Urgent kind of thing, as in 'RUN!'

(travel notes are at bottom of this post)

“Every day of the dispensation of grace is called ‘the last day’ because we don’t have any promise of another day, but there is going to be a day that is THE last day and when the Rapture comes, BOOM! that’s the end of it and the dispensation of grace is over,” says Richard Jordan. “So the closer you get to the Rapture, the stage begins to be set for the last days of prophecy.

“If you’re a Jew in the tribulation period, you know without even batting an eye that you’ve got at least seven more years to go until the Antichrist is revealed, and when he’s revealed and the 70^th week of Daniel begins to tick off, you can begin to count the days because there’s going to be 1,260 days and a break and then 1,260 more days.

“There are going to be 42 months and 42 months, 3½ years and 3 ½ years and then Christ is going to be there. So they have a time schedule to count. We don’t have that.

Jesus informs in Matthew 24:22, [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

“When He says the days will be shortened, He’s not talking about making 1,260 into only 1,220. He’s saying, ‘If this tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be is allowed to run its course, there ain’t gonna be anybody left.’

“So what’s He going to do? He’s going to shorten it; He’s only going to go so far and stop it. He’s going to stop it after 1,260 days. Just like right now He withholdeth that (II Thessalonians 2), He’s going to stop it before it reaches its full end or before the deception is so great nobody would ever be saved. He’s not going to let it go to its conclusion because if it was left to run its natural course the stuff would be so bad everybody would be gone.

Christ's survival instructions in Matthew 24 include, [23] Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
[24] For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
[25] Behold, I have told you before.

*****

Daniel 9:27 reports about this time in the tribulation, [27] And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

“The reason the Bible says ‘the midst of the week’ is because there’s a specific middle point to it all. Instead of trying to find that one day, you’ll find a period of time. In the midst of the week that abomination of desolation is set up and now the die is cast.

“Now is the time they’re going to have to either decide to take ‘the mark of the beast,’ or not to take it. This is when there will be that division between parents where they’re literally going to have kids turning their parents in and parents turning their kids in.

“There’s going to be this dividing line based upon this and there’s going to be people who say about the Antichrist, ‘He IS the Messiah; he’s the one.’ You’re going to have other people say, ‘No, he’s not the one,’ and that’s why I John talks about how ‘every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.’

“They’re going to say, ‘No, he’s already been here,’ and the others are going to say, ‘No, he hasn’t. Here he is!’ and they’re going to be divided because of him. That thing becomes not just an idea; it becomes the issue they face directly and so Luke 21 says, ‘Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.’

“Who are the people who flee into the mountains? People in Judea, not Chicago. Why are they going to flee to the mountains?

“Revelation 12:13-14 says, [13] And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. [14] And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

“Now, that takes place in the midst of the week. Same time period. They’re going to flee into that wilderness and the word ‘wilderness’ there is the idea of a place that’s not occupied.

“There are places in the Old Testament, in the books of Jeremiah (chapter 15) and Micah (chapter 7), for example, that tell them specifically where to go. And when they get there, they’re going to be nourished.

“They’re literally going to be fed with manna. Has that ever happened before? You think if it’s happened before it might give them some instructions about how it might happen again? That ‘fleeing’ is because in Jerusalem is where the persecution’s going to be. They’re told to get out of there and it’s an urgent kind of thing.

“Watch how Jesus Christ says it in Matthew 24:17: ‘Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house.’

“We don’t have structures like that, but when you go to that part of the world you discover most of the houses have flat roofs with gardens and living areas on the top. If you don’t know that go watch the Jason Bourne adventures and he’s jumping from housetop to housetop. This kind of construction here tells you that you’re talking about something that’s not just generic in its location.

“Christ says in verse 18, ‘Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.’ He’s talking, ‘Listen, when the sound goes up, don’t go home and pack a bag-- RUN!’ It’s that serious. That’s the idea.

“He says, ‘[19] And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
[20] But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day.’

“Again, the issue is if you’re ‘great with child’ you’re not really in a hiking mode. If you have to nurse children, that’s going to slow you down, too. Pray that that’s not what happens to you. The issue is the urgency of this. This is something they need to get on with quickly. ‘Get out of town, get there!’

“As verse 21 says, [21] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. By the way, you notice it doesn’t say THE Great Tribulation? We use that term a lot but the Bible talks about ‘great tribulation.’ "

*****

Here is the continuation from my post on 10/19 entitled “Products of our childhood” and will continue with this tomorrow:

The biggest takeaway from my trip to my hometown of Loudonville, OH on October 17 is that I knew I was really going home--like no other place I've ever lived.

After all, having moved there from Akron at age 10 and not leaving until going away to college at 18, it’s where I really became me--my personality, my convictions, my affinities, my dreams, on and on.

Getting off at the Sunbury exit of I-71N is when the journey home, after a 24-year absence, really started to take hold of me.

Despite all the retail and housing development, I knew old Route 36 from the many, many times I’d traveled between Loudonville and Columbus over the years, most especially after I got my first car (a used Plymouth Horizon hatchback) my junior year at Ohio State and could drive home whenever I wanted.

The first town to grab me was Centerburg, which still has the sign at the village limits to tell you it’s the “Geographical Center of Ohio.” More than a few times I rode my bike all the way to Centerburg before heading back home on a real hilly Route 3. This was soon after I first got serious about cross-country cycling my senior year of high school.

Next up was Mt. Vernon (settled in 1805), “America’s Hometown,” as recognized on its town entry sign. I remember when there was an entry sign letting you know it was the “Home of Paul Lynde,” a comedian (Uncle Arthur from Bewitched and the “center square” on The Hollywood Squares game show) who always portrayed himself as being effeminate. Among many historical buildings in downtown Mt. Vernon is an opera house that is the oldest of its kind in America.

I was near-mesmerized the closer I got to Loudonville and the sentimental emotions washed over me when I saw the little old stone Zion Lutheran church that sits on a hilltop right next to the road near Jelloway, OH, which is 9 miles from Loudonville.

How many times I would ride my bike to this church as my intended destination before turning back home. I would often get off my bike there and sit on the front stoop, drinking water and resting.