THE DEATH OF EVANGELISM

I believe that people will be coming to Christ as their Savior right up to the day of the rapture of the church. However, I know for a fact that evangelism is slowing down around the world. Many missionaries and church leaders have been telling me this for some time now. This would make sense if indeed we are moving into the period Paul describes as the apostasy. But at the same time, I do not know God's plans and purposes, so I am giving an opinion based on a lot of areas of observation.

   Church history tells us that evangelism and revivals have come about in the past in almost every case based on some knowledge (even limited) of the Word of God in the society and culture. This is certainly true in American revivals. So if the Scriptures are removed from the culture and the social fabric, then more than likely fewer and fewer will be coming to Christ. Many argue, "But God can do anything!" And this I agree with whole heartedly but the issue is, how has He worked in the past? It is through the work of the Holy Spirit with the Bible. This does not mean that we stop sharing the gospel. We do not! We need to go down proclaiming the grace of God to the very end.

   It is interesting to study the great revivals of the past in America. The one that lasted for the shortest period was the one especially based on emotion and expression—yelling, screaming, hands in the air, etc. Sound familiar?
   Here is a short review of such revivals in American history:

1. THE GREAT AWAKENING. This took place roughly between 1720-1744. No one element brought it about. It was America's share in the general reaction against the relatively dead, formal orthodoxy of state churches, which in Germany appeared as the Pietistic movement. Wesley and Whitefield (the great English Calvinist) brought its spirit to Georgia. Jonathan Edwards was responsible for its beginning in New England. Before this, revival was taking place in New Jersey in the Dutch Reform congregations. The Dutch pastor, Frelinghuysen, insisted on true conversion and renewal of the heart, not simply a formal or emotional reaction without any true evidence of the Spirit's work.

2. THE EMOTIONAL REVIVAL or THE GREAT REVIVAL. This began around 1799 to 1801. It began among the Methodists and spread throughout the southern states. The revivals that took place were generally held in the rural areas. There was a lot of emotionalism with jerking, falling on the ground, and screaming. This is reminiscent of the shallow emotionalism that we see today in some circles. "Such emotional surgings, however, could not last. They quickly subsided." A lot of extremes took place. Camp meetings with prayer would often last all day. The GREAT REVIVAL brought on the Shaker Movement in which the extreme of emotionalism was exhibited. This movement, often called the SECOND AWAKENING, divided many churches. The climax came about in Kentucky near Cane Ridge where twenty-five thousand gathered in 1801.

3. THE PRAYER-MEETING REVIVAL of 1857-1858. Started in the North Dutch Church of New York, businessmen began to meeting daily at noon for prayer meetings. This was spurred on by the financial panic that fell upon the business community of the city and the country at that time. This was a lay movement with thousands coming to Christ and sharing their faith among their contemporaries. The result was that it promoted the growth of church attendance and brought about a lot of interdenominational fellowship. It was described as "a providential preparation for the Civil War," which was soon to make tremendous demands upon the spiritual resources of the nation.

4. THE CIVIL WAR REVIVALS of 1861-1865. There is no telling how many soldiers, in the north and in the south, came to Christ during that war. The soldiers had left home and were facing death on the battle field or in a hospital from the diseases that killed so many of them. As youngsters, they had learned the Bible on the knees of their parents back home. And now, it was time to reach up to the Lord and accept Him as their personal Savior! Pastors and evangelists went from camp to camp bringing the gospel to those who were so spiritually hungry.

5. THE CHILDRENS' SUNDAY SCHOOL MOVEMENT of 1868-1874. Especially in the eastern cities, thousands of Sunday schools were organized in the churches with the result that thousands of youngsters were taught the Scriptures on Sunday mornings. This also brought on church revivals with thousands filling such churches as the Brooklyn Tabernacle. While this may not be classified as a revival movement, Sunday schools became the center piece of conversion and revival for decades to come. While it is certainly better for children to learn the Word of God from their parents in the home setting, there is no doubt as to the great blessing Sunday schools have been in the past. Many Sunday schools today are poorly organized and teach ineffective scriptural lessons, and this is unfortunate for the body of Christ!

   As with most of America, early in our history, there were no public schools organized for children. The colony of Massachusetts set forth laws in 1642 and 1647 to establish village schools. This was repeated in Connecticut in 1650. The purpose was stated: "That the children were to be taught, especially to read and understand the principles of religion and the capital laws of this country." And also the people were reminded: "It being one chief project of the old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures."
   It was written in 1645 that the schoolmaster was "to commend his scholars and his labors among them unto God by prayer morning and evening, taking care that his scholars do reverently attend during the same." As well, each Monday he was to examine them as to what they had learned from the Sabbath sermon "in the principles of the Christian religion." The students were to learn to read "in order to be able to duly read the Scriptures."

   Everyone agreed on the basics of what could be taught from the Bible in the village school. The teachers could teach anything scriptural but they could not teach sectarianism, that is, particular doctrines that would be denominational in nature. But it was after the Civil War that the nation became more secular. Many school systems cut out any teaching of the Word of God in the classrooms. No matter what was being taught, most towns required that the new teacher be a Christian and that she or he attend church each week.

   However I can remember being in school in the 1950s when the Bible was read each morning over the PA system along with a closing prayer. Gideon Bibles were passed out to all in my grade school class. We always had assembles in school for Thanksgiving, Christian, and Easter. These were spiritual in nature. I am convinced that many of my classmates were touched spiritually and even came to Christ because of that. In my high school graduating class, over 75 percent of my classmates took Bible courses for credit. Can you imagine that happening today!

   To show how bad it has become we have school teacher friends who say that kids will come up to them and ask, "Now just what is this Christmas thing all about?" The biblical and spiritual ignorance is part of the growing apostasy destroying America and the west! In fact, I would say that it is all over. And, we are coming up to one of the most drastic change in American history. The churches will be both blessed and tried! – Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, could Isaiah 26:20-27:1 be a rapture passage?

ANSWER: No, not really. Paul calls the doctrine of the rapture a mystery, i.e. "something not before revealed" in the OT. He writes: "I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; … and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed" (1 Cor. 15:51-52).

The believing Jews will "hide for a little while, until indignation runs its course. For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity …" (Isa. 26:20-21). By this the people of Israel, who are believers living on the earth during the tribulation, escape God's wrath and that wrath is likened to the birth pangs (Isa. 26:17) of the tribulation described in Jeremiah 30:6.

The Jews in Isaiah 26 do not go up to heaven but they find a hiding place on earth (probably Petra) from God's wrath which is the tribulation. The context of Isaiah 26 is the Jews "in the land of Judah" (verse 1). This has to do with the Jews who during the tribulation become believers in the Lord. THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE CHURCH!

Keep your dispensational lines straight. Don't mix them all up as the covenant guys do!

On this Isaiah 26 passage Unger, my dearly beloved OT professor wrote in his commentary:

The Lord spoke through Isaiah to give a note of cheer. Deliverance from Great Tribulation and its fearful anguish will be near for the beleaguered remnant. "Come My people, enter … into your chambers," their divinely provided place of safety, for the Lord will soon take vengeance on the fully developed, ripe-for-judgment iniquity of the ungodly."

You won't find the rapture or the church in the OT! I'm still waiting! No one has found these doctrines in the OT yet!

Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, I have heard that the fig tree represents Israel. Is that so?

ANSWER:  No, I cannot think of a verse that says that. Some try to use Matthew 24:32-33 but that will not fly! In Luke 13:6-7 Christ uses the fig tree as a parable of the fruitlessness of the nation of Israel but that is but one illustration and not an entire teaching on the subject as definitive. There are only two references outside of the Gospels about the fig tree (James 3:12; Rev. 6:13) and neither speak of Israel as the fig tree.

   Many try to use Romans 11:13-24 to say that Israel is the olive tree but that won't fly either. The Jews in this passage are seen as the "natural branches" that are blessed by the olive tree. They are cut out of the olive tree and the Gentiles are temporarily engrafted in. So if they are cut out, and the olive tree of blessing continues, well guess what, the olive tree simply represents the blessings of God and does not represent Israel per se. Israel was cut out of the olive tree for their sin but they will be engrafted back in when the times of the Gentiles are completed. Read the passage carefully. Don't be a quot-er and simply repeat what you have heard. Study carefully. OBSERVE, OBSERVE, OBSERVE, by CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT!

   Thanks for asking.
   Dr. Mal Couch

Ask. Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, I've heard some say that the doctrine of the resurrection is not clear in Scripture. What say you?

ANSWER:  It is very clear, though the various resurrections are not spelled out in detail in the OT, such as the resurrection of church saints, those "in Christ." Two of the strongest passages in the OT: Isaiah 26:19 and Daniel 12:2. Probably because of these verses and the verses in Job, Martha could say: "I know that [brother Lazarus] will rise again in the resurrection on the last day" (John 11:24). That last day to the Jews would be at the beginning of the kingdom reign of the Messiah! Church believers, those "in Christ," will be resurrected seconds before the rapture of the living church saints (1 Thess. 4).

   One cannot find a stronger verse on the resurrection for the OT saints than Isaiah 29:19:

Your dead will live;
Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

What a powerful passage and a great hope to the Jewish people!

   Thanks for asking.
   Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, I appreciate what you've been writing in regard to the end times and the apostasy coming upon the world. How should we then live under these circumstances?

ANSWER: Read Titus 2:12-13. Paul tells us what we should be doing. He says in verse 12 how we are to live, and then in verse 13 he reminds us that we are to be anxiously waiting for the "going home," the rapture. We are to be doing both—living and waiting! Not simply one or the other. Rick Warren said that studying prophecy is a waste of time and not necessary today. How foolish! And how contrary to the Word of God!

We are to be "denying ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age" (v. 12). Then, we are to be looking "for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus" (v. 13). Quoting from my Titus Commentary, on verse 12, I wrote:

In the present age. "In the now eon." Or, "in the present course of things." (Ellicott) The apostle is speaking of his times, his generation, and his era. Each generation of Christians must live godly in the present history God has placed them. The evils of today may be a little different than the past, but the child of God must walk according to the Word of God and the injunctions set forth in it. Some generations are destined to suffer greatly. Others face waves of error and false doctrine. But these words of Paul remain firm, and are as applicable to us today as when the apostle wrote them. "The Lord has appointed the present life for the trial of our faith." (Calvin) "These are the duties we owe in the present life." (Barnes)

Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, you have convinced me! You show that there are two types of apostasy in the final days before the rapture of the church. Would you further explain? ANSWER: I am still studying this through but it seems that (1) there is the apostasy ("standing away from") the truth by the church, and (2) a growing departure of the world deeper and deeper into gross and subtle immorality. For example 2 Timothy 4:1-5 describes an apostasy of the church, and 3:1-9 describes the men of the world sinking deeper into evil. This seems to be substantiated in 3:13 where Paul writes: "But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." 2 Timothy 3:1-5 is describing what is happening now in our culture. The fastest growing philosophical and "religion" segment in our nation is atheism. And the number of young college students holding on to some form of faith is shrinking rapidly. At the present rate, in the future only about 4 percent of college graduates will claim to be believers in God by the time they leave school. Watching TV or TV commercials makes one think of 2 Timothy 3:1-5. I warned our congregation to pay careful attention to TV this fall. The secularists hate anything conservative or that represents Evangelicals. And sure enough, they are pushing the immoral envelop to the max! You can see it in the faces of many of the personalities on TV. They are "haters of the good" (v. 3). This implies that they actually know the good, but they just "hate it" with a passion. They know what they are doing but their hatred boils up and spills over in their emotions! They cannot tolerate what is good! On the expression "to hate the good," Paul created a new word made from three different words: no-love-good. Or, "no love for the good." In 3:3 the apostle created another word, unloving. The root is storge which means "love of kindred." Paul then adds a negative: "without love of one's relatives." Or, "those who do not relate to family." The word revilers in verse 2 refers to covenant breakers, or those who are unable to mutually agree on what is right. Conceited (v. 4) comes from the word tophoo and is a Perfect Passive Participle. The word means "to raise a cloud, put up a smoke screen." Or, "to be puffed up with pride, render insolent." With the Perfect Passive: "They are those who have, through a process of time, arrived at a state of haughtiness or pride." Or, they are "blinded with stupidity and foolishness." Lovers of pleasure (v. 4) is one word (with two words put together) and it can be translated "lovers of the present, the now." The present is the word hadone from which we get the word hedonism. They live only for the now. They pay no attention to the future. They are hedonistic! All of the above words, and the others in these verses, describe our present day. Again, while people have always to some degree been like this, the apostle is specifically describing a future time where this will become worse. This future day will be characterized just this way! "Realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be …" (v. 1). In my opinion we are moving into the apostasy! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, will all those who enter the millennium kingdom be saved?

ANSWER: Many believe that this will be true of the Jews because of Romans 11:26-27. It says: "And thus all Israel will be saved, just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion.' And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins."

The verses seem to be all encompassing and appear to be saying that all of the Jews who enter the kingdom will be converted. Though many of us have taught through the years that everyone will be saved who enters the kingdom, but this may not include the Gentiles. Psalm 96 is a kingdom passage. It reads: "Worship the Lord in holy attire, tremble before Him, all the earth. … He will judge the peoples with equity."

This seems to teach that the nations are not all converted at the start of the kingdom, and thus they have to be judged by the Messiah from His throne in Jerusalem. Zechariah 14:16-19 also implies a judgment during the kingdom of the Gentile nations who do not honor the Messiah. "Whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them" (14:17). The Lord will smite the nations with a plague (v. 18) and punish all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths (v. 19). Psalm 2 also makes it clear that the King, the Messiah, will judge the nations and rule over them with a scepter of iron, which implies clearly times of judgment following His return to earth to rule.

On Psalm 96:10 Unger writes:

"The Lord reigns." This is the announcement of His public enthronement, in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam. 7:8-16), by those who have heard it to those who have not. Evidently this indicates that, although all Israel as a nation will be saved to enter the Millennium (Rom. 11:16-17), all Gentiles will not, and that the Israelites will be missionaries to the nations (cf. Isa. 40:9-10; Zech. 8:20-23; 14:16-21). Then the world will be firmly established under the Messiah's righteous rule. With enemies rooted out and Satan and demonic powers bound, the Messiah will judge the peoples with equity.

Thanks for asking.

Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, does the Holy Spirit's work within us ever cease? Does He finish His work within us at our death (physical) or at the rapture?

ANSWER: I cannot think of a passage that would indicate either way. It may be that at the resurrection. the Holy Spirit would continue to abide within us, within our new resurrected body! But this may be a stretch in application of this idea. One would argue that even in our new resurrected body we still require and need the work of the Spirit to interpret for us what all we are seeing in the new life, but again, I would not wish to be dogmatic if I can not prove this point.

For a donation, we'll send you my 136 page booklet The Coming of the Holy Spirit, dealing with all the verses about the Spirit of God, from Genesis to Revelation! We'll also send Free the book that has hundreds of questions and subjects dealing with the doctrine of the church. Make your donation check out to Scofield Ministries.

Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch

WE ARE ALMOST THERE!

I need to be very careful in what I write in these next few paragraphs. It is very possible that things are about to collapse far more quickly than we could have imagined. I have spent two hours talking on the phone with several economists who say that there is no way to recover from what is now taking place worldwide!

A latest report from China points to the fact that there is a concerted effort to put all the blame on America who they claim, has plundered the world economically with the dollar. There is a call for an Asia-Europe two day meeting to find a new base for world economics that will cut America out of the picture. One Chinese economist says:

How can Europe and Asia grasp each other's hands and together confront the once-in-a-century global financial crises sparked by the U.S.; how can they construct a new equitable and safe international financial order [that will cut America out of the picture]?

He went on and said: "The grim reality has led people, amidst the panic, to realize that the United States has used the U.S. dollar's hegemony to plunder the world's wealth."

Christians, it is time to wake up and prepare for a judgment against us as a people! How foolish for Christians to say, "Oh God, bail us out of our immorality and sins!" Turn your TV on and see what is happening with the younger American generation and crowd! For so many, there is no holding them back from doing just what they want to do! A judgment from the Lord is about to fall upon us, and even upon the entire world.

Deuteronomy 29:18-20 which is about the sins of Israel, reminds me of the rebellion presently in this country against the Lord. God said that all the Jewish people had turned their heart away "today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of the other nations" (v. 18). Then those who hear the words of God's curse will boast, saying, "I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart [with the result] to turn the watered blessed land into a dry place" (v. 19). Then

The Lord shall never be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and His jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven. (v. 20)

America could be on the way out! Economic and military clashes could be on the horizon! A depression, with millions out of work, could fall upon us sooner than we can imagine!

A serious question: Do you have at least six months of food stored up? I urge you to do just that! I am not being radical just book-of-Proverbs sensible! – Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, is 2 Timothy 1:12, 18 and that day about the Bema judgment of the believer?

ANSWER:  Paul writes:

"For this reason I also suffer these things (persecutions), but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day" (v. 12).


"The Lord grant to [Omesiphorus] to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus" (v. 18).

Yes, the context has to do with rewards and recognition for service rendered for the Lord's sake. In verse 12 the "I am convinced" is in the Perfect Tense, showing that Paul had arrived at a conclusion over time and now he "had become certain" that God was able "to guard" or "defend" what Paul was doing in the ministry as what had been entrusted to him by the Lord! "Entrusted" has the idea: "to deposit." Paul was given a task by Him and he would be faithful to the end, and his faithfulness would be honored at the Bema Seat! 

   In my commentary series on 1 & 2 Timothy (AMG), Charles Ray writes: "'That day' is primarily utilized in reference to the day believers will 'appear before the judgment seat of Christ' (2 Cor. 5:10). Paul could never return the favor, but God could."

   Thanks for asking.
   Dr. Mal Couch

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

I've recently been asked, is justification equal to becoming saved? The answer is yes, though many other things also take place when one is saved. To be made just or righteous, is first mentioned in the OT though there are a lot of details that are not explained. In other words, the OT saints were declared justified. This is done by the work of Christ on the cross, applied back to the believers of dispensations past. This does not mean that they are placed into the church, into the spiritual body of Christ, or that they are now seen "in Jesus," or "in Christ." But this "declaration of righteousness" is how both the OT saints and the NT saints are saved!     Justification comes from the Hebrew word tzad'deek and a family of related words. The root idea is to make something right, straight. The word is used dozens of times in the OT. One of the key passages is Daniel 8:14 with the Niphal verb form. "Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed, made or declared righteous or vindicated from wrong." Also, God is said "to be our righteousness" (Jer. 31:16; Dan. 9:14).     One of the most significant verses is Isaiah 53:11, using the Hiphil verb form: "My righteous Servant (the Messiah) shall make righteous, justify the many." The Hiphil is a passive form. The many shall receive justification from God's Servant, the Messiah! The action of justification will come upon them! Concerning OT saints, Romans 3:25b is extremely important. It reads: Christ as a propitiation "was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed." Kroll rightly points out: "The righteousness of God is declared by atoning for present and future sins as well as past sins. Therefore God is the justifier of any man or woman—past, present, or future—who places his or her faith in the blood of Jesus Christ." A. T. Robertson concurs: "The sins before the coming of Christ (Acts 14:16; 17:30; Heb. 9:15)."     Abraham became the key OT example of one who became justified by his simple faith in what God had told him. The Lord told him he would have an heir from his own body (Gen. 15:4). He then told him to count the stars, "So shall your descendants be" (v. 5). "Then [Abraham] believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness" (v. 6). This verse is quoted several places by Paul, and by James also. It became the standard illustration of justification (being declared righteous) by faith and trust. The Scofield notes say:   If man is to be just in God's sight, God must reckon His own righteousness to man's account through man's trust in Him. The quotation of this passage in Rom. 4:3 indicates that the method of salvation in the OT and NT is the same. Galatians 3:3, 6 affirms the Christian life is one of faith.     The word reckoned means to account or put to the credit of. Paul writes this idea in many places. Another great verse is: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:23-24).     This justification is the greatest gift made available to the human race. One by faith is declared as righteous as Christ, in fact, those who trust Him, have this acquittal applied to them in a positional way. That is, if I die tonight, I go into the very presence of the Lord, completely justified and seen as righteous in His sight. This may be said to be the greatest expression of His love for sinful mankind. There is no other way of entering into His presence except by having His perfection, His holiness, and righteousness applied to me. Eternal life is the result of this justification.     Every child of God needs to daily give Him thanks for this wonderful gift of salvation! – Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, what is church membership and is it important?

ANSWER:  In the early church we know by the epistles that the Christians in one town congregated in one assembly. While we do not read of any formal "membership" apparently the elders, and even Paul as the visiting apostle, exercised authority over all the believers in that community. So I guess to a degree, that was church membership, though today, we go through certain formalities that they may not have.

   We know that as the church age progressed, the churches demanded baptism as a sign of belief and of membership in that community. In time, this became "baptismal regeneration" and baptism was necessary for salvation. Of course, this was not biblically correct but this is the way the churches controlled the people. Very early on, believers were becoming a part of the church as an organization, a physical body, that controlled all aspects of the believer's life.

   It was the church father Cyprian who tied salvation to the church—soteriology and ecclesiology. For him salvation is a process that begins within the bosom of the church with conversion at baptism and continues within the church until death.

   "Cyprian was one of the first church fathers to clearly and unequivocally affirm baptismal regeneration—the idea that salvation happens at and by water baptism duly administered by an ordained bishop or priest." (The Story of Christian Theology, Roger Olson) The high churches do this today but in a smaller sense, by requiring local "church baptism" and tying it to membership, other congregations are doing the same thing.

   When one joins the local assembly I believe it is appropriate to ask about one's confession of Christ. And I believe it is okay to inquire if the one joining the church holds to the biblical beliefs of the congregation. Anyone is welcome to come to my church but if they are into the foolishness of amillennialism they will not be comfortable—nor would it be right for them to teach a Sunday school class, though they would still be invited to come and learn the truth and sit under the ministry of the Word of God! And warm fellowship would be the order of the day for any who darken the door! Through the church the Word of God must go forth and be available at no charge!

   Thanks for asking.
   Dr. Mal Couch  

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, I agree with what you are saying about how covenant theology really destroys the scope of the Bible and God's plans for Israel. I do not see how they say God is through with the Jews. How do you answer this issue?

ANSWER:  There are no verses that are so clear as Jeremiah 31:35-37 that show that God will never cast away the Jewish people in His plans and purposes. The covenant guys say that the church takes up the blessings promised to Israel, and that God is through with the Jews! It is my opinion that with evil intent many of the covenant guys, past and present, are anti-Semitic. And that includes some of the older theologians who just want to get rid of the Jewish people! How could these verses be any clearer?

Thus says the Lord,
Who gives the sun for light by day,
And the fixed order of the moon and the stars
For light by night,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
"If this fixed order departs from Me," declares the Lord,
"Then the offspring of Israel also shall cease
from being a nation before Me forever."
Thus says the Lord,
"If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the
earth searched out below, then I will also cast off all the offspring
of Israel for all that they have done," declares the Lord.

   Jeremiah continues the thought of the permanency of the Jewish people. He does not allegorize the literalness of the verses above. They are about the Jewish linage and the natural descendants who God will someday bless again. Of course it is understood that His Spirit will touch that future generation and they will be redeemed and trust their Messiah in the last days! In 32:37-42 the prophet says that God will gather them again out of all the lands to which they have been driven in His anger.  He "will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them."

   The "one heart" and the "everlasting covenant" is the new covenant Jeremiah mentions in 31:31-34. This new covenant is signed, sealed, and delivered by Christ by His work on the cross (Luke 22:20). That return to the land, and the fulfillment of the new covenant for Israel, is about to take place, because God has brought the Jews back to the land of their forefathers, as Jeremiah mentioned in 30:1-7.

   We are getting close! The world is moving into the apostasy; the rapture is next, and then the birth pangs will fall upon Israel, as prophesied by Jeremiah in 30:6. The birth pangs have to do with the tribulation. So, when will the event of Matthew 24 take place? When these happenings here in Jeremiah 30 take place. Especially, "When I restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah … and bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall possess it." Read the entire chapter carefully! See also Matthew 24:8, 13, 21, and 1 Thessalonians 5:3.

   Thanks for asking.
   Dr. Mal Couch   

CHRIST IS THE NEW COVENANT

There are a lot of great truths in the OT about the Lord Jesus that are missed in our Bible study. For example, the great Messianic chapter, Isaiah 42 tells, us that Christ will be both a covenant for the nation of Israel, and a light to the nations (v. 6). This ties in with Jeremiah 31 where it is said that God "will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah (v. 31). It will be in contrast with the Mosaic covenant (the Law) (v. 32). This new covenant has a spiritual connotation for the Jewish people. It brings "forgiveness of their iniquities," and because of it, God says "I will remember no more their sin" (v. 34b). This new covenant is first for the house of Israel and house of Judah. One cannot allegorize this and say this refers to the church, which the amills foolishly do!

   The Lord Jesus ratifies the new covenant by His blood. "This cup is poured out for you [and] is the new covenant in My blood" (Luke 22:20). The new covenant then was launched at Pentecost. This was prophesied in Joel 2. But it is important to note that the Bible does not say that it is fulfilled in the church. The church indeed benefits by the new covenant, with forgiveness of sin and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but it will only be fulfilled with the Jews in the future Davidic and millennial kingdom.

   As Isaiah 42, chapter 49 is also a Messianic passage. In this chapter it is clear that the Messiah "was called by the Lord from the womb; [and the Messiah says] from the body of My mother He named Me" (v. 1). In verse 8 the Lord is speaking to His Messiah and says: "I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, to restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages." Thus it is by the new covenant also that the Holy Land will be restored to the Jewish people. This has to do with the actual land, the dirt, the acreage of the Holy Land! THE RESTORED LAND, THE INHERITANCE, THE DESOLATE HERITAGES. You cannot allegorize this idea!

   How in the world can the allegorical guys, the amillennialists, foul up this passage and spiritualize it? But that is exactly what they do! The amil guy Ellicott destroys the passage when he writes on verse 8: "The prophet Isaiah may have thought of a literal fulfillment such as was probably in part accomplished by Zerubbabel, but we now see the prediction in the light of its fulfillment [in the church], and look to the spiritual inheritance." Talking about being blinded! So the literalness of the land no longer has any meaning?  --Dr. Mal Couch

Nehemiah Audio Study by Andy Woods

Join Andy Woods at Clifton Bible Church as he teaches through Nehemiah.

• Nehemiah, Part One
  
• Nehemiah, Part Two
  

1 Corinthians Audio Bible Studies

Join Dr. Couch as he teaches Sunday Morning at the Clifton Bible Church.

• Chapter 4
  
  
• Chapter 5
  

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, it is interesting what Paul is saying about "sleep" in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14. I take it this is the sleep of the believer, correct?

ANSWER:  The context is about the resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. They will be resurrected, and then, immediately "those who are alive" will be changed and caught up with them (the resurrected) in the "clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord" (v. 17).

   Can you believe the amill and covenant guys don't know the difference between "up and down." The church resurrected, that is "those who are asleep" and "those who are alive" (could be us) are caught up (harpazo, snatched suddenly away) into the heavens to always be with the Lord, whereby when He comes to reign, "He comes down and His feet touch the Mount of Olives" (Zach. 14:4). They glibly say, "these two comings are the same."

   They fail to notice too that the coming Zachariah speaks of has to do with His reign in Israel, in Jerusalem, over the Jews and over the world, whereas the rapture coming has to do only with the church, "those in Jesus," "those in Christ" (1 Thess. 4:14, 16).

   Can you believe Ellicott says something absolutely dumb about 1 Thessalonians 4:17. He writes, "here [the catching away] is only used in contrast with the 'ground' and means 'on the way from Heaven whence He comes,' of course not to 'dwell' there, but to accompany Him to His Judgment-seat on the earth." Talking about being mixed up and messed up! What does Ellicott do with "we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together WITH THEM (the church resurrected) in the clouds to meet the Lord IN THE AIR …"?

   I write in my Thessalonian Greek commentary The Hope of Christ's Return (AMG) on verse 17:

    Going up into the sky, into the air (aera), is an unmistakable description. Jesus  is not coming down to establish His kingdom nor to judge men on earth. The  Church saints are going upward. The reason seems to be clearly stated in 5:9—to escape the coming wrath or Tribulation that falls upon the earth. To meet is actually a prepositional phrase—"into [eis] a meeting with the Lord.

 
   Guess what! Even amill A.T. Robertson gets the point. He writes "This (church) rapture of the saints (both risen and changed) is a glorious climax to Paul's argument of consolation. … This is the outcome, to be forever with the Lord."

   Ellicott along with so many deniers of the rapture doctrine really work hard to escape the obvious!

   Thanks for asking.
   Dr. Mal Couch

Five New Audio Studies: 1 Thessalonians

• 1:7-2:12
  
• 2:13-19
  
• 3:1-13
  
• 4:1-18
  
• 5
  

THE COMING DARK AGES

Can you guess what is the fastest growing "religious" movement in America? You probably can't! It is atheism! People becoming atheists are increasing in number at an alarming rate. This is because this nation cut the ties with Christianity at least five decades ago. We removed any vestige of the Bible and Christianity from the public schools and from the public arena. We have millions now in this country who have no idea of what the Word of God is all about. By the way, the fastest growing cultural/religious group is Muslims.

   Dispensationalists are correct. We understand Paul's words that in the end times there will come about a religious apostasy. I believe we are galloping into that prophesied period. Also, coming along with it is a kind of explosion of worldly, cultural and social apostasy, a turning to an immorality like never before. Paul prophesied this in 2 Timothy 3:1-9. He is writing about the end times, the growing evil that is overtaking the world. The world has always been depraved but the apostle sees the expression of evil growing worse and worse. He says this specifically in 3:13: "But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." Does not 3:1-5 indicate an exploding form of immorality in "the last days when the difficult times ("the hard to bear times") arrive"? Read the list of evil happenings Paul lists in these verses. We are moving into this depraved period. All of this evil is an expression of a depraved ideology; it does not have to be learned by man. It is what is coming out of the evil soul. But the Reformation and the proclamation of the Bible in the culture of the past several hundred years, is now gone. And now what is left is the interaction of the human race by communication that is accelerating the practice of sin, as never before.

   The covenant guys have nothing to say about what is happening culturally. They have no true understanding of what Paul is talking about. And, they deny an apostasy, the rapture, a tribulation, and a literally coming kingdom.

    Though Proverbs 28:4-5 is written concerning the Mosaic Law, the point is well applied to our day. "Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive with them. Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand all things."

   Godly and righteous people see what is coming upon the earth. They understand there is no turning back. The evil have no point of orientation or ability to know what is coming in our world! –Mal Couch

Bible Answers - October 12, 2008

Join Dr. Couch for the October 12th, 2008 edition of Bible Answers

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, though I am a dispensationalist I attend a yearly amillennial conference at which the teachers discuss all kinds of subjects. I was asked, "Are the amils you know anti-Semitic?" My answer is, Yes! And that is, by their silence. They have nothing to say about Israel or the return of the Jews to the land. By their comments, or lack there of, you would not know that there is a restored Jewish nation in the Middle East. How can they ignore such great passages as Jeremiah 33?

ANSWER: My only answer is what you have already hinted at. Deep in the soul of many amillennialists there are shades of anti-Semitism. They do not like the Jews, and, they want to make the church the cat's meow! They do not see another program of God, beyond the church age, as so clearly set forth in the Word of God. They allegorize or spiritualize the great prophetic passages of the Bible. They take Christ's first coming as literal but they take His second coming in an allegorical sense. Some, such as R. C. Sproul, are partial preterists. They believe Christ returned spiritually in 70 AD but they also hold to some kind of literal return for judgment later. They refuse to accept the plain teaching about an apostasy of the church, a rapture of the church, a seven year tribulation period, and the earthly millennial reign of Christ.

Jeremiah 33 makes it absolutely clear that God's promises of a literal fulfillment of the Davidic covenant is to take place. God will restore the fortunes of both Jewish nations, Israel and Judah. "I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and I will rebuild them as they were at the first" (v. 7). How could any promise be more clear, literal, and obvious, by using a normal hermeneutic? One has to have a preconception to deny what this verse is saying. Ellicott foolishly says this return has to do with the restoration of the Jews after the Babylonian captivity, but this cannot be.

God makes it certain that this return happens "In those days …," a future time when He places the Messiah, the Branch of David on the throne in Jerusalem. "In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth" (v. 15). And, "In those days Judah shall be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she shall be called: the Lord is our righteousness" (v. 16).

The Lord's covenant with day and night, "their appointed time," confirms the literalness of these promises. Since there will be a literal day and night, there will be a literal fulfillment of the covenant with David concerning the literal reign of his Son on the Davidic throne. "Then My covenant may also be broken (if one can get rid of day and night) with David My servant that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers" (v. 21).
Verse 24 is extremely important to this discussion. It reads: "Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, 'The two families (Israel and Judah) which the Lord chose, He has rejected them'? Thus they despise My people, no longer are they as a nation in their sight."

Unger points out that "this people" are the Jews who deny the literal fulfillment of God restoring both families (Israel and Judah) to the status of one new nation in the Kingdom! This is what the amil doubters do today! This is a strong statement but I believe that in the area of eschatology the amils are spiritually blinded so that they deny the Lord's actual return and His literal reign on earth! Unger says:

On verses 23-24. The Lord dramatically asked the prophet if he had not observed what this people (with a ring of disapproval) had said. They also (like many Christians today) denied a future for Israel. The two families (Israel and Judah), which the Lord hath chosen (v. 26; Isa. 7:17; 11:13; Ezek. 37:22), he hath … cast them off. The Lord branded that as despising Israel as his people (Neh. 4:2-4; Esther 3:6-8; Psalms 44:13-14; 83:4; Ezek. 36:2), actually a subtle form of anti-Semitism and a denial of the Kingdom to be established over Israel (Acts 1:6).

On verse 25. His covenant with Israel is as permanent as the fixed patterns of the heaven and earth that He has established (Psalm 74:16-17).

On verse 26. He has not rejected the descendants of Jacob and David, His servant. He will take from David's posterity rulers over the descendants of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3), in relation to Israel by establishing the nation in the Davidic-Messianic Kingdom (cf. Rev. 20:4-6).

Unfortunately, people gravitate to the amil position that virtually repudiates Israel and her return to the land. Anti-Semitism is a spirit of denial that is fed by a satanic philosophy. Peter notes that mockers say "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation" (2 Pet. 3:4). He adds, "It escapes their notion that by the Word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water … and the present heavens and earth by His Word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men" (vv. 5-7).

The people of earth detest the idea of Christ's return with the resulting final judgment that will destroy the world! But it is going to happen!

Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, what are the imprecatory prayers, and how does judgment relate to the word brimstone?

ANSWER:  This word (goph-reeth) comes from the word gopher wood (goh-pher) and is used but one time in the OT (Gen. 6:14), and there, in relation to the building the ark. Goph-reeth is used seven times in the OT, is translated as brimstone, and has to do with God's judgment. In prophecy in Ezekiel 38:22, brimstone refers to the Lord's wrath and judgment upon Gog in the final days (possibly before the tribulation actually begins). "I shall rain on him (Gog), and on his troops, and on many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire, and brimestone." This is a geophysical outpouring that destroys many of Israel's enemies who come up against the Holy Land, led by Gog, the peoples to the far north, the Russians and her allies.

   Brimstone may be a reference to pumas which is light like wood, but is actually porous rock, thus thought to be by the ancients a form of wood. Sulfur spewing forth from volcanoes also could be tied to what the ancients were witnessing. 

   The set, A Dictionary of the Bible, says we cannot be certain as to what kind of tree the gopher was. Celsius says it was a cypress. In any case, it was plenteous during the building of Noah's ark. Since the Lord ordered that this gopher wood was to be used in construction it can be assumed that it would not soften in water, possibly being a very hard and study wood (Gen. 6:14). Since brimstone comes from this word "gopher," being a hard wood, the connection was perfect to describe brimstone and/or thus, judgment.

    In the NT brimstone comes from the Greek word theion and is used seven times. It is related to the judgment that comes from the Greek gods. One reference is used in Luke 17:29 and the rest are in Revelation. 

   The imprecatory psalms are the psalms that call down God's judgment upon evil peoples. Imprecatory has in mind a giving forth of a curse. There are at least three such Psalms: 35, 69, 109. David cries out: "Lord … fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of buckler and shield, and rise up for my help" (35:1-2). "Pour out Thine indignation on them, and may Thy burning anger overtaken them" (69:24).

   When evil is so evil, and when un-justice so destroys the innocent, it is proper to call forth God's vengeance upon the wicked. Both mercy and justice are God's business but when the wrath of man is so destructive, and obvious, it is right to call upon the Lord's judgment to stop the pain and evil. In the book of Revelation the martyred call for God's vengeance on those who were so wrathful on earth.

   Thanks for asking.
   Dr. Mal Couch

FRIGHTENING SURVEY!

  The Institute for Jewish and Community Research recently did a study of 25 public school history and geography textbooks as reported in The International Jerusalem Post (Oct. 10, 2008). They found some 500 glaring errors concerning Christianity, Israel, and the Middle East. Researcher Dr. Gary Tobin said that the textbooks cited are used in all 50 states by Millions of school children.

 

  The inaccuracies and lies are too numerous to number in this article, except to say, that the information leans towards Islam and slams Christianity and Judaism. Millions of kids then will be brainwashed and have no correct knowledge about God's people and what is happening in the Middle East.

The material is being published by some of the largest publishing companies in the world. One grosses 8 billion dollars in sales, and another, about 2.5 billion.

There is no turning back! We are getting closer and closer and our children are being lied to as to world history. What is interesting is that these textbooks have to pass muster with the two biggest states, California and Texas. These books were approved without any objection!

 

  We are indeed into the apostasy!

  Dr. Mal Couch

Sun Darkened and Moon turned to Blood - Part 3 by Dr. John Pappas

The last article described God's sovereign act of creation, control and sustaining of the sun, moon and stars. When God has come to the conclusion of His plan of the earth, He will change the sun, moon and stars, using them as "signs" and judgment upon the inhabitants of the earth. Then, He will remove them since He will provide the illumination upon the earth. In this final article these objects will be examined as they are used in the metaphorical since. But first we must examine the claim by some that they are used as "dramatic hyperbole." Figures of speech, metaphors and hyperbole When an object is used as a metaphor, there is some distinguishing characteristic that that stands out about the object that the author intends to bring out in comparing another object to it. When one thinks of the sun, there are several characteristics that immediately stand out that can be used. The sun's enduring heat is one of these characteristics, so the metaphor of endurance and strength (Ps. 72:5, 17; 89:36). And the sun's light provides a metaphor of an unveiling (e.g. Num. 25:4; Judges 5:31; 2 Sam 12:11, 12; Ecc. 2:17; Matt. 5:45; 13:43). Metaphor The term metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making a comparison. One example of a metaphor is Isaiah 40:6 "All flesh is grass." This is immediately identified as a metaphor for two reasons: (1) flesh is not grass; and (2) context. 6 A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever. What characteristic of the flesh is like grass – it fades, that is, it grows old, dies and no longer exists in the living world. It fades away, if you will, from the minds of the living. The word of the Lord however, stands firm forever! Simile A simile is also a comparison of one object to another and uses the words "as," or "like." Peter uses a simile when he writes, "All men are like grass" (1 Pet. 1:24). This is the same as our Isaiah 40:6 text, except Peter is using Greek so he uses the adverb "as," or "like." Allegory Another method used is the allegory, which means "to speak in a figure." Paul says that Abraham's two sons are an allegory. One born of a bondwoman [Hagar], and hence, is of the flesh, and the other born of the freewoman, he calls of the promise (Gal. 4:21-31). The allegory is clearly explained. Biblical allegory will almost always be explained by the author just as Paul did. Notice this is different from the technique of allegorical interpretation which seeks to find deeper meaning behind the text. The one is clearly explained, while the other is lost in a gnostic sphere where multiple interpreters explain the same text differently and neither has ground to stand. Hyperbole Another technique that has been talked about is hyperbole. Hyperbole is a figure of speech where exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect. The word comes from the Greek compound meaning literally " to excessively throw." For example, in John 21:25 "But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:8, "You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you." Examples of the Sun and Moon Used as Metaphor There are times when the sun and moon are used metaphorically, but it is the purpose of some allegorists to make any unfulfilled prophecy an allegory but leave fulfilled prophecy literal – an inconsistent way of reading. Dr. Gentry lists several areas where he claims an allegorical use of the sun and moon is used. He provides the following examples as "apocalyptic language" and as a "dramatic way of expressing national calamity or victory in battle:" Judges 4-5; Isaiah 13:10; 13; Ezek. 32:2, 7-8; Jer. 4:11, 23-24, 29; Joel 2:1, 10. His claim of "dramatic hyperbole," and "apocalyptic language," provides him license to change what the author intends into some perversion. It may sound good, tickle the ears, but the intent of the author is replaced with the intentions of the expositor. I will first examine Dr. Gentry's claims, then cover the verses that use sun and moon metaphorically. Judges 4-5 13 Sisera called together all his chariots, nine hundred iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14 Deborah said to Barak, "Arise! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hands; behold, the LORD has gone out before you." So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15 The LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not even one was left. 17 Now Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. (Judges 4:13-17) 3 Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers! I—to the LORD, I will sing, I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel. 4 LORD, when You went out from Seir, When You marched from the field of Edom, The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped, Even the clouds dripped water. 5 The mountains quaked at the presence of the LORD, This Sinai, at the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel. (Judges 5:3-5) Judges 4-5 does not use the sun and moon at all. This section of scripture is cites to illustrate the use of figurative language. The point of 5:4-5 is that when the army of ten thousand men (4:6; 10), and nine hundred chariots of iron (4:13) came together in battle the earth quaked (ra'ash, "to quake," "shake") - as one would expect of a great battle as the great thunderous sound waves pound the earth. The heavens poured, and the clouds poured water (as in a great storm that quickly overtakes in violence and blood), and the mountains gushed (nazal, "to flow") as the Canaanite army left their chariots and fled down the mountain on foot. The Hebrew army killed them as they fled down the mountain, as the Hebrew play on words using "flow" with "to fall," is used. The Canaanite army fell (naphal, "to fall") by the edge of the sword (5:4-5). The picture drawn is of the massive Hebrew army, so numerous that there marching made a great sound, which could be heard throughout the land- shaking the earth. The sound was so great that the Canaanite army with their battle chariots, stopped their horse drawn chariots, abandoned them, and fled down the hill on foot. Just as a gushing rain that flows down the mountain, so the fleeing Canaanites and perusing Hebrew army came down the mountain and upon the Canaanites and they fell by the sword. It sounds like a violent storm. Is this a violent storm or judgment upon the Cannanite? This is a real battle which results with the conclusion of the storm in death for the Cannanites and victory for the Hebrews. A normal reading relates the great battle using figurative language, the picture that is drawn makes it clear what the figure of speech relates to. The context and the complete story make the language clear. One does not have to go outside the text to other sections to understand the story. And what a story it is! God is glorified and sovereign in the affairs of His people. However, the story is literal and the metaphors point to a real event. In fact, the figure is a repeat of the figure used in Psalm 68:7-9 and the great victory at the presence of God. Isaiah 13:10 Isaiah thirteen provides an oracle (massa', "load," "bearing," "lifting," burden," utterance," "oracle") of Babylon (Babel or Babylon). The oracle marks the starts a major section of the book that deals with the Lord's judgments against: Babylon and Assyria (13:1-14:27) Philistia (14:28-32) Moab (15:1-16:14) Damascus and Israel (17:1-14) Ethiopia and beyond (18:1-7) Egypt (19:1-20:6) Babylon (21:1-10); Edom (21:11-12); Arabia (21:13-17) Jerusalem (22:1-25) Tyre (23:1-18) This section provides a set of judgments against the nations listed above. Throughout this long section there are some nations with both a near and far prophecy. Babylon is one that has both a far judgment described first then the specific near judgment brought by the Meads. There are several things that demand a literal meaning for the following verses: Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will not shed its light (Isaiah 13:8-10) . Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the LORD of hosts in the day of His burning anger (Isaiah 13:13). What is the extent? (a) Destroy the whole land (13:5); (b) Punish the world (13:11); (c) the kingdoms of nations are gathered together (13:4). Why? (a) He will punish the world for its evil (13:11); (b) Halt the arrogance of the proud (13:11). How? (a) His angles will be gathered for battle (13:4); (b) All hands will be limp (13:7); (c) Every man's heart will melt (13:7); (d) He will destroy sinners from the land (13:9); (e) The sun, moon and stars will not give out light (13:10); (f) He will shake the heavens and the earth will shake from her place, or as some translate, move out of her place (13:13). This is truly a physical event because: (a) there are no figurative identifiers "like," "as" used; (b) the context provides no secondary reference which might point to something other than its first meaning; and (c) the context provides the sense that the sun "will not give out its light" in a real historical sense (i.e., there is no immediate spiritual contextual link such as Israel left in spiritual darkness, etc); and (d) the earth is described as moving out of it normal place. This last event should not be taken lightly, this will be a drastic change, as drastic as change possibly as that which changed in the days before the flood, verses after the flood. Before the flood an moderate climate, after the flood a realization of the full seasons. But an additional reason for placing this section (13:2-16) in the future Great Tribulation with literal physical events is that God Himself "will cause to shake" (ragaz, "tremble," "disturb," "move") the heavens and the earth will shake (ra'ash, "quake," "shake"). This is similar to Matthew 24: 29. In addition, this section describes "the kingdoms of nations gathered together" (13:4). A new section starts with verse 17 dealing with the "Medes" and involves "the proud" (v. 11). The proud, not the world, because the "world" is feminine, whereas the "proud" is masculine and the pronouns "them" match in gender with the proud not the world. The proud, because that is the characteristic common with the Babylonians and the end time nations (cf. 13:19). Ezekiel 32:2 Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him, 'You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations, Yet you are like the monster in the seas; And you burst forth in your rivers and muddied the waters with your feet and fouled their rivers.' (Ezekiel 32:2) This is classic simile using the words "you compared yourself," and "you are like." There is no mistaking that a likeness will result and comparative language will follow. So the Lord finishes the figurative picture in verses three through eight: Thus says the Lord GOD, "Now I will spread My net over you With a company of many peoples, And they shall lift you up in My net. I will leave you on the land; I will cast you on the open field. And I will cause all the birds of the heavens to dwell on you, And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with you. I will lay your flesh on the mountains And fill the valleys with your refuse. I will also make the land drink the discharge of your blood As far as the mountains, And the ravines will be full of you. And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud And the moon will not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you And will set darkness on your land," Declares the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 32:3-8) This is clearly a picture of a great battle. Not, as the allegorist claims, but rather, the thing pictured has a literal aspect: (a) I will spread My net over you; the fishing net spread over Egypt is a large company of men who will draw them up (v. 3) – a literal army (Babylonian Army); (b) I will leave you on the land; they will be left on the land (the picture is that of fish laid out on dry land – helpless and dead) as food for the birds and beast (v. 4); (c) I will lay your flesh on the mountains, the dead carcasses of the Egyptians will fill the land – a literal multitude of dead bodies will cover the land (v. 5); (d) I will water the land with the flow of your blood – a literal flow of Egyptian blood will be on the land (v. 6); (e) I will put out your light. A literal result and finale that God will cover the heavens and "sun with a cloud" – a literal cloud possibly from the great battle, a cloud of fire and smoke. A cloud so thick it literally "brings darkness upon the land" (v .8). "I will put out your light" (literally, I will intensely quench or put you out) is literal. At times the phrase "I will put out your light" is used as a metaphor for death, but here it is clearly not. The sun will be covered resulting in the moon not giving her light and the stars of heaven will be dark - a literal event. There is no figurative use of sun, moon and stars here! Jeremiah 4:11, 23-24, 29 In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness in the direction of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse, a wind too strong for this—will come at My command; now I will also pronounce judgments against them Behold, he goes up like clouds, And his chariots like the whirlwind; His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined! (Jeremiah 4:11-13). It is clear from these two verses that the "dry wind" of verse 11 is not a literal wind, but a storm of judgment. Context and simile defines the what the cloud is. Verse 13 describes the invading army as "clouds" and the chariots as a "whirlwind." The Lord describes their condition as a result of the storm as "plundered" (v. 13). This is classic metaphor usage as the word "like" is used forming the simile. There is no mistaking what the storm represents. The total destruction described in verses 23 through 26 is a picture drawn that Jeremiah's beloved city Jerusalem was a wasteland (tohu, "formless," "vain," "wasteland," from an unused root meaning to lie waste). It was empty (bohu, "emptiness," "void," "waste," from an unused root meaning to be empty) and they had no light (both the heavens and the earth). The meaning implied is that the burning smoke and dust has blackened out the sun. Jeremiah looked to the mountains and they trembled (ra'ash, "to quake," "shake," this is a participle so it might better be translated "I saw the mountains, and behold, the ones quaking and all the hills were themselves caused to shake"). A picture either of a quaking caused by an earthquake or more likely a description of the large Babylonian army moving from the destroyed city through the mountains to the next city. The massive army makes a great thundering sound whose sound waves shake the earth. With Jerusalem destroyed, Jeremiah saw no people left in the city (v. 25) and there were no birds in the sky as the loud battle moved them out of the area to safety. He looked and there were no more orchards in the field, they had been trampled down and burned (v. 26). All the cities of Judah had been broken down. The sun, moon and stars were not mentioned here, and the darkening of the sky is literal. There is no indication that the darkening is an exaggeration (hyperbole), it is a simile. Joel 2:1, 10 In Joel, the context is a unique "last days" called the "day of the Lord." This is a unique day of wrath whose army "the likes of whom has never been; nor will there ever be any such after them" (Joel 2:2). The use of metaphors fills this section as the author's poetic style and literary greatness leaves the reader in awe of the Word of the Lord. 1 Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near, 2 A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations.(Joel 2:1-2) 10 Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. 11 The LORD utters His voice before His army; Surely His camp is very great, For strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it?(Joel 2:10-11) The description of the day of the Lord is "darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn in spread over the mountains," describes a great battle. Hebrew is a pictorial language and God's use of the language, using metaphors and similes, makes the Bible – His Word, a masterful, wonderful work. This is classic simile as the word "as" (v. 2) relates. Verses 2 though 11 are an unbreakable section. These verses contain imagery of a great army's invasion upon the land of Israel. The army is described as devouring fire (vv. 3, 5), swift horses (v. 4), noise like chariots (v. 5), mighty men (v. 7). The section might be summarized as follows: (a) introductory picture set (v. 2); (b) similes drawn (v. 3-5); (c) invading army's characteristics (vv. 6-9), and (d) picture's completion. The concluding picture's completion fills in the last brush strokes to the masterpiece. The conclusion completes the similes presented in part two (vv. 3-5). Namely. the "earth quakes before them, and the heavens tremble" relates to both the chariots and devouring fire's noise (v. 5). The "sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness," reflect the result of the dust and fire that fill the air in the greatest battle that will ever be (v.2). The focus here is upon the great battle and its result. What the Critic Leaves Out What the critic leaves out is Joel 2:28-32 because here the sun and moon's darkening is clearly do to literal "wonders in the heavens" (v. 31). This is the section that Peter quotes in Acts 2: 17:21. Joel writes: 28 And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls. (Joel 2:28-31) Joel identifies the signs and wonders in both the heavens and the earth. In Acts, Peter recognized the literal signs and wonders (2:12, 43), though not all the signs and wonders that Peter pointed out were present on that day. What must be identified are the signs and wonders presented in Acts two. What Peter points out as signs and wonders are: (1) your sons and daughters shall prophesy; (2) your young men shall see visions; (3) your old men shall dream dreams; (4) wonders in the sky above: (a) the sun shall turn into darkness; (b) moon into blood; (5) signs on the earth beneath: (a) blood; (b) fire; (c) vapor of smoke. The phrase sun shall be turned into darkness (choshek, "darkness," "obscurity") is not one of the many words for darkness meaning, "setting of the sun," " dark saying," "a binding," "a dulling," "a cover," "thickness," or " dirty." This word has the idea darkness that is "unknown" or "obscure." The sun will turn from its normal bright self into something different, obscure. Likewise, "moon into blood" (dam, "blood," "color red") has as its root "to be red." The moon's color will change from its normal white to a reddish color. The adherents of a non-literal hermeneutic have to "spiritualize" the cataclysmic events of this prophecy. What is the result of their spiritualization? Dr. Couch notes: "The national promises to Israel are reduced to spiritual fulfillment in the church. And the cosmic signs and wonders predicted by Joel (2:30-31) and quoted by Peter (Acts 2:19-20) must be allegorized. They did not occur at Pentecost, so they must be taken figuratively." (Mal Couch, A Bible Handbook to the Acts of the Apostles, p. 146) . In other words, God throws away all His promises to Israel, the Church replaces Israel, and all the cosmic signs are just hyperbole describing some battle that never took place in the land. The argument that the day Jesus was crucified the "sun was darkened" (Luke 23:45) can be brought to the table, but where is the "moon turned to blood?" Some argue that the phrase "moon turned to blood" and "blood and fire and vapor of smoke" is a battle reference that was fulfilled in 70 A.D when the Romans came against the Jews. But where is the judgment on the nations and the resulting peace for the all Jews. The nations were not judged in the "valley of Jehoshaphat" nor did the Jew find rest as a result of 70 A.D., in fact the Jew has only found grief. The Jew had not returned to the land that God had given them until 1948, and since then has experienced only pain. Sun and Moon as Figures As with all things that God has created, language is another object to be marveled. Hebrew is what is called a pictorial language, meaning that it is rich in imagery. The nouns are usually derived from verbs, which describe some characteristic of the noun. For example, the word Adam comes from the word "to be red" reflecting where he originated from, namely, the ground. This makes the language a natural medium for creative metaphor usage. So, with the Bible being "God breathed" we possess the recorded, inspired word of God. A text where He uses human authors to record and convey what He has determined mankind to know. What this means to us is that what is observed in both the Hebrew and the Greek, is a rich creative literary text possessing both narrative and poetry intermingled. The reader's understanding and ability to follow what is being said makes this book truly the best literary work ever. Along with the creative nature of our Creator in the doctrine of inspiration, Scripture possess lots of figures of speech. The use of the sun as a metaphor was noted previously as follows: Direction (either sun-rising: east; sun-setting: west) (eg. Num. 2:3) An object of worship (e.g. Deu 17:3; 2 Kgs 23:5; Jer. 43:13 ) Something done openly or publicly, an unveiling (e.g. Num. 25:4; Judges 5:31; 2 Sam 12:11, 12; Ecc. 2:17; Matt. 5:45; 13:43) Battle shields (as glittering or shinning, reflecting the sun) A sign (e.g. of the greatness of God, Deu. 4:19); of God's control over it (Josh 10:13; Job 9:7; Ps. 74:16) An object of measurement whether it be time (e.g. Deu. 16:6), limited time (Deu. 24:15), or space (Josh. 1:4) The source of fruitfulness (Deu 33:14; Job 8:16) Death or spiritual darkness. They shall not see the sun (meaning death, Ps. 58:8; or spiritual darkness, Mic. 3:6) Longevity, strength (Ps. 72:5, 17; 89:36) Sun used as a simile Similes are easy to observe when one comes upon them. But the sun is also found used as a simile as follows: And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. (Matt. 17:2) His face is not the sun's light, but shines like that of the sun. The characteristic transferred to the Lord is the whiteness and purity of the sun (see also Rev. 1:16 – relating the sun's strength; Rev. 10:1). Conclusion As can be seen by this set of articles, the use of the sun, moon and stars as metaphors are for the purpose of associating a certain characteristic of them to the other object. That is the purpose of the figure of speech. It is not, as some say, a way to dig beyond the surface to a deeper meaning, a spiritual meaning which serves to minimize the plan sense for a higher lofty meaning that one has to go outside the immediate context to identify what is being said to justify their perversion of the Word. The use of the allegorical technique was originally used to minimize the moral difficulty of the Greek gods, to make them more acceptable. One cannot do this with a normal reading. One cannot move outside the context, searching for uses of a word or phrase that matches their brand of theology or presupposition, then move that meaning to another context to justify some obscure point. One must always remember context, context, context!

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, is the Bible saying that women are not to say anything in the church, when it says that must be silent?

 

ANSWER:  Paul's main concern is that he does not want women, who can be more emotionally wired, to be in charge of the teaching and leading in the congregations. He wants male leadership in the churches. By their spirituality, women can have a great influence over their husbands and over children. Read 1 Timothy 2:9-15. The apostle commends women for their good works. "Rather by means of good works, as befits women making a claim to godliness. Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness" (vv. 10-11).

 

  Feminist claim that Paul's words only fit that culture but this is not so. Paul argues for male leadership on the basis of the primacy of Adam. What he says is applicable throughout the entire period of the dispensation of the church."For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve" (v. 13). Adam was deceived but Eve was "quite deceived" (v. 14). Paul says that the woman is to receive instruction "quietly" (v. 11). The Greek word is heesukia. It means "to be unemotional," "to be quiet in the sense of being emotionally controlled," to not be animated, not simply to be silent. He repeats this idea in verse 14.

 

  Paul seems to be repeating this thought in 1 Corinthians 14:35-36. He says the woman is to "keep silent" (v. 34). He uses the Greek word sigao from the Greek word siagon, meaning jaw-bone. She is not to be slapping the jaw, flapping the mouth! She is not to be dominating the conversation, just going blah, blah, blah! So I do not think Paul is saying she cannot speak at all but she is not to dominate in the discussion. You have to put this word together with his thought that she is "not to be speaking" in the rest of the two verses. Paul wants his readers to "get it." He adds, "But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized" (v. 38). To conclude: women can converse in the church service but they are not to emotionally dominate the conversation or become overly excitable.

 

I hope this helps, and, thanks for asking.

Dr. Mal Couch

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING?

  My answer again is, we're moving into the apostasy! Strange things are taking place though we have been warned in Scripture that the last days are coming!

Just a few days ago, Jesse Jackson made a public statement that the Jews will lose power when Obama is elected. It was clearly an anti-Semitic proclamation. This is telling us where his heart is, and, he will have a lot of influence on thousands of others who follow his pronouncements!

 

  Also, Barack Obama, when asked about taxing those who made $250,000 or more, said that he wants "to spread the wealth around." This is a standard socialistic and Marxist doctrinal philosophy and statement!

 

  The frightening thing is that those who will vote for him have no discernment as to what this is all about. Andy Woods and I will probably be doing a series of CDs that discuss what the world will be like after the elections! Look for them when they are completed. –Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, what does Paul mean in 1 Thessalonians 5:20 when he writes, "Do not despise prophetic utterances"?

 

ANSWER: Both 1 & 2 Thessalonians, in proportion, have more prophecy than any other books by Paul. Here he writes about the judgment of the tribulation, the tribulation itself, a ton about the rapture of the church, the apostasy, the antichrist, his desecration of the temple, etc.

 

  And just like today, there were Christians who did not want to hear about Bible prophecy. Rick Warren repudiated prophecy, saying we had too many other issues to deal with rather than prophecy! How foolish!

 

  Paul makes it short and sweet—he says "Do not be continually rejecting, tossing out prophetic discourses, utterances." He uses a Present Command with the verb exoutheneo. "Do not be continually throwing out prophecy teaching." In his day, as today, there were folks who were fearful of the future, disagreed with prophecy, thought the study of prophecy was divisive! I hear all of these arguments today! Or, the most stupid argument that is still around: "Well, there are so many different views, we just should not study the subject." And, "I am a pan-millennialist—it'll all just pan out in the end! How ignorant and blind! There are not many views of prophecy. There is only one view, the right one that is defendable! The pre-millennial position, that takes the prophetic Word in its normal, natural, literal interpretation. All other views are bogus. They are foolish and false. They are mystical, allegorical, and misleading! Also, they are anti-Semitic! And they are inspired from the pit. They deny the Lord's plans for His chosen people, Israel. They deny the literal reign of the Son of God, as promised, from Jerusalem! Satan loves this view!

 

  The study of prophecy gives to the believer a historic timeline of what God is doing in His world. It gives to us a proper priority of what is important. It stops us from clinging to this world, as if we're going to exist forever in this physical state. We are not!

 

Thanks for asking.

Dr. Mal Couch

PRE-WRATH INVASION OF ISRAEL?

Psalm 83 is a most interesting chapter in the OT. It is about an invasion of Israel that has no citing in the Middle East history of the OT. The psalmist Asaph asks God to no longer remain silent and "not to be still" (v. 1). The Lord's enemies hate Him and "have exalted themselves. They make shrewed plans against His people," the Jews (vv. 2-3). His people are called "the treasured ones" (v. 3b). The enemy, the peoples surrounding the Holy Land say "Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more" (v. 4). With one mind they conspire against Israel, and "against Thee do they make a covenant" (v. 5).

Note again, this has never happened in history past. And it happens when Israel is one people, one nation, and who are back in the land! Assyria is mentioned last, because they simply assist the smaller nations that circle Israel and who invade. Today, Assyria would be Iraq and even maybe Iran, the territory of ancient Assyria.

On these nations God's wrath falls with a tempest. Note that the passage does not mention large Jewish divisions fighting these invading forces. Something spectacular happens that destroys them. God pulverizes them, "makes them like the whirling dust; like chaff before the wind. Like fire that burns the forest, and like a flame that sets the mountains on fire" (vv. 13-14).

The Lord "pursues them with His tempest, and terrifies them with His storm" (v. 15). When their destruction takes place, the enemy will recognize that God is absolutely sovereign, and they "will know that God alone, whose name is the Lord, is the Most High over all the earth" (v. 18).

This chapter does not seem to fit with the seven-year tribulation but with some period before. Unger writes:

It is difficult to fit this confederacy into the prophetic picture of either Russia's future invasion (Ezek. 38-39), but probably before the Tribulation, or that of Antichrist and his invading hordes at Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation (Rev. 16:13-16). Probably its fulfillment will come in some pan-Arabic coalition and attack on the Israeli State before the church is taken out, or at least before Daniel's seventieth week begins.

—Dr. Mal Couch

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, some Charismatics believe that tongues in Acts 2 is a true foreign language but the speaking of tongues in 1 Corinthians 12-14 is: (1) a kind of aesthetic utterance, a gibberish, (2) a foreign language, or (3) an angelic utterance and language. I heard you one time in the past give a sound answer that proved in both references, it is an actual language, and that the same thing is in view. Would you repeat that?

ANSWER: Unfortunately, most Charismatics are not very well-trained. They almost believe that it is wrong to study the Bible, and to understand it doctrinally by the Greek text. While some would deny this, in practice that is often how they operate when it comes to proving its message from the Greek language. I have seen them even get angry if you say, "The Greek text says …" They seem to believe that the KJV was inspired and is our actual Bible. They cannot get it through their heads that our English versions are just that, versions! But the proof that in both Acts and 1 Corinthians, we can demonstrate that tongues in both cases was a language and not some aesthetic mumbling.
In Acts 2 4 it is written that when the Spirit fell on those standing about "they spoke with other tongues. In Greek this is heterais glossais. In 1 Corinthians 14:21 (quoting Isaiah 28:11) Paul puts the two words together and writes the same thing with: hetroglossois. The meaning is identical and is translated other languages.

If I were a detective and went to the robbery scene, and found the same finger print in the bathroom, and in the den, I would rightly conclude that the finger prints were left by the same person. If I have the same phrase describing this miracle of languages in two different places, I would assume I am looking at the same phenomena. A language is thus in both places!

But this is too complicated for many Charismatics to understand. It is as if their biblical reasoning cannot go that far! But the fact is that they want to believe what they want to believe, when they want to believe it, never mind what the Bible says. And by the way, I have had Charismatics say just that. "But I don't care what the Bible says, my experience comes before the biblical text!"

I hope this helps.
Dr. Mal Couch

Women Pastors -- Bible Audio Study with Andy Woods

Join Andy Woods as he teaches at Clifton Bible church on the subject of Women Pastors.

• Part One
  
• Part Two
  

Bible Answer - October 8, 2008

Please join Dr. Couch as he teaches his weekly Bible Answers program for the week of October 5, 2008.

Ask Dr. Couch

Dr. Couch, can you list for me the apostasy passages? You have convinced me and others that indeed we are moving into the period of the apostasy. I'd like the main verses. Thanks.

ANSWER:  Below are the main passages, including the two that specifically use the word apostasy. I believe that Christians need to know where we are in God's timetable. But having said that, I do not believe we can be date-setters in the sense that we can say the rapture will take place, "Five months, six months, from now," etc.! The apostle Paul held to the imminent rapture position. He thought it could happen at any time, though he was not given the specific time. He constantly used the expression "we will be caught up, to us it will happen" when describing the arrival of the rapture. In other words, he included himself when speaking about the coming of the catching away of the church saints.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3. In the context of this chapter, Paul comes back to the issue of the rapture when he reminds the Thessalonians of "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him." Then he brings up the issue of the apostasy that takes place first. He goes on and describes the revealing of the antichrist (the man of lawlessness), who comes at the beginning of the tribulation (v. 3).

1 Timothy 4:1-on. Paul writes "The Spirit emphatically says that in later times ("in the lastly seasons") some will "stand away from" (apostasize) THE FAITH, they will turn toward "tramp, roving" spirits and doctrines of demons."

2 Timothy 3:1-on. "But realize this, that in the last days (eschatais [eschatology]) hard-to-bear seasons "will themselves make an appearance". Paul then writes out a long list as to how the last-day culture will turn grossly immoral and evil. Men will give lip service to godliness but they will deny its authority and power!

2 Timothy 3:12-13. This all happens during the end of the church dispensation, we know by these verses! Those IN CHRIST (the church saints) who attempt to live godly will be persecuted (v. 12). Persecuted is a Future Passive Indicative of the Greek word dioko meaning to be molested, harassed, made to run, put to flight. This persecution comes on believers in the future, in reference to the time of Paul's writing.
   This happens before the rapture and takes place in the apostasy! Morally, evil men will become more evil. Paul writes, "Evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived" (v. 13). The word imposter (Greek: go'es) refers to pretenders, those who make noise, wailers, even those who are enchanters, who perform incantations! They have a loud, emotional, external expression of Christianity! They pretend to be Christians, believers, but they simply make a lot of noise, and fool those who hear them! (Those of you who are reading this: DO YOU GET IT? HELLO!)    

   These men deceive and will be deceived (planao). The word means to wander away, go astray, fall into error. Planao is another word describing the apostasy!

2 Timothy 4:1-on. Paul urges Timothy to "proclaim the Word" (v. 2), because in the future "the time will come when they will not endure sound ("healthy") doctrine ("teaching"). They will want men to entertainment them: "To have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will TURN AWAY their ears from THE TRUTH, and will turn aside to THE MYTHS (the lies, muthos)" (v. 4).

2 Peter 2:1-3. "There will in the future also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them … and because of them the way of THE TRUTH will be maligned" (v. 2).
   Look carefully at verses 4-9. Peter could be discussing the rapture of the church. He speaks about God (1) not sparing the ancient world, (2) bringing a flood upon the world of the ungodly, (3) reducing Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, (4) rescuing righteous Lot, (5) Finally: "The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment."

   I hope this will help. And those of you who are Sunday school teachers, and pastors, you need to teach these goodies to the sheep who are terribly confused about what is happening today! –Dr. Mal Couch