Now, with regard to watching in this season according to the Lord's command, we have the benefit of hindsight to help us interpret some of the puzzling things we've recently witnessed. This hindsight also sheds light on some of the familiar scriptures that were so useful in helping us get to the place where we find ourselves now. With some questions answered we have the benefit of being able to ask new and better questions. Some of the most pressing questions we face go something like this. Have we yet received the love of the Truth, or will we? Since time is going to be reset back into the past, how long have we got before our labors in this season will be finished, and how will they be accounted to us? Does it still matter if we know the time? I know the answer to that one. Yes, It does still matter, and that's one of the things that staying alert and watchful helps with. Knowing the time in advance and then watching it pass established a foundation for our watching in this season.
Why didn't we know in advance that it was going to pass without being fulfilled yet? We were set up. But, not in a bad way. The Lord does this kind of thing with His people, concealing and revealing just what is fit for His plans, according to His good pleasure. This is not for evil but for good, for the building of trust, and love, as with patience and mercy He prepares His people for service and for the greatest salvation. Our watch of the former season didn't produce a false alarm but one that was quite genuine.
With that in mind, we can see the following passage in a brighter light.
42 Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. ~ Matthew 24:42-44
Based on what I shared in the study, Will No One Know the Day?, just like Noah knew when the flood would come, some will know when the Lord comes for His alert and watchful saints. Why then the puzzling statements of verses 42 and 44? Because we know, and yet, because we do know, we find ourselves now in the curious position of not yet knowing. However, the truth remains, that some will know, and we can conclude that the Lord, according to His faithfulness to His promises, is going to reveal the secret about how long we've got. It must be so, and the already known schedule of appointments will be kept despite the appointed times being now past. There's going to be a rolling back, a return back to the past. It's not science fiction, even though that's the familiar genre where we find models of this kind. The Bible is filled with accounts of extraordinary occurrences. It always takes faith to accept the truth, which the carnal mind typically rejects as completely implausible.
Simplified, a model will look something like this.
I've claimed that this is documented in the Bible, and I want to introduce you to some of what the Lord has opened to us so far. For me to make any progress at all I'm going to have to assume you're working to keep up with what I've already written recently. I apologize in advance for any undue complexity or where I may neglect to provide adequate referencing.
Keys are hidden in the book of Daniel, and the discovery of some of them has to do with the cross referencing of Daniel 11 and 12 and between Matthew 24 and Revelation 12 and 2 Thessalonians 2. The thematic structures of the passages are very useful guides. Some of the traditionally accepted interpretations will have to be assigned a lesser role in your minds in order to bring the subjects into focus.
I've been writing about Matthew 24:22 for a while, pointing out how the elect are going to be involved in a time mission. (One example: Because of the Elect Those Days Will be Cut Short) Having now come to this new and very unique season, we understand more about how it fits into the picture.
The resetting action will result in a restarting from a point in time prior to when the event that triggers the episode happens, a loop back, a “do-over.” Consider how the language of verses 21 and 22 illustrates this.
21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. ~ Matthew 24:21-22
Let's track the tense. Verse 21 is as we should expect in a discussion of things that haven't happened yet. “For then there will be a great tribulation.” But when we get to verse 22, the tense changes. “Unless those days had been cut short.” “had been.” In the Greek, the word form is precise. The part of speech isn't ambiguous because the spelling itself identifies it plainly. The form used in the text is Aorist Indicative Passive. The Aorist tense in the Indicative mood indicates an action that took place in the past, as a single and completed action.
If it wasn't the Bible we're dealing with we could perhaps simply dismiss that peculiarity as an error of some kind, but it is the Bible, and the NASB renders it correctly. Had been cut short.
The sentence continues; “no life would have been saved.” Once more, the spelling of the word tells us the form is the Aorist Indicative Passive. The NASB again renders it accurately; “no life would have been saved.” The Author is speaking from a perspective where He is looking back on something that already occurred some time in the past.
Okay. Pause for a moment and get your bearings. What this means is that the passage went from referring to the subject as something yet future to something that was already completed in the past. The same sentence then makes reference to the subject as being yet future, with the construction, “will be.” “...but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” Tracking the tense of this passage shows a revolving around the subject, addressing it as future, then past, then future again. Think about it. Time pivots, reversing twice. A change is illustrated where time folds back on itself, or loops, or shifts.
The insight we're given about the uniqueness of this megas thlipsis even serves to direct our attention to the subject of the past and the future in a conspicuous way.
21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. ~ Matthew 24:21
The past: “has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now”
The future: “nor ever will”
So, the context reveals that this unique matter has to do with megas thlipsis, great tribulation, and it involves the elect who will have a role as benefactors in some special “all flesh saving” action. Based on what the Lord showed Aaron and I a few weeks ago, "Those days" of megas thlipsis refer to a season that was described as, “when the Devil has control of time.” He'll be permitted by the sovereign God and Lord of Time to acquire a degree of control over the time-space domain. That control will allow him to achieve certain objectives, but when the appointed limits of this provision have been reached, the Lord will bring that season to an end. He has chosen to involve his elect in that special op. The result of all that is, from one perspective, the replaying of a recent season that will produce the appointed biblical schedule of prophesied events.
We note that the Devil doesn't yet know his time is short. His view of things is that he's got the victory well in hand. When this reset has played out, and what he was able to thwart is found merely to have been deferred, he's going to be very, very angry.
I'm now, Lord willing, about to launch from this into some very interesting related passages. For preparation, you may want to explore this interactive thematic structure I just published on Daniel 11. (Update: This work has been expanded, now spanning chapters 7-12.)
Thematic Symmetry of Daniel 7 - 12 - Interactive
Note that there are seven levels of introversion represented in 11:27-45. The number 7 is a special time number, like 21 (3*7) and 12 (3*4). Seven days in a week. Seven millennia of time. Seven years in a Shemitah. Seven weeks counted off before Shavuot. Seven sevens of years count off before the Yobel. Daniel's seventieth seven of years.
You may find this interactive version of Matthew 24 useful in this study.
Here's a collection of some of the recent posts that are most pertinent, for review.
An overview of a model:
Watching Still, We Consider the Model, Masked
Water-as-Time metaphor, megas thlipsis...
"Beyond the Veil" Updated - Plus Fresh Revelation Forthcoming - and - New Day, Month and Year!
Megas Thlipsis - The Pending Time Storm and Awaiting Ark
Updating the Watch Report, and Rango's Water-As-Time Theme
Bob,
ReplyDeleteI'm finding myself grateful for these things the Lord is revealing...while oftentimes it becomes a place where things are being set forth...it is encouraging to see the studies of the Word the Lord gives you...Being on Time!!
I'm glad you're following along. These things we're tracking seem beyond fringe to most, and not engaging at all, but for some of us, it's really the essential way of a very narrow path.
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