Tag Archives: Abraham

Two Biblical Proofs Favoring Pre-Tribulation Rapture

04 Thursday Sep 2014

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Proof Positive

Avraham approached and said, ‘Will you actually sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Maybe there are fifty righteous people in the city; will you actually sweep the place away, and not forgive it for the sake of the fifty righteous who are there? Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! Far be it from you! Shouldn’t the judge of all the earth do what is just?’ ~ Genesis 18:23-25, CJB

For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, CJB

In necessary things unity; in uncertain things freedom; in everything compassion. ~ Unknown Author; most often misattributed to Augustine

God help us all who call ourselves Christians, for even in a time such as this we still remain unable to become ONE. We primarily are divided by doctrines, issues, and practices. As a result, we who profess to be Your holy and righteous sons and daughters, joint-heirs with Your only begotten Son (Jesus the Christ), frequently end up treating each other like notorious enemies instead of like venerable brothers and sisters in Your Household of Faith.

There continues to be too much arguing among followers of Christ Jesus over doctrines, issues, and practices that neither are crucial to the Gospel of Christ nor to how anyone obtains eternal life (how someone is saved). Christians’ most commonly debated doctrines, issues, and practices include, but are not limited to: the Rapture, the Millennium, the Earth’s Age, Life on Other Planets, Food and Drink, Female Pastors, Observing the Sabbath vs. Worshipping on Sunday, Speaking in Tongues, Performing Miracles, and various legalistic Do’s and Don’ts (like going to the movies, dancing, smoking, drinking, playing cards, wearing makeup, and so forth).

How horrible our arguing with and our mistreatment of Body of Christ members must look to the unsaved world. No wonder the masses of lost souls in today’s world are not coming to Christ Jesus. Why would any of them want to be a part of this current 21st century body of believers who vehemently disagree with each other? These quarrelsome believers not only refuse to tolerate but also choose not to be civil to their brothers or sisters in Christ Jesus who think differently about things that usually have nothing to do with a person’s salvation nor with the Gospel of Christ!

If we agree on the essentials, yet disagree on the non-essentials, then let us learn how to agree to disagree without becoming/being disagreeable (unloving, compassionless, coldhearted, intolerable, argumentative, hostile, inhospitable, bad-tempered, grouchy, snarky, sarcastic, stubborn, nasty, offensive, unpleasant, unfriendly, rude, legalistic, insulting, disrespectful, and the list goes on). Let us learn how to remain loving, caring, and kind to each other. After all, one of the most crucial lessons Christ Jesus taught is this one: “This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other” (John 13:35, MSG).

Having said that, let me say this: Because I know that the Rapture is one of the most commonly debated doctrines, I would like to share, strictly from a general theological perspective, two biblical proofs favoring a pre-Tribulation Rapture. Not only do I find these proofs to be two of the best but also I agree with them, as do so many theologians, countless other followers of Christ, and even copious churchgoers. For this reason, I am certain that numerous individuals who will read this blog entry probably already know these proofs, and I equally am certain that various other individuals who will read this blog entry neither had read nor had heard of these proofs before now. My hope then is that the end result of having read this article will be that those readers who didn’t believe will have come to believe what so many present-day followers of Christ already accept to be true about the Bride of Christ’s pre-Tribulation Rapture.

Biblical Proof Number One—from the Old Testament:

Anyone who believes that there is a radical and ESSENTIAL difference between the righteous and the wicked should agree that God knows the difference, and  he or she should agree that God is the One who makes the distinction between those who are “righteous” and those who are “wicked.” Additionally, anyone who believes that there is a radical and ESSENTIAL difference between the righteous and the wicked also should agree that righteousness and wickedness are exact opposite spiritual (heavenly vs. hellish) characteristics, which is why God never wanted His righteous children and the world’s wicked persons to mix.

Furthermore, since God knew there would be a nonstop righteous vs. wicked battle taking place on this Earth, that is why He had some undeniable proof of His timeless pattern of Judgment placed in His Word. Biblical proof number one, therefore, is that God does not judge His truly righteous believers with the world’s very wicked unbelievers. This biblical pattern is most noticeable in the Scriptures describing the time of Noah, and it continues to become more evident throughout the rest of the Old Testament. God’s pattern of Judgment also is found in the New Testament, especially in end-times verses. That’s why there really can be no denying that God clearly is represented throughout the Holy Bible as a righteous Judge who pronounces Judgment that always is correct and fair.

For example, in the Old Testament, Abraham, who is one of Noah’s after-the-Flood descendants, knew quite well that God never would judge the righteous with the wicked, and that is why Abraham doesn’t shy away from reminding God of His existing Judgment pattern. Abraham says to God:

…Will you actually sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Maybe there are fifty righteous people in the city; will you actually sweep the place away, and not forgive it for the sake of the fifty righteous who are there? Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! Far be it from you! Shouldn’t the judge of all the earth do what is just? ~ Genesis 18:23-25, CJB

The point here is that it had been established before Noah’s day that God is a just and righteous Judge who only punishes (pours out His Wrath only upon those whom He has judged as) the wicked, and then only AFTER He has removed (separated) the righteous from mingling with the wicked. Righteous Noah, his sons, and his sons’ wives were saved from God’s 40 days and 40 nights of the falling rain Flood Judgment, while God poured out His promised diluvial Wrath upon all of the Earth’s wicked inhabitants, as well as upon the Earth itself!

As already mentioned, this pattern of God’s Judgment runs all through the Testaments. Of course, there always is an exception, and the exception that must be noted here is that, although there are many New Testament verses that chiefly emphasize God’s Judgment, there is NO mention of God’s Judgment in the New Testament passages considered as Rapture passages. This observation leads to the second biblical proof.

Biblical Proof Number Two—from the New Testament:

Since there is no mention of God’s Judgment in the New Testament’s Rapture verses, then it is decidedly possible that the Rapture of the Bride of Christ happens at a separate time from when God judges and then punishes the Earth and the left-behind wicked, many who are followers of the Antichrist, with His fiery Wrath. The apostle John writes:

Then I saw another sign in heaven, a great and wonderful one — seven angels with the seven plagues that are the final ones; because with them, God’s fury is finished. ~ Revelation 15:1, CJB

Apostle John most assuredly is describing the last Judgments—the last of God’s judiciary righteous Judgments issued against the left-behind ungodly (His Wrath or Fury). The apostle also is describing God’s righteous Punishment for committed crimes His enemies are guilty of (His Wrath or Fury). Without doubt, these seven plagues (seven bowl judgments) are the last of all of God’s promised righteous end-times Punishment (His Wrath or Fury).

All the same, it must be noted here that apostle Paul says when Christ Jesus died on the Cross, His atoning sacrifice not only had made the gift of eternal life (Salvation) available, but also He had saved (rescued, delivered) believers from God’s end-times Judgments and Punishment (outpouring of Wrath). In other words, so that God’s righteous would not experience any of His end-times Wrath, Christ Jesus’ sacrificial dying absorbed it ALL. Thus, biblical proof number two is Christ Jesus already took the Wrath of God in place of God’s Household of Faith believers—bore the FULL brunt of God’s Wrath for the Body of Christ, also known as the Bride of Christ (both saved Christian Jews and Gentiles). Apostle Paul writes:

…you turned to God from idols, to serve the true God, the one who is alive, and to wait for his Son Yeshua, whom he raised from the dead, to appear from heaven and rescue us from the impending fury of God’s judgment. ~ 1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10, CJB

~ and ~

For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, CJB

The point here is that it already had been established before Christ Jesus’ day that God still is a just and righteous Judge who only punishes (pours out His Wrath only upon those whom He has judged as) the wicked, and then only AFTER He has removed (separated) the righteous from mingling with the wicked. Therefore, it stands to reason that the Lord’s righteous Bride first will be saved (rescued, delivered) from any part of God’s seven years of the end-times Tribulation Judgments, after which God then will pour out all of His promised fiery Wrath upon all of the Earth’s left-behind inhabitants!

The bottom line is this: As it was in Noah and Abraham’s days, so will it be in these current last days. God will NOT have His spiritually renewed, saved, and reconciled back to Himself sons and daughters endure any of His prophesied end-times Judgments and Punishment that are reserved for His and Israel’s enemies. There is absolutely no way that God could explain or defend why He would let those individuals, whom the beaten and crucified Christ Jesus’ Blood has justified as righteous, and whom the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit completely has sanctified as holy (sinless), go through any of the seven years of the end-times Tribulation. That is why the Bride of Christ will NOT be in the Tribulation Period!

Once again, the two biblical proofs favoring a pre-Tribulation Rapture for the Bride of Christ are that God never would judge His righteous when He judges the wicked, and Christ Jesus already has emptied God’s full cup of Wrath so that born again, saved, justified, and fully sanctified followers of Christ would never have to experience any Wrath of God. AMEN!

For a detailed explanation about God’s Wrath, please read my blog entry Lost In Translation.

Midian’s Midianites

12 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by in Bible Prophecy

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Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. ~ Genesis 25:1-4, NIV

 

Most people think that Arabs only are Ishmael’s descendants. Not true. Yes, because Ishmael is the son of Abraham and Hagar, some Arabs are Ishmael’s descendants; however, because Midian is the son of Abraham and Keturah, countless Arabs also are Midian’s descendants. Moreover, Abraham and Keturah had a total of six sons! The Word of God supports these statements, as Moses writes:

Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. ~ Genesis 25:1-4, NIV; see also 1 Chronicles 1:32-33

Now while many Jewish scholars say that Hagar and Keturah are the same person, many other Jewish scholars say that Hagar is not Keturah. Indeed, some translations of the Scriptures not only refer to the sons of Abraham’s other wives (cf. Genesis 25:6) but also some translations of the Scriptures make a distinction between Hagar and her son’s descendants, and Keturah and her sons’ descendants (cf. Genesis 25:1-4; 1 Chronicles 1:29-33).

Concerning whether or not Abraham married Hagar too, based on the Jewish Midrash (the last and final word given as “explanation” of the Holy Scriptures), in this case, the Midrash on Genesis, many Jewish scholars conclude that the later mentioning of Beer Lahai Roi in Genesis 24:62 clearly suggests that Isaac was a matchmaker who actually had just returned from the Negev desert region, near Beer Lahai Roi. He was near Beer Lahai Roi because, while Abraham was looking for a bride for Isaac, Isaac was looking for Hagar so that he could bring her back to Abraham, for the two of them to marry, now that his mother, Sarah, was dead. In essence, Isaac, who also is a type of Christ, wanted to readmit Hagar and Ishmael (exiled individuals) back into Abraham’s family.

The first reference to Beer Lahai Roi, which is mentioned in the Holy Bible and the Targum Onkelos (the official Babylonian translation of the Torah), was when Hagar was there. Beer Lahai Roi, which is translated as the “well of the Living One that seeth me,” is the place where Hagar not only saw the angel of the Lord but also where the angel of the Lord commanded a fleeing Hagar to return back to Sarah and submit to her (cf. Genesis 16:7-14; see also Genesis 21:14-20). Based on Genesis 24:62 and Genesis 16:14 references to Beer Lahai Roi, many biblical scholars believe that Beer Lahai Roi is in Hagar’s native country.

The abovementioned information is why many Jewish scholars also believe that Genesis 25:1 is speaking about Abraham’s marriage to yet another woman (Keturah; his third wife), with whom Abraham has six sons. Their sons inhabited the areas known today as western Saudi Arabia, Yemen, southern parts of Egypt, and parts of eastern Africa, such as Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, and even Libya. Abraham’s sons with Keturah also settled in Syria, southern Jordan (Moab), and western Assyria, too.

Of Abraham and Keturah’s six sons, Midian (their fourth son) is the most noteworthy, because Midian’s descendants are mentioned in several verses of the Holy Bible, in some Surahs of the Qur’an, and in numerous secular writings. For sure, Midian’s offspring are more often in said works than any of the rest of Midian’s brothers and their descendants. In fact, it is in the reference to Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, a priest or prince of Midian, that this Midianite tribe is portrayed as being the closest Arabs to Israel and thus the ones who have the most important roles in Israel’s ancient history.

Concerning Abraham’s Ishmaelite descendants, most of them claim that they are the true seed of Abraham. Again, their claim is based on Hagar, who, while pregnant with Ishmael, received many promises from God’s messenger. For example, God promises Hagar that He would give her many “…descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count” ~ Genesis 16:10, NIV, and this promise unequivocally echoes one of the promises God makes to Abraham. God promises Abraham that:

I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me. ~ Genesis 22:17-18, NIV

Be that as it may, there are many biblical scholars who believe it is through Keturah’s offspring that Abraham actually becomes “…a father of many nations” (Genesis 17:5, NIV).

Now there can be no doubt that God foreknew the Arab Midianites, and other Arab nations, would become Israel’s enemies and therefore God’s enemies. In fact, it even is easy to understand why Arabs, as a whole, honestly would believe they are the true seed of Abraham that is as countless as the “grains of sand on the seashore” (Judges 7:12b, NCV), because this is exactly how they are described in the Old Testament. In fact, in the book of Judges, marauding masses of Midianite Arabs were seeking to destroy Israel. Their invasion of Israel was the primary reason why God’s Spirit came upon Gideon so that Gideon would be God’s chosen deliverer/savior for the Israelites. In the book of Judges, these plundering masses of Midianite Arabs are described as follows:

The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. ~ Judges 7:12, NIV

The argument here not only can be made about the sheer number of Midianite Arabs but also made about the fact that the Midianites and other Arabs were wealthy nomadic tribes who were desert dwellers, many of whom lived to the east and south of Canaan (Israel). Of course, in the case of the Arab Midianites, some of their prosperity comes from raiding other tribes/nations, including the Israelites. Other Arab Midianites earned their wealth as merchants or traders (cf. Genesis 37:28a); they even sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar (cf. Genesis 37:36). Moreover, many biblical scholars explain that one of the crimes the Arab Midianites committed was their deceitful business practices, for they used two different kinds of weights and measures—they bought by one weight and sold by the other.

Most important, however, is the fact that the Arab Midianites became God and the Israelites’ enemies, because they conspired with the Moabites to curse Israel (cf. Numbers 22:1-7). When the conspiracy failed, because God turned the curse into a blessing (see Numbers 24:10-11), both the Midianite and Moabite women agreed that they would seduce the Israelite men and lure them into serving their idols, in particular their local deity, Baal of Peor (cf. Numbers 31:1-18; see also Numbers 25:1-9; Numbers 25:17-18; Revelation 2:14). Now Baal was a major god of the many gods in the Canaanite pantheon, and while God did not tolerate His chosen people’s idolatry, because to do so would mean God was going against His own Laws, God loathed Baal.

So, because the Midianite and Moabite women were seducing the Israelite men for the purpose of causing them to fall into idolatry (the false worship of Baal of Peor), God commanded Moses to carry out His vengeance on the Arab Midianites—to kill all of them. The point here is that God’s war against the Midianite Arabs was a Holy war, and yet in spite of the fact that in a Holy war EVERY one of God’s enemies should have been killed (cf. Deuteronomy 20:16), the Israelite soldiers blatantly disobeyed God’s command, as apparently only the  Midianite males who were in the battlefield area were killed, because some two centuries later here is Gideon fighting the Arab Midianites!

Moreover, the Israelite soldiers also spared the Midianite women and children. Needless to say, this disobedience to God’s command angered Moses, because he sent the Israelite soldiers back out to kill the male children and every woman who slept with a man. However, even Moses made a concession, as he decided to spare all the virgins who were taken captive (cf. Numbers 31:17-18).

No doubt, since this war with the Arab Midianites was a holy war, yet virgin Midianite women were taken captive, this fact must be why God never gave the Israelites permission to rape or to have consensual intercourse with these virgin Midianite women. Indeed, to have given His permission to rape and/or to have consensual sex would have meant that God too had gone against His own established Laws, as well as gone against His own clear after the fact command to purify themselves (cf. Numbers 31:19; see also Deuteronomy 22:25-27; Leviticus 15:16-18). In other words, any kind of sex would have defiled both the virgin Midianite women and the Israelite soldiers.

For these reasons, after they all were purified, this is when God gave the Israelite men permission to marry their captives. However, in keeping with His own Laws regarding the treatment of Israelites’ wives and His Laws regarding the mistreatment of Israelites’ female servants, which any female captive who did not marry would have become, there is no doubt that God also would have commanded the Israelite husbands to treat their new wives and their new female servants with respect (see the following Scriptures on the treatment of wives and female servants; Exodus 21:2-11, 20-21, 26-27, 32; Exodus 22:1-3; Exodus 23:12; Leviticus 19:20-22; Leviticus 25:39-55; Deuteronomy 5:14; Deuteronomy 15:12-18; Deuteronomy 21:10-14; Deuteronomy 23:15-17; Deuteronomy 24:7).

The bottom line is that although the Arab Midianites are Abraham’s descendants, the promised lineage through which the Messiah would come is through Abraham and Isaac’s offspring—not through Abraham and Midian nor Abraham and Ishmael’s descendants. Furthermore, while there are many people, Christians included, who find the Midianite massacre an unloving act, they evidently fail to understand that God not only had to punish the Arab Midianites according to His established Laws (the ten commandments, et al.,) but also God had to keep His promise to His Jewish people—the promise of a Messiah coming through the lineage of King David.

In order to keep His Laws and His promise of a Messiah, God could not sanction intermarriages with non-Hebrews, and He also could not sanction any idol worship! These kinds of pollution would have destroyed the Messianic line, through which Christ Jesus would be born, as well as made Father God’s promise null and void.  

For additional information about the Arab Midianites, please read my blog entry: Gideon Is a Type of Christ.

It Is Very Meaningful, When God Speaks A Name Twice

19 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by in Bible Study

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In the Holy Bible, when God called a person or a city’s name twice, each occasion immediately was elevated to one of great biblical importance to that person and that city involved. For example, in the Old Testament, when Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, God called out to him, “Abraham! Abraham!” (cf. Genesis 22:11, KJV); when Israel was in old age and moving to Egypt, at the invitation of his lost son, God called Israel’s birth name twice, “Jacob, Jacob” (cf. Genesis 46:2; see also Genesis 35:9-15, KJV); when God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, He called out, “Moses! Moses!” (cf. Exodus 3:4, KJV); and when God called Samuel’s name twice (cf. 1 Samuel 3:10, KJV), it happened after He had called out to him two other times, but Samuel had mistaken God’s voice for that of Eli’s. In each of these instances, especially the last one, most people say that God uses the double salutation because He wants to get that person’s attention.

Perhaps getting someone’s attention is a true reason for these aforesaid double calls, because there is no doubt that after each time God used the double hailing of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Samuel’s name, He had something vitally important to say to them. In the case of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Samuel, the significance of each double call respectively pertains to Abraham becoming the father of Jacob (Israel) and the father of Faith; to Jacob becoming Israel, which is God’s chosen name for His chosen people, and God’s chosen name for Jacob, which God changed to Israel at Bethel; to Moses becoming the nation of Israel’s deliverer and the giver of the Law; and to Samuel becoming the first in a line of prophets who faithfully would bring God’s Word to His people. For sure, all four of these Old Testament individuals were key people in Israel’s history, and this truth no doubt is why God’s redoubling of their names happened at the key turning points in their lives.

Getting people’s attention because the Lord had something momentous to tell them is also why, in the New Testament, Jesus the Christ’s redoubling of names has biblical significance. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Olivet Discourse, and two other times, when Jesus the Christ was making a crucial point to His disciples and the multitudes, He repeated, “Lord, Lord” (cf. Matthew 7:21-22, 25:11, KJV; Luke 6:46; 13:25, KJV); when Martha was upset with Mary for not helping her prepare the big dinner for Jesus the Christ, who was visiting with them, the Lord called out to her, “Martha, Martha” (cf. Luke 10:41, KJV); when, after the Lord’s Last Supper, the Lord predicted Peter’s denial, He called out to him, “Simon, Simon” (cf. Luke 22:31, KJV); when Jesus the Christ was on the Cross and it was the ninth hour, just moments before the Lord said “it is finished,” He cried out to God, “Eloi, Eloi” (cf. Mark 15:34); when Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest and put in chains any followers of the Way so that he could bring them back to Jerusalem to stand trial, the Lord called out to him, “Saul, Saul” (cf. Acts 9:4); and when the Lord expressed His intense emotions for Jerusalem, which had become a wicked city, even though God intended for it to be His holy city, Jesus the Christ called out, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem” (cf. Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34). In each of these instances, the Lord uses the double salutation in a time and in a situation when it was urgent for Him to say (or teach) something that was critically important.

The central importance of each of Jesus the Christ’s double calls concerns the perfection of Divine order, in particular, the completion of the perfect cycle of ten repeated names—seven redoubling of names spoken directly to seven different individuals (four Old Testament and three New Testament people), and three redoubling of names spoken in connection with Jesus the Christ’s ministry. Thus, in the New Testament, this Divine order was completed and perfected after Jesus the Christ spoke His double calls.

For sure, through the Lord’s redoubling of names believers learn that the significance of each double call respectively pertains to His Way followers becoming the first of those who would be so sold out for Jesus the Christ that they no longer would give Him lip service with their ‘Lord, Lord’ but would call Him ‘Lord’ because they would be doing the Will of the Father, which began with loving God with all of their heart; to Martha becoming like Mary, who experienced Jesus the Christ’s ultramodern radicalness (His teaching/discipling of a woman who sat at His feet, for in the Lord’s day a Jewish Rabbi only would teach/disciple males); to Peter becoming the firm and solid little “rock” built on the massive ROCK foundation of Jesus the Christ, for the redoubling of Simon’s name was primarily to accentuate the weaker part of his nature—Simon the big fisherman’s wishy-washy nature—rather than to draw attention to the strong, emotional, and bold part of Simon Peter’s nature; to God becoming glorified through His ONLY begotten Son’s completion of Father God’s Will (Jesus the Christ becoming the substitute Lamb whose atoning sacrifice would authorize Him as the ONLY ONE who could pardon the world’s past, present, and future sins); to Saul becoming the greatest Christian missionary of the Gospel, in spite of the fact that he started out as the greatest Jewish persecutor of the Way followers; and to Jerusalem becoming a city that not only would reject God’s messengers but also would slay them, including Jesus the Christ.

All six of the abovementioned key incidents are included in Israel’s history. More important, the three individuals to whom the Lord directly speaks the double calls each play major roles in the history of the Body of Christ, which is why Jesus the Christ’s redoubling of Martha, Simon, and Saul’s names happens at the key turning points in their lives!

As mentioned earlier, when God called a person or a city’s name twice, each occasion immediately was elevated to one of great biblical importance to that person and that city involved. Furthermore, this biblical importance also affects those of us who have come to Christ by Grace through Faith. That’s why we need to be able to answer these questions: Do we truly understand the significance of the double call? Are we listening (paying close attention) to God’s voice, so as to hear Him when He speaks to us? Has He called out to us with a redoubling of our individual names, and if so what does His double call say about our roles as Body of Christ members?