Category Archives: End Times

Jesus in the Psalms – The Nations

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Well, this study started with Luke 2:32 where Simeon announced that Jesus would be a light of revelation to us Gentiles and the glory of Israel. Paul quotes this idea in Acts 26:23 in his trial before Festus. No, it does not come from Psalms, but is found in Isaiah 42:6, which is heavy on prophecy. I wanted to see how the Holy Spirit directed the prophets who Psalms to include us Gentiles coming to Jesus. So, I started a search with the word Gentiles in the Book of Psalms. That did not go as planned but opened up a lot of things I did not expect.

Translations and Phrases

The translation you use will determine what word you use in your search, on-line or with leaf and ink. An example – the King James seems to have followed the Geneva 1599 Bible in calling us heathen instead of Gentiles or nations. In Psalms many verses, in Hebrew, use the word gō·w·yim, and that is not the only word that is translated nation. A beauty of our God is the poetry and imaginative language He uses when speaking through His prophets and song writers. Between our God’s creativity and translators doing their job I only scratched the surface of all the verses in Psalms that have or show nations and how they relate to God. Here are several links that may help.

gō·w·yim

The reason for me using gō·w·yim as a point of reference is it appears in Psalm 2, 22, and 33, and they (in my opinion) all refer to nations coming to Jesus. Psalm 102:15 also mentions them coming to God. Now, this was not the only topic/idea that the Psalms have about nations relating with God and the future Jesus’ life and mission. There is a plethora of verses on God ruling and battling, and then the nations and peoples praising God. Israel as a nation is referred to many times and other nations and their gods also have several mentions.

Here is one example – Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. (KJV)

Initially, these posts were to be Christmas related. The Magi are the Gentile representation involved in the story. You will not find the term Magi in Psalms, instead think about kings and rulers as in Psalm 138:4 and 72:10-11. If you stretched real far in the other books of the Old Testament magic and magician might be grabbed, but that is very iffy. Since rocks can cry out, trees can clap their hands, and waves can roar; Psalm 97:6-8 can include the heavens proclaiming His righteousness and glory. These verses also suggest the angels were worshipping Him. Let’s include the star first mentioned by Balaam (Abraham’s seed, but not Jewish) in Numbers 24:17.

Time to vent my very active imagination. What else in the world joined the angels in singing that day when the Savior of all creation was born? Does Psalm 97 give other hints? Mary told Matthew and Luke what she knew and could see in Bethlehem. What about everywhere else; did the earth quake, volcanoes erupt, forests rustle, herds and flocks sing, clouds drop lightning bolts, and the seas make noisy waves? Alas, we may not find that out until Heaven, but I have to think a lot of praise happened that night for the birth of the Creator. Silent Night is a beautiful song, but I want to believe that there was a lot of rejoicing.  

A Few Observations

  • Psalm 2 is a Father writing to His Son.
  • Psalm 22 I call the Jesus Psalm.
  • Psalm 33:10 -15 is about the people He chose for His inheritance.
  • 22 +33 have a mention of food and provisions.
  • Many times, nations and peoples are in the same verse or Psalm.

My takeaway. For the most part, the Psalms were written before most of the historical books in the Bible and before the Prophets. Besides the Law, the Prophets had the Psalms to read and reflect on. There is so much about the life and ministry of Jesus nestled in these songs, but how the nations will be treated are a major theme from beginning to end. Psalms proclaim just part of the message, but their voice deserves to be heard with the Prophets.

Judas, Adonijah, Absalom, Man of Lawlessness

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This post comes from my year-through the Bible readings near Easter that included 2 Samuel and 2 Thessalonians. If 2 Samuel was given a modern genre, I think it would be a soap-opera drama. Like all Scripture it was included for instruction. This time when I read through 2 Samuel and 1 Kings, I asked myself if Absalom and Adonijah were types and shadows of someone to come and why was this story included in the Bible.

With Holy Week approaching I went to the person who betrayed someone for monetary gain, Judas. I have a post called Judas in the Old Testament that contains mostly sections of Psalms that relate to how Judas acted. Types and shadows can be hard and may not be agreed on by everyone. Like Absalom and Adonijah, not everything they did may fit 100% with Judas. Yes, I did leave myself a bit of an open door. Joseph’s brothers taking money (Genesis 37:28) is more like Judas than Absalom and Adonijah.

Good studies generate answers, but should also create questions. So, is all of this written in stone in my thinking? No, there are questions and “what if’s” that have come along. That is where 2 Thessalonians comes in, which then took me to Revelations and Genesis. First a little history from 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles and some thoughts on human nature.

In 2 Samuel 3:2 and 1 Chronicles 3:1 we find lists of David’s children. The only timestamp I can find is that these narratives took place in the thirty-three years of David in Jerusalem. Adonijah’s story is at the end of that time. By my count there are twenty children and seven wives listed by name. How many concubines did he have, who knows? According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, concubines were not “wives” but shared the same privileges as one; that was a messy business. So, you have twenty-seven egos and David’s wishes combined with customs and traditions put on display for millions of people to view. A reason for all of this is to show that the progenitor of the Messiah was very human and needed a Savior.

Bathsheba/Bathshua, Solomon, and Nathan are important in the histories of Mary and Joseph. Bathsheba and Solomon are part of the Adonijah story in 1 Kings. Here are the first six children in order minus their mothers. (That’s six wives in seven years.) I would think the mom’s may have had their hands involved in these dramas. David’s extended family (Joab) provide their own drama in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings.   

  1. Amnon (2 Samuel 13 is the start of this soap opera with Absalom.)
  2. Kileab
  3. Absalom
  4. Adonijah (1 Kings 1)
  5. Shephatiah
  6. Ithream

David’s extended family

This was not in my original thinking for this post; this comes from questions and thoughts during my studies. It seems to be popular these days to bash Father Jesse and David’s brothers. Much of the drama in 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles come from his sister’s families; the brothers are all but forgotten.

Zeruiah was David’s aunt, she had three sons Abishai, Joab and Asahel. Joab is a main character in several stories, and he is not a cheery personality in them. Zeruiah, however, is a true standout from the norm. First, she has no husband listed. Abigail, her sister, is married to Jether (a non-Hebrew) and had Amasa (Joab killed his cousin). Jesse was a leader in Judah, so who did Zeruiah marry? David was very conscious of his cousins and their “power” in the family/tribe/community. Normally, listing children by their mother’s name (sons of Zeruiah) was not a good thing; of course, the husband may not have been living. See 1 Chronicles 2:10-17.

Joab is hard to read, he has an agenda, but. He is leader of the army, seems to be for David most of the time, but has no problem eliminating anyone who might stand in his way. With friends and family like him, who needs enemies. He is very easy to think of as a Judas-type, but not in this post.

Judas and his types and shadows have received a lot of my ink in past years. I have heard even more from pastors and teachers, he is never portrayed as a nice guy, but some have edged very close to making excuses for his actions. One person even thought that since God is love, Judas would be forgiven in the end. How special was Jesus? He dealt with Judas for years, even though He knew what he would do.

For some reason I never thought of Judas as just one character in a long line of deceivers and betrayers, he was always an endpoint. 2 Thessalonians and the man of lawlessness is what put Judas in his proper place. I have had a shift in thinking on Absalom and Adonijah. Adonijah and Judas betrayed the promised heir to the kingdom; Absalom, like Satan, went after everything by trying to displace the true king. For me, that adds to the parable in Matthew 21:33, the Parable of the Tenants. Now Judas joins the corrupt priest, who bought the high priest position from Herod, in monetizing the sacrifices to God.

As bad as I have always considered Absalom, now to see him as a type of Satan, he is horrible.

  • He was goodlooking and high favored.
  • He stole most of the people’s hearts from the king by lying.
  • He would have killed his father and anyone that got in the way.
  • He destroyed the lives the ten concubines. I will do some projecting here; the Law, the Ark of the Covenant, and the worship of Yahweh would have been slowly destroyed or allowed to disappeared.

Now I am wondering if Satan tempting Adam and Eve in the Garden was his first open act of rebellion that then went into angels or just one of many.

Where does Judas fit into other parables of Jesus? Is he the bird in the mustard tree? Can you see him as a weed in the wheat field? Judas, Adonijah, Absalom, and the Man of Lawlessness now have a few more layers to their stories.

Bible 911 Revelations

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Revelation 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. (KJV)

Our verse is at the end of the fifth angel sounding his trumpet and is the first WOE. The whole section is from 8:13 to 9:12. I will study the parts involved in this section and leave the apocalyptic predictions to works of fiction, Hollywood, favorite study Bibles, and the makers of all of those great study boards I have seen. The cryptic nature of the Book has taught me one great truth – Jesus is coming again when the Father says it is time to get His Bride.

So, I will start at Revelations 1:1 which states that John got this revelation of Jesus Christ (Man-God) from God to show what would happen. I know that some of Revelations has not happened yet, but we tend to forget it was written for churches in Asia in the first century. The Holy Spirit was giving wisdom and comfort to our brothers and sisters who were about to go through a very bad time.

Abyss – The shaft that is “bottomless” or the place of the dead. The first use of this word is in Luke 8:31 where Legion is begging to not be sent there. (They know it is coming.) The second place we find it is in Romans 10:7 with the thought of Jesus going and getting the Keys back. The other seven references are in Revelations starting at 9:1 and going to 20:3. See ἄβυσσος | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com and search Strong’s G12. The NASB uses Abyss nine times.

Abaddon – It is the Hebrew word for destruction or ruin and refers to the being that is in charge of that. Please remember some of the readers had Hebrew roots. The verse compares him to Apollyon for the Greeks. Abaddon is found mostly in Job, Psalms, and Proverbs.

Apollyon – The Holy Spirit gave John this interesting name to use in this verse. It may refer to the Greek god Apollo but that is unclear. His function as ruler over those locusts that sting like scorpions is clear.  

Revelation 9:11 MOUNCE – They have as king over them the angel – Bible Gateway

Strong’s Greek: 623. Ἀπολλύων (Apolluón) — “a destroyer,” Apollyon, the angel of the abyss (biblehub.com)

Apollyon Meaning – Bible Definition and References (biblestudytools.com)

Apollo – Wikipedia

Strong’s Greek: 622. ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi) — to destroy, destroy utterly (biblehub.com)

Five Months – This part of the study was fun. As I am leaning toward this being a teaching tool for the first-century Church as well as it being something in the future, I started in the Bible.

  • Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother, was in seclusion for five months before Mary showed up in the sixth month of her pregnancy. Okay, that one left me with nothing.
  • There are two 150-day periods associated with Noah’s flood. One month = 30 days in the Hebrew scheme of timekeeping. See Genesis 7 and 8; take a look at Genesis 911 and Noah’s covenant. At least this one deals with destruction, but I was left treading water with this reference also.
  • The siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. lasted five months. Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) – Wikipedia Rome did it in five months, it took Babylon about twenty-three months in Jeremiah 52. Yes, this took place during John’s lifetime, but Revelation 12 also seems to have taken place. How does this fit into a nice timeline? It does not, but I can imagine the people in Jerusalem praying really hard. Is there more to come? It sure seems that way. I would bet that by the time John got this revelation that reference would have made sense to his readers.
  • My ink and leaf concordance (Strong’s, 2001) identifies five months as the lifespan of the insect. The internet says from 3 to 5 months for the adult stage and around 7 months for the entire life cycle.

Woe! Woe! – Depending on your translation you might find woe or alas. It appears to be the same Greek word ouai, Strong: G 3759. You will find this word in Matthew, Luke, and Revelations; Mark may have one also. Revelations 8:13 has an eagle flying and announcing that three “woes” are coming. The first woe is 9:12, the second woe is 11:14, and the third one we will explore. The woe to the earth and sea in 12:12 somehow seems caught up in the first two. (Those four are translated as woe in Mounce and the KJV.) The three alas/woe in chapter 18:10, 16, and 19 are all about Babylon and are repeated or written as “Woe, Woe”. So, we have the locust (possibly the Romain army), the two witnesses, and the fall of Babylon as the three woes. Many say Babylon in this chapter is Rome, which at the time was a major shipping giant. Was John writing about the fall of the mighty Roman Empire just a few hundred years in the future? Is there a second layer in this prophecy, probably? A symbol of ancient Rome was the eagle (8:13). Wow, I would love to go over all the metaphors and opinions about those two witnesses, but I will say we have not seen them yet.   

Locusts – These insect and arachnid hybrids that come from the Abyss are something else. I have heard physical and metaphorical explanations. The Greek word is Strong’s G200 for locust and G4651 for scorpion. I am pretty sure that John the Baptist would not eat these creatures. A DNA splicing experiment gone wrong would be way too simple. For their adult lifespan, they don’t eat, their purpose is to make humans miserable who do not have the seal of God on their lives. Just like in Exodus 10, these things leave God’s children alone.

A look into our Old Testament shows that locusts can have several descriptors so there is more than just one reference in the Strong’s Concordance – H697, H2284, H1357, H5556, H6767.

Well, the fifth angel blowing his trumpet and the first woe introduces us to a global event that releases a terrifying problem for those who do not think about Father God and reveals their king. What strength, comfort, and understanding did it bring to the first Christians who read John’s words? I am not sure, but it worked because the Church grew and prospered. What lessons are we to learn from them and these prophetic words? I know enough to say it starts with Jesus and echoes Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 1:30 –
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. (NIV)

Ephesians 1:6

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Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (KJV)

Verses three through six are more than an introduction and a reminder to the Ephesians, they are the foundation of the Good News of Jesus’ Kingdom. Use 2 Corinthians 5:21 as a reference and comparison.

For study purposes, I suggest you compare verse, 1:6, in both websites. I listed five words that deserve your attention, so spend some with them and let them in.

  • Praise, epainon G1868.
  • Glory, doxes G1391. Paul will use this word many times in his writings.
  • Grace, charitos G5485. Let this word, thought, and gift to us from the Father settle into you as a foundation, so it can steady you as you soar into the heavenlies.
  • Freely given, echaritosen (charitoo) G5487. This is a Christmas connection word. The angel Gabriel said this to Mary in the Book of Luke. Take a Muse Moment here and reflect on how important you are to the Father. Charitoo is used only twice in the New Testament.
  • Beloved, egapemeno G25.

Use the links below to explore all of the words in the passage in Ephesians.

Ephesians 1 MOUNCE – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the – Bible Gateway

Ephesians 1 Interlinear Bible (biblehub.com)

Earthquakes in the Bible 

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This post, Earthquakes in the Bible, grew out of my study of Amos. I took a look at the faults and volcanoes in the area of Israel and will mention several of the “major” quakes in the Bible. If you want to do your own study and are using a Bible app search tool, adding these terms will increase your hits. I used the NIV-earthquake, quake, earth open, shook, shake, melt, trembled, split, and mountain moving. 

A little science first. (Names have been an interesting problem and are different depending on what map you look at.) The main crack in the crust is called the Levant Fault and seems to follow the Jordan River. There are many smaller faults on the east and west sides of the Levant. This fault line is a border between the Arabian Plate (east) and the plate under the Mediterranean Sea (west). This is a transform fault (it moves laterally). The Arabian Plate also has a divergent line (spreads apart) in the Red Sea, and a convergent zone (comes together or is pushing into or under another plate) that runs through the Arabian or Persian Gulf. The divergent zone is associated with the fault that runs through the eastern side of Africa. Earthquakes in this region are numerous and would not have been anything new to the people of the Bible. There are also several volcanoes in the area, though none seem to have erupted in the last four thousand years.  

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram 

Numbers 16: 30 is the story of a rebellion against God and Moses. God stops it by removing the conspirators. For the location, this was on the east side of the Jordan and Dead Sea. “The earth opening up and swallowing” is something that can happen during a quake. Korah was a Levite and Dathan, and Abiram is from Ruben. In the layout of the camp around the Tabernacle, these two families/groups would have been next to each other in the heart of the camp on the south side. This just adds an extra level to the story, for me; God opened that hole in the middle of a busy “city” and did not harm anyone else. This power and judgment were talked about for a long time, it made a “second level” telling in Psalm 106:17. 

Psalm 114 is a retelling of Israel entering the Promise Land. Verse 3 adds an interesting phrase in the mountains and hills skipped like rams and the Jordan turned back. I know that there was no mention of a quake in Joshua, but an earthquake could have produced those effects.

Elijah also records a specific earthquake in 1 Kings 19:12. The man of God, was about to meet his Lord in a one-on-one encounter. I have heard it preached many ways, but I do not think God was pleased with Elijah being in that cave. This meeting has some parallels with Moses on the mountain when God came to him. God’s entrance also has wind and fire. When you study other mentions of quakes; severe weather, storms, landslides, and violent waves are talked about several times. 

Amos 1:1 tells of a quake that occurred during the reign of Uzziah. Zechariah uses that earthquake to tell a future quake that will happen when the Messiah returns and touches the Mount of Olives. Isaiah has many references to earthquakes (I counted 6x), the references in Isaiah 5:25 and 29:6 could be speaking of the one mentioned by Amos. The one in Isaiah 29 has thunder, great noise, windstorms, and fire, it may also talk of the one I mentioned in Zachariah and/or the quake in Revelations 16. 

Matthew tells of a quake and its aftershock in chapters 27 and 28 that occurred during the Passover when Jesus was sacrificed and reborn. The first quake occurred when Jesus breathed His last breath (verses 50-54). The thick curtain in the Temple was torn revealing the empty Holy of Holies and tombs around Jerusalem were opened. The timing convinced the centurion and soldiers that Jesus was the Son of God. The aftershock was provided by an angel who rolled the sealing stone out of the way, so the women could not find the body.  

There is a movie/documentary called the Crucifixion Quake. I saw three strands in this movie. The main strand was a geologist trying to find evidence of the earthquake talked about by Matthew, he did. He used fieldwork, lab work, and some impressive studying of ancient text to confirm that the quake actually happened. Strand two was a priest and several scientists that supported the Bible and the Christian beliefs of this quake and other events of that day. Strand three had a New Age pundit and several “New Testament experts” that did not believe Matthew’s account or spun the story to neutralize Jesus and that day. Okay, I did a lot of fast-forwarding because strand three was giving me a headache. I may try watching it again and doing a better review, but.   

In my study I used this link for the word seismos. σεισμός | billmounce.com 

Luke records a specific earthquake that set Paul and Silas free from chains and helped to get the jailor and his family saved. Philippi is far removed from the Levant but is no stranger to fault lines, earthquakes, and volcanoes. 

Metaphors, Prophecy, and Quakes 

Many writers talk about earthquakes in the Bible. Jerusalem and the Land are the epicenter of these really and predicted quakes. There are several references to the hills and mountains melting like wax. Of course our modern minds go to lava. But active volcanoes near the Holy Land are few, so may I suggest that a landslide or rockslide could be described like that. 

  • Debroah-Judges 5: 4+5 
  • Micah 1:4 
  • Nahum 1:5  
  • Jesus – Matthew 24:7, Mark 13, and Luke 21 
  • David – Psalm 68:8 this echoes Deborah, Psalm 18:7, 2 Samuel 22:8 
  • Moses – Psalm 97: 5 (I think he wrote this psalm) 
  • Asaph and the sons of Korah – Psalm 77:18, 75: 3, 46: 3  
  • Isaiah14:16 (a reference to Satan); 29:6; 5:25; 24:18,19; 42:15; 45:8 
  • Zechariah 14:4,5 
  • Ezekiel 38:19 
  • John – Revelations 16:18,19; chapters 6, 8, and 11 also reference earthquakes 

Seismos is a Greek word that references more than earthquakes. What other events does it talk about? 

Many of the earthquakes mentioned by the prophets talk about a great earthquake that will happen on the “Day” of His return. This may not be all of the references to earthquakes in the Bible, but it should get you started in your studies.