Difference between revisions of "The Everlasting Gospel"

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Revelation 14:6, 7. New King James Version.

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

The Big Picture

Mark 1:14-15. New King James Version.

Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

The Time Is Fulfilled

This part of the message is based on verifiable facts. Jesus spent a lot of time on it when people were ready to listen.

God intends to bring sin to an end. Yet He also wants to save as many people as He can. This has been demonstrated throughout history in His efforts to save a remnant when a time of judgment was set for any group of people.

The Kingdom of God Is at Hand

This part of the message deals with God and His feelings towards us.

Repent

This part of the message deals with our feelings towards God.

Believe in the Gospel

This part of the message calls us to accept the evidence we are given. While some people think that faith is believing without evidence, Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is evidence.

The Time Is Fulfilled

Eden

The Prophecy

Genesis 2:16, 17. New King James Version.

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Summary

1. Before sin began, God warned Adam and Eve that they would die the day they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
2. This gave them time to repent until sundown the day they ate the fruit.
3. After eating the fruit, Adam and Eve sought to hide themselves with coverings of fig leaves to escape punishment.
4. As sundown approached, God entered the garden of Eden to find Adam.
5. God promised salvation through one of Eve’s descendants. Eve interpreted this to mean that salvation would come as soon as she had a child. When her first son, Cain, was born, Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.”
6. God made garments of skins for Adam and Eve instead of their fig-leaf coverings, providing a heaven-guaranteed way to hide themselves. This demonstrated that their savior would die so they could escape punishment.
7. Both Adam and Eve were brought to repentance and saved before the time expired.

Pre-flood World

The Prophecy

Genesis 5:21. New King James Version.

Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah.

Jude 14, 15. New King James Version.

Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Another Prophecy

Genesis 6:3, 13. New King James Version.

“My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.…” “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

Amorites

The Prophecy

Genesis 15:13–16. New King James Version.

“Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Nineveh

Jonah 3. New King James Version.

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,

Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?

Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

Historical Background

Nineveh was the largest city in the kingdom of Assyria. Jonah was a prophet in Israel. Relations between Israel and Assyria were initially hostile. In 853 B.C., King Ahab of Israel was an ally of King Hadadezer of Damascus against the Assyrian king Shalmaneser. In one of the largest battles recorded up to that time, the allies stopped an Assyrian invasion at Qarqar.^[1] Ahab had been an ally of Hadadezer for three years. However, later that year, Ahab went to war against Damascus to recover the city of Ramoth Gilead, which Hadadezer had promised but failed to restore to Israelite control. Ahab died in the battle.^[2]

War between Israel and Damascus continued after the death of Ahab. At one time the army of Damascus besieged Samaria, the capital of Israel, causing a famine so severe that a mother ate her own child.^[3] At the same time, King Hadadezer of Damascus and the rest of the anti-Assyrian alliance repelled repeated attacks against them from King Shalmaneser of Assyria.^[4] By 842 B.C., Hadadezer had been assassinated by his servant Hazael, who became the new king of Damascus.^[5] Shalmaneser attacked and besieged Damascus in 842 B.C.^[6]

In 841 B.C., Jehu, a chariot captain in the Israelite army, exterminated the family of Ahab and became king of Israel.^[7] Deciding that an alliance with Assyria would be a useful defence against Damascus, Jehu sent tribute to Shalmaneser.^[6] However, Shalmaneser died in 824, and his sons fought one another for the throne. During the reign of Jehu^[8] and his son Jehoahaz,^[9] King Hazael of Damascus systematically conquered the land of Israel and massacred its people.

In 796 B.C., King Hazael of Damascus had died, and Adad-nirari, king of Assyria, besieged Damascus. Jehoash, king of Israel, sent tribute to Adad-nirari to renew the alliance between Israel and Assyria. Jehoash fought three battles against Damascus and recovered the cities of Israel.^[10] His son Jeroboam expanded Israel into an empire. By the time of Jeroboam’s death in 753 B.C., the borders of Israel extended to Hamath, in fulfillment of a prophecy given by Jonah.^[11]

Period of Jonah’s Ministry

Jonah’s prediction that Jeroboam would extend Israel’s border to Hamath places the beginning of his ministry some time before the end of Jeroboam’s reign in 753 B.C. During this time, Israel was an ally of Assyria, and Damascus was their common enemy.

Evidence of Nineveh’s Repentance

Assyrian kings at this time had a tradition of conducting annual military expeditions. These expeditions could have any number of purposes: to defend their empire from enemies, to put down rebellions, to acquire new territory, or to extort tribute from other kingdoms. Nineveh was described as “the bloody city,” “full of lies and robbery.” Assyrian kings would not hesitate to attack an ally if offered enough money to do so. The only breaks in the tradition of annual military expeditions were when civil war or pestilence prevented an army from being organized.

However, under King Ashur-nirari (755–745 B.C.), there was a four-year period (753–750 B.C.) in which Assyria conducted no military expeditions, and no civil wars or pestilences are recorded. The Assyrian records of this period do not explain why Assyria remained at peace, but it may have been because Jonah had visited Nineveh and the Assyrians had repented of their violence.

Notes

1. ↑ Sayce 1890, p. 55–71.
2. ↑ I Kings 22:1–39.
3. ↑ II Kings 6:24–29.
4. ↑ Smith 1875, p. 110–113.
5. ↑ II Kings 8:7–15.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Smith 1875, p. 113–114.
7. ↑ II Kings 9:1–10:17.
8. ↑ II Kings 10:32, 33.
9. ↑ II Kings 13:3–7.
10. ↑ II Kings 13:24, 25.
11. ↑ II Kings 14:23–27.

Babylon

The Prophecy

Jeremiah 25:8–14. New King James Version.

“Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,” says the Lord, “and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

“Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,” says the Lord; “and I will make it a perpetual desolation. So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. (For many nations and great kings shall be served by them also; and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)”

Jerusalem

The Prophecy

Daniel 9:20–24. New King James Version.

Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:

Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.”

Other Prophecies

Daniel 9:25–27. New King James Version.

Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.

And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.

Rome

The Prophecy

Daniel 7:23–27. New King James Version.

The fourth beast shall be
A fourth kingdom on earth,
Which shall be different from all other kingdoms,
And shall devour the whole earth,
Trample it and break it in pieces.
The ten horns are ten kings
Who shall arise from this kingdom.
And another shall rise after them;
He shall be different from the first ones,
And shall subdue three kings.
He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,
Shall persecute the saints of the Most High,
And shall intend to change times and law.
Then the saints shall be given into his hand
For a time and times and half a time.

But the court shall be seated,
And they shall take away his dominion,
To consume and destroy it forever.
Then the kingdom and dominion,
And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,
Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.

Repetitions

Daniel 12:4–7. New King James Version.

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?” Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.

Revelation 11:1–3. New King James Version.

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Revelation 12:6. New King James Version.

Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Revelation 12:13, 14. New King James Version.

Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.

Revelation 13:5–7. New King James Version.

And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Planet Earth

The Prophecy

Daniel 8:13, 14. New King James Version.

Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?” And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

Another Prophecy

Daniel 12:8–13. New King James Version.

Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?” And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”

Steps in the Plan of Salvation

The Kingdom of God Is at Hand

Repent

Believe in the Gospel

References

• The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Thomas Nelson, 1982.
• A. H. Sayce, editor. Records of the Past, volume 4. Samuel Bagster and Sons, London, 1890.
• G. Smith. The Assyrian Eponym Canon. Samuel Bagster and Sons, London, 1875.