As Jesus continued his prophetic discourse in Matthew 24, He gives His disciples a sense of the progression of the events that will happen in the last days. He warned that in the last days before the Great Tribulation, many Christians will be offended and betray one another:

Many shall be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (Matthew 24: 9-12 KJV)

Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. (Mark 13:10 KJV)

You will be delivered up and betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. And you will be hated (despised) by everyone because you bear My name and for its sake (Luke 21:16-17).

Many will turn away from the faith, be offended and betray one another to save their own lives. The Greek word for love used here is agape, which is Christian love shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This love will grow cold because of multiplied lawlessness.

Many will start questioning God which will harden their hearts even more. Where lawlessness abounds, the love of God will be squeezed out of people’s hearts and will betray one another to the world government Gestapo.

They will not be prepared to be persecuted or hated for the name of Jesus. What is very frightening is that persecution of Christians is most likely to come from believers. The worst kind of persecution is Christians who persecute Christians.

We need to remind ourselves that infiltration of the churches by communists, atheists, occultists, even satanists, or other anti-God forces is a ply of Satan. Just because we assume someone is a believer with pure motives does not mean that he is. It is estimated that eighty-five percent of the Christians turned in fellow believers during the revolution in China.

David Wilkerson wrote in one of his Time Square Church Pulpit Series, “The Persecution of the Righteous” (4/13/87):

In His going–away message to the disciples, Jesus warned them of certainty of persecution. He said, “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). Who are they? Who is it who will persecute the most intimate followers of Christ? It is the religious crowd! Those with outward forms of godliness without the power of the total heart surrender—these will persecute those who glory only in the Cross of Christ. The godless, humanistic Romans were not the real persecutors of the Master.

His greatest abuse was at the hands of those most steeped in the Law, the hierarchy of the church, and the masses who boasted that God was their Father. Money relief from suffering, and desire to save themselves are three motives for betraying others…..I have seen more than a few believers trade in their Christian birthright for a mess of earthly pottage…. Christians who talk about the possibility of persecution may be ostracized by other believers who think that they will be taken from this world before any trouble begins.

Now is the time for believers to ask the Lord for guidance, wisdom, and strength to face whatever the future holds. We need to watch and pray that we will not deny the Lord and other believers and to watch therefore, and pray always that we may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36).

In these increasingly dark times, we need to be praying for discernment for the Lord to reveal the true motives of whom we call our friends. For true friendship cannot really be true unless that love that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit cements the friends together (see Romans 5:5). We need to acknowledge that in many professing Christians, there is little evidence of true koinonia (fellowship).

You can’t assume a person is a Christian if he uses any religious language. Knowing in whom a person can confide and whether that person truly knows Jesus Christ may mean the difference between life and death.

We should take courage from God’s wisdom as the Book of Proverbs says: “Discretion shall watch over you, understanding shall keep you. (Proverbs 2:11).

Christians who understand the times need to develop discernment about people; seek the counsel of others they trust; find like-minded people who can be part of a mutual support group and who they can cooperate with, and develop an instinct for what doesn’t feel right.

No matter how good something looks or sounds on the surface, go with your gut feeling, with your instinct, with your intuition, with that green light or check in your spirit which the Holy Spirit gives you.

In his masterpiece classic book, The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn describes how betrayal became a form of existence during the time of persecution in Russia. “All human emotions love friendship, envy, love of one’s fellows, mercy, thirst for fame, honesty-fell away from us along with the meat of our muscles

Given this constant fear over a period of many years—for oneself and one’s family—a human being became a vassal of fear, subjected to it. And it turned out that the least dangerous form of existence was constant betrayal. The mildest and at the same time most widespread form of betrayal was not to do anything bad directly, but just not to notice the doomed person next to one, not to help him, to turn away one’s face to shrink back. They had arrested a neighbour, your comrade at work, or even your close friend. You kept silence. You acted as if you had not noticed. (For you could not afford to lose your current job!).

Under the coming persecution, some Christians will renounce their faith and betray those who remain faithful to Jesus Christ. And it’s more likely that those who betray their fellow believers will betray them to the godless secular government.

What about your relatives? Can your close relative, son or daughter betray you to the secret police or worse still cause your death? To answer the question, let’s look at the words of Jesus. He said:

Now the brother shall betray brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. (Mark 13:12 KJV)

It happened in communist Russia during a trial of some Baptists at Nikitovka in the Donbas, in January 1964. Alexander Solzhenitsyn describes what really happened in one of the trials against Christians and their children:

While the trial was in progress there were shouts from the spectators: “Pour kerosene over the lot and set fire to them!” The court did nothing to curb this righteous indignation. Typical of its procedures: it admitted the evidence of hostile neighbours and also of terrorized minors; little girls of nine and eleven were brought before the court (who the hell cares what effect it has on them as long as we get our verdict). Their exercise books with texts from the Scriptures were introduced as exhibits.

One of the defendants, Bazbei, father of nine children, was a miner who had never received any support from the Union committee at his pit because he was a Baptist. But they managed to confuse his daughter Nina, a schoolgirl in the eighth grade, and to suborn her with fifty rubles from the Union committee and a promise to place her in an institute later on, so that during the investigation she made fantastic statements against her father: he had tried to poison her with a sour fruit drink; when the believers were hiding in the woods for their prayer meetings (because they were persecuted in the settlement) they had had a radio transmitter—“a tall tree with wire wound all around it.”

Afterwards, this lying statement began to prey on Nina’s mind, she became ill and was put in the violent ward of an asylum. Nonetheless, she was produced in court in the expectation that she would stick to her evidence. But she repudiated every word of it!

“The interrogator dictated what I had to say himself.” It made no difference. The shameless judge ignored her latest statements and regarded only her last statements and her earlier evidence as valid….”Now, what do you mean by that? It says here in your deposition….You testified during the investigation…. What right have you to retract now? That’s an offence, too, you know!”

“How can you talk about the end of the world when we are committed to the building of Communism.

This was the closing statement made by one young girl, Zhenya Khloponina. “Instead of going to the cinema or to dances, I used to read the Bible and say my prayers—and just for that, you are taking my freedom from me. Yes, to be free is a great happiness, but to be free from sin is a greater still….

The sentences: Two of them got five years in the camps, two of them four years, and Bazbei, father of all those children got three. The defendants accepted their sentences joyfully, and said a prayer. The “representatives from enterprises shouted: “Not long enough! Make it more!” (Throw kerosene over them and put a match to it….) 

Russia had just signed the World Convention on “the fight against discrimination in the sphere of education.” One of its points was that parents must be allowed to provide for the religious and moral education of their children in accordance with their own convictions.” But that is precisely what we cannot allow!

Anyone who speaks in court on the substance of the case, anyone who tries to clarify the issue, is invariably interrupted, diverted from his train of thought, deliberately confused by the judge, who conducts the debate on this level: “How can you talk about the end of the world when we are committed to the building of Communism.”

And who is building Communism today?  Progressive British, American, German, French and “left-wing” thinkers and students in the West!

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Not all Envy is Bad But Motive is Vital

Envy can motivate you to pursue success in life or be a positive motivation to make you do something worthwhile in your life. Solomon wrote that he “observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbours. But this, too, is meaningless— like chasing the wind” (Ecclesiastes 4: 4 NLT).

In Philippians 2:3 Paul warns us as servants of the Lord: Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. The fact is, the more we aim at personal success, the less secure we become. We are threatened by the possibility that someone else may succeed before we do.

This creates an atmosphere for jealousy and envy to thrive. Instead, we ought to be motivated less and less by personal ambition but to simply please the Lord. Even in times of frustration or failure, we should turn our focus from trying to solve the problem to maintaining an attitude that is pleasing to the Lord.

As servants of Christ, we will experience no competition or envy but we would strive to please our Lord who was utterly devoted to His Father’s will, honour, praise and glory and received no recognition from men (see John 5:30-31).

For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive his pay according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil considering what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing (2 Corinthians 5:10 AMP).

Again, according to his letter to the Philippians, Paul heard that some preached Christ out of rivalry and jealousy of him; he said he was delighted that the gospel was being preached, whatever the motives of those preaching it. He said he would go anywhere to tell anyone what God had done in Christ.

Let me add that I observed this spirit of envy and jealousy first and foremost in my own life and some of the main things I pray every day to be delivered from are: pride, lust and envy. Pride is the first sin of in most of us, as we imitate our parents Adam and Eve. Lust is probably second. But high on the list of the sins of our human race is envy, which could possibly be seen as a subsection of pride.

We hate to see our fellow human beings having any sort of success. For instance, it’s been noted that the British are very proud people and this pride results in envy and jealousy. From envy, it is often a short step to servility.

Whereas the Americans think of themselves as individuals created in the image of God. They resent being servants, and when given the opportunity to become their own masters, they seize it with enthusiasm and never look back.

Many people of different backgrounds have been elevated to positions of higher responsibility in areas of business, academia, politics, law and other professions because they knew in America you can compete effectively once given the opportunity.

But in some or even many black circles, pursuing learning is called acting white, and this (needless to say) is a criticism of the black person trying to be an excellent student. Apparently, envy seems to be at work here when Black people criticize their fellow Blacks for “acting white.”

If some Black person has acknowledged a real objective standard of intellectual excellence, and has bravely attempted to come up to that standard by his or her pursuit of learning; instead of saying, “You go guy or girl, and encouraging this admirable attempt, much of the black community instead mocks the person as having deserted his people.

He is “acting white” This is defined as envy which is “How dare you try to be smarter and better than the rest of us? You are a traitor to your race, you are acting white. We are going to put you down with the rest of us.” This is envy. It might be unconscious envy but it is still the sin of envy.

What about God’s Jealousy?

This is possibly the one thing about God of the Bible that the world hates most. We are told that the Lord is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24).

Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?”(James 4:5). God doesn’t envy anybody or anything, because it’s all His anyway – but He is jealous. Jealousy is an appropriate emotion for God, even if we might not think so at first.

I heard a story of how Oprah Winfrey listened to the preacher in a Baptist church when she was around twenty-eight years old. The preacher was speaking about the omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence of God. Oprah was apparently enthralled – until he quoted Exodus 34: 14, saying that God is a jealous God. She said ‘I was caught up in the rapture of that moment; until he said “jealous.”

She said it made her realize that ‘God is jealous of me’. She then added, “Something about that didn’t feel right in my spirit because I believe that God is love.”

It would have been appropriate for Oprah to know that God should be jealous for His people when they follow other gods. He is jealous for His name, His reputation, His people, and His world. These are not popular attributes of God, but we need to understand them if we are to gain a proper perspective of Who He is.

Godly Jealousy

The apostle Paul faced opposition wherever he went – human opposition, largely Jewish in origin, and the satanic opposition that was behind the human element. Both were due to jealousy, for both the Jews and Satan were jealous of losing followers.

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he describes godly jealousy to believers who he thought had been deceived by false apostles using the serpent’s cunning, and their minds somehow be led astray from their sincere and pure devotion to Christ (see Galatians 1:6-9).

It is clear from Paul’s teaching in Colossians and other letters, notably Galatians and Romans, that Christianity is not about giving up abstaining from legitimate bodily pleasures like food but is about giving up the attitudes and practices that displease God, such as pride, lust, envy, quarrelling, rivalry and prejudice. It means living consistently in Christ every day of your life.

Jude also focuses on the characters of false teachers and their similarity to the characters of three people in the Old Testament. He starts with Cain, who killed his brother out of jealousy. He tells the readers that the false teachers are motivated in part by jealousy, just like Cain, and so are bound to affect those who listen.

Look into the Mirror-The Word of God

James says that the Bible is like a mirror that can show us what we are like through the people we read about (James 1:23). We can compare ourselves with Bible characters and ask whether we would have behaved in the same way. We are envious of others because the more you have, the more you want, and the more you envy those who have got more. James says,

But if you have bitter jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry, selfish ambition) in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on it and thus be in defiance of and false to the Truth…. For wherever there is jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry and selfish ambition), there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony, rebellion) and all sorts of evil and vile practices (James 3:14 AMP).

James goes on to tell us that strife, discord feuds, conflicts quarrels and fightings originate and arise from our sensual desires that are ever warring in our bodily members.  You are jealous and covet what others have and your desires go unfulfilled; so you become murderers.

To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned. You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek, so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. Or you do ask God for them and yet fail to receive because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is when you get what you desire to spend it in sensual pleasures (James 4:1-3 AMP).

Like it or not, then, we all have envy and jealousy from time to time. But jealousy is envy that we failed to keep under control – as when the dam bursts, the volcano erupts, the tongue becomes the fire of hell (James 3: 6).

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who suffered decades of horrendous hardship as a political exile in the Siberian prison system known as the “gulag” wrote in the Gulag Archipelago:

Don’t be afraid of misfortune and do not yearn after happiness. It is, after all, the same. The bitter doesn’t last forever, and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing. It is enough if you don’t freeze in the cold, and if hunger and thirst don’t claw at your sides.

If your back isn’t broken, if your feet can walk, if both arms work, if both eyes can see, and if both ears can hear, then whom should you envy? And why? Our envy of others devours us most of all. Rub your eyes and purify your heart and prize above all else in the world those who love you and wish you well.

Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily (1 Corinthians 13: 4).

Don’t let Satan rob you of this privilege of loving others and wishing them well. Don’t give him a chance. Learn to recognize envy and jealousy in yourself as soon as possible, and then fear it. Fear jealousy and envy as you would fear being trapped by a violent bear. Run from it. When you see it in yourself, repent, be honest with God and do all you can to resist it.

What is the difference between envy and jealousy? Jealousy is more directed at a person, while envy is directed more at possessions, positions, or what they have. The original sin in Genesis 3 was actually jealousy – that of Satan himself in the heavenlies before God created man.

Satan is God’s creation and he was not created evil; he became evil. The prophet Isaiah was given a glimpse as to what happened. Called ‘morning star’ (‘Lucifer, son of the morning’), Satan fell from heaven after jealousy took over. He said, I will ascend to heaven….I will make myself like the Most High (see Isaiah 14:12–14).

His first effort to seek revenge against God was when he tempted Eve to eat the fruit. When she saw that the fruit was ‘good for food and pleasing to the eye … She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it’ (see Genesis 3:1-6).

It was covetousness and envy that led to their downfall. Eve coveted what she felt she did not have, which led to envy. The devil deceived Eve in the Garden to rebel against God and in turn, Eve seduced Adam to rebel against God. Adam is punished in relation to his work, and Eve in relation to bearing children. The reptile becomes a snake-even today there are very small legs on the underside of a snake.

Their former relationship with God is destroyed. Their relationship with each other is also affected: they hide from each other and God pronounces a curse over them. Then sin brought death and chaos into God’s perfect creation and turned Cain against God and against his brother Abel.

It was the first murder that took place within the family, as envy gave way to defiance against God’s warning. Somebody has pointed out that the sin committed by the first man caused the second man to kill the third. Here we have Adam’s own family. His eldest son kills his middle son, and it was for the same reason that they killed Jesus centuries later. Envy was responsible for the first murder in history and the worst murder in history.

Abel and Cain-Sibling Rivalry

The first human account of jealousy described in the Bible stems from sibling rivalry. When Adam and Eve sinned their sinful nature was passed on to their children. Eve gave birth to Cain, then later gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel kept flocks, Cain worked the soil. In the course of time both of them presented offerings to the Lord.

We learn from the Hebrews 11:4 that it was by faith Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice and his name stands first in the record of those whom the Bible calls believers. He had this witness given to him “that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5).

A principle was being established: blood was shed so that their shame could be covered (it began there and continues through to Calvary). God became man and was the perfect man substituting for sinful man. When God himself became man, “He who knew no sin was ‘made sin’ for us, ‘so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).

The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry and became jealous of his brother Abel (see Genesis 4:4–5).

In bringing the offering, Cain denied that he was a sinful creature under the sentence of divine condemnation. He insisted on approaching God on the ground of personal worthiness. Instead of accepting God’s way, he offered to God the fruits of the ground, which God had cursed. He presented the product of his own toil, the work of his own hands, and God refused to receive it. And this is why people remain blind to the gospel of Jesus Christ by trusting in themselves.

To this very day people resent God’s way of salvation, namely, that we are saved through the sacrifice of Jesus dying on the cross for us. People are naturally jealous that we are saved through the righteousness of Christ and not our own good works.

Abel had learned from his parents that the only sacrifice worthy of God was a blood sacrifice – the result of a life being taken. God had already covered the sin and shame of his parents by killing animals and providing a skin covering for them. (Gen. 3:21).

There is much more to this story than sibling rivalry. The gospel not only gives the believer a new family; it will divide families. Jesus said, ‘A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household’ (Matt. 10:36).

The historical account of Cain’s jealousy of Abel is a lesson on what jealousy can lead to if not brought under control. Jealousy is capable of causing one to do extremely horrible things. When we have feelings of envy, towards our siblings or anyone we must be extremely careful lest Satan seize the moment and exploit it to his advantage. The moment he sees jealousy in us, he is merely waiting for the chance to exploit us, to do as he wishes.

Miriam, Aaron and Moses

The saga of jealousy and envy continues throughout scripture. Miriam was Moses’ and Aaron’s sister. She was known as a prophetess. She sang and danced with joy when the Egyptians were drowned in the sea.

Miriam also had a problem with jealousy. She desired honour for herself. She wanted to speak with God as Moses did. In addition, she was critical of his choice of wife. Miriam was punished with ‘leprosy’ for seven days until she repented. She was among those who died at Kadesh. The next to drop out of the leadership picture was Aaron.

Once again his problem was jealousy and desire for honour. Miriam and Aaron were together in criticizing Moses. Their excuse was that Moses had married someone of whom they did not approve (he married a Kushite woman who had come out of Egypt with them, and who was not even a Hebrew).

God did not criticize him for doing that, but Miriam and Aaron did. Aaron thus died at Mount Hor, a little further on from Kadesh, when he was over 100 years old. Soon after they expressed jealousy and desire for honour, both Aaron and Miriam died.

Jacob and Esau

Someone said, ‘Sibling rivalry is inevitable. The only sure way to avoid it is to have one child.’ Yet the rivalry between Isaac and Esau was not personally with each other, but with their parents and then their offspring in future generations.

The Edomites were direct descendants of Esau who, of course, had sold his birthright to Jacob and was in conflict with his twin brother for most of his life. Here began a feud that was to cost countless lives throughout succeeding centuries. Esau’s descendants, the Amalekites, were the first enemies to obstruct the flight of Jacob’s descendants from Egypt (Exod. 17:8).

In Deuteronomy God forbade Israel to have a wrong attitude to Edom because Esau was Jacob’s brother. We read in Numbers that they refused to let their uncle Jacob’s children pass through their land (Num. 20:17-20). Doeg, an Edomite, who stood with Saul’s servants murdered eighty-five priests and almost caused the death of Christ’s chosen ancestor David (I Sam. 21-22). All this was due to Saul’s insecurities that led to being jealous of the gifted people around him including David.

Bloody battles were fought between the two nations in the centuries that followed. The last Edomites were known by the name of Herod and it was a descendant of Esau who was King of the Jews when Jesus was born. He killed all the babies in Bethlehem to try to get rid of this descendant of Jacob who was born to be King and Messiah (Matt. 2:16). Satan needs no better medium for his evil plans than a family feud, a “mere quarrel” between two brothers.

Rachel and Leah

Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel. There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face. Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.” There was another custom of the land that Laban did not tell Jacob.

The older daughter had to be married first. When it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. Jacob was enraged when he learned that Laban had tricked him. Sin has a way of coming back to haunt us. The deceiver of Esau was now deceived as well.

Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah and when the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb. Leah gave birth Levi, for out of Levi came the priesthood. He also gave birth to Judah. From Judah came Israel’s greatest king, David, son of Jesse; and, most important of all, came God’s promised Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the seed of David.

When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister, and said to Jacob ‘Give me children, or I’ll die!’ (Genesis 29:17; 30:1) God eventually remembers Rachel and gives her two children and one them ends up being the favourite son of his father to becoming a household slave, until he went all the way up from being a prisoner to being Prime Minister of Egypt.

In between, we have the envy and jealousy of his brothers, which brought him low. Little did Joseph know that his brothers were capable of doing what they did when he shared his dream with them. One of my greatest shocks has been to have nobody with whom to share the good news to rejoice with you or even bad news to mourn with you (Romans 12:15).

The only people we might be reasonably sure will always rejoice in our successes are your wife or husband if married or your own father and mother if you still have parents! Another important lesson is the witchcraft and the Jezebel spirit is attracted to those who walk in envy and jealousy because they provide it with reasons to launch evil attacks.

Have you ever had something really good about to happen to you and you speak in confidence to someone about it and the next thing you know, the thing never happens after that? For instance, you might go on a job interview and you are given an assurance that the job will be yours.

You make a mistake and go home and speak to a relative or a friend, and after that, you get a phone call that the job has been offered to someone else. What happened is that the devil eavesdropped on your good news through someone who carries the witchcraft spirit in his or her bloodline and is filled with envy and jealousy.

So be warned that anything is good and pleasant because it is connected to Him (Christ). Use it apart from its Source, and it will become bitter. And be very careful with whom you share your good or even bad news because most people are motivated to success because they envy the neighbours which is all meaningless like chasing the wind.

Image credit: Heavens Call

The book of Acts provides the basic history of the spread of Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let’s briefly examine what the apostles had to say about this very controversial subject.

In Acts 1:8 we read, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

This witness for Christ starts in Jerusalem further into Judaea and Samaria, and then finally it spreads from there to Europe and the heart of the Roman Empire. But after the Holy Spirit’s coming on the day of Pentecost, Peter’s part of the sermon to the religious leaders says,

Therefore let the whole house of Israel recognize beyond all doubt and acknowledge assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ (the Messiah)—this Jesus Whom you crucified (Acts: 2:36).

The second time was when Peter and John were going to the Temple one afternoon in the three o’clock prayer service. Peter prayed for crippled beggar and he began to walk. So Peter saw this as an opportunity to address the crowd:

Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses (Acts 3:12-15).

Peter goes on to tell his Jewish brothers that they had acted in ignorance, they were not aware of what they were doing, as did your rulers also. He told them:

God had fulfilled what was foretold by all the prophets about the Messiah, and that they should repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began…. Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.

You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ‘To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities (Acts 3: 17-26).

The Scriptures tells us that while Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. They put them in prison until the following day. Then on the next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem.

Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?” then Peter because he was filled with the Holy Spirit said to them:

Rulers of the people and members of the council (the Sanhedrin), if we are being put on trial here today and examined concerning a good deed done to benefit a feeble (helpless) cripple, by what means this man has been restored to health, Let it be known and understood by all of you, and by the whole house of Israel, that in the name and through the power and authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom you crucified, but Whom God raised from the dead, in Him and by means of Him this man is standing here before you well and sound in body……. And there is salvation in and through no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by and in which we must be saved (Acts 4:8-10).

In Acts 5, the apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people to the point Peter’s shadow fell on some who were sick and they were all healed. But the high priest and the Sadducees were filled with jealousy and indignation and arrested the apostles and put them in jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and led them out saying:

Go, take your stand in the temple courts and declare to the people the whole doctrine concerning this Life (the eternal life which Christ revealed) (Acts 5:17-20).

So Peter and the apostles obeyed the angel’s command and began teaching in the Temple. When the leading priests heard that the apostles who were jailed are teaching the people, they again arrested the apostles and brought them before the high council, where the high priest confronted them saying:

We definitely commanded and strictly charged you not to teach in or about this Name; yet here you have flooded Jerusalem with your doctrine and you intend to bring this Man’s blood upon us (Act 5:28).

The rulers realized Peter and the apostles were laying the blood of Jesus upon them and they told them not to preach in that name. But Peter and the apostles replied:

We must obey God rather than men. The God of our forefathers raised up Jesus, Whom you killed by hanging Him on a tree (cross). God exalted Him to His right hand to be Prince and Leader and Savior and Deliverer and Preserver, in order to grant repentance to Israel and to bestow forgiveness and release from sins. And we are witnesses of these things, and the Holy Spirit is also, Whom God has bestowed on those who obey Him (Act 5:28-32).

Another of those Holy Spirit-filled apostles was a Jewish man known as Stephen. He was preaching when he was seized and brought before the religious rulers. Towards the end of Stephen’s defence before the Jewish high council, he presented a review of the Jews’ history to his Jewish brothers by making powerful applications that exposed the evil intents of his listeners.

Listen to his concluding remarks before he was martyred:

You stubborn and stiff-necked people, still heathen and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. As your forefathers were, so you are and so you do! Which of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? And they slew those who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, Whom you now have betrayed and murdered (Acts 7:51-52).

Following Stephen’s sermon to the Sanhedrin, they stoned him to death for his blasphemous remarks, and  Saul who later became the apostle Paul agreed to his execution. He even took care of the coats of the men who threw the stones. In fact, after Stephen was buried; Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church.

He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison. But it seems Stephen’s death had a lasting impression on Saul (Paul) of Tarsus, who would move from being a persecutor of Christians to being one of the greatest preachers of the gospel the church has ever known.

His encounter with Jesus Christ changed his life forever and from then on he preached that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. In his first sermon to the Jews in the Synagogue in Antioch (Acts 13) he also began with an emphasis on God’s covenant with Israel, something he would later reiterate in his letter to the Roman Christians. In that message, Paul also emphasized the resurrection but when his message was scorned, he responded by saying:

Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and all those others among you who reverence and fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation [the salvation obtained through Jesus Christ. For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know or recognize Him or understand the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, have actually fulfilled these very predictions by condemning and sentencing Him. And although they could find no cause deserving death with which to charge Him, yet they asked Pilate to have Him executed and put out of the way. And when they had finished and fulfilled everything that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead (Acts 13: 26-30).

Conclusion

From the gospel writers and the book of Acts, we can conclude that there were reports from eyewitnesses in the New Testament and they all agree that some Jewish people didn’t like Jesus, especially the leaders who were jealous and envious of Him. But most of the Jewish people were followers of Jesus.

The other factor to be considered was the Romans, who saw Jesus as a political threat to their government. The Jewish high priest Caiaphas had also been considered a corrupt political puppet of Rome. In fact, after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the death, Caiaphas, the chief priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the council and said,

What are we to do? For this Man performs many miracles. If we let Him alone to go like this, everyone will believe in Him and the Romans will come and suppress and destroy and take away our holy place, temple, city, civil organization and our nation. In this meeting Caiaphas who was the high priest that year declared, You know nothing at all!….Its expedient…that one man should die on behalf of the people instead of the whole nation perishing.

The Lord can use anyone to prophesy even when he doesn’t know the implications of what he’s saying or when he doesn’t even know the Lord. Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus was to die for the nation, and not only for the nation but also to unite into one body the children of God who have been scattered far and wide. So from that day on they took counsel and plotted together how they might put Him to death (see John 11: 47-53 AMP).

So Who Killed Jesus?

There was an actual conspiracy between corrupt leaders on both sides-the Romans and the Jews. The few Jewish leaders involved didn’t represent the majority of their people. That’s why the chief priests and scribes plotted to kill Him by trickery but not during the feast lest there be an uproar among the people (see Matthew 26: 3-5).

Now the question is: Who were these people who would cause an uproar? Of course, these were Jews, like the five thousand Jesus miraculously fed and those who sat at the Sermon on the Mount, and all the multitudes the Bible says followed Him constantly. It was a handful of Romans who tried Jesus and killed him. Crucifixion was a Roman form of execution. Since Jewish law only allowed stoning, Jesus would have been stoned, not crucified, if the Jews killed him. Besides, Jesus Himself said:

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again. (Luke 18:31-33 NKJV)

And I, if and when I am lifted up from the earth on the cross, will draw and attract all men Gentiles as well as Jews to Myself. He said this to signify in what manner He would die (John 12:32-33).

Ultimately, all we like sheep had gone astray. It is our need for a Saviour that caused Jesus to die. However, He gave His life willingly as the Passover Lamb (see John 10:17-18).

Those who are committing the sin of anti-Semitism claiming that the Jews suffer because they called for Christ’s blood after they had rejected Him as their Messiah should understand that, yes some did call for Him to be crucified, but the Scriptures tell us that it was the Lord’s good plan to crush Him and cause Him grief (see Isaiah 53:10-11).

The sinless servant of God offered Himself for our sins. He suffered for our sake, bearing our sins to make us all acceptable to God both Jews and Gentiles. The people who crucified Jesus were guilty, and so are all of us, but Jesus forgave them at the cross—just like he forgives all of us if we repent and turn to Him.

The Old Testament Passover Lamb, a type of Christ, was examined for 72 defects. The true Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, was absolutely without fault. No wonder Pilate said to the chief priests and the people, “I find no fault in this Man.” In Genesis 22, the Bible tells us when Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac, God provided Himself with a Lamb, Who in the fullness of time would take away the sin of the world.

It was this Lamb that was slain to redeem us back to God again. Jesus said, “Your forefather Abraham was extremely happy at the hope and prospect of seeing my day (My incarnation), and he did see it and was delighted.” (John 8:56 AMP)

I heard a preacher saying that on one of his last visits to Israel, a taxi driver who took him to the airport turned to him and said, Why did we kill Him-Yeshua? The whole of Israel is talking about Him. He was a good man, He worked miracles, and He did nothing bad. Why did we kill Him? Was He the Messiah? This is exactly what Scripture says, there will come a time when they will recognize He is the Messiah and will cry out for forgiveness—and the Lord will hear them! (See Zechariah 13:9)

It should be noted that they are well-produced documentaries that contain extreme views that may have provoked cynicism in some Christians who have watched them. For instance, some have called the New Testament the most dangerous anti-Semitic tract in history.

A growing number of Christian theologians are declaring the Scriptures in the Gospels (particularly John’s gospel) that claim the Jews conspired with the Romans to crucify Jesus are not accurate and should therefore be removed from the New Testament. We don’t intend to argue about these extreme cases, but we are setting out to explore what the Bible teaches concerning this subject.

Firsthand accounts from the New Testament writers John and Matthew indicate that the Jewish religious leaders conspired with the Roman leaders to crucify Jesus Christ. These two gospel accounts were written by two writers who were one of the twelve apostles and therefore had enough time to reflect on the three years they had spent living close to the Lord.

The gospel according to Matthew records that at the Feast of Passover, the governor was in the habit of releasing one prisoner for the people. And that time they had a notorious prisoner whose name was Barabbas. So when they had gathered for this one purpose, Pilate said to them, Whom do you want to set free for you Barabbas or Jesus Who is called the Christ? (See Mathew 27:17-18)

At first, Pilate hesitated to permit the religious leaders to crucify Jesus. He perceived that it was because of envy and jealousy that they had handed Him over to him and his conscience also bothered him that Jesus was an innocent Man. According to Roman law, an innocent man could not be put to death.

We should also remember that while Pilate was seated on the judgment bench, his wife sent him a message, saying, Have nothing to do with that just and upright Man, for I have had a painful experience today in a dream because of Him (See Matthew 27:19). John records that:

Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world.

If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all (John 18:33-38).

Pilate kept on insisting that he found Jesus not guilty of any offense but the Jewish leaders insisted that He should be crucified. The religious leaders had arrested Jesus of blasphemy which according to their law He ought to die because He called Himself the Son of God, but that charge was meaningless to the Romans. So the religious leaders had to accuse Jesus of crimes that would convince the Roman government that He deserved to die, crimes such as claiming to be a King, which was treason, causing riots, and encouraging non-payment of taxes.

All these charges were not true but the religious leaders were determined to kill Jesus. The Bible tells us that Pilate had told the religious leaders to take Jesus away and judge Him by their law (John 18:31-32). The Jewish leaders replied that only the Romans were permitted to execute someone. This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way He would die (See Luke 18:31-33).

Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death. Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with Jesus Who is called the Christ? They all replied, let Him be crucified! And he said, Why? What has He done that is evil? But they shouted all the louder, Let Him be crucified! (Matthew 27:20-22)

John records that when Pilate heard all these shouts of crucify Him…crucify Him… he was more frightened than before. He took Jesus back into the judgment hall again and said to Jesus that he had the power to release Him or crucify Him. Jesus answered,

You would not have any power or authority whatsoever against (over) Me if it were not given you from above. For this reason the sin and guilt of the one who delivered Me over to you is greater. Upon this, Pilate wanted (sought, was anxious) to release Him, but the Jews kept shrieking, If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar! (See John 19:8-13 AMP)

When the Jews threatened to report Pilate to Caesar, Pilate became afraid. History indicates that the Jews had already threatened to lodge a formal complaint against Pilate for his stubborn flouting of their traditions. This complaint would have led to Pilate losing his job, and the Roman government couldn’t afford to have a large number of troops in all the regions under their control, therefore Pilate had to do whatever he could to maintain peace and order.

But the chief priests and the elders prevailed on the people to ask for Barabbas and put Jesus to death. Pilate the Roman governor agreed to release to the crowd a murderer named Barabbas and to impose the death sentence on Jesus instead.

So when Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but rather that a riot was about to break out, he took water and washed his hands in the presence of the crowd, saying, I am not guilty of nor responsible for this righteous Man’s blood; see to it yourselves. And all the people answered, Let His blood be on us and on our children! So he set free for them Barabbas; and he had Jesus whipped, and delivered Him up to be crucified. (Mathew 27:20-26)

In his book Blessing or Curse You can Choose, Derek Prince writes,

These words, His blood be on us and on our children… combined two forms of curse: a self-imposed curse on themselves; a relational curse on their descendants. The objective record of history confirms the outworking of both. Within one generation the Roman armies had destroyed Jerusalem, and either killed or sold into slavery the entire population.

Since that time, for nineteen centuries, a dark strand of bloodshed and tragedy has been interwoven in the destiny of the Jewish people. Time after time, in pogrom after pogrom, Gentile rulers have turned loose against defenseless Jews violent, depraved men of the caliber of Barabbas—the one whom they had chosen.

Luke also records that when Jesus was about to be crucified, a large crowd followed Him, including grief-stricken women. But Jesus turned and said to them:

Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.” For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? (Luke 23:27-31)

Jesus knew that in only about 40 years, Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed by the Romans.

Again, when we read in John’s Gospel that the ‘Jews’ hated Jesus, that Jesus was always arguing with the Jews and that the Jews crucified him, we make a very big mistake if we apply the name ‘Jews’ to the whole nation.

Indeed, this misunderstanding has stimulated anti-Semitism for 2,000 years. When John refers to ‘the Jews’ he means the southerners, the Judaeans, as distinct from the Galileans in the north, whose attitude (with a few exceptions) was altogether different and more positive towards Jesus.

Luke, who was a doctor by profession, and the only Gentile writer in the Bible, was a companion of Paul and they often travelled together. He had a keen interest in researching the events surrounding the life of Jesus and the growth of the church. In the book of Acts, he offers a coordinated account of Christian origins and how God had revealed Himself in the person and work of Jesus Christ and through the Church.

Precipitated by bewilderment and amazement from the Jews after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Acts 2, the apostle Peter further explained to them that Jesus was delivered up according to the definite and fixed purpose and foreknowledge of God, and “you crucified and put out of the way by the hands of lawless and wicked men” (Acts 2:23).

In Part 2 we will take another look at what Luke informs the reader about what happened.

Source of Image

In 1970, Hal Lindsey published The Late Great Planet Earth. The book sold millions of copies and introduced a generation to the miraculous fulfillment of end times bible prophecies in our day and time.

Coming on the heels of World War II, the rebirth of Israel, the Six Day War, and widespread societal upheaval, many were convinced the rapture would take place before the end of the decade. But the 1970’s came and went, and Jesus did not return.

Then, in the 1980’s and 1990’s, numerous bible prophecy books with titles like “Countdown to Armageddon” and “Final Warning” sold all over the world. Again, many people were convinced Jesus would return before the end of the century. Yet Jesus didn’t come.

Then the world experienced Y2K, the September 11th terrorist attacks, and the phenomenal success of the Left Behind series. Once again, it seemed as though Jesus would return at any moment. But once again, he didn’t. And then something happened. Complacency set it.

End Times Burnout

Because Jesus hadn’t come, many Christians began to openly doubt whether He ever would. Why? I believe there are at least two reasons. First, we live in a culture that demands instant gratification.

We don’t like to wait as little as two minutes for a microwave to cook a meal it took our grandparents half a day to prepare. We’re impatient, and we’re used to getting what we want when we want.

The second reason is the errant predictions of date setters. False prophets such as Harold Camping and Edgar Whisenant told the world Jesus would return on specific dates – even though Jesus said “no one knows the day or hour” (Matthew 24:36).

The media gives widespread attention to these predictions. When these days come and go, the false prophets are exposed.

This leads to ridicule of bible prophecy, and in some cases, even Christian leaders publicly dismiss bible prophecy as a playground for crackpots and the ignorant. But these critics forget false prophets made these claims, not the Bible. The Bible’s track record remains perfect. In fact, the Bible predicted this complacency long ago.

The Bible Said This Would Happen

Almost two thousand years ago, Peter issued a warning. He said in the last days people will deny the signs we see today. He said they’ll mock the idea of Jesus returning. They’ll make fun of those who believe in the Second Coming and say the exact things we hear today – things like, “I thought Jesus was coming back? What happened to His promise?

Generation after generation has said He’s coming. Yet, since the beginning of the world, everything has remained the same!” (2 Peter 3:3‐4). You’ve probably heard variations of this complaint yourself. Maybe you’ve heard it in church. But is it true? No. It’s not. Nothing could further from the truth.

Are Things The Same As They’ve Always Been?

To say the world is the same today as in years past – that we don’t live in unique times – is just not true. More than any other generation, ours has reason to expect the Second Coming. Jesus and the prophets said to look for specific signs heralding the end times.

For over 1,800 years, you couldn’t find one of the signs they said to look for. Today, in one form or another, you can find all of them. Here are just a few examples:

The Jewish People Back in the Land – God promised to bring the Jewish people back into the land of Israel before He returned (Jeremiah 23:7-8). He said He would call them from “among the nations” (Ezekiel 39:28), from “the farthest corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12), and from “north, south, east, and west” (Psalm 107:3).

He promised to welcome them home from the lands where they were scattered (Ezekiel 20:34). When they did, He promised to return and establish His everlasting kingdom (Isaiah 11:11-12). For 1,878 years (A.D. 70 to A.D. 1948), the Jewish people lived in exile.

On May 14, 1948, they reestablished the nation of Israel, fulfilling God’s promise to bring them back into the land.

The Jewish People Back in Jerusalem – Jesus prophesied armies would surround Jerusalem, destroy the city, and enslave its citizens. In A.D. 70, the Roman legions fulfilled this prophecy.

In the days that followed, Jesus said Gentiles would control Jerusalem until “the times of the Gentiles are over.” Then, the Jewish people would once again take control of Jerusalem. When they did, Jesus promised to return (Luke 21:24-28).

In June 1967, the Jewish people retook control of Jerusalem.

The Gospel Preached Throughout the World – When the disciples asked about the end of the age and the signs of His coming, Jesus told them to look for a very specific sign. He said the Gospel will be preached throughout the entire world. Every nation will hear it. Then, the end will come (Matthew 24:14).

For centuries after the crucifixion, the Gospel mostly reached a small area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. But in the past two centuries, Christians carried the Gospel to every country on earth.

Today, missionaries live in every nation. The Bible is translated in hundreds of languages, and the message of Jesus is sent around the world by radio, TV, satellite, and the Internet. Our generation is the first one on the verge of spreading the Gospel to every last person on earth.

Increased Travel and Knowledge – Six hundred years before Jesus, an angel gave Daniel a special message. He said “travel and knowledge” will increase in the end times (Daniel 12:4). For centuries of human history, dramatic gains in travel and knowledge did NOT take place.

Yet the last two hundred years have seen explosions in the speed and frequency of travel as well as the amount and availability of knowledge. For example, up until around two hundred years ago, a man could travel no faster than a horse could carry him.

Today, we can travel faster than the speed of sound. Many consider the Library of Alexandria to be the greatest collection of written knowledge in the ancient world. While we don’t know for sure how much knowledge was housed there, some estimates say it was as many 500,000 papyrus scrolls. Two thousand years ago, this was the height of human knowledge.

Today, you probably have a bigger library in your pocket. Your smartphone can download almost any book that’s ever been written in a matter of seconds. Our generation is experiencing an exponential increase in travel and knowledge.

Israel Surrounded by Enemies – According to the Bible, enemies will surround Israel in the end times. Those enemies will say “Come, let us wipe away the nation of Israel. Let’s destroy the memory of its existence” (Psalm 83:4) and “Let us take for ourselves these pasturelands of God” (Psalm 83:12).

Ezekiel said Israel’s neighbors will say “God has given their land to us” (Ezekiel 11:14‐17), and “Israel and Judah are ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care if their God is there?” (Ezekiel 35:10).

Ever since the rebirth of Israel in 1948, the daily headlines have included these exact sentiments. Israel’s Muslim neighbors claim the land of Israel for themselves, and they have no regard for the God of Israel.

Israel’s Exceedingly Great Army – Ezekiel said, in the last days, Israel will field “an exceedingly great army” (Ezekiel 37:10). Zechariah said Israel will be like a fire among sheaves of grain, burning up the neighboring nations (Zechariah 12:6) and even the weakest Israeli soldier will be like David (Zechariah 12:8).

Since 1948, Israel has fought no less than four conventional wars against its neighbors. Despite being outnumbered more than 50 to 1, Israel has achieved overwhelming victory every time.

Rise of the Gog of Magog Alliance – The Bible says a military alliance that includes Russia, Iran, Turkey, and a number of Muslim nations will attack Israel “in the latter days” (Ezekiel 38:8) when God brings His people home from among the enemy nations (Ezekiel 39:27). Today, we see those exact nations coming together. The alliance they form today is an alliance that has never existed in world history.

Rise of a United Europe – The Bible says a revived Roman Empire will come to power in the end times (Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Revelation 17). According to Daniel, it will be a ten nation alliance of weak and strong nations.

Some parts will be as strong as iron, while other parts will be as weak as clay (Daniel 2:42). We see the initial stages of this alliance in the European Union – the legal and culture inheritor of the Roman Empire’s legacy. The EU today is a coalition of both weak and strong nations. A volatile alliance, it struggles to stay together.

The Rise of Global Government – The Bible says a single government will rule the world politically (Revelation 13:7), religiously (Revelation 13:8), and economically (Revelation 13:16‐17) in the last days. It will rule over “all people, tribes, and languages” on the face of the earth (Revelation 13:7).

Its authority will be so complete no one will be able to buy or sell anything without its permission (Revelation 13:16‐17). For centuries, a true global government was impossible. Today, world leaders openly discuss it, and the technology exists to implement and rule such a government.

Alone, each of these signs indicate the end times are near. Together, they prove ours is the end times generation. Jesus Himself said to look for these signs. He said when you see them, you can know His return is near (Matthew 24:33).

In fact, He said the generation that sees these signs will not pass away before He returns (Matthew 24:34). This convergence of signs is the #1 reason to believe our generation is on the verge of witnessing the Second Coming. See our special DVD on the convergence of signs in the promotion below:

But instead of getting excited and ramping up our efforts to spread the Gospel, the Christian church is mostly silent on the issue. A large part of the church is complacent, and the Bible warned about this as well.

It’s Time to Stay Awake

The night before the crucifixion, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane. He went to be alone and pray. But before He did, Jesus asked the apostles to stay up and pray with Him. He warned them not to fall asleep. Nevertheless, they did. They were finally awakened when soldiers arrived to arrest Jesus.

In a similar way, Jesus warned us not to be caught sleeping when He returns (Mark 13:36). To illustrate, He told a story of ten bridesmaids. Of the ten bridesmaids, five were foolish and five were wise. The five foolish bridesmaids didn’t take enough oil for their lamps when they went to wait for the bridegroom.

When they left to buy more oil, the bridegroom came and they missed out on the marriage feast. Jesus warned us not to be like the foolish bridesmaids. He said, “You, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return” (Matthew 25:1-13).

In another parable, Jesus once again commanded us to watch: “You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return. It could be evening, midnight, dawn, or daybreak. Don’t let the master find you sleeping when he arrives without warning” (Mark 13:35-37).

Personally, I’ve written about the nearness of the Second Coming for over 13 years. Obviously Jesus didn’t return in those 13 years, but none of the reasons to expect His return have gone away. In fact, the opposite is true. The reasons to expect Jesus to return at any moment have markedly increased.

Yet to great amazement, many Christians seem more complacent and ignorant of the signs than ever. Why? I don’t know. But I’ll continue to sound the alarm, and you should too. The Bible says if we recognize the signs and don’t tell others about them, we’re no different than a watchman who sees an invading army and doesn’t sound the alarm. If we fail in our role as watchmen, God says He will hold us accountable for all those who perish (Ezekiel 33:1-6).

All the signs Jesus and the prophets said to look for are present right now. For almost 2,000 years, no Christian could say that. Our generation is an eyewitness to signs previous Christians could only dream about.

If the signs are telling us the Tribulation and the Second Coming are near, then it means the rapture is even closer. Don’t fall asleep, and don’t let anyone around you fall asleep. It’s never been more important to stay awake. Jesus is coming!

Britt Gillette is author of the free ebook Coming to Jesus as well as the books Signs of the Second Coming and Racing Toward Armageddon. 

Copyright © 2019 Britt Gillette End Times Bible Prophecy–All rights reserved.

In His Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25, the next group of people that Jesus talks about, that will be impacted by His coming are the servants who were given talents. The parable relates to how the master divided the money among his servants according to each of their abilities.

For the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own personal ability; and immediately he went on a journey.

Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his Lord’s money (Matthew 25:14-19).

One man received five talents, another two, and a third received one. No one received more or less than he could handle and each was free to invest or not to invest. There was no compulsion from the giver of the talents. God does not give to any believer either more or less than he is able to use effectively.

The servant who got five talents went at once and invested the five talents and got five more, the one with two got two, and each of these were commended of having done a good job: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord (Mathew 25: 19-21).

The Lord also assessed the faithfulness of the servants mentioned in Matt. 25:14-30, not by their net gain but their percentage increase. The servant who gained five talents was not considered more faithful than the servant who had gained two talents although he gained more talents.

It is on their faithfulness, as expressed in the percentage increase achieved, that their judgment is based. Whether one man originally received five talents and another one two, this was not the basis on which their faithfulness is assessed. Rather, each of these servants was considered equally faithful because each had achieved the same increase.

God Did Not Call Us to Win

If you choose to become a person who is deeply committed to a cause, the world won’t understand you; you will be alone. Noah built the ark and voyaged alone except for his family. He preached 120 years and never had a convert, and yet he did not get discouraged.

Don Wildmon, the founder of the American Family Association (AFA) stood boldly against the increasing immorality in our society for years, until his resignation in 2010. The sad thing is that he often reported that some of his main critics came from within Christianity and many of them were pastors!

He said the typical letter he got from pastors read something like this: Don, you are wasting your time. Evil has greatly multiplied since you began speaking out about it. You need to face up to the fact that you are losing the battle. Don responded by saying:

God did not call me to win. He called me to stand. We will not win until Jesus returns.

The third servant according to Jesus dug a hole and buried his talent in the ground. He forgot that all he had belonged to the Lord, he was just a steward. In this parable of the talents the third servant hid the one talent he had received and later brought it back to his master in exactly the same way or condition in which he had received it. For doing this he did not receive any reward and worse still he was totally rejected and cast out from his master’s presence.

It was Charles Finney who wrote,

The Church is filled with hypocrites because people were never made to see that they must make an entire consecration of everything to Christ. All their time, all their talents, and all their influence must be given or they will never get to heaven. Many think they can be Christians, yet dream through life using all their time and property for themselves.

The lesson from this third servant is that laziness is wickedness. “You wicked, lazy servant….. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:26-30).

There are some things that the Lord hates and one of them is irresponsibly squandering our God-given abilities. Jesus not only called the third servant lazy and wicked, but He condemned the man to eternal damnation. He also took the servant’s one talent and gave it to the one who had the ten. So if at all you don’t use your talent, you will lose it, but if we risk and use it, we will get more.

Gifts and Talents

What are these gifts and talents that the Lord is talking about? In order to discover these gifts we have to briefly go back to the Bible and look at the book of Romans, 1 Corinthians and the book of Ephesians. In the book of Romans the Bible says:

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness (Romans 12:6-8).

In the Bible we are told to pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy, because he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men ….he who prophesies also edifies the church (1 Corinthians 14:1-5).

Throughout the Bible prophesying is to strengthen, exhort, edify, comfort and encourage. Prophets give courage, confidence, hope, reassurance, inspiration, support and they promote. Prophecy is forth telling, speaking it out. The prophets are seers; they get prophetic dreams and visions.

The Bible says we are to use the prophecy in proportion to our faith. Then there is a gift of service—servers are faithful and loyal, they have a natural desire to see things done. The gift of teaching is passing on wisdom, knowledge, and experience that you’ve gained to those who are unlearned.

The gift of encouragement is to motivate others to be whatever God has called them to be. The gift of giving or contributing to the needs of others includes people who are generous and trustworthy. The gift of leadership involves good organizational and management skills.

The gift of mercy involves showing kindness and compassion to people who are hurting. You will lay down your life for others to see they are restored and redeemed.

We should Abound in the Work of the Lord

When the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the rapture, he concluded with an important admonition:

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord, knowing and becoming continually aware that your labour is not futile it is never wasted or to no purpose” (1 Corinthians 15:58 AMP).

Jesus says, “the servants were to put his money to work until their master returned.” In other words His disciples are to continue in faithful and wise service even though He might be gone a long time (see Matthew 24:45).

And most importantly we will not be like that wicked lazy servant who buried his talent rather than use it for someone else’s benefit, especially his master whom he regarded as hard to expect making a profit out of him. This man who has one talent convinces himself that there is nothing much he can accomplish.

Unfortunately he was rejected and cast into outer darkness where he can meditate on his wasted opportunities with weeping and gnashing of teeth. In the parable of the minas recorded in Luke 19, Jesus also makes it clear that we are to do business stay until He returns.

In this parable ten servants are mentioned and they all received the same amount: one mina each, but only three are described in detail. Of the three servants whose cases are described, the first gained five minas, the second gained five minas, and the third just like in parable of talents, hid and kept laid up in the handkerchief. He eventually brought it back in the same condition in which he had received it.

These servants all possessed equal ability, since all of them received the same amount committed to them. However, they were not equally faithful. The first made ten additional minas. The second made five more minas. Both of these servants were rewarded with authority over ten and five cities respectively. Their rewards were in exact proportion to the increase each one had achieved.

The rewards for serving Christ faithfully in this present age will consist in positions of authority and responsibility in the Kingdom of God. For those who love Christ and are compelled to serve Him faithfully and with the right motive in this age, this privilege will be extended throughout eternity.

The Motivation is Love

Love for Jesus Christ should be our motive and everything is ultimately measured by motivation.  The whole question of serving Christ springs from knowing and loving Him intimately.

As one missionary said, “The need can get you there, but only the love of Christ can keep you there.”If we serve Christ with any motivation other than Christ’s love, we will get disillusioned. The love of Christ is a higher, nobler motivation for service than the potential reward of faithfulness.

In his famous chapters on love in I Corinthians, Paul says we are to be inspired by God’s love for and in us in utilizing the spiritual gifts.  Chapter 12 is about spiritual gifts by themselves; chapter 13 is about spiritual gifts without love; and chapter 14 is about the true, excellent way: spiritual gifts with love.

Thus, the more we love Christ, the more love we will show to others for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us (see Romans 5:5).

Therefore, we should not be drawn to do any kind of work or service in the hopes of wealth or fame, but rather out of love and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul again explains, it’s the love of Christ that compels us:

For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that if One died for all, then all died; And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

“If you major on knowing God,” A.W.Tozer once wrote, and cultivate a sense of His presence in your daily life, and do what Brother Lawrence advises, “Practicing the presence of God” daily and seek to know the Holy Scriptures, you will go a long way in serving your generation for God. No man (or woman) has any right to die until he/she has served God in his/her generation.

The Psalmist declares:

Yes, even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not, but keep me alive until I have declared Your mighty strength to this generation, and Your might and power to all that are to come (Psalm 71:18 AMP).

Indeed, what we do in life echoes in eternity.

One great writer has said that “Freedom’s deadliest enemy is irresponsibility.” Sometime back I was watching Joyce Meyer talking about the death of her younger brother on God TV as part of her message on the life of self-pity compared to a life of diligence and faith.

She said that she learned about her brother’s death after Los Angeles authorities called her in December about a week after Christmas, to inform her that they found him dead in an abandoned building in the city. He had been dead 30 days and his body was so badly decomposed that in order for the authorities to identify him, they had to have his dental records.

After a few days she received his cremated ashes and a few personal effects that included a pocket knife, empty wallet, key chain and broken watch. She imagined that he must have been filled with regret during the last days of his life for not making the right choices.

My personal effects and his are sadly different. What are your personal effects going to be when your time here is up?” she asked the congregants at the meeting. During her address, she compared her life with that of her brother’s to illustrate the point that it’s up to the person’s determination to follow God’s plan, not his circumstances, that allow him to reap God’s promises.

How one’s life turns out is not dependent on what people do to us or what they don’t do for us, there is no man on earth or devil in hell who can keep you from the very best God put in you.

Joyce Meyer preached on the story of a man in John 5 who laid by a pool for 38 years; then  Jesus asked this man; “Would you like to get well?” The man didn’t respond with a clear yes, but with self-pity. He said “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

Joyce then related her story to her own life and that of her brother’s. For many years, Meyer had suffered from sexual abuse from her father, which led to her to become controlling, manipulative and rebellious.

She was saved at the age of 9 but didn’t live out her faith. It was later in her life that she heard the voice and calling of God to preach. Today, she is a world known preacher, selling millions of books and making a difference in other people’s lives.

Meanwhile, her brother David joined the Marine Corp and started taking prescription drugs. He married young and had a baby. He left his wife and refused to pay child support.

Meyer said she tried several times to help her brother but kept running away. During one point in his life, he received employment under Joyce Meyer and worked there for a few years until he was asked to pay $ 60,000 in unpaid child support.

He quit his job and went through a string of girlfriends and drug habits. Another time she helped him receive drug rehabilitation at the Dream Centre in Los Angeles, but after a few months into the program, he said it wasn’t for him.

Joyce Meyer said that both she and her brother came from the same bloodline, same family, in some aspects, both went through their own struggles. However, while she eventually took responsibility for her behaviour, her brother always ran away from his.

Joyce Meyer continued her message by saying that “even though the crippled man in the gospel story couldn’t move much, but during the 38 years, he could at least wiggle to the edge of the pool, whereas David just wanted to lay by the pool another year, feel sorry for himself, blame somebody and remain crippled, I got tired of laying by the pool and I decided to wiggle.”Joyce said.

Joyce said she wasn’t bringing up the story of her brother to be disrespect, but she believed he would have wanted her to speak about him to teach all of us a lesson.” She said there was a time she and her husband considered paying off his overdue child support, but she wanted her brother to show his commitment to working and not quitting the Job.

This story is similar to many stories of families around the world. We don’t want to take responsibility for our actions and worse still we blame everyone for our sins and mistakes.

The Lord God Will Restore The Years

The Lord is God is the meaning of Joel’s name. No matter what has happened in the past, the Lord is able to restore. In Joel 2: 18-27, the Lord urges the people to be glad rather than afraid. He promises Israel that if they really repent from their hearts, God will restore the years that the locusts have eaten.

This is a principle that applies today. Many of us regret the wasted years in our lives, but God says he will restore those years to us. But He will only restore the years that the locusts have eaten if there is true repentance.

The root of repentance is that we ‘change our minds’. So it is appropriate to say that if we repent, God will change His mind.

So as we look at this irresponsibility, we are seeing an escalation of breakdown in the family, communities, cities, and all the nations of the world. The whole world is reaping the consequences of an irresponsible humanity.

Almost every one of us are where we are today because that is where we have chosen, either subconsciously or consciously, to be. We are all good at blaming our mistakes on someone else since the fall of our first parents Adam and Eve.

As a man, Adam became the first spiritual leader in human history. He was given the responsibility of overseeing the garden and providing direction for his family. He was to be a steward over his resources and relationships. Unfortunately, he failed. Adam also mismanaged his God-given responsibility by remaining passive when he should have refused to eat the fruit which led to both of them sinning against God.

When God confronted him with this sin, he blamed Eve and the spirit of irresponsibility and blame entered the human race. Adam should have risked, stood up, and took responsibility by commanding the serpent to leave him and his wife alone.

When Eve picked the fruit, ate it and swallowed it, nothing immediately happened. But the Bible says she took the fruit and gave it her husband, who had received the original instructions from God, and when he ate of it, suddenly everything changed.

Death came, and the purity and holiness of our first parents was gone: “At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves” (Genesis 3: 7).

After sinning, Adam and Eve felt guilt and shame because of their nakedness. Because God planted eternity in the hearts of all men (see Ecclesiastes 3: 10), Adam and Eve also had consciences God had placed in their hearts, and this is what goes off when any one of us has done wrong.

When God came, He didn’t ask for the woman because of her sin; rather, He asked the man. It was at this time that Adam started blaming Eve and thereby forfeiting his God-given responsibility which led to a spirit of irresponsibility and blame entering the human race.

The Bible says: “The man replied, ‘It was the woman You gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it’” (Genesis 3: 12).  Not only did Adam neglect to establish and uphold God’s instructions, but he, transferred the responsibility for his fruit-eating decision to the woman, who had offered the fruit.

“God the woman You gave me… In other words, Adam was suggesting that God was responsible for the choice and decision that he made. If Eve had used other means of force to give the fruit to Adam, then the woman would have been responsible, but she didn’t force him in any way; it was Adam’s choice.

Where was Adam when the devil was tempting Eve? The Bible says he was standing right there beside her. “The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too” (Genesis 3: 6).

Men and women have the ultimate responsibility for their decisions. But since the fall, every one of us doesn’t want to take responsibility for our own choices, actions, decisions, situations, or circumstances. Instead, we find it easy to hide and blame others for our sins.

Maturity does not necessarily come with age; it comes by the acceptance of responsibility in every area of our lives.

Accepting responsibility for our failures is the substance on which success rests. No one can be responsible for success unless he is willing to accept responsibility for failure as well. This is true in business and marriage, as well in all other aspects of life.

Today is a new season of responsibility in which God is saying to each of us, whether your are poor, rich, Black White, Indian –no matter who or where you are-“Stop blaming the system, your parents your pastor, your former girlfriend or boyfriend and stop blaming your past. Get your act together, and accept responsibility.

We can’t change the past, but by God’s grace we can determine the quality of our future. We might not like the family into which were born, but we sure can by God’s grace determine the kind of home in which we rear our children.

The following is a prophetic word for Great Britain given through Lance Lambert, who had a great love for the UK as his adopted country after he escaped here from the Nazis as a child. Please read and weigh this prayerfully.

Saturday 6 August 2011

Hear the voice of the Lord, O Isles that I have so greatly loved and favoured. I the Lord the Almighty, I took you when you were nothing, clothed with skins and woad, and through My saving power, I made you great. When you were nothing, through My Word and your faith in Me, I lifted you and made you Great Britain.

Through many awakenings and many revivals, stage by stage, I took you until you became a great power with the greatest Empire in the history of the nations.

From you My Gospel and My Word went throughout the world, and tens of thousands came into an experience of saving faith! That Empire with all its many failings and weaknesses was still one of the most just and righteous Empires of history.

Those Isles of yours were soaked with the blood of My faithful martyrs and its soil received the burnt ashes of those who would not renounce My Name, My Truth, and My Word. I, the Lord have not forgotten those who gave their all for Me!

But now the whole nation that I created and sustained has turned from Me. They paganise their land, state and institutions; there is no voice heard to warn the nation.

False religion, the work of world rulers of darkness, cover your Isles; A Laodicean church, neither hot nor cold, rumbles on like machinery. It is a church where I am outside of its routine; its organisation and its methodology. It is Christianity without Me: Religion without Me!

My being is seared with pain, for judgement is determined against your land. I can do no other. I will destroy the vestiges of her greatness; I will return her to her first estate.

I will wreck her economy, destabilise her in every way. I will change her climate, even her weather. I will prove to her that the way of the transgressor is hard and terrible.

I will allow demonic forces held in check erstwhile by My Word and Gospel, and the living faith of so many, to become rampant in her social life, to the destruction of her society.

Will you who know Me and love Me go blind and dumb and deaf into this judgement?

It is time for you who love Me, who are faithful to Me, to take action! Stand before Me and plead The Finished Work of My Son. At least cry out to Me, that there will be those who turn from darkness, from sin, and be saved. For whosoever shall call upon My Name in the midst of these judgements, I will save!

It will cost you everything to stand in the gap, but you will enter into My heart, and know deep fellowship with Me. Such travail conceived in your heart by My Spirit will cost your deeply, but it will end in My Throne and Glory.

Copyright © 2019 Lance Lambert Ministries-All rights reserved.

The Garden of Eden has disappeared and, with it, the original order of creation. The Fall from innocence distorted all relationships, particularly between men and women, destroying the harmony.

Chronologically, Eve was the first to sin. That is because Satan (who is masculine) approached her first. Why did he do so? Divide to conquer; one is easier to tackle than two. The New Testament teaches us that it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and deluded and fell into transgression (2 Timothy 2:14).

Eve thought she was doing right because she was more vulnerable to being seduced in mind, whereas Adam knew he was doing wrong. So Paul’s practice of prohibiting instruction by women; however uncomfortable we may feel with his line of thought, seems to saying: Eve, as a typical woman, was liable to be misled and therefore more likely to mislead.

That Adam followed her with neither argument nor protest put him in the feminine role, which may explain why, theologically, Adam was the first to sin!

The New Testament holds Adam responsible for introducing sin and death to the human race (Romans 5:12), rather than Eve. This doesn’t mean that Adam is regarded as basically responsible for the whole situation, for her as well for himself.

He could and should have rebuked her and interceded for her. But instead Adam took a feminine role, and abdicated his position. Because of space and time we cannot debate whether God’s punishment fitted their crime.

The Fall introduced struggle into their respective spheres of activity. This word struggle became the watchword of men like Darwin, Karl Marx, Nietsche, Hitler and more recently those who advocate socialist and communist ideals.

Adam will be affected in his daily work, Eve in her family relationships. Note that the Fall did not introduce this differentiation, it merely damaged it:

And to Adam He said, because you have listened and given heed to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow and toil shall you eat of the fruits of it all the days of your life.

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return (Genesis 3:17-19).

Adam is addressed first, since he carries prime responsibility in the partnership. Banished from the garden to the field, he will only survive with great effort against opposing factors. The Bible doesn’t mention anything of his marital relations, nor is he told to rule his wife.

Eve is also punished, but in relation to her family. In childbearing (birth process rather than upbringing) her pain (physical rather than mental, and not menstrual) is to be increased (not introduced).  In relation to her husband her ‘desire will be to him,’ which means to control, manipulate, posses someone.

Having led her husband into sin, she must now live with a continuing urge to subordinate him to her wish and will.   His reaction will be not only to resist this takeover, but to use his greater strength to ‘rule’ her. Male domination is the inevitable result of this struggle for supremacy of wills. In Genesis 3:16 we read:

To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering in pregnancy and the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress you will bring forth children. Yet your desire and craving will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.

In these verses above lies the real explanation for the centuries of exploitation and suppression of women, against which feminism has been validly protesting for years to the point that feminist beliefs had led some people to seek to abolish gender distinctions. But do feminists seek power or principle?

The advent of rule to describe marriage was not the introduction of subordination but the exaggeration of it (in much the same was as pain in child-bearing increased). Responsibility for direction in the male became a reaction into domination.

The male-dominated garden is now a male-dominated jungle. Each sex sees the other as an object rather than a subject, to serve their own purposes. This situation can only be remedied by divine grace, by redemption rather than legislation or a feminist revolution.

God’s strategy is to plant on earth a community of men and women who will live as Adam and Eve did, in His creation order (except for their nudity, which will never recur, even in heaven).

The Woman was Made From Man..After Man and For Man

Woman was made from man, not dust. This might be thought to indicate the incompleteness of the man (and the reason he seeks union with a wife rather than parents in (1 Corinthians 11:24); but Paul uses this to support the headship of the man: “For man did not come from woman, but woman from man” (1 Corinthians 11:8), possibly recalling that she came from his side.

Woman was made for man; the reserve is not true (1 Corinthians 11:9). Her primary function is in relation to him; his was already established without reference to her ( (1 Corinthians 11:15).

And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard and keep it….Now the Lord God said, It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him (Genesis 2: 15,18).

The word help in no way implies inferiority, since it is often used of God’s assistance. Neither does it imply identity, since God’s help is in terms of support, sympathy and strength-rather than substituting for man in his task.

The woman was made after man. His priority in time has other implications. The firstborn carries responsibility for and authority over later arrivals as Paul indicates in 1 Timothy 2:13.  “For Adam was first formed, then Eve; God names man (Genesis 5:2) and the stars. Man names the animals when God brought them to him.

He is not rebuked for taking this authority. Nor is it valid to object that woman is not a name since it is generic rather than specific. Adam called her Eve; a legacy of his action is to be found in a wife taking her husband’s surname after marriage.

God and man can relate face-to-face because they bear the same image, yet man is subordinate to God. The same dual aspect applies to men and women.

The underlying principle is that in Christ we are still male and female. We are still what God created us to be, so when we worship God we do so not as persons, but as men and women, willing to accept how God made us.

So transvestism is condemned in the Bible, for when men want to be like women and women like to be like men, there is a rebellion against how God made us. When we worship God as Creator, we come to him as his creatures, and so we need to let that difference be clearly seen.

Western culture is generally saying the exact opposite. It argues for the removal of many differences between men and women, and this belief is creeping into the Church. But men and women are different. We are complementary, of equal value and dignity and status in God’s sight, but with different roles, responsibilities and functions before God.

Controversial Teaching in Paul’s Epistles

Perhaps the most controversial teaching in Paul’s epistles concerns women. Paul apparently imposes strict limitations on the ministry of women. And that’s why Feminist theologians dislike Paul’s letters and according to David Pawson they make some of these claims:

Pseudepigraphical. Some say the letters are not by Paul but are a second-century forgery in his name. Thus they should not be part of the canon.

Rabbinical.Others argue that if these letters are from Paul, the teaching on women is a throwback to his rabbinical days before his conversion. As an old man he is returning to prejudices from his Jewish childhood.

Cultural.They argue that this teaching is purely cultural. If Jesus were alive today, he would have chosen six men and six women as apostles. The favourite phrase that sums up this position is to say that Paul was culturally conditioned. So Jesus’ choice of 12 men to be his apostles was tactful, because in his day it would have been offensive to have women apostles – an argument which fails to realize that Jesus never did anything merely because it was ‘diplomatic’! One of the compliments that the Pharisees paid him was, ‘You pay no attention to any man.’ If it had been right for him to do it, then he would have done it.

Heretical. Others claim that women were barred from teaching because women led many of the cults. The Church needed to distance itself from these practices, so it barred women from teaching. There is, however, no evidence to support this theory.

Educational.The next argument suggests that the lack of education for women in Paul’s day made it unwise for them to be in a teaching/ leadership role. But if this was true, Paul should not have let uneducated men lead the Church. In Acts, the Sanhedrin describe the 12 apostles as uneducated men, and so they were.

But when you read Paul’s letters carefully, he teaches that the gender differences between men and women still apply in the Church. We cannot deny that 1 Corinthians 14:33-38 is one of the most difficult passages to understand and 1 Timothy 1:11-15 is widely considered to be the passage most offensive to Christian women in the writings of Paul.

However, Paul’s prohibition relates to gender, not ignorance; and this is based on creation, not culture. The gift of teaching Christians requires spiritual rather than intellectual qualifications and is quite unrelated to academic ability or opportunity. We need to remember that Jewish Rabbis wouldn’t even let a woman learn at all, even though they had no Scriptural justification for doing so.

The church started from a handful of people around AD 52. Paul’s strategy for evangelizing an area was to begin his work in the Jewish synagogue in the city he was visiting. But there was no synagogue in Philippi, for there were less than the required 10 male Jews to form one, and so Paul met with a Jewish ladies’ prayer group instead.

Among the women was one who was to be instrumental in the work of the Philippian church – a businesswoman named Lydia. Originally from Asia, she sold purple cloth for a living. Acts tells us that she had slaves and a household and that the whole household was baptized.

In 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35, Paul is taking a Christian, not a Jewish, position, in teaching both sexes as Jesus did before him.  Women were not allowed to teach at all in the mixed congregation but in his letter to Titus, he encouraged them to do this on other occasions when men were not present.

Bid the older women similarly to be reverent and devout in their deportment as becomes those engaged in sacred service, not slanderers or slaves to drink. They are to give good counsel and be teachers of what is right and noble (Titus 2:3).

We also need to understand that preaching in those days was primarily announcing the gospel to unbelievers whereas teaching was addressed to believers something we call preaching in New Testament terms.

The general prohibition in 1 Timothy 1:12 to allow no woman to teach or to have authority over men is translated as to usurp authority. For a woman to direct a man was seen as an act of violence, because it violated the order of creation.  For that is the background on which Paul bases his prohibitions. They express quite literally the order in which Adam and Eve were created:

For Adam was first formed, then Eve; and it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and deluded and fell into transgression (1 Timothy 1:13-14).

Eve was deceived and became a transgressor. Her assuming role of leadership had disastrous consequences and must not be followed by other women.

Though he excludes women from any activity involving leadership of men, he encourages women in many forms of ministry. Though his qualifications for eldership are male:

• Husband of one wife…
• Able to manage his own household…
• Temperate and self-controlled….
• Not given to wine…
• And not a lover of money insatiable for wealth and ready to obtain it by questionable means…..

Yet the ministry of deacons is open to all.  This is mentioned in the very next chapter 1 Timothy 3:11 and is confirmed by Deaconess Phoebe, Romans 16:1.

As a matter of fact, the whole chapter in Romans 16, he commends mostly women who have acquitted themselves in the work of the Lord. They bear the title ‘fellow’ worker colleagues of Paul (as were Euodia and Syntyche in Philippians 4:2; which means they shared in his mission of evangelism and church planting.

Conclusion

Woman is made from man. She therefore derives her being from him. Indeed, as the Bible indicates, woman is named by man just as he named the animals. Woman is made after man. He therefore carries the responsibility of the first-born. The significance of that will become clear in Genesis 3, where Adam is blamed for the sin not Eve, since he was responsible for her.

Woman is made for man. Adam had a job before he had a wife and man is made primarily for his work, while woman is made primarily for relationships.

This does not mean that a man must not have relationships or that a woman must not go out to work, but rather that this is the primary purpose for which God made male and female.

The fact that man named woman also shows how the partnership is to work: not as a democracy, but with the responsibility of leadership falling to the male. The emphasis is upon cooperation, not competition.

God made us men and women, and we need each other. He made us for different roles and responsibilities. In Genesis 2 we learn that the functions of men and women are different.

The Bible talks of the responsibilities of the man to provide and protect, and of the woman to uphold, encourage, assist and accept.

When men behave like women and women behave like men, we are distorting God’s creative beauty. So men are given the responsibility of leading. Although this is not popular teaching today, it’s there in Scripture. We can’t get round it.

Recommended Reading:

J. David Pawson, Leadership is Male

Derek Prince, Husbands and Fathers, The Marriage Covenant