Category: fulfilled prophecy

The Kingdom of God is Within You #4

Monday, July 14, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

The Pharisees knew Jesus was called “the Son of David” (Matthew 9:27; Matthew 12:23; Matthew 15:22; Matthew 20:30,31; Matthew 21:9,15; Mark 10:47,48; Luke 18:38,39). They were also aware of the Hebrew Bible’s prophecies about Messiah, the Son of David, occupying David’s throne. “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David” (Matthew 22:41,42). “And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David?” (Mark 12:35).

Yet, they had trouble reconciling how Jesus—the so-called “Son of David”—continued to let the Roman Emperor reign. It made no sense that, though Jesus preached about His reigning from a throne, He had never sat on such a throne throughout those three years! He was the Son of David, yet He had not restored David’s throne that had been lost to the Babylonians (chief of the Gentile world-powers) hundreds of years prior? “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:5,6).

As concerning the kingdom of God that Jesus preached during Matthew to John, there was a spiritual aspect as well as a physical. For example, Israel had much more serious problems than being political prisoner to heathen Gentiles (the Romans). They had a sin problem that had to be addressed before physical problems such as material poverty. “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: ) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:31-33).

Here is what the Pharisees failed to realize….

The Kingdom of God is Within You #3

Sunday, July 13, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

The heart of the Davidic Covenant is the LORD God’s promise to give King David a son or heir: “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever…. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David” (2 Samuel 7:12,13,16,17).

Isaiah 9:6,7 builds on this: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in Luke 1:31-33: “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Although Amillennialists assert otherwise, the Lord Jesus Christ did more than simply preach a “spiritual reign of God in the hearts of men.” Proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God (“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand [near];” Matthew 4:17,23; Matthew 9:35; Mark 1:14,15; et al.), He was there to bring in a literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic kingdom exactly as the Old Testament prophets foretold….

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel #5

Sunday, April 27, 2025

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Daniel 9:24 KJV).

What precisely are these seventy weeks of Daniel? How do they form the backbone of prophecy?

Today’s Scripture highlights seventy weeks of years, or 490 years overall. Daniel 9:25-27 divides them into three segments: “seven weeks” (49 years) followed by “threescore [3 times 20, or 60] and two weeks” (434 years) followed by one last “week” (7 years). Verse 25 declares these seventy weeks commence with “the going forth of the commandment to restore and to [re-]build Jerusalem [what the Babylonian invasions destroyed]… the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” Nehemiah 2:1-8 fulfills this circa 445/444 B.C., roughly a century after Daniel prophesied it.

“Seven weeks [of years]” (49 years) is the length of time from the commandment of Nehemiah chapter 2 to the completion of the Hebrew Bible with Malachi (circa 397/396 B.C.). Another “threescore and two weeks [of years]” (62 weeks of years, or 434 years) brings us up to A.D. 32. Featuring years of 360 days each, God’s calendar in Daniel closed the first 69 weeks of years (483 years) just days before Calvary when “the Messiah” was “cut off” or killed (Daniel 9:25,26; cf. Isaiah 53:8). Daniel’s 69th week of years ended on the very Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey a few days before His crucifixion (see Luke 19:28-44, noting that significant “thy [Israel’s] day” and Israel’s pitiful ignorance of it in verses 41,42!).

Messiah Jesus died after Daniel’s 69th Week, leaving the last week of years unfulfilled even today. This final week is Daniel’s 70th Week of Daniel 9:27, to run its course after our dispensation closes. Incidentally, the war against Jerusalem in Luke 19:43,44 is that of Daniel 9:26, corresponding to the battles of Daniel 11:5-20. Conflicts against Jerusalem will eventually lead to the diabolical Antichrist’s rise to power and his one-week (seven-year!) peace treaty in which he promises to protect and bless Israel and Jerusalem (see Daniel 11:21-45). We are in the “gap” between Daniel’s 69th Week and Daniel’s 70th Week, our dispensation totally isolated from the seventy weeks of Daniel….

Paul in the Synagogues #2

Friday, March 7, 2025

“…Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God” (Acts 9:19b,20 KJV).

What are the three reasons the Apostle Paul went to the synagogues?

The Lord Jesus Christ’s principal objective during His earthly ministry was to lead the Jewish people back to the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. He achieved this by preaching sound Bible doctrine, whether teaching Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) verses, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, or performing miracles to illustrate and validate who He was and what He was doing.

See Matthew chapter 4, verses 13-17: “And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” There was such spiritual “darkness” in the land of Palestine, but Messiah’s arrival and ministry would expel that Bible ignorance (see Isaiah 8:22–9:8). In His first recorded sermon of Luke 4:16-21, Jesus Himself used the text of Isaiah 61:1,2 to outline what He had come to do for and with Israel. He was fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy right there in that synagogue of Nazareth, and would keep fulfilling it every place He went!

Alas, in spite of Jesus’ influence for three years, unbelief and hypocrisy were rampant in these synagogues (for example, Matthew 6:2,5; Matthew 10:17; Matthew 12:9-14; Matthew 13:54-58; Matthew 23:6,34; Mark 3:1-6; Mark 6:1-6; Mark 12:39; Mark 13:9; Luke 4:22-30 [attempted murder!!]; Luke 6:6-11; Luke 11:43; Luke 12:11; Luke 13:10-17; Luke 20:46; Luke 21:12; John 6:25-71, noting especially verses 26-30,41-43,60-66; John 9:22; John 12:42,43; John 16:2). They had works-religion, human “goodness,” but no faith in God’s words to them, and that led to Christ’s crucifixion on Calvary’s cruel cross….

Joseph and Jesus #12

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

“These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report” (Genesis 37:2 KJV).

Let us search the Scriptures to see how Joseph is a type of the antitype Jesus….

We Berean Bible students have seen how Joseph and Jesus are alike in excess of 20 specific traits and circumstances. This is certainly not coincidental. To those who want to see, hear, and believe, it is as clear as can be. Joseph served as a template, foreshadow, preview, pattern, or outline: by nature, that is a type in the Bible. Centuries later, the antitype (Jesus Christ) shared those same qualities and underwent those very situations. By studying the one, we better appreciate the other, rejoicing how the LORD God was omniscient, knowing well in advance what would occur all along. Joseph’s whole life—even seemingly insignificant attributes and situations—prophesied what another beloved Son would be like and what He would experience.

“Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (1 Peter 1:10,11). Like the other Old Testament prophets, Moses (who wrote about Joseph in Genesis) possessed limited knowledge. He had no idea the Holy Spirit was using him to present Messiah’s two comings with such vivid details—one arrival to suffer and die, and a return to conquer and reign. Stephen, speaking in Acts 7:9-16, had more light than Moses, for by that time the Lord Jesus Christ had already come once and the saints in early Acts were anticipating His reappearance. With a completed Bible canon, we have even greater insight than Moses and Stephen combined. May we be thankful!

Joseph is just one of several types of Jesus Christ: other examples include Joseph’s brother Benjamin, plus Adam, Abel, Noah, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, David, and Solomon. While beyond the scope of this study, they too are equally fascinating.

Joseph and Jesus #11

Monday, January 30, 2023

“These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report” (Genesis 37:2 KJV).

Let us search the Scriptures to see how Joseph is a type of the antitype Jesus….

Read Acts 7:9-16. “But God was with him” (verse 9). Though Joseph’s brethren did not know him and refused him the first time, “at the second time” they recognized and accepted him. Likewise, though Israel did not identify and receive Christ in faith at His First Coming (John 1:10-12), the opposite will be true at His Second Coming (Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 23:39).

When Joseph reunited with his brethren 20 years later, he told them: “For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (Genesis 45:7,8). “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20). While Joseph’s brethren were free moral agents, having willingly chosen to harm him, the LORD turned that sad situation into a benefit after all: without Joseph in Egypt, they would have all starved (Jacob’s family in Canaan, and the Egyptians with Joseph down south)!

Similarly, Father God used the Lord Jesus’ rejection—in which sinful Jews and Gentiles participated (see Acts 2:22-24; Acts 3:13-15; Acts 4:10-12,25-28; Acts 5:29-31; Acts 7:52)—to bring about His finished crosswork on Calvary. Christ’s shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection would ultimately take care of our sin problem and Israel’s sin problem! Father God can now form a people for Himself in the Earth (redeemed Israel) and another people for Himself in the Heaven (us, the Church the Body of Christ): “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:20).

Let us conclude this devotionals arc….

Joseph and Jesus #10

Sunday, January 29, 2023

“These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report” (Genesis 37:2 KJV).

Let us search the Scriptures to see how Joseph is a type of the antitype Jesus….

Indeed, young Joseph was envied, hated, betrayed, and imprisoned. He was in a foreign land, amongst a pagan people, and employed as a lowly slave, yet the most important fact (and, dear friends, we dare not forget it!) is recorded in these few verses that follow: “But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison…. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him [Joseph], and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper” (Genesis 39:21,23). No matter how rough and tough his circumstances became, the LORD was with Joseph every step of the way—and it was the only reason Joseph survived any of it.

As the perfect Man, the Lord Jesus Christ lived in this world surrounded by sinners and, just think, He was treated far worse than Joseph ever was (more than we will ever know!). Just like the LORD blessed Joseph’s efforts, in spite the extreme satanic opposition, so Father God endorsed the Lord Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry and it was exceeding fruitful. Peter the Apostle commented as the Spirit of God gave him utterance: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (Acts 10:38). Christ Himself stated, “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32).

Now, having taken a quick run through the numerous references, we will summarize this devotionals arc….

Joseph and Jesus #9

Saturday, January 28, 2023

“These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report” (Genesis 37:2 KJV).

Let us search the Scriptures to see how Joseph is a type of the antitype Jesus….

Observe Genesis 45:21,24-28: “And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way…. So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.” In chapter 46, all of Jacob’s household joins Joseph in Egypt.

As Joseph gathered Israel that was scattered, so Jesus at His Second Coming will physically reunite them by bringing them into the Promised Land: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:30,31). See also Deuteronomy 30:1-5, Jeremiah 31:10-14, Jeremiah 32:37-41, Ezekiel 11:16-20, Ezekiel 20:33-42, Ezekiel 28:24-26, and Ezekiel 34:11-16. These passages anticipate New Covenant restoration, unity, and blessings in Christ’s Millennial Kingdom.

Yet, there are still more likenesses between Joseph and Jesus….

Joseph and Jesus #8

Friday, January 27, 2023

“These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report” (Genesis 37:2 KJV).

Let us search the Scriptures to see how Joseph is a type of the antitype Jesus….

Joseph was 17 when his brethren sold him into slavery in Egypt (today’s Scripture). He serves in Potiphar’s house before going to prison, but is ultimately freed to work in Pharaoh’s court. “And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 41:46). In like manner, Jesus was approximately 30 years old when His public ministry started: “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,…” (Luke 3:23).

On several occasions, Joseph wept (Genesis 42:24; Genesis 45:2,14,15; Genesis 46:29). Similarly, according to the Gospel Records, Jesus wept (Luke 19:41; John 11:35; cf. Hebrews 5:7). As much as 20 years after his brethren betrayed him, Joseph reunites with them and forgives them even though do not deserve it (Genesis 45:1-15). With the Lord Jesus hanging on Calvary’s cross, utterly rejected of Israel, He cries out on their behalf: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

While Joseph inhabited Egypt, a famine afflicted both it and Canaan (where Jacob and his other sons were living). Joseph’s promotion in Egypt was the LORD God’s way of preparing them all for the impending food shortage (see Genesis 41–44). “And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 45:7,8). Also, Jesus is Israel’s Saviour, “Jesus” being the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew “Joshua,” “for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

Believe it or not, the comparisons continue….

Joseph and Jesus #7

Thursday, January 26, 2023

“These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report” (Genesis 37:2 KJV).

Let us search the Scriptures to see how Joseph is a type of the antitype Jesus….

Pharaoh, impressed by Joseph’s wisdom, promotes him to become the second in command in Egypt: “Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 41:40-43).

Similarly, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Second Member of the Godhead, plays a subservient role to Father God: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5-11).

Joseph suffered pitifully then reigned magnificently. Also, Jesus’ horrific suffering precedes His glorious exaltation to a throne (see 1 Peter 1:10,11). However, they merge even more fully….