THE BEREAN CHRISTIAN

Searching the Scriptures

 

By Gary Ray Branscome

 

 

Those at Berea, “were better than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so (Acts 17:11).

 

          There is nothing Satan wants more than to keep people from listening to what the Bible says. To that end he has, throughout history, used made up stories, passing his religious fiction off as the Word of God. We see one example of that in the seventh chapter of Mark, where Christ rebukes the Pharisees for “Teaching for doctrine the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-13). Substituting man’s word for God’s Word was common among the ancient Jews, it was common in the middle ages, and it is common today. But it is not the will of God! On the contrary, God wants you to search the Scriptures to see if what you are being taught is what the Bible actually says (Acts 17:11, 1Corinthians 10:15). The Bible and the Bible alone must be our standard, and our only source of doctrine!

          As an example, consider the so-called “Gap Theory”. Those who hold that view claim that the words of Genesis 1:2, “And the earth was without form, and empty,” should be translated, “And the earth became without form, and empty”. Now, if we were just talking about whether the Hebrew word hayah should be translated “was” or “became” we would be talking about interpretation, because, properly speaking, to interpret is to translate not make up explanations (John 1:38 and 41, 2Peter 1:20). However, when gap-theorists then go on to make up a story about a long period of time transpiring while “the earth became without form,” or a story about Satan and his angels living on the earth and even fighting wars during that time, that story has nothing to do with the words of the text. It is nothing more than religious fiction! It is a story that was invented to get around what the Bible says about the age of the earth. And because it was invented by man it is just the figment of someone’s imagination. Furthermore, because God has forbidden us to add such made up stories to His Word, we know such stories are not of God. They are either of the flesh or of the devil or both, but they are not of God. For that reason they should be rejected (Mark 7:6-13, Proverbs 30:6).

 

Daniel Chapter 2

 

          The second chapter of Daniel describes a dream that Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon) had. We are told that in that dream Nebuchadnezzar saw a great statue. The, “head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass, Its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay” (Daniel 2:32-33). In explanation of that dream Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, “You are the head of gold. But after you another kingdom will arise inferior to yours, and then a third kingdom of brass, which will bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron… And at the time of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom, that will never be destroyed:” (Daniel 2:38-40 and 44).   

          At present there are many who claim that the, “kingdom, that will never be destroyed,” spoken of in that prophesy, is a future earthly kingdom. But, is that what the Bible says? The Bible tells us that God set up that kingdom “at the time of those kings,” not thousands of years after their time (Daniel 2:44). Moreover, that is just what we read in the New Testament, where we are told that John preached “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2); that, “Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17); and that, “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand:” (Mark 1:14-15).

As to the claim that the kingdom in question is an earthly kingdom, Jesus specifically said, “The kingdom of God does not come in a way that is seen: Nor will people say, here it is! or there it is! for the kingdom of God is within you,” (Luke 17:21). He also said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

 

          That should settle the matter. Nevertheless, those who want to believe that God will set up an earthly kingdom make up stories aimed at getting around what the Bible says. During the cold war many were claiming that European Common Market countries were the toes of the statue (in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream), that the Common Market was a revived Roman Empire, and that God would soon set up an earthly kingdom. One speaker had a chart that pictured those toes as being very long and extending through time. All of that is pure religious fiction. It is the figment of someone’s imagination, not something the Bible says. Therefore, let me repeat: because, God has forbidden us to add made up stories to His Word, we know such stories are not of God. They are either of the flesh or of the devil or both, but they are not of God. Moreover, as religious fiction, they differ little from the religious fiction followed by various cults.

 

Daniel Chapter 9

 

          In the ninth chapter of Daniel, we are told that the angel Gabriel brought Daniel this message. “Seventy weeks are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to bring an end to rebellion, and a finish to sin, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the vision of the prophets, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks from the time the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem goes forth to the Messiah the Prince: the streets and walls will be rebuilt, in a time of trouble. But after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off, but not for himself: (and the ruling people who shall come will destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end of it will be as a by a flood, until at end of the war it shall be cut off with desolation.) In one week he will confirm the covenant with many: and during the week he will cause the sacrifices and the offerings to cease, and because of widespread abomination he will make it desolate, until the end that is determined is poured out on the desolate,” (Daniel 9:24-27).

          In interpreting this statement, the “weeks” spoken of are usually understood to be seven year periods. There is some support in Scripture for that interpretation, and it approximates the length of time from the return of the Jews to Christ. However, the claim is also made that the seventieth week is yet in the future, and that thousands of years separate it from the first sixty-nine weeks. But, is that what the Bible says? No! There is absolutely nothing in the text to even suggest such a period between the sixty-ninth week and the seventieth. In fact, if the total length of time involved was more than seventy weeks (of years) then the prophecy would be false. The idea that the desolation spoken of in verse 27 points to a future antichrist flies in the face of the fact that it had to take place during the seventy weeks. Any attempt to lengthen that period of time does not come from the Bible, but from someone’s imagination.

[NOTE: If God departed from the Temple at the time the Veil was rent, that would have made the Temple desolate (Matthew 27:51).]

 

1 Thessalonians 4:16

 

          In Paul’s first Epistle to the Thessalonians we read, “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first: Then we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord,” (1Thessalonians 4:16-17).

          Although that passage is a clear description of what will happen when Christ returns, many are claiming that this will happen long before the last day. However, is that what the Bible says? Not at all! That claim flies in the face of what Christ Himself said, for He plainly told His disciples that He would raise up believers on the “last Day,” not before (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54 and John 11:24). Furthermore, if they would just look at the context they would see that is what the passage itself is saying. In the very next verse we read, “Now when it comes to the times and the seasons, brethren, you do not need me to write to you. For you know perfectly well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. For when they are saying, Peace and safety; destruction will come upon them suddenly,” (1Thessalonians 5:1-3). In case you did not notice, the last sentence in that quote tells us that on “the day of the Lord,” the “rapture,” will be followed by “destruction”. Furthermore, Peter tells us that on the “day of the Lord… the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up,” (2Peter 3:10). What could be clearer than that? The claim that Christ will “rapture” believers before the last day is not something the Bible says, but religious fiction.

[NOTE: Those who believe in a pre-millennial rapture often quote Matthew 24:40-41. In those verses we read, “One shall be taken, and the other left,” and they assume that those who are left will continue on with life. But Luke tells us that Christ is comparing those left behind to the people of Sodom (Luke 17:26-37). They will be destroyed when God’s people depart, just as Sodom was destroyed after Lot departed.] 

 

Revelation 4:1

 

The fourth chapter of the Book of Revelation begins with the words, “After this I looked, and saw a door opened in heaven: and the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet; said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” Although the sentence just quoted was spoken to John, many are claiming that the words “Come up here” are being spoken to all believers at the time of the “rapture”. But is that what the Bible says? Not at all! First of all, John tells us that the voice he heard is the same voice he “first heard speaking to” him “like a trumpet” (Rev. 4:1); the same voice that he heard in chapter one, verse ten. And the words spoken by that voice were spoken to John alone. That is important because there is absolutely no justification for the claim that this voice is calling believers from the grave, or that the rapture will take place at this time. Do not take my word for it, read the verse. These words are words that John heard in a dream or vision almost two thousand years ago, not some voice in the future. The claim that the rapture will take place at this time is just a made-up story. Because the Book of Revelation says absolutely nothing about a pre-millennial rapture, those who want to believe it just make up a story about it taking place at this time, even though there is absolutely nothing in the text to support such a claim. In other words, if the Bible does not say what they want to hear they supplement what the Bible says with religious fiction.

 

Revelation Chapter 7

 

          In chapter seven, the sealing of the Jews is followed by the sealing of a great multitude “that no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,” (Rev. 7:9). We are also told that the “great multitude” are, “Those who have come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14).

          Even though John saw the “Stars of heaven” fall to earth, and the sky departing “like a scroll” in Chapter 6, those who believe in a pre-millennial rapture ignore that fact and claim that the tribulation and sealing described in Chapter seven will take place right after the rapture, during a seven year period long before the end of the world. But is that what the Bible says? Not at all! There is no mention of seven years in this passage. The “great tribulation” that is mentioned in chapter seven is persecution. Those “who have come out of great tribulation,” have come to faith in Christ in the face of great persecution. And, that has been going on throughout history. Paul spoke of it when he said, “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). And again, “We also rejoice in persecution: knowing that tribulation produces commitment,” (Romans 5:3).

          The idea that this “tribulation” takes place during the seven years following the “Rapture,” is just more religious fiction. They get the seven years from their interpretation of Daniel 9:27, which I have already dealt with. They just arbitrarily stick those seven years into this prophesy. Worse yet, they claim that the great multitude, “who have come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” [Rev. 7:14], will be saved after the Holy Spirit has been withdrawn from the earth, even though the Bible plainly tells us that, “No one can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1Corinthians 12:3). Everything that they say about this “tribulation” being limited to seven years, about the Holy Ghost being withdrawn from the earth, and about people being saved through “the blood of the Lamb” without the Holy Ghost being involved is nothing more than religious fiction. And, when confronted with these facts they often just brush them aside by saying, “Well that is what we believe,” as if there is nothing wrong with lying in God’s name [i.e. passing religious fiction off as the Word of God] (Proverbs 30:6).

 

Revelation Chapter 20

         

          In verse four we read, “I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God… and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4). This verse is clearly talking about believers who have died, and it says that they will reign with Christ during this period. However, this verse says nothing about Christ having an earthly kingdom, or about them reigning on earth. On the contrary, Christ plainly told us that He would not have an earthly kingdom when He said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). So the claim that they will be reigning with Christ on earth is an assumption that should be rejected because it contradicts what Christ said.

          Those who claim that Christ will have an earthly kingdom usually claim that the next verse, “The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection,” is teaching a physical resurrection before that last day (Rev. 20:5). However, Christ not only told us that He would raise up believers on the “last day” (John 6:44), the words, “If you have risen with Christ, seek those things that are above,” tell us that the “first resurrection” takes place before our physical death (Colossians 3:1). That resurrection consists of being raised up from being “dead in trespasses and sins” to new life in Christ (compare Ephesians 2:1, 6 and Colossians 2:12). The “second death has no power over” those who have risen “from being “dead in trespasses and sins” to new life in Christ (Rev. 20:6).

 

          One of the fundamental doctrines of Scripture is summed up in the words “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; so that each may receive the things done in the body, according to everything he has done, whether good or evil” (2Corinthians 5:10). And “Men will account for every idle word that they speak, on the Day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). At the same time, because “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us of all sin,” there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” (1John 1:7, Romans 8:1). And, every man is judged at the time they die, either going to heaven to be with Christ, or to hell (2Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:23, Luke 16:22-23).

          That being understood, those who fail to understand this doctrine deny that believers will be at the final judgment described in Revelation 20:11-15. But is that what the Bible says? Not at all! The Bible tells us that “the dead, small and great,” will “stand before God” (verse 12), and “whoever” is “not found written in the book of life” will be “cast into the lake of fire” (verse 15). Therefore, the claim that believers will not be at the final judgment is religious fiction, not something the Bible says. Moreover, because those who hold this view cannot get around what the Bible says about believers being judged, they make up a story about several judgments, and believers being at a different place of judgment. That is all religious fiction. It is nothing more a made up story invented to get around what the Bible actually says. Since the word translated “judgment seat” in 2Corinthians 5:10, is the Greek word “bema,” they claim that Greek word only denotes a place of reward not a place of punishment. However, a simple look at how that word is used elsewhere in Scripture exposes their claim as false. For “bema” is the word used to describe, Pilate’s judgment seat (Matthew 27:19), Herod’s throne (Acts 12:21), the judgment seat of Gallio (Acts 18:12), and the judgment seat of Caesar (Acts 25:10).

 

Conclusion

 

          In this essay I have exposed several made-up stories that are being passed off as the Word of God. But what does the Bible actually say. Well, it tells us that the kingdom God set up was set up at the time of the fourth king in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2:34 and 44). It also tells us that kingdom is not an earthly kingdom (John 18:36), but everyone who trusts in Christ is apart of it (Mark 1:14-15, Luke 17:21). And, we know that within three-hundred years it consumed the other kingdoms, just as prophesied, when the Roman empire became Christian (Daniel 2:44). We also know that It was Christ, not some future antichrist, who brought an end to animal sacrifice (Daniel 9:27), and that Christ will raise up believers on the “last day” (John 6:44), We know that on that day the world will be destroyed (1Thessalonians 5:1-3), and that the Holy Spirit will never be withdrawn from the world, for if it was no one could be saved (1Corinthians 12:3).

          The Bible also tells us that everyone who has ever lived will be judged (Hebrews 9:27), and will have to “account for every idle word that they speak” (Matthew 12:36). But, no one whose sins are washed away by the blood of Christ [i.e. those whose names are in the Lamb’s book of life] will ever be condemned (1John 1:7, Romans 8:1, Revelation 20:15).

 

          Because the Holy Spirit has told us not to add to what the Bible says, we know that all of the unbiblical stories, all of the religious fiction, that we have looked at is not from God. “Whoever attempts to shed more light on dark passages of Scripture than Scripture itself offers in its clear passages is adding to God’s Word.  And whoever obscures clear passages by bringing in obscure passages is taking away from God’s Word.” (Christian Dogmatics, by Dr. Francis Pieper, pages 364-365). “In whatever matter Holy Scripture has definitely spoken the Christian theologian must suppress his own views, opinions, and speculations and adhere unwaveringly to the divine truths revealed in Holy Scripture. In no case is he permitted to inject into the body of divine truth his own figments and fabrications, and at no time must he allow his reason the prerogative of doubt, criticism, or denial, but every thought must everywhere be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 2 Cor. 10, 5.” (Christian Dogmatics by J.T. Muller page 39).