end times letter from a disciple: To those who are called, set apart

This is an open letter to all Christians. Read this together with Jesus’ letters in the Book of Revelation 22：
¹² “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”^[f]
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments,^[g] that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ But^[h] outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches.
——————————————————
Jude 1 New King James Version (NKJV)

Greeting to the Called

¹ Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,
To those who are called, sanctified^[a] by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:
² Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Contend for the Faith

³ Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God^[b] and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Old and New Apostates

⁵ But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; ⁷ as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
⁸ Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. ⁹ Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Apostates Depraved and Doomed

¹² These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about^[c] by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; ¹³ raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
¹⁴ Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, ¹⁵ 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.”

Apostates Predicted

¹⁶ These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. ¹⁷ But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: ¹⁸ how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹ These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

Maintain Your Life with God

²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
²² And on some have compassion, making a distinction;^{[d] 23} but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire,^[e] hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

Glory to God

²⁴ Now to Him who is able to keep you^[f] from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
²⁵ To God our Savior,^[g]
Who alone is wise,^[h]
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,^[i]
Both now and forever.
Amen.

Footnotes:

1. Jude 1:1 NU-Text reads beloved.
2. Jude 1:4 NU-Text omits God.
3. Jude 1:12 NU-Text and M-Text read along.
4. Jude 1:22 NU-Text reads who are doubting (or making distinctions).
5. Jude 1:23 NU-Text adds and on some have mercy with fear and omits with fear in first clause.
6. Jude 1:24 M-Text reads them.
7. Jude 1:25 NU-Text reads To the only God our Savior.
8. Jude 1:25 NU-Text omits Who . . . is wise and adds Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
9. Jude 1:25 NU-Text adds Before all time.

Connect to the power source for LIFE

https://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/end-times-watchman-bible-study-be-in-union-with-the-messiah-yeshua-2/

Finally, ending a letter: my brethren

 In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]. Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere. Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place]. Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God, And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace. Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one]. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God. Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people). And [pray] also for me, that [freedom of] utterance may be given me, that I may open my mouth to proclaim boldly the mystery of the good news (the Gospel), For which I am an ambassador in a coupling chain [in prison. Pray] that I may declare it boldly and courageously, as I ought to do. - Ephesians 6:10-20 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians6:10-20&version=AMP

Yeshayah 11:11 And it shall come to pass in Yom HaHu

Yeshayah 11 Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)

And there shall come forth a Khoter (Branch) out of the Geza (Stem, Stump, Stock) of Yishai, and a Netzer [Branch [see Tzemach, Moshiach Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12, Ezra 3:8 which give as Moshiach’s Namesake Yehoshua/Yeshua; compare Mt.2:23 OJBC] shall bear fruit of his roots:

² And the Ruach [Hakodesh] of Hashem shall rest upon Him, the Ruach of Chochmah and Binah, the Ruach of Etzah (Counsel [see Isaiah 9:5) and Gevurah, the Ruach of Da’as and of the Yir’at Hashem;

³ And His delight shall be in the Yir’at Hashem: and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears:

⁴ But with tzedek shall He judge the needy, and reprove with mishor (equity, justice) for the anvei eretz: and He shall strike the earth with the shevet of His mouth, and with the Ruach of His lips shall he slay the reshah.

⁵ And tzedek shall be the ezor (belt) of His loins, and emunah (faithfulness) the ezor of His waist.

⁶ The ze’ev (wolf) also shall dwell with the keves, and the namer (leopard) shall lie down with the gedi (young goat); and the egel and the lion whelp and the fatling together; and a na’ar shall lead them.

⁷ And the parah (cow) and the dov (bear) shall feed together; their yeladim shall lie down together; and the aryeh shall eat teven (straw) like the ox.

⁸ And the yonek (sucking infant) shall play on the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his yad in the viper’s me’urah (hole).

⁹ They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My Har Kodesh; for ha’aretz shall be full of the da’as Hashem, as the mayim cover the sea.

¹⁰ And in Yom HaHu there shall be a Shoresh Yishai, which shall stand for a nes (banner) for the peoples; to Him [Moshiach] will the Goyim seek; and His menucha (resting place) shall be kavod.

¹¹ And it shall come to pass in Yom HaHu, that Adonoi shall set His yad again the second time to recover the She’ar (Remnant) of His people, which shall be left [as survivors], from Assyria, and from Mitzrayim, and from Patros, and from Kush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Chamat, and from the islands of the sea.

¹² And He shall raise up a nes [a banner, i.e., send a signal] for the Goyim, and shall assemble the outcasts of Yisroel, and gather together the dispersed of Yehudah from the four corners of ha’aretz.

¹³ The kinah (envy, jealousy) also of Ephrayim shall depart, and the adversaries of Yehudah shall be cut off; Ephrayim shall not envy Yehudah, and Yehudah shall not harass Ephrayim.

¹⁴ But they shall swoop down upon the shoulders of the Pelishtim toward the west; they shall plunder them of the east together; they shall lay their yad upon Edom and Moav; and the Bnei Ammon shall obey them.

¹⁵ And Hashem shall utterly destroy the leshon Yam Mitzrayim (tongue of the Red Sea); and with His scorchimg Ruach shall He shake His Yad over the Nahar [i.e., Euphrates River], and shall break it into seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.

¹⁶ And there shall be a mesillah (highway) for the she’ar (remnant) of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria; just as it was for Yisroel in the Yom that he came up out of Eretz Mitzrayim.

end times church witnessing 2014: Samuel saves Israel

Jeremiah 44:4 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁴ Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’

Acts 3:24

And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.

Acts 13:20

All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

 

Hebrews 11:32-35 English Standard Version (ESV) ³² And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵ Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

1 Samuel 7 English Standard Version (ESV)

7 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. ² From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

Samuel Judges Israel

³ And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.
⁵ Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. ⁷ Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹ So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel.
¹¹ And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.
¹² Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen^[a] and called its name Ebenezer;^[b] for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” ¹³ So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴ The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
¹⁵ Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶ And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. ¹⁷ Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord.

Footnotes:

1. 1 Samuel 7:12 Hebrew; Septuagint, Syriac Jeshanah
2. 1 Samuel 7:12 Ebenezer means stone of help

Psalm 99:5-7 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁵ Exalt the Lord our God;
    worship at his footstool!
    Holy is he!

⁶ Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
    They called to the Lord, and he answered them.
⁷ In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
    they kept his testimonies
    and the statute that he gave them.

Jeremiah 15:1-3 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Lord Will Not Relent

15 Then the Lord said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! ² And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
    and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
    and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’

³ I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.  Isaiah 44:1-5 English Standard Version (ESV)

Israel the Lord‘s Chosen

44 “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,
    Israel whom I have chosen!
² Thus says the Lord who made you,
    who formed you from the womb and will help you:
Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
³ For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
    and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
    and my blessing on your descendants.
⁴ They shall spring up among the grass
    like willows by flowing streams.
⁵ This one will say, ‘I am the Lord‘s,’
    another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord‘s,’
    and name himself by the name of Israel.”

What kind of house could you build for God ?

Isaiah 66 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
66 “Heaven is my throne,” says Adonai,
“and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house could you build for me?
What sort of place could you devise for my rest?
2 Didn’t I myself make all these things?
This is how they all came to be,”
says Adonai.
“The kind of person on whom I look with favor
is one with a poor and humble spirit,
who trembles at my word.
3 Those others might as well kill a person as an ox,
as well break a dog’s neck as sacrifice a lamb,
as well offer pig’s blood as offer a grain offering,
as well bless an idol as burn incense.
Just as these have chosen their ways
and enjoy their disgusting practices,
4 so I will enjoy making fools of them,
and bring on them the very things they fear.
For when I called, no one answered;
when I spoke, they did not hear.
Instead they did what was evil in my sight
and chose what did not please me.”
5 Hear the word of Adonai,
you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers, who hate you and reject you
because of my name, have said:
‘Let Adonai be glorified,
so we can see your joy.’
But they will be put to shame.”
6 That uproar in the city,
that sound from the temple,
is the sound of Adonai repaying
his foes what they deserve.
BibleGateway
Revelation 6 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
6 Next I watched as the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living beings say in a thundering voice, “Go!” 2 I looked, and there in front of me was a white horse; its rider had a bow and was given a crown; and he rode off as a conqueror to conquer.
3 When he broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, “Go!” 4 Another horse went out, a red one; and its rider was given the power to take peace away from the earth and make people slaughter each other. He was given a great sword.
5 When he broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, “Go!” I looked, and there in front of me was a black horse, and its rider held in his hand a pair of scales. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living beings say, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages! Six pounds of barley for the same price! But don’t damage the oil or the wine!”
7 When he broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living being say, “Go!” 8 I looked, and there in front of me was a pallid, sickly-looking horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Sh’ol followed behind him. They were given authority to kill one-quarter of the world by war, by famine, by plagues and with the wild animals of the earth.
9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been put to death for proclaiming the Word of God, that is, for bearing witness. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, “Sovereign Ruler, HaKadosh, the True One, how long will it be before you judge the people living on earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Each of them was given a white robe; and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow-servants should be reached, of their brothers who would be killed, just as they had been.
12 Then I watched as he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, the sun turned black as sackcloth worn in mourning, and the full moon became blood-red. 13 The stars fell from heaven to earth just as a fig tree drops its figs when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15 Then the earth’s kings, the rulers, the generals, the rich and the mighty — indeed, everyone, slave and free — hid himself in caves and among the rocks in the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us[a] from the face of the One sitting on the throne and from the fury of the Lamb! 17 For the Great Day of their fury has come, and who can stand?”

I saw no Temple in the city

Revelation 21 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,[a] for the old heaven and the old earth had passed away, and the sea was no longer there. 2 Also I saw the holy city, New Yerushalayim, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “See! God’s Sh’khinah is with mankind, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and he himself, God-with-them, will be their God.[b] 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain; because the old order has passed away.”

5 Then the One sitting on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new!” Also he said, “Write, ‘These words are true and trustworthy!’” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the ‘A’ and the ‘Z,’ the Beginning and the End. To anyone who is thirsty I myself will give water free of charge from the Fountain of Life. 7 He who wins the victory will receive these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the untrustworthy, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those involved with the occult and with drugs, idol-worshippers, and all liars — their destiny is the lake burning with fire and sulfur, the second death.”

9 One of the seven angels having the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues approached me and said, “Come! I will show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.” 10 He carried me off in the Spirit to the top of a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Yerushalayim, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It had the Sh’khinah of God, so that its brilliance was like that of a priceless jewel, like a crystal-clear diamond. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates; at the gates were twelve angels; and inscribed on the gates were the names of the twelve tribes of Isra’el. 13 There were three gates to the east, three gates to the north, three gates to the south and three gates to the west. 14 The wall of the city was built on twelve foundation-stones, and on these were the twelve names of the twelve emissaries of the Lamb.

15 The angel speaking with me had a gold measuring-rod with which to measure the city, its gates and its wall. 16 The city is laid out in a square, its length equal to its width. With his rod he measured the city at 1,500 miles, with length, width and height the same. 17 He measured its wall at 216 feet by human standards of measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of diamond and the city of pure gold resembling pure glass. 19 The foundations of the city wall were decorated with all kinds of precious stones — the first foundation stone was diamond, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh turquoise and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate made of a single pearl. The city’s main street was pure gold, transparent as glass.

22 I saw no Temple in the city, for Adonai, God of heaven’s armies, is its Temple, as is the Lamb. 23 The city has no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s Sh’khinah gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 Its gates will never close, they stay open all day because night will not exist there, 26 and the honor and splendor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure may enter it, nor anyone who does shameful things or lies; the only ones who may enter are those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.