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Handbook of
the Israelite
By Tim Czapiewski
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“Now all these
things happened to them for examples: and they are written for our
warning, upon whom the ends of the world have come.” (1 Corinthians
10:11) |
As we read the text above, we must ask ourselves, “Why did the
Apostle Paul feel compelled to give a warning to a group of people
living 1900 years after his time?” Wouldn't you think that Paul had
enough on his mind nurturing new believers as he traveled throughout
the Roman Empire? But it seems that this tireless Apostle had a
great concern for the church in the days ahead! And since he went so
far out of his way to express such a warning, shouldn't we engage
our curiosity and seek to understand what exactly he was trying to
convey to the “end times” people.
By looking closely at Paul’s letter (1 Corinthians 10:1-11) we find that
he was observing the events of Israel’s 40 year Exodus in hopes that
his words would prevent a terrible crisis among the people living at
the close of time. But how much of the Exodus story is applicable to
the last days? Simply said; I have observed many striking
similarities! In fact, the Exodus story provides a perfect template
that runs parallel to the Revelation story. So if you have
struggled to understand the Revelation, begin enlightening yourself with the Exodus story. Another critical point to ponder; just prior
to the outpouring of the 7 last plagues, the Song of Moses and the Lamb will be sung. (See Revelation 15:3-4)
You might have thought the song of Moses and the Lamb referred
to God's destruction of Pharaoh's armies at the
Red Sea but this is not the case. The song of Moses and the Lamb
recounts the tragic loss of the Israelites throughout the 40 year
wilderness wanderings. This song expresses the utter
disappointment over Israel's rebellion towards the very One who had
so wonderfully delivered them from the terrible bondage of Egypt. (See Deuteronomy 31 & 32)
A brief review of the Exodus story;
For years the children of Israel had been oppressed in Egypt. God
miraculously delivered Israel from their bondage as God had promised
Abraham hundreds of years before. After 10 plagues fell upon the land,
the Pharaoh reluctantly let Israel go, but later, he sought to take out
his revenge upon the Israelites and pursued them in the wilderness. The
proud Pharaoh dared to follow Israel into the Red Sea, but the
Israelites were miraculously delivered from defeat as the waters
collapsed upon Pharaoh and his army. Later, after Israel received God’s
Law, they were led to the borders of the Promised Land. But all of the
adults refused to go into the land. So God told the adults that they
must remain in the wilderness 40 years until all of them had perished
except for 2 adults named Caleb and Joshua. After 40 years had passed,
Caleb and Joshua led the remainder (or remnant) of Israel into the
Promised Land. (See Deuteronomy 1:19-40)
If one is observant, it can be seen that both the Exodus story and the
“Revelation” story have three things in common. (1) Both stories contain
a wilderness experience.
“The woman fled into the wilderness, where
she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a
thousand two hundred and threescore days. (Revelation 12:14-17)
(2)
Both have large numbers of believers who go through times of trouble.
Multitudes perish, while another group called “the Elect” do not perish.
“There will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the
world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not
been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the “elect”
those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22)
(3) In both
scenarios there is a “great final conflict” between a fully dedicated
group of people who fully keep all of God’s commandments and a wicked
generation who utterly oppose the Kingdom of God.
“They will make war
against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of
lords and King of kings--and
with him will be His called, chosen, and faithful followers."
(Revelation 17:14)
The Bible goes so far as to reveal the exact number and the
characteristics of those who stand firm to the very end. (See Revelation
14:1-5) John, the writer of the Revelation, “Saw another angel…He
(the angel) called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been
given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the land or the
sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of
our God." Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from
all the tribes of Israel. (Revelation 7:1- 4) As you can see, the
book of Revelation clearly indicates that only 144,000 chosen ones will
be fit enough to endure the perils of the last days. This is not to say
that these are the only ones who will enter into the gates of heaven.
The Bible is merely specifying that these 144,000 have the ability to
stand firm to the very end. Only these are to witness the return of
their Creator without experiencing the stroke of death.
To illustrate the challenge ahead for this group, imagine yourself living
in a large town with the population of about 45 thousand people. Over a
period of months, the entire town is pounded by one disaster after
another. While fear and anxiousness weighs upon the faces of every
citizen, you stand unmoved, just as Jesus stood unmoved against the
fierce storm on the Galilee. When the dust settles, you find yourself to
be the only person left alive. And miraculously, throughout that entire
period, you alone have been left unharmed! The same faith that sustained
Jesus in His times of trouble will be the same faith maintained by this
courageous group of people. For them, the promise shall be fulfilled;
“A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right, but it
(plague and disaster) will not come near you”. (Psalms 91:7)
Those called to endure such an experience will be qualified by their
willingness to receive special instruction, knowledge, and discipline.
This fact is certain; the “last days” cannot commence, nor can they
conclude until the 144,000 are “sealed”. Unfortunately for many; the
Bible predicts that only 1 in every 45,000 people living today will
possess the courage to volunteer themselves to be part of this number of
people. All others will elect to perish. How did I arrive at this
conclusion? Well 144,000 X 45,000 = approximately 6.5 billion. This
number is close to our current world population today. Simply said;
144,000 righteous souls will survive the tribulation while the other 6.5
billion people will perish unexpectedly.
This idea should not be a surprise to a Bible believing person since it is
well known that only 8 people chose to enter Noah’s ark, and thus
survived the great flood. Since much of the successes and failures of
our lives are the direct result of the choices we make, it would be
better to consider the 144,000 “choosing ones” rather than “chosen
ones”. With this thought in mind, those who have seriously considered
themselves enduring to the very end of time should now be asking
themselves the following question. “Where will we gain the knowledge and
wisdom to endure to the very end?” For those who have ears to hear, the
answer is given. All of the knowledge essential to your success in the
last days can be found within the Exodus story!
As much as I would love to delve deeper into the mysteries of the 144,000,
I must briefly turn your attention to another group of people who, like
the 144,000, are to perform many courageous and righteous acts in the
last days. But unlike the 144,000, the lives of these people will be cut
short along with the wicked prior to the second coming of Christ. The
book of Revelation bears this out at the time when John first heard
about the 144,000. He looked toward the throne of God and saw a diverse
multitude, wearing white robes. This crowd was so immense that John
found it impossible to count them all! The scripture says,
“They (the
white robed multitude) come out of the tribulation.” (Revelation 7:9-15)
Now we must ask ourselves, “What does it mean to “come out” of
tribulation?”
The mystery of the white robed saints who come out of tribulation can be
solved by observing the details of Revelation’s fifth seal,
“When he
opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had
been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had
maintained…Then each of them was given a “white robe”, and they were
told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants
and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.”
(Revelation 6:9-10) The Bible is telling us that the “white robed
ones” escape the tribulation period not by the way of the “rapture”. No!
These unfortunate souls escape the tribulation through the portal of
death.
But wait! Why must these people die when they are clearly set apart as the
generation that is not supposed to pass away? (See Luke 21:31-33) The
following verse will give us part of the answer to that question;
“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the
Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow
them." (Revelation 14:13) Now the deeds of these fallen martyrs seem
to be very important to the angel speaking to John. But could the
sincerity of some of these fallen heroes be questionable? Just because a
man dies by the hands of a group of wicked people does not prove that
the man has earned the right to be raised up to eternal life. The
scripture plainly says;
“If I…surrender my body to the flames, but
have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:3) So outwardly,
the actions of the white robed ones are truly inspirational, but there
still remains something questionable about their lives. And these
questions can only be settled by conducting a full examination of their
past thoughts and deeds.
So these “white robed” ones, like every other human born into this world,
shall exit it bearing a unique mark. This mark (or seal) is not
something that is visible. It includes all of the events of their life
story. The record of their actions and attitudes contain all the
necessary information in order to determine their fate. This means that
the destiny of all who have ever lived and died continues to hang in the
balance until a time when an impartial investigation can be conducted.
It must be determined whether or not the “person in question” is truly
capable of living in harmony with the Kingdom of Heaven. And it must be
proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the “person in question” is able
to live happily on heavens terms. “This is the love of God, that we
keep his commandments: and his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John
5:3)
The destiny of every man born into this world has been questionable from
the moment of his first breath. It has been alleged by Man’s Designer
that some of our race possesses the ability to overcome their rebellious
ways and are indeed capable of offering wholehearted allegiance to
Heaven’s government. But God would have to wait to restore these fallen
beings into the full communion of heaven. He patiently waits until the
day that it becomes entirely clear to every citizen under Heaven that
mankind is truly safe to save. He has long respected the concerns of all
the citizens. In order to gain His objective, God implemented a process
by which each man’s true thoughts, feelings, and actions could be
reviewed. It was determined that each member of our race be allowed to
live for a period of time, allowing every man to freely express his
desires for both good and evil.
So after a man has lived out the days allotted to him and he dies, his
fate is sealed (settled). For him, there are no second chances to add to
or take away from the deeds he has done. All of his sentiments about
right and wrong have been manifested. His actions (the good and the bad)
have been meticulously collected and carefully compiled into a record
book. At the moment of the man’s last breath, his life story is “sealed”
and no one can examine his story until the judgment. Then, at the
appointed time, his story is brought forward to be reviewed. The dead
man’s life story has been carefully arranged so that the Judge can sort
through the various categories that are of eternal importance to the man
in question.
I want you to imagine for a moment that the next book for review in the
courts of heaven is the book that tells your life story. Imagine that
the Judge has just called for the book titled with your name. The book
has been sealed since the time of your death and is now opened for
public view. Thankfully, the Judge does not begin the examination by
fast forwarding to the darkest moment of your life. On the contrary, His
nature is such that He instinctively looks for the good in you. So when
he opens a page that reveals one of the many questionable acts, he
searches over the record to see if you had experienced regret for your
inappropriate conduct. He methodically scans the record to see if you
continued in the dark deeds you knew to be hurtful to yourself and to
others. He is ever hopeful that he will see an upward trend in your
life. At times, a smile appears upon his face as he saw how you
influenced others to listen to wise instruction and how you
enthusiastically directed them to follow the right paths. And as he
beholds this, the Judge begins to form an affectionate bond with you. He
hopes your story will have a good ending.
But as He observes the final chapters of your life, the eyes of the
courtroom witnesses a look of wonder upon his face; He is struck with
utter disbelief! Somewhere along the way, you had become independent and
proud. You refused to hear the truth from humble believers who attempted
to keep you on the right path. You ridiculed anyone who opposed you and
as a consequence, you influenced those around you to rebel. These
unfortunate souls followed in your footsteps. For years you stubbornly
held fast to your rebellious ways until the day you drew your last
breath.
Outrage is now seen upon the face of that Heavenly Judge. The bond between
you and the Him is now broken beyond repair. You are no longer counted
as his friend. You are to be numbered with those who must experience the
execution of His final Judgment. You see, it was your own story that
told the Judge the real truth about yourself. It is impossible to add
another word to the evidence that is set before Him since you are
rendered speechless at the time of your death! The details of your story has proved to all in the courtroom that
your rebellion would continue without end. Who would feel safety or
contentment if they were to be in your presence? So now, with this
knowledge completely understood by all, the Judge raises his hands
upward and declares, “Let this rebel's name be forever struck from the
Book of Life”. (See Exodus 32:33) And those assembled in the heavenly
courtroom sadly bow their heads in agreement and say, “Amen”!
Friends; we are now entering the time when God's people will be tested.
He will cause each believer to declare whether or not they are willing
to enter the Promised Land alive or perish in the wilderness. If you
elect to perish along the way, will your life’s record show that you
have desired everything heaven has to offer? The days ahead will not be
easy. Understand this; eye witness accounts of God’s signs and wonders
have never been entirely successful in turning grumbling souls from
their stubborn ways. Remember, over a million Israelites who had seen
the wonders in
Egypt, were later cursed by the very one who led them to the borders of the Promised
Land. And not even Moses, the man who had performed so many great deeds,
the man who parted the Red Sea, was allowed to cross over to the good
land alive. So will you have what it takes to stand before your maker
without seeing death? If so, you must be willing perform a close
examination of yourself and learn from the history of Israel’s triumphs
and their failures.
“My brothers, be all the more eager to make your
calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never
fall”. (2 Peter 1:10)
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