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Five Literal Months: Hell on Earth or a Test?
Please note that the purpose of this document is to encourage others to analyze Biblical patterns when it comes to God’s method of testing His people. Everyone is encouraged to prayerfully consider these things as Bereans and by going to the LORD for Wisdom.
Does the teaching of hell on earth during the five-month period from May 21 to October 21, 2011 have us focusing more on the calendar and literally interpreting the Bible as opposed to carefully comparing spiritual things with spiritual? A great deal of the language surrounding the resurrection of bones, keeping the feast of tabernacles and Christ coming as a thief in the night appear to be primarily focusing on His coming, through the Bible to bring the Elect out of tribulation and judgment on the unsaved body. Are the dates on the calendar enticing enough to cause us to feel we’ve arrived at the correct conclusions or are they forcing us to interpret much of the Biblical language in the light of the literal five months? It would seem that the nature of God's testing programs has always been to give a certain appeal to the test in view. Let’s look again at some testing scenes of the past:
Target: Adam and Eve
Test: Will they obey God's Word?
Command: Ge 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Opposition/Conflict: Ge 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.
Enticement: An accessible forbidden fruit? Tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Ge 2:17)
Delusion: Ge 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Outcome: Adam and Eve typified the unsaved and failed the test.
Target: Abraham (father of a multitude)
Test: Will he obey God's Word?
Command: Ge 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Opposition/Conflict: Ge 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Enticement: A long journey to the place of sacrifice. Enough time to change his mind? Ge 22: 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
Delusion: None noted
Outcome: Abraham typified Christ and did not fail the test.
Target: Christ in the wilderness
Test: Will He obey God's Word?
Command: Isa 61:1 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;
Opposition/Conflict: Mt 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Enticement: Mt 4:8-9 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;… And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Delusion: None noted
Outcome: Christ did not fail the test.
Target: Balaam (not of the people)
Test: Will he obey God's Word?
Command: Nu 22:12 And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.
Opposition/Conflict: Nu 22:17 For I (Balak) will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
Enticement/Delusion: Balaam wants confirmation again from God: Nu 22:19 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more. God accommodates Balaam: Nu 22:20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. Balaam went and God was angry that he went: Nu 22:21-22 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab…. And God’s anger was kindled because he went…
Outcome: Balaam typified the unsaved in the body and failed the test.
Target: Israel in the wilderness after the Exodus
Test: Will the people obey God's Word after the leader Moses is removed from them? (Ex 24:18)
Command: Ex 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Opposition/Conflict: Ex 32:4 And he (Aaron) received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Enticement/Delusion: Ex 32:23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Outcome: The people typified the unsaved in the body and failed the test.
Target: Corporate Church
Test: Tongues, gifts, miracles, wonders. Will the church understand the parables and obey God's Word?
Command: Re 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Mt 13:34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:
Opposition/Conflict: Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Enticement/Delusion: 1Co 14:2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. 1Co 14:39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
Outcome: Many in the corporate body failed the test.
Target: Corporate Church
Test: Depart out, end of the church age. Will the church obey God's Word?
Command: Re 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Opposition/Conflict: Mt 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Enticement/Delusion: 2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: Joh 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
Outcome: Many in the corporate body failed the test.
Could the Post-Church Community be under a Test Also?
Please see the chart Five-Months Contrast at the link below for comparison of the
literal understanding vs. the spiritual language of the Bible on the five months.
Target: Post Church – Corporate Body outside the local churches and congregations
Test: Five literal months. Will the people build doctrines around it or understand the parables, the fulfillment of the important feasts related to the depart out, the revelation of Christ in the Bible and obey God's Word?
Command: Re 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues (not just the local churches). Lu 17:32 Remember Lot’s wife. Mt 13:34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:
Opposition/Conflict: (Biblical calendar and time paths) Ec 8:5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man‘s heart discerneth both time and judgment. 1Th 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Da 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
Enticement/Delusion: (1) Re 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months…: (2) The numbers fit nicely: Safe to assume resurrection of bones, hell on earth, literal earthquake? (3) The teaching is initiated by a respected Bible teacher who is said to have a track record.
Outcome: Would many already be failing the test?
God began creation with a test and has been testing His people ever since. Is it to be expected that the post-church community would be tested? Could the teaching of hell on earth during the literal five-month period be an end-time test to see how many are trusting God’s Word and seeing Christ as He is revealed today on the pages of the Bible? Is the basis for one’s salvation focused on a literal departure and belief on a date? Or is it a trust in God who is delivering His Elect out of darkness? (Isa 29:18). In a time when God is calling for perfection in keeping today’s spiritual Sabbath of Rest in Christ Holy (Isa 58:13). Are we sharing a lie if the five-month teaching is not consistent with the Bible?
On a similar note:
By God's mercy today, some have come to understand that the believers coming out of the churches was typified by Israel coming out of the Land of Egypt. Would this mean that not all who come out of the local churches are necessarily Elect of God? Does God allow for an exodus and now looks at this group as being in the wilderness where some are identified with those still in the churches?
Re 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness^2048, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Re 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness^2048, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness^2048:
Heb 3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness^2048?
Jude 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
1Co 10:5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness^2048.
Jer 49:18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
2Pe 2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
Lu 17:32 Remember Lot’s wife.
Does God Prove the Body?
De 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
De 13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
De 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
May the Lord give us wisdom as we continue to ponder these things.
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