In the Fullness of Time - Part 2

Blessings to Israel presents, Discerning the Times, a program committed to encouraging you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Now in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, please join us for today's program. Welcome to the program. So glad to be with you once again this week.

My name is Brian Thomas. And let me remind you folks before we get into today's topic that your eternal state is far more important than your current state. And maybe life has not quite played out the way you had dreamed of. Maybe your home, your family, your kids, your job, your ministry, whatever it may be.

Maybe things have not come to the fulfillment of what you wanted. But I want to encourage you that the best is yet to come. That is if you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Because in eternity, we live outside of time, but if time were to continue a trillion years from now, we would be in the presence of a holy God living our best perfect life. So I want to encourage you today. Don't fret. Don't worry about the things that are happening because God is in control. And that is just what we're talking about on this topic in the fullness of time, the key to understanding Bible prophecy, being joined by my co-host, Dr. Bruce Logan. We kicked off part one last week in discussing this topic and he's just been beautifully laying out with us how God is in control.

He's orchestrating everything and we need not worry. And we're going to be in eternity in his presence. So, Doc, thanks again for coming on with us.

And if you would give us a quick recap for anyone that may have missed last week and then let's pick up with where we're going to go this week on it. Last week, we began discussing the topic of in the fullness of time. We were basing that on Galatians 4 and 4 through 5, where God says, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son. And we talked about how during that 400-year period, and this is just a brief review, that in that 400-year period between the end of the Old Testament and the opening of the New Testament, a period that a lot of historians and Bible scholars refer to as the 400 years of silence, in which they argue that God was silent during this particular time.

God was not speaking to a prophet, which of course was true. But God was not silent during this time. God was providentially orchestrating through history, fulfilling various prophecies, particularly Daniel 7, 8, 9, Daniel 11. God was fulfilling these prophecies during that 400-year gap of time. And so instead of calling that gap of time the period or the silent years, I more like to refer to that period of time as the period of preparation, the 400 years of preparation, because what God was literally doing, he was preparing the world stage for the coming of his son. And essentially, since the dawn of the church age, God has been doing the same model. In other words, the same idea, the same principle that God used, which I like to refer to, he was laying out a series of prophetic stepping stones, a series of smaller prophetic fulfillments that would lead to the major milestone fulfillment of Jesus being born in Bethlehem. So long story short, God in that 400-year period gave us a clue, gave us a model, gave us some examples, a pattern for how he has been working through history since the beginning of the church age until now, which we're talking now a little over 2,000 years. And so we just want to pick it up there and just kind of give you some examples of how God was working through history in order to lay the groundwork for the eventual major fulfillment when Christ returns for his second coming.

Now, of course, I concluded last week, we mentioned or gave one example, of course, the rise of Islam. And we talked about how Islam is going to play a prominent, not only is playing a prominent role now in the tensions in the Middle East, but Israel, I'm sorry, Islam is going to play a significant role in the future in the Book of Revelation when it comes to the Temple Mount. And of course, we all know that there's no temple that currently exists on the Temple Mount, and there's currently a lot of tension that exists on the Temple Mount area or surrounding the Temple Mount area. But the Bible tells us in the Book of Revelation that there will be a new temple built on the Temple Mount in which the Antichrist will allow, he's going to write a treaty or make a treaty with the Jews to allow them to rebuild their temple.

And at the end of three and a half years, he's going to break the treaty. So that tells us there's no temple there now, and the Temple Mount is under the control of the Arabs. And that tells us that at some future point in time, the Arabs are going to concede and allow a temple to be built. So that lets us know that had it not been for the rise of Islam, then the current state would not exist. So that's just a small snippet of an example of what we mean when we refer to the rise of Islam being a part of how God's work through history in order to set the stage for Christ's second coming.

And of course, that's an overly simplistic explanation, and maybe that's something we can dive into in more detail, maybe in a future show. But then there's this very obscure passage of Scripture in Daniel chapter 2 and verse 43. And it's kind of interesting because I've read and taught and studied Daniel 2 countless times, and this has got by me until recently. And notice what Daniel 2 in chapter 43 says when this is, of course, Daniel giving Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of his dream of a great statue. And in verse 43, it says, And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, and more than iron, any more than iron mixes with clay.

Just that small little phrase, a mixture and will not remain united. And when you really take and unpack just that little small snippet of information and then compare that with the European history over the past 2,000 years, it is really incredible to go back and dig through history and see how that was meticulously fulfilled. For example, there have been many nations and organizations and emperors and rulers who tried to reunify the old Roman Empire territories after the old Roman Empire collapsed.

And for an example, the Huns invaded. Of course, if you see anybody who's familiar with history, familiar with how Charlemagne tried to unify all of the old and rebuild the entire Roman Empire territories. And of course, we mentioned the rise of Islam, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, and in a more modern history, the formation of the EU or the European Union as it was an attempt to try to unify the old Roman Empire nations from an economic standpoint.

And of course, get this, unifying the currency. But that also failed because some of the EU countries like England, for an example, have bolted from the EU. So in other words, there have been many who have tried or many attempts have been made in order to reunify the old Roman Empire territories.

You have to go back and read the description of this mixture of iron and clay that Daniel is referring to here. He's referring to the Roman Empire. But if you notice that phrase, the mixture will not remain united. And that is exactly, I mean, Napoleon came within an eyelash of ruling over all of Europe, but he lost in the end at the Battle of Waterloo. And there's so many examples. Charlemagne also came within an eyelash of doing the same thing, but he ended up being defeated in the end. And so there's just so many examples throughout history where this passage of Scripture in Daniel 2 and 43 has meticulously come to pass. But in other words, God was orchestrating events just to make sure and not allowing Europe to come together after the fall or after the collapse of the Roman Empire.

This is just another example of how God was orchestrating events or laying out events or orchestrating human affairs in order to set the stage for the coming of his son. And another one I want to point out is, and of course this is another incredible story that we can do multiple episodes on, and that is the history of the founding of the United States. And just let me pause here and just to note that if any of our listeners want to do a bigger dive or a deeper dive into the founding of the United States from a prophetic perspective, there's a book that I would like to recommend called The Light and the Glory.

One of the most incredible historical books that I've ever read is called The Light and the Glory. I think it's still in print if I'm not mistaken, but long story short, it clearly demonstrates how the founding of the United States was as a result of divine providence. But that aside, we need to think for an example for those who are critics of that idea, and I have a lot of friends who when I've made that comment, they've been very critical of it. But stop and think for a moment, what would the world look like today had there never been a United States of America? Chances are Germany would have won World War II. The Jews would definitely not have been referred to as a nation in 1948 or made a nation in 1948. That most certainly would not have happened had it not been for the United States of America. And of course, if Germany had won the war, the spread of the gospel would have been greatly curtailed. And so all of that happened because there was a United States of America. And just to show how God was orchestrating events, just imagine this.

And of course, this is kind of how my mind works sometimes. Imagine, for an example, that of course we know that when Christopher Columbus made that initial war, he was in 1492. So imagine instead of Christopher Columbus in 1492, it was Christopher Jones in 1572. So like 80 years later.

What would the world look like today? And keep in mind also that I believe it was 17, like 22 years after Christopher Columbus made that voyage, a young German monk named Martin Luther tapped his 95 theses on the wall and started what we refer to as the Protestant Reformation. And that was only able to start because there was another German inventor named Johannes Gutenberg who had invented the printing press about 40 years earlier. So now all the common people were able to read the Bible for themselves as opposed to relying on the church and the popes and so forth. And so notice how compact all of these historical events had happened. And if either one of them had not happened when they happened, the world as we know it would have been completely different because the Protestant Reformation started with Martin Luther. And of course that led to the pilgrims who ended up coming to the United States, but had there not been a United States, there would not have been any pilgrims coming to the United States. So you just track all of that history and understand that God was orchestrating all of these events and in fulfillment of Daniel chapter 2 and also in giving us the pattern for precisely how he was working in between the testaments. God gave us a model. So he's been working in a similar fashion throughout the New Testament or the church age period.

Just a few other examples. I talked about the creation of the European Union and that's significant because, we won't go into detail, but because of the ten horns of Daniel chapter 7. And maybe we can do a show on that sometime in the future. But then of course you have the advancements in technology that is exploding around the world. The ability for the gospel to spread all over the four corners of the earth.

And then of course even more, which we actually have done shows on this, on the rise of globalism and the breakdown of the culture of the world. And notice how all of these events are laying the groundwork or setting the stage or bringing us closer to the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yeah. And it's just truly amazing. Yeah. I was just going to say that basically kind of a thumbnail overview of what we refer to as in the dispensation of the fullness of time.

Yeah. It's truly amazing. I love all the prophecies of the Bible, of course. I love all of God's word. But the prophecies of Daniel are just truly amazing. When you look at what Daniel wrote through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course, as to what would take place. And we see those things that have been unfolding for thousands of years and it's prophecies are still unfolding right here in our lives today. And they will continue to do so as we go into the future.

So it is truly amazing. We're talking today with my co-host, Dr. Bruce Logan on in the fullness of time, the key to understanding Bible prophecy. We began last week with part one and we're continuing and wrapping it up today with part two. So if you missed last week, please visit our website. Blessings to Israel dot com. Go to our media section and look for in the fullness of time, the key to understanding Bible prophecy. Part one. We want to pause for a brief announcement, but don't go away. We'll be back with more on the other side.

You are tuned in to Discerning the Times. Blessings to Israel dot com. Or write to us at Blessings to Israel.

Keo Box 266, Ninetdale, North Carolina, 27545. Now let's return to the conclusion of today's program. Welcome back to the program. My name is Brian Thomas, joined today by my co-host, Dr. Bruce Logan. And we're discussing an article that he had written concerning the fullness of time, the key to understanding Bible prophecy. Doc, how can our listeners read this entire article?

What's your website? Yeah, they can just go to my website at Bruce Logan Ministries dot com. They'll be able to read the really article there, as well as all the other articles that we've written. And also they can even check out our YouTube channel, which we did a YouTube lesson on the Book of Daniel. I think it's 18 YouTube videos that we did on the Book of Daniel that goes into this, especially when you go and examine the video that we did on Daniel Chapter 2, Daniel 7, 8, 9, and 11 especially. You'll get more into detail about how this fullness of time actually unfolded and was already predicted by God.

400 years or 500 years before the event actually unfolded. All right. And I encourage listeners to go out and view those videos.

They are very well done, very well put together. So so in the end of the program today, what I would like to do is I want to put a little more time on Israel. One of the things you had laid out is Israel becoming a nation in 1948.

And of course, people listen to this program. You know that our parent ministry is blessings to Israel. And when we began over a decade ago, God inspired us to really put an emphasis and emphasis on the nation of Israel and the significance that it plays concerning the second coming of Christ. But, you know, growing up, I was in the church in which I never heard anything about Israel and its significance in terms of present day. You know, I would hear about the Israel of the Old Testament, but concerning where we are today and how Israel is prophetically fulfillment is is God's prophetic time clock. And it troubles me when I look at so many churches in our nation and you can go to service at the service and nothing is ever mentioned about the nation of Israel. So if you will speak a little bit more about the importance of Israel becoming a nation again in 1948. Well, that that is one of the watershed moments in biblical prophetic history.

I mean, that happened after talking during the church age. That was one of the watershed moments or prophetic moment of the church age when Israel became a nation in 1948. And it's important, it's really sad that we really are not more in tune with what's going on in Israel, because from a prophetic standpoint, Israel, and this is really important, the nation of Israel is the epicenter of Bible prophecy. And what I mean by the epicenter, it's the epicenter now leading up to the events that will lead to the coming of the Lord.

But when we get into the tribulation period, we get into the events of the book of Revelation, which I believe could happen at any moment. Everything, all the attention is going to return back to Israel. And God is going to put all of his attention, for example, everything that is going to be a peace treaty made in Israel. There's going to be a new temple built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

And understanding how the event that will set the stage for all of that is unfolding in front of our eyes at this very moment is why it's so important that we understand the fact that the whole world is against Israel. What's amazing is that I can't remember who the nation was, but the government, when the governments come together, what do they call that? The headquarters in New York? United Nations. United Nations.

Yes, thank you. The United Nations made a proclamation endorsing countries like Iran, but they condemned Israel. Just to kind of give you an example. And it's just really unbelievable to think the hatred and the animosity that exists towards the nation of Israel. And that's not by coincidence. That's not by, you know, just because Israel is such a bad place. But that's because there is a spiritual attack because the enemy knows that Israel is the epicenter of Bible prophecy. The enemy hates Israel with a passion. And just like he hates the church, he also hates Israel with a passion because the enemy knows that the church is the one medium in which the gospel can spread around the world. And also the nation of Israel is God's chosen people still today.

And the enemy hates. And then, of course, we can also examine all the different times in history where the enemy literally tried to destroy the entire nation of Israel. For example, in the book of Esther, the enemy tried to destroy the entire nation. Of course, it had not been for Esther coming to the rescue. You know, that would have been a major destruction of the people.

Then, of course, there was what Hitler tried to do in the Holocaust. It just goes to show you the hatred that exists of the nation of Israel by the enemy. We need to be conscious because these events, this hatred is not just some random hatred. You know, there's a spiritual force involved and centered around this hatred because the Bible says, and I believe in Revelation 12 and 12, that the enemy coming with great wrath because he knows he has for the short time. There's going to come a time where he's going to point that wrath directly at the nation of Israel, but it's not going to just happen just as an overnight or arbitrary event. The events are being set. The stage is being set in order for all of those end time prophetic events that's going to center around the nation of Israel. The stage is going to be set for that to happen.

And last, I'll close with this. Another reason why it's important that believers understand is because these end time prophetic events, even though they may be centered around the nation of Israel or the Israel may be the epicenter, the impact is going to be felt globally. That's important for us to keep in mind. And that's another important reason that we need to really pay attention as a church to what's happening in the Middle East and not be oblivious to what's going on. And if we really want to have and understand a big picture of God's prophetic plan.

Yeah. And the scripture tells us that in the latter days that there would be lying and deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons that would be present. And unfortunately, those spirits have even infiltrated the church because there are many today that embrace what is known as replacement theology in which they say the church took all the the blessings that God had promised to Israel. They say the church has taken the place of Israel and folks is nothing but a deception. And we have to be so wise and discerning because a number of churches today, a number of denominations embrace replacement theology. That is the reason why in so many churches you never hear anything about present day Israel and its significance. And the preacher that I listen to, who is someone I think is very solid in in pretty much the mean all the the areas of apologetics that I listen to him on by the name of Vody Baucom.

Very solid guy. But when it comes to Israel, that is where he gets it wrong because he says Israel is not significant in the in the latter days. He's also part of the reformed theology, which they believe that, you know, our millennialism.

And so there's so many so many things there when it comes to to Bible prophecy in which I think they're they're way off on. But but folks, the point that we just want to make in closing is that Israel is significant. We need to pay attention to Israel because Israel is the center in the events concerning the return of Christ. But as you said, Dr. Logan, the impact is going to be worldwide. So we're going to wrap it on that note. Great, great discussion once again today. Share again with the listeners how they can view this article that you've written concerning the fullness of time, the key to understanding Bible prophecy.

Yes, you can just go to my website, Ruth Logan Ministries dot com. You can read that article, as well as all the other articles that I've written and also my YouTube channel, which I launched last year. We did our first study on the book of Daniel.

We've 18 videos on the book of Daniel. I go into this in a much, much more detail. All right. Well, Doc, always great to speak with you. Look forward to having you back again next week. And to our listeners, please come back and join us next time as we continue to encourage you to discern the times by viewing life through the window of the Bible. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel. And to the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Thank you for tuning in to deserting the times. Please come back and join us next week as we continue to encourage you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel and seek first the kingdom of God.