ZION MINISTRY - BIBLE PROPHECY

 

THE INCREDIBLE UNIVERSE

Is it still intact? Are stars exploding today? Is the present earth and the universe to 'pass away' and cease to exist? What exactly is the 'new heavens and the new earth'? Does the Bible reveal these things? Yes, the Bible reveals all, and the answers to these questions are truly astonishing!

By Neville V. Stevens

 

New International Version used throughout unless otherwise stated.

The world has no problem with recognizing natural law. They are well aware of the orderliness of the earth and the universe when it comes to physical laws. True science centers around those laws - and every calculation made must consider those laws. Never has this become more important than in space exploration. Infinitely complex calculations must be made to direct and redirect space probes. Inertial forces, gravitational effects, propulsion algorithms, weight, friction; all of these must be considered to make even the slightest adjustment to the trajectory of a vehicle in space..

Theoretical 'scientists' however, continue to be swept away by their own arrogance and conceit, and engulfed with the desire to offer alternatives to the existence of a Creator God, continue to develop theories that border on lunacy.

God is, today, showing us His awesome handiwork. He is currently creating a new heaven; that is, He is preparing the starry expanse in our astral neighbourhood for the greatest development of all time - the establishment of the Kingdom of God over the entire universe. This Kingdom is to be established on earth - and God, Himself will reign.

There are many scriptures that speak of a new heaven and a new earth. This doesn't mean that the whole universe is about to become redundant and removed from existence; but rather that a whole new visual format of the heavens will appear. The former things or current vision will pass away. Since time and space are a creation of God, they obey Him. Similarly, all the physical laws that God has created are controlled by God. We observe the set laws of the universe as unchanging, immutable and constant. And indeed they are, as long as God requires them to be. Gravity, the properties of light, wave emission, sound, radiation, distance, time, are all relative to the physical laws of the universe - because God has made them so!

Because these physical laws bind us, most people believe that everything God has proposed to do will be in complete accord with them. Bible students have long believed that God is able to 'save' them. Many have even ventured to believe that God can heal them. But if you were to suggest to them that God is able to make a rock speak, or produce human beings from a pile of stones; they would quickly baulk at such a suggestion. This is beyond the realm of natural law. Yet God says He made Adam from the dust of the earth. John the Baptist stated: Luke 3:8 "...For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham." Christ said: Luke 19:39-40 "Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" "I tell you," He replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

Some of these 'disciples' of Christ draw the line at anything that exceeds the known physical laws. In their own minds, God is limited to the laws of the universe. The fact is, that if you understand the Bible, you will understand that He is not! God doesn't obey the laws of the universe - these laws obey Him! Matter obeys Him! There is nothing that God has created that He doesn't control - including the arch-rebel, Satan the devil. Satan has a 'wish-list' of exceptional grandeur. He would like to control everything - including God! Satan is like a petulant child that opposes his father, knowing that he lacks the power to control the father, the child resorts to psychological oppression to get his own way. Satan lacks the power, the intelligence, and even the immortality to be like God (God alone is immortal - 2Tim 6:16). Satan can only do what God permits him to do - and nothing else! Satan does however, have one great advantage over humanity: he knows God personally, and he knows the immense and awesome power of the Almighty God.

From time to time, humanity has witnessed the lying trickery of Satan. He is able to do some frightening things. The inbuilt superstitious nature of human beings makes them susceptible to such lying wonders. And you will see plenty of this sort of thing in days to come. But the real power is in the hands of God! In days to come, Satan's lying trickery will be totally eclipsed by the awesome power of God. The comparison will be like a grain of sand to a mountain. When God finally unleashes His mighty power on humanity, people will drop dead from fear - literally!

Most of you have grown up believing that the universe is so vast, and the resources of earth so limited, that we humans are earth-bound forever. Outside of our own solar system, there are no astral bodies within range of human resources. Even the most sophisticated spaceship that humanity could devise would be useless for interstellar travel. The universe is out of range for humans until all vestiges of Satan's rule are eliminated. God has created everything for a purpose, and eventually everything that He has created will be fully utilized. This includes the vastness of the universe.

The human mind is extremely limited when it comes to comprehending the vastness of the universe. If we were to demolish a brick building and scatter the bricks over a vast area, they would no longer resemble a building. But if we had the plan for the original building, it would be possible to gather all the bricks and rebuild the building according to its original design. Similarly with the universe. God has scattered all the heavenly bodies towards the remote regions of space. At the appropriate time God says He will call them all back. When He does we will see an entirely different picture in the skies.

At present, the universe has no discernable form. The galaxies are scattered in all directions and don't really represent anything - at least, no shape that is discernable. But everything in God's creation has design and purpose. The incredible geometric design in everything God has created shows that He is a spectacular architect.

You may be among those who say it can't happen, and that modern science says it's impossible for all the stars to come back together to their original location. You may be inclined to believe that such an event would take millions, if not billions, of years. Based on what 'modern science' has said, you may refuse to believe God. Be assured that it will happen - and it will happen suddenly. God no longer wants you to offer pathetic apologies for the things you don't understand. No longer will God permit you to vasilate between what He says and what 'science' has said. Too many articles have been written by so-called Christians who try to walk a thin line between what God says and what 'science' says. Many of these people write bizarre articles that carry a motiff of being scientific. They try to merge God's Word with the discoveries of 'science' believing that God is bound to support 'science' in its madness! But above all, they want to be admired as intellectuals along with those who claim to be 'scientists.' What madness! These people have refuted the Word of God and have gone off on a tangent to provide alternatives to God's very existence. Christians who write their pseudo 'scientific' articles are really writing an unauthorized apology for God.

Scientists generally, view the Bible as book of myths, written by ignorant men, who never understood anything. They believe that their 'discoveries' have made the Bible redundant in this 'modern' world. What arrogance! But true Christians, be warned! God is about to rub their noses in their own stupidity! What many Christians have believed to be logical, plausible explanations for the earth and the cosmos are lies! God is the authority on these things - not scientists!

Christians make a lot of noise about their spiritual beliefs, but when it come to their physical beliefs - of the physical creation - they become gibbering idiots and fall in a heap. The overwhelming evidence of 'science, falsely so called' has defeated them, forcing them to offer weak apologies in support of their faith. For some explicable reason, Christians today believe that faith is based on spiritual awareness, and that their obligation to God is to ensure that they comply with the spiritual aspects of the Bible while ignoring the physical. Again and again, God reaffirms that He created the heavens and the earth. God also says that He formed them both to be inhabited: Isa 45:18 "For this is what the LORD says, He who created the heavens; He is God, He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it [the universe] to be empty, but formed it [the universe] to be inhabited; He says, "I am the LORD and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in the land of darkness; I have NOT said to Jacob's descendants, 'Seek Me in vain.' I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right." God is speaking jointly about the heavens and the earth - in other words the entire universe! He also says that He 'has not spoken in secret from somewhere in the land of darkness.' Plainly, God's Word is the authority for understanding His creation. Did you also notice that he addresses Jacob's descendants, and says that He has NOT told them to 'seek Him in vain.'

Most true Christians are aware of the definition of 'faith.' It's found in Heb 11:1 "Now faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things not seen." Yes, that's what it means - it's speaking of SUBSTANCE of things hoped for but not yet seen! The Apostle Peter made this very plain: 2Pet 3:13 "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness." Again we see that righteousness will DWELL in the new heavens and the new earth! What Peter says we are looking or waiting for, through faith, was not then evident. But he says that Christians look for this great wonder to occur.

As God says, He has 'not spoken in secret from somewhere in the land of darkness.' He has spoken openly and distinctly concerning the heavens and the earth. He has warned all His people not to fall for the lies of 'science falsely so-called.' All that God says He will do, He WILL do! What is more, He will reveal His intentions before He does it! Amos 3:7 "Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets." Let's now discover from where His prophets will arise.

Through the tribe of Judah God is yet to do a wonderful work. Isaiah chapter 48 is addressed to the house of Israel: Isa 48:1-2 "Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah - you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel, but not in truth or righteousness; you who call yourselves citizens of the Holy City, and rely on the God of Israel - the LORD Almighty is His name."

It was only in 1948 that the Jews in Palestine were established as an independent nation called Israel. This prophecy deals from that time onward. God's word to modern Israel - the Jews - is quite amazing! In verses 2-6 God reminds them of how He revealed many things to them before they happened. V6 "You have heard all these things, look at them all. Will you not admit them?" These words are a conciliatory gesture towards Israel [Judah]. Now God tells them of a new era soon to start: Isa 48:6-7 "From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today, so you cannot say, 'Yes, I knew of them.'"

What has God created recently? Well it's not the new earth, this is yet to come. But God has been busy creating the heavens, and we are soon to see them. This is not speculation - it's prophecy and it is God that reveals prophecy. Notice Isa 48:12-13 "Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel [Judah] whom I have called; I am He; I am the first [alpha] and I am the last [omega]. My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand SPREAD out the heavens; when I SUMMON them, they all stand up TOGETHER."

God is soon to summon the stars of the universe and they will all come together. We will soon see that God spread them out a long time ago. When they all stand together, they will look entirely different. The scattered bricks of the house will suddenly be brought together and will again resemble what they did formerly. The stars of the universe have definite shape and design. We can't yet comprehend this because they are all scattered over the vastness of the field of the universe. Each and every star will occupy its alloted position in the heavens and will form a part of the picture that will be presented at that time when God brings them all together.

God says He will not yield His glory to another: it's to the Kingdom of JUDAH [the southern kingdom] that God will reveal His greatness and all that he intends to do. But first He must refine them: Isa 48:10 "See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake I do thisl How can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another."

Isaiah chapter 51 makes it very plain that the tribe of Judah has been chosen by God to deliver the whole truth of the history of God's creation. This may seem unacceptable to those in the Church of God in Ephraim, but it's prophecy that cannot be ignored. God will yet choose Jerusalem, and salvation will be of the Jews. Isa 51:3-4, 16 "For the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. Hearken to Me, My people; and give ear to Me, O My NATION; for a law shall proceed from Me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people." V16 "And I have put my words in your mouth, and I have covered you in the shadow of my hand, THAT I MAY PLANT THE HEAVENS, and LAY THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH, and say to Zion, 'You are my people.'"

This is speaking of the people that live in Jerusalem [the Zion of the Bible] and her territories. Notice that Zion is not the Churches of God whose headquarters are in Ephraim [U.S.]! God will make Zion's land bloom like the garden of Eden. God says of Zion 'O My NATION' not 'O My Church'. He also says of ZION that her DESERT will be like the garden of the LORD in Eden. Does the Church have a desert? NO! This is speaking of Zion in the Holy Land! Just one third of the people of Jerusalem will be spared to conduct God's work. ZION will be the foremost authority on the physical history of world.

When things get tough in Jerusalem, notice what Christ had to say in Luke's account of the Olivet prophecy: Luke 21:11-15 "There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. But BEFORE ALL THIS, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synogogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witness to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be ABLE TO RESIST OR CONTRADICT." V20 "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city [Jerusalem] get out, and let those in the country not enter the city [Jerusalem]. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written." V24 "They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."

Christ plainly said that all this would happen after the destruction of Herod's temple and immediately before His return. Verses 25-28 verify this. Contrary to all you have been taught to believe, everything that is to happen in the endtime will focus on JERUSALEM [ZION] and its people - who come from the tribe of Judah. It is the Jews who will conduct the greatest work of all time!

It's to the tribe of Judah that God is to reveal the full story of His astonishing creation. It is they who will proclaim the glory of God.

Does this mean that the Churches of God headquartered in the U.S. [Ephraim] can have no part of this great endtime work that God will establish in Jerusalem? No, it doesn't! What it means is that at the appropriate time, God will establish His beloved ZION once again in Jerusalem, together with two special prophets. He will gather His people from all the nations of the earth where they are scattered. Many of them will have had long term associations with the Churches of God in Ephraim. These special people will be devoted and dedicated students of the Bible. They will be people whose sole purpose in life is to serve the Great God. They will be people who have experienced dissatisfaction with the nonsense being preached in their local Churches and in Church magazines and articles. These people will be prepared to go anywhere and do anything for the Almighty God. They will crave to know and to understand the meaning of the many prophecies of the Bible that cannot be explained by those who claim to be ministers of God. And lastly, these people are prepared to die as martyrs for God.

GOD EXPLAINS THE UNIVERSE

God says that He stretched the heavens out... That is an amazing revelation in that astrophysicists have now understood that rather than the stars all speeding away from a central location (they call it the 'big bang' theory) the universe is expanding. To put this in perspective, if we were to paint some stars on a sheet of cloth, all of those stars would have a precise location in relation to all the others. But if we then began to stretch that cloth outwards, these painted stars would move further away from each other, yet would continue to maintain their exact relationship to all the others.

Again, if we were to take a cubic metre of the air we breathe, that is the substance of our atmosphere, and expand that in all directions to infinity, then as we looked out from its center, as each individual gas atom expanded proportionately, we would see a model of the present universe. As we did so, the size of the objects and the distances between them would increase proportionately.

God says that He spread out the heavens... but He also says that He stretched them out like a curtain. Notice: Isa 40:21 "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a CANOPY, and spreads them out like a TENT to live in." And to those who attempt to apologize for God because He doesn't fulfil their expectations and conform to their ideas, God says this: Isa 44:24 "I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone STRETCHED out the heavens, who spread the out the earth by Myself, who FOILS the SIGNS of the false prophets and makes FOOLS of diviners, who OVERTHROWS the LEARNING of the WISE and turns it into NONSENSE, who carries out the words of His servants and fulfils the predictions of His messengers."

The prophet Job stood in awe of God! Here was a man of outstanding ability, known throughout the world for his great accomplishments. It was this man, Job, that built Cheops Pyramid. This pyramid was a monument to God, a symbol of His mighty authority throughout the universe. God even compares the righteousness of this man to Noah and Daniel (Eze 14:14, 20). Job loved and respected his God: Job 9:1-10 "Then Job replied, "Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can a mortal be righteous before God? Though one wished to dispute with Him, he could not answer Him one time in a thousand. His wisdom is profound, His power is vast. Who has resisted Him and come out unscathed? He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in His anger. He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble. He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; He seals off the light of the stars. He alone STRETCHES OUT THE HEAVENS and treads the waves of the sea. He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. He performs WONDERS THAT CANNOT BE FATHOMED, miracles that cannot be numbered."

An example of WONDERS THAT CANNOT BE FATHOMED is the recent discovery that the stars in the universe are not all emanating from a central source as prescribed by the 'big bang' theory. It is now known that the universe is EXPANDING! Just as Job and the other prophets said! And what did we hear from the 'wise' of the world? Did they come out and admit that this is a wonder that cannot be fathomed on the basis of current knowledge of science? No, they didn't! Nothing in the annals of science and discovery can explain this phenomena! It should come as no surprise to those who believe God though! After all, we see things expanding all the time in God's creation - but only in living entities. A seed expands to become a large tree. A baby expands to become an adult. This is the handiwork of the Great Creator! After observing all these sorts of unexplainable mysteries, why should we be surprised that other matter in the universe also complies with God's instructions?

The fact that the universe is expanding has provided one of the greatest dilemmas of all time for astrophysicists. Nothing in the physical laws that they understand can account for a proportionate expansion that disregards propulsion speeds of individual celestial bodies. As the expansion progresses, there must be a quantum leap in the speeds of those that are furthest away. What mystical power could possibly produce these great speed increases? It's a dilemma that cannot be answered short of the acknowledgement of a divine Creator. But as Isa 40 says, God knew and advised us long ago that He stretched out the heavens like a canopy.

THE SCALE MODEL

Is this whole creation an expanded scale model? Is the atom a prototype of this incredible creation. Does God give us any evidence that he created everything as a small scale model, and then He expanded it? Notice: Isa 40:12 "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, or with the breadth of His hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a [measuring] basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales, and the hills in a balance?"

God expands on this statement: V15 "Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust."

God certainly modelled the entire universe. He is plainly telling us this! It was God who did all these things! The very fact that the universe is expanding tells us that it was once a lot smaller. It had to be smaller if it's been expanding for thousands of years. The question is: How small was it originally? You have two options: You can believe God when he says that he modelled it all with his own hands, or you can believe the lunatics of this world who say that it all resulted from a big ball of matter that exploded. It's your choice! God is taunting those foolish people who have not understood this from the foundation of the world! God is a Creator - He calculates and models everything! He is the Great Architect! It is HE that tells the truth - not the self-serving frauds who pose as scientists!

JOHN THE BAPTIST SPEAKS

Did you notice that the above scriptures are quoted from the very chapter that John the Baptist quoted from? He began his ministry of repentance by preaching from Isaiah chapters 40 to 66. His message of repentance was to clear away the misguided perception that God in any way resembled the gods of this world. With considerable rancor, he ostracised those who had reduced the power and might of the Great God to mere representation of psychological emotionalism. He was preaching to people that had a concept of God that revolved around trivialities. Most of the people had for centuries viewed God from the superstitious stand-point of the pagan nations around them. Lucky charms, phylacteries, mode of dress, were all supposed to win favour from their god. They had reduced the glory of God to superstitious ritual to gain favours.

You should understood that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah. He was a type of one of two other prophets that will soon appear on the world stage? The true Gospel is to be preached from Jerusalem to all the world for a witness, then shall the end come! It's the same Gospel of the Kingdom of God that John the Baptist preached. His job was to prepare the way for the Creator of all things - Christ! John the Baptist preached from the book of Isaiah, from the very scriptures that they were so familiar with - but had never understood. Their perception of God revolved around trivialities. What John told them, had them riveted to their seats. He was presenting a concept of the Great Creator that they had never understood. What is more, John was clearly telling them that the very Being that created all things, that was above all the creation in power and might, was soon to appear on earth, in preparation for the establishment of an eternal kingdom.

In short, John the Baptist's message was about the coming King and His Kingdom. Matt 3:1 "In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah."

The book of Luke gives us a greater insight into John the Baptist's preaching: Luke 3:4-6 "As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: "A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, and rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God's salvation."

This very plain statement shows that there is to be some major landscaping done on earth when Christ returns. In verses 17 and 18 he clearly indicates that he was speaking of a time far into the future when the Kingdom would be established: "His (Christ's) winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the Good News to them." Notice the words 'unquenchable fire.' This is clearly referring to Christ's second coming.

John the Baptist spoke of mountains and hills being leveled, rough terrain being made smooth, valleys being filled in, and even the highways being straight. Most people attempt to spiritualize away the meaning of these statements. They believe it to be spiritual jargon for some sort of undefined emotional experience. But in Isaiah 40 from where this scripture is quoted, a further comment is added: Isa 40:3-5 "A voice of one calling in the desert, "Prepare the way for the LORD, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind TOGETHER shall see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

This is not open to interpretation by human beings because the mouth of the Eternal God has spoken it! This is a clear instruction from God that you had better believe every word exactly as He has stated it! The Book of Revelation leaves no doubt about what is meant here: Rev 16:17-19 "The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred SINCE MAN WAS ON EARTH, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the CITIES OF THE NATIONS COLLAPSED." V20 "EVERY ISLAND FLED AWAY and the MOUNTAINS COULD NOT BE FOUND."

Nothing like this has ever occurred 'SINCE MAN WAS ON EARTH'. It did happen before man was on the earth though! The chaos that currently exists was caused by a great rebellion by Lucifer. God is to restore it all to its pre-existing beauty. It will all be transformed to its former state when all the angels shouted with joy: Job 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? (Heb: 'Eden' means landmass, Strong's 0134) Tell me if you understand. Who MARKED OFF ITS DIMENSIONS? Surely you know! Who STRETCHED A MEASURING LINE ACROSS IT? On what were the FOOTINGS set, or who LAID ITS CORNERSTONE - while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?"

The angels shouted for joy when God first created the original landmass, and at that time, the landmass had a CORNERSTONE. The measuring line that God stretched upon the landmass was to ensure that the borders of it were perfectly straight. The chaotic and scattered land of the earth today is not the way God originally designed it. Everything God creates has great symmetrical design. Observe the symmetry of flowers and trees, the markings of fish and animals, the immense variety of insects and their camouflage and colours. In contrast to the glorious design of all God's creatures, it would be unconscionable to believe that God would be the creator of such confusion that exists in the earth's geography.

The chapters of Isaiah 40 to 66 speak constantly of the reshaping of the earth, of the levelling and threshing of mountains to dust, of drying up certain rivers, of causing rivers to flow on barren heights, of causing springs to appear in deserts, and forests to spring up in all the barren places, of turning rivers into islands, of restoring the land, of raising up highways. God speaks of the heavens vanishing like smoke, and the earth wearing out like a garment and the inhabitants dying like flies (Isa 41:18, 42:5, 42:15, 44:24, 49:11, 51:6, 51:12, 54:10, 65:17, 66:22).

Few people today show any interest in what the Kingdom is really all about. It's the absolute glory and power of God that provides the showpiece for our minds; to reveal the Creator to us. Human beings have, for thousands of years, invented gods by the thousands, and never realized that the Kingdom of Heaven is the Kingdom that will be administered from earth. God has in the past winked at ignorance. He knows that human beings are limited intellectually. There are none on earth today with the intelligence of the great men of the Bible. None that could even begin to match such men as Noah, Abraham, Job, Daniel and Solomon. All of these men had the outstanding ability to understand things that no others could. Some pioneered building techniques, others, like Abraham, were the greatest mathematicians; Daniel was the wisest man on earth at that time (even Satan was no match for him - Eze 28:3). Ignorance is one thing, but God shows no tolerance for the pig-headed rebelliousness of those who oppose Him! And He makes His reasons clear: Rom 1:20 "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from WHAT HE HAS MADE, so that MEN ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE." Why should God show tolerance for self-seeking liars and frauds?

Human beings have allowed senseless stupidity to affect their minds, and have become ignorant of what the creation is telling us. Of great importance to God is the welfare of His people - but the most important thing in the mind of God is the establishment of a Kingdom that will last forever. Humanly speaking, kingdoms have come and gone for the entire history of mankind. All eventually crumble and fall. By extension, even the Assembly in the wilderness, and the Church that Christ established, even down to this present time, has crumbled and fallen. Not entirely, but by various orders of magnitude. Truth has become lost, and from time to time, new truths emerge, but even the Church that Christ built of human beings failed to maintain the orderliness that Christ intended. This is characteristic of the nature of human beings. Power struggles are the prime cause of kingdom and Church failures. People take their minds off the great power of God and focus on their own presumed power and begin a process of self-seeking dominion.

The service that John the Baptist performed for God was all important, and nothing should cloud the minds of Christians as to the importance of what he accomplished. What was it that caused so many people to respond to the message of the Kingdom of God that he delivered? The answer is that he was able to illuminate the people to the true meaning of the Kingdom of God, and to sweep away the superstitious ideas that had developed over many centuries. The culmination of his ministry was when he introduced the very Creator as the Lamb of God.

Even today, the Churches of God have no idea of what the Kingdom of God is all about. They have failed to understand that the original concept of the Kingdom of God that was established prior to the creation of mankind became flawed through rebellion. God is determined that rebellion will not arise again! To ensure that this is so, God has established a new set of laws, which He introduced with the creation of mankind, and that will be standardized throughout the universe. This will involve considerable modification of celestial bodies. For instance, the Sabbath, which was created in the Garden of Eden, will be the Sabbath for the entire universe (Isa 66:22-23). Because of the size of some of the planets even in our own solar system, and the varying lengths of the days on each one, there will need to be modifications. Also, in order to observe the seven year cycle, and the Jubilee, and the months of the Holydays, the year's duration will need to be modified in other planets. God has already planned those modifications throughout the universe.

THE MYTH OF BLACK HOLES

You have no doubt heard of black holes and supernovas. The general concepts of these are fanciful fabrications of ignorant men. Black holes, they would have us believe, are areas of the universe that suck in and devour stars and other celestial objects continually. Because they have no desire to acknowledge God or to understand the great power of God, theorists devise these silly theories in an endeavour to aggrandize their professional standing. In the case of the supernovas, they claim that these are exploding stars. They feel most comfortable in claiming this, because the implication is, that God's creation is imperfect, and things continue to self-destruct.

Foolishly, they have failed to understand that when a supernova appears, it is a BRAND NEW CREATION! They have failed to understand that they have just viewed a miracle as God kickstarts a pulsar in preparation for creating its covering shroud of matter. In time they will see that the pulsar is covered with matter, to form a celestial body, and the pulses of radiation will cease. This is how God creates the stars and planets today.

God tells us that He created all the stars in the heavens and not one of them is missing Isa 40:26 "Lift up your eyes and look to the heaven: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

Clearly, there are no stars or galaxies exploding, and they never have. All the stars are still there! God, the Creator says, none of them is missing!

'Creationists' moan and groan over the immense problems of time and distances in the universe. Evolutionists smugly gain satisfaction from it. But neither have understood anything! On the expanded model of the universe, scientists have calculated that the most distant objects visible are 18 billion light years away. (Their methods of calculations are decidedly questionable). And it is this figure that represents, in their minds, the age of the universe. Why would they believe this? If these stellar objects are 18 billion light years away and they are travelling from a central location as required by the 'big bang' theory, then they must be travelling at the speed of light in order to cover this distance in this time.

This raises some very great problems. What could possibly have propelled such awesome masses of material to light speed? Light speed is considered to be the maximum speed for any particle to travel according to known physical laws. And only light itself is known to be able to achieve this, including all its spectral variations e.g. radio waves.

Now if as they say, a form of 'big-bang' occurred and all matter expanded from a central nucleus, for this figure to be correct, all matter must have expanded at the speed of light. And in the time that the light has taken to reach us from these most distant objects (18 billion years), then these galaxies (even travelling at the speed of light) will be 18 billion light years further away! That would then give a figure of 36 billion light years! If they are not travelling at the speed of light, but are travelling at speeds more closely resembling that of known astral bodies, then the time it took to reach these distances is hundreds of trillions of years.

Are you beginning to understand the sort of scientific insanity that has been thrust on the world?

God is putting the finishing touches to the heavenly image that is shortly to appear. When this heavenly image finally appears in the next few years, humanity will be perplexed and astonished Luke 21:25-26 "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and the tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Based on their current theories, they will have no answer for this awesome display of chaos on earth and unexplained mysteries in the heavens.

God is to provide a new heaven and a new earth at the start of the Millennium. The concept of the Church of God that the new heavens and the new earth will appear at the end of the Millennium is based on a misreading of Revelation 21:1-2. This is thoroughly covered in other articles.

At the time of the sixth seal a series of events will occur that will leave no doubt that a power greater than mankind is intervening in the processes of this earth. At this time, the mountains that were formed in the great catastrophe of Lucifer's rebellion will disappear, and all the islands (continents) will begin to move to their original locations. Notice this scripture: Rev 6:12 'I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth as late figs drop from a fig-tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND ISLAND WAS REMOVED FROM ITS PLACE.'

Do you believe God? Do you believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God? Or do you believe that this passage of scripture was the figment of the prophet's imagination? Perhaps it's 'symbolic' language that really means something entirely different -- is that what you think? If so, then you are in for the shock of your life!

What is being described here is the beginning of the restitution (restoring or repairing) of all things relating to planet earth. For thousands of years this earth has been coursing around its solar orbit -- upside down! Isa 24:1 "Behold the LORD makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and TURNS IT UPSIDE DOWN, and scatters abroad the inhabitants thereof." (KJV) After the first destructive event that led to the demise of the world of the dinosaurs, the earth came to rest in its present rotational configuration. God chose, at that time, to re-create a new earthly environment and populate it with a whole new species - the mammals. In addition to this, He created a special being with a mind like God, but who would come to know good and evil. Out of the chaos and destruction God planned to rid the universe of rebellion and corruption and to institute a whole new class of being. To this end, humanity was created.

Contrary to what you may have believed in the past, God didn't create human beings for the express purpose of creating a righteous family. The whole purpose of everything that has occurred during this past six thousand years has been to depose the great tyrant - the devil. To this end Christ was born as a human being - to replace this king of the earth (John 18:37). Christ came to destroy the devil's work: 1John 3:8 "He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. THE REASON THE SON OF GOD APPEARED WAS TO DESTROY THE DEVIL'S WORK."

For six thousand years, humanity was required to live out their lives in the shattered and chaotic earth. Howbeit, God created lifeforms that would be suitable for co-habitation on the planet, and concluded that it was 'good.' Not excellent, mind you - not the sort of creation that made the angels shout with joy originally - but good. Suitable for the purpose. But the Sabbath of this seven thousand year plan, the millennium, will be entirely different! During this period the whole earth will be resculptured and restored. In addition to this, everyone on earth will, for the first time, see the universe as it really is! And what appears in the new heavens will be an everlasting sign to all of humanity.

All of the prophets spoke of this DAY. The Apostle Paul explains it: Heb 4:1 "Therefore, since the promise of entering His REST still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it." This REST that Paul speaks of is the Millennium - the seventh day of the seven millennial years: V8 "For if Joshua had given them REST, God would not have spoken later about another DAY. There remains, then, a SABBATH-REST for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's REST also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that REST, so that no-one will fall by following their example of disobedience." The keeping of a weekly Sabbath is mandatory for every human being on earth. And this Sabbath or rest is entered every week. But the SABBATH-REST mentioned by Paul is one which all Christians hope for and long for. This is the Millennium when all of humanity will have rest from the evil one. Those who enter into this rest will be those who 'ALSO rests from his own work just as God did from His' - in the garden of Eden.

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