Those of us who read Pastor Charles Pretlow's April 2 Crusader article on what Jesus said about "our troubling times" were all again reminded of God's wake-up calls to our generation of believers.
As someone who has studied end-times Bible prophecies for more than 40 years and read some 200 books on the subject, I believe Pastor Pretlow was "spot on" with his assessments that all true believers had better get ready for the rapture and redemption of God's church.
All end times signs are in today's world, increasing in frequencies and intensities as Jesus outlined in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 17 and 21.
Jesus also warned us about date setting and that not even He knew the day nor the hour He would return to gather His church unto Him, that He would come as "a thief in the night."
But aren't all of us believers getting more than a little anxious for Jesus to "take us out of here" as soon as possible. Either that or ask God to fulfill the 37th Psalm and Matthew Ch. 5 to remove the wicked from the earth so the meek can inherit it before or after the rapture.
I was hoping Jesus would come on Easter Sunday, April 4, the 4th day of the 4th month, a month when so many disasters have befallen America throughout our history, the month when both our Revolutionary and Civil Wars started with the sound of gunfire.
Jesus didn't arrive according to my wishes or desires but some Holy Spirit thoughts did at the end of the day.
I will give you those thoughts for you all from which to draw your own Biblically-based conclusions.
The number 40 is obviously very important to God and is used throughout Scripture.
Starting in Genesis Chapters 7-8, we read about Noah and his family settling down in God's Ark it took Noah 120 years to build, or 40 times 3.
In Ch. 7 v. 8, it says the flood was 40 days upon the earth and the waters increased and bare up the ark.
Chapter 8 v. 6 says "and it came to pass at the end of 40 days (after the waters began to recede) that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made to send forth first a raven and then a dove three times out of that window.
We now fast forward to Exodus Ch. 24, v. 18, which says Moses was on Mount Sinai 40 days and 40 nights to receive the 10 Commandments from God after he had parted the Red Sea (see my April 2 Crusader column).
The 40 appears again in Matthew Ch. 4 in describing Jesus sojourn in the wilderness for 40 days and nights while being tempted and resisting the devil three times. 40 times 3 equals 120, the age limitation God gave modern man after his escape from the ark.
We also know from reading the four Gospels and the book of Acts that Jesus was on the earth in His resurrected body 40 days before He ascended to heaven in a cloud with the apostles and others witnessing the ascension.
Another 10 days passed and in Acts 2 we read about the apostles and others receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
As a longtime student of Bible symbolism and numerology, I asked myself what do all these 40s mean and what is their connection to Easter Sunday, if any.