Understanding the Times
by Dr. Ken Matto
(1 Chr 12:32 KJV) And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had
understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them
were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.
All throughout history the best defense weapon that a child of God could ever
possess was the Word of God and by utilizing the Word of God properly, a true
believer is able to discern the signs of the times. In the above verse we read
that the men of Issachar had understanding of the times. This passage was
written at the time Saul was still King of Israel. These man had went out and
joined themselves to David. They apparently knew the situation and had realized
that even though Saul was king, David was the anointed of God. It has been
stated that these men of Issachar were well versed in the sciences and
mathematics. They were sort of the intellectual elite of the twelve tribes. This
is why they were able to understand the times because they not only had good
understanding of the sciences, they also had good spiritual insight into the
surrounding situation.
These men knew that Saul was after David and by following David, they knew they
were doing the right thing, even though at the time it may have seemed dangerous
since Saul was still officially the King. This brings up a major principle in
spiritual life adjustment. If we are following the teachings of someone who at
one time was a good spiritual Bible teacher and then this person makes a wrong
turn and begins to start teaching something false, then it behooves us to
reevaluate those teachings and reject them. As Christians, it behooves
us to understand the times. This principle was not only for those of national
Israel, but it is more needed now in the body of Christ. Churches are being
swept off their feet by movements such as “The Purpose Driven Church” which is
solely based in Occultic New Age teachings and Jungian psychology.
This is only one movement which has invaded the church and unfortunately many,
if not most church leaders, are not “understanding the times.” (2 Cor 2:11 KJV)
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his
devices. This verse teaches us plainly that if we are ignorant of Satan’s
devices, then he will gain advantage but on the other hand, if we are cognizant
of the subtle devices of Satan, then we will not become snared. We live in a
time when so many Christians are looking for a physical Antichrist to appear on
the scene and take over the whole world. The Bible does not teach that a
physical Antichrist is coming on the world, instead the Bible teaches that Satan
is the Antichrist and he is already well entrenched in deceiving the nations and
the church. In the early years of the church and in the Middle Ages, Satan had
tried to stamp out the church by using murder and torture. However, this method
only increased the level of commitment that believers had.
When we look at how Satan has changed his strategy from murder to spiritual
mayhem, you will see the utter successful program in progress. By bringing out a
new bible version every year, it makes it impossible to memorize the Scriptures.
By making churches program oriented instead of biblically teaching oriented, he
will be able to refocus an entire congregation. Once he derails the congregation
by sending them down a false path, then he is able to refocus their thinking.
What will be the primary focus that he will instill? He will instill that
Christians focus on results. Instead of Christians focusing on the person of
Christ, he will get them to focus on results oriented programs such as the
Purpose Driven Life.
Now what is wrong with focusing on results? It doesn’t seem like a departure
from what the Scriptures teach, does it? Let’s ask the simple question. What
does the Bible elevate as the major characteristic in the life of a Christian?
Let the Scriptures speak! (1 Cor 4:2 KJV) Moreover it is required in stewards,
that a man be found faithful. Here is what the Scriptures teach that a Christian
must be. We are to be faithful in all things. When a Christian is faithful in
all things which pertain to the Christian walk such as evangelism, discipleship,
obedience, etc., then we are leaving the results to God. Moses was called
faithful in all his house. (Heb 3:5 KJV) And Moses verily was faithful in all
his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken
after; When Moses lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and in the wilderness
for forty years, was he not faithful to the Lord and did not God handle the
results of his faithfulness? Moses didn’t part the Red Sea, God did! Moses
didn’t destroy the Egyptian army, God did! Moses was faithful in carrying out
the mission which God assigned him.
This must be the same attitude the Christian must have. They must be faithful to
the calling in which God called them and leave the results to God. The reason
that we get into trouble or we begin to derail is because we always try to
figure out the results of everything we do. The results of being a faithful
Christian is in the hands of the Lord. If God sends you to the street to hand
out tracts, don’t try to force the results. You may never know the results of
your work until you get to glory and that is fine. If you begin to understand
the times we live in, then you will realize that what is needed today is
faithfulness in a Christian, not a calculated program with anticipated results.
When William Tyndale was burned by the Roman Catholic Institution in 1536, his
cry from the fagots was, “Lord, open the eyes of the King of England.” Tyndale
was very faithful in making a translation of the true Bible text so he could
give everyone in the English speaking world a copy of the Bible. He wanted the
plowboy in the field as well as the scholar to be able to know the true word of
God. Well it wasn’t until 1604, when King James authorized the creation of the
King James Bible. That means Tyndale’s answer to his prayer did not come for 68
years.
Surely one can say that Tyndale was faithful to the calling of God on his life.
His desire was that everyone would be able to have a copy of the Word of God in
the common language. His translation of the texts was the forerunner of the King
James Bible. So one can easily see that being faithful to God’s calling in our
life may not give immediate results but eventually will bear fruit in God’s
timing. Could God have destroyed from the face of the earth the Roman Catholic
institution and preserved all His children alive? Of course He could, but during
that time He was meticulously working out His plan of bringing the true word of
God down to today when the time would come, right before the end of the world,
when the earth’s population would multiply tremendously. It was the faithfulness
of a small group of believers who brought the true Bible through the worst times
of satanic persecution.
These people did not know what the end of their faithful actions would be
because they left the results to God. This is how we must live our Christian
walk by being as faithful as we can in our walk and leave the results to God.
When we do that, there is a liberating effect on our Christian walk. Many of the
martyrs sang before they died, they didn’t cry because they did not finish their
work, instead they knew that when their time had come, their job was done. When
your time comes don’t look back and wonder if your work was finished, just be
faithful in your work and leave the results to God. Then on the day you meet
Him, you will hear those words. (Mat 25:23
KJV) His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter
thou into the joy of thy lord.
(2/18/05)