Religious Thought for the 21st Century

From the year 392 A.D., when Christianity acquired the position of the state religion of the Roman Empire, till the year 800 A.D., when Charlemagne was enthroned as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, a type of feudalistic system emerged in which western Europe was led by 5 different patriarchates. This time period corresponded providentially to the time of the Judges in Israel. 5 Patriarchates Twelve Tribes of Israel From the time Joshua and Caleb led the Israelites into Canaan until the time Saul became king of Israel, the Jewish people had a feudalistic system in which the different tribes had to unify. For that they had to build a temple as the unifying symbol. The different tribes had a leading figure that functioned as king, chief priest, and prophet. Joshua became the first judge. Other famous ones are Gideon and Samson. Samuel received the calling from God when he was a child. He was the last judge and the one who anointed the first king of Israel. Ongoing conflicts ...

The Cry of God's People for Liberation Luke 18:7-8 .. . will not God  bring about justice for His  elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He  delay long over them? I  tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes,  will He find faith on the earth?” Matthew 10:16-22   “ Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; ...   But beware of men, for they will hand you over to  the   courts and scourge you  in their synagogues;   and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.   ... “ Brother will betray brother to death, and a father  his  child; and  children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.   You will be hated by all because of My name, but  it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved." The Period beginning fro...

The Prophet Malachi by James Tissot For those who read the previous two posts, they can see that the last period of 400 years is a period that parallels the time from Malachi to Jesus. Both periods are referred to as periods of preparation. What is the preparation for? The first period attempts to demonstrate that the long history of the Jewish people from the time of Joseph until the time of Jesus was a time through which God educated the Jewish nation to prepare themselves to receive the Messiah. The Jewish people would never believe that they were destined to reject God's representative. Their history confirms that claim and repudiates the idea that they were predestined by God's will to reject the Messiah. The period of time from Malachi to Jesus is one in which the Jewish people's desire to receive the promised Savior increased in intensity as they were subjected to foreign powers that disrespected their religious practices and attempted to impose the religi...