Connections of God's Word in Prophecy: Understanding God's Word

By Carl Thomas

This book is to make man aware that God is alive and well. He did not create and then leave His creation to themselves. Through the study of this book it will be evident God is and always has been interacting with His creation, mankind. From the very beginning God had fellowship with man, which was His intended purpose.

I think the most confusing thing for man to realize is that, while God is spirit and spirit only in nature, man has a dual nature, one being a physical nature and the other being a spiritual nature, like God. If we remember the creation record of man, God’s Word tells us man was created from the dust of the ground and God breathed into man the breath of life and man became a living soul. Our problem is in this life our spiritual nature is housed in the physical body and the spiritual realm is invisible to man’s eye. That is why we have to have faith to understand what this life is about and to pursue the eternal realm of our being.
God warned of the spiritual realm, which has dominion over this present world because of the failure of Adam to follow God’s instruction. Adam lost his fellowship with God as it was first given, and in the process he also lost his dominion over this world. Now Paul tells us we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

God is about to reclaim his creation, through the redeeming work of Christ. This will culminate with the Rapture, the Tribulation period and then the Millennial kingdom. These events are on the horizon. Now is the time to make your preparations, and establish or renew your relationship with God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781682225776

Book preview

SUMMATION

CONNECTIONS

This is not a storybook, nor a book of stories but rather selected excerpts from God’s record (the Bible) to show His Power in creation, His control of human events, His faithfulness to His Word and His love for us.

The excerpts were selected to show God’s watch care over us, the way for us to be reunited in fellowship with Him and to become His child again. They also show how God chose to teach us His way, using Chosen People among us to bring His message.

It is an interesting read, but to study and gain from its contents one must look up the Bible references given and think about all God has done and is doing for us. For the most benefit of any one of the studies, discussions should be had with two or more participants.

For the most part, it is a joining together of God’s Word as it relates to specific topics.

The end of this age is at hand, and though it seems God has forgotten what He has said, He will act on His schedule. God is long-suffering to us, and is not willing that any should be lost, but all should come to repentance.

We must understand it is God’s world after all and His plan is actively in progress to complete His purpose for the human race.

When one sees God’s control in the miracles He performed in providing food and water for forty years as He led the people out of bondage from Egypt, His control over nature as in parting the Red Sea or the holding back of the Jordan river in its flood stage to let the people cross, how can one doubt His control?

As you see all things spoken by God through His prophets are completed exactly on time and as spoken (though often hundreds of years have passed between the prophecy and the fulfillment) how can one doubt His very existence?

When you look at the provision God has made for sinful man, to redeem sinful man back to where man can have his relationship restored with God, how can one doubt His love for us?

Why does God care about man? Man was created that God and man could have a loving and eternal relationship. There can be no love without freedom, so God gave man free will. Because of this freedom we make wrong choices, and so the need for restoration. God provides that for us.

God’s Word is sure and just as Christ came in the First Advent to provide the ransom for our sins, Christ will soon return to judge all who turn their back on Him, not regarding how great a price God paid for our benefit, even giving His own Son. If one studies it will be evident God’s return is imminent.

This does not even scratch the surface but hopefully it may pique the interest of one lost soul to look and be rescued from hell in eternity.

This is a compilation of Bible studies I have done for my own enlightenment and understanding over the years. The purpose of assembling them together at this time is to help anyone interested in knowing and understanding God’s Word to be able to see how God’s Word is held together by His faithfulness. It also gives us confidence God keeps His Word and that He will keep us so we have no fear when we put our trust in Him.

The Bible was written over a period from approximately 1500 BC to 100 AD. We know the apostle John was the last writer near the end of the first century, and we know Moses or perhaps Job would have been the first writer. We know when the people lived so we can establish the period.

In the Old Testament, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible in the fourteenth century BC. Joshua was the next writer around 1400 BC. Then in the eleventh century BC an unknown author wrote the book of Judges. We don’t know when the book of Job was written, which is also by an unknown author. In the tenth century BC, the book of Ruth and both books of Samuel were written by unknown authors as well. Also in the tenth century BC Psalms was written with many authors and Solomon wrote his books.

Starting in the eighth century BC the writing prophets were active for a period of about 300 years. These included Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Hosea, what we see as major prophets, and also several minor prophets though none the less important. At the end of this period the two Books of Kings and the two Books of Chronicles as well as the book of Esther were all written by unknown authors. Then there was a period of about 400 years of silence until the time of Christ the Messiah.

The writing was guided by the Spirit of God as He uttered what was to be recorded by Moses and the prophets and the priests.

The Bible is not a chronological book. It does not start at the beginning with creation and follow through event by event sequentially to the end, which will be the Battle of Armageddon.

The Bible is a parenthetical book, meaning the full revelation of everything pertaining to a particular event may be given at various times to different prophets. A truth or event may be given to a writer (prophet or priest) and another part of the same truth or event may be given to different writers (prophets or priests.)

It helps to understand if we can follow through from writer to writer or in our case from book to book. I have tried to do this in these studies.

This can be seen if we look at the prophecies of the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ Himself, which is not covered here but is known by most. We will look at this in the creation of Lucifer and his subsequent fall.

Lucifer’s story is recorded in part in the book of Isaiah, another part in the book of Ezekiel, and another part in the book of Jeremiah.

By getting all the narrative in one order, it helps us to see the truth of what God has done and why. We will look at Lucifer’s record as we look at creation and the earth age.

Why would we want to do that? Think of all the discussion on creation and on evolution in today’s world. God has already told us what happened, but we do not understand His Word. Why? Probably because we have not taken an educated look at the facts.

Quotations from the Bible will be with quotation marks. Take the time to read and understand God’s Word.

The arrangement is random and you may see what seems like a repeat of some previous article. This is because the studies were done at different times, and each one is trying to carry a thought through to completion.

Throughout the years I have listened to many preachers and teachers of the Bible. Many were local community preachers and others I listened to or watched on the television as I do today. A few were: Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Dr. Adrian Rogers, Dr. Gene Scott, Dr. Frederick K. C. Price, Dr. David Jeremiah and many others.

The conclusions and/or the opinions given are as I understand the topic from my study, no offense to anyone. Each one should form their own conclusions, but keep in mind the Word of God as you draw them.

Enjoy!

GOD’S PROVISION AND PEOPLE

When I first started looking at scripture, just after I came to accept Christ as my Lord and Savior, it was like me trying to understand Greek. I had a good friend who said to me, If you really want to understand the Bible, stay with it and in God’s time He will give you understanding. For me, this took many years.

I am not much of a reader like some people. Anyplace you go you can see someone with their nose in a book. At work, many would spend all their spare time reading a mystery or a romance paperback or some smut magazine. I read more now than I did but if I want a mystery or a romance I find it in the Bible.

The first thing we need to understand when we approach the Bible is that it is God’s revelation to mankind, first, of our lost relationship to Himself, and second, how we can regain that which was lost.

I must say right now there is nothing we can do of our own accord to regain the position man once had with God. It is God that does it for us, as 2 Peter 1:3 says, According to His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, through knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. However, we are responsible to accept what God has given.

Psalm 119:89-91 states, Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: Thou hast established the earth and it abideth, they continue this day according to Thine ordinances; for all are Thy servants.

If ever you need a reason for the purpose of mankind go to Revelations 4:11b: For Thou hath created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. This passage tells me God has total control. He made me and I am His for Him to do as He pleases. It reminds me I should try my best to please Him.

In Genesis we can read of a man who displeased God and it says God killed him. God killed his brother, too, for the same reason (read Genesis Chapter 38, Verses 1-10). Of course God had reason, part of which was a prophecy by Noah given to Canaan, the son of Ham (Genesis 9:25). These actions are given to be a message to us that we might learn from the mistakes of others. It also makes a strong message that God is faithful to keep His Word.

The Old Testament is God’s teaching tool where He uses types and shadows as illustrations of things to come. We can learn a lot about God and what He likes. God chose a people special to Himself to be a vehicle to tell us of our lost estate and to reveal to us His plan of redemption.

It is interesting who God chose and why He chose them. Deuteronomy 7:6-8a states: For thou art an Holy People unto the Lord thy God: the Lord hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself above all people who are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath He had sworn unto your fathers. Again, we see God is faithful to keep His Word once spoken.

Now, God has a vehicle for His revelation: He tells us of the world that was, the world that is and the world that will be.

There is no conflict between the Bible and evolution, just man not wanting to listen to God and what the Bible says. God tells of the earth before man and then of a great cataclysm that occurred when Lucifer fell. We can read of this in Isaiah 14, Verses 12-17: God tells of the world to be in Revelation, but He concentrates on our present world, on our present condition and of our need for restored fellowship.

Ever heard the question asked why did Christ have to die to save us? God went to great lengths to teach of the way of redemption in the Old Testament.

The Book of Ruth, a romance story if you want to read one, is there to illustrate the principle of the Kinsman Redeemer. If a man came on hard times and lost his estate, land, farm, cattle or whatever, it could be redeemed by one of his kin for him. It was the law that his nearest kin had the first opportunity to do this. The law required two things: first the redeemer must be able to cover the cost; and secondly, he must do the act of redeeming willingly.

In order for Christ to redeem mankind based on the principles of God’s law, Christ must first kin Himself to us. He had to be born of mankind. This was done by the virgin birth for He was Son of Man and Son of God. Secondly, He must willingly give Himself for mankind, in order to complete the transaction. It wasn’t enough to be willing, He must actually give Himself.

The Gospels tell the full record of Christ’s sacrifice, death, burial and resurrection. God keeps every jot and tittle of His Word.

A THOUGHT TO PONDER: DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD?

Do you believe in God?

Do you think this belief is sufficient to provide you with salvation?

You may be wrong!

Even the devil, Satan, believes in God. However, his knowledge of God, which is vastly greater than ours, will not provide him with salvation.

Believing in God and knowing Him and His plan are two different things.

Salvation. The provision made for man alone, requires thought and a conscious decision by you to accept that provision. If you fail to respond to the invitation of God during the period of grace in which we now live, you will be forever lost and in hell. Don’t take God for granted. He has provided the way of salvation for you, but it is up to you to act on that provision.

Many times people only acknowledge their need for God when they are in trouble. That’s too bad, for they only deceive themselves. They think God is at their beck and call. He’s not. The shepherd knows His sheep and the sheep know the voice of their shepherd.

The period of grace is over at the time of our physical death.

Now is the day of salvation. Make the most of it.

GOD’S REVELATION – THE BIBLE

Properly understood, the Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to Man. It is not God’s biography. It is a short parenthesis in His eternal existence.

The Bible is to show God’s love for us and our relationship to Him. Christ, God’s Son, is our Kinsman. God is our Father.

In the Old Testament, God laid out His standard for what it would take to be like God. Remember, Lucifer enticed Eve to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil so she could be like God, and then Adam willingly joined her. Eve was deceived, but Adam acted in disobedience. Through his act, sin entered the world of man and evil flourished, so God judged the world by the Flood.

Later in Romans 5:17, Paul tells us, For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one, much more they who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, so he and his whole family were spared. Now God started over with the descendants of Noah. In God’s own time He chose an Oracle People to reveal Himself to all mankind.

Through prophecy God showed exactly how He would provide a way for all mankind to be restored to fellowship with Himself and to have eternal life. He first gave the law, which was to be a schoolmaster, so man is now without excuse.

Knowing it was impossible for man to live up to His standard, that all would fall short, God had in place a fail safe plan. That plan was His Son, Christ our Savior. He alone could keep God’s law and meet God’s standard, and by so doing would provide a way for man to be redeemed.

Now for those who respond to the message of Christ, and accept what has been freely provided, their fellowship with the Father is restored. This is the record of the New Testament.

The sad part is that most who read God’s Word, and there is only one true God, are not willing to study and understand what God requires. They therefore quote selectively from God’s Word without knowledge. God is righteous and just, and He is going to judge all whether they believe or not. Don’t pass up such an opportunity of blessing: God will complete His purpose!

This is the Day of Salvation.

It will soon pass. Don’t miss it.

BOOKWHERE

Questions arise from time to time concerning where some of the information comes from regarding things that have happened in the past and are not in the Bible. I would like to point out a number of sources mentioned in the Bible but not canonized. We must remember when and why and how the canon of the Bible was assembled.

For the first 350 years of the Christian era there was no Bible, as we know it. The letters of the apostles were widely circulated and the Septuagint was in wide use. At the end of the apostolic age, when John died (for he was the last), and by the middle of the second century when all the eyewitnesses and second generation believers were deceased, law had taken over the church and the message of peace and grace given to Paul was abandoned. Men were using the power of the church to establish themselves and their ideas. If you look at the history of the church you can see how the man who had the emperor on his side was usually in the lead.

Marcion, who took over his father’s business of shipbuilding, and who was financially set, got fed up with the legalism in the church of that day. He, Marcion, put together the first canon of scripture for a new testament. A canon means that which is set or established, a law or rule, in general. This was about 130-140 AD.

There was no New Testament when he started his work. The church only had the writings of the apostles and the letters of the church fathers. Some of these would be: Clement, Ignatius and Polycarp, to name a few. They also had the Didache, which was the teaching of the twelve apostles. The Old Testament, as it is now called, consisted of the Septauagint. This was a translation in Greek done by seventy interpreters from the Hebrew writings and their law. It was done about 270 BC by the order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt.

Marcion’s problem was he went overboard and only included the gospel of Luke, which he edited, and twelve of the Pauline letters. These would be: Romans, both books of Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, both books of Timothy, both books of Thessalonians, and Titus.

The Book of Hebrews was not included. Marcion worked hard to have the church accept his canon, which was rejected, but because of his actions the church leaders got busy and started their own canon. Their work was finished in the middle of the fourth century, about 350 AD. It was a collegiate endeavor and the basic criterion was if it was written by an apostle, it was in.

It is believed that the work of Marcion’s effort brought Paul’s teaching to some prominence and that was a big factor in what we now have as the New Testament.

Marcion had a big following for many years after his death. He used his personal wealth, especially a donation the church returned to him after he was excommunicated, to support a movement called Marcionism. This lasted well past 300 AD and really shook up the early church.

THE BIBLE IS DIVIDED INTO THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS

The Bible is divided into the Old and the New Testaments. These show the way of salvation for mankind. You might say the two ways of salvation.

But, I thought Christ was the only way! He is – but consider this first.

God created the heavens and the earth, and we can be sure His creation was good. In fact, Isaiah 45:18 tells us, Thus saith the Lord who created the heavens. God himself who formed the earth and made it, He established it. He created it not without form and void. He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord and there is none else.

He created the dinosaurs, the sabre tooth tigers and the mammoths as well as all the other creatures including some very powerful and intelligent ones. Some we read about in the Bible and others we are told about by scientists.

The Bible speaks of the sons of God, angels, intelligent and eternal beings, with Lucifer being among them. Lucifer was the crowning cherub, who walked on the Holy Mountain of God. We find the story of Lucifer in many different places in the Bible, such as Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah.

Then Lucifer was lifted up in pride and a great cataclysm fell on the earth and in the heavens as a result. The Hebrew Arch Scroll Tonac series translation says the earth became a waste and a desolation. The King James translation from the Greek says the whole of creation was without form and void.

There is a vast gulf of time between Genesis 1:1 And Genesis 1:2. In Genesis 1:2 God begins the process of reorganization and re-creation. If we read carefully, part of that re-creation was the creatures of the sea and part was a special type of creation, man. Man, created in the image of God, is not what we see when we look at one another. True. Man is the creature we see that was formed from the dust of the ground and God breathed into Adam the Breath of Life and Adam became a living soul. This living soul, as I understand it, is what is in the image of God.

Another dimension has been added now to man - those who have accepted Christ also have the Spirit of God living in us. You have heard the expression, Mind, Body, Soul. Body is what was formed from the dust of the ground. Soul is what we became when God breathed into Adam the Breath of Life - an eternal dimension. And Mind is the Spirit of God or Christ we receive when we trust Christ for our Salvation.

Now, let’s go back to the beginning as we know it, to the Garden of Eden. God is the source of life, all life. He is what sustains life, as we read in Colossians 1:17, He is before all things and by Him all things consist.

I think of the analogy given by Dr. Scott of a golf cart. It runs on a battery. When in use it is disconnected from its source of power, a charging circuit. It loses power as it gets farther from its source of power, and it will eventually run down if not recharged.

When Adam and Eve listened to Satan’s lie, a barrier was put between man and God. God, being the source of life, man began to die. At first, being close to the source of life, the process was slower and man lived longer than now, but he died.

The relationship between man and God was broken. Man needed a way back, but man was unable to find that way of his own accord. God did not abandon man in his dilemma. God wrote the Old Testament, as we call it. God set all the terms, there was no discussion. God is sovereign. He said, This is the way it is. He later gave us the New Testament, but the terms were the same. God set all the terms of the New Testament as well.

In the Old Testament God chose a people to act as His vehicle to reveal himself to us. On Mount Sinai, He gave His standard to Moses, the spokesman of His choice and through His Chosen People to the world.

Adam and Eve did not believe God. Satan said, If you eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you will be like God. They trusted Satan.

Now God says, You want to be like me, you have the knowledge of good and evil. Here is my standard. All you have to do to truly be like me is to keep it. However you have to keep it personally, you have to keep it perfectly and you have to keep it perpetually. You cannot fall short in any area or you fail.

Can a person be saved by keeping the law of God? Theoretically, yes. But it is impossible for man to do. If a man kept it perfectly for seventy years and failed in the last moments of life, he has failed. The law is rigid. It cannot bend down and lift up man or carry him through any imperfection. He has failed to meet God’s standard and therefore he does not merit salvation. God knew this all along. The law, God’s standard, was for a schoolmaster: Galatians 3:24.

Adam and Eve did not believe God, they trusted Satan. If they had the knowledge of good and evil they would be like God. God said, You want to be like me, here is my standard, keep it. Man could not and the graveyards have been filling up every day confirming God is true and Satan a liar.

But God is more than true, God is just and God is merciful. He has now given us His New Testament. This is a more excellent way for it removes all performance of man from salvation. We are put back in the Garden of Eden, so to speak, and with the same choice. We, too, can believe God and trust Him, or we can go our own way. We do have an advantage, however, for now we have seen the failure of man and have been given a chance to repent knowing man’s failure.

Look at God’s standard and try to keep it or look at Christ and accept the unmerited favor He has shown us. It sounds simple, and it is, but we have to look closely at Christ so we can fully understand what God has provided. The law, our schoolmaster, was given to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Colossians 2:14 tells us that the handwriting of ordinances (the law, and all of it) that was against us has been blotted out by Christ, that He took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.

Again, Paul, speaking in Galatians 3:2-3 asks, Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of Faith. Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Verse 11 states that, No man is justified by the law in the sight of God. It is evident for the just shall live by faith.

God judged all mankind with the Flood. Then He gave us His standard as a guide. God knew we could not meet His standard. It was to show us what He already knew. The law was not given to save us, but to point us to Christ. Christ is His mercy, His unmerited favor. And we need to understand that to any degree we merit salvation by our works we have lost that degree of Mercy. God has made salvation easy for us if we accept Christ, His unmerited favor.

That is why Paul could say All things are lawful for me. He knew there was nothing he could do to merit Salvation. He trusted fully on Christ in everything. We need to understand also that this statement does not give license to sin. If we love someone we want to please them, not hurt them. If we love Christ we will do our best to please Him. To do this we need to stay connected to the only Source of Life, God Himself. That is why God tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, it is to strengthen us and help us grow.

Psalm 1: Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which bringeth forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

A THOUGHT TO PONDER: CONTENT WITH LIFE?

Content with life?

It’s easy to become content when we have no immediate problems. We relax and enjoy ourselves. When things get upset we turn to God and expect Him to right our situation for us.

We do not understand that God is not at our beck and call. In fact He cares for those who have put their faith and trust in Him and His Word. We also need to understand that just because we claim Christ for our own does not mean we will have no trials. We are in a physical world and we will endure the trials of this realm while we are here.

God doesn’t remove our trials but rather gives us strength for them. We won’t lose our salvation by our trials or by our neglect of what we should be doing.

The pity is now we can please God by showing Him our love for Him and by doing His will, but we don’t. We neglect services. We find we are too busy, or something comes up or it is inconvenient for us.

Each day the time grows shorter for our opportunities to serve Him. What could be more important than God, the One who died for us and offers salvation to us?

Now is the day of salvation.

Make the most of it.

CREATION AND THE EARTH AGE

Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Think about this. We know God is not the author of chaos and confusion. He spoke, and from out of nothing everything came into existence. Did He have to think about what He had said and then start to arrange His mess? I doubt it.

So why does Verse 2 of Genesis say And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. God gives answers if we are willing to look and to believe His Word. Let’s see what God has told us concerning the creation event and perhaps the result of Lucifer’s fall.

In Ezekiel Chapter 27, Ezekiel is told to take up a lamentation for Tyre. Tyre was a seaport city very prosperous and very rich and very proud. In Chapter 28 of Ezekiel the Lord rebukes the ruler of Tyre because of his pride. When he gets to Verse 11 of Chapter 28, suddenly God sees beyond the fleshly ruler (king) of Tyre,·and identifies the real power behind the king of Tyre.

In Verse 11 and 12a of Ezekiel 28, Ezekiel is told to write: Moreover, the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre, and say unto him. Then taking up at Verse 12b of Ezekiel 28 God focuses on Lucifer, the ruler of this current fallen world. Remember God had placed Adam with dominion over His re-creation as we read in Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 28. If understood, this is after Lucifer’s fall.

Ezekiel 28:12b-17, "Thus saith the Lord God: thou sealest up the sum full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13: Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering: the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and the gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy flutes was prepared in the day that thou wast created. 14: Thou art the