel in different places is not an overly repetitive work, e.g. Romans 15:20-21. And in our day, while God is not limited to worldly instruments, the connectivity and communications of our world mean that reaching the whole world with any message can be viewed as more practically feasible than ever before.
Nonetheless, the point I want to make is this: so long as the earth stands, and our Lord is not returned, we know that treasure is gathered unto him, and more so every day. Because, ‘Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David’. But when the earth yields for our Lord no longer, when the hearts and deeds of men are ‘only evil continually’ (Genesis 6:5), and faith in God no longer grows, then ‘as it was in the days of Noah’, and ‘as it was in the days of Lot’, the last remnant of the people of God will be whisked away, and the end of the age shall come.
I believe that our calling as the servants of God is not to hasten the end of his work in the earth he created and called ‘good’, but in a sense, to prolong it. Which is not to say there is not a day appointed when this age shall end – but I would rather be one who sustained the earth until that day by nurturing what spark of goodness remains, than one who hastened the time when it flickers its last, before darkness comes, then finally, light. Neither, by holding out and holding forth the light of God do I imagine the times foretold shall not come, as in the days of Lot, and as in the days of Noah. But if light on Earth be dimmed for a season, let us forestall that day, not merely count the days until. For as we hold back the night, hearts are won to our Lord.
‘That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life’. Philippians 2:15-16.
We know this present world will end – the Bible tells us that. And that there will be much evil in the world when it does end, or at least when Jesus returns at the end of the current age; this is described in the book of Revelation, and elsewhere in the New Testament. The world will not be perfect nor keep getting better nor get fixed before Jesus returns; people following that line are misguided it seems to me, according to my understanding of the Bible. Though we can make a difference, a good difference (Jude 1:22).
To serve God, therefore, we should seek the fulfillment of his purpose in the earth, the completion of his work. We must be ready to ‘gather the last fragments’, however long it takes. Because these are all the fragments of this type that will ever be gathered, in all eternity.
‘Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.’ (1 Corinthians 16:13; for those unfamiliar with KJV English, ‘quit’ here does not mean ‘give up’, but ‘acquit yourselves like men’). ‘Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ’ (1 Peter 1:13).
Amen.
wilderness99 