Bible Class E book 2013_purim

Purim

Psalms 149:5-9, “Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.�

Purim In the last days the children of God will no longer be at the mercy of the son’s of men who have ruled this world with cruelty and selfishness. We will no longer be the “flock of the slaughter”, not pitied by the shepherds, who are the rulers of this world. The voice of God will ring forth as it is written in II Esdras 15: 10, “Behold my people is lead as a flock to the slaughter: I will not suffer them now to dwell in the land of Egypt.” Wars have been fought over greed and hatred. The strong have slaughtered countless numbers of the weak, their god being the god of forces and of might. Millions have died through wars, violence and genocide.

In the last days the Lord will make a clear distinction between his children and the children of the devil. No longer will there be a grey area of people. People will either be holy or wicked. The decree will ring out, “He that is

unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.� The wickedness of the wicked will not be restrained by common good or compassion, or by the knowledge of good, because the knowledge of good will no longer be in them. But they will be restrained by force. They will be restrained by plagues and by fear of the execution of the judgment of God. God has a great army with a multitude of powerful angels. But God has given man the honor to fight for the truth, and to fight for their lives and their brethren.

The children of man will also help to execute vengeance on the wicked.

The story of Purim points to this time. The entire nation of Israel was set to be destroyed by the gentiles through the devices of wicked Haman. In the last days the children of God will be in even greater

danger, especially during the time of the Man of Sin. Esdras explains it in II Esdras 16:68-71, “For, behold, the burning wrath of a great multitude is kindled over you, and they shall take away certain of you, and feed you, being idle, with things offered unto idols. And they that consent unto them shall be had in derision and in reproach, and trodden under

foot.

For

there shall be in every place, and in the next cities, a great

insurrection

upon

those

that

fear the Lord.”

“Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops”

When Christ came the first time he came as a lamb meek and lowly of heart and the Father rained mercy and

goodness on the just and the unjust, and at this time we must also love our enemies and do good to those who despitefully use us and turn the other cheek. When Christ comes the second time he will not be the Lamb slain but the Lion of Judah. The Father will no longer rain goodness and mercy on the wicked, but will only give his goodness to his children. And we will no longer turn the other cheek with the wicked. We will be as our father then, as we are like him now. When Christ comes the second time he will come first within his children. And when he comes he will begin to destroy this world by measure, step by step, a set portion at a time. He will give his sword to his people. The first people who will be given the sword of the Lord are the 144,000. The sword of the Lord is his word. Hebrew 4:12, “For the word of God is quick 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.�

His word is powerful. It is also described as fire and tempests. Esdras describes the power of that word in II

Esdras chapter 13. It is about the man who came out of the sea, which symbolizes how Christ will come up first within his people, because the sea represents people. When he ascended, the people of the earth first feared him and then came up to overcome him. When the 144,000 are redeemed the people will first fear them and then try to fight them. And the chapter explains how out of his mouth came fire and tempest and how the multitudes of people were destroyed by the law.

There are many other scriptures that speak about the power of the remnant of Israel, and how they will defeat the wicked. We will read some of these scriptures at the end of the lesson.

The time of trouble During the time of the man of sin, there will be a terrible time of trouble. He will kill without mercy any who are weak, disabled or deemed unproductive. He will be in a murderous rage against all of the children of God. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit will already have occurred,

and the decree would have fallen. It will be easy to tell who is a child of God in those days because they will be entirely different from the wicked. The tabernacle will have come down, and the earth will have been torn to pieces. Many of the things that the wicked so loved and treasured would have been destroyed. And they are all very angry about that. Some of the righteous will be in the tabernacle or other protected places, but some of them must go through the time of trouble. These are the people in danger of the Man of Sin. The Lord has appointed the two witnesses which are groups of prophets who will fight against the beast by the word of their mouth which is fire, and will call down plagues on his kingdom. They will be given this power for 3 ½ years. Only after this time the man of sin will be given the power to capture them and he beheads them publicly. The wicked rejoice for 3 ½ days, and then they are resurrected and the last trumpet blows.

The battle of Armageddon The battle of Armageddon is the final battle that the saints fight against the wicked. At the resurrection, all of the saints are taken to heaven to meet the Father and to rejoice at the marriage supper of the Lamb. At the end of this time Christ will lead out first on a white horse and all of his armies following him and the wicked will be completely destroyed out of the earth. This is the honor spoken of in Psalms 149:5-9, “Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.�

Please read About the power of the remnant, Micah 5:5-15, Obadiah 17-21, Habbakuk 3:12-16, Zechariah12:1-8, Malachi 4:2-3 About the two witnesses Rev 11:1-13, and about the battle or Armageddon Rev 19:11-21, Ezekiel 38:14-23 67 verses