“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
Proverbs 30:5-6
Less than 3 years after one third of all Jews in the entire world were viciously murdered during World War II; and after almost 2,000 years of a global dispersion from their God-given land; the Jewish nation of Israel was about to declare their sovereignty in early 1948 after gaining international approval from the United Nations in late 1947. These events, many believe, started the clock moving towards the End Time prophecies of the Holy Bible.
But something else was happening at this time of incredible significance…
At the SAME time all this was happening, in 1947 two Bedouins (nomadic Arabs that have lived for millennium in the Middle East) discovered in caves near Qumran (in what is now eastern Israel near the Dead Sea) ancient Jewish manuscripts that had been hidden and forgotten for 2,000 years. Because of the dry location of these caves where these Jewish religious documents were found stuffed inside of ceramic jars, the scrolls were for the most part in fairly good shape. Scholars who have since examined the scrolls and other bits of material discovered along with them have placed the time of their writing between 300BC and 100AD. Why is this important? Over half of the entire Holy Bible was written during this time (the entire Old Testament was completed by 100BC) and these scrolls have entirely validated the inerrancy of today’s Bible. Also, could it be merely a coincidence these were found and validated the truthfulness of today’s Bible AT THE SAME TIME God was fulfilling His prophesied promise to return the Jews to Israel which would usher in the Last Days?
I can’t tell you how many times I have told people about what the Bible says and they have oftentimes responded with “The Bible was written by man, not God and it has been changed continuously throughout history”, or “The Bible is nothing else than man’s attempt to make their God and His Creation credible.” With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls we have learned the Bible of today is exactly the same as the Bible of 2,000 years ago! To be honest, some of the books written and discovered as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls DID NOT make it into today’s Bible. An example would be the Book of Enoch which was never included in the Bible but which does explain many of the things discussed in the Bible of 2,000 and is used by the Catholic church. For the most part, however, the discovery of these scrolls shocked the world with their similar comparison to the Bible translated and written 2,000 years before. Why is this important?
“Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by the presbytery. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”
1 Timothy 4:13-16
If we believe God created the heavens and the earth and everything within them (including mankind) in 6 days and then gave His Word to the prophets of old to write the Bible for us, can we honestly believe an all-knowing, all-powerful God could screw up His intended message to us by letting His messengers write the wrong things? Really?? Instead, we must take the Bible for what it is, the Holy Word of God! If we do this, then we must take as truthful what the Bible declares about those things that Jesus said would happen in the Last Days. Even more than that, we should take notice that Jesus said the generation that saw certain things occur would not pass until all these things happened which they WOULD WITNESS:
“Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but MY WORDS WILL NEVER PASS AWAY (capitals mine).“
Matthew 24:33-35
What exactly are WE (this generation) supposed to be looking for?
“For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of war: see that ye not be troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these things are the BEGINNING (capitals mine) of sorrows.”
Matthew 24:5-8
Take this at face value. How would people living in Israel 2,000 years ago (or in China 100 years ago) hear about wars around the world, or earthquakes in South America, etc.? Prior to the prophesied Last Days happening we had to first have the ability to communicate events around the world with incredible speed. Our generation has seen that happen! That alone has happened since the return of the Jews to their land and the founding of modern day Israel in 1948. But, is there more THIS generation should recognize as indicative of the generation that WILL NOT pass away until Jesus’s Return?
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men will be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God;”
2 Timothy 3:1-4
With all this occurring today, and yes it has always been here to some degree in a sinful world, but I would argue it has not been as “fierce” as it is today. I believe we are in the Last Days based on what society has accepted and what it has become. We HAVE to see that! But as Jesus said in Matthew 16:3: “…oh ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky (weather); but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”
My message in all this is the Holy Bible is the infallible Word of God! He gave it to us as a guideline to how we should live AND what to be on the lookout for as we approach the Last Days. Yes, He used His prophets to write His Word to us but would never have allowed them to write anything other than what He intended them to write. Even Daniel, was told to leave certain things out of his Book which God did not intend for those at that time to see “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end:” – Daniel 12:4.
As protection to ensure His Word to us is not changed, perhaps the greatest commandment given to all by God is in the Book of Revelation in the VERY last chapter of the entire Bible:
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book (the Holy Bible), if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
Revelation 22:18-19
If any man changes what God has said in the Bible, he will pay a terrible punishment. When we realize the Dead Sea Scrolls ARE NOT DEAD but are yet another modern day proof of the inerrancy of God’s Word then we must also accept the Holy Bible is NOT DEAD either. It is a living document sent to us directly from God with His Words as he wanted us to hear them. Even though we may not have the visible physical presence of God in our life, we DO have His Eternal Word to follow. God was merciful enough to warn us of what WE would see that will precede the Last Days. If we know of them AND we indeed can see them coming to fruition, how could we ever argue we are not in the Last Days? As Jesus said, we can tell by the light in the sky in the morning or at night whether it will be a good or bad day for weather, how could we also NOT then see the signs He gave us regarding what would be happening in these final days? Trust entirely in what the Bible says, and “…to look up and be watchful, for our redemption draweth near.” This is very comforting to me as an eternal and consistent God given guideline to how we should strive to live life and I hope I can do the same for you as we are ALL told to do and that is to “…therefore, comfort one another with these words.”
May God Bless you!
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