This Thing Called Iniquity

The finiteness of the human brain can be most frustrating. Infinite questions sometimes rumble around in fruitless searches and, of course, find no answers.

One such imponderable question, comprising several others that encircle that primary quandary, is: From whence comes the thing called iniquity?

Yes. There is, of course, a definition of the term, as there is for all other words within dictionaries of the world. But we don’t ask: “What” is iniquity? We are living through it! We can see it manifest in every direction we look on today’s horizon of egregious activity. We know “what” it is. What we want to know is: “From where does all that evil, that wickedness that the term defines come?”

As believers in the inerrant Word of God, the Bible, we look there to find out the only information there is about this infinite term and the question posed that befuddles the finite apparatus of human thinking –the brain. We look here for ultimate answers to life because the Word of God –the Bible—comes from the Mind of the Creator of all things. His Answers ARE the answers we desire and the ones we can absolutely take as 100% Truth.

Therefore, we have to look at the thing called iniquity through the Perfect Prism, which is the Word of God.

God, the Creator of all that is, Created everything Perfectly. God cannot make mistakes, just like He cannot tell a lie. He is Absolute Truth. His Son, Who Created all that is, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life…

So, if God can do no wrong and Creates only Perfectly, from where comes this most perplexing thing God’s Word calls iniquity? Here is where that blasphemous evil term first appears, disrupting God’s Perfection.

“Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyros, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee” (Ezekiel 28:12-15).

Isaiah the prophet next describes the mind-boggling moment iniquity was found in Lucifer.

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isa 14:12-14).

Iniquity was possibly first found in Lucifer, maybe the Apex Angel of God’s Creation, in considering Heaven’s Angelic Order. I say “possibly” and “maybe” because there are things of the Eternal Sphere that the finite mind is neither privy to nor can grasp. I.e., the thing called iniquity could have been interjected into being earlier, and there might be an Angel above Lucifer’s Heavenly Status; we just can’t know at this time. We can know only what God’s Word illumines for now. We might know at some time in the Eternal future when we will be like Him.

“Thou wast perfect in thy ways,” Ezekiel tells in speaking to Lucifer. He was blameless, as given for the term perfect in other translations. Repeatedly, the designation perfect is translated as “without defect” (Leviticus 1:3, 10; 3:1, 6, 4:3, 23, 28, 32; 5:15, 18, etc.) The word perfect or blameless is used to describe God once, but the majority of the time, it describes humans. The perfect God created all beings, angelic and human, in perfection. God’s inerrant Word clearly shows that God created everything that was created only in Perfect order.

This Truth magnifies the thing called iniquity and its strange, inexplicable entrance into that perfect order. It is a thing beyond finite understanding or explanation.

To begin, we acknowledge God’s absolute Sovereignty. That is, He is Omnipotent and Omniscient, and, of course, Omnipresent. He answers to no one and is governed only by His Own Holy Righteousness.

However, our finite minds are equipped with fertile imagination, and I think it is not counter to God’s Holy Will to use imagination to pose a possible, even most likely, probability regarding this thing called iniquity.

He has chosen to let us know that the evil that is now saturating His once Perfect Creation came to be through the thing called iniquity. It first entered, so far as He has chosen to let us know, when it entered the perfectly created Majestic Angel Lucifer.

The manifestation of iniquitous behavior was in the form of Pride that welled within this glorious creature, who determined that he was equal or even greater than his Creator. Lucifer, then, obviously was Granted by God the Creator, the ability to choose. He was given volition.

The most likely reason for granting this, considering the matters involved from this weak, finite brain function, is that God wants His Creation –whether Angels or humankind, to have the freedom and the ability to have free will…volition. He didn’t want robots that had no choice in the matter of obeying Him.

Obedience, in God’s Order of things, equates to love. Jesus, Who is God, said to those who would follow Him: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

In Jonathan Brentner’s and my new book, HEREAFTER: It’s Far Better Than You Imagine, we scripturally document that Eternity in Heaven with God Forever will be populated only by those who love Him. There will be no more sin infection from which came into God’s Perfect Creation this mysterious evil called iniquity.

To be among that population, Perfected like those Reconciled with God the Father through God the Son, you and I must obey the instructions given by Jesus, Who is the very Word of God (John 1:1). Here is what that Word commands/instructs in order to be in Glory Forever:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10: 9-10).

–Terry

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Countdown to the Tribulation

As a lifelong student of Bible prophecy and a close observer of current events, I’m surprised that the Rapture has not yet happened. So many signs point to the nearness of the Tribulation and conditions described in Revelation 6:1-8 with the release of the riders of the apocalypse. However, we still wait for the time when we will meet Jesus in the air.

Even a secular organization, which goes by the name of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, recognizes the nearness of the catastrophic events of the Day of the Lord. On January 23, 2024, they reset their “Doomsday Clock” at ninety seconds to midnight.

As a young child, I loved watching rockets take off, carrying their occupants to outer space. I remember the disappointment I felt when the countdown paused or even stopped to another day.

I believe that from our limited perspective, the countdown to the Day of the Lord has paused. In spite of the myriad of signs pointing to the start of the seven-year Tribulation, it seems as though time stands still for those of us excitedly awaiting Jesus’ appearing.

For the world, the seconds on the “Doomsday Clock” remain fixed at ninety seconds.

As we wait, it’s important to keep in mind at least a couple of things:

1. The Restrainer

With each passing month, the words of 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 become increasingly relevant to our day:

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.”

The Restrainer is the Holy Spirit, and His presence within true believers is currently holding back the full expression of evil and lawlessness, which will happen when the antichrist appears on the world scene. This doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit will cease to be active on the earth after the Rapture, only that His current work of restraining the “man of lawlessness” will end.

For the past several decades, world leaders have expressed their earnest desire to establish a two-state solution to the turmoil in the Middle East. Past U.S. presidents have promoted the faulty notion that giving the Palestinians a nation of their own will establish peace. Currently, rumors abound that the Biden administration might seek a UN resolution to force such a solution upon Israel.

Other world leaders have also offered similar proposals, but there’s never been a time when both sides have agreed to any resolution, and does it seem likely to happen any time soon?

Why have all these attempts failed? 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 gives us the answer. The ultimate peace accord cannot happen until after the Rapture and the antichrist brokers the deal. Daniel 9:27 tells us that he will succeed in establishing peace for Israel, albeit for a brief time.

I suspect that Israel’s current war, which shows no sign of ending, may later play a role in Israel’s willingness to accept the covenant offered by the man of lawlessness. Perhaps he will allow the rebuilding of the third temple to make his offer all the more alluring. The Bible tells us that Israel will have this temple by the midpoint of the Tribulation period.

Although at times I am tempted to think that things cannot get any worse, the Bible reveals that conditions on the earth will rapidly deteriorate after the Rapture.

2. The Lord’s Patient Warnings Regarding the Future

A realistic examination of how the Old Testament prophets described the Day of the Lord, along with the judgments described by the Apostle John in the book of Revelation, tells us that the Tribulation period will be far more horrifying than anything the world has ever seen.

Because of the many terrors that lie ahead for planet Earth, God is giving people more time to heed the warnings of what’s coming (see 2 Peter 3:8-10). Despite the tragic silence in most pulpits, the Lord is not silent today regarding the terrors that lie on the horizon for those who don’t know Him as their Savior.

I believe God intends for the symbolism behind the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse completing an X upon the U.S. to alert America to the nearness of His judgment not only upon America but the entire world. The fact that it will pass over seven U.S. cities named Nineveh only adds to the drama unfolding this Spring.

The coming solar eclipse does not tell us when God’s wrath will arrive, but it surely points to the dire consequences that surely lie ahead if America continues on its current path.

From the Father’s perspective, the clock is still ticking toward the time when He sends Jesus to take His children out of the world. He knows the very moment when He will send His Son to bring us up to glory.

Our reality, however, resembles the “Doomsday Clock” that remains paused at ninety seconds. We know that once the second hand on this clock starts moving, it will be too late for the world. Although they don’t believe the Bible, the “doomsday” that the atomic scientists have in mind eerily resembles the Day of the Lord wrath described in Scripture.

For now, we wait in eager anticipation of His appearing to take us home (John 14:1-3; Philippians 3:20-21), knowing that the Lord is currently restraining the appearing of the antichrist as He gives more time for people to heed the warnings of doom that abound all around us.

Maranatha!

-Jonathan

 

Guess Who Is Rapture Ready…

Matters revolving around being Rapture Ready are what our website, Raptureready.com, presents to a world of people lost without knowledge of God’s Grace Gift Offer. Without Jesus Christ as Savior from sin that infects the human race, people of this fallen planet have no hope. They are going down that Broadway of life on earth that leads to destruction.

The Rapture will be the rescue from that coming destruction. It is rescue from the Tribulation –the last 7 years leading to Armageddon and Christ’s Return— and rescue from destruction that will be eternity apart from God. Jesus Christ and His Sacrifice on the cross at Calvary for the sins of mankind is what makes the believer in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection saved from eternal destruction –and from the most horrendous time of all human history, according to Jesus Himself (Read Matthew 24: 21).

To be Rapture Ready is to accept Christ as your Savior. All who believe in Him will go to be with the Lord when He calls in that Glorious Event at some unknown instant of time.

Based upon all, we who “Watch” for Christ’s Return can discern that the instant of Rapture must be very near – thus because we can discern these wicked times leading to the Tribulation for which God has given many signs in His Word, the Bible.

The Rapture will happen before the last 7 years we call the Tribulation begins. The signals of that approaching Tribulation are in every direction those who Watch look in scanning the Prophetic Horizon.

So, our purpose in this website is to encourage all people to be Rapture Ready. That is, to accept Christ as Savior and then to obey God’s Word in living the Christian Life.

All of that is given here to preface what I wish to address in thinking on another facet of the matters involved in the Rapture. And that is the other side –the evil side– of being Rapture Ready. This is the reason for our commentary’s title: Guess who is Rapture Ready…

Those signals of the approaching Tribulation I mention are all important in considering what I hope to make understandable. The absolute evil and wickedness we are witnessing is stage-setting for that most horrendous 7 years Jesus Himself said would be the worst of all human history.

I believe we are seeing an exponential increase in these signs that the Tribulation is almost upon this generation. As a matter of fact, I have no doubt of it. And I’m convinced that this deluge of evil foisted upon this nation –America—in particular, is indicative of mankind’s greatest enemy knowing that the great Rescue –the Rapture—is on the verge of taking place. 

Satan knows God cannot lie. And the old serpent knows that God has promised that Rescue. He is aware, even if many pastors within the Church of Jesus Christ don’t seem to have a clue. The devil is acutely aware, I believe, that the Rapture is about to take place.

Therefore, he is getting all things in preparation for his one, last-ditch effort to prevent his own destruction –a thing which the God of Heaven has declared in no uncertain terms. This is another way to view the term Rapture Ready. Satan is getting all his plans, all his minions in place –everything lined up. He is, in his own demented way, Rapture Ready.

He is going full-force to make sure he is prepared when his opportunity comes to put his Son of perdition, Antichrist, and his regime of world control into place.

The following excerpt presents evidence that the evil one has long planned for this very time when he thinks the Rapture will occur.  

“Plans much bigger than communism’ have been set in motion,” and people who were not primarily in public office but people of prominence and known to the public through their occupations or private positions have the power to devise and implement such plans,” revealed eminent professor Dr Richard Day. But this was not a recent revelation; this was said back in 1969! According to Dr Day, the plan was “…to enter the twenty-first century with a running start. Everything is in place, and nobody can stop us now…”

By now, we all know, or should know, that we are living through an era that has been planned for many years, and the plandemic was not merely “the window of opportunity” for a” great reset” that Klaus Schwab would like us to believe. No, the reset required a situation whereby the masses would readily adhere to orders no matter how inhumane, irrational, or downright ridiculous they may be.

Fear and confusion a perceived “deadly pandemic” would elicit made it the perfect scenario to render individuals helpless and malleable, a combination that would not only enable a coup d’état with plans of totalitarian control but would have some individuals positively welcoming it. If only they had been made aware of the plans that “people of prominence” had for us!

Source: Astonishing Predictions from Dr Richard Day 1969 – Part 1 – “Plans Much Bigger Than Communism.” By Patricia Harrity on February 6, 2024, Expose Rapture Ready News posted February 7, 2024

In the above treatise on stage-setting begun many decades ago, the writer reports on how Satan’s plans to destroy humanity have rolled out almost precisely like Richard Day foretold back in 1969.

Day spoke as an insider and even expressed fear that he would be in danger for telling the secrets he divulged. He talked about fear created by pandemics and about how the education system and the school-based clinics would begin the transformation of America’s parent-child relationships.

Traditional marriage would, by design, become less important in sexual relationships and be transformed into perverse versions of unions between people, such as same-sex marriages.

Gender change and other forced movement away from God’s Order would be key to the transformation of America, which, of course, Barack Obama would later verbalize as his desire upon taking office as president.

Richard Day talked about how sex would be relegated to pleasurable pursuits and be diverted from family relationships and having children –thus to institute population control.

Abortion would become big business with the establishment of Planned Parenthood, and the law would be changed to legalize greater freedom in “choice.” The populations would thusly be reduced before it could even get started.

Homosexuality would take on increased influence within the thinking of the powers that be, a matter also aimed at breaking up traditional religious traditions and to tear down conventional families. Again, all this to control population.

He went much deeper into many of the wicked things that now have come or are coming to fruition.

There is no doubt to this writer at least that Satan is indeed Rapture Ready, in the worst possible sense.

I very much recommend reading the article in its entirety to get the full meaning of the complete madness going on all around us at this moment.

But it is one Glorious Moment in particular that the believer in Christ can anticipate in the near future. The Rapture! Here, again, is how to be Rapture Ready in the best sense of the term.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

–Terry

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Our Unfailing Anchor

We live in “perilous times” on steroids.

In one sense, the characteristics that Paul wrote about in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 have been true of godless people ever since Paul penned the words to these verses. On the other hand, these traits have become much more prevalent today, even among those who lead many governments in our world.

One morning, as I contemplated the lawlessness and wickedness of our day, the Lord reminded me of the unfailing nature of my hope through the words of Hebrews 6:18-19:

“. . . so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain.”

In the preceding verses, the writer of Hebrews used Abraham as an illustration of someone who believed the Lord regarding His promise of an heir even when it was physically impossible.

Just as it was for Abraham, so it’s the same “two unchangeable” factors that explain why we can be so confident about the Lord’s promise to appear and take us to Heaven before the start of the Tribulation. Despite living at a time when a nuclear war seems probable, deception abounds, and the elite powerbrokers talk openly about a significant reduction in the world’s population, we have confidence for the same reasons.

1. God’s Promises

Just as with Abraham, we have a sure foundation for our hope. Our expectation of Jesus’ imminent appearing rests upon God’s unfailing Word.

Passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, John 14:2-3, Revelation 3:10-11, and Philippians 3:20-21 provide us with solid assurances of the glorious future that lies ahead for us as New Testament saints. Jesus will not fail to keep His promises to us, and given all that’s happening in our world, we know their fulfillment is near.

Abraham trusted God’s promises when it was impossible that he and Sarah could have a child. For many today, the Rapture also seems like a highly improbable event. How is it possible for Jesus to raise all the dead saints of the church age and, in an instant, give all of us who remain imperishable bodies?

Despite the impossibility of this happening in the natural realm, we trust the assurances that Jesus gives us starting in John 14:1-3. He will keep His promises to us.

2. God’s Covenant

Abraham’s faith also rested in the unconditional covenant God made with Him concerning the promise of the Land He would give to the descendants of the Patriarch (Genesis 15:1-21).

What makes God’s oath permanent? These words, found in Hebrews 6:18, explain its unchangeable nature, “it is impossible for God to lie.” The hope of a future glorious kingdom for the nation of Israel rests on God’s unchangeable character. He cannot renege on His oath to Abraham because His character makes it impossible for Him to do so.

When writing about the future restoration of the nation of Israel, the Apostle Paul wrote these insightful words in Romans 11:29, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” That’s because He cannot lie.

God’s calling of us as His people is also permanent for the same reason. He cannot default on the assurances He gives to us as New Testament saints.

We have an unshakeable anticipation of glory, “a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain” (Hebrews 6:19).

As the seven-year Tribulation rapidly approaches, we already witness the wickedness, deceit, and lawless nature of the one who will assume power after our departure (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8). I have been a student of Bible prophecy for fifty years, and what I see today exceeds all that I once thought would prevail during the last days leading up to the Day of the Lord.

The pride in despicable behavior, the parades celebrating debased behavior, and the boasting of those who have had multiple abortions are beyond anything I ever thought I would see. It goes beyond the characteristics of people living in perilous times to those exhibiting the “reprobate” or “debased” mind that Paul wrote about in Romans 1:28-32.

What’s even more scary is the thought that the wickedness and violence will become much greater after the Rapture. Today’s woes are but echoes of the horrors that are coming after the Lord takes us away from the earth and allows the antichrist to rule for a short while.

Because Jesus is the sure anchor for our soul, we walk in full confidence of our “blessed hope.” Because He is God, it’s impossible for Him to change His mind regarding us or to fail to deliver on His promises.

Keep watching; someday soon, we will experience what many today regard as not only impossible but unthinkable. Jesus will change our lowly bodies into glorious ones like His and instantly take all the saints of the church age to the place He’s preparing for us in His Father’s house. (Is it any wonder that those who reject Jesus also ridicule our hope in His miraculous intervention in our world?)

-Jonathan