Q. Albany, Ore. — “I f the saints are all taken to heaven before the actual Tribulation, then where will the saints come from who will be per secuted during that period?” A. The saints of this dispensation of grace are members of the Body of Christ. We are His Bride. Those left to be persecuted are made up of the 144,000 Jews who become God’s evangelists during this seven-year period of judgment upon the earth. Revelation 7 :9 tells us a great multi tude of every nation are saved as a result of their testimony. Revelation 7:2-4 indicates what keeps them from being slain almost immediate ly. These would have been slain had they not been sealed and protected by God Himself until their ministry and testimony were completed. Q. Long Beach, Calif. — “Would you explain why the genealogy of Jesus Christ through Joseph in Matthew 1:16 ignores Joash and Amaziah?” A. Actually, numbers of individuals and generations have been omitted, just as we find in Genesis 5 and I Chronicles l:9ff. It’s to make a uniform arrangement. There are three important views in Israel’s his tory: David’s reign, the Babylonian, and the advent of the foretold Mes siah. These are not equal in cen turies. From Abraham to David there are about 1,000 years. From David’s reign to the Babylon cap tivity there were less than 500 years. Then to the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ were almost 600 years. The Spirit of God, through Matthew, em phasizes first Christ’s coming as King of the Jews. This is the all- ! important factor in the entire gene- i alogy.
Old Testament saints occurs at the end of the Tribulation period, along with the resurrection of the Tribula tion saints. These are referred to as the friends of the Bridegroom (John 3:29). Then, at the end of the Mil lennium we read in Revelation 20 about the Great White Throne judg ment which refers to the resurrec tion of the unredeemed of all dis pensations. According to John 5:29 they will be cast into the lake of fire, where the beast, the false proph et, and Satan himself have been con signed, apart from God in eternal separation and death. Q. Port Hueneme, Calif. — “Please explain where we are concerning time computation as far as the three or four year discrepancy from Je sus’ birth. Wouldn’t this have an im portant bearing on some prophetic histories ?” A. There are some who believe Christ was born in 4 B.C. The an cient Babylonians, Assyrians, and Egyptians reckoned time according to the stars. That’s why astrology was a part of their system. There have been certain rectifications and we have the Gregorian Calendar. Of course, the Jews do not refer to B.C. and A.D. They go back to the Mon day of the year the universe was created. There is a way to check the prophetic histories of the Old Testa ment. There are other numerous ac counts outside the Bible where dates can be cross-checked, such as battles recorded elsewhere. As far as future events in prophecy, actual dates have no real bearing. As an example, the Rapture has no reference to the cal endar. It may take place in a mo ment, in the twinkling of an eye. Nothing needs to be fulfilled before this event. For a further study of this question read E. R. Thiele on The Mysterious Numbers of the He brew Kings.
Q. Walla Walla, Wash. — “What about our loved ones who aren’t saved?
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker