Old Testament Silence - Saints Like Angels? (Q&A)

See the Bible Q&A series here

Q. Where did Jesus get the info that we saints will be like angels? None of the current cannon books address this point.

 

A. First, in Isaiah 28:10 & 13, Jesus reveals to us, for the FIRST time, His strategy in releasing knowledge, wisdom and understanding to humanity. He has been doing this since Adam and Eve, in both the spiritual AND physical realms. Remember how Einstein reportedly received most or all of his ‘brilliant’ insights?? Remember, Colossians 2-3? Thus, I conclude ALL/EVERYTHING mankind has ever, and will ever learn, COMES FROM JESUS, The Lord God! 

 

Second, In Daniel 12:3, an angel gives us a hint, a signal, that we, The Lord’s righteous saints, will effectively, be shining LIKE THEM – i.e., like The Lord showed Himself, His Glory on the mount of transfiguration. John later confirms this in 1 John 3:2.

 

Third, Zechariah 12:8 states David, then in his immortal state, will be LIKE AN ANGEL as he rules over all post-apocalyptic Jews in the greatly expanded Israel during The Millennial Reign age.

 

Ergo, what Jesus correctly said in Matthew 22:30, and confirmed in Mark 12:25, was ‘seeded’ in OT prophecies. I imagine some folks will read these verses and erroneously conclude, ‘WE WILL BE ANGELS!!!’. Such folks might either conveniently forget, or not be aware that, as we understand it, Jesus NEVER invites/invited any angel to do what He invites us to do in Ephesians 2:6 and Revelation 3:21! For more on this point, see: Lost Angels Not for Like-Angels, in which I address the question, In what ways will we be LIKE versus UNLIKE angels?

 

Finally, I suspect most Christians may be unaware of a significant error in the literal translation of Psalm 8:5, one The Lord apparently allowed. Most translations say humans were created below angels. (See: Ye Are gods! (Series)) It’s so very sad that, though we were created ‘a little lower than God, Himself’ (see: Young’s Literal Translation), folks bow to, serve, and ACT LIKE devils and demons, thus worshiping them as false gods! That explains ALL the wickedness and deep corruption across the entire Earth. As a result, The Lord promises, in Revelation 20, such folks will receive the same, exact, eternal judgment He has reserved for all devils and demons — disgraced former angels who, long ago, rebelled against Him. Both of these groups, as immortal beings, will be cast into a lake of fire that burns eternally with brimstone, likely somewhere on the new Earth The Lord promised to create. (See: The Lake of Fire: A Preview (Series) and Earth’s Next Versions (Series)) And guess who Revelation 19 predicts will be the FIRST two, immortal humans to be cast therein, well over a thousand years before all devils and sinful humans who served them in this life?!

Old Testament Silence - The Origin of Devils? (Q&A)

See the Bible Q&A series here

Q. Nowhere does the current cannon really touch on the origin of unclean spirits. Only the removed books speak about it. Very interesting to see that.

 

A. Actually, this is incorrect. The Lord’s ‘embedded prophecy’ in Isaiah 14:12-17, clearly explains where Lucifer/satan came from. Jesus later confirmed this point in Luke 10:18. Ezekiel 28:11-19 is another 'embedded' OT prophecy that explains the origin of Lucifer/satan. And in Revelation 20, The Lord finally reveals where and when satan’s entire kingdom of devils, demons AND sinful humans will end up. 

These (and possibly other) OT prophecies about a human leader or other matter, ‘embed’ references to spiritual matters. In reading them, the core, strategic decision the reader must intuitively make, is, at which verse in such prophecies, does The Lord RETURN to addressing  the human man? I have long studied and prayed about this point. (See: Lake of Fire: Is THIS the Man?! (Poem))

Mid-Ages Musings (Part 6)

See the Mid-ages Musings Series here

See the Human History Ages Series here

 

Based on Biblical prophecies, I started this series with only 2 posts about human history soon reaching its mid-point (the end of our 3^rd/current age) on this current version of Earth. While concluding the 2^nd post, The Lord reminded me ...the real mid-point, time-wise, has already passed! This is because The Bible is very clear that the remaining 3, promised ages of humanity, will be starkly short!!!

 

Beyond these 6 ages, The Bible predicts and promises a 7^th, eternal age, on a new, eternal Earth. By my math, 7 ages signifies 6 ages transitions events. The Bible verifies the first 2 such transitions were some form of global judgments, namely the global flood, and the crucifixion of Jesus, representing Father God’s global judgment and forgiveness of sins for whosoever would embrace His plan of salvation.  Armed with insights about the likely future global, ages transition judgments, I was interested to know and perceive their indicative ‘ramping-up precursors’. Voila! This series was suddenly, significantly expanded!

 

Let’s consider the predicted 6^th (final) ages transition briefly noted in The Bible, about which Revelation 20 only includes 9 verses.

6^th-to-7^th Ages (post-Millennial Reign age, to eternal age)

This ages transition will begin sometime after satan’s kingdom is, once again, released on Earth, after a thousand years of being locked away in a bottomless pit. Devils will well know their time is short to deceive and tempt humans to join their rebellion against The Lord God. Ezekiel 28:11-16 signifies when and how their rebellion began. This insightful passage is embedded in a prophecy about an ancient king of Tyre.

1. Humanity’s ‘cup of iniquity overspilling its rim’

Knowing their time is short, devils will, no doubt, be aggressive in using this declared ‘little while’ age to their best advantage. If people’s angst against monarchal rule will have greatly increased toward the end of The Millennial Reign age (see Part 5), then devils will find ways to light that and other sinful fuses. Towards the end of each preceding age, history will have confirmed that people increasingly cast of all restraints, resulting in exploding sinfulness across the world, just as we see in our day! Moreover, The Bible predicts there will have been no warfare, and signifies there will be no military industrial complexes on Earth during previous age. But this won’t stop people from plotting ways to conquer the MASSIVE WEALTH that will have accumulated in Jerusalem and across Israel during The Lord’s global reign. Thus, the stage will be quickly set for folks’ ‘cup of iniquity to begin spilling its rim’!

2. Righteousness on Earth figuratively ‘hanging by a thread’

The predicted presence of Christian saints in Jerusalem, signifies there will indeed be Godly righteousness on Earth. The lack of references to them being elsewhere, might signify their very limited presence and numbers. No doubt, with the (then) absence of The Lord, His saints, and His angels on Earth, these saints will know their situation is precarious! Hopefully, they will also know the Revelation 20 prophecy, and will be well-prepared to withstand (get this...) their first EVER encounters with devils! If not, the implied limited righteousness on Earth ...might quickly diminish!

 

For more of my perspective on these post-Millennial Reign age saints, see: Salvation in The Millennium (Series).

3. Certain precursors (pre-conditions) reaching their fullness

The only clear precursors for the pending, final global judgment (The Great White Throne Judgment) might be the crescendo of greed, leading to preparations for the 2^nd Gog and Magog attack in Israel – the final attempted war in history, likely planned to capture the wealth noted above. Just as with the first Gog and Magog attack in Israel, the wealth there will be the temptation that sparks the attack. Recall how The Lord used wealth in Jerusalem to entice the Babylon army to invade ancient Judah, as His judgment on folks’ gross sinfulness? 

Perhaps you might conceive of other precursors, considering how devils initiated and sustained their game on humans during the first 3 ages of history. By this final age, with so much experience dealing with us, they will no doubt be extremely wise, highly strategic, and devilishly tactical in how they use their remaining …‘little while’!

4. Silence from Heaven (dreaded or welcomed!)

My best guess is that Heaven might be silent during the entire 6^th age of history, perhaps preparing …for the final global judgment, and especially for ‘welcoming home’ the final contingent of saints who will have missed all earlier resurrection and rapture events. ¹ (See: Bible Raptures (Q&A))

 

Conclusion

 

In this in-depth series, I hope you will perceive and more clearly understand The Lord’s rich history in allowing things He cares about to reach their bitter ends, before He unleashes His promised judgments. That’s the effect of His Grace and long-suffering toward mankind. (See: Jeremiah 9:23-24 and Ezekiel 14:12-23) This effect is evident in our individual lives, families, cities, states/provinces, and nations. In this series, we see it also applies globally! As these scenarios unfold, He may allow significant collateral damages as well as various Goshen-effect type protections for HiS bona fide saints. His long-term Grace, and its related collateral damages and protective effects, will likely continue to be apparent in His remaining 4, promised, age-transitioning, global judgments!

 

Friends, If you value the insights in this topical series (and this blog, in general), please help to share them widely, and thereby become one of The Lord’s …warning watchmen on the wall. 

We know scientists have long been pondering the duration of humanity on Earth. As a result, governments and private sector entities have been spending feverishly, to identify and hopefully prepare to relocate a remnant of mankind elsewhere in the universe! 

My, my, if only they knew and believed... ²

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¹ The Bible strategically uncloaks The Lord’s multi-millennial strategy for humanity, comprising 7 ages: (1) pre-flood, (2) post-flood/pre-cross, (3) post-cross (Church Age), (4) tribulation/great tribulation, (5) Millennial Reign, (6) post-Millennial Reign, and (7) eternity. During each age, possibly  except the 5^th, He is ‘harvesting’ a small remnant of humans as saints, to whom He will show everlasting Grace'. 

² For a scientific perspective on the possible mid-point of human history, see: How Much Time Does Humanity Have Left?

Mid-Ages Musings (Part 5)

See the Mid-ages Musings Series here

See the Human History Ages Series here

Throughout history, and life, in general, the beginnings of significantly impactful events, are always much more attention-grabbing than their conclusions. That’s just how life is designed. The Bible has quite a lot to say about The Millennial Reign of Jesus, especially the slow run-up to this history-shifting event, its final arrival, and what it will entail. Interestingly, only one thing is included about its sudden end, i.e., that satan (presumably meaning his entire kingdom of devils) will once again be released on Earth, after being locked away in a bottomless pit for a thousand years. Ergo, we can only speculate how/whether The Lord’s apparent 4-point ages transition pattern might or might not apply to the ramp-up to the apparent, global, ages-transition judgment that will usher in the final age, the post-Millennial Reign age. I regard the release of satan’s kingdom back on Earth, as that global judgement  (Revelation 20:1-3).

Following is what I speculate about how it might apply. (Share your ideas in comments below.)

5^th-to-6^th Ages (Millennial Reign age, to post-Millennial Reign age)

1. Humanity’s ‘cup of iniquity overspilling its rim’

In the middle of the 2^nd age of history (post-flood - pre-cross), there were massive rebellions against long periods of monarchal rule across the world! These rebellions resulted in the fall of many monarchs. One such revolt led to the American Revolution. From a spiritual perspective, these were rebellions against the (then), God-sanctioned mode for human governance. As you ponder whether allowing such results may have been His ‘direct will’, versus His ’permissive will’, please take a moment to consider this insightful perspective…

The Lord will re-institute this exact form of governance

across the entire world during His Millennial Reign!

Imagine that… 

We humans reject everything He desires! What a sad testimonial. Given this human proclivity, I speculate the closing centuries or decades of His Millennial Reign, could potentially be the 2^nd time people …physically reject Jesus! Jews across ancient Judah violently rejected Him for claiming to be ‘The Son of God’. Folks born late in The Millennial Reign age will not have experienced the apocalypse, and many might even become ‘apocalypse deniers’, similar to today’s holocaust deniers. Might many in those generations reject Jesus for actually demonstrating He IS The Lord God?! If so, that would be a major case of ...‘history repeating itself’!

Consider this:

a. In Psalm 2, David, the second king of ancient Israel, prophesied about The Lord ruling the nations with a rod of iron.

b. The Book of Revelation thrice affirms Jesus will, indeed, rule the world with a rod of iron.

c. Historically, iron-fisted governments end with massive rebellions by the oppressed multitudes! Could such happen with The Lord God and all His saints on Earth, literally GLOWING, and demonstrating our unlimited powers, possibly constrained …by Grace.

In Exodus 33:18-23, Moses worked up the nerve to ask The Lord, ‘Please, show me Your GLORY.’ The Lord agreed, and later did so, while proclaiming His Name before Moses:

 

The Lord, The Lord God,

merciful and gracious, longsuffering,

and abounding in goodness and truth,

keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin,

by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers

upon the children and the children’s children

to the third and the fourth generations.

This proclamation reflects His core Nature. Reluctant Judge that He is, I intuit even during His lengthy iron rod rule, He might be somewhat gracious and merciful, tolerant of mankind’s foibles and sins ...to some extent. Moreover, He knows ‘the end of our story’. Thus He is in no rush to judge us. So yeah, I can easily perceive how mankind’s ‘cup of iniquity’ might spill over towards the end of The Millennial Reign age. Can you??

2. Righteousness on Earth figuratively ‘hanging by a thread’

For a millennium, The Lord, all His saints, and all His angels, will enforce righteousness, globally. Even with all devils locked away, the human proclivity to sinful rebellion will very likely remain exceptionally strong, and might manifest more towards the close of this age. 

The love of money and wealth (raw greed) have always been satan’s choice temptation for folks to sin. Isaiah 60 gives us a hint of the massive amounts of wealth that will accumulate in Jerusalem, and across the greatly expanded Israel, during the Millennial Reign age. It will come from folks across the world, trying to curry The Lord’s favor for everything imaginable, and then some! Jerusalem, then the global capital and seat of His Throne, will quickly and sustainably become the richest place on the planet!!! Imagine the jealousy, resentment and raw greed that might build-up, century upon century, even though this will be a golden age for every aspect of life on Earth! 

Jeremiah 9:23-24 lay out The Lord’s 3-point strategy for dealing with us: long-term Grace, short-term Judgments, hopefully culminating in our Righteousness. Problem: our righteousness is typically short-lived, if it is achieved at all!! As the world careens toward the end of this current (3rd) age, there is growing evidence that The Lord's judgments seem to have no effect in prompting our repentance and  turn to righteousness. Since pestilence is one of His chosen judgment instruments, consider how the Covid 19 pandemic ended with explosive criminality, as folks aggressively caught-up on their wickedness following the global shut down! 

What might happen as (a) the apocalypse and the Armageddon War eventually become a faint memory, or are forgotten altogether, and (b) wealth continues to accumulate in Israel at a fast pace?! As folks lose their respect, awe and tolerance for monarchal rule, I suspect we Gentile saints, ruling Gentile nations, could then ‘be in for a rough ride’ in our efforts to police and ensure righteousness on Earth! Imagine that..

For more about righteousness on Earth in this age, see: Salvation in The Millennium (Series).

Ponder this: The Bible confirms The Lord will come with ALL His saints and angels (Zechariah 15:5, Matthew 25:31, and 1 Thessalonians 1:17). Perhaps strategically so, it does not say ALL shall remain here with Him throughout the thousand years! So might there be a transition of some of His saints and angels back to Heaven (i.e., possibly to the new, eternal Earth) as the close of the Millennial Reign approaches, and as righteousness might steadily degrade across the world?? Recall, The Lord left Earth some time after Adam and Eve sinned, as sinfulness began to spread. 

3. Certain precursors (pre-conditions) reaching their fullness

The Bible’s two declared timeline of a full millennium, might be the primary condition to reach its fullness. For a thousand years, (a) Jesus will be on the Earth with all His saints and angels, and (b) all devils will be locked away. Period. 

4. Silence from Heaven (dreaded or welcomed!)

Logically, there cannot be silence from Heaven when all or most of Heaven is on the Earth. I intuit two possible scenarios in which there might be ‘silence from Heaven’ in the ramp-up to the release of satan’s kingdom back on Earth:

1. Either The Lord’s core graceful and merciful nature, noted above, might, for a time, tolerate growing of unrighteousness in the world (just as He is doing in our time), or

2. There might be a period of silence after He, His saints and angels leave the Earth, and before satan’s kingdom is released again on the Earth.

 

See Part 6,

the conclusion of this rather unique series.

Mid-Ages Musings (Part 4)

See the Mid-ages Musings Series here

See the Human History Ages Series here

 

It doesn’t require a deeply ‘strategic eye and mind’ to perceive or discern the pattern The Lord applies to the ramp-up to His 6 predicted global judgments, that trigger age-to-age transitions, across His 6 predicted ages of history. ¹ It requires:

 

1. an intuitive reading of Genesis 6, 

2. a general understanding of the history of ancient Israel and Judah, 

3. perceptive human experiences to perceive our core nature, and 

4. awareness of Jeremiah 9:23-24, how The Lord said He deals with us: long-term Grace, relatively short-term Judgments, targeted to achieve Godly Righteousness.

 

Let’s continue to explore the pattern that was apparent during His initial two ages transitions -- from the pre-flood-to-post flood, and the post-flood-to-post-cross ages. I was curious to see how it might unfold during the last 3 predicted ages transitions.

 

4^th-to-5^th Ages (tribulation age, to Millennial Reign age)

1. Humanity’s ‘cup of iniquity overspilling its rim’

The global after-effects of the 3^rd-age rapture, will be significant and downright scary, perhaps even more scary than the global flood, which, for those who perished, only lasted a few days! Imagine the impacts on all levels of governance, world trade, business and financial markets. The social fabric of many societies will be shredded!! Global lawlessness and wickedness then, might quickly explode to unimaginable levels, far worse than lawlessness and wickedness today!!! Thus, during the first half of this age (42 months), desperation and wickedness might initially surge with no restraints, until national global governance is restored.

At such a time, the appearance of the anti-Christ on the world’s stage, will trigger a time of order and peace, restoring a sense of well-being, as he applies satanic wisdom and miracles to addressing global problems. Folks the world over might be mesmerized. Recall, Jesus performed His many miracles on the ‘tiny stage’ of Judah, in Palestine. Imagine the anti-Christ man SIGNIFICANTLY ‘one-upping’ Jesus by performing many massive miracles on a global stage!

But the governance structure this man will have restored during the first half of this age, will totally fall apart during the last half of this age. The response will be an explosion of gross lawless and wickedness as the whole world absorbs the crushing blows of the great tribulation. Imagine that…

2. Righteousness on Earth figuratively ‘hanging by a thread’

Sometime during this short, 7-year age, the anti-Christ government will change its modus operandi. Its focus will turn violently negative on people who will have become Christians, and also on Israel, where the 3^rd Jewish temple will have been constructed on the temple mount (current site of the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem). Jewish religious practices will have resumed after centuries without such. Revelation 7:9-17 indicates beheading will be the preferred judgment against Christians and anyone who rejects the government’s prerequisite for engaging in commerce – a mark, perhaps a branding of some sort, referred to in The Bible as the mark of the beast. ² 

By the end of his beheading and mark of the beast campaigns, most or possibly all new Christians will have been slaughtered -- martyred from Heaven’s perspective. The majority, or possibly all remaining people on Earth, will have acquiesced to his branding demand. The Bible affirms their acquiescence will have negatively sealed their eternal fates.

The Bible, several times, predicts this global leader will grossly defile the new, Jewish temple, and demand to be worshiped. Potentially, in response to this act, The Lord will initiate His 42-month campaign of global, apocalyptic judgments. His objective will be to significantly pare down human and animal populations, destroy a significant portion of the ecology and environment, and fundamentally reshape all or significant parts of the planet’s terrain, all in preparation for His Millennial Reign as global King, and recognition as the Jewish Messiah. These judgments may be how He will finally achieve His ancient prophecy in Isaiah 13:11-13, leaving alive only a small remnant of humans who will be responsible for re-populating Earth during His The Millennial Reign, the 5^th age of history. ³

As noted above, these judgments will, no doubt, trigger another explosion of gross lawless and wickedness as people the world over, become increasingly desperate to survive the crushing plagues. With most, if not all, real Christians dead (their twins spirits and souls in Heaven helping to prepare for our pending ‘alien invasion’ of Earth!), and The Lord steadily ramping-up His global judgments, it’s not hard to imagine righteousness will indeed be ‘hanging by a thread’, IF there will be any righteousness at all on Earth! Imagine that…

3. Certain precursors (pre-conditions) reaching their fullness

The Bible predicts several trackable precursors will achieve their fullness during the tribulation age. Here are 8 key ones:

a. The mesmerizing rise of the anti-Christ man and his prophet/prime minister.

b. The appearance of 144,000 anointed, Jewish witnesses, who will be instrumental in their soul-winning ministry; plus two unique, miracle-performing witnesses who will seemingly augment judgment plagues across the Earth, be killed, then visibly resurrected and raptured into Heaven. 

c. Construction of the 3^rd Jewish temple on the temple mount. This infers the removal or destruction of the Al Aqsa mosque. 

d. The plethora of globally-recognized miracles the anti-Christ man will perform.

e. The initiation and completion of his mark of the beast and beheading campaigns. The latter will correspond with the opening of the 5^th seal on an ancient scroll in Heaven. Innumerable new, real Christians will be beheaded. Revelation 7:9-17 refers to them, appearing in Heaven (in spirit and soul form, pending their bodily resurrection when they return with Jesus), as ‘a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues…’. They are also included in the much larger group of ALL saints referred to in Zechariah 14:5, 2, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, Thessalonians 1:10, and Jude 1:14. ⁴ 

f. The 1^st War of Gog and Magog, launched and reaching its un-imaginable conclusion. This may happen after the world realizes Israel is being relatively protected during the plagues. ⁵

g. The anti-Christ man defiling the newly-constructed third Jewish temple and demanding to be worshiped.

h. The apocalyptic plagues reaching their fullness when Heaven is figuratively emptied onto Earth, and Jesus drammatically ends the attempted War of Armageddon, then begins His Millennial Reign. ⁶

4. Silence from Heaven (dreaded or welcomed!)

The Bible affirms, before the start of the 14 apocalyptic plagues across the world, there will be a period of silence in Heaven, corresponding with opening of the last (7^th) seal on the ancient scroll.

Here’s a tip about silence from Heaven…

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (my fav) succinctly summarizes The Lord’s 3-point strategy in dealing with us humans. I perceive this applies to every level of human existence: individual, family, company/corporation, community, city, state/province, nation and international. At each level, after granting a lengthy period of (1) amazing GRACE, in the face of our mounting sinfulness, He dispatches relatively short, (2) intense JUDGMENTS, with the strategic objective of retuning us to (3) His notion of RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

Because we are largely ignorant of and/or inattentive to this strategy, we are therefore imperceptive of His transitions from one point, to the next! During the Grace stage, He stimulates our conscience to face and deal with our sin guiltiness. When we remain unresponsive for a 

l-o-n-g time, our conscience becomes ‘seared by sin’, The Lord gives up, and He turns us over to our reprobate mind!! I perceive that might be when we un-knowingly experience ‘silence from Heaven’, as The Lord prepares pending punishments. 

 

Ergo…….

When your conscience stops bugging you about your sinfulness,

beware and prepare, pending punishments, will be His just judgments!!! 

 

See Part 5,

this 4-point pattern applied to the

5^th-to-6^th ages transition

(Millennial Reign age-to-post Millennial Reign age)

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¹ See: Human History Ages (Series).

² See: The Bible’s 6 references to mark of the beast. In Revelation, the  anti-Christ man is referred to as the beast. 

³ See: Revelation (Series of Series).

⁴ Revelation 20:4 refers to a relatively small subset of ALL The Lord's saints from across the first four ages of history, saints who will serve with Jesus during His Millennial Reign, the 5th age of history. This comports well with Zechariah 14:5, 2, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, Thessalonians 1:10, and Jude 1:14.

⁵ For more on this protection prospect, see: Goshen Effect (Series). For more on this war, see: A People, Un-walled (Series). Booty Pre/Post Millennial Reign (Series). For more on the three, predicted attacks in Israel, see: Revelation – Future Attacks in Israel. The series, Tribulation Journalists (Series), gives a unique perspective on the first two of these wars. 

⁶ At His glorious return to Earth, Jesus will be arrayed with ALL His saints from the first 4 ages of history, and ALL His angels. On Earth, Heaven emptied! Since Revelation 20:1-3 says satan (presumably his entire kingdom of devils) will be locked away for a thousand years, it stands to reason we, The Lord’s saints, then fully immortal and GLOWING like Jesus, will replace satan's invisible devils on Earth, and His angels will replace satan’s invisible devils in and above Earth’s exosphere. satan assigns his devils across both spheres to foment sinful wickedness. The Lord will assign His saints and angels across both spheres to enforce His iron rod rule righteous rule!