Category Archives: Bible Studies

The Bema Judgment

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 The bema judgment, or as it is sometimes called, the judgment seat of Christ will probably occur just after the Rapture and our transformation. And I am guessing that it will be one of those timeless events. That is, things that happen in a few days or even a few years in our time will take only a second in God’s time. Really, since Christ will be the only judge, and since He will have to judge every Christian for all of their works, in our time this could take over a thousand years. But since God is God and He will not be restricted by time, it will take only a second—or less.

Now this bema judgment (bema, indicating an elevated judgment platform) will happen somewhere in heaven—we don’t know where. And the subjects of the judgment are the church—those who will be raptured. All others who are not of the church will, I suppose, be judged at another time and place. And, as I said, Christ is our judge.

As for the basis of this judgment; it will not be according to our sins, for they have already been paid for on the cross, and His blood has already cleansed us of all sins (1 Jn. 1:7). Praise God for that! But we will be judged according to our deeds, whether they are good or bad. Our bad deeds will have no value for His kingdom, so we will get no reward for those. But our good deeds, whatever value they have for His kingdom, we will be rewarded on that basis (read 1Cor. 3:10-15).

Now, as for what reward we will get, that is hard to say. God has not revealed that specifically. Certainly, He will judge us according to our motives and our attitude toward Him and toward others. And we know that He is a perfect judge and He knows our heart. There has been much said in Scripture about crowns that we will get as rewards. There has also been things said about rewards of land, rulership, and of responsibilities. But I think the best reward we will want to receive is to hear Jesus say to us, “Well done My good and faithful servant.” Also, in the end of things, whatever glory we receive from Him, we will so much desire to reflect that glory back to Him—that all things will be to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:12).

Tidbits for Believers

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The world is closing in on Israel—Gog and Magog. Be alert for it! Iran, Turkey, and Russia are all in on it. It is coming (look at Ezekiel 38, 39).

The devil is planning much deception for the world, but also for a believers. We must resist him and draw near to God.

I resolve to keep up with bible reading and writing. It will do me good and I hope will benefit others.

Plans To Build The Third Temple

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My last blog, if you have been following along, was about the war of Gog and Magog. And I am suggesting here that after that war Israel will be starting to make plans to build the third temple—with the Antichrist wanting to take a leadership roll in it. But none of us really know for sure all the details of what will happen or the order of the events. But anyway, here is my post…

 As the people of Israel (after the Ezekiel war) are busy burying the dead bodies and are in the process of burning the weapons, they will have a chance to think about what comes next. Of course, we know now how we think about the Antichrist—he is evil! But the Jews and the world at that time don’t know him. They think he is wonderful and a man of peace. Since he and the EU were not involved in the war, and were in fact against it, they probably will see him as a peacemaker and a good man. They will also see him as a religious person—maybe even a Christian—since he will be taking steps to be unified with the new global religion. More importantly, he will at this time be cultivating a friendship with Israel, and very soon will announce his seven-year peace plan and the building of the third temple—and I’m sure the rumors are spreading.

As for the temple, what do you think Israel and the world are thinking about it? Are they in favor of it?

Let’s take the Jews first. There is quite a mixed bag of Jewish beliefs. Mainstream Orthodox Jews, which is by far the largest group, want the temple, but they believe it can only be built by the coming Messiah. Another group called Ultra-orthodox Judaism, a much smaller group, believe they already have a command of God (Ex. 25:8) to build the temple. And there are already several organizations that are in the process of carrying out this order. Then there are a few more liberal denominations that see no need for the temple—and especially for animal sacrifices.

True Christians, of course, see no need for a temple, since every Christian believes that he is a temple and God dwells in him (1 Cor. 3;16). Even so, we see the building of a temple as prophetical; and so, it is a sign that His coming is near.

The Antichrist may not know all of what his future is, but I’m sure Satan will fill him in as to what his role is; and so, he will have somewhat of a plan to sign a peace agreement and also to take charge of building the temple for the Jews. He may even know what he will do half-way through the seven-year peace plan.

There is so much more we could say about the progress made for the building of the temple and about all the obstacles they are encountering; but we will put that off for another time.

However, I’m thinking that if mainstream Orthodox Judaism comes to believe that this great man of peace is their Messiah, everything may very quickly fall into place.

The Ezekiel Invasion

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The Ezekiel invasion of Ezekiel 38 and 39 may be the next major world event after the Rapture of the church. Here are a few of the most important details of this invasion: first, though it may seem like the many nations that come after Israel are great and self-determined with their own plan, it will be God that will summon them into battle. In fact, Scripture tells us that He will put hooks into their jaws and pull them into the war (Ezek. 38:4), where he will bring His fierce judgment on them.

Secondly, this invasion will be at a time when Israel is living securely (vv. 8, 11). And many think that this is true of Israel now, since they have a well-equipped military and a strong economy. So, this war could come at any time.

One more important point is: though there will be millions of troops that will come against Israel, and will cover the land “like a cloud,” (v. 16), there will also be a few nations that will be against the invasion (from Ezek. 38:13). These are Sheba (or Yemen), Dedan (or Saudi Arabia), the Merchants of Tarshish (or Spain and Britain), and the young lions (possibly the USA). We don’t know exactly why they will not get involved; but it is my guess that they just aren’t as hateful toward Israel as the other nations; or they may have more of a commercial interest with Israel.

Here are the invaders—those who are mostly Muslims and who are led into war by one called Gog (from Ezek. 38:1-6).

  • Rosh – probably Russia.
  • Meshech and Tubal – what is now Turkey.
  • Persia – modern Iran.
  • Ethiopia – probably Sudan.
  • Put – Libya and Tunisia and parts of Algeria.
  • Gomer and Beth-togarmah – Turkey.
  • Many other people – this refers to people that may not be troops, but civilians, all haters of Jews!

The surprising and miraculous outcome of this invasion is that Israel won’t be touched at all; but the invading armies will be almost completely destroyed. Of course, this will be God’s intention all along. He will summon them to this battle to be judged by Him. And His judgment will be four-fold.

  • By a great earthquake (38:19-20).
  • By infighting (38:21). By the divine, direction of God, the invading troops will become confused and will fight against each other.
  • By disease (38:22; 39:4, 17-20). So many dead bodies lying everywhere will cause an outbreak if disease.
  • By rain, hail, fire, and brimstone (38:22; 39:6). This judgment, direct from God, may be the most devastating.
  • This very destructive war no doubt will be used to convince the world to establish peace with Israel—and the Antichrist will play a major part in that peace as we will see in the next point.5

5 Ibid., pp. 127-140.

The Rise of the Antichrist

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We have been looking at seven events that may happen between the Rapture and the Tribulation. The first two were the setting up of a global government and a global religion.  Here is the third event: the rise of the Antichrist. Of course, all this is just my opinion—what I think is logical.

The Antichrist is somewhat of a mystery man. At this present time nobody really knows who he is. And even during the time between the Rapture and the Tribulation, I don’t think people will know this man as the Antichrist, only that he is a great and popular leader. It won’t be revealed who he is until the midpoint of the Tribulation when Satan enters into him and God removes his restraints to do evil (2 Thess 2:6-7).

I suppose a general description of him from his earlier life is that he will grow up loving the military and war. And then, out of his great popularity and giftedness he will also be elected to a high government position in the EU—and eventually will become a world leader (Dan. 11:37-38). But, through it all, I believe he will be controlled by demons. Everything he does will be Satan inspired.

 Now, as for his world influence and how he rises to power, ten leaders of the EU will rise up first, and then he will rise up after them and among them (Dan 7:24). And he will very soon gain popularity and power over them all. And I think it will be due mainly to his great emphasis on world peace.

Also, we see in Scripture that he will work closely with the harlot (the new global religion). At first she will have control over him; she will use him to help her build the false religion. Later he will control her, using her to help him control the people so that they will serve him and do His will. In fact, she will help him to get rid of the Christians—to kill them (Rev. 17:6).

Now, at the middle of the Tribulation to the end, when God removes his restraints to do evil, a number of terrible things will happen.

  • Satan’s power is unleashed through him so that he becomes known as the lawless on (2 Thess. 2:6-8).
  • He breaks the covenant of peace with Israel (Rev. 9:27).
  • He exalts himself in the temple as God (2 Thess. 2:4).
  • A fatal wound of his is healed and the world is amazed, but is deceived (Rev. 13:3-4).
  • He and the ten kings destroy the harlot (Rev. 17:16-17).
  • He is aided by the false prophet to do evil works (Rev. 13:11-18).
  • He wages war on the world—but in the end he dies in battle (Dan. 11:40-45; Rev. 13:7).4

4 Ibid., pp. 103-125.