Dr. David Jeremiah Presents
Living inthe Ageof Signs
Online Destination
Living in the Age of Signs
Online Destination
Why Read the Bible?
Today’s Audio Devotion:
Why Read the Bible?
A mother tells her five-year-old not to eat a cookie off a plate with six cookies. When she returns, she sees that two of the cookies are gone. “Didn’t I ask you not to eat a cookie?” the mom asks. “Yes,” comes the confident reply. “Then why did you disobey?” the mom asks. “I didn’t disobey. You told me not to eat one of the cookies, and I didn’t eat one; I ate two.”
That’s an illustration of Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things.” It also illustrates what the comedic actor W. C. Fields said when asked why he was reading the Bible. He confessed, “I’m looking for a loophole.” It’s a human tendency to see how close we can get to “the line” without actually crossing it. Some people read the Bible that way—to find God’s “lines.” Instead of moving toward God’s lines, we should move toward God Himself. When we are consumed with Him, we will please Him in all things—not by avoiding the bad but by walking in the good.
Read God’s Word in order to love Him, not to avoid offending Him.
The business of our lives is not to please ourselves but to please God.
Matthew Henry
This is one of prophecy's greatest misconceptions. The Rapture and the Second Coming are often confused, but they are distinct events, with distinct purposes, on God's prophetic timeline.
At the Rapture, Jesus will return for His saints.
At the Second Coming, He will return with His saints.
At the Rapture, Jesus will not descend to earth.
At the Second Coming, He will descend to the Mount of Olives as a prelude to His earthly reign.
At the Rapture, Jesus will bring a blessing for His saints.
At the Second Coming, He will bring judgment for those who have rejected Him.
The Rapture could occur at any moment.
The Second Coming will occur seven years later.
When the Rapture occurs, Christ will take every deceased and every living Christian to heaven with Him. Paul describes this glorious event in 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17:
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
The Rapture will protect God's saints from the Tribulation—the seven years of judgment that will be poured out on earth between the Rapture and the Second Coming. There are some who argue the Tribulation period will begin before the Rapture. However, the Bible says that "there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1), which suggests the Church will not experience God's judgment during the Tribulation.
Seven years after the Rapture, Jesus will return to earth in the event known as the Second Coming. His return will be entirely different from His arrival in Bethlehem as a humble Child. When Christ returns, He will appear as the exalted King of the universe, surrounded by His saints. The powers of evil will be quickly defeated at the Battle of Armageddon, and then Christ will establish His everlasting kingdom on earth.
For a more thorough study of the Rapture and the Second Coming, read chapters 12 and 27 in The Book of Signs.