Short Stories

Heaven is Now Open

by Murray J Peat
08/27/19
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Heaven is Now Open

May 30-31 2015

Prelude

“Jesus came back so heaven is now open!” Steve announced, looking up from his bible. (John 1:51)

“Did I miss something?” Steve’s flatmate Reuben asked, looking up from his novel. “Heaven has always been open and I didn’t hear the trumpet.”

Steve looked thoughtfully at Reuben. “Would you say that the Father’s House where Jesus was having rooms prepared for His disciples is the same place as heaven?” (John 14:2; 2 Cor 5:1; Heb 4:14)

“Yes,” Reuben answered.

“And would you say that Jesus has come and taken them there yet?” (John 14:3)

“No and yes,” Reuben replied contradictorily. “I mean No in chronological time Jesus hasn’t come but Yes because he lives outside time and so does heaven.”

“But we live inside time and so for us it’s still future, right?”

“Correct.”

“When Paul spoke about going to heaven did he state it as having happened already or going to happen?”

“Going to happen.” (1 Cor 1:8)

“So Paul didn’t use the argument that heaven was already open. They believed that they would sleep in death until Jesus returned. Correct?” (1 Thess 4:14)

“Correct.”

“And has Jesus returned as far as you are aware?” Steve asked.

“No, he has not.”

“Which means that heaven isn’t open as far as the Bible tells us.”

“It’s true the Bible sees it as future,” Reuben conceded.

“So if it’s future, then when we die, we don’t go to heaven automatically because it isn’t open yet. We sleep awaiting His return.”

“I guess so.”

“So when we have funerals and say our loved ones have gone to heaven ahead of us, in fact they haven’t. They are asleep awaiting a hopeful entrance into heaven.”

“You could be right.”

“No, I believe I’m wrong. I believe Jesus has returned. And if he has returned then heaven is open which is wonderful. That would mean we don’t have to sleep and wait. We can say that we hope to be in heaven with our loved ones.”

“But I said a minute ago that heaven was open.”

“Yes, but you also agreed that Jesus hasn’t come back yet, so in your reckoning heaven can’t be open.”

“Well, my dear Steve, how are you going to prove that Jesus returned?”

“I can’t prove he did but I can hopefully show the evidence for his return from the Bible.”

“Well, this will be interesting.”

“Jesus loved telling stories so I’m going to narrate a simple story based on scripture. Hopefully by the end, you will see the logic and I hope see why Jesus must have returned already.”

“One final question before you start the story, Steve. If Jesus has returned already, what are we waiting for?”

“Personally I’m not waiting for anything. A follower of Christ has the King with him at all times. What more could I want than his companionship day by day? (John 17:3) And when I leave this life and pass to the next he will walk with me there too.”

Reuben nodded softly and prepared himself for the story, his final question and Steve’s answer coming back from time to time.

Hosea - 800BC

“Rachel! I have said many times that you are not to play with Calnin, especially today Saturday being the 7th day Sabbath.”

“But father, she and I have so much fun together.”

“Rachel, we the people of Judah do not associate with the nations (Gentiles) of the north.”

“But why father?” Rachel asked respectfully.

“Because they have disobeyed our Lord Yahweh and He has cast them away.” (Hosea 1:9)

“But won’t our Lord one day have mercy and bring them back? Besides, we all have Jacob as our forefather.”

“That’s true but until Yahweh authorises it we must obey Him. But you will be happy to know that this will happen. Our prophet Hosea spoke recently and said that the 2 kingdoms of Israel and Judah would reunite.” (Hosea 1:10-11)

“Oh, that is wonderful news, father. Then us Judeans (Jews) and the northern Israelites (Gentiles) can live together as one nation again, 12 tribes of Jacob reunited. Oh, I do hope that happens soon, father.”

“As a concession, in light of what Hosea has said, I will let you play with Calnin once a week on Sunday, the 1st day of the week.”

“Thank you so much father,” Rachel replied warmly.

Daniel - 600BC

“That’s some prophecy, Lord,” said Daniel, impressed. “So you want me to begin broadcasting this far and wide?”

“No, I don’t,” said Yahweh Elohim. “I want you to seal it up. The words of this prophecy may not be opened until the last days.” (Dan 12:9)

“So these aren’t the last days?” Daniel asked disappointedly.

“Indeed not, my righteous one. (Ezek 14:14) Much is still to occur before your Messiah comes and he will herald the last days. At that time your prophecy will be unfurled and read for then it will be the end.”

“When you say ‘end’, what exactly is it the end of?”

“The end of the age. The end of the breakdown between Adam’s race and me. I Myself will bring My people (Adam’s line through Noah and Abraham and Jacob) back to Me without the disobedience currently separating us. The end of the age will signify a new beginning where My people and I are united as we were before the first Adam sinned. (John 17:24) The last Adam will be your Messiah and he will usher in the new age in the Spirit of Holiness. (1 Cor 15:45) The prophecy you hold speaks of the last days of this age and the scroll must stay sealed until then. Once it is unsealed, the end of the age will be less than one generation. (Math 23:36) The believers of that age will have your prophesy confirmed by a similar prophecy and theirs shall not be sealed but remain unsealed, for that is the time of the end.” (Rev 22:10)

“How long roughly until this time?”

“Beyond your time, Daniel. You will sleep in Paradise until that time, then awaken with the righteous.” (Dan 12:13)

“How glorious that will be Father. I treasure your walk with me now and will then too.” (Gen 6:9; Luke 24:15)

So Daniel sealed the prophecy.

Zechariah and Elizabeth - 1BC.

“The end days are almost upon us, Elizabeth. The Lord continues to speak to me of the imminent coming of His Messiah.” (Luke 1:17)

“Yes, yes, Zechariah, me too. He is coming to reign over the House of Jacob. (Luke 1:33.). How glorious that we might live to see the end of this age and the beginning of that age.”

“Glorious to see Him, my dear, but I fear not wholly glorious to participate in the last days. The reunification of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, so long dreamed about, shall finally happen. (Ezek 37:19) A New Covenant will be made with the 2 Houses of Judah and Israel (Heb 8:8 & 12:14) so that all Israel will be saved not just Judah (Rom 11:26.) But, as the prophets warned, not without much blood being spilled. And our son Johannes will take his part as we have been led to prepare him. (Luke 1:76) And we shall need each other the more, Elizabeth, for many righteous will die as the end of the age draws imminent, perhaps us too. (Math 24:9) But we rejoice knowing that the re-uniting of Israel’s 12 tribes with our God Yahweh will usher in the age of the Messiah’s reign over a united Israel (John 1:49). That has always been worth the wait and the risk.” Elizabeth held the heartache of the coming days in her heart and Zechariah comforted her.

There was a knock at the door. Ben, a young man, was all smiles. “High Priest Matthias has asked to see you both in his office. He has most wonderful news.” Ben left and ran back.

Zechariah and Elizabeth dressed appropriately, wondering what was in the wind, walked to the temple courts and knocked on the high priest’s door. Ben let them in and the high priest welcomed them warmly. “Have a seat,” he offered. They sat in curious expectation.

From a long sealed wooden container, the high priest removed a scroll. “This is Daniel’s sealed prophecy and it is my duty to guard it,” he began. Zechariah and Elizabeth were both startled to see such a precious document before their eyes. Long had this document lain in the holy of holies in the inner courts of the temple, guarded and seen only by the high priest in whose charge it lay. “Our God has commanded me today to unseal this prophecy and read it to you both in young Ben’s hearing. It is then to remain unsealed but for me to continue to guard it in this container in the holy of holies. Only you and I can read it in future, until our Lord gives me fresh instructions.”

High Priest Matthias then read the words of Daniel’s prophecy aloud. Each of them in the room were awed by the circumstances and forebodings surrounding the last days. None had realised how spiritually dark those days would be. Matthias finished, rolled up the scroll and returned it to the container and shut the lid. “This was only for your hearing. Our Lord has said that you are only to share this with the righteous and you will know who those are.” Zechariah and Elizabeth nodded in silence, bowed respectfully before the high priest and quietly left the room, seen out by Ben.

Back at home, they went to fasting and prayer for some days. At the conclusion of this, word arrived from Elizabeth’s cousin Mary that she was pregnant and Elizabeth knew at once the identity of Mary’s baby – the Messiah - and her heart rejoiced like an overflowing waterfall. She told Zechariah immediately and he was so overcome with emotion he had to lie down for some time.

When Mary arrived at their Judean home (Luke 1:39) and Elizabeth spoke to Mary, the baby in Mary’s womb felt the divine connection between the two women and jumped for joy. (Luke 1:41, 44)

The last days of the age had begun. This baby would be the one to reconcile Israel to herself and back to her God. The “3 score years and 10” indicating one generation (70 years) would see out the age. (Psalm 90:10; Zech 1:12) All prophecies would be fulfilled in this time period and the age come to a completion. The question was – who would live to see it out and who would be martyred in the process? Would the Messiah see out his 70 years? The prophets indicated he wouldn’t. That he would go like a sheep to the slaughter. (Isa 53:7) But then how would Israel be reconciled? Lots of questions with answers around the corner.

Jesus - 33AD

“So, Lord, now that you’ve taught us all this, do you mind if I ask some questions for clarification?”

“Fire away, Peter,” Jesus replied, leaning back on the couch, exhausted after a full day’s ministry.

“Are you going to reach 70 years of age?” was Peter’s first question.

Jesus laughed. “No, I’m not and neither will you. I’ll go soon and you’ll follow near the close of the age.” (John 21:18-19)

“When you say ‘close of the age’, do you mean in your generation?” Peter asked.

“I do,” Jesus replied. “These are the last days of the age, a period that began at my birth and concludes at my return in the clouds in my 70^th year.”

“On your birthday?”

“Can’t tell you that precisely. Only the Father knows the day and the hour. (Math 24:36) But you will be there and see most of the end events and everything I have said will happen within this last generation. (Math 24:25, 33-34) The most important thing, Peter, is to be ready for me and I know you will be.” (Math 24:44)

“Apart from all the signs you’ve given us, how will your people know it’s the period of the end?”

“The prophet Joel says that ‘your sons and daughters shall prophesy.’ (Joel 2:28-32; Act2 2:16-20) This prophecy shall begin on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover of my death. Our Father shall release His Holy Spirit from His House in Heaven upon all believers and they shall prophesy and speak the Word boldly. (Acts 2:4; Acts 4:31) Then you shall all know for sure that you are in the last days and can expect the end imminently. (Acts 2:17-18) As Moses was 40 years in the desert and as I was 40 days in the desert, so from the time of the start of my ministry aged 30 to the time of my return in the clouds, it shall be 40 years.”

“So to summarise, Lord, you are going to die and we shall receive the Spirit shortly afterwards, and teach everything until you return in your 70^th year.”

“Correct.”

“And you said all the prophecies would be fulfilled in these last years. Do you really mean all the prophecies including the long list you gave us?”

“Yep, every one of them.”

“But will we preach to all the nations in that short time?” (Math 24:14)

“You will. In fact you Peter will preach to representatives of all the nations in your first preaching on the Day of Pentecost. You won’t have to go to them for they will have come to you in Jerusalem.” (Acts 2:5, 9-11)

“So by ‘all nations’, you just mean nations where Israelites are living?”

“Yes. It is only to the sons of Israel that you are preaching who live in those nations. The purpose is to turn Israel back to Me.” (Acts 2:22; Amos 9:9)

“But will we really see wars and false prophets and Daniel’s prophecy of the abomination and the sky turning red and the stars fall, all in just 40 years?” (Math 24:4-36; Dan 12:11)

“You will. Already false prophets are in the wings. (Acts 13:6; 2 Cor 11:13) Those of you who remain alive in the latter 60s will see the cities of Israel burned by wars between the unbelieving Jews and the Romans. (Josephus). The smoke from these fires will turn the skies dark and the moon red. (Joel 2:31 Act 2:20.) The polluted skies shall let through more meteorites than usual which shall fall to the ground in many places.”

“But what about the Anti-Christ? Is he about already too?”

“Many anti-christs are already here (2 John 1:7) but the one of which the prophecies speak will emerge on the scene in the 60s. Nearer the time of the very end, our Father will give Johannes a revelation (Rev 1:1) that will show you in more detail what you can expect in the last handful of years and who the Anti-Christ beast is and how to recognise him (Rev 13:18). You will understand the whole revelation and be asked to guard it through to completion, for I will return to those of you keeping it.” (Rev 1:3; Rev 22:7-12)

“And is Jerusalem really going to be destroyed at the end?”

“It grieves me much but yes. This Jerusalem was always a copy of our Father’s true Jerusalem prepared for you in the heavens, and it has served its purpose and must fall so that you can enter the true one with me. (Heb 9:24) The New Jerusalem is descending even now from the New Heaven onto the New Land (not this Old Land), invisible to you here but soon you shall see it just as Stephen shall see and enter before you.” (Rev 21:1-3; Acts 7:55)

“So to recap your instructions to us, when we see holy Jerusalem surrounded by the Romans, all us believers escape before they block the gates with barricades. We head to the Judean hills and wait up there until you come in the clouds and gather us up.”

“Correct.”

“Will we have to wait long?”

“Remember Daniel’s prophecy – from the time the daily sacrifice ceases, which it shall when the temple burns in Jerusalem, count off 1335 days.” (Dan 12:11-12)

“So we stay in the hills for about 3.5 years. What do we eat?”

“The Israelites were fed by our Father in the wilderness and so shall you.”

“So will you actually land back on the ground and stay here long?”

“No, my purpose is only to bring you with me to the Father. Once you see me appear and hear the sound of the trumpet, the angels will bring you up to join me. (Math 24:30-31.) And those who are alive will join with those sleeping in Paradise in the clouds and we shall all be together. (1 Thess 4:17; Luke 23:43; Dan 12:2; 2 Cor 12:4) This old land will have served its purpose.” (Rev 21:1)

“Will there be anyone left to write the account of us going away?”

“No, because you will have all gone. And the majority of unbelievers who remain will die inside the walls of Jerusalem so they won’t give an account. There is going to be so much devastation of Judah and northern Israel in those days that millions of lives will be lost in the wars across Israel. Many people will become homeless and wander round seeking shelter and food. No-one will be writing anything. They will all be simply trying to survive the wars of the Jews and the Romans. So the settlement of a relatively small bunch of people in the remote Judean hills will not even be noticed.”

“You said that ‘all eyes will see you.’ What did you mean?” (Rev 1:7)

“When I come in the clouds all the believers waiting on the hills will see me just as they will see me depart. (Acts 1:11) Those in Jerusalem who condemned me will also see me when I come on Jerusalem in judgement. The whole city will be surrounded and almost all die inside from starvation, disease, fire or the sword. And unbelieving Israel shall realise they crucified their Messiah and they shall wail for themselves and for their children who shall perish.” (Rev 1:7; Math 23:37; John 3:16)

“So what about future generations who live here. Will you still relate to them?”

“My Father and I (and you with us) will relate to them through our Spirit who shall remain here. We will work through a new generation yet to be born - future righteous ones who will broadcast the Word in the power of the Spirit to others.” (John 3:21; John 4:14)

“So the old age will have closed. Does the next age refer to here or our Heavenly Home?”

“Both. Those who receive the Word and the Spirit here after 70AD shall be as much our People as those who have headed Home. When they pass from this life, they won’t have to sleep in Paradise but can waken in Paradise and will have direct entry into Home.”

“What about people who are not descended from Jacob? Can they join our People?”

“It shall be much harder for them because the Father’s Laws continue into the next age and they will need to severe themselves from their own culture to accept His laws but those who do can become His people.” (Math 5:19)

“Which Laws do you anticipate causing the most stumbling?”

“All of them. Our Father’s righteousness is to be preserved and to be His people, they must live righteously. Through the Spirit I can bring them to purity but they must remain there. Purified of all sin, they must then walk without sin doing only righteous things. And if they do so, they will join us in the Father’s Kingdom.” (Math 5:20; Math 13:43; Math 25:25:46)

“Won’t that be impossible?”

“No, it won’t. Once you receive the Spirit, Peter, you won’t sin against me ever again.”

“Again, Lord? Surely I…” Peter stopped. He knew his own heart and a sadness filled it. (Math 26:72-75)

“In time, Peter, the Spirit will purify you and bring you to a place where you won’t let me down again. You will have disagreements with your brothers. (Gal 6:1) These shall be your growing in grace. But you won’t break the Father’s Laws. You shall always have the capacity to sin but you shall not sin.”

“Will all the believers in the Spirit remain free of sin?”

“That is their choice but those who love me will keep my Father’s Laws and so not sin, and I will abide with them to the close of the age when I take them Home.” (Exod 20:6; Deut 7:9; John 14:15; John 14:21; John 15:20; 1 John 5:2)

“But what if a disciple breaks one of the Laws after you have purified them?”

“Then my death was for nothing for them. When the Law is broken, a person is separated from the Father. I can only forgive and cleanse and purify once. My sacrifice through blood is a pardon for you for once only. (Heb 10:14) My blood can’t buy back a disciple’s sins if he deliberately sins again. (Heb 10:26; Heb 10:38) But remember you only have 40 years to endure so be patient and remain in God’s will. (Heb 10:35-39). You may stumble at times and the Father will discipline you but that is for your good and to enable you to endure until I return. (Heb 12:11)

“But didn’t you say we should forgive our brother 70 times 7?”

“Yes, you must but your brother isn’t breaking the Laws. He has a disagreement with you not with the Father. That’s why you must forgive him. I wasn’t talking about sins your brother commits against our Father. Our Father forgives you faults against each other but not sins against His Laws. (Math 6:12) I can cover your deliberate sins against the Father only once.”

“So the Laws you refer to are…?”

“The 10 Commandments, keeping them in the manner in which I taught upon the mountain so that’s it not just the action but also the thought that counts.” (Math 5:22; Math 5:28; Math 5:32)

“So if I look at a woman lustfully to want to have her for myself, I commit adultery and thus sin.”

“No, I didn’t say any woman nor does the Law. (Exod 20:14) To look at a married woman lustfully to want her for your own, is to commit adultery against her husband and thus sin against God who protects marriage. (Math 5:28) If you look lustfully at an unmarried woman and want her as your own, you may approach her and if she agrees to marry you, you may do so.” (1 Cor 7:9; 1 Cor 7:36)

“I’m glad you clarified that, Lord. And we must keep the Sabbath as a day of rest. Will this day always remain the 7^th day of the week? What if a disciple wanted to work on the 7^th day (Saturday) and keep the 1^st day (Sunday) as their Sabbath, would that be ok?”

“Who set and blessed the 7^th day Sabbath, Peter?”

“Yahweh Elohim. To remind us that he worked on the first 6 days and rested on the 7^th and to honour Him on that day.” (Gen 2:2-3)

“Correct. And has our Father ever said that the 7^th day Sabbath is moveable?”

“No, he hasn’t.”

“When His people Israel were in the desert and he brought manna to feed them, did he say they could collect it on the Sabbath?” (Exod 16:23)

“No, they couldn’t and got into trouble if they did. So Lord you’re saying that the 7^th day has always been a special day in His eyes and will continue to be so.”

“Correct. And remember what I told you about the last days. ‘Pray your flight may not be on a Sabbath.’ (Math 24:20) This can’t be any day. It can only be the 7^th day.”

“Yes, that’s right. So the Sabbath will always be the 7^th day Saturday.”

“Correct. And that’s why it will be hard for people of other cultures to keep our Father’s Laws because they will truly have to turn their minds and lives around to be true to Him.” (Rom 12:2)

“So stealing and even the thought of stealing, and coveting our neighbours’ possessions to want to possess them, are as wrong now as they were when Moses received them.”

“Correct, Peter. And you must teach and live these Laws.” (Math 5:19)

“Some argue that it’s ok to worship their god because it’s really our Father since He made everything and so did their god.”

“Our Father’s name is Yahweh Elohim. (Exod 3:14) He is the creator of Adam and his descendants, and He created what He did in 6 days. He lives in holiness and cannot abide evil. He has 10 Laws which His people are to keep. Find me a god whose name and creation and character and Laws match our Father’s. You won’t find one. There is only one true God who is my Father. People may call all manner of things their god but Yahweh is unique and cannot be confused with any other being, nor has He any other name but the names He calls himself.” (Exod 20:3 & 7; Exod 34:14; Isa 54:5; John 17:6-26.)

“One last question, Lord. Which of us will live to see you return?”

“Sadly Peter, you won’t but you will only miss out and sleep 3 years. John will remain alive of the apostles (John 21:22) and a few others.”

“Thanks, Lord for clarifying all these things for me.”

“You’re welcome, Peter. I need you to know everything because you will lead the apostles in the years to come leading up to the end of the age and my return.” Peter wandered off to reflect on these answers.

Paul 64AD

“I’m glad Paul is on our side now. I appreciate his wisdom and encouragement to hang on to the end.”

“Yes, Ben, but with the growing resistance from the Jewish authorities and the Romans, some days I wonder if in the face of adversity I will remain true until Jesus comes back.”

“I know what you mean . But with only a handful of years left, we will make it, Lucas. As Paul said, Jesus will see us through to his coming.” (1 Cor 1:8)

“Some days I can barely wait to see him again,” Lucas mused. “When people come into our fellowship supposedly by faith but live in deliberate opposition to his Laws, it’s sure hard going.”

“Paul is right in exhorting us to expel such people from our gatherings. (2 Cor 6:14-18). I was glad to hear the elders at Corinth finally expelled the man committing incest there. (1 Cor 5:1-7.) With the coming of Jesus so close, we want Him to rejoice that His people have remained faithful to the end. (1 John 2:24) For the old and former lifestyle has gone and new godly living is ours in Christ and what a joy it is.” (2 Cor 5:17; John 15:11)

“Ben, do you ever think about who of us will be sleeping in Paradise when 70AD comes round and who of us will still be alive?” (1 Thess 4:15-16)

“Sometimes, Lucas. But I know we can rest in the fact that our Father knows best who He needs asleep and who He needs alive up to that moment.”

“I love the way Paul keeps telling us how close Jesus’ return is (Rom 13:12; Phil 4:5; 2 Thess 2:2; ) despite knowing that he himself will sleep shortly (2 Tim 4:6).”

“And 3 other apostles Peter and John and James continue to bring the same message that Jesus Himself taught us of Jesus’ soon return. (Luke 21:31-32; 1 Pet 4:7; Rev 1:3; Rev 22:10; Heb 10:25; James 5:8.) What trials face us constantly, but how wonderful that we live in the few years left leading up to this most glorious event when we see Jesus arrive back just as we saw Him go from Mt Elaion (Olivet.) (Acts 1:9-11)

“It is no wonder that Jesus is the Beginning and the End. (Rev 22:13) He was at the Beginning of the age (John 1:1; John 17:24) and He ushers in the End of the age. (John 17:4) And he is returning for us, as he promised. (1 Pet 1:20; John 14:2-3; Math 24:31-33.)

“I still remember Stephens’s exultant declaration before he was stoned - ‘Behold, I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.’ (Acts 7:56) Very soon, Lucas, very soon, we shall see heaven opened and all who have remained believing and righteous shall walk through those gates. (Psalm 100:4; 118:19; Rev 22:14) What a day that shall be.”

Postlude.

“That’s the story, Reuben. That’s how we know Jesus came back around 70AD and why.”

“Well, Steve, you draw an astounding conclusion. How come no-one else has come to this conclusion?”

“What if I told you that they have but that the weight of christendom forces them to hold their view to themselves?”

“But all the hymns speak of His coming as future. How can you sing that great hymn ‘Sing we the King who is coming to reign?’ “

“It’s a great song, Reuben and I love it but Jesus is already reigning. He reigns here with those of us who are believers and He reigns in his heavenly kingdom with those saints who have gone before us.”

“But what about the trumpet? Wasn’t the whole world going to hear it?”

“Not the whole world. Only the believers. When John received the revelation from the Father he was “in the Spirit and heard a great voice as of a trumpet.” (Rev 1:10) No-one else would have heard this. When the Father spoke to Jesus from heaven, no-one saw into heaven and heard the words from the Father except Jesus who related them to His disciples. (Math 3:16-17) When Stephen looked into heaven, no-one else saw the sight. (Acts 7:55) When Paul was converted, only he heard the words of Jesus from heaven. (Acts 9:3-4)”

“So you’re saying that the trumpet was only heard by the saints.”

“Yes. Trumpets were used for several things in the biblical record and sometimes it was spoken of figuratively to teach and warn. One trumpet was to warn (Jer 4:5; Ezek 33:3) Another was to gather the people and for Yahweh to speak and protect.(Exod 19:13; Neh 4:20; Joel 2:15; Math 24:31) Another was to invoke victory over a situation. (Josh 6:5) Another was to celebrate praise of Yahweh (2 Sam 6:15; Psalm 150:3; Isa 27:13). Another was to signal destruction. (Amos 2:2) Jesus and His apostles had sounded the warnings of the end of the age for 40 years. The last trumpet wasn’t a warning. It was to signal the end of the age and the gathering of the saints into the clouds. (1 Cor 15:52).”

“I often wondered what happened to Lazarus,” Reuben reflected.

“We have a clue when Jesus said to Martha before raising Lazarus from the dead - ‘Those who live and believe in Me shall never die.’ (John 11:26, 43-44) So it may be that Lazarus was one of those who remained alive, saw the return of Jesus and walked alive into the clouds.”

“In light of this do you think that the people Jesus healed, remained healed?”

“I do. I think that Jesus came for that generation and healed those who trusted His Father and these ones who remained faithful to the end went into heaven seeing and hearing and with all their 5 senses intact so they could enjoy the going the more.”

“Interesting. I’ll ponder all this, Steve. One last question. What’s our job?”

“To love the Lord with all that we have and to love His people as Himself.”

“Oh. That raises another question…”

Steve smiled.

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