I want to thank you for praying for us last weekend as we were down in Iowa with our families.  I had a great time with my Mom.  The class on "Malachi to Matthew" went very well.  I know just teaching it got me more excited about the upcoming Advent Season.  I will share later in this Musing why that period of time is so important for us.  My brother and I had the privilege of taking Mom out for her 81st birthday.  We had a great time.  Marlys enjoyed her time with her Mom.  She was not feeling as well as she would have liked, so Marlys was not able to get her out as much as she had thought.  But she was able to give encouragement to her Mom.  I enjoyed my night of Friday Night Football.  It really helped that the home-team won, and very convincingly.  So, God was good. 

 

This week my Mom is having cancer surgery on her lung.  The doctors found a suspicious spot during a routine check-up.  She will have the surgery on Tuesday.  I am planning on going down on Thursday to be with her a few days after she gets home from the hospital.  We are praying that all will go well with the surgery and the tests will determine the next course of treatment.  The doctors don't seem overly alarmed, but they would like to know what they are dealing with...and so would we.  So, probably there will not be a Musing for next week.  I will try to get caught up in Revelation later.

 

Here in the States we are in the home stretch before the mid-term elections on November 7.  Now the mud is really flying!  I am not sure I can remember an election where the accusations have been as blatant and inaccurate as they are right now.  If the TV ads and radio spots are your only source of information about the candidates, then you are not learning the whole truth.  You really need to do some digging yourselves to find out what each person actually believes.  This really is a very serious election.  The control of Congress will be in the hands of the voters this year and many pundits are proclaiming that there will be some major changes.  So, whatever your political persuasion, I urge you to get out and vote. 

 

The violence in Iraq has certainly intensified in the past few weeks.  Nearly 100 American service men and women have been killed, making it one of the largest monthly totals since the war was begun.  I read a very interesting news article on the Internet that helped explain what was happening.  The reporter said that the Iranian President, Ahmadinejad had instructed his soldiers that he wanted the American death toll in Iraq to hit 3000 before election day, November 7.  I listened to see if any of the American news sources would report this fact, but all have remained silent.  President Ahmadinejad's intent was to impact the American election.  Now, as some of you might remember, in 1980 Iran greatly influenced the American election of Ronald Reagan over the sitting President Jimmy Carter.  You remember that, in February 1979, the Iranian revolutionaries took over the American Embassy in Tehran and kept the Americans hostage for nearly two years.  The impact of that standoff and the failed attempt by President Carter to free the captives, significantly changed the course of the presidential election in 1980.  Moments after President Reagan was sworn in, the hostages were released, just as the Iranians had said they would.  Americans are growing tired of the conflict in Iraq.  It seems fruitless.  I have a nephew who has just returned after serving one year in Iraq with an Iowa National Guard unit.  He told his parents that we should not pull out of Iraq, that we were accomplishing good things there, that we should not listen to all the negative news of the media.  Friends, most of Iraq is at peace right now.  It is only in two or three provinces where the insurgencies continue.  I am not sure what the answer is, but I am not sure that leaving is an option.  I would be interested in your opinions.

 

So much for world news.  Let's turn to Biblical news!  As the Lord Jesus Christ came the first time, so He will come the second time.  And, I believe one of the keys to looking for His second coming is to understand the events that surrounded His first coming.  In Galatians 4:4, the Apostle Paul says, "When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son..."  That verse and that phrase "when the fullness of time was come" had always intrigued me.  So, I began my own diligent study of the time between the Testaments.  I found it to be a fascinating period of history - wars, political intrigue, revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries, religious zealots, and cultural struggles.  Those days encompass the times of some of the great men of history: Alexander the Great, Antiochus Epiphanies, Caesar Augustus, and Herod the Great.  Without giving away the whole teaching of the class "Malachi to Matthew", let me share three important events that transpired that, I believe, created that "fullness of time."  First, there was the worldwide acceptance of Greek as the language of choice.  There were always local dialects and languages but, wherever a person went by the time of Christ's birth, Greek was spoken.  There was a great advantage in this fact.  When the Church was instructed to go into the uttermost parts of the earth sharing the Gospel of Christ, there was no language barriers.  So, by the time the book of Acts is completed - some 30 years after Pentecost - the Christian population had increased from 120 (Acts 1) to hundreds of thousands. 

 

Second, there was a strong Jewish interest in the Messiah.  A deliverance from the Syrians had been achieved by the Maccabees in the 2nd century BC.  Now Judah was under the powerful domination by Rome.  The only hope was for a Messiah to come to deliver them.  Messianic expectations were running high during the time of Christ, best evidenced by the reaction to His entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  Even the disciples got caught up on the Messianic fervor. 

 

Third, because of the magnitude of their Empire, the Romans had built an elaborate systems of roadways connecting the strategic parts of the Empire.  The purpose for the roadways was to help move one army unit from one place to another quickly.  And, along the roads businesses were established, including inns and other places for hospitality.  The Apostle Paul made use of these roadways in his missionary journeys.  They guided him to those urban areas that were his choice to share the Gospel. 

 

Now, let's see: a nearly universal language, a strong Messianic interest, and a system of roads that facilitated the spread of information.  For the first time in recorded history, those three events all came together at the same time.  It is little wonder that Paul used the phrase, "the fullness of time."  The Advent of Christ was not an accident of history.  It had been carefully orchestrated by God Himself over the many millennia since He had given the promise to Adam and Eve there in the Garden.  The events at Bethlehem showed a God who was sovereign over the affairs of the world. 

 

Now here is where I get a little speculative, so please bear with me.  Could it not be possible to use Galatians 4:4 concerning Christ's second coming and say something like this: "When the fullness of time comes again, God will send forth His Son as King..."  When Jesus came the first time there was a nearly universal language.  Today, the world desires to learn English, and the day is soon here when that will be the nearly universal language.  Are you still with me?  When Jesus came the first time there was a strong Messianic interest among Jews.  Today, as evidenced by the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, there is a revival in Messianic expectation among Orthodox Jews today.  (By the way, I strongly encourage you to check out www.templeinstitute.org.  You will be fascinated).  And, finally, when Jesus came the first time there was an elaborate system of highways to facilitate rapid communication.  Today, I believe the Internet might fill that place.  It certainly is the super-highway of communication.  Friends, I am just speculating, but I believe that as God orchestrated the times for Jesus' first advent, so He will orchestrate the times for His second advent.  It certainly gives me cause to be excited.  How about you?!

 

Again, thanks for your prayers for our ministry.  God has been good and we rejoice in what He is doing.  If you would like more information about Village Schools, please check us out at www.vsb.net. 

 

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.  There may be a law against it by then.