Well, we have come to the end of chapter 10. I know it seems like we have been in this chapter for an extended period of time, but we did cover a lot of doctrine, and have traveled all through the Bible. Finishing out the last section, verses 23 – 33 really put a cap on the chapter.
In review, we rehearsed the Three Great Days of Scripture, to remind us to stay focused on “things above. not on things on the earth.” Keeping them in proper order is imperative to our understanding of “things to come.”
1. The Day of Christ — the rapture of the Church Age (Dispensation of Grace) Saints. 1 Corinthians 15:50-54; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 John 3:1-3
This event is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but can be seen in the life of Enoch. He was a gentile who had a close personal relationship with God, and God took him out of the antediluvian world before the wrath of God descended through the flood, saving only Noah and his family, which is a picture of the remnant of Israel being saved through the Tribulation.
Genesis 5:24: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Jude 1:14-15: And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
1 Peter 3:18-20: For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
2. The Day of the Lord aka “That Day” — the physical return of Christ at the 2nd Advent, returning to establish the 1,000 year millennial kingdom. This is the physical kingdom to be established forever, with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ruling the nation of Israel and the world from the throne of David. (Please see the board)
Isaiah 9:6-7: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
3. The Day of God — that moment in eternity future, after the attempted overthrow of the masses who follow Satan, after his release from the bottomless pit, when God purges the world with fire, destroying everything manmade, cleansing the world and preparing it for the New Jerusalem to descend out of heaven, to rest upon the new world.
2 Peter 3:10-14; Revelation 21 & 22 (Revelation 21:10-11)
The last 12 verses of chapter 10 focus our attention on our personal walk in Christ, making sure that we consider others, and being who we should be in Christ. Please take a moment and read the companion verses on the Week 99 board to give greater understanding to the end of this chapter on “The Problem with Temptation.”
Let us remember to pause and pray for one another each day this week, bearing one another’s burdens and fulfilling the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2