Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #32 of Genesis, chapter 19. We are going to read Genesis 19:23-25:

The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then JEHOVAH rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from JEHOVAH out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

In our last study we were looking at “fire and brimstone” and we went to Psalm 11. I want to read that again. It says in Psalm 11:5-6:

JEHOVAH trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

God is indicating that when He punishes the unsaved people of earth at the time of the final judgment, He will rain down upon the unsaved people “snares, fire and brimstone.” If it had just said He will rain “fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest,” we might conclude that it was a literal destruction, because we do know that this current world will be destroyed by fire and fervent heat, according to 2Peter, chapter 3. But because God said he will “rain snares, fire and brimstone,” it is a signal to the reader who has “eyes to see” to watch out because God is not speaking literally. This is no surprise to anyone whose eyes God has opened to the deeper spiritual level of the Bible.

So, God is indicating that when Judgment Day comes, He will rain “snares.” It is interesting when we turn to Luke 21, the parallel Gospel account to Matthew 24, that it says in Luke 21:25-28:

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

I wanted to read verse 28 because it is an important verse because when these things begin to happen, the elect will be on the earth and Christ tells His people, “then look up…for your redemption draweth near.” You would think since this is speaking of the time immediately after the Tribulation, which is Judgment Day, that your redemption is here, because it speaks of seeing the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But it is not here, but it is “near” because it refers to the redemption of our bodies and God’s end-time program was to initiate a spiritual judgment that began at the house of God and then transitioned to a spiritual judgment on the world on the date of May 21, 2011. Even that transition date was just a beginning of the final phase of the world’s judgment and it is a spiritual judgment. It begins spiritually. There was a shutting out of the light of the Gospel and the sun would no longer give its light, and so forth. There was a cessation of the waters of the Gospel that had been flowing forth to save. There was the shutting of the door to heaven after those that became saved had entered in.

All this language applies to the end of the Great Tribulation, the 8,400th day that ended on May 21, 2011. That was the beginning of a spiritual judgment or an invisible judgment. Spiritual things are invisible – you cannot see them. This is the reason the natural -minded man cannot understand because he does not perceive or believe invisible things. He may say he does when it comes to believing in God, but then he makes his god according to his own design and according to the precepts of men. If he claims to be Christian, he makes his god out of his own mind according to his own kind of gospel. He does not truly believe in a Spirit God ruling a spiritual kingdom of heaven, who has given a spiritual book. We read that the Law is spiritual in Romans 7. Yes – the literal, physical book, the Bible, can be in front of us, but the power of the Word of God rests on a spiritual level. This is the reason it can penetrate the hearts of men, as our souls are spiritual and invisible. We cannot touch our soul, like we can touch other parts of our body. So, the natural-minded man rejects spiritual truth, even if he follows it for a length of time; but when put to the test he will “drop it like a hot potato” and flee from it because he has no real love for the truth and no real understanding of truth and no ability to perceive things in the spiritual realm.

But God’s people can see the “invisible” with eyes of faith that we have been granted. We “saw” the judgment on the churches when God brought that to pass and commanded us to get out of the churches because the spiritual judgment on the churches had been activated and we had to leave. Again, God’s people saw it through the eyes of faith that had been given to us and we acted upon it, based on what the Bible had revealed to us. We saw the judgment and we physically and literally acted by coming out of the churches.

Likewise, the Bible revealed that spiritual judgment came upon the world beginning on that date of May 21, 2011. That was when God shut the door of heaven and He began to spiritually pour out His wrath upon the unsaved inhabitants of the earth. God’s people perceived this judgment in the same way we were able to see the judgment on the corporate church. God opened our understanding to reveal His righteous judgment program, beginning on the churches and transitioning to the world. When the Bible said, “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory,” we saw it with spiritual eyes, not physical eyes. Then the Bible said, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” We did not look up in to the physical skies, but we know the Bible tells us to set our affection on things above, which means we are setting our affection on the invisible, spiritual things of God and His kingdom and the Word of God. That is where our affection ought to be and that is where we look up to the Lord God who reigns above, for the redemption of our bodies is close at hand.

In other words, the Bible is indicating there are spiritual signs in the “sun, moon, and stars” and the only “signs” that are permissible are signs we see in the Bible. Jesus pointed out that an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, because men wanted Him to do something outwardly and to show them something on the natural level because that is the only thing they can perceive. That would be an evil thing and God would not lower Himself to satisfy the lusts of men by showing them a physical sign. When God gives “signs” that are permissible, they are spiritual indicators found in the Bible. Therefore, you see or perceive the “sign” in the sun, moon and stars, but the sun is still literally shining; the moon is still giving her light; and there are still stars in the sky. The sky is not where we look. However, when you “see” in the Bible what the “sun, moon and stars” represent (the Gospel going dark), then you know your redemption draweth nigh.

In other words, what we have been learning is a big sign post to the people of God that the last day of the end of the world and the redemption of our bodies is near. We have been following along with the judgement on the churches and then it transitioned immediately after the Tribulation and these signs happened in the “sun, moon and stars,” so we know we are right on target; we are following the course God has set for the end stage of history. We have not gone off course and we have not lost sight of the way. We are right where God would have us to be; we are in the “second Tribulation.” I am not talking about the second part of the Great Tribulation when judgment was upon the churches, but we are in the tribulation on the world. God has brought judgment upon the world and is recompensing tribulation upon them (the wicked). We are now seven years into that tribulation, which we expect to last for 23 inclusive years or 22 actual years, according to the Biblical evidence that has been mounting.

The reason I came to Luke 21 is because the chapter describes Judgment Day. Notice it says in Luke 21:34:

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

Remember that the word “unawares” is the same word we find in 1Thessalonians 5:2-3:

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

The Greek word translated here as “sudden” is the same Greek word translated as “unawares,” but the translators thought they had a problem. How could they translate the Lord coming as a thief in the night and then translate the next verse as “unawares destruction”? How could someone be destroyed and be unaware of it, so they thought it may mean that it happened so quickly that they were unaware, so they translated it as “sudden.” But it is really “unawares destruction” and this fits perfectly with what we have learned from the Bible was a “spiritual judgment.” Is the world aware of a spiritual judgment when it happens? No – you can tell them and show them the verses and two minutes later they will turn away and forget all about it, having no understanding of what they had just been told. It was the same thing with the churches. Were the churches aware of the spiritual destruction that came upon them? The Lord said in Jeremiah 8:7: “but my people know not the judgment of JEHOVAH.”

You see, there is an “ignorance” in the natural-minded person. I do not mean that as an insult – it is just the truth. They lack knowledge, understanding and perception of spiritual things that lie in another realm and they cannot know them. It is beyond the ability of people that are dead in trespasses and sins to perceive on a spiritual level. As God operates on a spiritual level, they cannot receive it or take it in. Yes – they can take in the physical words in the physical book and they can take in moral, historical and plain and literal teachings. This is the reason that the church is so intent that the Bible must be taken literally to be acceptable to them and not this “spiritualizing.”

Why do they not accept spiritualizing? They would say it leads to reading (too much) in to the text and then people would develop their own gospels. But look at all the churches that have other gospels when they follow the plain and literal meaning of the Bible, so that does not deter them from doing the same thing.

But the truth is that it was extremely disturbing to them when they would hear people (like Mr. Camping) teaching the Bible and talking about the spiritual teaching here and spiritual teaching there and “comparing spiritual with spiritual.” As he would say that this word represents this (spiritual) thing and that word represents another (spiritual) thing, it was disturbing to them because they sort of realized they had no ability to understand it. It was like when the scribes and Pharisees would hear Jesus tell a parable and they might sense it was spoken against them, but they could not grab hold of His words because it was on “another plateau” that they could not attain. That is how it is with the churches and congregations.

God has brought spiritual judgment, as he did to mankind in the Garden of Eden; as He brought to the churches; and as He brought to the world. Christ came as a thief in the night. Of, course He is not a thief in a negative way. But it is like when a thief breaks in to your house, steals your valuables and you do not know about it. You were unaware. Christ came as a thief in the night to bring “unawares destruction.” He has stolen all the true riches, treasures and valuables from the churches and the world and they are completely ignorant of what He has done. They cannot perceive the theft. The theft was that He has taken salvation from them and all the blessings that go with it, as He shut the door of heaven.

Again, it says in Luke 21:34:

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

The reason we came to this passage is what it says next in Luke 21:35:

For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

Judgment Day comes as a “snare.” That day will come “unawares.” As the world continues to go along, just like the churches are doing. The churches feel that they have overcome the “falsehood and lies of Satan” (as they would call it) regarding the end of the church age and the assault they experienced at the hand of Mr. Camping, Family Radio and Family Radio listeners. When May 21, 2011 did not happen as declared, the churches felt victorious: “He was obviously wrong about that and, therefore, he was wrong about the churches.” So, now they continue to operate as usual and they are no longer troubled by these things. The world, too, experienced the serious warning of hearing about the approaching Judgment Day, but in their eyes they went through it successfully and survived. But in both cases, they were wrong: “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.” JEHOVAH God had rained down snares, fire and brimstone. This horrible tempest is the portion of their cup. They have been taken. They have been trapped and they are completely unaware of what has happened.