No beginning, no end

 God is believed to have no beginning or no end.  How can something have no beginning or end?  

Richard Dawkins--famous author of "The Blind Watchmaker"--does not like the idea that "God was always there"--a belief he calls the "lazy way out." 

But he has to believe something has always existed or something came from nothing, as if nothing was something.  

Dawkins believes in a certain amount of luck-- "a very large amount of luck": his "cumulative selection" theory which can manufacturer complexity, "cannot work unless there is some minimal machinery of replication and replicator power, and the only machinery of replication that we know seems too complicated to have come into existence by means of anything less than many generations of cumulative selection!"

 So how does that work?  The one--machinery of replication-- needs the other--cumulative selection (and many generations of it), but cumulative selection needs the machinery of replication.  So, it seems, you can't have one without the other.

The odds of a DNA/ protein replicating machine coming into existence is the same as turning all matter in the universe into monkey flesh--and still it wouldn't be enough--and one of those monkeys typing on a typewriter "Methinks it is like a weasel."

 Dawkins says, "In order for a monkey to write ...[Methinks it is like a weasel] by chance, it needs a very large amount of luck, but it is still measurable.  We calculate the odds against it as about 10 thousand million million million million million million to 1 against." 

Something must have always existed. The idea of something having no beginning or end seems beyond comprehension, but it has to be.  

When God instructed Moses to take Israel out of Egypt, Moses asked what name he should give Israel when they ask, "what is his name?" God answered, "this you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Exodus 3.10-15

God exists, and he is that cause of all creation, and he has set the boundaries of the existence of mankind.

"The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets. ". Revelation 10.5-7

Worship and the purpose for the assembling together

Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. … But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.   God [is] Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
John 4:21-24 (Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well)

Jesus was saying that worship is not to be confined to a specific geographical location, and true worship has to be “in spirit and truth.”  This must be saying that the worship must line up with the truth God has revealed in his word and be properly motivated and not just a ritual to be performed, thinking incorrectly that it’s the ritual that pleases God.

If we understand worship as Jesus said, then worship can be done at anytime, anywhere. 

Some will make the point that Sunday morning worship is corporate worship, that it is worship in spirit and truth but corporately (worship as a body of people).   Obviously, corporate worship would have to be done corporately. 

I believe the word “worship” signifies that expression of recognition of who God is, being our Creator and the One we have a relationship with through what we call “salvation.”

Yet I can worship God without assembling together with other believers, but I can’t edify (build up) and exhort other believers without some sort of contact with them. How can I build up and exhort other believers, if I do not assemble with them? I know, we have the internet and other communication forms, but they are limited.  In Hebrews 10.24-25, there is a reference to assembling together that gives us its purpose: And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,   not forsaking the  assembling  of ourselves together, as [is] the manner of some, but exhorting [one] [another], and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. This text says the purpose of assembling is to stir up love and good works and exhorting one another.  I can’t do this if I do not assemble with others.

We also find the aim of the assembling of believers in Ephesians 4 and First Corinthians 14:  Eph4.11-13: And He Himself gave some [to] [be] apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,  12  for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,  13  till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…   1Cor14. 26  How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.

The purpose of the assembling together is to edify (build up) and exhort the church using those unique gifts/ roles that the believer has.    The traditional, historical worship service does provide for this to some degree, but maybe more-so in smaller informal group settings. The traditional Sunday Morning service is limited, because other than the songs that are sung, the focus is on the sermon the vocational pastor delivers, making the church experience more like sitting in a lecture class.  Probably most people prefer it this way.  Maybe that is the best way to maintain order in the church and its morning service.

I’m not sure how the church could function, if it had a plurality of teaching elders, instead of the traditional vocational elder we call “the pastor,” unless they took turns, or maybe 2 or 3 could each have 10 or 15 minutes of teaching during the service, or they or others could just give a word of encouragement or exhortation to the assembly.  But could this work well in a large assembly of people?  

Since worship is not confined to a place and can be done anywhere and at any time, it seems the primary purpose of the assembling of believers (as a church) is for what Hebrews 10, Ephesians 4 or First Corinthians 14 says.  Because an individual cannot by himself, do what these Scriptures say. And though he may be able to have some interaction using social media, it’s still not able to satisfy what the assembling together can provide.  But if our assembling together is just a corporate worship-type-thing, I don’t think what the assembling together was meant to accomplish will happen very well.  And this may be why some Christians don’t get much out of the assembling together.  It may be why some go off on their own to start something new, or they want bible studies outside the church.  The Sunday Worship Service is not fulfilling the need and purpose of the assembling together.  

I have no expectation that the long-practiced tradition of the church will change. I suppose the traditional Sunday Morning Worship service is the best way to get the largest turnout, and maybe the smaller group meetings outside the Sunday service are where more of the interaction, edification and exhortation can occur.

Near and Far prophecy and “fulfilled”-Scripture-language

I admit I don’t like the idea of a dual fulfillment of prophecy.  

How would one know that a prophecy will be fulfilled a second time, if it has already been fulfilled?  How would one demonstrate that a prophecy is being fulfilled, if it has already been fulfilled? 

I think that it is more likely that a prophecy can have a near future fulfillment and a far future fulfillment.  

Part of a prophecy speaks of a near future fulfillment, and part can speak of a far future fulfillment, but the whole prophecy does not have two different fulfillments in time.  

There are some Scriptures that speak of past events that are said to be fulfilled at a future time, but not an exact fulfillment in every detail, but in certain details there are similarities between an Old Testament reference and a future event that qualify it for fulfillment language, such as “Rachel weeping [for] her children,  refusing to be comforted,  because they are no more.”  This Scripture was “fulfilled” during the time when Herod had the male children put to death.  The fulfillment was the degree of grief by comparison with the event it originally spoke concerning. 

There may be a prophecy that has application to a certain event that must precede the actual fulfillment of the prophecy, such as the prophecy of the Jews looking “on him whom they pierced”:  this has application at the time of the cross, and thus qualified for “fulfilled” language, but really looks to the Second Coming of Christ (the crucifixion had to happen for the other to be fulfilled).  

Near and far prophecies are contained in the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the virgin birth, prophecy concerning the near events in the lifetime of Isaiah concerning Judah and her enemies, and far events concerning Judah and the birth of the Messiah.

There were near and far prophecies contained in the prophecies concerning the coming of Christ: his first coming was near, and his second coming is far.   

There are prophecies in Daniel that looked to future nations and rulers in the near future and the far future, and finding where one ends and the other begins is not so easy.

When Jesus spoke of things to come to his disciples, some of those things were concerned about the immediate future, some near future, and some far future, with some parts having application to both near and far such as not coming down into your house for your goods when you see certain events take place.

In Luke 17.30, Jesus spoke of the day he is revealed--this would be the second coming--and he says not to come down from the roof to get your stuff, just like in Mat 24.17 concerning the Abomination of desolation and the subsequent great tribulation.

In Matthew 10 where Jesus speaks to his apostles of what's to come, he speaks of things in the immediate future, as they go out to proclaim the kingdom of God, and he speaks of things in the near future, after His departure, as to them becoming before government officials, but he seems to go to the far future when he speaks to them to keep moving because of time constraints, Matthew 10.23--unless this is speaking from the perspective that Christ will return in their lifetime.

The 8th Head of the 7-headed beast

Revelation 17.11 speaks of an 8^th head that is “of the seven.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s Image (Daniel 2), the beasts (Dan7), horns, ram, goat (Dan8), and the heads and body of the beast/ dragon (Revelation 12; 13; 17) represent authority, because authority is primary: it is what makes a king a king or a kingdom (or realm) a kingdom—king and kingdom are secondary while authority is primary.  If a “horn” is “uprooted,” or “broken,” then the authority is moved or destroyed.

The 7 heads of the dragon/ beast (seen in Revelation 12; 13; 17) represent those authorities (Kings and kingdoms) that particularly had a Mediterranean-world-dominion and that afflicted the manifested people of God of that Mediterranean world (symbolized in the rising up out of the sea).  Those authorities represented in the 7 heads are also represented in the divisions of Nebuchadnezzar’s (Neb’s) image (Dan2) and the 4 beasts (Dan7)—though there may be a difference between the 4th part of Neb's image and the 4th beast.

 

The 7 authorities include those represented in Neb’s Image and the 4 beasts.   There would have to be two that preceded Neb., being Egypt and Assyria.  Those two predecessors along with Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, are the 5 heads that “have fallen” (Rev17), while Rome, the fourth division of Neb’s Image, is the 6^th head, which was in Apostle John’s time in the revelation he received.

 

The 7^th head is a future authority in the same Mediterranean-world location who will particularly persecute the manifested people of God (and resistant Jews and others), but maybe that persecution will be primarily during the 8^th-head-phase. Revelation 17.11 speaks of an 8^th head that is “of the seven,” but the beast does not have an 8^th head, so it must be that the 7^th head has a two-phase existence.

 

The authorities of Dan2 (Neb’s image) and the authorities of Dan7 (the 4 beasts) can speak of the same authorities (Neb’s head is the 1^st beast, Neb’s chest and arms are the 2^nd beast, and so on), however, and maybe, the 4^th beast goes beyond the 4^th part of Neb’s image to represent the 7^th and 8^th head of Revelation.  The representation of authorities as kings and kingdoms in their future roles would be a complicated thing to symbolize in a vision. 

 

Seeing the 7^th and 8^th heads as 2 phases seems to make the most sense to me. 

I believe the last two-phased head as the AntiChrist and his kingdom—phase one could be prior to and during the first half of the 70th Week, and phase two the second half of the Week.   

If the 4^th division of Neb’s image is Rome then wouldn’t the 4^th beast be Rome?    Dan7 could be a repeat of the same authorities of Dan2/ Neb’s image, but the 4th beast may represent the past and the future--it depends if the toes and feet of Neb's image are of the past or are the future (the "revived Roman Empire" view). 

 

The 7^th head authority will be for a “short time” (Rev17.10), like a PHASE ONE type of authority, during the first half of the Week, and maybe some time before it—this requires that the 7^th head can’t be an authority like the Ottoman Empire during its 400 years reign, unless it is included in the 6th head as a continuation of the Roman Empire.

 

PHASE TWO would be the 8th head in which the “beast” is revealed (the authority represented in an individual) and starts “great tribulation.”  The beast is that authority who will subdue 3 other authorities (3 of 10 horns) maybe in the first half of the “Week” (maybe near the end of the first half), and that accomplishment plus surviving a mortal head wound and being empowered by satan (the dragon) becomes the phase 2 / 8^th head.

 

The 7 headed Beast represents all these authorities, because of their common role in history, as the satanic empowered authorities in the Mediterranean world to persecute the manifested people of God.

The Stone that destroys Neb’s image takes all 4 authorities down, but does this mean all were in authority when it happens? Or maybe they all exist in some sense when it happens, or it just represents that all authorities will be subdued.

Some think the 4^th part of the image is represented in the 7^th head as a revived Roman Empire, because if the legs, feet and toes are the Roman Empire, and the Stone strikes it, when does it strike it, since the Roman Empire is no longer in existence?  The revived Roman Empire view sees the feet and toes as that future empire.  The fourth beast of Dan 7 would be both Rome and Rome revived--probably particularly in the 10 horns on that beast.  

There is a kind of preterist-futurist view of the stone becoming a mountain in Dan 2, being that this is like the parable of leaven hidden in the meal in which the kingdom of God starts small with the first coming of Christ and will eventually fill the earth at the second coming. It began during the time of the Roman Empire and will grow slowly and have full authority at the second coming of Christ.  I question this view, but it would seem require that part of the fourth part of the image would have to be a Revived Roman Empire, since the fourth part of the image must exist when the stone finally becomes a mountain.  If the preterist-type view is correct, then the fourth beast in Dan 7 has to represent two stages of the Roman Empire as would the 4th part of Neb's image. The 4th beast has 10 horns that seem to correspond with the 10 horns of the beast in Revelation 13 and 17, but there is no direct correspondence with the fourth part of Neb's image, unless the toes and feet are it, but nothing is said about the number of the toes.  

 

The little horn of Dan7 subdues (uproots) 3 authorities of 10 (horns). That little horn is separate from the 10 horns, and the 10 join him in phase 2. 

 

That little horn could be foreshadowed by the little horn of Dan8:   Antiochus IV is in view primarily in Dan8, the revelation seems to go beyond him, and how exactly do we understand the reference that says the vision refers “to the time of the end?” Dan 8.17 makes reference to the “indignation.” Is this revelation concerning the time of the end of the last days or a particular “indignation?” God was “exceedingly angry with the nations at ease” during the Babylonian captivity, as Zech 1.15 refers.  Is the indignation concerning the activity of the little Horn, being Antiochus IV and his abomination of desolation activity?

 

  Dan8 reveals that the little horn is connected to a latter stage of the male goat authority (“Javan” as Greece, the 3^rd beast of Dan7), after he is defeated and 4 separate authorities (horns) spring from him—being 4 families/ authorities after Alexander the Great (this would seem to tie in with the 4 heads of the third beast of Dan7).  Could the revealed origin of this little horn (Antiochus IV) indicate the origins of the little horn of the 4^th beast of Dan7?  The prophecy seems to go beyond Antiochus IV, and he surely typifies the antichrist/ beast that will arise who will also commit the “abomination of desolation” and persecute the saints of God. 

 

So the 8^th head is phase two of the 7^th head of the beast, the 7^th head is a future Mediterranean-world authority, but it’s really  the 8^th  that takes on that role when it subdues the 3 horns.  

The 8^th head is the  individual that was foreshadowed in the exploits of Antiochus IV.   That individual will be the 7^th head that has a mortal head wound, but will rise again to be the 8^th head--the beast “who was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit.”

The 8^th head of the 7-headed beast in Revelation is phase two of the 7^th head.  The heads are Mediterranean-world authorities of particular significance, and all those authorities have come and went except the 7^th one.  When the 7^th one comes, it will be for a short while, for it will transition into a second phase, which makes it the 8^th head, though it is of the 7^th (Revelation 17.9-11).  This second phase (8^th head) is that authority that is manifested in the one who will be “the beast” (popularly called “The AntiChrist”) of Revelation chapter 13, and his kingdom will execute his laws to impose a very restrictive economic system and to persecute to the death those who oppose it, especially Christians, and Jews, and anyone in opposition. 

This 8^th head (authority) phase, I believe, is represented at least in the little horn and the ten horns of the fourth beast in Daniel 7.  

Daniel 7 presents 3 other beasts that have body parts seen in the beast of Revelation 13; this may be no different than that beast having heads which represent the authorities of the past--the body parts and heads are all part of this creature that represents the Mediterranean world authorities that persecuted the people of God. 

The 8^th head is after the transition from the 7^th head—a short lived authority of a lesser nature--after the “little horn” of Daniel 7 subdues 3 authorities of 10 (the 10 horns) and resurrects from a mortal head wound (Revelation 13.3-4; 17.8, 10-13).   The 8^th head is that authority which the “little horn” will have, and it will be the realm that executes his laws on the earth.