Revival/Reformation (3)
Reformation Reports
Table of Contents (Scroll down to view all)
1. Kingdom Escotology
2. The Sons of Issachar Company
3. End-times
4. The Rapture
5. The Great Tribulation
Kingdom Eschatology
By Lanny Swaim
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Jesus in John 10:27
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Romans 8:14
I was initially born again and baptized with the Holy Spirit in 1970, during The Charismatic Renewal and The Jesus People Movement among young people, which Time Magazine dubbed The Jesus Revolution.
Many in both these movements embraced an end-time doctrine made popular by bestselling books such as The Late Great Planet Earth, by Hal Lindsay, which taught a so called rapture (the sudden disappearance or catching away of believers), which would be followed by a seven year Great Tribulation, when a one world government would come to power led by a person known as the Anti-Christ.
Many, including me, believed this rapture could and probably would take place at any moment. I made life altering decisions based on this belief, and some of those decisions I regret to this day.
I married and had children, believing my kids wouldn’t grow to adulthood, because they would be raptured before they could reach adulthood.
Playing in a Christian rock band, I frequently sang a song written by Larry Norman (one of the first Christian rock artists), I Wish We’d All Been Ready, which was covered by numerous other recording artists, including Pat Boone.
For years I didn’t question all this, but as time went on I got a gnawing feeling in my spirit that something just wasn’t right about it.
So I asked the Lord one day, “Why do I have this feeling that something just isn’t right about the end-time doctrine I’ve been taught?”
Over the years I have grown to recognize the voice of the Lord, which manifests in different ways. When I have that feeling in my spirit that something isn’t right, I have learned to seek the Lord about it, knowing He will reveal the truth to me.
When I asked Him about end-times, He didn’t answer me immediately, but over time the answers came. I say answers (plural) because this wasn’t a simple answer but entailed many different aspects.
Perhaps He didn’t answer me immediately because there wasn’t a simple answer, and my understanding of the subject would require much revelation from scripture as well as a study of history.
It’s going to take more than one Reformation Report to cover this entire subject, so I’ll just briefly mention some of the things we’ll take a closer look at.
While there are some who think differently, the rapture doctrine wasn’t taught before 1830. We’ll look at how this came about and who is responsible for it.
Much scripture is to be taken figuratively and not literally. We need discernment to know the difference. And scripture confirms scripture so we can fall into error taking one scripture reference and running with it without comparing it to other scripture. Also, it is important to look at who was being addressed in any portion of scripture. While some scripture can be understood as addressing any generation, other portions of scripture are for a specific generation.
When studying prophetic scripture, something that has been ignored for the most part is the prophetic significance of The Feasts of God, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, the three main feasts with seven total. The feasts are historical but also prophetic, with more than one prophetic fulfillment. The first prophetic fulfillment is now historical. Jesus was born during Tabernacles, crucified on Passover, and the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. But there is a second prophetic fulfillment of the feasts, which sheds much light on all other prophetic scripture. There is an entire book on The Feasts of God on my website that can be read there free of charge. In upcoming Reformation Reports, we’ll look at some of the highlights of that book.
When I first began seeing the truth about so called end-times (a term that is not in the Bible), I was cautious about who I shared my thoughts with. To confront what I had discovered to be error could quickly get one labeled a heretic.
But when God reveals major truth, while initially it may be to just one person or a few people, as time goes on more and more see it. Such was the case with The Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther is given credit for starting it, but there were others seeing much that Luther was seeing, which quickly spread the reformation worldwide.
So it is with the popular end-time doctrines that have been widely accepted by Christianity for many years. I am not so cautious about mentioning and teaching what more and more are now seeing, in hopes that even more will see it as well.
How we see our prophetic future is important, because it determines how we navigate life and history right now, spiritually, socially, and politically.
We are the Lord’s Ekklesia (Greek translated as Church, meaning a governing/legislative body), and as such we must know and understand the destiny of mankind.
And this is why our eschatological view must be a Kingdom view and not a religious view, because surely we were born for such a time as this.
The Sons of Issachar Company
By Lanny Swaim
In our last Reformation Report we looked at Kingdom Eschatology, and I made the statement that it would take several more Reformation Reports on the subject to completely cover the subject.
In this Reformation Report I want to continue to look at the importance of a correct eschatology, because what we believe about the future greatly determines how we navigate the present.
This Reformation Report is longer than most, but the length of it is necessary to cover the subject.
There is a remnant of believers today who are coming into a much better understanding of present and future events, and like the sons of Issachar, are carrying an anointing to communicate their understanding of the times to The Body of Christ.
And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.
1 Chronicles 12:32
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
There have been times in my life as a believer when one statement from God literally changed everything for me. Other times I have read a book that was divinely ordained for me to read at that specific time, and it opened up revelatory knowledge to me that changed the way I read the Bible.
I was walking my dog one day, thinking about the gnawing feeling I had inside that something wasn’t right about the so called end-time doctrine I had accepted as true for a number of years. So I asked the Lord to give me understanding and teach me concerning future events, and how they would play out on the timeline of history.
Sometime later I read a book entitled, The Feast of Tabernacles by George H. Warnock, written in 1951, the year I was born. As I read this book, I became aware that Warnock was a forerunner, seeing decades ahead of his time. I wondered if anyone was able to read his book when it was first published and have any understanding of what he was saying.
An Open Door
After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
Revelation 4:1
It seems to me that reading Warnock’s book was much like the experience John had that day on Patmos, when he saw an open door in Heaven and heard a voice talking with him that sounded like a trumpet, if you can imagine that.
When this verse is read in light of a prophetic understanding of The Feast of Tabernacles, which is a three part feast, the trumpet talking with John begins to make sense. The first part of The Feast of Tabernacles is The Feast of Trumpets.
Trumpets were blown in ancient Israel when an important announcement was about to be made, perhaps calling an assembly or preparing to go to war. This trumpet voice that was talking with John was announcing to him that he was about to be shown future events.
After reading The Feast of Tabernacles, I read a book by Joseph Good, a Messianic Rabbi, entitled Rosh HaShanah and the Messianic Kingdom To Come. Rosh HaShanah is the Hebrew name for The Feast of Trumpets.
In the author’s foreword, he makes this statement:
It is hoped that this material will aid students of the scripture as they read the Gospels and the Epistles, which were written in the language of the festivals (feasts).
Then on page seventeen, Good writes this:
If one can obtain a good working knowledge of the festivals, then he will have in his possession God’s blueprint for mankind.
I am convinced that without a working knowledge and understanding of the prophetic significance of The Feasts of God, it is impossible to understand The New Testament. Much has been believed and taught concerning The New Testament that is in error, simply because those reading and studying it did so without an understanding of the importance of the feasts as rehearsals for future events.
Interestingly, Jews who did not accept Jesus as Messiah, continued to rehearse His coming every year as they kept The Feast of Passover right on up until the present time, when in reality, the first prophetic fulfillment of that event had already occurred with the coming of Jesus as the Son of Man.
Likewise, many today who are expecting so called end-time events to play out in a certain way, are missing the reality that what they perceive to be future is happening right now, in a different way than they anticipate.
Two Prophetic Fulfillments of the Feasts
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…
John 1:14
When Jesus came to Earth as The Son of Man, He was the first prophetic fulfillment of The Feasts of God, which the Hebrew people had kept yearly since Moses led them out of Egypt into the wilderness and on to Canaan.
Jesus was born during Tabernacles, crucified on Passover, and the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. But there is a second prophetic fulfillment of the feasts that must be understood in order to understand the times (history past, present and future). It is only in understanding the times that we know how to proceed as we walk out our destiny as believers.
The Church has, at least to some degree, experienced Passover (salvation) and Pentecost (power and church government)
The Feast of Passover did not allow leaven. Before the Israelites left Egypt, they were ordered to bake bread without leaven.
Leaven in scripture is representative of a mixture. Passover is about the salvation that Jesus’ crucifixion paved the way for. Jesus crucifixion is the only way to salvation, so there can be no leaven in Passover.
However, Pentecost did allow leaven. The Church was birthed on The Day of Pentecost as recorded in the second chapter of Acts. The continual prophetic fulfillment of Pentecost has been what I refer to as The Church Age, as we have seen the powerful Church of the first century digress into a dead religious organization by the fourth century.
This happened because of leaven. We find in the Church a mixture of God’s ways and man’s ways. A mixture of scriptural truth and religious tradition. A mixture of sin and righteousness, of right and wrong, of truth and lies, causing much division in the Church, splintering it into many denominations and various sects.
And yet, God has continued to work in this broken system, gradually restoring what has been been lost, line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little (see Isaiah 28:9-10), which has brought us to the present time.
Not only has He allowed leaven in the Church, He seems to have blessed it at times. We’ve watched great ministries accomplish much for the Kingdom, only to end in disarray and defeat. We’ve seen mega-ministries and mega-churches teach doctrine that eventually proved out to be wrong and in some cases, destructive.
So we have seen the second prophetic fulfillment of Passover and Pentecost, at least to some degree. But we have not yet seen the second prophetic fulfillment of Tabernacles, which is about God fully indwelling a people.
We know that when we were born again (born from above), Jesus took up residence in us. But His being fully developed in us is a process that takes time. The apostle Paul prayed for the Church at Galatia that Christ would be fully formed in them (see Galatians 4:19 AMP). This comes about through the process of sanctification, as we become like God in character.
Throughout Church history we see imperfect men being used by God to move the Church on toward perfection. Martin Luther, who is credited with starting the Protestant Reformation, received revelation that righted some of the wrongs of The Catholic Church. But later in life, Luther wrote that it was an honor to kill a Jew. It seems Luther’s view of grace was greatly flawed.
Luther is but one example, but I dare say that no one has yet reached the full indwelling of Christ (the Godhead).
The Second Prophetic Fulfillment of Tabernacles
And these all [those mentioned in this chapter], having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 11:39-40
Hebrews 11:39-40 is a prophetic scripture revealing to us that God will have a people who reach perfection, while in physical bodies on Earth, which has to happen for all who have gone before to be perfected.
Saints of God, I submit to you, that this will be the second fulfillment of The Feast of Tabernacles.
Currently we are in the prophetic fulfillment of The Feast of Trumpets, the first part of The Feast of Tabernacles. There is a remnant of The Body of Christ today, who has glimpsed and tasted of the coming fulfillment of The Feast of Tabernacles, which will take place sometime during this seventh millennium since creation, which is the ultimate Sabbath of all Sabbaths; the day of the Lord and that day spoken of throughout the Bible.
This remnant is a Trumpet People, actually the last trump of 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16. They are also an Issachar Company, understanding the times in which we live, like the sons of Issachar did as recorded in 1 Chronicles.
The sons of Issachar were only two hundred men, a small remnant of the entire nation of Israel, with special ability and anointing to discern the times and to communicate that knowledge to the entire nation.
So it is with The Sons of Issachar Company today, a remnant of The Body of Christ, proclaiming the coming second prophetic fulfillment of The Feast of Tabernacles, for any and all who are able to hear.
It seems that down through history prophetic voices have spoken and in some cases demonstrated the Word of the Lord, which often and probably usually went against the status quo. Often these voices were shunned and persecuted by those who refused to hear anything that challenged their traditional thinking.
But those of us who are getting a clearer understanding of the time in which we live and of the future, in concert with greater revelation of The Kingdom of God, have done so in such a way, orchestrated by God, that we cannot doubt what we have come to know.
And we cannot shrink back simply because of opposition. Like the prophets of old, we must speak what we know to be true. And not only speak it, but become the example of it.
Surely we were born for such a time as this.
End-times
By Lanny Swaim
Unto him [God] be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Ephesians 3:21 (emphasis added)
We’ve been studying Kingdom Eschatology. Today, we’ll look at the term, end-times.
Many interpret the term last days in scripture as end-times, but there are no end-times. That term cannot be found in the Bible. Last days is simply referring to the last days of the week. And, I believe that while God uses the Hebrew calendars in Biblical prophecy, He also has made provision for and uses the Gregorian calendar as well. And while the Gregorian calendar was not in existence when Peter made the following statement, I believe his statement plays out on the Gregorian calendar.
Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2 Peter 3:8
Using Peter’s mathematical statement, the world has lasted for six days so far and is now entering into the seventh day; the last day of the week. But the Bible also gives us a hint of the eighth day, which can be found in The Feast of Tabernacles.
As I frequently state in my writings, The Feasts of God contain a blueprint for the timeline that plays out in scripture. There is an entire book on my website on the prophetic significance of The Feasts of God that can be read there free of charge.
There are seven feasts total, with three main feasts, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, with Tabernacles being considered a seven day feast.
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
Leviticus 23:34
But The Feast of Tabernacles was to be sandwiched between two Sabbaths, and was to continue on into the second Sabbath, actually making it an eight day feast.
Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
Leviticus 23:39
Why do you suppose Tabernacles was considered to be a seven day feast when it actually continued on into the eighth day?
Perhaps there is a mystery here for us to understand.
Seven in scripture is the number of completion or perfection. The Bible focus on seven days (millennia).
Eight in scripture is the number for new beginnings.
This tells me that the message of the Bible plays out in seven days (millennia), which will be followed by a new beginning. This also tells me that time will continue on after the seven days the Bible focuses on instead of coming to an end.
There is a parallel between the seven days of creation and the seven millennia the Bible focuses on. When God rested on the seventh day of creation, it wasn’t the end of anything but instead was the beginning of history as we know it.
During this seventh day (millennium) of/since creation, God will bring His creation to completion/perfection, paving the way for a new beginning that will be beyond anything we can presently think or imagine.
So there are no end-times, only the end of a week and the beginning of another.
World without end. Amen.
The Rapture
By Lanny Swaim
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
John Nelson Darby (1800–1882) was an Anglo-Irish Plymouth Brethren leader who developed the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine in the 1830’s.
It is debatable whether he was the first to develop such a doctrine, but he is the most recognized and if the rapture was taught before that time, it wasn’t widely accepted.
Some think a fifteen year old Scottish girl who had a dream that became widely known around that time may have influenced Darby, but that possibility is in question as is the interpretation of her dream.
Darby’s rapture doctrine became popular and was spread not only by him but by others as well.
Perhaps the most profound spreading of his doctrine came with the publication of The Scofield Reference Bible, first published in 1909.
Cyrus Scofield (1843–1921) was born in Michigan but grew up in Tennessee. He fought for the Confederacy during The War Between the States, later studying law and becoming involved in politics. After experiencing drinking and marital problems he became a Christian in 1879, and began working with the YMCA in Saint Louis, Missouri. It was there that he was first introduced to dispensational theology under James Brookes, an advocate of Darby’s rapture doctrine.
Scofield later pastored in several different churches and was involved in various other ministries. However, he developed a reputation of questionable character and is thought to have used ministry for monetary gain.
In the footnotes of his Scofield Reference Bible he wrote of a pretribulation rapture as if it was Biblical fact, when in fact it was only his interpretation of scripture, based on what others had taught, primarily John Nelson Darby.
The 1909 Scofield Reference Bible was published by Oxford University Press, supposedly financed and supported by prominent American and British evangelical allies, including members of the Exclusive Brethren movement, Arno C. Gaebelein, and potentially wealthy supporters like the oil tycoon Lyman Stewart.
However, some believe it was financed by the Rothschilds and/or Rockefellers, families associated with globalism.
Globalists today believe it is their destiny to rule the world, and what better way than to convince Christians that Biblical prophecy predicts a time when a one world government must come into being, ruled by an anti-Christ, and that there is nothing they can do to stop it from happening. And to put icing on the cake, so to speak, convince Christians that they will be raptured out of the world prior to this hell on Earth that cannot be stopped, not having to go through this so called Great Tribulation, which in reality cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. But that’s a subject for our next Reformation Report.
Jesus prayed that we (Christians) would not be taken out of the world but instead kept from evil (see John 17:15-16). If we are going to be caught out of the world (raptured) to escape evil, then Jesus’ prayer was in vain.
There are numerous scripture references that confirm that Jesus’ prayer is being and will continue to be answered. We will look at some of those in future Reformation Reports.
The only rapture believers experience is being caught up spiritually to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 2:6), while physically living on Earth.
So if you are still looking for the great escape (rapture), you may want to do your own research while praying that God will show you the truth.
The way we see the future determines how we navigate the present, and how we navigate the present has the potential to determine our future. We need to get it right, now more than ever, because, surely we were born for such a time as this.
The Great Tribulation
By Lanny Swaim
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
Nowhere does the Bible mention The Great Tribulation. Matthew 24:21 speaks of great tribulation, but not The Great Tribulation. The tribulation of Matthew 24:21 took place in AD 70, when the Romans destroyed the temple and most of Jerusalem, killing many of the Jews and shipping others off to the slave markets of the world.
While numerous believers put the things Jesus spoke of in the 24th chapter of Matthew somewhere off in the future, Jesus clearly said in Matthew 24:34 that the things He spoke of in that chapter would be fulfilled before the generation He was speaking to passed.
To put those things off into our future is gross misinterpretation of scripture. So how did this false doctrine come into existence?
After the invention of the printing press and the beginning of The Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church became concerned about the possibility of their subjects discovering the truth and realizing the anti-Christ spirit of the papacy. Francisco Ribera (1537-1591), a Jesuit doctor of theology, decided to put a futurist spin on historical prophetic scripture in order to take the focus off the anti-Christ spirit of the Roman Catholic Church.
As a result of events that occurred in the sixteenth century, primarily the propagation of Ribera’s false doctrine concerning so called end-time events, we have been taught there will be a seven year Great Tribulation when The Anti-Christ will rule the world and that it will be a time of great judgment against the world. Nowhere in The New Testament is the word tribulation used in reference to judging the world. New Testament scriptures that use the word tribulation are Romans 5:3, 8:35, 37; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 7:4; Ephesians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 3:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:4, 6; Revelation 1:9, 2:9-10, 20-22, 7:14.
The 24th chapter of Matthew speaks of great tribulation that came on the Jews in AD 70, when the Jewish nation and temple were for the most part destroyed. In one scripture reference tribulation is pronounced on persecutors of the saints (see 2 Thessalonians 1:6). In one scripture reference Jesus speaks of tribulation concerning believers that commit spiritual fornication (See Revelation 2:20-23). All the rest of the above scripture references speak of the tribulation endured by God’s chosen elect.
Everywhere tribulation is mentioned in The Book of Revelation refers to the refining of believers. It is not used in relation to judgment on the world or on unrighteous people, except for the one reference to persecutors of the saints, and in many cases that too has been instigated by the religious community rather than by the world.
The definition of tribulation is grievous trouble; a severe trial or suffering; affliction; and it has to do with pressing, squeezing or threshing.
Pressing or squeezing is the process that makes wine out of grapes or olive oil out of olives, and threshing is the process that separates kernels of wheat from the chaff.
Tribulation is the process that reveals the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23) in believers, which is the character of God. It will ultimately reveal the sons (mature believers) of God to the world (see Romans 8:19).
The fabrication (by Ribera) of a future seven year Great Tribulation requires a false interpretation of scripture that is based on Daniel 9:24-27. Here Daniel speaks of 70 weeks. These are not weeks of days but instead weeks of years, or 490 years.
Ribera put forth the idea that there is a gap between Daniel’s 69th and 70th week, with the 69 weeks already having come to pass and the 70th week still in the future. He said the 70th week would be a seven year Great Tribulation, when someone known as The Anti-Christ would rule the world.
Nowhere does the Bible even hint there should be a gap between Daniel’s 69th and 70th weeks. The 70th week runs consecutively with the other weeks. In the beginning of the 70th week Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan and began His ministry. 3 ½ years later He was crucified and the veil in the temple was rent in half from top to bottom, stopping the Levitical functions in the temple. 3 ½ years after that Stephen was stoned and the persecution of Christians began.
That is Daniel’s 70th week.
So, there is no seven year Great Tribulation anywhere in the Bible. It’s a lie to take the heat off the anti-Christ spirit of the papacy. And if there is no seven year Great Tribulation, there will be no one world government ruled by a person known as The Anti-Christ.
The only one world government I’m looking for is Jesus Christ, with the government upon His shoulder (see Isaiah 9:6).