Introduction
“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
– Hebrews 5:11-14
The above words of the Apostle Paul were addressed to Hebrew Christians in the first century. While they accepted their sonship, they were having problems reconciling the words of Moses and their prophets with the ministry and purpose of Christ Jesus. Therefore, Paul chose to go back to the beginning, so to speak, and explain the development of the sacred secret of sonship and their heavenly destiny in a way they could understand. The entire book of Hebrews is dedicated to that reconciling.
In some ways, a similar reconciling is needed today. Modern day Christians, even those who accept their sonship, continue to have difficulty reconciling the teachings of Jesus with the words of prophecy. And like the Hebrews, what is needed is a training of their perceptive powers so they can distinguish what is right and what is wrong.
For example, in the prior article in this series, entitled Bringing Heaven Down – Turning Back Destruction, we proposed what we call The Ninevite Possibility. The Ninevite Possibility is the hope that any foretold destruction of our present day system of things can be averted by repentance and works befitting repentance as it did in the case of the Ninevites, as told by the prophet Jonah. The article posits that our Father is not interested in destruction. His real interest is salvation, as Jesus explained:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
- John 3:16-17
Most of the emails we received in response to the article were very favorable. Many found The Ninevite Possibility refreshing and consistent with the loving, wise and merciful nature of our Heavenly Father, as Jesus revealed Him. Frankly, we did not expect to receive any emails in opposition to the Possibility, even from those who disagree. We suspected they will simply remain silent. So far, they have. However, we did receive an email from a brother who was confused. Here is his email:
“When it comes to your latest article, I´m a bit confused. The Bible doesn’t mention any “last moment” repentance and turning to the Christ at all. Instead, it tells us about a big “falling away” from Jesus original teachings which probably will lead to the Antichrist´s one world religion during the seven year tribulation and the “mark of the beast.” What if Jesus return will first be that of a rapture, then followed by the start of the “great tribulation” and that this “Lords day” will end when Christ returns for all to see at the end (after literal 7 years)? “A day for a year” so to speak. Jesus would then establish the kingdom here on earth just after “Armageddon” at the very end of this tribulation period.”
We are very happy to respond to the brother’s email as we suspect there are several of our brothers who are likewise “confused.” The key to removing the confusion is perception and discernment. We must not be ‘dull in our hearing’ as Paul wrote. (Hebrews 5:11) We must be able to distinguish plain teachings from parables and from prophecy, and we must understand their relative importance. When we do that, it will be easy to reconcile all three without discounting either. And it also opens the way for The Ninevite Possibility. We will address the brother’s email below. But first, let’s distinguish plain teachings, parables and prophecy.
