Pay Attention!
The Bible purposefully hides itself in some cases. It notes that some people are put into a stupor by God. It uses misdirection. And sometimes it flat out seeks to confuse.
The Parable of the Sower
In Matthew 13 we are presented with the parable of the sower. Afterwards the disciples ask Jesus about his use of parables. His response is interesting:
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
I think the next part is very important:
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; 15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’
Jesus doesn't want you to know certain things until you are ready. But you have to be ready on your own. If you're going to be stubborn and reject everything you don't like, then forget it. You have to be open and flexible. Sometimes you have to pray to God for understanding. It will come but it may take several years.
What Isaiah describes above is the spirit of slumber or stupor. The spirit of stupor has been given to Jews:
Romans 11:8
as it is written:
“God gave them [Jews] a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”[a]
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
The spirit of slumber has been given to Christians too. Take a look at verse 5 from Matthew 25:
“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
The Christians were slumbering: seeing but not perceiving; hearing but not really understanding.
What about the virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom? Well, there is a little problem with that. There are no virgins still around waiting for Jesus when he returns. They all got wiped out earlier by the Mark of the Beast: refuse it and die. Take it and you are no longer Christian.
Matthew 25:1 is using some serious misdirection. That implies that all verses about watching for the return of Jesus have a problem: no Christians left to watch for anything. The answer to this problem is simple but just makes everything worse: Any reference to the return of Jesus includes the events prior to his actual return. By events I mean big wars and the fake Jesus, aka false prophet. Mostly we're watching for big wars, aka nuclear wars. Heard any rumors of big wars lately?
In the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, the virgins go out to meet the fake Jesus. He is the false prophet Jesus warned us about. This is the last time the virgins are found alive. Some are fooled by the fake Jesus and others not. The foolish ones take the Mark.
Watching for the Return of Jesus
What does it even mean to watch for the return of Jesus?
Well, perhaps not what you think. Take a look at this:
1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.
This is more confusion. The day of the Lord is not the day Jesus returns. It is just a day, one of many such days, where destruction rains down upon one or more nations. This is just a series of big wars between nations.
The labor pains are a series of pains along the entire end-time period. Another name for labor pains is seals (of Revelation). The first four seals are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. These pains are just big wars or big attacks, mostly nuclear.
No One Knows the Day or Hour
Why should we care that we don't know the day or the hour of Jesus' return? Take a look at Matthew 24:
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of [f]heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what [g]hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what [h]hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Here we have a different problem: everything is normal, and then Jesus suddenly comes to take everything away. Is life really going to be normal when Jesus returns? Jesus returns at the end of the tribulation period when most of the planet has been wiped out. I'm having a real hard time believing that everything is normal. Is anything normal at that time? I'm thinking life is a semi-disaster at that time.
When is the last time life is relatively normal?
Answer: At least before the tribulation period starts, and really right before the fourth horse of the apocalypse.
Those verses were really referring to a time well before the day Jesus actually returns. Sudden destruction will come at a time we do not expect, like right now. This is referring to a sudden nuclear attack.
Watching for the return of Jesus means watching for big wars and the fake Jesus.
The Tower of Babel
Everybody knows the story of the Tower of Babel, but they don't know the real story. Kindly take a look at Genesis 11:1-3:
11 Now the whole earth had one language and one [a]speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and [b]bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
The story pretty much begins with bricks. Ever hear a story where bricks play such a prominent role? Who cares about stupid bricks? The oral Torah gives us the answer: the people were being transformed into bricks - everybody equal. People are stones (everybody unequal) but the leaders were transforming everybody into bricks (everybody equal.) The mortar was important too, because it held everything together via materialism.
Take a look at how the God of Christians feels about brick or hewn stone (cut stone or brick):
Exodus 20:25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
Isaiah 65:3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
What about the land of Shinar?
The land of Shinar is not a geographical location. It's a spiritual condition apart from God. The people weren't listening to God.
God didn't scramble their language in order to punish the people. He did it to save the people. Their path at the time was headed in a dangerous direction.
Conclusion
The Bible uses different methods to confuse people on purpose. The most important idea is that one must be open to new ideas that they might not like.
Matthew 7:6
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
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