(Final Part)
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God,” Romans 3:1-2.
This is the concluding consideration of the verses 1 and 2 of Romans chapter 3.
I can but look to the Lord to make what I have written a means of Christians treasuring the Word of God more dearly and with hunger of soul, reading it every day and praying for enlightenment and understanding of its glorious truths.
Here now is our final point.
IV. THOSE WHO POSSESS THE BIBLE ARE PRIVILEGED TO SHARE IN THE REVELATION GOD HAS MADE OF HOW THIS AGE WILL END AND WHAT HE HAS PLANNED FOR HIS PEOPLE IN ETERNITY!
The last book of the Bible opens with these words.
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand,” Revelation 1:1-3.
I cannot understand how ministers who are undoubtedly saved and love the Lord, nevertheless, because of a very wrong allegiance to a false system of interpretation of the prophetic Scriptures, do not simply take God at His Word but instead place their own meaning, quite contrary to the plain import of God’s Word, on what is divinely recorded in Holy Scripture.
In the above verses the Lord issues a blessing upon those who “read” and who “hear” what is written in this book.
However, I know many Christians have been led to believe the very opposite of what the Saviour says in verse 3! They sadly often tell Christians not to bother reading this book for it will result in their confusion.
Surely this borders on blasphemy and is a lie from the devil!
I have written quite a few articles on the Bible’s details of the developments that will take place in the last days.
1. The area which is the focus of the Gospels will more and more become the theatre of world events. Surely we can see this already beginning to take place. Donald Trump is already involved in the affairs of that region, with all his customary pomposity. He also wants to involve the Russian tyrant, Vladimir Putin!
The Islamic nations all around are starting to wreck vengeance upon their ancient foe and the Middle Eastern ‘pot’ is beginning to heat up and bubble!
2. It cannot be too long until there quietly emerges that ‘vile person’ – the final Antichrist. It is said of him: “And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries,” Daniel 11:21.
The word “peaceably” infers ‘quiet prosperity’. With all the monetary turmoil and uncertainty in the world today, one can readily see how such a person would be heralded as a deliverer. This would be but a repeat of what happened in Germany at the time of Hitler’s emergence! How Germany, devastated by raging inflation and numerous other fiscal and social problems and unrest, welcomed him _— and paid a very heavy price for that folly!
3. Just three and a half years before the Saviour returns, there will begin what the Saviour called, ‘the Great Tribulation’. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be,” Matthew 24:15-21.
Where this will be centred can be understood as Jerusalem.
It is the only city in the world where travel is curtailed on the Sabbath day. It is the location also of the “holy place”.
This ‘great tribulation’ will chiefly fall upon the Jews and in particular any who are truly trusting Christ as their Saviour.
It is a time of persecution foreshadowed by Hitler’s ‘holocaust’. Antichrist will endeavour to wipe out the Jews for ever!
Thus we have the attacks upon Jerusalem as recorded in Chapters 12 and 14 of Zechariah. The ‘great tribulation’ will come after a period of peace and prosperity enjoyed by the Jews under Antichrist. He will make a covenant with them BUT, as Daniel tells us: “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (that is seven years): and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate,” Daniel 9:27.
The breaking of his promise to the Jews and the subsequent tribulation and imminent annihilation of the Jews in Jerusalem is what will initiate the return of Christ to deliver His people and destroy Antichrist.
I have already noted that in Zechariah 14:1-4. However, there is a full description of that engagement in Revelation.
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh,” Revelation 19:11-21.
None but the devil, and those who had swallowed his lie, would seek to hinder Christians reading and studying such a portion of Holy Scripture.
4. The Saviour’s return, wonderful and victorious as that will be, yet is not the end of the blessings He brings for His people. Upon His return the devil is incarcerated in the bottomless pit, “and a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season,” Revelation 20:3.
That in itself will be a wonderful relief and benefit. But there is more.
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Verses 4-6.
Did Christ not promise His people that “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him,” 2 Timothy 2:12.
That promise will be literally fulfilled!
Isaiah chapters 2, 11 and 12, and many other places, tell us of the glories of that wonderful 1000 year reign.
“And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” Isaiah 2:4.
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee,” Isaiah 11:6-12:6.
Here is the earth brought back to days like those before the curse fell upon it and Israel is brought back from her ‘Jewish Diaspora’ and brought into a relationship with the Redeemer to a degree she has never known before!
MORE!
And yet there is more!
When the 1000 years of peace and joy are ended, the devil is released and, true to form, engages in one final act of rebellion and gathers those who during the Saviour’s reign on earth, quietly submitted to His rule but never embraced Him by faith as their Redeemer and God.
This serves to underscore the implacable nature of the devil, his hatred for God’s saints and the utter blindness of the sinner, despite being shown the glory of Christ for 1000 years.
We are told in Revelation 20:7-10.
“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
Soon to join the devil in the midst of the torment of that “lake of fire and brimstone” are all the unsaved of all ages who have lain in their graves up until this time.
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire,”Revelation 20:11-15.
The damnation of the wicked is most terrible and we just cannot comprehend what it will mean to be lost FOR EVER in the lake of fire and brimstone!
However, equally incomprehensible is the eternity of unspeakable joy that awaits the redeemed!
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son,” Revelation 21:1-7.
This is but one of the many portions of Holy Scripture in which we are permitted a view of something that awaits the child of God.
Dear Christian, should we not rejoice in our Bible and search out all that God has privileged us to be told of His love and mercy to us?
Yes, this is but another one of the many, many glorious benefits that belongs to those who have the Word of God freely available to them.
O Christian, embrace that benefit to its full every day!
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Thursday, 19th February 2026