Month: May 2021 - Grace Panorama

The Parable of the

Wedding Feast

By Jan Lilleby

This parable is actually two parables, and nothing

in these parables, or any other parables told by Jesus

had anything to do with our present dispensation

of the free Grace Gospel according to Paul!

This parable seems to be prophetic – He pointed to something in the future to happen.

Why I say this is because there cannot be much doubt, as we look back at Bible history, that the first half of this parable found in Mat. 22:2-7 was what happened as the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, the temple and great parts of Israel in 70 AD.

Thus, I find it convenient to explain that part of the parable separately, and we shall then have a look at the second part after that.

From New King James Version, Mat. 22:2-7,

“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7: But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.” (In this narrative, the servants are the apostles and their associates)

We will notice that Jesus delivered this parable to the audience in the temple site, as it was the 13th of Nisan 28 AD (our 27th of April, Thuesday), the Passover was the next day, the day of the crucifixion of Jesus. IMAGE: The temple burning in 70 AD.

Jesus had cleansed the temple at 12th of Nisan (see Mat. 21:12, 13), healed many sick people and thus provoked the evil-minded Pharisees there. They were after Him, but they dared not arrest Him in the open – with the people there witnessing it, like told in Mat. 21:46,

“And although they were trying to arrest Him, they feared the throngs because they regarded Him as a prophet.”

Imagine then, that as Jesus spoke the parable saying that ‘A king sent out his servants to invite for his son’s wedding banquet’ – the angry hateful Pharisees were listeners among the crowd there. Jesus addressed His parable directly to them! As it says in verse 1, it is clearly an addressed parable, and that receiver was the flock of Pharisees present there: “Jesus spoke to them (Pharisees) again in parables, saying:”. And the Pharisees understood that it was them He talked about …THEY were not willing to come (to the wedding). It was still the Pharisees He shot at, saying, …and the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and KILLED them.

That last sentence was then a prophesy. Jesus told them to their face that they would go and kill His apostles/disciples, in a persecution. Jesus was right, for we read of this in Acts, how they jailed them and killed them, over the years.

As we find Paul at Rome in custody 60-62 AD, Josephus Flavius told in his book on the Jewish War, that Governor Festus, who represented the Roman rule in Palestine at that time, got very ill and went to Rome for cure. That left the strict rule of the Roman Governor partially vacant, since no one could fill the position immediately, and thus, Josephus wrote that the priesthood and temple guards took advantage of his absence and attacked the Messianic assembly at Jerusalem. Ananias II (he who had slapped Paul in the face) had the elders and James stoned to death, and many fled up to Pella to escape this killing spree.

This was the very end of the persecution which Jesus foretold in His parable of the Wedding in Mat. 22, for just four years after, the war with Rome was started as Jews made rebellion against their rule.

The brutal attack against the assembly at Jerusalem – added to the confrontation Paul had with the unbelieving Jewish leaders at Rome (Acts 28:25-28) – had the effect that God simply gave up on Israel, and He considered them fallen away from Him.

That fall was confirmed by God letting the Roman army destroy Israel entirely, sending thousands of prisoners to the slave market in Alexandria, all according to Moses’ prophesy in Deu. 28:68. History tell us that Titus made use of around 70 000 Jewish prisoners to build the huge arena Colosseum in Rome. But the other prisoners were sent to Egypt like I mentioned.

This destruction was what Jesus prophesied in verse 7 of the parable. The king got angry and sent his armies and killed the murderers and set fire to their city (Jerusalem). When king Nebuchadnezzar took Judah and Jerusalem in 587 BC, Jeremiah on behalf of the Lord, said of the king that he was a servant of God for that punishing cause. And so it was also when Rome took Jerusalem, it was an army of God sent to punish and destroy the sinful nation which had just persecuted and killed God’s servants, the apostles.

That took place on 10 Av (our 10th of September) which was a Sunday. Same calendar day as when king Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army took Jerusalem in 587 BC when Zedekiah was king of Judah – and burned down the city and deported Jews as prisoners to Babylon.

So, there is no doubt that Jesus foretold of the destruction of Israel in 70 AD.

Ironically, the destruction was not really a Roman initiative but it was provoked by the Jews themselves as it arose two men among them saying they were the Messiah of God.

There had been an episode of sacrilege in the synagogue at Caesarea initiated by a Roman official, and that stirred up an angry mob which attacked the Roman Garrison there, and it spread to other places – especially near Galilee, north in Palestine. Eventually this brought in among others, the two leaders I mentioned above. They both had followers and they started a more organized rebellion which ended by a total disaster for Israel.

The two leaders were Eleazar ben Ananias and Johannes Ben Levi. The entire time of the rebellion seems to have been a time of confusion and Jews fighting Romans, and Jews fighting Jews in disagreement – total mayhem was raging. Eleazar was the leader of the first aristocratic Jewish rebel government. Ananias II eventually was killed by his own followers turning on him during the struggle between the Sicarii extremists and the more moderate party in this rebellion against Rome.

The Jews could only thank themselves for all the destruction that fell upon them – a direct result of having crucified the one and only Messiah God had sent them, Jesus. The king was infuriated and had His army execute these murderers who had killed His servants, the apostles.

There are three elements I would like to mention here, which are the parable of the barren fig tree in Luke 13, and the incident which took place just the same morning Jesus told His parable of the Wedding Feast – as we read Mat. 21:19 Jesus cursed the fig tree at the road side and miraculously it withered up immediately. His disciples were shocked. And the third element is that Wedding Feast parable.

Actually, Mat. 22:1 is using plural tense “Parables” introducing the parable of the Wedding Feast. This is correct, for it is two parables told there, and I shall come back to this shortly. If you read the rest of chapter 22, until the last verse 46, you will find no other parable/parables in that chapter. Neither will you find any in the next chapter, Jesus’ famous chastising of the Pharisees and all of their hypocrisy, lies, and heretical teachings – branding them as the children of the devil. So, it is quite Biblical to say that the plural tense in Mat. 22:1 –parables, is actually only talking of the one of the Wedding Feast. Mat. 22:46 says straight forward that Jesus hereby had definitely stopped the Pharisees and their many attacks against Him,

“And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone venture or dare to question Him.”

I am convinced that the barren fig tree in Luke 13, which should have been cut down, was a prophetic image of the unbelieving Israel: In three years the owner of the vineyard (the fig three was planted in a vineyard) had come looking for fruit but found none. In three years Jesus spent His ministry on earth to preach to Israel, but they would not receive Him, they would not believe (the fruit is their eventual faith). Israel would not believe on Jesus, - so therefore cut down that fig tree! But the vinedresser pleaded with the owner, if he could try one more year putting on manure and digging in the soil around it to see if it could come up with fruit. That ‘one year’ was equal to the time used by the ‘vinedresser’ (here the vinedresser represents the flock of apostles Jesus sent out). But even after that extra year (30-some years in historic timeline of Acts) the fig tree of Israel was still barren, AND IT WAS FINALLY CUT DOWN BY THE ROMAN BATTLE AXE.

Likewise, Jesus cursing the fig tree at the road side, and it withered, - this was also a prophetic image of the very same. This fig tree made up Israel and her lack of faith.

And as third element, as already mentioned above, in the same narrative, Jesus delivered His parables of the Wedding Feast, for which He sent out His apostles to invite Israel to come to the wedding – for Israel is the bride of Jesus Christ as she comes to faith in Him. BUT…the big awesome BUT: He foretold them that they would NOT BELIEVE ON HIM in the future, and therefore they would persecute and kill His servants.

THE LAST HALF OF THE PARABLE

There are several scenarios involved in how Christianity interprets this part of the parable.

Let me first quote it to you, from verses 8 to 14, (Amplified Bible)

“Then he said to his servants, The wedding (feast) in prepared, but those invited were not worthy. – So go to the thoroughfares where they leave the city (where the main roads and those from the country end) and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find. - And those servants went out on the crossroads and got together as many as they found, both bad and good, so (the room in which) the wedding feast (was held) was filled with guests. – But when the king came in to view the guests, he looked intently at a man there who had on no wedding garment. - And he said, Friend, how did you come in here without putting on the (appropriate) wedding garment? And he was speechless (muzzled, gagged). – Then the king said to the attendants, Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the darkness outside; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. - For many are called (invited and summoned) , but few are chosen.”

Before we can leave the parable, we need to learn what is said in verse 15,

“Then the Pharisees went and consulted and plotted together how they might entangle Jesus in His talk.”

They had become more and more angry – actually they became filled with pure hate against Jesus. Why? He hung them ‘Out-to-dry’ while the people in the temple heard it all. Then we read that they came with the foolish attempt of trying to make him speak badly of the Roman Emperor…as they showed Him a coin asking Him if He thought it was lawful to pay tribute to him or not. Then we get the famous saying from Jesus: ‘Give to Caesar what is due to him, and pay to God the things that are due to God’. The Pharisees lost again and had to leave Him, shamefully over their lack of ability to talk back. They were SPEECHLESS just as Jesus told of that one man who was thrown out into the darkness outside! This made the Pharisees even more certain that Jesus talked of them – as He had left them speechless more than one time.

And angrier than ever!

THE PARABLE FROM VERSE 8 AND ON IS ANOTHER

Jesus started actually a new parable – it had changed contents and He had ended the first half (verses 2 to 7) with the king sending armies to kill the Pharisees, - and made a different ‘cast’ of the scenario than the scenario which ended with the destruction of Israel in 70 AD. As I already mentioned above, Mat. 22:1 says that it were parables, in plural tense and not parable as in singular! Jesus used the scenario of a wedding in both parables, and that can bring some confusion if the Bible reader skips such facts. We need to read the Bible often in a scrutinizing manner.

Jesus therefore could not have begun at the same start-point as that of the destruction of Israel. We have to look upon this whole parable as a short preview of contexts, which in the verses 2 to 7 was all about Israel’s destruction after having killed His apostles during Acts period. And the second half verses 8 to 14 is of the Pharisees being cast out of the kingdom of God for their lack of faith. Thus creating a second parable actually.

Neither can we regard verses 8 to 14 as something that followed after the destruction of Israel in 70 AD.

The actual context in the parable’s last half is that Jesus used the theme of ‘inviting to a wedding feast’ – but with the intent to show that there was an illicit guest there who had not put on wedding garment: Jesus pointed directly to the Pharisees. They knew this, and therefore they tried desperate to catch Jesus by His own words, but failed miserably. Notice what Jesus said: ‘Tie him hand and foot and cast him into THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE (outside the kingdom of God – remember, the parable was about the kingdom of God) – there shall be weeping and grinding of teeth’. IMAGE: Cast the unbelieving Pharisees out into the darkness!

Jesus had already warned the Pharisees prior to this telling of the parables of the wedding feast, in Mat. 21:43 He spoke straight forward to their faces …the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the fruits of it. Verse 45 says a lot: “And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables (comparisons, stories used to illustrate and explain), THEY PERCEIVED THAT HE WAS TALKING OF THEM.”

And so, the next parable after the Pharisees concluded and understood that Jesus was talking of them, He came up with this parable (parables) of the Wedding Feast.

And Jesus used that ‘sneaked in’ single wedding guest who had not the wedding garment on, to tell the very same Pharisees that if they came into this wedding, they would be thrown out into the darkness. They would be lost of the kingdom of God, because of their unbelief.

The Pharisees heard that Jesus told them that they would persecute and kill the apostles; they heard Him also conclude sternly that because of that, the nation of Israel would be destroyed.

Jesus concluded the second part of the parable, that many were called but few are chosen – saying that to be able to come to the wedding, one must be chosen, that is, one must have faith in Jesus Christ. The Pharisees did NOT have faith in Jesus.

Some scholars and preachers and pastors – both inside the Acts-28 camp and outside it, - hold that the parable is telling of a future ‘Wedding Feast’ and thus invitation, to people along the ‘Highways’, as some translations say, such as NKJV; (but NIV says ‘Go to the street corners’). In the understanding of that this ‘invitation’ went out after the destruction of Israel in 70 AD. But I cannot agree with those. They are ignorant of the fact that the parable of the Wedding Feast actually is two parables.

We cannot look past the fact that Jesus prophesied the end and destruction of Israel, which was fulfilled in 70 AD.

Since that time, no ‘kingdom-gospel’ has been preached by anyone sent by God, and absolutely no ‘Wedding Feast Invitation’.

If such an enterprise has been going on, then I ask: Where is it? Who are they? What exactly are the names of the leaders of such a movement? Can anyone give me a valid actual address with a phone number or an email address so I can check them out? Can I participate in a meeting or service they eventually hold? Are they seen and heard on any TV-media? I could go on and on…but I am afraid this so-called operation of going out on the ‘Highways’ with such a wedding invitation in the aftermath of Israel’s destruction is just chasing invisible ghosts. It is a fantasy freak-show which nobody can see or identify in any manner. It simply does not exist.

I say that all kingdom-preaching ended the same day as Paul had his revelation of the Mystery in Eph. 3:1-9 – the dispensation of the Church, the Body of Christ. Most probably we are talking of the year 62 or 63 AD. That is when Paul wrote his two epistles, the one to the Ephesians and the one to the Colossians; revealing the free Grace Gospel for all people, and no more preaching of the kingdom of God, the millennia. It is possible that Paul was in a second jailing when he wrote to the Ephesians and Colossians. He might have been sat free from all charges by Nero’s appeal court, but arrested a second time, maybe because of the turmoil caused by the great fire in Rome…but this cannot be proven.

In this dispensation there are only true Jesus-believers, trusting in the Gospel of the free grace for all people on earth, as taught us by Paul the apostle to the Gentiles. Israel is fallen and is just one nation among other nations. Eph. 2:14, 15.

So, there is no parallel calling running at the same time as the calling of the Body of Christ is.

The last half of the parable of the Wedding Feast is therefore NOT a continued effort on God’s hand to reach out to Jews with the message of a Wedding Feast (only Israel can be the Bride of the Lamb, Jesus, the believing Israel, and not all people on earth).

The dispensation of the Church, the Body of Christ, is standing all alone as long as it exists. God is not working with Israel today, they are still considered as fallen away from Him, actually, they are considered as ‘non-existent’ when talking of a nation. They were returned to Egypt as slaves in 71-72 AD by Roman sea vessels to Alexandria.

Going Lost or Getting Saved

Can Only Be Decided in This Present Life!

By Jan Lilleby

Can you repent from a life in opposition to God, for instance if you are an Atheist in this life, and come to faith in God and Jesus Christ after you have died? Resulting in your salvation?

I shall give you the most direct answer straight up front: No, you cannot.

The first reason I will mention to such a scenario is that there is no automatically life or existence after death. You just do not ‘wake up’ one morning, dead.

The Bible says the dead knows nothing.

If a person is dead, he is STONE DEAD, and he actually no longer exists as a person. He has been reduced to a corpse without any life in it, but the bacterial decomposition setting in.

At creation the Lord breathed oxygen into Adam’s still unused lungs, and that made Adam come alive – the Bible says of this conclusively in Gen. 2:7 – and God Jehovah formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (ASV Bible).

Here it says clearly (as in many other Bible translations) that Adam became a living soul. Body plus oxygen pumped into the lungs of that body, resulted in a living soul.

Without oxygen (if one day no longer this living soul has any oxygen) he is dead. No soul anymore. There is no separate ‘soul’ that lives on, after oxygen has left a man’s body, regardless of reason. Or if death caused by for instance an accident having his head smashed, or being hit by a gunshot, or stung in the heart by a knife, etc.

The fairytales of humankind on what will happen after death are countless.

But it is entirely false if saying that there is automatically life after death. Only believers in Jesus Christ have such eternal life promised them. They shall be raised from the dead by God. Only God has immortality says the Bible.

Give that dead person a beautiful burial, let the Minister hold a dignified sermon, let his family cry tearfully and grieve, and keep the memories of this dead family member in respect and love. Still, the dead beloved one remains dead. No man on earth can do anything to alter this.

And God will not raise anyone from the dead unless he had faith in God and Jesus Christ when he was alive, here on earth.

The dead will be gone forever; like he never had existed.

And by the way, let me tell you that there is no Hell or everlasting torment or any such fictive ‘reality’ after death. Paul never used a single word in his epistles talking of a supposedly harsh punishment by eternal fire or any other sort of torment, often called for Hell in English speaking nations, or Helvete in Norway where I live. No such place of punishment for disbelievers exists!

Paul only talked of ‘going lost’ when talking of unbelievers. Our faith in Christ has only valid currency if we have that faith here on earth, and I shall come back to that shortly.

Likewise, no intermediate Paradise-like waiting place exists, in which a dead person can make up his mind to believe on Jesus for salvation if he did not believe on Him when alive on earth. Such a scenario will suit Hollywood better, rather than people in real life!

The second reason I can say there is no automatically after-life in which you can make a final choice of eternal life or not, is simply one that screams at you right here and now, but you can’t see the forest for all the trees:

Earth is inhabited by humankind by the billions. But since this life has no use or value to decide our choice for eternity, - it is pure nonsense that we are here in the first place! Why let us suffer through the earthly life for decades, fighting illness, accidents, hunger, wars, poverty, divorces, - you name it, if this life has no decisive effect on the coming eternity whether salvation or going lost? Life here is a waste of time and effort – so why not just create us right there, in that Paradise-like waiting room, and let us go right into the full salvation?

One important element into this equation is the fact that you are actually already given a ‘Second chance’ for each new day you wake up to! If you are an Atheist you can recon every day that you live to see, as your new chance – not just second chance – it may be your chance number 5000, if you have lived as an unbeliever for almost 14 years and each day count as a new chance. And yet, some foolish ignorant Christian bookworms dig up a fantasy, that God may give all people a ‘Second chance’ in a supposedly ‘after-life’ setting. How can one go for such incredible lies and fictive ‘reality’?

The whole foolish idea of an after-life, so people can decide for salvation or going lost, is totally out of reason and logic.

The third reason I can say there is no automatically after-life, is that you cannot find any such doctrine with our apostle, Paul; the apostle to the Gentiles. Our doctrine of faith can only be found with Paul, written in his two epistles Ephesians and Colossians. Not one single word on any “second chance” to get saved after death. On the contrary, Paul warns against believers getting caught up into foolish thoughts, Eph. 5:17,

“Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.

In same chapter, verse 5, Paul really gives us a mindbender in the right direction,

“Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person (homo) or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (NRSV Bible)

Here, if you are not an unfortunate born dyslectic (word blind) or disturbed in your mind, keeping you unfit to live without nursing assistance, - we cannot understand Paul’s exhortation as anything other than such described sinners are already lost for salvation. Paul has declared that this is a closed case here and now. If he doesn’t repent and turn away from those sins, he shall not come into heaven, which is the other way of saying ‘salvation’. We have inherited the heavenly salvation ALREADY HERE in this life by faith alone, no works, and thus it is ‘Case closed’. And likewise, you go lost already here, case closed.

Paul also tells us that we must KEEP OUR FAITH at all times, for without faith we will go lost in eternity, Eph. 1:22, 23,

“Yet now has Christ reconciled you to God in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His presence. - - PROVIDED THAT YOU CONTINUE TO STAY WITH AND IN THE FAITH, well-grounded and settled and steadfast, NOT SHIFTING OR MOVING AWAY from the hope glad tidings, which you heard and which has been preached to every person under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

Notice that right here, at the end of the verse above, - Paul would have had an excellent opportunity to point out to his readers if there was a ‘Hidden catch’ in there:

“Hey, fellas! Relax, don’t get too anxious over my mention of eventually shifting or moving away from the faith. Cool it now! You see, God has shown to me that He will give all eventual backsliders or atheists or God-haters a glorious second chance after you die! Aint’ that just glorious fellas?”

We are not to be taken into some place after death, to have any second chance. If we, the believers, as described by our apostle Paul here are saved by faith and keeping away from those sins he described, - then it is the same principle in effect for those who are not saved by faith here. They must be considered lost forever unless they repent and come to faith in Christ here, now, in this life before they die.

Eph. 2:8, 9 is Paul’s concentrated summary on our salvation, telling us that we ARE ALREADY SAVED, here in this life, and in no need to have a supposedly ‘Second chance’,

“For it is by free grace that YOU ARE SAVED, through faith. And this is not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God. - - Not because of works, lest any man should boast.”

Can it be told any clearer than this?

Must you have the archangel Gabriel come to you and tell you these things straight to your face to make you believe?

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Having just read Paul’s doctrinal statements on salvation by faith, we have to be aware of the fact that a scenario of a ‘Second chance’ in life after death, is not one where people can be saved by faith! If you are shown into a place like this, you have become one who sees these things. You cannot be a believer like we now can in this life, for in this life we are believers since we walk by faith and not by sight! Have you thought of that?

The demand from God, using His elect apostle Paul to tell us, is that we have to have faith in Jesus Christ, and only if we have such faith can we be considered as saved persons. It is irrefutable and non-negotiable Bible truth.

Here you may read the passage above, II Thes. 2:10-12 – Paul telling them of the future anti-Christ and what trouble he will cause for the Jews in the time of the Great Tribulation. It says that God – seeing that the Jews refuse to believe on Jesus (the Truth) – shall turn them over to a strong delusion so they get stuck in a false belief. Why this? So that these wicked unbelievers shall be judged and CONDEMNED (lost of salvation). They took pleasure in unrighteousness.

There can be no doubt that this prophetic saying from Paul is a word that is irreversible and therefore will be fulfilled when time is up. It is out of the question that these ungodly sinners will ever get a ‘Second chance’. We better believe what Paul says, if you think you are a serious Bible believing Christian!

And if these cannot get saved, then all other people like them, with unbelief and opposing God and Christ, cannot get saved either. It is a fact. No ‘Second chance’.

I hereby end this little article. Much more can be said, but if you cannot grasp truth by these vital points I have shown you…then I doubt that you would grasp it after reading 20 pages more from my hand.

By Jan Lilleby

This article is written to point out important Bible truth

regarding the so-called ‘Rapture’ of saints found

in 1 Thes 4 and add this to my first article on

this subject – called

“Will the Christian Church Be Raptured Up Into Heaven

In Clouds, Meeting Jesus in the Air?

This new article will therefore overlap it slightly

When Paul wrote his epistles, especially those he wrote in the same time as described in Acts 28 – 62 AD, all of his teaching was centered on the doctrinal basis of The New Covenant for Israel and the imminent return of Jesus Christ to come and establish the earthly Millennial Kingdom in THEIR LIFETIME. It all hung on whether Israel would come to faith in Jesus Christ and to repent taking the water baptism. Acts 2:36-38.

Paul remarks the importance of the New Covenant in Heb. 8-9 chapters, see Heb. 9:15 for instance. This New Covenant was introduced/established by Jesus during the Last Supper the evening before His crucifixion (Luke 22:19, 20). Via Heb. 9:15 we learn that this covenant is the very same one prophesied by Jer. 31:31-34. It was promised to Israel only!

The entire time of the apostles – as reported in Acts 28 – 62 AD – did not the dispensation of the Church exist, neither was the free Grace Gospel of Paul revealed to the world. The apostles preached only what we call The Gospel of the Kingdom on earth, the Millennial Kingdom (see Dan. 2:44).

What was taking place in Acts was that God had a private dialogue with His ancient people, the Jews, and He would have them repent to Jesus as their Messiah and be baptized (see Acts 2-3 as already referred to). The Jews were already the people of God on earth, so what really happened was that God would have them to CONFIRM THEIR STANDING WITH HIM, as He now had sent them His Messiah Jesus.

The Book of Acts starts with showing Jesus teaching His disciples to preach the Kingdom of God which was the Millennial Kingdom on earth Acts 1:3; and in Acts 28:31 we find Paul still pounding on the Jewish door at Rome, as he tried to convince them of Jesus as their Messiah. The entire Acts history is about that Kingdom for Israel, which should have been established as soon as Israel had repented.

THE RAPTURE MENTIONED IN 1 THES. 4:14-18

Reading, Amplified Bible, - “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him through Jesus those who have fallen asleep (in death). - - For this we declare to you by the Lord’s (own) word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede (into His presence) or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep (in Him in death). - - For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first. - - Then we, the living ones who remain (on the earth), shall simultaneously be caught up along with (the resurrected dead) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the Lord! - - Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words.”

Paul’s using of the words We, You, The dead in Christ, Them, and Each other – has to be understood as his words spoken exclusively to the nation, Israel’s Christ-believers. This is not written to ‘All the Christians in the entire world’ – like we would have said it in our time. He actually (in Galatians) called such Jewish believers and their proselytes for “Israel of God”.

But in the times after Israel’s fall from God as His nation, as Paul wrote the epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians in which he reveals and establishes the dispensation of the Church, the Body of Christ, - then there was no longer any preaching or any offer to Israel to get the Kingdom on earth. It had been postponed to a future far ahead, and the apostles simply stopped preaching it. Instead they got on with the preaching and teaching of the new free Grace Gospel revealed to Paul, an international gospel for all people on earth, as opposed to the previous Gospel, that of the national message to Israel of a Kingdom.

Another matter is, that during the Great Tribulation which shall come upon Israel in the end times, that Kingdom-Gospel will be preached to them again, Mat. 24:14. This will be the main message which the 144 000 tribal Jews shall preach to Israel while the tribulation rages. As opposed to the times of the apostles, when Israel had it preached to them under God’s grace, it will be under a time of judgement and doom when they shall hear the Kingdom-Gospel anew. And no grace, because if they refuse to believe it when the tribulation is raging, they will perish and cannot be given salvation.

Israel was from that point in time, when Paul confronted them in Rome in 62 AD, no longer the nation of God, but they had been put down a notch to just being one nation among all other nations on earth! Eph. 2:14, 15. There are no longer ‘Jews first, then Gentile’ Rom. 1:16.

Therefore, we can already at this point conclude surely that the doctrine of a coming rapture as well as a raising of dead believers in same instance, - never was offered to us, the Church, we who are under the free international Grace Gospel given through Paul’s ministry – and to whom the hope of salvation was the heaven up above the heavens (Greek, Ephiouranos) and not the earthly Kingdom, the Millennia.

The doctrine of a rapture for the believers was only valid to those who belonged under the Acts period and the preaching of the Millennial Kingdom to Israel. It all was suspended in the same instance as Israel fell away from God as we learn from Acts 28:25-28. Paul was the messenger of the judgement upon the disobedient Jewry, quoting the Sanhedrin at Rome Is. 6 of their deafness, blindness and lack of understanding, and their lack of repentance.

THE CORRECT UNDERSTANDING OF

THE RAPTURE DOCTRINE

In Christendom there has been a very misfortunate understanding of what Paul meant would happen regarding the rapture. The main misunderstanding is that they believe that Jesus should come down to the clouds, to rapture the believers up to Him and from there take them into heaven! This is a total misunderstanding. Bible says otherwise.

This intervention by God – the resurrection of the dead and the immediate rapture of them together with those who were alive – would happen at the coming (Greek, Parousia) of the Lord DOWN TO EARTH.

Paul says nothing at all of any ‘flight’ of the believers into heaven up above, I can assure you. It cannot be found in the New Testament at all.

They were intended to be brought down to earth (Jerusalem I believe) with Him. The prophet says, He, at that day should set foot upon the Mount Olives which then will split into a valley etc. see Zec. 14:4, 5.

We are talking of a so-called ‘Fresh ware’ doctrine, and thus it had a ‘Sell-by-date’ – Paul taught of the believer’s salvation in light of the imminent coming of Jesus in their own life time. This had an unwritten date stamped on it, and that date-stamping has to do with the 30-some years we find in Acts. A time period that ended with Israel’s fall, not salvation!

And Paul’s rapture-doctrine has no longer relevance after that Israel fell away from God. It was cut off the lot. None of the things which belonged to that 30-year period has any continuance or any fulfillment of any sort; it was laid flat and irrelevant all at once. And in 70 AD God had the Romans destroy Israel utterly.

It is one certain point in Paul’s Acts doctrine however, that has relevance still: The yet unfulfilled prophesy of the anti-Christ to come and seduce Israel and destroying her. See II Thes. 2:6-9. And also, like I just mentioned, the Kingdom-Gospel shall again be preached to Israel – but then under judgement and tribulation. Tough times!

Anti-Christ has not yet shown up in Israel, but he will come soon I am sure. It is possible that Paul, as he wrote this, he might have had the impression that anti-Christ would meet up in his life time, and not far into the future…almost 2000 years later. I believe this personally.

Well, we know that anti-Christ did not come in the apostles time on earth, however the great falling away came, which was that fall of Israel I mentioned above. Israel today is without question a platform/podium for this devious person who will try to stand forth as Israel’s Messiah.

LO AND BEHOLD! AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF

ISRAEL 70 AD, GOD COMES UP WITH A WHOLE NEW CREW!

If we read Rev. 20:4 we will understand that it is a whole new crew, a whole new way of preaching – actually the whole end-time stage is a huge play directed and kept going by God Almighty and Christ; God holding the steering wheel.

The verse show the dead martyrs being raised from the dead, and they were killed because they refused to follow anti-Christ taking the mark of the beast upon their hand or forehead,

“Then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those to whom authority to acts as judges and to pass sentence was entrusted. Also I saw the souls of those who had been slain with axes (beheaded) for their witnessing to Jesus and (for preaching and testifying) for the Word of God, and who had refused to pay homage to the beast or his statue and had not accepted his mark or permitted it to be stamped on their foreheads or their hands. And they lived again (was resurrected) AND RULED WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS”.

Please don’t tell me that this special ‘congregation’ of saints and martyrs must sort under Paul’s rapture-doctrine in 1 Thes. 4!

Because it is obviously a totally different crew, totally different dispensation (that of the Great Tribulation in Israel), and even the Law of Moses is back in the saddle again demanding believers in this tribulation to obey the Law. And the Law maker is present there together with the prophet Elijah. The two witnesses in Rev. 11 are the leaders for all Jewish believers and their eventual proselytes at that time. At least for the first 1260 days, equal to 3 ½ years, Rev. 11:3. The 42 months mentioned in verse 2 points to the final half of the tribulation when anti-Christ start his raid against the Jews.

In Rev. 7 we find the more correct description for this entirely new group/body of believers: The 144 000 elect tribal ‘evangelists’ – 12 000 out of Israel’s twelve tribes, and Moses and Elijah being prophets will know how to select those 144 000 out of the Israeli population when it is started by them coming down from heaven. They have divine wisdom from God, and they name these 12 000 from each tribe by NAMES OF THE TRIBES, and these are,

Tribe of Judah, tribe of Reuben, tribe of Gad tribe of Asher, tribe of Naphtali, tribe of Manasseh, tribe of Simeon, tribe of Levi, tribe of Issachar, tribe of Zebulun, tribe of Joseph, tribe of Benjamin. Rev. 7:4-8.

There is no way that these can use the New Covenant doctrine of Paul such as found in Thessalonians, and especially not the doctrine of rapture in 1 Thes. 4. Paul taught Grace in connection to the message of the New Covenant. But the preaching of this covenant during the tribulation will – as I already pointed out – be not under Grace but under judgement. Very different from the time of the apostles.

These are the saints described in Rev. 20:4 being resurrected after first having been killed by anti-Christ. The ones to be ruling together with Christ in His Kingdom on earth, will be elected from the 144 000 – so that there will be some from each of the twelve tribes.

Therefore I find it obvious that Revelation 20:4 out rules 1 Thes. 4.

In Revelation 20:4 it says that there will be resurrection of the saints from the Great Tribulation, but nothing is said of a supposedly rapture of the saints. It is entirely absent. Only the two witnesses (see Rev. 11:11, 12) were raptured and taken into heaven. That’s it.

Only just reading of these 144 000 Jews, set them entirely and decisively apart from the Jewish Messianic believers in Paul’s time and we know thus that they are under a totally different commission than that of the apostles, Rev. 7:3, 4 is showing us that these 144 000 tribal Jews were sealed (marked) on their forehead – and it may be understood also, that the 144 000 are elected from the population for a special ministry to preach and witness to Jesus (…sealed the bond servants of our God upon their foreheads v.3).

What was that ‘seal’ exactly? Rev. 14:1 tells us they had been sealed on their foreheads with the NAME of the Lamb (Jesus) and His Father’s NAME (Jehova). If we were allowed to stand right before one of those 144 000, and reading what was inscribed on their foreheads, we would read, JESUS JEHOVAH.

You may chew a bit on this!

Furthermore – we find that these 144 000 were all entirely in celibacy, none had ever been with any woman, they had not said any lies upon their lips, for they are blameless before the throne of God. They followed the Lamb wherever it goes, it says. Rev. 14: 2-5. You cannot find anything like this in Acts or in epistles written during Acts period. This is entirely outstanding, it is literary a whole new crew of anointed evangelists – they follow the Lamb wherever it goes. No one can be member of this group of 144 000 tribal Jews, unless you actually is a genuine Jew from the line of Abraham.

The well-known nonsense we have heard of from the work and writings of the Watchtower Society (JW.org) called often for ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’, and their weird lies, is that people within that heretical sect think they are among the 144 000. They are totally confused – for the Bible tell us exactly who they are and from where or what they come. One must be a genuine Jew, and one must be found in existence as the Great Tribulation starts up, one must have a lifestyle of one hundred percent celibacy, and one must be a believer who never ever spoke a lie. And you must be wearing a written notice on the forehead, reading ‘Jesus Jehovah’. Try and fit in to this parameter!

Again, it is entirely obvious that these in no way are obliged to keep the same doctrine as that which Paul taught the Thessalonians. They never will have any rapture – but they get a resurrection so they can be rulers on thrones assisting their King Jesus at Zion, in the new fourth temple (see Ezek. 47). There will be no general rapture of saints after the Acts-period. We find only one special rapture mentioned, in Rev. 11 regarding the two witnesses taken up to heaven.

Originally, when we are speaking of thrones and ruler ship with Christ, we recall Mat. 19:28 when Jesus told His disciples,

“Truly I say to you, in the new age (the Messianic rebirth of the world), when the Son of Man shall sit down on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.”

But that was only spoken by Jesus and promised them IF Jesus had come from heaven in their life time. Because of Israel’s disobedience and unbelief He could not come from heaven. Israel got destroyed by the Roman army as we know in 70 AD. The Second Advent was postponed into the future, which is in our days really, for it will not be long before Jesus shall come from heaven.

Just as Paul’s teaching of the rapture/resurrection in 1 Thes. 4, so it is with Mat. 19:28 and Jesus promising His disciples to sit on thrones: It was to be held only as ‘Fresh Ware’ – it came with a ‘Sell-by-Date’ which was when Paul stayed in Rome until around 62 AD. Shortly after his release from custody and given free from all charges, he wrote his epistle to the Ephesians as well as the one to the Colossians, both containing the fresh revelation of the ‘Mystery’ – the free international Grace Gospel which we still have in Christianity. He stopped preaching the earthly Kingdom to Israel! (NOTE: It is discussed in Christianity among scholars whether the chains Paul mentioned in Eph. 3:1 (Paul, a prisoner of Jesus for you Gentiles) was an undescribed second jailing).

Peter and the eleven will not sit on thrones in the Millennia, but those in Rev. 20:4 will.

All saints who have lived and eventually died since Paul got God’s new Gospel revelation of free Grace are saved to go to heaven (Greek, epiouranos) and not to the earthly Kingdom in Israel. Those who are alive the day (see Eph. 4:30) God concludes the Church dispensation, will be transferred supernaturally into heaven by His immense power and might. They will actually never see death! But this must not be confused with the rapture-idea of Paul in 1 Thes. 4. We shall be swiftly taken into heaven (don’t think vertical or horizontal) which is another dimension and outside and above the universe.

This will happen the very same day as Moses and Elijah comes from heaven to direct and prophesy judgement on Israel and purge them and chastise them to start believing on Jesus as the Messiah. The Great Tribulation.

Nothing whatsoever written in Revelation has anything to do with the Church, the Body of Christ.

You will only find the Church in Ephesians and Colossians, because in the two writings Paul revealed the Mystery, the dispensation of the Body of Christ under His free Grace Gospel.

We are NOT expecting any rapture as taught in 1 Thes. 4, but we will, quote,

“…..appear with Him in glory”.

We shall come before Him in heaven. Those who died before this day of redemption (Eph. 4:30) shall be resurrected up in heaven.

Let me end this exposition with some quotes,

Eph. 4:30,

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Eph. 1:13, 14,

“In Him you also who have heard the Word of Truth, the glad tidings of your salvation, and have believed in and adhered to and relied on Him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit. - - That is the guarantee of our inheritance, in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring possession of it – to the praise of His Glory.”

ADDED TO THE ARTICLE Nov. 1st - 2021:

Within several denominations there exists a doctrine of faith which says that a Christian believer will spend a period of time between death and the resurrection.

This will be in some kind of heavenly Paradise-like place. I have seen Pentecostal preachers write about this in books, and also seen articles written by pastors and preachers, saying much of the same thing. They hold for true that when they die, they will enter such a place, but it is not yet the end-salvation – just an interim in ‘Paradise’, awaiting their resurrection. People dies at different time through history, but the resurrection will take place in one and the same day for all who died. Not only in the same day, but actually in the same moment.

The same preachers who says so, they also believe that there will come a rapture of the Church, like I have written above – that 1 Thes. 4 are for the Church of our time.

But, …whoah….hold on for a moment!

Here we have a spiritual doctrinal collision – dead people being raised up from their graves, and who have lived in a heavenly place for quite a time - to be coming together with those believers who are alive – and the two groups are raptured up at the very same time….?

How can that be then, the ‘dead’ are placed in a certain part of heaven, much like a Paradise they say, - but at the time of the rapture, they all of a sudden will come out from graves on earth….?!! And then, for the second time they will be lifted back into heaven, accompanied with those believers who are alive when this happens!

This just does not add up to anything we can call a Biblical truth. This is more like a fiction story, a spiritual fairy tale.

No serious Christian believer can hold for true that - first they go up to ‘Paradise’ at death, for then to abruptly be raptured-in-reverse back down to earth and put into their dead bodies, and finally resurrected back up to life and ultimately end up in heaven.

How about those hundreds of thousands of dead corpses which have rutted away and gone back to regular dust over the centuries past? What of bodies which were cremated, turned to ashes?

There simply are zero examples of anyone having been brought back to life after the body is entirely gone. Such a fantasy scenario will never take place, I can assure you all!

This whole thing just confirms to us that my teaching here on the rapture as something which only sorted under the times of the apostles, and was a ‘Fresh ware’ – it would have happened only if Jesus came back during the time of the apostles.

In Jewry (as it was with Jesus, and Lazarus as well) – they used caves for grave site, and did not put the dead bodies in coffins six feet into the ground. They even had the tradition of embalming (only the outwardly) the dead bodies and perfuming them.

Paul’s teaching had in mind the immediate present and very near future, thinking of Jesus returning, and not a time aspect of almost 2000 years.

Daniel 9:24 and the Year Weeks:

Gabriel’s Lecturing of Daniel is

Pointing to the Millennia

By Jan Lilleby

If one first have started to unwind such a topic as the Year Weeks in Daniel 9, it is not so easy to step on the brake pedal.

In Dan. 9:24 we find Gabriel giving Daniel a prophetic review in a rather shortened concentrated version on the future of Israel. The verse ends with Gabriel’s mention of the new Holy of Holies in the new millennial temple being anointed. This shall happen at the Second Advent. Image: Daniel unharmed in the lion’s den.

Let us look at the verse step by step. Amplified Bible,

“Seventy weeks (of years, or 490 years) are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city (Jerusalem), to finish and put an end to transgression, to seal up and make full the measure of sin, to purge away and make expiation and reconciliation for sin, to bring in everlasting righteousness (permanent moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation), to seal up vision and prophecy and prophet, and to anoint a Holy of Holies.”

Seventy year weeks is same as 490 Jewish calendar years. But we know from the verses 25 and 26 that the row of details in prophecy ends with the 69th year week (483 years) – and counting from king Cyrus the Great, the king of Persia in his first year (456 BC) declared the edict of the freedom for all Jews, to go home to Israel; thus we get the year of 28 AD – the year that Jesus was crucified (Dan. 9:26 …shall the Anointed One be cut off or killed…). Then I have included the five years which the Catholic Church manipulated off. Jesus was about to reach 33 years of age in 28 AD, namely in September, NOT December.

The seventieth year week has not started yet, as I write this article. But in that final year week Israel shall be brought back to God as a nation for Him, a position they lost when they refused to listen to Paul in Rome, Acts 28:25-31. They fell away from God after the apostles had used over thirty years to try to have the nation repent. They started at Pentecost in 28 AD, when Peter, James and John were the leaders; later on Paul was given the leadership as he went to the Provinces outside Israel, to reach the Jews in the diaspora.

It is that falling away from God, which happened when Paul met with the Sanhedrin at Rome in 60 – 62 AD, that shall be sealed up and made full the measure of sin…God shall forgive Israel her national sin of having rejected Jesus for almost two thousand years. And this will happen due to the purging within that Great Tribulation to come. Israel will be chastised and cleansed.

Zec. 13:8 predicting one third of the population shall be saved, and two thirds will perish. The latter will not repent and receive Jesus Christ.

To bring in everlasting righteousness said Gabriel – which means that Israel can be saved because of Jesus having died for them that day in Passover 28 AD. He is the Lamb of God who took upon Him all the sin and transgression.

They refused the apostles – but as they go through the Great Tribulation, they will finally come to faith. At least one third of them will, says Scripture.

The Book of Acts is the story of Israel’s falling away from God, and not of their salvation. I hope you are aware of that Biblical fact…? Acts 28:28,

“So let it be understood by you then that (this message of) the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen to it.” (They will receive it) as opposed to the Jews – who rejected Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately several of the Christian denominations in modern time have in error thought (and therefore preached it) that the mentioned falling away is a fall which will happen to the Christian church! That is how wrong you can be if one ignores studies in the Bible, rightly divided.

That fall has already occurred, and it was Israel that fell, NOT the church. The Church/Body of Christ came as a consequence of the fall of Israel. Because of that fall, God revealed His Mystery to Paul, the dispensation of the Church and the free grace Gospel (Eph. 3:1-9).

Our Gospel according to Paul is an international Gospel for the whole world to believe on. But the gospel in the times of the Acts was a gospel only regarding the earthly millennial kingdom in Israel. It had nothing to do with the Church.

This new Grace Gospel given Paul for us can only be found in the Epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians. The Gospel is weaved into these Epistles and we read it as a summary of what Paul taught in them.

Paul’s doctrine of faith for the Church dispensation was already spread widely into the civilized world, the early Christianity by Paul and his staff of helpers long before the four Gospels had been issued and could be bought and read.

Matthew came in 80 AD, Luke was published at the earliest, 62 AD but most scholars say 73 AD. Mark came in 83 AD and John a few years later. So, Paul’s Grace Gospel according to his doctrine in Ephesians and Colossians were a dominant factor, several years before anyone could read any of the four Gospel stories. These stories were NEVER meant to be faith doctrine to the Church dispensation. Can you get this, all you pastors and preachers out there?

Gabriel’s expression – to seal up vision and prophecy and prophet – has to do with the fact that by the fulfillment of the different prophesies on Jesus, His birth, His ministry and miracle healings, His crucifixion, His resurrection, His ascension – all things have been fulfilled and verified as true. The Jews will have to confess that the prophets spoke the truth, for they will witness everything come to an end during the Great Tribulation, the Seventieth Year Week. They shall see Jesus descending from heaven, and this will end Jewry’s long dreary Jesus-rejecting.

We have a prophet-word on that issue, Hos. 5:15 – as Hosea became the Lord’s voice, saying –

“I will return to My place (heaven) until they acknowledge their offense and feel their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction and distress (Great Tribulation) they will seek, inquire for, and require Me earnestly, saying….”

If anybody have thought that the Jews’ suffering in the world has been as innocents, that they are victims of the unjust world – but themselves have clean hands, - then we can learn here that this is not true. They are definitively guilty as charged! Jesus simply demand of them to plead guilty and seeking His face (presence) before He can descend from heaven. The tribulation will have them on their knees, for sure.

Gabriel’s final point of prophesy in verse 24, is …and to anoint a Holy of Holies.

In that situation the Lord has come down from heaven, the fou