The BIG Picture (Study)

Biblical cycles of 7-years, called: " Shemitah's " In the Bible, a 'type' is a divinely purposed illustration of some truth and is often a prophetic foretelling of future events.  The 'type' can be: a person (Rom.5:14) a thing (Heb.10:19-20) an institution (Heb.9:11-12) a ceremonial (1 Cor.5:7) an event (1 Cor.10:11) The Greek word týpos, meaning "example", describes a model or pattern in the Old Testament that is fulfilled in scripture, often typifying the life and ministry of Jesus Christ . The word týpos (in the KJV Bible) is also translated as "pattern" (Titus 2:7; Hebrews 8:5), "form" (Romans 6:17), "print" (John 20:25), "ensample" (1 Cor.10:11), "fashion" (Acts 7:44), "figure" (Acts 7:43; Romans 5:14), and "manner" (Acts 23:25). There are many types and patterns found in scripture and each one has real meaning and purpose...

The Stages of Christ's Ascension and Return (Part 10) The return of Jesus Christ is in stages that symmetrically correspond to the stages of His ascension. Because of this pattern (as with many other types and patterns in the Word), it helps us to gain deeper insights, and piece together scriptures, that provide a bigger picture of the redemption plan of God throughout the ages. Connecting the dots on past events is easy due to hindsight, but the types and patterns in the Word really do assist in building a more insightful understanding of future events, as what we are discussing in this series of posts. In  part 8 , we put focus on the position of Christ as he returns for the church, which is His Body, before the 7-year Tribulation. Our focus was on a 'silent' rapture based on underlying points of study we expounded on in that post. In this post we will continue to the next stage of Christ's return, being the stage when he appears in the clo...

The Stages of Christ's Ascension and Return (Part 4) In Part 3 of this post series , we had a look at the continued ascension of Jesus from the clouds (the position in which Stephen saw Jesus in Acts 7:55-56 ), to the position in light which He occupied according to  1 Tim.6:16 . Between these two scripture references, it clearly identified Jesus in two different places. However, I won't be dogmatic and claim that these two positions are separated by the "waters above the firmament", but based on my current convictions, I'll illustrate it as such in my diagram below. (The purpose of the diagram is simply to show the eventual symmetry between Christ's ascension and return. I don't claim it to be accurate in depicting locations or positions in the heavenly ascension).  In this 'short' post, I'd like to identify one final position, as quoted from scripture, in which Jesus ascended to. This I believe is the throne of God and the ultimate position...

The Stages of Christ's Ascension and Return When we delve into future events in the Bible, like the rapture, the tribulation, and Millennial Kingdom, one has to understand that there is a measure of assumption based on what the scriptures say, and how one interprets it. Even though the Bible provides details of the future, we do not fully understand how these events will play out, and in what order they will occur. We know from scripture that the Tribulation will happen. We know what the Tribulation is and we know its purpose. We know there will be an Antichrist and we know he will rule the world for a set period. But, although the scripture makes some things clear, there are still guesses around some cryptic details regarding this time, (see Deut.29:29 ). The fact remains that not even the best Bible scholars can accurately instruct us of exact times and details of future events in prophecy. It remains up to us to study the Word as best as possible an...

Prayer in the Grace Dispensation The Grace Dispensation brought about MANY changes in lifestyle and patterns. Prayer is one of these attributes that radically changed from how the Gospels represent it.  Let's have a look at prayer in this grace dispensation. One cannot deny that the change in dispensation from Prophecy to Mystery altered the entire lifestyle of the believer. When Paul started revealing the mystery doctrine, his teachings were quite literally the flip-side of a coin from the Kingdom message. God's new economy was grace, through the finished cross work of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus had done ALL that was required to satisfy the law, law that accused and condemned men , God's grace could abound, setting men free, and regenerating their dead spirit, filling it with the Spirit of Life in Christ. Romans 3:20 The...

Follow me as I follow Christ All through the gospels, Jesus proclaimed, "Follow me ..." . Here are a few examples, ( Matt.4:19, Matt.9:9, Matt.16:24, Matt.19:21, Mark 8:34, Mark 10:21, Luke 9:23, Luke 18:22, John 10:27, John 12:26 ). As one can deduce from these examples, the phrase wasn't so much an invitation to follow Him where ever He walked, but rather to copy Him in lifestyle, in attitude, in deeds and in manner. To become a disciple and imitate Him and devote ones life to His example.  Not many people are aware however, that Paul also said, "Follow me ..." . Let's have a look at an example, Phil.3:17  Brethren,  be followers together of me , and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. In the context of this verse, his call for others to follow is similar to that of Jesus regarding imitating him, following his example and lifestyle. Now this raises the question, why did Paul say this? Wouldn't this...

Q-A: Did Paul commit the unforgivable sin? Before we can answer this question, lets review the scripture passage that mentions the unforgivable sin. We find it in Matthew's gospel where Jesus is speaking, Matthew 12:30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. 31 "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come . In order to get a better understanding on what Jesus meant in this passage, I recommend to first read  " What is the unforgivable sin? "  and then return here to complete the rest of this article.  As m...

Paul, The First into a New Program It is incredibly important to understand God's Word in the right context, and this is greatly supported by identifying periods of time, being aware of patterns or nuances, recognizing people groups and changes in program or instruction throughout the Bible. The example below is one such instance where, based on what Paul says, "that IN ME first...as a pattern..." , it could be a bit confusing what he means by it! We have to dig in deeper and analyze why Paul said this and understand it in context with right division in the Word. A very interesting scripture to analyze in regard to the divisions within the Word is, 1 Timothy 1:15-16 It is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief [foremost] . But for this reason, I obtained mercy, in order that in me first , Christ Jesus might show all patience [longsuffering, grace] as a pattern to those ...