Dauthor Jacqueline (Jackie) Richey Weber
We read in the book of Jonah that “the word of the Lord came unto Jonah . . . saying, . . . ‘go to Nineveh’. . . . But Jonah rose up to flee . . . from the presence of the Lord, and . . . found a ship going to Tarshish” (Jonah 1:1-3).
Continue reading “The Sign of Jonah: Jesus’ Use of Scripture”
After writing the first contemplation on this subject, I decided to take another look at the Scriptures about “end times” and saw again, as I did in my childhood, plenty of Scriptural evidence for many of the “end times” teaching.
Using the word “parable” in its broadest sense (to include word pictures, personifications, similes, metaphors and allegories), it is probably the most common and effective means of both spoken and written communication available. It is the primary tool employed by Jesus when teaching. Actually, there is scarcely any account of anything in Scripture where the parable isn’t used—from the Garden of Eden in Genesis to the New Jerusalem in Revelation. And yet orthodox Christianity prides itself on sticking to a literal reading of Scripture whenever possible. Of course there are countless instances where it isn’t possible for even the most literal-minded person to read it thusly.
There are countless (and I do mean “countless”) books, pamphlets, papers, sermons and lectures available on the subject of “end times.” They are all about chronological countdowns, tribulations, resurrections and judgments. Some make a distinction between the “rapture” and the “second coming”; some do not. Many congregations and denominations have been formed, fractured or destroyed because of disagreements concerning these matters. Anyone wanting to make an exhaustive study of this subject will quickly find himself agreeing with Solomon:
The writer of the book of Hebrews says concerning the Word of God:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick [living and active], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
What is the Word of God that is so powerful? Is it the Bible?
Of course we know that God is omnipresent, which means that He is everywhere present, not in a geographical location. And of course God is not a “He” because He is not a man:
Remembering that the important thing is not right doctrine, but rather knowing and experiencing God, I want to look at the blood of Jesus.
People go around pleading the blood
; countless songs have been written about the efficacy of the blood; and the Christian religion has been labeled gory
and bloodthirsty
by many.
We cannot even see
it until we are born again
–or passed from death unto life. (John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.)