An overwhelming majority of practicing Christians (88%) — those who say they are Christian, attend church at least once a month and consider their faith “very important” in their lives — believe in the total accuracy of the Bible, while 4% did not and the rest were unsure.
I am pleasantly surprised at this percentage (88%) of practicing American Christians holding to the inerrancy of the Bible.
A not so good percentage is when 2,656 American adults were surveyed 36% of respondents answered in the affirmative to the accuracy of the Bible, while 39% disagreed. Prior to the teaching of evolution in schools and universities as fact the % was much higher.
Of interest, about 45% of casual Christians, those who go to church at least once a month but do not consider their faith “very important,” characterized the Bible as totally accurate, while 23% took the opposite view. The overwhelming majority of non-Christians (70%) did not agree that the Bible is totally accurate, while 12% embraced the opposite position.
John Farquhar Plake, chief innovation officer at the American Bible Society and editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible series said: “Our latest survey finds a mixture of belief and questioning in the American public,” Plake added. “It’s true that nearly one in five Americans think the Bible was written to control and manipulate, but twice that many trust the Bible as ‘totally accurate in all the principles it presents.‘”
A total of just over one-sixth (17%) of those surveyed reported having “no trust” in religion, with higher percentages expressing “no trust” in the government (22%) and the media (29%). Meanwhile, much smaller shares of Americans told pollsters they had “no trust” in families (3%), medicine (5%) and education (5%).
The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University released the latest installment of its American Worldview Inventory series, which documents Americans’ views on the Bible and the Trinity. The research is based on responses collected from 2,100 adults in January.
An overwhelming majority of Christians reject the basic Christian teaching of the Trinity, prompting new concerns that Americans are living without the influence of “the truths and life principles of God.”
Overall, just 40% of respondents believe that God exists and affects people’s lives. That figure rises to 53% among self-identified Christians, 60% among theologically-identified born-again Christians, and 100% among Integrated Disciples. The latter term refers to those who have a biblical worldview. While a majority of those surveyed (59%) believe in the existence of Jesus Christ, a significantly smaller share of adults (29%) believe in the Holy Spirit.
“These results are further evidence of the limited or lack of trust Americans have in the Bible, the limitations we place on the authority and influence of God, and our refusal to cooperate with God by living in harmony with His ways and purposes,” said CRC Director of Research George Barna in response to the survey results. “Even the statistics for the groups that are most in-tune with biblical teachings, such as belief in the nature and impact of the Trinity, are shockingly low for a nation in which most people claim to be Christian.”
Barna identified “these findings about America’s ignorance or rejection of the Trinity” as “simply another in a long list of examples of people living without the truths and life principles of God shaping their life.”
Why is this the case? The teaching of evolution and billions of years has been one of Satan’s most successful strategies. It totally undermines the foundational book of the Bible, Genesis, where the important doctrines are established.
Man was made in God’s image to be in charge of the world God had made in six days. Why six days? It was a pattern for man’s working week: six days he will work, and the seventh day will be a sabbath rest day (Exodus 20:9).
Woman was made out of man’s rib to be a help mate for him.
God established marriage to be between a man and woman for life and to be the foundation block of society, the family.
Genesis teaches that Adam and Eve rebelled against God, which resulted in their immediate spiritual death when the Holy Spirit (the third person of the Trinity) departed Adam and Eve’s spirit. Physical death followed some 900 years later.
Genesis teaches that God had made spiritual beings called angels, and the lead angel, Lucifer/Satan, had rebelled against God and was instrumental in leading Eve and Adam astray.
Satan was successful in leading one-third of the angels (now demons) to rebel against God. Some desired the beautiful women on earth and were able to come down and mate with them to produce hybrid beings called Nephilim.
Because of these hybrid beings and the fact that lawlessness was rampant on the earth, God destroyed all mankind except one righteous and untainted man, Noah and his family. The flood of Noah’s day completely destroyed all mankind and the animals that were not on Noah’s Ark.
Just several generations from Noah, mankind was in rebellion again, and God established the nations by confusing their language at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). The different language groups were scattered throughout the world.
God established his own nation with one man, Abraham. It became the nation of Israel.
Jesus entered the world at God’s preordained timing to provide a way back for mankind into a right relationship with God. Jesus literally changed history BC & AD.
God has given us the true history of this world in His revealed Word, the Bible, and its timeline to date is 6000 years. The proof of its accuracy is fulfilled prophecy. He has given us the entire history of this world from its beginning to its end, which is following Jesus’s Millennial reign, which is next on God’s agenda. The world is not billions of years old as Satan has led the world to believe with the theory of evolution. Its entire timeline is 7000 years.
The Bible is the best-selling book in the world, but it is not just a book; it is the Word of God. God knows everything about everything. We cannot have a correct worldview without knowing what God tells us about its history and why He created this Cosmos.
In this short video, Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis provides useful background on the Bible and its importance to living in God’s world.
What will your final words be to your family and friends? In the case of the Apostle Paul, his final message came from a Roman cell, written to his protégé Timothy as he faced execution under Emperor Nero. The letter of 2 Timothy, often acknowledged as his last known correspondence, brims with urgency — calling for faithfulness to the gospel, resilience in suffering, and vigilance against false teaching. Yet above all, Paul pointed to the ‘God-breathed’ word as the ultimate authority for “teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). In just a few words, his parting counsel to a world he’d soon depart from was simple yet profound: Anchor yourself in Scripture.
God’s entire word echoes this urgency as it calls us to hold fast to its richness as if our very lives hinge on it. But this only makes perfect sense when we recognize that Scripture, as God’s inspired revelation, guides us from this life to the next, where, for those in Christ, our present is tethered to eternity’s promise.
And this idea goes back to long before Paul, in which Ecclesiastes explained how Scripture speaks to every moment of life: “For everything there is a season… a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time for war, and a time for peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). It’s a reminder that God’s word anticipates all we face.
Elsewhere, in Psalm 119:105, we read how the Bible is the “lamp” and “light” that guides us. Both Jeremiah and Psalm 1 characterize the person who treasures Scripture as someone who “is like a tree planted by water,” not fearing heat nor anxious of drought, but firmly planted and bearing fruit. “[H]is delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. … In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:2-3). Even Jesus Himself prayed for us to be in the word. To the God of the universe, His Father above, He prayed on our behalf: “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17).
If Scripture reigns clear, and even Jesus prayed for the word to sanctify us, how could we do any less than dedicate our lives to the study and application of it? And yet, it’s one thing to read Scripture and to study it because we believe we should. It’s an entirely different matter to do so because we know and believe that we must.
God gave us His word for our benefit. When we read it, the words of life, from the Source of life, abundantly give us life. As the theologian Charles Spurgeon once said, “Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.” He also rightly stated that “within the Scripture there is a balm for every wound, a salve for every sore,” and that “no Scripture is exhausted by a single explanation. The flowers of God’s garden bloom not only double, but sevenfold; they are continually pouring forth fresh fragrance.” A quotation especially relevant here is when he said, “Every promise of Scripture is a writing of God, which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request, ‘Do as Thou hast said.’ The Heavenly Father will not break His word to His own child.” And what did He say? He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5; Deuteronomy 31:6). “And behold,” said Jesus, “I am with you always, to the end of the age”(Matthew 28:20). His word states that when we are weary and heavy-laden, He will give us rest (Matthew 11:28). The Bible says that “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
Scripture says “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37), and that those in Christ will never taste death (John 8:51) nor feel its sting. The Bible says we have strength in Christ and that we can find true contentment in Him. In God’s word, we read that no flame will consume us, nor will any flood overwhelm us. Indeed, we learn in the pages of sacred Scripture that no matter the trial, no matter the valley, our Great Shepherd will get us through.
Scripture tells us that we are made with inherent dignity and value. It lays out the purpose of our existence. It explains the path we walk to glory. We may not understand everything in God’s word, but when it comes to the truths that fuel us to live, we have more than enough to chew on for eons upon eons. As Spurgeon stated, when we open the Bible and read it, we have every right to cry out: “God, do as You have said.” Most importantly, we have every reason to believe that He, indeed, will do the things He has promised in His word.
Paul’s final advice was to read our Bibles — to be planted in the word. And perhaps now it’s not hard to see why. These truths that get us through are found in no other source. Only Scripture contains God’s message to us in that He has loved us with an “everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). Only the Bible reminds us that, despite inevitable trouble in this world, we can “take heart,” because Jesus has “overcome the world” (John 16:33). In God’s word, dear reader, we find love, joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness, and all the riches of Christ. It’s all there — everything we could ever need.
And it’s in reading of these truths, day and night, that we’re not only equipped for this earthly life, but where we grow in our affection for Christ. It’s where our desire for our true home deepens and matures. It’s where everything around us gets put into its proper perspective. The radiance of God’s glory shines from the pages of His word and illuminates our hearts, minds, and souls to live — to truly live — in the beauty of Him who laid His life down for His sheep.
It’s no wonder Paul’s final counsel before martyrdom was to plant ourselves in Scripture. When all around us fails, when life is simply too much, open the word and allow your Savior to capture your heart all over again. He never changes, and His word never fails. Turn to it and be filled by the well that never runs dry. As Isaiah 40:8 proclaims, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
One of Jesus’s prophesied end-time signs is a great falling away from the truth of God’s word, and we are seeing that happen, particularly with the denominational/institutional churches, including the Catholic Church. I owned and managed Christian Press for thirty-plus years, distributing Christian books to Bible Colleges and Christian Bookshops. Even back then, I was disturbed that most of the Bible Colleges had compromised by accepting evolution and, as a result, no longer accepted the foundational book of the Bible, Genesis, as literal truth, teaching real history about God’s perfect creation, man’s fall into sin, and the promise of a divine saviour.
We are living in the end times, and over two thousand scriptures prophesy Jesus’ second coming. This makes it even more important that you are anchored in Scripture. and are watching for the prophesied signs.
Adapted from an article in the Washington Stand by Sarah Holliday, March 7th 2025, Paul’s Counsel before Martyrdom: Read the Bible
“Is the Bible True? Or Is It Truth?” by Scott Pinsker The article pokes fun at those who read the Bible “literally,” specifically calling out the global flood account as “pretty farfetched.” But the reasons he gives for why “the story of Noah is a tough nut to crack” are the same skeptical objections Answers in Genesis (AIG) and Creation Ministries International (CMI) have addressed for years!
A picture of the life-sized replica of Noah’s Ark built at Williamstown, Kentuck by Answers in Genesis (AIG).It was opened in 2016.
Here are the objections author Scott Pinsker raises, followed by a short answer with links to AIG articles on these topics.
Objection: How could Noah bring “every animal on earth” onto the ark, including “1.05 million insect species, 11,000 birds, 11,000 reptiles, and 6,000 mammals”? Answer:He didn’t need to! Follow the link to the full story, but the short answer is he only needed land-dwelling, air-breathing animal KINDS (not species)—less than 7,000 animals total!
Objection: The fossil record proves there couldn’t have been a worldwide flood. Answer: Actually, it shows the opposite!
Objection: Regionalized flora and fauna prove there couldn’t have been a worldwide flood. Answer: To answer this objection you need to understand the biblical concept of kinds.
Objection: Noah would’ve had to bring freshwater fish into an onboard aquarium or they would’ve died out. Answer: This fails to understand the differences between the preflood world and our world and, again, the concept of kinds. Besides, the account in Scripture states only land animal kinds were on the ark.
Objection: Noah would’ve been required to take 2,000 species of termites on the ark, and surely the wooden vessel wouldn’t survive that. Answer: But Noah perhaps didn’t need to bring insects on the ark, and even if he did, he wouldn’t need all those species!
Objection: Noah could never have cared for so many animals. Answer: Well, he didn’t bring tens of thousands of animals onboard the ark! He easily could have cared for the few thousand he needed to bring.
Objection: Why didn’t Noah bring innocent babies onto the ark instead of having them perish in the flood? Answer: God offered a means of salvation, and everyone except Noah and his family rejected it and therefore kept their children from receiving it as well. Besides, only God determines what is right and wrong. How can a human being determine morality without a basis in an absolute authority?
It’s rather frustrating to see skeptics—Christian or otherwise—mock the Bible for so-called “petty flaws” that thoughtful Christians have addressed for years! Just a few minutes of research on AIG or CMI sites would’ve shown that there are plausible answers to these questions. And yet he just repeats the same tired objections he’s heard from equally uninformed skeptics.
Why does he raise all these objections? Well, it’s to supposedly bolster his main point:
There are infinite ways to interpret the Bible. The Bible is about God, after all, and everyone’s image of God is different: My mental image of God differs from yours. And if we can’t even agree on the starting point, it’s going to be next to impossible to agree on all the twists and turns in the Scriptures.
The historicity of the Bible is a tricky topic—one that’s rife with recriminations, allegations, and declarations of faith. . . . Couldn’t an all-powerful, all-knowing God just as easily create a Holy Book that’s historical AND moral? Then why must it be one or the other? Why not both? Only God Himself knows for sure.
If only God himself knows, wouldn’t it behoove us to look at what God has said about his own Word in his Word and take it as written? One verse in particular immediately comes to mind:
“For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me“. John 5:46
Jesus tells his skeptical audience that they would believe his words if they believed the history written in the Old Testament because it all points to him. God recorded history, not just to teach us some “special wisdom . . . that can transform your soul,” but to point us to the Lord of history, Jesus Christ.
He also gave us his Word—history—for our instruction, so, we can know right from wrong and how to think biblically. Consider that, after refreshing his audience on some Old Testament history, Paul writes:
“Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did“. 1 Corinthians 10:6
“Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come“. 1 Corinthians 10:11
God’s Word is both, historical and filled with spiritual truths—not because I say so, but because God himself says so! (And he would know—he authored it after all! See 2 Timothy 3:16). And besides, Genesis is written as a historical narrative and is treated as such in the New Testament.
In the end, the author asks the question: “Do you believe the Bible is true—that every word and every claim should be taken 100% literally? Or do you believe the Bible is truth—that there’s a special wisdom within the Scriptures that can transform your soul, but truth comes in many forms, and you’ll have to work at uncovering the meaning for yourself?” (emphasis original)
I’ll simply let the Scriptures answer that question: “Your word is truth“. John 17:17, “The sum of your word is truth“. Psalm 119:160, “Let God be true though every one were a liar”. Romans 3:4
God’s Word is truth because it is true—if it isn’t true, then God is a liar and therefore the Bible is not truth. You can’t have one without the other! And to clear up yet another misconception, we don’t take the Bible “100% literally.” We read the Bible naturally, according to genre, as it was meant to be read!
The YouVersion Bible app has now surpassed 800 million downloads worldwide, and it has become so prevalent that it’s reshaping the future of Bible engagement. Before becoming one of the most downloaded apps globally, helping millions access the Bible in over 2,000 languages, YouVersion founder Bobby Gruenewald says it all started as a simple website attempting to solve a big problem.
But the solution he envisioned hadn’t yet been invented. “And so, Steve Jobs, in early 2008 announced it was going to be possible to develop apps for the iPhone and create some brand-new thing called an app store,” he explains. Not knowing what an app was, Gruenewald recruited a 19-year-old on his team to build what the world today calls the Bible app.
The Bible app was a hit, starting out as one of 200 free apps on the Apple store. In the first week, more than 80,000 people downloaded it. Today, the Bible app is opened more than 270 times each second. It supports 70-plus languages, with more than 2,000 Bible translations. “Between 10 and 12 million per month,” Gruenewald says. “These are new devices that are installing the Bible app.” If you’ve ever used YouVersion to follow a reading plan or find a daily verse, you’re part of a community that’s reshaping how we engage with scripture. On Easter Sunday alone, YouVersion saw a record-breaking 17 million users, with 3.5 million new installs. Gruenewald believes this surge in Bible engagement is part of a larger global trend. The narrative that people no longer read the Bible is simply not true. We have evidence and real data, that indicates that there is momentum globally around scripture engagement,” he says. “So we should be encouraged to know that God’s word is very alive and well, and if anything, more relevant to today’s culture than maybe ever before in human history.”
YouVersion offers three products: the Bible app, the Bible app for kids, and Bible app lite, designed for regions where internet access is limited. Now, the team is in beta mode with Bible app loop, geared toward tweens. It’s being tested in India. As the app continues to grow, its future is being shaped by one of the most powerful technologies of our time—artificial intelligence. “We’re being very careful to make sure that there’s good transparency, and that we can make sure that if it’s ever answering questions, or if we ever choose to have a feature that does that, that it does it with accuracy,” Gruenewald says. Beyond impressive numbers, YouVersion’s growth is driven by a deeper mission: to help people connect with God and his Word. The app generates no revenue and operates solely through donations. “Like I mentioned, almost 40,000 donors last year supported it around the tune of about $60 million, which is kind of the scale and scope of what YouVersion is today. That’s grown quite a bit in the last few years,” Gruenewald says.
That surge is in part coordinated between donors and Bible translation groups, working to accelerate the pace at which every single language could have some portion of scripture translated – hopefully by 2033, the 2,000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we could see every language have some portion of scripture translated. “It’s imperative, we think, to be able to have God’s Word in every single heart language, so that every single person has the benefit that we have of even able to hear God’s voice, hear Jesus’s words in their own language,” Gruenewald says. As YouVersion continues to expand, its mission remains the same: to use technology to make the Bible accessible to everyone. Gruenewald says YouVersion is working with nearly 1,000 companies to leverage AI for good – and to promote an ecosystem within the faith community around using tech to its fullest potential. “So until we can be sure of those things, our uses of AI are going to be much more in the realm of machine learning or ways that we use it to help us make recommendations around content or connect or label content in a way that makes it more useful for us when we search and look for things,” Gruenewald says.
In this fascinating sequel to ‘Is Genesis History?‘, Del Tackett follows the journey of two creation scientists rafting through the Grand Canyon to examine enormous folds of solid rock. What caused these massive formations? And when did they happen? Conventional scientists say they are millions of years old, but no one has actually studied them… until now.
Del Tackett’s first documentary provided an overview of creation science. In this unique sequel, he explore how creation science actually works. What did the Flood do to re-form Earth? How did it shape the world we see around us? And why is Genesis so important to modern science? If Andrew Snelling’s theory is correct, his findings will directly challenge the conventional view that the earth is hundreds of millions of years old. Instead, they will provide clear evidence for a recent global Flood. ‘Mountains After the Flood’ is very different from Del’s first film. It reveals the inner workings of creation science and shows how creation scientists link their discoveries to the history recorded in Genesis. It will give Christians everywhere a deeper understanding of the relationship between science and the Bible.
1. Introduction – 0:00 2. How Creation Science Works – 3:56 4. Taking the First Sample – 9:03 5. Overview of the Project – 10:14 6. Map of Grand Canyon – 17:45 7. Carbon Canyon Fold – 19:56 8. Cross-Sections & Monument Fold – 22:33 9. Regional Samples & Helipad Fold – 27:50 10. Uinta Mountains & Post-Flood World – 31:20 11. Flaming Gorge & Tilted Layers – 36:33 12. Sheep Creek Canyon & Folds – 41:31 13. Geomorphology & Catastrophe – 43:52 14. Fossil Butte & Green River Basin – 47:34 15. Digging for Fossils – 51:35 16. Thin Sections & Scanning Electron Microscopy – 58:10 17. Flying Over the Grand Canyon – 1:07:41 18. Cedarville: Reviewing the Thin Sections – 1:20:01 19. Cedarville: Examining the SEM Slides – 1:27:57 20. Pikes Peak: The Future of Creation Science – 1:35:45 21. Credits – 1:43:00 Support creation science by donating to the Genesis Fund: https://bit.ly/genesis_fund
We’ve lost an understanding of the reality of suffering as a consequence of the fall and neglected to see how God overrules evil for his greater purposes. We need to understand this so our feet land on the solid foundation of God’s Word and the God of that Word—and there find understanding and hope. All other ground is sinking sand.
If you’ve trusted in Christ as the Savior and Lord of your life, you can rest in the truth that your afflictions and sufferings come to you for your ultimate good and his ultimate glory.
Let’s look at four specific biblical reasons why God ordains suffering for His people.
1. To Kill Sin and Grow Godliness
God uses suffering to expose the sin that clings so closely to our hearts. When we suddenly bear an affliction, our pride, impatience, and unbelief will often surface. Pain has a way of cracking open the heart, laying it bare. When I’ve faced suffering, I’ve responded with anger. Though the suffering itself isn’t evil, it illuminates the evil residing within me. Sometimes it reveals my lack of faith in God’s promises. I begin questioning God: How could you let this happen?
If we’re prone to love something in this world—house, spouse, children, job—more than God, He may sometimes remove the idol. And it will hurt. In doing so, though, we are freed to refocus our primary love on him alone. King David saw a woman bathing, sent for her, slept with her, then had her husband killed. When the prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin, he responded with Psalm 51. Suffering serves as a cleanser, revealing and killing our present sin, and deterring us from greater sin.
2. To Relinquish the Temporal for the Eternal
God also uses suffering to wean us from a love of this world and redirect our thoughts and affections toward that which is eternal: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2). Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all he had and give it to the poor. Then, he said, you will have treasure in heaven. The young man went away sorrowful. Sometimes, God will simply remove those treasures for our greater good; it’s better to lose an eye than to face God’s judgement. (Matthew. 5:29).
As Christians, the afflictions we experience in this life should point us to the reality that we’re “sojourners and exiles” (1 Pet. 2:11; Heb. 11:13) here on earth, journeying toward the ultimate city. Our citizenship is in God’s Kingdom (Phil. 3:20). This fallen world is not our home, and the afflictions we experience along the way serve as arrows directing us to release what’s fading and grasp what’s unending.
Paul declares that God “comforts us in all our afflictions,” adding: “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ, we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Cor. 1:3–5). As the Lord of true comfort, we are to see our pain as “preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17).
“Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
3. To Produce a Hypocrisy-Free Faith
God also uses suffering is to refine us, as fire refines gold by burning away the impurities (Jer. 9:7; Zech. 13:9; Mal. 3:3). Suffering will often distinguish the true believer from the hypocrite by the response of each. In our suffering, we are given the opportunity to discover the sincerity of our love, hope, and faith in God.
Are there areas of dishonesty or insincerity in your heart? A plunge into a season of affliction can reveal these. When suffering falls on a church—whether through illness or persecution—“Christ’s summer friends” flee, as the Puritan John Flavel put it. Affliction causes the believer to cling to God and the unbeliever to forsake him. In this way, it comes as a sort of revealing test to separate sheep from goats and refine his precious people through fire.
4. To Bear Witness to the World
Under the rod of affliction we’re given the unique opportunity to bear witness to the gospel’s power in our lives—which effectively calls others to repent and believe. The believer’s own endurance under trial serves as a shining public witness to the truth of God’s Word.
I’ve known believers who have suffered so well that onlookers have asked about the unshakable hope and peace the sufferer enjoys. God uses the suffering of his people to display his grace in securing their salvation. Our frequent trials prove our hope and faith is not in vain, and serve as a platform to showcase gospel hope.
Our Father in heaven ordains suffering for us because he loves us (Heb. 12:6). He is weaning us from a love of this world, transforming us by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2), and will complete the good work he began in us (Phil. 1:6). May we rest in the surety of his covenant promise that, even amid suffering and trial, he will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5).
All of the Old Testament prophets were given the end of the story for the nation God established for His purposes: ISRAEL. Even before Jesus first came to Earth as the “suffering servant” to provide the way of salvation:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:5-6
Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel, these three prophets in particular were given a lot of detail on Israel’s prophesied Messiah, Jesus’ return to establish a Millennial Kingdom on this Earth before it would be destroyed and God created a new heaven and new Earth where only the righteous dwell.
Daniel chapter 12 is entirely on the time of the end. We are told that the Archangel Michael is the angel assigned to protect the nation Israel. The nation Israel has been subjected to much persecution down through the ages and at AD 70 it ceased to exist, and yet Daniel is told (600 BC) that it will exist at the time of the end when it will be subjected to great tribulation before God delivers the nation. The first of the major end-times prophecies were fulfilled in 1948 when Israel was miraculously re-established as a nation. As well, we are seeing the prophesied persecution increasing, with antisemitism rife across most Western nations. This is only the beginning of tribulation it will escalate to the prophesied invasion (Ezekiel 38 & 39). Back to Daniel chapter 12; read this Scripture written 600 BC, if you are not already convinced that the Bible is the inspired Word of God I hope this will make you reconsider it and where you stand before your Creator God.
The Time of the End
“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished. I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.”Daniel 12:1-13
The following is a tough Scripture we would all like to overlook but that is impossible. God requires total commitment.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:34-39
“And Jesus said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag, knapsack, or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” He said to them, “But now let the one with a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. For, I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.”Luke 22:35-37
Our greatest weapon is always theGospel. But there may be a time to heed all of Jesus’ instructions, even to buy a sword.
“Allauthority… on earth has been given unto Me, therefore go and make disciple of all nations… and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus did not say disciple churches or disciple disciples but rather disciple “nations” – civil rule, civil governance. For this reason and mission, Jesus said – “I am with you!” Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit to guide our every step.
For what excuse will we give King Jesus for not completing the great commission?
The Bible does not teach us to pray and hope things get better. “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22). We must be “doers” – like the leaders of Issachar who understood thetimesand what God’s people should do(1 Chronicles 12:32).
Note God does not use those who think they are wise by worldly standards.
“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”1 Corinthians 1:26-29
We must keep God’s commandments and get God’s vision for His King and Kingdom! “Where there is no vision, the people perish. But happy are those who keep God’s Law!”Proverbs 29:18
Also, if not you, who? If not now, when? We must unite and go forth – “For the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness!Psalms 45:4
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 