God's Children Look Forward

By Simon Bennett

What role will God’s people play in the last days? Where will we find our security? What power is available to us? What should our attitude be?
God’s Children Look Forwards answers these questions by examining the relevant last days’ scriptures through the lens of the archetypal stories of The Flood, The Exodus, Elijah and David. Patterns emerge that we can expect to be replicated in the last days before Christ’s return.

We will not need to fear, for God will provide an ‘ark’ of safety and security. Like Moses on his way to the Promised Land, we can foresee and prepare for the processes that we will pass through. The role and power of Elijah will reappear in the two ‘lampstands’, or churches, of Revelation 11, while David during the reign of King Saul, provides the perfect model of faith and patience for us to emulate.

God’s Children Look Forwards, the third title in the Let’s Look Forwards series, focuses on God’s people and His perfect purposes and provision for them while they wait for Jesus’ return.

About the Author
Simon Bennett has a range of ministry experience. He has led YouthReach SA, a ministry to township high school in Johannesburg and Touchstone Prison Ministry in the UK from 1998 to 2008. He currently lives in Dunstable, England.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon Bennett
• Release date: Sep 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005616182

Simon Bennett

Simon Bennett has degrees in politics and communications, and a PhD in the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge (Brunel University, Middlesex). He directs the Civil Safety and Security Unit (CSSU) at the University of Leicester. CSSU has over 300 MSc students. As a human factors consultant to the airlines and the military, Dr Bennett uses action research and participant observation (ethnography) to improve communication and teamwork. He has spent circa 1,350 hours on the flight deck, and is familiar with the Boeing 737 and 757 and Airbus A300, A319, A320 and A321. His books include Human Error - by design? (Palgrave-Macmillan), A Sociology of Commercial Flight Crew (Ashgate), Innovative Thinking in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management (Gower) and How Pilots Live (Peter Lang).

Book preview

God’s Children Look Forward

Copyright © 2021 Simon Bennett

First edition 2021

Published by Simon Bennett Publishing at Smashwords

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by Simon Bennett using Reach Publishers’ services,

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Edited by Tony van der Watt for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

Website: www.reachpublishers.org

E-mail: [e-mail]

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Holding Tension

Archetype 1 - Preparing the Ark: Our Security

Archetype 2 - The Exodus Our Process

Archetype 3 - Elijah - Our Power and Our Role

Archetype 4 - David - Our Attitude

Archetype 5 - Religious Archetypes and Jesus

Conclusion and Reflection

Conclusion: The Archetypes Come Together

Chapter Summaries for Quick Reference

Introduction

Holding Tension

‘Holding the tension’ is a phrase that resonates with many of the challenges of Christian life.

Paul held tension by talking of himself as being the ‘chief of sinners’ while at the same time ‘having the righteousness of God by faith’. Martin Luther did the same with his saying, ‘simul justus et picator’ (simultaneously justified and sinner). There is tension in our theology. We also hold the tension between healing and enduring affliction. Everybody ‘should’ be healed, but not everyone is healed! Paul’s ‘most gladly will I glory in my infirmities that the power of God may rest on me’ creates tension, which we hold for the benefit of those suffering long term afflictions.

There is tension regarding the study of last days scripture too. Jesus tells us to, ‘Take no thought for the morrow’ and gives us grace for today. For this reason, many set aside last days studies and adopt a ‘we will cross that bridge when we come to it’ attitude. On the other hand, Jesus warned us to ‘be ready’ and taught of the five foolish virgins who were unprepared for the darkness that fell before the bridegroom’s return.

We need to hold the tension between these two opposing directives. While we remain securely camped in today, we send scouts into tomorrow to assess the territory we are about to enter. Moses sent scouts into the Promised Land from the Israelite camp in Kadesh Barnea and later Joshua sent spies from their wilderness base into the city of Jericho. Scouts report back and enable God’s people to be prepared for the journey ahead.

So far in the Look Forwards series, we have sent two scouting missions into last days scripture.

Let’s Look Forwards

In this first scouting trip, we walked through Matthew 24 and 25, the ‘spine’ of last days scripture, and noted the landmarks that Jesus highlighted would precede His return.

1. The Gospel preached in All the World (Matthew 24:14)

2. The Abomination of Desolation (Matthew 24:15-20)

3. The Time of Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-29)

4. The Second Coming of Christ (Matthew 24:30-31)

We then moved into the rest of scripture to investigate these landmarks as well as the ‘man of lawlessness’, the Anti-Christ, flagged up by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2. By the end of the scouting trip, our list of landmarks had expanded.

1. Gospel Preached in all the World (Matthew 24:14)

2. Rebuilding of the Jewish Temple (Matthew 24:15,

Daniel 9:27, 11:31)

3. The Confirming of a Covenant with Many for Seven Years (Daniel 9:27)

4. The Anti-Christ Revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:3-8)

5. Abomination of Desolation Set Up (Matthew 24:15-20, Daniel 9:27, 11:31.)

6. 3 ½-Year Time of Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-29, Dan 9:27, 7:25, 12:7, Rev 11:2,3 12:6,14)

7. The Judgement of Babylon (Revelation 17-19)

8. The Second Coming (Matthew 24:29-30, Daniel 7:13, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, 2 2:8)

Preparation in Matthew 24,25

Jesus outlined some preparations for believers in Matthew 24 and the parables of Matthew 25.

1. Do not be deceived (Matthew 24:4,11,24)

2. Do not be troubled or offended (Matthew 24:6,10)

3. Be ready for these times (Matthew 24:44)

4. Know and share the Word of God (Matthew 24:4,45)

5. Be filled with the Spirit and learn how to be led by the Spirit (Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids Matthew 25:1-13)

6. Stay busy in Gospel living and work (Parable of the Talents: Matthew 25:14-30)

Daniel Looks Forwards

For the second scouting trip, we hiked into the prophetic dreams and visions of the Book of Daniel.

In Daniel 2 and 7 we gained historical perspective on the four great empires of man, namely:

· Babylon

· Medo-Persia

· Greece

· Rome – the Roman Empire endures till Christ’s return. We understand this is through European and American financial and military power.

We then focussed on the Anti-Christ’s rise and three-and-a-half-year rule (Daniel 7:24, 9:27). In Daniel’s prophecies he is represented by:

· the little horn of Daniel 7, who persecutes God’s people and is destroyed at the coming of Jesus (Daniel 7:24).

· the great horn of Daniel 8,