Pamela, I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, as there's been a lot going on over here on the home front. I haven't had a lot of energy to do much in the way of studying. However, I did find a few more clues concerning your question regarding what Jesus said when He talked about shortening the days for the elect's sake.
Firstly, thank you for the reminder about Ray's teaching on birds/fowls symbolizing evil spirits. I also found this from Ray to support this idea.
This will be long, and for that, I apologize, as it may be hard to follow. If the mods need to remove it, that's fine. I will save a copy and just send it in a PM to Pamela. To be totally honest, I never intended this response to be this long. However, most, if not all, of what I've written here can be corroborated by what Ray has already written. So if you've already read Ray's papers, you're not missing much aside from more supporting Scripture.
https://bible-truths.com/lake9.html Satan entered Eden as "that Old Serpent [Satan]" and deceived Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. Satan didn't sneak into the garden against God's will. He performed a needful task with our first parents. God knew what Satan was going to do to Adam and Eve. God did not try to prevent it. It is all part of God's master plan.
Just as God has provided food for mankind, He has also provided food for Satan. And just what kind of food does Satan dine on? Satan dines on mankind.
"And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon your belly shall you go, and DUST SHALL YOU EAT all the days of your life" (Gen. 3:14).
This is, of course a parable. That "serpent" in the garden was none other than
"...that OLD SERPENT, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world..." (Rev. 12:9).
And this is the same serpent that "deceived" Eve.
Man is the "dust of the earth" upon which Satan dines: "The first man [Adam] is of the earth, earthy [dust]..." (I Cor. 15:47). Man IS "dust.'
"...for DUST you are, and unto DUST shall you return" (Gen. 3:19).
When God told the serpent devil Satan that he would eat DUST, He was telling him that he would eat MAN (adam). And this is exactly what Peter tells us in his epistle:
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour [Gk: swallow down/eat]" (I Pet. 5: 
.
Satan dines and thrives on the meat of the "carnal [Greek: sarx; flesh] mind [which] is enmity [hostility/hatred] against God: for it is not subject to the [spiritual] law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7).
Satan does not seek to devour everyone for food; only those who are carnally [fleshly] minded represent a great steak dinner to him.
Satan even had King David for dinner:
"And SATAN stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel" (I Chron. 21:1).
But always remember, Satan never operates beyond his God-given parameters as we will see in the case of Job.
God gave Satan charge over Job, his body, and all his possessions, to try him severely before God:
"And the Lord said unto SATAN, Behold, he [Job] is in your hand; but save his life" (Job 2:6).
It was GOD'S idea to severely try Job, not Satan's. But Satan took strict orders from God as to just how he could try Job. Satan got permission from God at each and every step of this severe trying of Job. Do we think God does it differently today? Do we think Satan now has "free reign"- "free will?" Do we think that God "changes?" Nonsense: "For I am the LORD, I change not..." (Mal. 3:6).
David prayed for God to use Satan in judging his enemies:
"Set you a wicked man over him: and let SATAN stand at his right hand" (Psalm 109:6).
Are not these activities of Satan necessary? Does God use Satan for no good purpose? Then why can't men see that God also CREATED Satan for these very purposes?
Satan is constantly finding fault with God's Chosen ones:
"And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and SATAN standing at his right hand to resist [accuse] him" (Zech. 3:1).
Remember, Satan can do NOTHING without God's approval. When God completed His creating, He said
"And God saw EVERY THING that He had made [including Satan, the Adversary], and, behold, it was VERY GOOD..." (Gen. 1:31).
Satan was not only necessary, but he was, in fact, PERFECT for the job that God created him to fulfill.
Then we have this from 1Co 5:5 - " turn that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh [Greek: sarx], so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord."
It is the same Greek
sarx used in Romans 8:7, where Ray explains that it refers to the “carnal mind”. It is also the same Greek
sarx Jesus used in the passage in question.
Mar 13:20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh [Greek: sarx] should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. The ravenous bird from the east that God Himself is calling (Isa_46:11) could very well be Satan, seeing how it's Satan's job to destroy the carnal mind. Not Satan only, but possibly Satan's children also—remembering God uses evil for good.
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.
1Jn 3:8 The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning.
The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil's works. 1Jn 3:9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.
1Jn 3:10
This is how God's children--and the Devil's children--are made evident. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother [1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.].
Here's another passage that details the manner in which Jesus reveals and then destroys the works of Satan. (I'm constantly amazed at how many other passages are connected to the following passage.)
2Th 2:7 For the secret of lawlessness is already operating. Only when the present detainer (Jesus?) may be coming to be out of the midst,
2Th 2:8 then will be unveiled the lawless one (whom the Lord Jesus will despatch with the spirit of His mouth (Joh_6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.) and will discard by the advent of His presence),
2Th 2:9 whose presence is in accord with the operation (works) of Satan, with all power and signs and false miracles"
It seems Satan rather frequently operates through his children.
Luk 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down,
and the fowls of the air devoured it.
Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out,
and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ray stated that God provides food for Satan and gave some proof text. Here's what sounds like another proof text.
Mat 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Remember when Ray talked about man's heaven vs. God's heaven? To paraphrase, Ray said something like: "man's heaven is a place of spiritual delusion. God's heaven is a place of spiritual enlightenment".
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (Greek: strategies) of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness [Joh 3:19: …and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.]
of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high (heavenly)
places.
We may not be wrestling against the flesh and blood of men; we are, however, wrestling against the things they teach, the things that appeal to the natural, carnal-minded man. Teachings that come from Satan and rule or have dominion over our lives in some way.
While all the above supports the idea of the
fowls of the air being “evil spirits”, it still doesn't explain why the days of
great affliction would need to be shortened for the elect's sake. What's more, it doesn't explain why the flesh/sarx or carnal mind needs to be saved at all. I mean, I would understand if it replaced the word
flesh for the word
spirit, but that's not the case, and it confuses the heck out of me. Hence, it piqued my interest in it a while back when I first tried to study it.
I'm well aware of the churches teaching on it, as they use it to try to prove that most of mankind will be wiped out by some world war or worldwide catastrophe. All this, of course, is supposed to happen after “the antichrist” appears on earth and after the church has been raptured. I'm inclined to reject that belief automatically. Not just because Ray says everything the church teaches is a lie. But because my personal studies and the Spirit have shown me that everything the church teaches
is a lie and contradicts the things I have learned from the Scriptures and from Ray these last 11 or 12 years. The foundation on which I base this is the fact that Jesus said He only taught in parables, and I believe Him.
Having said all that, I did find these from Ray.
https://bible-truths.com/rapture.htm Notice that our Lord instructs us that "as the days of Noah, thus shall it be." Okay then, how was it in the days of Noah? Who was "left" and who was "taken away?"
"For as they were in those days before the deluge, eating and drinking and marrying and taking in marriage until the day on which Noah entered into the ark, and did not know till the deluge came and takes them all AWAY, thus shall be the presence of the Son of Mankind" (Mat. 24:38-39).
Did you catch that? It was all the wicked who were eating, drinking, and marrying that were "TAKEN AWAY," not Noah and his family!
And so here we have a principle that is used throughout the entire Bible--the good are left and the bad are taken away. Immediately after verse 39 where the wicked are "taken," we have verse 40 which says, " Then two shall be in the field; one [wicked] is taken along and one left: two grinding at the millstone; one [wicked] is taken along and one left."
For further conformation of this look at the parable of the wheat and the tares. You all know the parable, so I won't repeat all of it. Just notice that the tares
"are gathered and burned in the fire" (Mat. 13:40).
And
"they will gather OUT of His Kingdom all things that offend..." (Ver 41).
So the tares are gathered out and burned and the wheat is left behind.
Notice Romans 8:33, "... God's elect," Col. 3:12, "... the elect of God ..." Titus 1:1, "... God;s elect ..." Now look at Mat. 24:22, "Yet because of the elect [chosen], those days shall be shortened." Therefore, the "elect" or chosen ones have not been raptured away, but rather left, or God wouldn't have to shorten the days of tribulation for the sake of the "elect."
Didn't our Lord clearly pray to His Father, "I am not asking that Thou shouldst be taking them AWAY OUT OF THE WORLD, but that Thou shouldst be keeping them from the wicked one" (John 17:15)?
One more,
"Again the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea [multitudes of people, Rev. 17:15] and gathered of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad AWAY. So shall it be at the end of the age: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire..." (Mat. 13:47-50).
Clearly the good are retained and kept, but the bad are severed and taken away! If ever there is to be a rapture, it will be A RAPTURE OF THE WICKED, not of the saints!
https://bible-truths.com/towers.htm Matt. 24:21-22- "For then [when? At the END of this age, Verse 3] shall be GREAT TRIBULATION [pressure, anguish, affliction, persecution, tribulation, trouble] , such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor EVER SHALL BE. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."
Yes, there will be salvation for the human race, but it will happen only after a great slaughter of humanity to the point that no flesh would remain alive except for God shortening that period of carnage. Are we told elsewhere of such a great slaughter of humanity? Yes we are, back to Isaiah 30:
"And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of water [yes God will bring peace to the earth, but He also tells us when this will be...] in the day of the GREAT SLAUGHTER, WHEN THE TOWERS FALL" (Verse 25).
Is it me, or is Ray applying a literal interpretation to what I thought was a parable in Mat. 24:21,22? I'm beginning to wonder where I got this idea that the
great affliction Jesus mentioned was only in the future, in the Great White Throne Judgment/Second Death/Lake of Fire. It could be that I'm not rightly dividing the word of truth (2Ti 2:15) in this instance. Which means that the part about great affliction is a parable to them, seeing how the elect are appointed to tribulation and are not to be taken out of the world. But the part about most of mankind being wiped out is true. Can you, Pamela, or anyone else explain?
It seems more than ever that the world is afraid that the world is about to end. It's easy to get caught up in that fear, especially when the church is pushing hard to scare everyone. I hope that we can figure out what Jesus meant in the parable we are discussing. Otherwise, maybe we can at least try to comfort one another in these times.
Please forgive the excessive spacing between the paragraphs. It's the only way I know how to keep everything from bunching up and looking like a mess. It's possible I missed a few spaces here and there between paragraphs, so it may end up looking bad either way due to the formatting.
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Topic: Israel (Read 11473 times)