One Year Bible Saturday, February 5th - Signs of the End Times
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Moses gives more instructions to the community of faith from the Lord.
Protection of Property
"Here are more specific principles given to judges, so they could apply that principle in the daily life and administration of justice among the people of Israel." (Guzik)
The main principle is restoration. Rather than punishment, they needed to make whole the person who they stole from.
The owner of an animal was responsible for the grazing of his animals. He was obliged to respect his neighbor’s property (the grazing land). (Guzik)
Social Responsibility
You will see a general rule here. The party with more authority and power should always be willing to reach out to those with less authority and power and not lord it over them. This is extended to animals and slaves who should be given rest off on the Sabbath day.
"A good measure of our moral character is found in how we treat a stranger. People often find it easy to treat their own flesh and blood well, but God commands us to have a concern for others – including the stranger. The enduring hatred and strife between ethnic and national groups shows just how little humanity has progressed. It is fair to examine how accommodating are we to the strangers among us. If we stay with our own safe group and enjoy all the blessings and fail to be outreaching and out-looking as a blessing to others, we mistreat a stranger." Guzik
A Call for Justice
This section is more about social responsibility and helping out a neighbor when something has happened to them. As we tell our kids today, "When you see something, say something!" Sometimes we sin when we do nothing to stop something wrong that is happening. We are complicit in the wrongdoing if we have a chance to change the outcome and we don't.
"The only way to obey this command is to put a stop to a false report. Doing nothing or remaining neutral is to allow the false report to circulate. “The inventor and receiver of false and slanderous reports, are almost equally criminal. The word seems to refer to either, and our translators have very properly retained both senses.” (Clarke)
Jesus uses this chapter to teach on the end times when he will return. Here are some basic principles he outlines:
1. There will be many false messiahs who will claim they are the Messiah. There are many times in church history when people have purported to be the Messiah, or said they knew the time Jesus was coming and they have all been shown to be false.
"One notable example of this was the prophetic expectation in 1844 with William Miller in the United States. Because of his prophetic interpretations, calculations, and publications, there were hundreds of thousands in the United States who were convinced that Jesus would return in 1844. When He did not, there was great disappointment, with some falling away, and some cultic groups spawned from the prophetic fervor." (Guzik)
2. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.
"In the midst of any great war or any great famine or any great earthquake, it is natural to believe that the world is coming to an end. But Jesus said there is a far more specific sign that would indicate His return, and He describes this later."
3. Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers
“Persecution would reveal the traitors within the Church as well as the enemies without.” (Spurgeon)
4. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.
"Some claim this has already been done, and that therefore the end of the age is necessarily close at hand. This conclusion is open to grave doubt."
For me it is hard to believe we are near the end because there are so many millions of people who don't know Christ, and so many thousands of cultures who don't even have a bible published in their own language.
Regardless, "The end for each one of us is either when we die, or Jesus comes back, whichever comes first."
For most of us the end will be when we die. We have one life to live and we are never assured of how many days we will live on this earth. Therefore we should live out the gospel in word and deed, so that more people will be saved before the end DOES COME!
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