Page 7
2Th2.8
With Christ's first coming, we find that He is associated with "light" as in: "the light of the world", the "light of men," and the "true light." But, Jesus also made this pronouncement: "suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather DIVISION"[Lk12.51]. We seldom think of the Lord as creating a breach, but can there be any doubt that the Word of God can cause division? Even the Christian community suffers schisms, not only in the churches, but also in government. Unity is always a desirable goal, but in the church it is as elusive as perfection. Just as the dawn separates the day from the night, God's word is always in the process of separating Godliness from wickedness, truth from lies, revealing corrupt ideals and distorted values in every stage of our spiritual development. We all lie exposed in the light of the word of God. We find, therefore, in Christ's coming, two of His unalterable attributes - "division and brightness." Moreover, there is an interesting analogy of this in Gen.38. We know that four women are named in the genealogy of Christ. One of them is named Tamar. Judah, a son of Jacob, had illicit relations with Tamar, and she gave birth to twins - Pharez and Zarah. At the time of delivery, when it appeared that Zarah would be the first-born, the mid-wife tied a scarlet thread to Zarah's hand. However, according to the foreordained will of God, it was not to be Zarah [for Zarah withdrew his hand] but his brother Pharez who should be born first. Pharez means "breach; division," and Zarah means "dawn; brightness". Now, if we reason correctly we can understand the significance of the order of birth in relation to the two advents of Jesus. If Zarah [brightness] had been born before Perez [division], the order of appearance, corresponding to Christ, would have been reversed. In effect, there would have been "brightness" before "division." The entire story of Tamar is complex and replete with analogies, but why else would it have been inserted among the scriptures except as another revelation of the mystery of the Word of God?
home
There is reason to believe that when Jesus comes the second time he will emit a brightness equal to or greater than the sun. "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming."[2Th2.8] Here is a brightness, so intense, so consuming, that one might imagine it to be rivaled only by a solar flare, and yet the Greek meaning of the word "brightness" as used here by Paul is "an appearance; appearing" and not "heat", or "fire", as we might imagine. The "brightness" that Christ will emit on that day will be unique in its intensity and most certainly an extraordinary phenomenom. But all this is reserved for His second coming.
page one - The Gift of God
page two - "increase our faith"
page three - The Evidence of Faith
page four - Eternal Security
page five - A New Law
page six - His Presence
page eight - Caleb
page nine - Palliation of Sin
page ten - The Light of Hope
page eleven - Rapture
Blockquote>