Watching the Weather, Discerning the Times

Most believers agree we are living in the "latter days." Not everyone agrees on exactly what that means though.

We are encouraged in scripture to be discerners of the times in which we live; this means we ought to be able to see the hand of God at work in the world around us, and we ought to be able to understand, based on scripture, the prophets, and the writings of the apostles, where God is headed and what He is doing.

As I endeavor to be faithful to discern the times in which I live, I am fascinated by what is going on far from the limelight, away from the media and popular culture. For example:

• Jews and non-Jewish believers coming together in ways not imagined a generation ago.
• Muslims coming to faith in Yeshua (Jesus) in record numbers.
• False religions, including many false "christian" religions, showing their true colors and rising up against the nation of Israel and Jewish people, while embracing every abomination that God has said He hates.
• The dramatic resurgence of anti-semitism (more properly called "anti-israelism" or "anti-Judaism" since nearly all of the Arab nations are also semitic.)
• The rapid and very liquid rearrangement of the geopolitical powers in the world.

I am not converting to Judaism, but I AM learning a lot about the history of both Judaism and Christianity, and I am learning a lot about what really pleases God, what He says about Himself and our relation to Him, and what will come to pass in these "latter days."

I am challenged by these verses from the Bible:

• "Do not be arrogant toward the branches" (Rom. 11:18)
• "Thus says the Lord of Hosts 'In those days ten men from the nations of every language will grasp the garment of a Jew saying ' ' let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' ' " (Zech. 8:23)
• "This people draw near to me with their words, and honor me with lip service; but they remove their hearts far from me." (Isaiah 29:13)
• "In vain do they worship Me, teaching the precepts of men as if they were the commandments of God." (Matt. 15:9)

As I consider all of these things, and consider my place in the world and in the body of true believers, the conclusion I come to is that God is doing a supernatural work, in our day, to bring His house into order, to reconcile the covenant people (Jew and non-Jew) and to prepare the bride of Yeshua.

I have to confess that, even as I see these great and glorious things happening, I am also seeing dark things. The enemy of God's people is also on the move.

• Demonic activity is accelerating (or at least becoming more evident and less hidden.)
• People are openly celebrating and "enjoying" every imaginable type of perversion, and even government entities are openly persecuting those who hold to godly morality and ethics.
• At the same time, "mental illness" is dramatically increasing; people are feeling lost and hopeless, and fear is gripping their hearts: fear of death, loss, economic uncertainty, etc.
• I even find, in my own life, spiritual and physical attacks are increasing against me and my loved ones.

So, seeing that these things be so, how then ought we to live? I believe the verses I quoted earlier in this post give some clues:

We need to STOP teaching the precepts (doctrines) of men as if they are the commandments of God. We need to get back to the pure Word of God, and stop depending on men to interpret the Word to us. We need to get into the Word for ourselves, and let the Holy Spirit open it up to us. (This does not mean we cannot have teachers and mentors, but we need to choose them very carefully and prayerfully.)

We need to acknowledge the value and position of Jews within the covenant family of Yehovah, and allow them, even ENCOURAGE them, to fulfill their God-given role.

We need to be more open in acknowledging the value of good works - not as an end in themselves, and not as a way of "earning" salvation; rather, good works are a weapon in our arsenal for spiritual warfare, and we need to use good works as tools to push back the darkness and bring light (Hebrew: owr) to our world - our sphere of influence.

We need to be sacrificial in our giving, both of our resources AND of our time. We need to be willing to actively invest in the lives of others so that they can see our good works and glorify God.

These things are not technically difficult, but they DO require a paradigm shift in how we view and approach God, what we perceive as "pleasing" to God, and how we talk about spiritual things.

One of the things I have to be mindful of is, what are we talking about when we discuss spiritual things? For example, if you and I have a conversation about "God", who are we discussing? The God of traditional Christianity? The God of traditional Judaism? The God of Islam? They are NOT all the same.

Similarly, if we are discussing the Messiah, are we discussing the traditional Christian image of Jesus Christ in the Greco-Roman tradition? Are we discussing the concept of Meshiach as embodied in traditional Jewish thought and teaching? Are we discussing the "white Imam" of Islam? Again, these concepts of a messiah are NOT all equal.

These questions are forcing me to change my vocabulary; but as I do so I must be sensitive, I must be careful not to "lose my audience." I have to find a space where I can communicate on these issues with people who perhaps have never considered the topics before, or never had the tools or knowledge to consider the topics critically and correctly.

That's a tall order; but as we move forward in these latter days people, especially believers and those who are truly seeking the Truth, need to understand what is going on in the world and where God, Adonai, El-Elyon, is headed. The battle is going to get more heated as time goes on, the darkness will appear, for a time, to be getting darker, and human institutions are going to begin to fail. All this will happen as the One True God prepares His people, and His creation, for His eminent return. There will only be two choices - line up with God and His Word, and submit to His authority, or be lost in the darkness. Pat answers and religious cliche's aren't going to save anyone; many will say in that day "did we not cast out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead in Your name? And He will say to them "depart from Me; I never knew you."

I don't want to be in that group.

I'm watching the weather, and I see storm clouds on the horizon; I think it's time to decide where we are going to find our shelter.