“Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:” Colossians 1:24
Recently, we received an email from a gentleman for whom we have been praying, a gentleman who has written us quite a number of times, who believes he has been the victim of Satanic attacks. This individual acknowledges that he is presently not saved but has asked us to pray for him.
In his most recent email, this individual stated something that caught my attention and got me thinking. He said, “I think that neither good or evil can ever happen unto me unless that it be God’s will, So I must be under Gods curse.”
We could paraphrase this statement as, “I am suffering affliction; therefore, I must be under God’s curse.”
I believe there are many today who are suffering affliction to one degree or another, perhaps not as this individual is describing, but we know that all those who belong to God shall experience affliction, how do I know that? Simply because the Bible declares in Isaiah 48:10-11:
Isaiah 48 9 For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. 10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Hebrews 12 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
As I reflect on this, I am reminded of Job. God allowed Satan to take away all Job’s possessions, his property, and his entire family, and then God allowed Satan to touch Job’s body and his flesh, so that he was covered from head to toe with open sores. And yet, for all that, Job’s faith remained intact. He said in Job 13:15, “though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” He said in Job 1:21, “the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Job is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. We read of Christ in Hebrews 5:7-8:
7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
We read of Christ in Psalm 16:8-10 8 I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
If Christ, who never ceased to be God, and who had no sin of his own, learned obedience by the things which he suffered, how much more shall we who have plenty of sins learn obedience through the things that we suffer, which things do not hold a candle to the things that Christ suffered. Christ was laden not only with all of my sins, which are plenty, but with the sins of all those who were given to him by the Father from before the foundation of the world.
We think of the example of the apostle Paul, who before he was saved persecuted the church of God. God declared of him in Acts 9:16, “For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” Paul declares under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
2 Corinthians 11 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
2 Corinthians 12 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
The messenger of Satan undoubtedly was referring to the Judaizers who persecuted Paul and bound themselves by an oath to put him to death.
The suffering of the believers is not unique to the apostle Paul. The Bible declares in Romans 8:
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
God declares in 2 Timothy 2 11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
And we read in Colossians 1 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; 24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
This declaration applies to every child of God. We are called upon to suffer for the sake of the gospel. God declares in 2 Timothy 3
10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, 11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Beware if all is peace and safety, and all is well, no suffering, no persecution, no affliction.
We read in Psalm 119:
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
75 I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
David was a picture of Christ, and when David fell into the sin of adultery and murder, God put away his sin but God chastened him by first taking his son who was born to Bathsheba in death and then raising up his son Absalom who rebelled against his father and sought to destroy him.
Now let’s put this matter of affliction into today’s context. Today we are living during the period called “great tribulation,” or, “great affliction,” spoken of in Matthew 24
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation [Greek: thlipsis], such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
What makes this period of time so unique that God declares, “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be?” This is an important question to consider. When we study the Bible carefully, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, we know that this period is not unique in terms of physical persecution of the believers, as for example during the Reformation that swept through Europe in the 16th century when believers were burned at the stake by the hundreds.
Let’s think of previous periods of great tribulation and see if there is a pattern developing.
The Greek word thlipsis translated tribulation in Matthew 24:21 is the same word translated affliction twice in Acts 7:10-11
Acts 7 9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, 10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions [Greek: thlipsis], and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11 Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction [Greek: thlipsis]: and our fathers found no sustenance.
When we think back to the great affliction that Jacob experienced, we might note that Jacob and his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham had lived in the land of Canaan for 215 years. The land of Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey. It was a picture of the promised land, the kingdom of God. And yet the famine that occurred in 1877 B.C. was so severe that it forced Jacob and his family to leave the land of Canaan and enter into Egypt at the age of 130, but God was him and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
God provides a significant time bridge between the great affliction of Jacob’s day, the tribulation of Daniel’s day, and the great tribulation of our day in Daniel 12:11. We read in Daniel 12:
9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. 11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
That abomination that maketh desolate is a reference to the great tribulation of our day. That is why as God addresses us today Matthew 24:15 declares:
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
The abomination of desolation is a reference to Satan. The Bible teaches that at the beginning of the great tribulation, Satan was loosed for a little season (see Revelation 20:3, where the term ‘thousand years’ is a symbolical reference to the New Testament church age) and given power to reign in the churches (Revelation 13:7).
When we search the Bible, we do not find any references to 1,290 days. However, in the Bible, God occasionally substitutes a day for a year, as we read in Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:34, for example. Therefore, we have Biblical validation to search out the Bible for anything relating to 1,290 years. And indeed, if we fast-forward from Jacob’s great tribulation in 1877 B.C., we land on the year 587 B.C. What occurred in that year? What occurred in that year was that the Babylonians, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, who himself is used as a portrait of Satan (Isaiah 14:4-12), were sent by God to destroy Jerusalem with fire, at which time Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were carried away captive to Babylon. Jerusalem was the capital of Judah, where the temple of the LORD was, with the ark of God in the holy of holies. Jerusalem had externally represented the eternal kingdom of God for 420 years since 1007 B.C. when David ascended the throne, even as the land of Canaan represented the kingdom of God in Jacob’s day. And even as God was with Jacob and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so God was with Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and gave them favour and wisdom in the sight of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, as we read in
Jeremiah 42:10
10 If [turning back from going into Egypt] ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. 11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. 12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
The people did not take heed to Jeremiah’s warning and proceeded to go into Egypt. However, God honored his promise to save those who obeyed him and were taken captive to Babylon.
Occasionally in the Bible, God uses a one-third, two-thirds relationship. For example, Zechariah 13 (see also Numbers 15:6-7; 2 Samuel 18:2).
8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
If we apply this one-third, two-thirds relationship to the 1,290 years and fast forward 2 x 1,290 = 2,580 years from 587 B.C., we land on the year 1994 A.D. What happened in that year? As best we can tell, God officially ended the church age in that year and began the period known as the latter rain. We read in Deuteronomy 11
11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: 12 A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. 13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
God equates the rain of heaven with the publishing of the gospel of salvation.
Deuteronomy 32 1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: 3 Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
The year that God has in view in Deuteronomy 11:12 is the “acceptable year” spoken of in Isaiah 61:2
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
In Deuteronomy 11:12, the “end of the [acceptable] year” identifies with the feast of tabernacles, which took place in the end of the Jewish year (Exodus 23:16; 34:22), which identifies in turn with the feast of ingathering, which is the final harvest that is being gathered out of every nation using sources outside the churches.
You may recall that in Matthew 13, God indicates that the separation of the wheat from the tares shall take place in the time of harvest, and that the harvest is the end of the world, and the messengers are the reapers (Matthew 13:30,39 the word ‘angels’ should be ‘messengers’).
Significantly, we read in Zechariah 14 about living waters and about the rain of heaven
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former [eastern] sea, and half of them toward the hinder [western] sea: in summer [identifies with harvest] and in winter [identifies with no harvest] shall it be. 9 And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. 10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses. 11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. 12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. 14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
God continues in verse 16 of Zechariah 14:
16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left [Hebrew: yāthar, to be left over, to remain] of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Going back to Deuteronomy 11, God continues
13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
The term “latter rain” is also found in Joel 2:23
23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given [will give to] you the former [early] rain moderately [for righteousness], and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former [early] rain, and the latter rain in [after] the first.
There are two references in this verse to the early rain. There is the first early righteous rain and then there is the early rain followed by the latter rain that comes after the first. Each of these three periods of rain identify with the gospel and the harvest that comes forth. The first early righteous rain identifies with Christ himself who is the firstfruits [Hebrew: reshith], as distinguished from the second early rain, which identifies with the firstfruits [Hebrew: bikkur] of those who became saved during the church age. The latter rain identifies with this final period during which the gospel is going out using sources outside the churches and a great multitude which no man can number are being brought in.
The year 1994 A.D. stands out for a number of reasons. First, it is a jubilee year, which occurs every 50th year since 1407 B.C. when the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan after wandering 40 years through the wilderness. The jubilee has everything to do with salvation through the sending forth of the gospel. In Leviticus 25:10 we read:
10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
To proclaim liberty and return every man unto his possession is what salvation in Christ is all about. The liberty is freedom from sin and death. The possession we return to is the kingdom of God, and actually God himself. In Ezekiel 44 God is giving instruction concerning the priests.
Ezekiel 44 28And it [the priesthood] shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.
God has made every believer a king and a priest.
Revelation 1 5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The year 1994 A.D. was not just any jubilee year. It happened to be the 40th jubilee year since Christ was born in the year 7 B.C., which was also a jubilee year. The number 40 signifies testing. The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness 40 years until all the men of war who did not believe God perished and the children which were born during their 40-year sojourn entered into the land of Canaan in their stead, a picture of the great multitude which no man can number which were saved during the great tribulation.
The year 1994 was the first jubilee year following the year 1948 when the nation of Israel, the Biblical fig tree, put forth leaves, that is, became officially recognized as a nation, thereby signifying that we are now about to enter into the great tribulation (Matthew 24:32-33).
The year 1994 was precisely 2,000 years from the birth of Christ. God makes reference twice in the Bible to 2,000 cubits (Numbers 35:5; Joshua 3:4), which may be a veiled reference to the period between the birth of Christ and the beginning of the end of the world which culminates in the believers symbolically crossing the river Jordan and entering the promised land.
The year 1994 was also the year that God poured out the Holy Spirit again the second time and began the final harvest using individual believers who are operating outside the churches, which have come under judgment according to 1 Peter 4:17, judgment must begin with the house of God.
Isaiah 11 10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. 11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
The remnant of his people, and the outcasts of Israel, refer to those who are chosen of God from every nation, and please note, God is listing those nations which historically in the Bible were the enemies of Israel, i.e., Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath. This underscores the Biblical principle: there are last which shall be first, and first which shall be last. As we read in Isaiah 65:1
1 I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.
Hosea 1 10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
Hosea 2 23And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
We haven’t yet answered the question, why is this present great tribulation unlike any other that has gone before or that shall come? It is in the intensity of God’s anger toward those who claim to represent the kingdom of God, and God’s mercy toward those who historically have been those who were looked upon as second-class citizens in the kingdom of God. The answer lies in the fact that God’s wrath is being exercised on those who are saying, Peace and safety, while at the same time, God is blessing the remnant chosen by grace with the gift of salvation, and is doing so using individual believers. God has also loosed Satan to wreak havoc in the churches and in the world. Satan comes as a master deceiver to carry away as many as he can, and God is not only allowing this but is empowering Satan to be successful in this.
This period is a time of intense testing for the world. But God has promised to keep the true believers from the hour of temptation, or the hour of trial
10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation [Greek: peirasmos], which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
This Greek word peirasmos is translated “trial” in 1 Peter 4:12
12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial [Greek: peirasmos] which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
Amen.
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ZionInTravail is focused on sharing the True Gospel of the Bible during this time of Great Tribulation when God’s Judgment has fallen upon the local churches and congregations. But God continues to Save His Elect Outside the Churches right up until the Last Day when Christ will visibly return on the Clouds of Glory to complete His Judgment and Salvation program.
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